#lone coon

[supercomputer276]

I am now opening vector art commissions! (Yes, I can draw. No, I don't usually share my art around here.) Send me a chat if you're interested in buying one!

[supercomputer276]

[supercomputer276]

The Vessel will return by the end of Deltarune, and here is my argument why.

Statement 1: The purpose of a save file in a video game is to store data about the player's progress so the game can recreate the game state close enough that the game can resume from the point of loading as if the player never stopped.

This is how video games work.

Statement 2: By statement 1, it can therefore be assumed that any data in a game's save file is important to the game state and will be used by the game, either in the past and/or future relative to the point of saving.

If a developer doesn't need a particular datum to be able to sufficiently recreate the game state at any given point, why would they go to the effort of preserving it? This applies to Deltarune too. Do you really think Toby is that bad at using GameMaker after over ten years making some of the biggest indie games in the world? Like, come on.

Statement 3: The Vessel is in Deltarune's save file.

You don't even need the save editor to check this. If you open a save file in a text editor, literally the second line is the Vessel's name.

As well, when a new save file is made in a chapter after Chapter 1 for some mad indescribable reason, it generates a Vessel for it, lacking a name but otherwise having choices preselected, including at least one that isn't just the first option.

Despite being described as "discarded", the Vessel is not gone, even if you don't bother to make it yourself.

Statement 4: The Vessel's use from being in the save file, as of the end of Chapter 4, has not occurred yet.

Consider the Vessel's narrative rhyme, the Thrash Machine. A creation with an out-there set of customization options (the Vessel's "mind", the Machine's color choices and also the duck options) which the player / characters create and get invested in by the sheer act of creation, only for it to be discarded not long after with basically no fanfare.

Even aside the Thrash Machine coming back in full form in chapter 2 (and getting a cameo in Chapter 3), the Thrash Machine needed to be in Chapter 1's save file. The data is needed for the junk Machine to be constructed later in the chapter, but there are opportunities for the player to save and quit between designing the Machine and its junk construction, even without backtracking. Thus the Machine is put in the save file for proper reconstruction of the game state.

The introduction sequence takes place entirely in one room, accessed like ten minutes before the player has access to a save point. If the Vessel was never meant to be seen again after that, Toby would have literally no reason to bother preserving its data. It's also not part of some batch saving like the flags array; the Vessel's name is stored as a string in the standalone global.name variable (for comparison, the player's name is global.truename). Toby has to be saving this data deliberately.

Despite this, the Vessel's data has yet to emerge in any noticeable way in the game. The player's name is used to name the Castle Town in the Rudinn's dialogue, but nothing currently depends upon the Vessel's design.

Conclusion: Per statements 2 and 4, if the Vessel's data is in the save file has not be used yet, then by necessity, it must be used later. The Vessel will return.

I have my own pet theories as to how it will do so. If you will allow me some speculation:

I don't think it'll act as a replacement player character in the event Kris ditches the SOUL and the other heroes, given the amount of animations that would have to be recreated with all those different parts just for battles - there's a reason you don't see this kind of character customization in 2D games.

I think the Vessel will be found with its name. If the Vessel lacks a name due to the save file being made after chapter 1, Ralsei will likely propose giving it a name to refer it to. That seems like the kind of thing he'll do.

[supercomputer276]

[supercomputer276]

[supercomputer276]

RUNNING TOWARDS YOUR DIRECTION AT IMMENSE SPEEDS

YOU KNOW THE SILLY GHOST BOY!?!??!?!?

I KNOW THE SILLY GHOST BOY!!!!!!!!!

So for those not in the know, Disney's Party was a 2003 party game for the GameCube, developed by Neverland (known mainly for Lufia and Rune Factory) and published by EA. I sought this game out for ages after I saw it being advertised at Innoventions at Tomorrowland. The core premise is that Scrooge McDuck has opened a massive theme park across an archipelago of six themed islands, and the classic Disney cast are visiting and enjoying the park. The core gameplay loop is out of scope for this post, but it's meant to capture the experience of going around a theme park together with your family, visiting attractions (the mini-games) and buying souvenirs. The game's kinda mid from what I recall (my GameCube games are currently buried rn), but it has its charms.

The six playable characters are the classic Disney roster: Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, and... Billy.

Since, y'know, Pluto's a (non-kemono) dog, so he can't really participate like that. So they made up a new character that's Mickey's friend that's a ghost living in a cardboard box to protect him from sunlight.

I always played as Billy since he's the orange character.

[supercomputer276]

I think my main concern for the Super Mario Bros movie at this point (beyond Pratt dragging everything down and it being a reference-fest-over-actual-story) is Peach making a comment that throws shade at her usual "damsel in distress" role in the games, which are a continuity that doesn't exist in the movie and would not make any sense to make.

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[supercomputer276]

Cult of the Lamb is a duality to me. On one hand, the crusading is super fun, I'm having a great time and I'm really good at it as long as I keep from being too reckless. On the other, I'm pretty sure the simulation part is giving me microtrauma.

My headcanon is the Lamb is just constantly screaming internally.