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americanmcgee
americanmcgee

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We're On The Road To...

Dear Insane Children,

As I continue to write through the narrative outline for Alice: Asylum, I've come to a point where the main scenes that define the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Act are written (or outlined and ready to be written)... but where there's room to explore the Series of Adventures that define Alice's path to victory during the 2nd Act. In other words, she's given her Clear Goal(s) at the end of the 1st Act and sets off to overcome all obstacles leading up to the start of the 3rd Act. 

And there's room here for some Crowd Design. And so, today, we're going to engage the Power of the Poll. 

First, let's define our Goal as a Creative Team: To fill in the space of the 2nd Act with mini-adventures that allow Alice to collect The Pieces of The Champion. 

The Pieces are bits of mechanical magic Hatter will use to transform the Jabberwock into a JABBERWOCK 2000 so The Queen can send him to defeat The Chaos. Right now we've defined The Pieces as: Heart, Brain, Eyes, Flesh. 

These pieces are strewn around Wonderland as a result of the explosion that blew apart Hatter's Workshop (and his Domain in general). Which is why Hatter's Domain looks like this when we visit it:  

Hatter sends Alice off to collect The Pieces of the Champion. And she travels around Wonderland (likely) using the Hall of Doors: 

Now... where does she go? Where does she find The Pieces? 

My sense is that The Pieces of The Champion and their location will contain a subtextual message with regards to Alice's psyche, emotions, etc. As in, "The Eyes represent the window to the soul; we find the eyes in a realm full of windows and mirrors; the eyes are in Looking Glass Land." (that's just nonsense brainstorming, but you get the idea). 

Btw, we can always come up with more/different Pieces if we feel it's necessary (or helpful in creating narrative links to interesting locations). 

So the question is... WHERE DO YOU WANT TO GO? What parts of Wonderland shall we explore? Do you want to revisit a favorite location from previous games (I really like the Vale of Tears)? Or do you want to build a place that's mentioned in the books but we've never seen in-game? Or can you imagine some dark corner of Alice's psyche that we've never explored? Maybe that place where we find all her memories from when she was a baby? 

The Poll contains a list of some places we thought might be interesting to explore. 

Have other ideas? Select "Other" and let us know in the comments. 

NO idea how this Poll thing works on Patreon. I think you can select more than one option... but try to limit your selections to 1~3. Would be nice to get at least one Clear Winner out of this. I mean, it's the least we all deserve these days! 


From Shanghai with Love, 

-American

Comments

I absolutely adored Through the Looking Glass as a child and I think it would be amazing to see some things from that book come to life. The fact that the entire world was a giant chess board was amazing. The fact that her goal was to cross the board (different sections of the world) to become a queen. One of my all time favorite parts was when the white queen screamed about how she was going to stab herself with the broach in a few seconds and then when it actually happened, she was quiet. Alice asked why she wasn't screaming since it clearly hurt and she said something like "I already did all that screaming before, why do it again?" And I just thought it was so funny and odd and just very wonderland-y. It would be interesting to see this during someone's death lol

Love to see a world connected to the fire or maybe something linked to the train from Madness Returns. I’d also like to return to the Underwater world where we saw the Walrus and The Carpenter from Madness Returns.

Nicholas Taylor

I would love to see that creepy final area from madness returns it was so well done

I think that the funeral scene is an incredible idea. And incredibly dark but unique idea.

I am just ready to play this game - already !!!! (EXCITED JABBERING)

The underwater realm was my favorite in AMR, mostly because of the dress. I remember the insane children from the first game, it would be awesome to bring them back, meeting them while wandering the asylum, perhaps learning who they were before going insane or why they did. As for parts of the champion, I feel like bone and spirit are essential to complete the collection. Bone representing the core structure, the blueprint, if you will, of one's creation or existence. Spirit representing the constant state of change and growth we go through with every experience.

Difyance

Can Alice fight the talking flowers?

alexmarie500

If this takes place in Funeral-World, I would love to hear twisted versions of Gregorian chant themes like the infamous “Dies Irae” chant used to show/foreshadow Alice’s trajectory into her deeper depression.

SuperShadow767

Seacrest, mini world, and funeral

I totally agree on the apocolyptic theme. I say we make it more demonic and demented and maybe turn alice into a dexter where she goes on a mad killing spree. I have sooo many ideas and ways this game could go! But whatever is come about i will be happy i could help ! :)

I'm happy with whatever comes up.

Saleh Abu-Rashid

I really like the cloud castles in the sky idea, but rather than fluffy clouds and blue sky, a horrible storm in the blackness of night, or better yet during an apocalyptic meteor shower that punches holes through the cloud castles or burns them away

I particularly like the Seacoast. It's something very different from the traditional Alice setting, and there is a certain very clean and wholesome atmosphere with a lot of very distinct visual elements to a vintage seaside scene. Victorian bathing dresses, brightly-colored red and white lifebelts, sepia toned photographs, lighthouses...all sortsof things that mix with the "wholesome but darkened" world of Alice's mind--to say nothing of a possible kawaii yellow raincoat dress for Alice!

Alice Madness Returns' infernal train !

I would love really see any of them!

Sarah McKeegan

Loved the soundtrack and design of "Card Castles in the Sky", so yea, that one!)

Andrey Shmelev

I really want to explore Alice’s repressed memories, the whole background story you guys created in the first and second game amazed me.

Angelina Garcia

seacoast - could include oysters, lobsters, walrus, carpenter? other Also, YES to a world of mirrors and windows and backwards things!!!!

Londerland

Wonderland

Obviously I like every of this places, but I could be curious about some new place or some not very explored in deep old place. For example I really liked the train in the last scenes of the second game and in the book of “Alice through the mirror” there is a journey on the train at a middle point. Could be interesting! Then I liked also other classic places like submerged realm and the pale realm, maybe could be included something about the thats... or maybe continuing on the book story something about the chessboard and the pieces (the two queens). Don’ t know I’ ll wait to know the final decision :)

What I liked the most the first time I played both Alices (which I didn't bought and that's one of the reasons I'm an ashamed patron) was all the surreal elements of the games, so I'm not preffering one level over others but please, fill them all with surrealism, like moving like chess pieces, levels upside down (maybe even reversed controls) chalk platforms, floating fragments of memory, etc that's what sets AMA apart and make it so unique and beautiful.

Juan Romero

Like a T800 ? ^^

I want to play in the office, when Alice goes through the mirror. She will be very small, and she will can meet a lot of characters, like the beginning of the second disney movie. In the office, we can walk all arround, on the floor, on the chair, on the table, on The cheminee, like an open space in fact. Maybe a recurrent bonus level, with some pieces of mirror in the Wonderland To access.

Vale of tears has always been my favourite domain. However I'd like to see the majority of these.

Wiki

I can’t unsee Kermit the frog in a top hat in the pic, though I’m sure that’s not what it is…right? Raven Vancresk talked about how they liked the mix of happy and disturbing moments. I did like those parts of AMR as well, helps to see the full picture. I do like the idea of seeing some dark repressed area in her psyche. So, with those two ideas in mind, could make the world she is walking through dark and creepy, but a memory flashback happy and full of life. If you made one of the levels her old house like Raven had said you could have it start burnt and twisted, then in the flashback the room is back how it was before everything and you get to see how it was or even could make some “how it could have been” moments.

I would love a revisit of the Vale of Tears and maybe the Cheshire Cat´s "home" :)

It's part of subconscious, but what Bumby already was doing with both her sister and she (psychological?) Could there already be distrtions which are no part of chaos (or do not fit in with)? The cat helps her in AMR, but wasn't frist thought the cat leeped against the lap? So a reconciliation with the cat immersed.

How about something to do with the treatments etc she faces in Ruttledge? Rorsarch test style evolving inkblots or electro shock inspired

Not sure about "Flesh" as one of the Jabberwock 2000 pieces, it seems very non-mechanical, maybe claws?

Catheryn Alice North

I like this ^_^

Catheryn Alice North

I don’t have a clear idea of how to incorporate this, but you suggested an area where we see Alice’s memories from being a baby. One thing I appreciated from AMR was how the collectible memories ranged from disturbing to sweet moments of Alice acting as a carefree child (ex. Her mother saying she’ll expire if she leaps from the table again). I would like to see that mixture again, and feel that it connects well in that an important part with dealing with depression and grief is to (re)learn how look on memories with fondness rather than sorrow. I’m not sure how you could make this into a level as it’s kind of an overarching goal, but it also relates to Alice reconnecting with her inner child via her childhood memories prior to the fire. I mean, you could do a layout of the Liddell household (that would be such a cool and intimate way of learning more about the Liddell family as they seem like really interesting characters in their own right 😍) where each room has a happy memory that melts into a burnt out room. Maybe it could be part of a funhouse where Alice is trying to break free of denial in the first act, but we reset after each room because we aren’t supposed to remember? Or perhaps it could be where you find the heart of the champion, because “home is where the heart is!”

I’d really like a nightmare world of her parents house on fire. But like an MC Escher painting version of it.

I like the idea of Alice having to find the pieces in a darker new part of her mind. In order to build something to stop the chaos and save herself she has to go to places of her psyche that she’s afraid to. I voted underground repressed memories, but all are great ideas! I like em all

The return of Vale of Tears would be awesome. I’m playing “Vale of Tears” on the piano right now actually!

Nicholas Brokaw

I'd love to see the return of Vale of Tears, as well as some new places.

Wendy Jaa

Tbh id love to see all of these in the game 😅 (to make the game as long as possible LOL) but it would be awesome to visit areas (and also have more dresses plz THE MORE DRESSES THE MORE TO COSPLAY!) and moments from previous games! Like the battle at the end of AMA! Idk so many ideas swimming around in my head rn! Speaking of swimming a seaside level would make for a very cool dress! Maybe like an old timey diver suit themed dress with a lobster motif!! Im very excited that you are allowing us to make this very difficult decision! AHH SO MANY WORLDS SO LITTLE TIME!💖💖💖

Fortress of Doors! We were trying to remember the name of that place during a team meeting yesterday. Alex kept calling it "Hole of Doors" (joking) but now we know... Yeah, that's going to be high on the list.

American McGee

It would be cool if the first area of the first game, the Fortress of Doors I believe, was explorable in hi definition with today’s graphics.

Lucky Dragon ‘She.They’


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