Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Regarding sequel, and other stuff

Hello readers! I thought I'd make a post for an open discussion regarding some things.

I've been trying to make another screenshot creepypasta, however it's not "flowing" very well. I wanted to do something else for more practice in the screenshot story style, but I'm not sure where to go with it.

http://z3.invisionfree.com/bogleech/index.php?showtopic=2516&st=0

Now, about NES Godzilla Creepypasta 2-

I have been considering it even while I was making the first one. Being positive, I think at least one more good story could be gotten from the material. It seems like even when I'm trying to come up with ideas for other things, my mind always wanders back to stuff I could do for this sequel.

It's not a sure thing though.

Since completing this story I've realized that my writing leaves a lot to be desired. I've always been more of an artist than a writer, and that is apparent in the story, sometimes to embarrassing extent.

If I were to make a sequel I would want it to be better than the original, otherwise it would be unnecessary. And I'm not sure I could write a better story.

The other thing is that making a screenshot story of this scale takes a huge amount of time and effort. I had to work on NGC in my free time without any assistance, and it took the majority of a year to create.

That being said, here are the ideas I had posted regarding a possible sequel. This is the list where the TvTropes mention of Rodan and the Seven Sins demons came from. Possible spoilers, if you're wary of that.
Possible title: Godzilla:Replay

A new guy (Carl) does indeed buy the game.

Unlike the 1st story, where the story all happened in one night and it's all in past tense, the 2nd story will have the new narrator play a world a day(Or one per week) and make a summary at the end of each one. He's not sure what will happen next.

The story focuses on Carl playing the same cartridge, except now the game has entirely reinvented itself from the start. It doesn't progress through the same "worlds" that Zach went through. I will attempt to add more new gameplay elements, and try for a less predictable flow of events.

There will be more of an emphasis on exploring what's in the game, seeing what it's capable of, testing it's limits, and hopefully figuring out WHY the game is the way it is. For example, early on Carl discovers that the game will only go into it's supernatural weirdness if only one person is watching the screen as it happens.

I'm considering having each world with a specific objective that has to be completed at the end to progress(Create Godzilla, Rescue Rodan), etc.

As for new monsters, game play stuff, etc:

First world is like an introductory world. Carl starts out with one monster - Godzillasaurus. Bosses consist of the Yog Trio, and the last boss of World 1 is a large ceratopsian dinosaur that is fought on "Lagos Island", just before the bomb hits. When the bomb hits, Godzillasaurus is transformed into Godzilla.

New bosses most likely to show up are:
Ganimes and Kameobas (completing Yog Trio) Mechagodzilla 90's, King Kong, Sanda/Gaira (Tag Team Fight) Kamacuras.

Instead of replacement monsters, a team of demons based off the Seven Sins

Rodan as a new playable character, revealed early on in the game. Plays the role of "flying monster" that Mothra did, only a bit better at combat.

New demonic villain:

Not a revived Red, not named after a color. Different kind of personality and tactics.

http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/9813/newvillain013.jpg




Quiz time! Some questions for the audience.

1. Would you want to see Godzilla:Replay?

2. What were your favorite parts of NES Godzilla Creepypasta?

3. What elements of the story worked best, and you would want to see more of in the sequel?

4. Conversely, which elements of the story didn't work, and you would want to see absent/less of/done differently in the sequel?

5. Do you have any other particular ideas regarding a sequel?

6. In the event that a sequel is started, would you be willing to offer assistance?

And I think that wraps it up. If you want to discuss things further without the awkward blog.com commenting system, I'm always hanging around on the Bogleech forums: http://z3.invisionfree.com/bogleech/index.php?act=idx

Graphics Collection

Level Graphics

http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/1006/pathostrancelevelshttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif.png

http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/3273/dementialevels.png

http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/8498/entropylevels.png

http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/9673/extuslevels.png

http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/3163/zenithlevelstuff1.png

http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/9015/recycler.png

http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/7544/zenithlevelstuff2.png



Stage NPC's

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/8456/stagenpcs.png

http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/13/zenithbeastspart1.png

http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/6035/zenithbeastspart2.png


Playable Characters


http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/9097/anguirussprites.png

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/1861/solomonsprites.png

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/1015/goldacacius.png


Bosses

http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/3407/bosses1.png

http://img850.imageshack.us/img850/3672/bosses2.png

http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/5420/replacementschimera.png

http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/2513/zenithstagebosses.png

http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/3733/ghidorahdestoroyah.png

http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/3994/redsheet.png

http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/8961/bigred.png

EPILOGUE

I am Zachary, and at the time I write this, it has been 3 weeks since the fateful night when I played the NES Godzilla game.

Going back to that night, to immediately after I turned off the NES. Once I was able to start walking around again, the first thing I did was unplug the NES, take out the cartridge, and put them in separate sock drawers.

I looked over at the computer. All the screenshots you've seen in the story were saved. I backed up all the images on a flash drive before I turned the computer off, just in case. After that, I hit the bed and instantly passed out. It was not a restful sleep, but one of complete exhaustion. It felt like no time has passed before I awoke again.

And what a day that was. The first thought I recall coming to mind was "...What the hell happened last night?" I thought about it for a short while, until it occurred to me to contact the person I got the game from to begin with - Billy. So I called him up, and told him to just come over to my apartment, which he did.

And I showed him the screenshots, and gave him a very basic summary of what had happened. At first he thought I was pulling a joke on him, but he soon realized that was not the case. Once it hit him that this was real, he was speechless.
He made it clear that he had absolutely not tampered with the game, and had no idea about any of this.

So then the obvious question was asked to Billy; "Where did YOU get it from?" I got the simple answer of "Another friend of mine that I trade games with." He assured me that this was a trustworthy person, and he had never had any issues with games he got from him before. So then Billy called him. But when we told this guy the story, he was as shocked and surprised as anyone, except he abruptly hung up on us. This clearly was going nowhere.

Before Billy left that day, he asked me if I wanted him to take the cartridge and dispose of it. I sharply declined. He asked how I could possibly still want to keep the thing. I told him that I needed time to think it over, and that was that.
Billy and I haven't talked much since. Even though I've told him this isn't the case, I get the impression that Billy thinks what happened with the game is his fault.

After he left that day, I did a lot of thinking.

It was very hard for me to do anything else, really. I couldn't stop thinking about the game, there were so many questions left unanswered. What WAS Red? Was Melissa really in the game? How did she get there? Why did all this happen with THIS game?

But the one question that kept me for many nights was:

"Red said he had "known me for a long time". How?"

Ever since then, I can't shake this feeling of being watched.

The game made me ask myself questions about death and reality in ways that I never wanted to think about. I'm not too sure of anything anymore. Constantly thinking about it soon began to have a negative impact on my life. I just didn't care about anything else at this point. By comparison, all the other day-to-day activities seemed utterly pointless.

I eventually decided that I had to choose between 1 of 2 things: Try to play the game again, or destroy it. I tried several times to convince myself to try the former, but I never got farther than plugging the NES back up. Just touching the cartridge made me remember all the pain I felt during the fight with Red.

I wondered if perhaps playing the game again myself might cause something terrible to happen. I didn't know anything about how this "game" worked, and it was too risky. I wasn't sure I could stand another round of the game anyway.

So then it was time for the other option. Wanting to get some fresh air, I took the game with me and drove to the lake, planning to throw it in. I got up to the lake with the cartridge in my hands, and I look down on it and...I thought of Melissa. If what I had experienced in the game was indeed genuine, doing what I did may have been the only way to save her from endless torture. In a way, this warped game might have saved her soul.

Damn it. Once that thought came into my head, I knew then I wouldn't be able to destroy it. So I just sat down at a bench, gazing at the lake for about an hour. Ultimately, I decided on a third option: selling the game on EBay.

It may be selfish, but I promise you that it has nothing to do with money. I don't care how much or little I get paid for this game, believe me. It's selfish because I don't want the responsibility of owning this cartridge anymore. I cannot dwell on this forever, and the only way I can deal with this, is by putting the game out of my life.

So this brings me to the main reasons I created a summary of these events; first is to record the details while I can remember them, and second is that whoever bids on this game knows what they're getting into. I can't guarantee the safety of anyone else who plays the game, or that anything will happen at all. But to the new owner of the gamer, remember this; Be careful, and if you feel as if the game is literally messing with your mind, SHUT THE DAMN THING OFF.

CHAPTER 8: PART 2

After his seeming defeat by Solomon, Red had reconstructed his body into his gigantic Final Form, transporting us to a blazing inferno in the process. It was reminiscent of our first encounter. Except now the scenery,much like the true power of Red, had become very real. The music had erupted into a loud blaring sound, a furious drum of death.

Faced against Red's insane amount of health, my own demise was imminent.



Solomon was my strongest monster. But not even he stood a chance. It was like trying to fight a mountain.



Within seconds Solomon was overpowered and dropped to the floor, when Red crushed him to death underneath his foot. The sadistic demon took his time as he snapped Solomon's vertebrae and ribs like dry, brittle twigs. I could tell he was enjoying our pain.





"This is hopeless. I'm a dead man."

I had to no choice but to send another monster to his death. We where all going to die. I only hoped they would forgive me.



After decreasing Red's health by a miniscule amount, Anguirus was also obliterated. Red unleashed a hail of blazing hot needles into his face, until he collapsed.



Another moment of unspeakable agony, then nothingness as my ally faded away.



I asked Red how he knew my name.

And then, he said it.





For years she was being tortured by something nobody understood. Now I knew what it was.

Now I understood why I was mocked about Melissa's death, and how the game knew about it. Because HE knew about it, because HE was the one responsible. And this time, he was going to kill me.



I was taken back to the board to send Godzilla to his final stand. Barely anything was left of the board, just Godzilla and Red's icons, and..



...the fifth monster.

In the midst of everything that was happening, I had completely forgotten about it. I tried yet again to select it. I cursed, I begged,I screamed at it to do something, ANYTHING to help me. To no avail.

There was only one thing to do.









I knew Godzilla didn't stand any more of a chance than the rest did. But maybe, maybe now that all the other monsters where gone, the fifth monster might finally awaken.

I managed to get the creaure's icon selected, and I pressed the A button as fast as I could. The icon started to shake, as if it where trying desperately to move!



It was then that Red decided he was done playing fair, and before I could activate the monster, he went for the killing blow: paralyzing my heart.


My hands started to become numb and unfeeling, but even as my vision was fading away, I still tried to pressed the A button.




Red surely was breaking one of his rules, but he must have thought that if he could kill me quickly, then it would be too late for any consequences to matter, he would have won.



He was wrong.










Red's power was being challenged by another force. It prevented him from killing me, and when I regained my vision I saw a familiar sight:



"...Who are you?"



" What? How is that possible! I...Red told me that he killed you..."





"But how will I be able to stop him now?"





Her words stirred something inside of me. I wasn't going to die like this. And I had more to fight her for than just my own life, I had to fight to save Melissa, and the world she inhabits.

With her help, the 5th monster was finally unleashed:



It was time to end this, once and for all. Together, we would take this damned hellspawn out of existence.






Acacius was by far the strongest playable monster in the game. He had to be, if we were to have any chance of surviving. His "punch" involved turning his hands into blades, which caused tremendous damage. But Red had more than enough life to spare. In the end, this would come down to pure skill:















With one final strike, Red was destroyed. His body disintegrated and sank below, accompanied by a soar of triumphant music. Slowly, the paralysis wore off, and I was able to stand up again!











We had done it. Melissa's death had been avenged, and I felt overwhelming happiness...until I remembered all the death and pain that led up to this point. All the other monsters who had fought and died. I was about to mourn them, but the game had yet to conclude.











Tears of joy streamed down my face, and I broke out crying. I cried harder than I have in several years, maybe in whole life. All I had been through, all I had discovered, and now the game was coming to an end. But before she and the others left, Melissa had something to tell me;