Regarding A Certain Poll...

Thieves In Time Redux Meme #7

During Something's Fishy (Episode 1), instead of a hacking segment, we get a "protect Bentley" segment...

What Bentley thinks happened: Murray took out most of the guards. He's sure Penelope got at least a few of the smaller ones.

What actually happened: Murray and Penelope each took out half of the guards. Murray swears she took out a little more than half.

Is Murray trying to make his little sister look good? Maybe. But both of them did pull their weight. Too bad Bentley didn't see any of it...

Moral of the story: Don't underestimate this mouse girl. Sadly, that's a lesson Bentley won't fully learn until Episode 2's Jail Break...

One of my favorite things about Sly Cooper is how much personality is in the environments! The level design is full of so much character and storytelling.

A Sucker Punch artist said in an interview that they almost always came up with the boss’s personality first. Then, they would design the level to reflect the  personality of the character who owned it.

“The bosses and all that stuff is usually done really early on, like before anyone even starts. … because that establishes how each level is going to feel from a directional standpoint.”

Check out this concept art for Sly 1 by Karin Madan, showing how the characters’ basic designs/personalities were basically nailed down by the time they began doing explorations of what their levels would look like.

And that shows in the final games!

It really shows that the characters were created first, and then the levels were designed afterwards, to reflect the characters’ unique personalities and backstories.

It shows in how… in how none of the levels feel generic. Every level feels extremely specific to the character who owns them. 

Like– there is no way you could create a level like Dmitiri’s level without Dmitiri. That level is his!  You can feel Dmitri’s personality in every part of the design, from the music to the tiny details on the signs.

 Dmitri is a nightclub owner, so the entire map revolves around his nightclub. He is dramatic and Extra™— so his nightclub is the BIGGEST and FLASHIEST building on the map. The blue and violet aesthetic reflects Dmitri’s own color scheme. The artsy, ritzy Paris setting reflects Dmitri’s past as an artist and nightclub owner. 

The giant peacock sign at the front of the nightclub- and the peacock imagery throughout the entire level, like in Dmitri’s lounges and on his boat– reflects how gaudy and vain Dmitri is. 

His flashlight guard is designed to look like a bouncer, Because Nightclub Owner.  The little guards are designed to look like a mime (because France) and and a French frog (also because France.)

Dmitri cares a LOT about the Aesthetic™ of things.Getting “that kinetic aesthetic” is EXTREMELY important to Dmitri. 

 So his level is full of heavily curated and landscaped scenery like gardens, statues, ponds, courtyards, and water fountains. Violet flowers are growing everywhere, and placed in flowerpots all around. 

 There are posters on all the walls advertising a big Show that’s going to happen at Dmtiri’s club.  The level is full of art and paintings (that we know from Dmitri’s intro are all counterfeit.) There are Sophisticated Golden Chandeliers, and stone statues, which help emphasize Dmitri’s Artsy™ and Aesthetic-Obsessed personality.  

 Signs on the buildings advertise tourist-y things like hotels and cafes, which helps convey the idea that we’re in a very wealthy and fun area of Paris.

Dmitri’s symbol, his tail in a spiral shape, shows up everywherE throughout his nightclub– the most obvious places being his coins and the center of the disco dance floor.

And the disco music reflects Dmitri’s wild, over the top personality.

Like???? There are wine bottles all around the level, because Paris, because artsy, and because Nightclub. But look closely at those wine bottles! Even the tiny details on the bottles are very specific to Dmitri and reflect his personality:

They’re bright comedy/tragedy masks with confetti on them, a smaller version of the posters you see around the level advertising the shows at Dmitri’s club. This isn’t just a wine bottle, it’s a DMITRI-BRAND WINE BOTTLE.

And we could go on and on and ON, and talk about every single teeny-tiny detail in the level, and how it’s related to Dmitri’s personality. Because Dmitri’s level iS his personality! Everything about his map is designed to reflect who he is as a character! You really can’t separate the level design from the character who inspired it.

A level as unique as Dmitri’s Paris can only happen when it’s being built with a specific character/story in mind. 

And that’s true for every level in the trilogy. Whenever you explore them, you can feel the personality of the character who owns them dripping from even the tiniest details. This makes each level feel special– not like a generic Video Game Level™, but like a specific place owned by a specific character with a specific personality. 

This gives the villains a sense of total Presence in the story even when they’re not actually onscreen for very long. And it makes you feel like you really are a thief, trespassing in a place that’s clearly owned by someone else.

so seeing how Sly doesn't get stuck in Egypt, how does it end?

Well, of course our four heroes end up staying together. Beyond that, I'm not sure where to take them.

Sly and Carmelita? Sly has given up on a future with her. Does Carmelita want to make up with him? Maybe.

Bentley and Penelope? They're engaged. A very well deserved reward after she took down Le Paradox and led everyone to victory on his blimp. She's been forgiven, though she is having trouble with forgiving herself.

http://misstalwyn.tumblr.com/post/74146663162/was-dwelling-on-honor-among-thieves-again-and

was dwelling on honor among thieves again and decided to list actual hard proof of Penelope’s badassery

went toe to toe with Sly once

on the wings of a plane iN THE AIR

set up an international flying competition just to wipe the skies with everyone

all of her RC vehicles have little flowers…

New refs???

Thieves In Time Redux Meme #13

Here's how I fixed Thieves In Time...

Anyway, these changes are only the tip of the iceberg...

I know making Penelope the main protagonist is a bold move, but I can't see this story going any other way. Yes, this also means making her fully playable as well.

The Armory: Bentley’s Wheelchair

Bentley’s Wheelchair is a rolling weapons platform that made its first appearance in Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves. Due to an accident that occurred in Sly 2, Bentley found himself paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair. Rather than let the fact that he can’t walk any more get him down, Bentley put together a specialized wheelchair that would allow him to do everything he was able to do on his feet and then some. For our purposes today we will be looking at how Bentley uses it….I mean…we don’t have a choice, he’s the only one who uses it.

Strengths

Bentley’s chair is equipped with all kinds of neat gizmos and gadgets. The thing is tricked out with spring loaded wheels and rockets that allow it to jump to a similar degree as Sly & Murray. Extra rockets can even be fired to allow Bentley to reach even greater heights. The chair is also equipped with telescopic arms that allow Bentley to do things such as pickpocketing and deploying bombs hands free. An important feature as the chair is not self powered, requiring Bentley to turn the wheels to make it move. And of course, the chair has a sleep dart launcher. To put it bluntly, everything Bentley was able to do before his accident can be done in this chair.

Weaknesses

Though the chair is equipped with all the gizmos Bentley could ever need in the field, I’m not exactly sure as to why he doesn’t have a motor to drive this thing. I mean, Bentley isn’t in terrible shape but he had only been handicapped for about a year so it must have been tiring having to roll this thing around by hand. Especially with all the tech packed into this thing. It must be heavy. It’s also important to note that Bentley isn’t a bloodthirsty character so apart from the bombs, there isn’t much on this chair that is going to take someone’s life.

Bentley's use of the Weapon

Given that Bentley crafted the chair for his own personal use, it has basically become an extension of his body. Like I said, he was able to do everything he could in Sly 2 in Sly 3 despite the lack of working legs. Yeah it did keep him from taking on any bosses as all they had to do was knock the chair over to take him out but Bentley but I’d still refer to this old turtle as handicapable rather than handicaped.

Conclusion

Bentaly’s chair is pretty impressive though I have to say, I’d only really recommend this thing to people who would really need. In otherwords, someone who is paralyzed. Though I’m sure anyone could use the chair, it would simply be more efficient to use your own legs. There is a reason Bentley didn’t develop something like this back when he could walk. Still, if you find yourself in the kinds of situations Bentley does on a regular basis, then this is a must have weapon. I’m certainly going to keep it handy in case my career as a Fire Fighter takes a dark turn.

Join me tomorrow as we revisit Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves.

Thieves In Time Redux Meme #17

Let's do a meme starring our very own Sly Cooper for a change... This happens during Episode 3, right after Carmelita comes back...

Sly does this after taking advice from Bentley to be more honest with Carmelita. He takes that advice. It backfires. Horribly.

Guess what? Penelope gets to see them fighting. Again. Another peek into that dark future. She does not want her relationship with Bentley to turn into whatever those two are doing. If you've been paying attention, she's just gone through her change of heart by now.

Our heroine then decides to keep her secret of betrayal... Kind of like what Sly tried to do with Carmelita... That's not going to blow up in her face at all!

Sly sappiness: Proposal

No story behind this one. I just felt like drawing something sappy and this happened.

"Penelope has reminded me of an important fact: Mouse girls are adorable!"

Confessed by: Anonymous

Art by ArtDexo2000 on DeviantART.com [X]