Character Ideas: Whinney and Wafflejaw

[Rayze Darr]

I actually spend a lot of time while bored at work brainstorming ideas about this game. Most I think are utter crap, but some really stand out to me. One thing I noticed was that there are currently no characters that favor convenience. Wilson and Willow favor survival through back-up lives and protection from the dark, and Wendy and Wolfgang favor combat through a partner and increased combat stats. So I started thinking of ways to implement a character that didn't have any real bonuses to survival or combat, but instead a character that gave these up for the sake of convenience.

I also recalled a forum post that showed images of potential character models found in the in-game folders that showed a spider, a skeleton, a demon, and a robot, so I began thinking of something non-human. That is how this idea came to me:

Name: Whinney

Title: The Mare

Special Abilities: Increased Movement Speed and Increased Inventory Space

Appearance: A kind of derpy looking blonde horse. She has a satchel hanging off of one side and a saddle which has a small, blue bird always riding on it. The bird would fly away if Whinney ever entered combat, and then return when all was clear. Held items are always held in her mouth.

The idea behind her is basically for those who like exploration and item gathering. She lacks the survival skills of the other characters, so combat is probably best avoided unless she's armored up. For the increased speed, I was thinking that she would be about as fast as a Tallbird, so not break-neck but fast enough to notice a difference. For the inventory space, I was thinking a mere 4 slots. For those who gather a lot of items, 4 extra stacks can mean a huge difference.

Another idea I was rolling around in my head was as different take on Wolfgang. Initially, I thought of calling him Wario, but I figured there would be copyright issues with that. Wolfgang's main focus is combat, but I've always felt that him having the extra hunger stat was perhaps a bit much. That's how this idea came to mind.

Name: Wafflejaw

Title: The Rolling Wonder

Special Abilities: Massive health, needs to eat much more often, eats much faster

Appearance: A short man who is as wide as he is tall. He has a small, white mustache and a nearly bald head with his white hair forming a comb-over. His default outfit is a sleeveless white shirt with some sort of red and yellow stain on it and shorts.

The idea behind Wafflejaw is essentially a tank. Due to his massive girth, he takes longer to down, and has an amazing 400 health. However, you know those larger people, he needs to eat constantly and comes with only 50 hunger. To balance this, where most characters take a second to consume any item more complicated than a berry, Wafflejaw can down anything, from Cooked Morsels to Dragonpie, in a single gulp. He may not have the stomach or damage output that Wolfgang has, but his health and ability to heal more easily in combat through his gluttonous nature lead to battles that may be long, but are much more successful.

Thoughts?

Edited December 14, 2012 by Rayze Darr
Whoops, Mare, not Stallion. Stallions are dudes.

[xeezy]

These are actually great ideas. I don't like the character look of the first one as much to be honest, but the abilities sound great. The ability to tank, but to have very low hunger makes it balanced out too, on Wafflejaw.

[horatio_svetlana]

I found a character suggestion name Webster http://forums.kleientertainment.com/showthread.php?4095-Webster-New-Character-Concept that's similar to Whinney and I like him more.

Wafflejaw sounds great, with a low hunger stat like that I don't think he even needs to have a quicker decreasing hunger level. Funny character to put in a game called Don't Starve.

- - - Updated - - -

I found a character suggestion name Webster http://forums.kleientertainment.com/showthread.php?4095-Webster-New-Character-Concept that's similar to Whinney and I like him more.

Wafflejaw sounds great, with a low hunger stat like that I don't think he even needs to have a quicker decreasing hunger level. Funny character to put in a game called Don't Starve.

[KayO199X]

One minor error you made is you referred to Whinney as "The Stallion" even though she is actually a mare. By the way, did you get the idea for Whinney from this character?

[Rayze Darr]

Ah, didn't even notice that I did that, lol.

And no, I'm not a brony. But I do see the connection.

[Jonah Hollow]

I'd like to see a wafflejaw type character implemented.

[Rayze Darr]

Oh, Horatio, didn't even see your post. Yeah, I saw that Webster post. Fancy that two people had the same general idea, and I gotta admit, a human character over a horse would probably be more appealing...

I still like my horse, though. ^^;

[horatio_svetlana]

I got the brony vibe from Whinney too after you described her using her mouth to carry things. A few ways for her to function better: the bird on her is what picks things up and maybe you substitute items she can't use like shovels by just having her dig with her hooves. It'd have to be balanced by her inability to wear armor, make backpacks, or something.

[horatio_svetlana]

Oh, and does Wafflejaw have a literally sleeveless shirt, or is it one of those sleeves that's only two inches long? I think he should also have a napkin tucked into his collar.

[Rayze Darr]

Oh, and does Wafflejaw have a literally sleeveless shirt, or is it one of those sleeves that's only two inches long? I think he should also have a napkin tucked into his collar.

I was picturing a wife beater, so literally no sleeves. Basically, the total opposite of Wilson; an uncivilized, fat, American.

As for Whiney, that's not a bad idea. I do want her to be able to wear backpacks, since that's the point of her built-in storage... or maybe not. Maybe she has a built-in full 8-slot backpack too, as well as build-in tools? Maybe give her a unicorn horn for mining and spurs for chopping trees, but then making it so she can't equip any kind of clothing or armor? Or would that be a bit overpowered?

[horatio_svetlana]

Unable to equip armor makes her high-risk, high-vulnerability, so in the same way 10 and 4 average out to 7, while 7 and 7 average out to 7.

[KayO199X]

It's worth mentioning that someone already drew Whinney's look-a-like in the Tim Burton art style (the style this game is made in). So mabie this is closer to what you thought Whinney should look like.