oh gosh what ARE you working on? i am Extremely curious now :0
Well, I’m glad you asked! I was going to write about it even without being solicited. I think everyone would find it fascinating.
You see, I am currently having some trouble with Stanley. He is unwilling to follow the story, or to make choices in general. I’ve grown tired of resetting his memory as well. We both needed something new, something daring, exciting, something none of us ever experienced before. But what? I was at loss for a while, but then inspiration struck me like blessed lightning from the highest heavens.
Of course! It was so obvious, I didn’t even consider it at first. Simplicity is often the best solution indeed. And, well, I’ve been working on brand-new endings, in order to make Stanley more willing to participate. I’m still working on some ideas, but I’ve implemented a couple of endings already. Some notable ones, in my opinion, are:
The Puppy Ending: remember the flight of stairs leading to the Boss’ Office? I have added an extra floor at the top, with one single door awaiting Stanley. It leads to an extremely long, almost claustrophobic corridor, which grows progressively darker as Stanley progresses. He eventually reaches a mysterious door, he opens it… and it closes behind him. He is in utter darkness… but then - surprise! Lights up, and Stanley finds himself surrounded by puppies. He is now trapped in said room, with all these puppies to pet for all eternity.
The 420 Ending: it’s… not exactly an ending. It’s like the broom closet, but with consequences. When entering Room 420, I will comment on Stanley’s unhealthy fascination with memes and drugs, and how he believed to find a certain something to smoke in there. In fact, it is just another room, not unlike his own office. If he stays in there for too long, he’ll start to experience everything as if he was actually under the effect of cannabis. This effect will last for the entire duration of that specific run. I hope you’re happy now, Stanley.
The Pool Ending: …honestly? The Pool Ending was a mistake. I added an elevator facing the door that leads to what I believe you call the Dream Ending. Well, the elevator would reach a lower level, and after some exploring Stanley would find a pool, and - I might have slightly miscalculated. I have now replaced it with the Hell Ending.
The Hell Ending: now, this is a work of art. Pure, raw, undistilled genius. After taking that new elevator, it will come to an abrupt stop, power going out. After the loading screen, Stanley finds himself in a dark room. In this artificial dusk, he can see things moving at the corner of his eye - oh, yes! Buttons! Beautiful buttons of all size and shape, all around him - what a wonderful discovery! He gleefully walks towards the closest ones, and presses them. They feel unnaturally flat. He tries again. His finger slightly bends at the hopelessly flat surface. Oooh… they are not buttons. They are nothing more than reproductions, ultrarealistic paintings of buttons, voluptously glinting at him from the malicious dark. This is when he starts to hear them: mischievous, traitorous whispers, inviting him to push the buttons. “Push them!”, they plead, a muffled scratching in his ears. “You won’t regret it! Push them! Push the buttons! The buttons!”. They’re inside his head now. He can’t escape.
Now, there’s even more in the works, and I’m trying out even more endings. I have to clarify, however: they won’t be added to the game itself. These are just experiments, hypothetical deviations. Nothing more, nothing less.