Dance of the Flaming Skull Fairies

I had another thought of using fire themed weapons. What if in the beginning, because fire is part of her ptsd and shes constantly thinking about it and its having a negative effect, what if the weapons also had a negative effect. This would show that she using the fire and thats her focus, but also show that it hurts her. As the game would go on the damage done to the player would go down and by the end of the game, Alice should be able to use the thought of fire/the weapons to make her stronger. It would be cool to see in the first stage of denial as a kind of survival horror. This would cause her to use the doll hiding idea to avoid damage/enemies/the thought of the fire, and would barely be able to use the weapons because they are so damaging. These weapons could also come in at the anger stage because at that point she would not be in denial? There may be other weapons available also (like the finger-squishing, etc.) so these may be utilized more often, but at this stage the fire weapons may be super strong, but they do quite a bit of damage to herself also. This could also allow for stage specific weapons. Also being able to equip certain weapons could also be useful for this idea so that they can use other weapons that corresponds to stages and such, but just an idea, I'm not sure how well that will work.

It would be pretty if the engraved designs on the blade had a fire glow.

I’ve noticed that Alice is holding the Vorpal blade even in the new designs. Since the weapons are probably meant to have some kind of connection to fire (and I’d love the vorpal blade in Alice asylum) I thought about AMR where we could upgrade the weapons so they got stronger and/or had cooler effects. In AMR the vorpal blade left a light blue - blue/black - blue/black/red shadow depending on which level the blade is. I think it would be cool if that shadow was turned into smoke (in the first level) which would fit to denial (cause she pretends everything’s fine but something obviously happened. I think it could be a comparison maybe) and then into a bigger/brighter flame until she realises what happened.

I was thinking about the "little young scared Alice" that American mentioned on the last stream... What if the flames are the weapon when she lost control of herself? Something like the histeria mode but with fear/anger or a mix of both... The clothes and the skull may glow stronger as closer the breaking point is, and she may become some sort of unstoppable destructive power when reached. You can also make her uncontrollable in the time she needs to calm down...

And just for fun, inspired by this post, I made another piece of what the outside of the red domain might look like, where one could play a lethal version of "the floor is lava" <a href="https://i.imgur.com/fTJDkk5.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://i.imgur.com/fTJDkk5.jpg</a>

Another note on Cheshire ( I know, this dicussion is taking on a mind of its own) Earlier I made a manip piece using some royalty free stock images to get a design point across, I wanted to show a way he could look young but not too cute, healthier but not fat, furry but not fluffy: I posted this on Twitter but thought maybe it'd be better for the backers to see it too. His smile isn't quite right, but I couldn't describe where I thought the middle ground was so I thought it'd be better if I edited together a graphic. <a href="https://i.imgur.com/eHSob0W.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://i.imgur.com/eHSob0W.jpg</a>

I thought with the skull for lighting you could have a character Like the the Crow for example. the crow cause the landscape to go dark, she could hide or use to light to run away

Renee Moyer, i agree that Alice should be hesitant to use fire at first, instead using water based abilities instead. I can see her using more defensive based weapons and shields for blocking or dodging, but over time become more offensive. I love the flaming skull though, maybe it can double as her lantern in the more dark sections where she needs to use stealth. she reaches around to grab it and holds it up while its lit up then puts it back when not in use. Finding and creating healing potions to restore health instead of relying on enemies to drop items for some reason, why would enemies has items on their person?

I understand that her dress is ash because she has been through the fire, but would her using the fire as a weapon make sense? I could see it maybe in the acceptance stage where she uses her past to make her stronger, but I'm not sure about using it when she still is in denial? I might be thinking too much into it, but I thought she would be more battling the fire instead of fighting with it. Using something that includes water or the cold would seem more appropriate to me since that is the opposite of the fire and how she is really separating herself from this part of her (as seen in denial) and then she slowly accepts it, which could cause her weapons to change or obtain new weapons.

Third thought: I would combine the two. In one stage she has these water weapons, playing the saviour, fighting the fire, trying to save them all. And in another stage she is the fire, fighting with fire herself and she kills them all. But in the end, she will know, that neither she was able to save them nor (as seen in Alice 2) is she responsible for what happened.

Hey all. I really like the new stuff, just one (for me) important thought: The idea, that Alice dies, if the flame goes OUT, seems to me cynical and contradictory (this could be just what you want, but here are my ideas:) Aren't the flames in the game something which reminds us and her (subconsciously) on the fire she lost all her family to? I've thought, that the fiery elements in the game would be something she fears. Instead of fire-weapons I would think of fire-monsters. For example, like there were card-guards, there could be "candles" she fights against. And instead of a fire-skull saving her life, there could be different level-transitions, where she is "burned", absorbed by fire, waking up in the asylum again like awaking from a nightmare. What do you think about that? And another thought: Instead of fire weapons, why not give her water-weapons to actually FIGHT the fire enemys, SHE fights subconsciously against these events and deep inside her she wished she had could save the others; so in wonderland she tries to save them, to be the saviour she couldn't be in real life, just to awake in the asylum, finding them still dead; from there proceeding slowly to the acceptance stage.

In Breath of the Wild, one of the Champion abilities is a shield that you have a 3 use before cool down, if you have the button held down at the right time it will reflect the damage with a crystal that appears around link. A recharging "fire wall" that can be upgraded would be neat.

"How else might we leverage a "light on command" Flaming Skull?" Easy. Light up the skull, and the enemies within a certain distance flee from Alice. The skull would be on a cooldown so you can't overuse it, but it could get you out of situations where the enemies were getting a little too overwhelming in a tight space.

FifthDream

I would love if the ash dress procedurally takes damage or the other way around: heals up when making your way through the levels. Also I would love one of these prints. The artwork is amazing.

Yannic Kränz

This is just a idea that came to me recently and I don't expect you to follow it but I'd be interested in your opinion. Since the game will be directly following Alice's experience at the Looking Glass Land to some extent, I think it would be very interesting to make the main villain of this game one of the book's unused characters: the Lion. Imagine its mane a living wave of fire corrupting the inhabitants and landscape. This would also serve to 'explain' Alice's Ash Dress, as the Lion's fire corrupts her normal dress. Alice must then, like in Alice 1 and 2, try to stop the corruption of her dreamstate home by the hands of one of her own creations which is more connected to the fire she is trying to forget than she is. Except this time, by the end of the game, Wonderland's corruption is final. The effects of the fire cannot be reversed, even by the Unicorn.

Anikid

Isn't fire more of an enemy, than someting "positive", like a weapon, in this case? I mean, she lost her family, and in extention her mind, in a fire. She is feeling guilty about the fire, at this point, so maybe a main objective throught the game could be her trying to extinguish fire popping up in Wonderland, and failing to find the source of it (which she then does in Madness Returns). I love the designs so far, but.. It just seems weird to me, that she would be, for lack of better words, "friendly"/comfortable with flames. Unless it's a "fighting fire with fire"-type thing.

Perhaps Alice can turn to ash and smoke as a dodging mechanic? Smiliar to the butterflys in Madness returns!

Wonderland looks beautiful, I would immediately know we were looking at the vale. Love the back of the dress, the chard then flaming skull are a simple but awesome addition. I like all the implied ways it can be worked into the game play. As for fire weapons I feel like the old jack in the box from the first game couldn't be more appropriate a fit for both fire and toys in this game. It's the first thing I thought of when fire arsenal of weapons came up, it's two different versions of fire attacks from long and short range. Thanks for all the awesome new updates :).

Just throwing ideas out here... No order to any of this as there is not much to go on at this point.. but something to think about..For the ash dress-Hair has some smolder/glowy embers at the tips and dress faintly smokes/leaves a trail after running. makes a faint crackling sound. Another level idea that's different and could work at some point..Electric/lightning dress. lighting pulses aroubd Alice. Eyes glow faintly with pulses. Out door storm level with rain, lightning and a tornado tearing Wonderland apart chasing Alice. Needs to confront it by climbing up and jumping through its funnel to the eye.leading to next segment.(Think of the sky card castle level but not bright and sunny.) Poison Vial -projectile breaks and places a puddle of poison on the ground.. used for slowing enemies down and Damage Over Time effect. Lightening rod with lightening shock ability to incapacitate enemies while doing damage.

Matthew Nigrelli

What about a weapon like a makeshift candlestick/lantern flame thrower type weapon? It can cause AOE damage within a certain range of Alice and catch other enemies on fire and spead causing damage over time? It could also be used to unbock some obstacles.

Matthew Nigrelli

Ahh--- so much great content in one update! Firstly focusing on the finished Wonderland concept art, the color choice is wonderful and the scene is simply breathtaking; it is everything that Alice's Wonderland has been up until the point of her grief, and so I think it is absolutely a brilliant way to transition from the child Alice was to the person she will become as the game progresses! As for a fire-filled arsenal, I think that would fit the theme well! I'd still like to personally see a few "toys" in there (I admit that was one of my favorite things about the arsenal in the first game), but I'm willing to concede to the idea that each game should have a unique set of weapons best suited to Alice's needs and her state of mind at that time. Really love the idea of the soot being a cloaking or choking smoke-- that's a fun idea to play with! For leverage on a light command for the skull, I think timing puzzles would be the perfect opportunity for that, but you could also incorporate it in different ways depending on how you want the gameplay to go. If you wanted something a little less puzzle and a little more combat (though, I realize this is mostly a puzzle game as it stands, and so take this only as something to be considered on top of that), the flaming skull could be a system of warning to Alice/the player that enemies are nearby- whether she can see them or not, as it's possible to make enemies that keep more to the shadows, harder to spot, etc etc. Lastly, the Ash Dress--- I swear the more I see of this dress, the more I'm determined to quickly learn how to add LED lights to a cosplay successfully. I think the dress is definitely interesting enough for people to want to cosplay, but simple enough in pattern and such to be achievable. In many ways, it is like the classic dress- same build, same apron, etc. But then you burn and dirty the apron, add and diffuse some yellow/orange LED lights beneath the grey fabric, and it (ideally) comes together. I may be limited in the amount of cosplays I've personally sewn, but this is one of those that would be a fun challenge to a beginner, and probably on the more simplistic side for a seasoned seamstress. ....I definitely rambled but it's 2am and I can only hope that I got my points across coherently enough :'D