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technovillain · 6 months

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really curious about your ideas for the Truman mind DLC, care to share- you said you had wall of text and phone, and we always love to see those pour out- as alas we cannot dive into minds (yet).

Several people have asked for my wall of text now so I must oblige!!! I'll clean up my phone memo stuff a little bit for you all :] Here we go:

TRUMAN'S TOPIARY:

A twisting garden theme with a notably busy vibe. Lots of little mental workers ( the Trumen ) hard at work trimming all the tiny branches. Multi-tiered hedge maze setup that plays with different types of plants throughout, including different people from his life represented as different types of plants.

You start out in an endless grassy field with a giant topiary tree in it there are green needle weeds at the base of one side. A few censors and regrets burst out around this area to fight. As you approach the tree you can climb up it, and there are carvings in the wood akin to Truman's tattoos (I am a Truman cool hidden tattoos truther okay).

The first level is absolutely crawling with Trumen, little garden-gnome-esque Truman guys who would prune the trees in a very calculated manner....normally. Right now they are crazy busy at work pruning thousands of little gristol heads out of the woodwork...nasty bodysnatching side effects. There is a hub in this area with a big brainlike water feature reminiscent of the original motherlobe design. Warm dappled green lighting everywhere.

Truman will talk to you inside his mind, like Sasha and Milla do. But he isn't so much present as just himself but rather sort of the whole tree is him in a way?? Or maybe just a certain part of the tree he is visible and speaks to you. The leaves around you can part and open and blink like his eyes. The ground rumbles a little when he talks and shakes a lot when he laughs or shouts.

There is an area full of flowers for Lili, and a lily flower version of Lili. His representation of her makes it entirely clear that she is an absolute ray of sunshine in his life. This area is somewhat reminiscent of a kid's bedroom mixed with a flower garden....something something flower bed.

There is a secondary area above the main hub where you can find Hollis (as well as a few other agents) as plant characters. This area covers his relationship with her and the other agents and also how he feels about the current state of the Psychonauts.

There is the Truman part of the Truman Tree at the top and that's where you learn more about him and you can hear all his thoughts. This is where you see how he really works. The Trumen are kind of like harmless censors in a way. As you observe them you realize they have a bit of a "hiding what the vibe really is" thing going on as they overwater, overprune, and overwork themselves. In this room is an access point to the main trunk piece of the Truman Tree. You can go inside and slide down it to the root system.

The roots area allows you to see a bit into Truman's past and this is where you see his relationships to Bob and Laurel (his mother). The main problem here is Bob being essentially buried alive. Thats what's causing the crazy weeds on the surface and all the strife in his head is his really shitty relationship with Bob and the heavy regrets he has about how he left things with him and feeling responsible for Bob's rapid decline.

We see that he can make a clean break, although it splinters pretty heavily with Delphine's area of the tree being pruned away, with Delphine connections being left mostly through the Lili section of the brain. [Memory vault in a part of the Lili section that goes through the rise and fall of their relationship quickly]

Anyways the root system shows us a memory vault of Truman's memories with his mother Laurel, with the last one implying her death from cancer. The physical version of Laurel is her as some sort of plant that has been closed in a book. Reminiscent of both a coffin and also the fond memory that goes along with a plant pressing. What book it is might be relevant in some way...haven't decided yet

The other part of the root system is Bob. The Bob, who is a very thorny cactus man in a closed in glass planter. It is cracked and the thorny weeds are breaking through it and up to the surface but no light comes in.

.... I honestly haven't thought a whole lot about gameplay mechanics other than that it relies heavily on Herbaphony, the new power that Truman teaches you. Levitation and mental connection doesn't really do anything for getting around in this level.

Herbaphony has two primary features and functions pretty similarly to mental connection. In a non combat setting it helps you get around into new areas. Using herbaphony on hotspots grows purple vines around them. Growing lots of vines next to each other connects them and you can climb up them. In combat, you can grow vines around enemies and the plants sap their energy and gives it to you.

#truman zanotto #brain level concept #truman's topiary #.txt #ask #hcs #delphine feng #laurel zanotto

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