this game's casually sociopathic cast are an inspiration tbh
The bit in the final battle, like "Yeah lets just murder each other to power her up!" gave me a double-take.
There are a few level mods that have been posted over on the Nexus
. I assume they work on GOG and other releases of the game. Most mods, including a chunk of levels stuff, seem to be mainly on the Steam Workshop, though.
I got it on PS 4. No mods for me... 
Eh, the game's fun enough on its own.
How would you construct a sequel? Would you bring back any of the characters or locations or would you just place Hat Kid on a totally new planet and have her meet a different cast of wacky characters?
the conductor is now the main character
it's the exact same game, otherwise
hell the conductor is still there as his original role
I'd do kind of the thing that a lot of games like this do with some of it's iconic older characters, and cast them in new supporting roles for sequels, while rolling in an largely new cast of baddies and characters for the primary plotline.
Like, say, if the second game has one big open world, the Conductor's train is the fast travel system. Or Snatcher runs the upgrade purchasing system ("let's make a deal!"). And Mafia members would show up all over in weird, different roles. Etc.
Side-missions or secondary quests could feature them. Like say, DJ. Grooves has you find difficult to get to parts of the hubs for his movies, where you end up finding Time Rifts. Or maybe a plot event shuts down the trains and you have to do an adventure with the Conductor to get the fast travel up and running again. Or if you get enough upgrades the Snatcher tries to betray you (again) for a Bonus Boss, etc. This gives them an active and fun presence in the plot, but doesn't require the story to necessarily be about them unless the designers really want to do so.
Mustache Girl I see as going in three directions: either as a Luigi (a complete, alternate player two), a Tails (a cutscene heavy major supporting character who is only playable in spurts), or a Bowser Jr (a rival/antagonist who isn't the main bad guy). Of the three, I'd prefer if she were more of a Tails than either of the other two, simply because she's more fun as a person to interact with while full Luigi characters tend to have a dip in plot prominence because they're interchangeable with the main character, but with rival leanings anyway.
If they bring back Race missions (and they should - they're a good idea for collectathons with big, "world" style levels), "normal" races against her in addition to puzzle-esque "cheating" races against the Rocket Mafia would be a cool idea.
edited 9th Apr '18 8:10:01 PM by KnownUnknown
"The difference between reality and fiction is that fiction has to make sense." - Tom Clancy, paraphrasing Mark Twain.
One thing is for certain: Mustache Girl needs all the therapists.
Now I'm imagining her ending up with a Mafia Therapist.
"Mafia think crazy little girl have anger management problem. Mafia prescribe punching of things that are not Mafia, to improve self esteem."
"The difference between reality and fiction is that fiction has to make sense." - Tom Clancy, paraphrasing Mark Twain.
Aha, 100% completion get. All the time pieces, I mean. I also went ahead and got every achievement but one, which is to get 30 Rift Tokens from mod levels. I'm not too fussed about grinding for that one, since I do genuinely enjoy the game and some of the modded levels are ace; I'll get it naturally in time. Probably not a large amount of time, at that.
Did have a bit of difficulty with the Dead Bird Studio 'Secret Intruder' achievement, but then a little birdienote told me a little trick: the owls and penguins can't see you while you're using the ice hat to be a statue. This is useful in exactly one area, but fortunately enough it was the area I was having difficulty with. (You have to ride past a penguin and an owl on a tram with no real cover.)
As far as Moustache Girl goes, of the three mentioned by Unknown, I think I'd go for a blend between the Tails and the Bowser Jr. examples. I think she works good as a foil and both an occasional ally and obstacle, but I feel like she's had her time in the spotlight as an overt antagonist now. It wouldn't be an interesting place for her characterisation to go. I'd probably take a similar route as Unknown with the supporting characters. There are some, of course, I'd like to see again more than others. The crows, the Conductor, the Snatcher spring to mind.
edited 10th Apr '18 8:39:13 PM by Lavaeolus
imma just cheat that cheev with FLUDD LOL
Fly Air Madeline
On the subject of sequel ideas, I've been thinking a bit about how I might do the sequel to this game if I somehow found myself in the director's chair.
The setting would probably be a new planet that Hat Kid's spaceship crashes on. I probably wouldn't transition to a full-on open world per se, but the levels would probably be bigger and be divided into sectors, rather than the straight mission-based structure of the first game. The idea is that each world would be a condensed "quest" in itself, expanding on the ethos of the original game's worlds.
The hats system would be extended to include coats and pants, with the ability to mix and match them to make a custom outfit. Each of these would have its own custom move. Yarn could be a way of upgrading clothes instead of just getting them made. Maybe mixing and matching outfit parts would create a new power akin to Kirby 64, but I'm just spitballing here.
The Conductor would show up later in the game as a means of Fast Travel. Giving him Pons could help him finance the construction of new railroads for unlocking certain worlds.
I even have some ideas for worlds: the first one would be a Banjo/Spyro/Jak 1 style world set in a medieval fantasy country inhabited by posh defectors from a tribe of bridge trolls. The idea is that they had gotten tired of fleecing people for money and eating the ones who didn't comply, so they decided to try having a country. There would, however, be some ugly exploitation and collusion going on behind the scenes and eventually you would end up leading the neighboring country's resistance against the trolls.
Another world would be a sort of Yume Nikki-ish freeform exploration focused area set inside a giant time rift where some of the ship's fuel ended up.
A different world would be in a city of birds built out of a giant, dried-out coral reef. There would be skyscrapers, flying cars and the quest would be centered around a studio making a movie of your previous adventure; you would run around going to sets to act out embellished/inaccurate/nonexistent scenes from the original game.
I've got other ideas for worlds; a port island where pirates and vikings feud with each other, a "peninsula" with every possible biome that wraps around the entire planet, a school of magic on the moon attended by beings from all over the galaxy (great opportunity for all sorts of fun, charming character designs), etc.
I have spent a lot of time thinking about this, haven't I. 
edited 10th Apr '18 5:13:43 PM by lewattoo
"I'll show you all of Paris, I'll take you on a tour, we'll go up and up and up so high they'll long for an encore!"
It'd be fun if they brought back the idea from earlier in development where Hat Kid swapped between kid and adult forms. And tie it to the gameplay/story as well, where Hat Kid hops between the normal world and a future where she's an adult and things have changed (a la Majora's Mask).
"The difference between reality and fiction is that fiction has to make sense." - Tom Clancy, paraphrasing Mark Twain.
Bumping for no other reason than this game deserving it.
snatcher did nothing wrong
- A brand new chapter!
- NG+
- "Couch Co-Op"
Additional information: The new chapter will be smaller in scope compared to previous chapters to allow a faster release window.
A Hat In Time is in the August Humble Monthly Bundle for 12 USD, which is great for me, since I decided to hold off on purchasing it for 20~ USD in the Steam sale that just ended.
Good timing too, since I finished Yooka-Laylee about a week ago.
"But if that happened, Melia might actually be happy. We can't have that." - Handsome Rob
A "Special Announcement" is due to be made before Gamescom starts, which would before Tuesday next week, I think.
I highly doubt it's a Switch port. My guess is they'll reveal the first free DLC.
IT'S BOTH.
A Hat in Time: Seal the Deal is the first bit of DLC, and it's coming on September 13th. It includes a new chapter called The Arctic Cruise, a new mode called Death Wish, new cosmetic items, six new time rifts, Co-op mode, and it's also coming to Switch!
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_I1GrvzxQQ
Edited by Nintendork64 on Aug 20th 2018 at 10:13:31 AM
Oh my gosh the coop character is adorable.
Fly Air Madeline
The coop character reminds me of Doc Mc Stuffins for some reason.
Not that that's a bad thing 
Apparently that DLC date is for the PC only. Unfortunate. Currently there's no date for consoles nor confirmation that they'll be getting it at all, though I hope we get more news on that front down the line. I'm on PC, so less of a concern for me, but I believe some of you lot might be on PS4, etc. I'm also a bit concerned over the co-op: is it local only? I'd hope not, if only so I can show some of my internet friends my l33t skills.
In any case, more positively, I'm looking forward to seeing the new content. Looks fun so far.
Edited by Lavaeolus on Aug 22nd 2018 at 9:28:11 AM
DLC out, temporarily free for today. Figured I'd make a post now in case anyone forgot about it. Opening level seems fun so far.
The choice at the end was surprisingly fun to think about. On the one hand: it's legitimately a crapsack world with every corner run by abusive and selfish - if incredibly lovable - assholes, and few if any heroes. On the other hand: Mustache Girl is nuts. She was daydreaming of brutally murdering people even before she got her hands on superpowers.
In the end I did the nice thing and gave our wayward friend the benefit of the doubt, though. At the very least, the end results should be entertaining.
edited 8th Apr '18 10:12:48 PM by KnownUnknown
"The difference between reality and fiction is that fiction has to make sense." - Tom Clancy, paraphrasing Mark Twain.