Cireclinlin

Cireclinlin is a Discord server for fans of Cyanide and Happiness. In June 2017, its members were brainstorming a video game based on C&H fan culture.

Background
After seeing a coincidental resemblance between one Cireclinlin member's avatar and a Logan Kart 8 character, Itsyaboy suggested making a video game based on the personalities and memes of the C&H fandom. It'd be "self-insert playable fanfiction" as Cteklite called it.

We've agreed on a genre: 2D overhead adventure or RPG, somewhere along the line from Zelda through Secret of Mana through EarthBound to Final Fantasy. Graphics would be pixel art, staying within the limits of one of the third- or fourth-generation consoles, such as 16x16-pixel tiles on a scrolling 256x224-pixel plane, to make the asset load manageable for a loosely knit team of hobbyists.

The hub of the game world is a village that represents where the C&H comics take place: a more or less present-day if sketchy small town. The art style would somewhat resemble that of the shorts, as the white backgrounds in the comics proper don't give much to go on. Commenters are sort of tourists, but the regulars perhaps have an apartment.

Arsenic & Joy (the Skype group) and Cireclinlin (here) are local hangouts of some sort. A&J used to be booming until most people started hanging out in Cireclinlin.
 * Can we get a date for when A&J activity dropped off a cliff? 2017-05-something?

Story
Main article: Story (Cireclinlin)

The overall story line is an allegory for experiences in Explosm.net's comment section since 2016.

After the village was destroyed, the elders decided to rebuild it in December 2014. To keep the new village from meeting the same fate, only those deemed worthy were permitted to enter at first. Those outside could watch what happened there but not enter. Without a large influx of visitors, the new village stayed clean yet stagnant.

Early on, the rulers decided it would be better if all people could share the land. But there wasn't enough space for everyone at first; land needed to be excavated and leveled to allow more people in. After ten months, it was opened to everyone. This ended the stagnation, even though a month of constant talk in the square about being glad to be in the village annoyed the long-time residents.

Pino heard of incidents in the village and moved in to try to solve them. There he met others, who told stories of a dog who used to roam the streets killing pigeons. But over time, the polluters arrived.

Timeline
This timeline of events was compiled by ProfessAdeath and may help define story arcs.
 * 2005
 * Creation of Explosm


 * 2006
 * ProfessAdeath [Begins everlong surveying of Explosm]


 * 2014
 * Matt Melvin leaves Explosm
 * Comments section is established


 * 2015
 * # WCCFFN
 * Fire_Mutt joins and is caught
 * RCG obsession
 * Cteklite (PPM)
 * YourOldGameboy
 * Pino joins


 * 2016
 * Pino returns daily
 * The Man Himself (PPM)
 * Noodle (as Al) (PPM)
 * Activity increases
 * Depth limit
 * Talking in badges
 * Burgundy Settee #3 (Dave?) (PPM)
 * Itsyaboy (PPM)
 * Goat (PPM)
 * ProfessAdeath (PPM)


 * 2017
 * Judgment Day, 19xx
 * ASCII M4N (PPM)
 * High Explosive Pigeon (PPM)
 * Average Blueshirt (PPM)
 * Judgment Day II

PPM are potential party members, who may be recruitable depending on available hardware and developer resources.

Playable
The first playable character:


 * Pino

Others can be recruited into the party in various ways, including Defeat Means Playable.


 * Cteklite
 * Itsyaboy
 * George (YOGB/InHouse Lurker)
 * Age: maybe 55
 * Weight: how many tacos are near
 * Height: idk Satan
 * ASCII M4N
 * Frogs
 * Age: 350 million
 * Weight: Diamond Ott
 * Height: 1 metre tall
 * Primary: Kicking
 * Secondary: Shuriken
 * This Ninja Frog has been an orphan his whole life. He learned his skills by himself. He has many friends, and a dirty sense of humor. Born in Japan, but recently found out that his mother is Canadian.(Rewording requested)
 * Al (Alexandra)
 * The Man Himself
 * Age: 105
 * Weight: 1/2 whey
 * Height: two paces
 * Having lived an old life, he doesn't really feel like (insert game objective here) anymore. He passes on his knowledge to the young 'uns instead, though he's still got a few kicks left in him.
 * He's old school. Doesnt like metric or imperial.
 * Is an NPC from the start of the game, like the tutorial guy, but is playable later on
 * Primary: Cane
 * Secondary: Hat frisbee
 * High Explosive Pigeon
 * Age:9001
 * Weight:0 (Get on the scale already)
 * Height: 2 ft.
 * Primary: Flop
 * Limit break: Explode. Deals massive damage to target opponent and then faints.
 * Goat
 * Age: In goat years?
 * Weight: Not fit to eat, that's for sure
 * Height: Small
 * Team pet, obtained from a farmer after defeating a boss. Useful companion but can be sacrificed to restore all party members' health and stamina or sacrificed to a god in some location for a favor yet to be determined. As The Man Himself put it: "If shit hits the fan, you're dinner"
 * Dave
 * A sofa that can be sacrificed to restore all party members' health and stamina.
 * Yet somehow sapient enough to have a habit of "asking questions to make people think about their options".
 * ProfessAdeath
 * Age: 20XX
 * Weight: Condensed megaton
 * Height: Slightly taller or shorter than you. Fluxuating at all times.
 * Bio: A camouflage robot built in ancient times from experimental plans accidentally sent from a very insanely distant utopian future. Surviving somehow being made of questionable yet adequate materials it still functions after roaming aimlessly free, annoyingly stuck on autopilot, for many years. Searching for arbitrary problems to solve per it's programming, it suffers glitches of skepticism and blunt honesty which may be used to prompt a variety of miscellaneous side quests before attaining.
 * Average Blueshirt
 * Age: Probably 35
 * Weight: Average
 * Height: Average
 * Bio: The most average blueshirt. Loves watching greenshirts in pain.

To do: Front, side, and back drawings of all characters

Enemies
To be based on notorious posters of unconstructive comments to comics on Explosm.net, such as the Judgmentals.

NPCs
NPCs are drawn as stick dolls in a style reminiscent of C&H.

Items
We may use the rush meter system with pasta-themed items to restore stamina.

Attacks would cost stamina, "special" attacks more than physical ones.

Enemies

 * See: Cireclinlin enemies

Asset load
Each map (overworld, town, or dungeon) is made of 16x16-pixel tiles. Each tile can have black and three other colors. A map can have four such sets of three colors. But in order to get a starting point, we're going to have to collect character concept art designs. It doesn't matter what size you draw the characters first, just that there are front, side, and back views. From the concept art, we'd make versions suitable for a smaller pixel size, such as 16x24 to 16x32, and then draw a town map to put them on.

Mind the perspective: Cels in most characters' sprite sheets should be 16 pixels wide and 24 to 32 pixels tall, with the camera about 26 degrees down from horizontal, as in this sprite sheet (and the original unscaled rendering). Characters that move on all fours might use a sprite that's wider but not as tall. To simplify things, choose one dark color, one medium color, and one light color for a sprite sheet.