DKC Atlas Forum

[Crammalamma]

Also, shouldn't the purple Squawks be called Quawks in its alt text?

[Kingizor]

I was under the impression that it was generally accepted that DKC2's second parrot was "Flapper" while "Quawks" was the one in DKC3, but that seems far from the case.

That wiki page is a bit all over the place, only providing two somewhat questionable citations. The first is an image from what appears to be some random guide posted on eBay. The citation description calls it a "manual", which might be misleading since it is not the official SDK2 manual. The second citation points to a site for the GBA version of DKC2 which was probably too created at too late a date to be considered credible, since the names Flapper and Quawks were already entrenched at that point. DKVine names the purple parrot Flapper as early as mid-2000, so at least we know who to blame.

My own copy of the official SDK2 manual does however does seem to refer to a parrot called "Quawks". The line "ムラサキ色のオウムのコ一クスは", roughly translates as "Quawks the purple parrot". Having been named in the official manual released with the game in 1995, I don't think there is anything that can supersede this.

The second question in the third quiz in Swanky's Bonus Bonanza in Krem Quay asks the player to name the parrot animal buddy, giving the choices "Squawks", "Squeaks" and "Flapper". I have on occasion seen it mentioned that there is in fact more than one correct answer to this question, which has in turn given me the impression that choosing "Flapper" as an answer would be treated by the game as correct. This is definitely not the case in any version of the game, as choosing anything other than "Squawks" is always treated by the game as wrong. We know who to blame there as well.

[Qyzbud]

Thanks for raising these issues, Crammalamma, and for offering informative responses, Kingizor.

I've fixed the link(s) to the enhanced Squawks's Shaft map, and am certainly open to suggestions regarding Parrot Chute Panic's purple parrot(s). I didn't realise there was any Rare-era naming of the bird(s) in question. I can't read Japanese, but the Google translation of that line ("Co one box of purple color of the parrot") doesn't give me much confidence in "Quawks" being an official name, but I'm aware of that name being used later on — in Barrel Blast/Jet Race, I think? The best I could find in the official literature of the SNES era was descriptors like "Squawks has relatives who can pick up barrels with their claws..." (DKC3 instruction booklet) and "Squawks is back" ... "the purple version of Squawks" ... "purple Squawks" ... or even just "Squawks", etc in the Nintendo Power guides (DKC2, DKC3), which is all pretty dismissive of any real name/identity for our purple pal(s). I'm happy to go with Quawks, though, if that's definitely what the character was called in Japan, and/or if people think that's what we should go with...

Or heck, why don't we give each instance of the purple parrot a unique name?

Anyhow... Parrot Chute Panic and Web Woods are available to explore!

Web Woods will be updated tomorrow with its Squitter room and Bonus Areas, and like the foreground honey effect recently added to the Parrot Chute Panic map (toggle FG 1!), I'll hopefully get the fog effect looking like it does in-game, too.

[Kingizor]

Names are a bit harder, since you can only go by the sound. I imagine Google Translate wouldn't fare well since it would try to produce something into proper English words.

ス - su
コ - ko
ー - emphasis on previous syllable
ク - ku
ス - su

Actually, it turns out I had the character meaning "one" (一) there instead of the chōonpu (ー) character, which was no doubt causing the Google problems (the chōonpu article on Wikipedia even mentions that it's a common mistake). So that full line should be "ムラサキ色のオウムのコークスは". With that change it produces more coherent results:

Squawks - スコークス - sukōkusu
Quawks - コークス - kōkusu

Although the literal translation for コークス comes out as "Coke" in the Google translator, since it is trying to figure out what word it's supposed to represent. It doesn't understand the context, so it just chooses the closest sounding word it knows. Good thing it does both translation and transliteration.

[Qyzbud]

That does sound a bit more compelling. Shall we go with Quawks for the purple parrots, then? I do like having a unique name, rather than

Squawks (purple)

.

[VideoViking]

Which part of the Japanese letters is silent?

[Qyzbud]

I'd suppose the chōonpu is the "silent" character, VV, as that's apparently for applying emphasis to the previous syllable rather than being a sounded element unto itself.

At any rate, I've gone ahead and given the purple parrot(s) a real name — Quawks it is!

Even better, there are several maps to look at since I last posted here:

Kreepy Krow rounds out the Gloomy Gulch maps.
There are a few things I'd like to add to this map over time, but Kreepy Krow has the largest and most complex boss map by a fair margin (although Kleever's Kiln earns an honourable mention due to its unseen terrain), so even before I get to all that, there's plenty to see.

As for K. Rool's Keep...

• Arctic Abyss ushers in the ice cavern archetype, and makes extensive use of Kingizor's most excellent water level changing script.
• Windy Well reintroduces the blowing leaves of Gusty Glade — another of Kingizor's technical triumphs!
• Castle Crush features a simple rising floor effect that will be improved when time avails, and a whole lot of flickering torches in the terrain (thanks again to Kingizor for his graphic/position extraction efforts).
• Clapper's Cavern has been updated today to include the changing water levels, and both Bonus Areas (which are available on demand by hovering/tapping their respective entrances). Soon I hope to give Clapper his Rare-given power to freeze the water; I'll post an update here when he's ready for such things.

I hope you've all been enjoying the daily map releases even if I haven't been overly active in promoting them. It's November now, though... and it's less than 18 days (and only 8 full levels) to go now until they're all done, so I'll see if I can turn up the posting a little and bring a little hype for DKC2 turning the big 2-0!

[Lanky Kong]

There is a glitch...

King Zing Sting still is consider to be 'unbeated' as a skull... while other bosses are cleared by Diddy.

Mind if i say it again, but this time with Kreepy Krow?

[Qyzbud]

Thanks for the reminder, Lanky Kong — I've taken care of the oversight.

I've also added Chain Link Chamber to the "completed maps" list; both of its Bonus Areas have just been put in place.

Furthermore, I've finally got Clapper's basic functionality working in both Lava Lagoon and Clapper's Cavern, so feel free to click on him to see how long he can help keep the waterways safe for the Kongs at each point. Soon I hope to have Clapper's animations, smooth water state transitions and all such effects taken care of.

[Geno]

Wow, these latest maps are really neat!
Just now, Chain Link Chamber's map made me learn about a hidden ! Barrel that is in the level!

Although, doesn't Kreepy Krow have some hidden terrain in it somewhere, in the form of some random ropes??

[Lanky Kong]

Wow, these latest maps are really neat!
Just now, Chain Link Chamber's map made me learn about a hidden ! Barrel that is in the level!

Although, doesn't Kreepy Krow have some hidden terrain in it somewhere, in the form of some random ropes??

Funny, i knew about that barrel since i was a child and when i played the stage for first time.

[Cyclone]

Great and awesome stuff!

Just being picky but there are thin lines om the green toxic waste. See attachment.

[Qyzbud]

Thanks for pointing that out, Cyclone. I haven't spotted those lines at my end at all (is anyone else seeing these two subtle horizontal lines on the surface of the toxic liquid?), but I'll see if I can fix them. Pickiness is good.


Today's update is a small one — just a single Bonus Area added to Toxic Tower — but this brambly bonus offers a change of scenery and a welcome breather away from the caustic and claustrophobic confines of K. Rool's castle.

It's now just under two weeks to go until DKC2's 20th anniversary!

Wow, these latest maps are really neat!
Just now, Chain Link Chamber's map made me learn about a hidden ! Barrel that is in the level!

Funny, i knew about that barrel since i was a child and when i played the stage for first time.

It's interesting the different things we notice at the time — or don't until years later! That's definitely one of the most rewarding aspects of this mapping project. Every now and then even I discover/notice something new, despite being such a fanatical explorer of these games over the past 20 years. Such is the rich tapestry of the Donkey Kong Country games.

[...] doesn't Kreepy Krow have some hidden terrain in it somewhere, in the form of some random ropes??

Maybe not ropes, but I do need to add those handy hooks that appear when needed at some point...

[Lanky Kong]

...it's me or does The Flying Krock can't be accessed?

...also keep in mind Stronghold Showdown...

[Geno]

I noticed a weird thing on the "Donkey Kong!" GIF
On one of the frames, there's a 1 pixel tall line going through his legs
It's not very noticeable on the maps themselves (due to dark backgrounds), but viewing the image alone makes it obvious

Is it actually like that in the game??


Also, this post here shows what I meant by hidden terrain in Kreepy Krow. If the description of that second image is any indication, that area is part of the Kreepy Krow terrain?

[Kingizor]

All levels of a given type are usually stored together in the same layout. The game loads a layout and then uses a coordinate system (left, right, top, bottom) to determine which tiles to belong to current level. That unused area isn't part of what the game considers to be Kreepy Krow, it just happens to appear underneath where Kreepy Krow is situated in the big layout.

There have been a few odd spots in the coordinate system though. Some levels will have an occasional row or column cut off at one side despite the tiles clearly belonging to the area. The question then is whether to do things the way the game itself handles things, or to include the extra tiles that you would never see in-game. In the above image that there are six such rows above Topsail Trouble.

[Crammalamma]

Wow, I like that "big layout" you have there. Any chance you could show us one for each level archetype in each game?

[Kingizor]

They're not organized very well, but here they are:

Spoiler!

DKC:
Jungles, Caves, Walkway, Mines, Factory, Underwater, Temple, Snow, Crystal Caves, Mine Cart, Treetown, Bosses, Forest, Gang-Plank Galleon

DKC2:
Ship Deck, Ship Mast, Ship Hold, Forest, Hive 1, Hive 2, Fairground 1, Fairground 2, Lava, Mine, Swamp, Brambles 1, Brambles 2, Castle, Ice 1, Ice 2, Jungle

DKC3:
Caves 1, Caves 2, Water 1, Water 2, Cliffs 1, Cliffs 2, Jungle, Factory, Mill, Riverside, Snow, Boardwalk, Tree, Pipe 1, Pipe 2, Pipe 3, Waterfall 1, Waterfall 2

Some of the images are really big, so some programs could potentially run into problems when trying to view them. Had to upload a few of them here because they go a bit beyond what Imgur can handle; the DKC Walkway arch because it's a whopping 57408 pixels wide and the DKC3 Tree archetype because it's over their 5MB limit.

As for hidden areas, DKC has loads, DKC2 has a few and DKC3 has hardly any.

[Qyzbud]

It's less than 10 days until DKC2's 20th anniversary!

Today's update kicks off our journey through The Lost World...

The Jungle Jinx map has been updated!

8-1.png (73.39 KiB) Viewed 272692 times

Eight worlds in and we're only just encountering the first jungle level?! Of course when playing the game, Jungle Jinx can be accessed via Klubba's Kiosk early in the second world, but it felt like a good idea to release these challenging levels all in a row. I had also hoped it'd give me time to get the tires bouncing around as they should, but that's yet to be implemented. I'm optimistic that I'll at least get the required animation system set up (and the first couple of tires rolling) ahead of tomorrow's Bonus Area update, but we shall see.

Other recent updates include:
Stronghold Showdown
The Flying Krock
Screech's Sprint
K.Rool Duel

[...]On one of the frames, there's a 1 pixel tall line going through his legs[...]

Is it actually like that in the game??

Yes, this unfortunate oddity is present in sprite 0x0CE7; I guess it's one of those things that's easy to miss for both developers and gamers in a rarely-viewed animation like this one — especially when viewed on a darker background, as you pointed out.

[Geno]

ooh, I've been waiting for The Lost World
I was also wondering how it would be handled..

Although, Klubba's Kiosk on the maps seems to lead straight to the Lost World levels, rather than the map for some reason

[Qyzbud]

Thanks for the reminder. The update was a rushed one, and I didn't have the Lost World map ready, but wanted to make sure it was possible to at least get to Jungle Jinx via Klubba's icon in Crocodile Cauldron; all good now.

Soon I'd like to add Klubba's Kiosk itself; it'll mean an extra click will be required to access the Lost World via visual navigation, but Klubba is awesome (and there's always the handy drop-down box for quick navigation), so it's worth it.


Update: Jungle Jinx now has its Bonus Area! A few of those big tires are bouncing around the level, too.

[Rapidkirby3k]

While I'm looking at Krazy Kremland at the moment, the updated DKC2 maps are looking great so far! Thumbs up!

[Qyzbud]

Thanks for the feedback, Rapidkirby3k! I'm glad you're enjoying them.

Those who've been keeping up with the countdown will know that Black Ice Battle has been updated with animated bananas, baddies, etc... and now has its Bonus Area, too!

Today's update is Klobber Karnage, which may well be home to the biggest barrel abundance this side of Bramble Blast! As well as regular throwable barrels, DK Barrels, Blast Barrels, Diddy/Dixie Barrels and of course the barrels inhabited by the level's namesake Klobbers (and Kabooms), there are also vast stretches of Zinger-infested spiky death-pits populated with just enough Rotatable Barrels to make it through.

8-3.png (57.38 KiB) Viewed 272596 times

Phew.

Six days (and six updates) to go...

[spaceman2028]

Just a quick thought, whilst a little too late, are you going to add in some GBA-exclusive additions like the Kerozene or...?

[Qyzbud]

Not during this countdown, as it's a homage to the original SNES release, but the GBA games are strong candidates for eventual map coverage.

[Geno]

Wow I only just realized, but the locations of the Lost World levels have ones accessed by earlier levels on the left side of the world, with the later world's respective levels on the right side! that's a neat
Can't believe it's almost done!

Although I wonder when Kremland's flashy lights and flying Zingers will get added to the main world map??

[Qyzbud]

It's definitely easier to notice the left-to-right positioning of the Lost World's level locations when they can be seen all at once. I have to admit it hadn't really occurred to me either until I started organising the Lost World map.

As luck would have it, I finally have a few moments to work on the Crocodile Isle overworld animations, so expect to see them appearing soon.

[Qyzbud]

Well, overworld progress has been negligible, but today's mapping update is anything but...

Our Animal Antics maps have been updated!

8-5c.png (358.12 KiB) Viewed 272489 times

It just about drove me crazy(er), but all five sections of this Atlas-approved final Lost World level are now animated!

1. Rambi's jungle section
2. Enguarde's ice cavern section
3. Squitter's jungle section
4. Squawks' bramble section
5. Rattly's jungle section

Easily our largest map update since this time last year.

Also appearing since my last post here is the fully complete Fiery Furnace, which is bubbling away magnificently. Thanks is again due to Kingizor for his help with the positioning of all of those animated elements.

We've less than two days to go now until the big day arrives, so prepare for a fittingly grand finale!

[Geno]

Wow, I did know about that large area to the left of Rattly's start point in his Animal Antics section, but I never knew it was completely empty!
(I usually just head to the goal because I can't risk losing a life after the Squawks section, haha)

I wonder if the folks at Rare were intending on putting some prizes there, but forgot about it?

[Monkeyshrapnel]

They DID add stuff there later in the GBA port of DKC 2.

[Qyzbud]

The day is finally here. If the many dubious reports of DKC2's release date aren't completely bogus;

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest was released 20 years ago today!

And with that...

Our map of Krocodile Kore is now available to enjoy!

8-b.png (49.53 KiB) Viewed 272281 times

Cranky even has some kind words to share with Diddy after the battle.


Another year of 20th anniversary celebrations, another collection of animated maps to enjoy — but there's much to be added and improved yet, so I won't be going into hibernation just yet.

Thanks again to everyone who has supported this project; hopefully it'll be a valuable reference for us all.

[Cyclone]

[Geno]

Yay! It's so cool to see it finished!!
now time for donkeykongland

secret crank
looks like you're planning the whole thing with visiting the Kong family that was mentioned way back when DKC1 maps were being updated!


EDIT: For some reason, Topsail Trouble's name doesn't show up on the Gangplank Galleon map

[Simion32]

"You'd learn a thing or two from these here maps!"

[spaceman2028]

I'll, say, especially with Kleever's Kiln! What's that unused piece of terrain doing there, anyways?

[Qyzbud]

SMALL UPDATE: I've improved the "map" of Cranky's congratulatory chat with Diddy; there's now a simulation of the tremors caused by Krocodile Kore's instability, and the dialogue is displayed in a more responsive and efficient way (CSS and PNG, rather than a clunky GIF). Soon I hope to add a replica of the scene where Diddy, DK and Dixie watch Crocodile Isle sink into the ocean, which has always been a favourite scene of mine. I'll start with just the basics, but will hopefully be able to recreate the whole sequence with a bit of extra effort.

[...]Kleever's Kiln! What's that unused piece of terrain doing there[...]

I suppose only the level designers could tell us the true story of the unused terrain, but generally those "unseen scenes" are Bonus Area prototypes and the like.

Personally I like the idea that boss lairs were going to be larger areas in general, and would require a bit of platforming leading up to the boss encounter itself (as Retro have done to a very small and simple extent in their games). It would've been cool for there to have been a series of hooks to help the Kongs get over that lava gap, and up the steep bank before facing Kleever; perhaps that was the original plan, before they decided to keep it simple and add the cave entrance in the main battle area...?

The unused terrain in Rattly's section of Animal Antics (as mentioned by Geno and Monkeyshrapnel earlier) is much more extensive, and it's a bit of a shame it's empty and inaccessible in the SNES version, but it's nice that they decided to make use of it in the GBA release. It's a bit weird that this section was cut, actually, since it's a very Rattly-centric layout. Apart from the initial jump, the current path is quite flat and short, and doesn't really play to Rattly's strengths. Although it could've been included as an optional area to explore (as it was in the GBA version) I'm guessing it was cut from the SNES to make the level easier to complete — for the players, maybe, but even more so for the designers (which was somewhat hinted at by artist/designer Mark Stevenson in this Tweet).

[Qyzbud]

SMALL UPDATE #2: I've been working on the Crocodile Isle overworld map, and have got most of the nifty animated scenery items in place; I've added the smoke/steam and glowing entrance of Crocodile Cauldron, the burning torches by Krem Quay and K. Rool's Keep, the Flickering sign and colourful lights of Krazy Kremland, the clouds of Gloomy Gulch, and of course the Jolly Roger flag flapping in the breeze atop the tower's tallest turret...

All that's left to add now is the Zingers of Krazy Kremland and the bats flying around K. Rool's Keep; both of these could be tricky to replicate perfectly, but I'll do my best, and hopefully they'll bring a bit more life to K. Rool's tower of death.

[Geno]

Can't wait for the little Zingers! They're my favourite part, hehe
(the tiny zingers should be a little smilie icon on the forums, hehehe)


Also, while it's technically not supposed to be accessible at the moment, the Monkey Museum kinda disappeared from the Cranky map (not the ending one, the main one), so Diddy and Cranky are stuck in the Checkerboard Zone

[Crammalamma]

Wow, I never knew there were bats flying around K. Rool's Keep.

[Qyzbud]

SMALL UPDATE #3: Some of you may have noticed that the Zingers have been added to the overworld map; they've been buzzing around there for a while now, but I forgot to mention it! By way of apology for this delayed update, I've added a tiny Zinger "smilie" as per Geno's suggestion:

Wow, I never knew there were bats flying around K. Rool's Keep.

Those bats have always been my favourite animated aspect of the Crocodile Isle overworld, but I didn't realise until these past few days that they actually fly around the tower — passing both in front of and behind it! Maybe others have noticed this, but it's a bit tricky to see exactly what the bats are doing since they're rather small, dark and quick moving, and the dimly-lit tower doesn't provide much contrast. Getting our map to match this behaviour might require a bit of extra tinkering, but it shouldn't be too hard.

Oh, and I've restored that old monkey's museum, too — improvements coming soon!


EDIT: The bats are flying! Their movements are pretty much spot-on from what I can tell, but I've yet to give them the ability to fly behind the tower. They are also supposed to each have different animation speeds; I believe the middle one* is correct (or at least very close), but the top and bottom ones are supposed to be quicker, so I'll see about adjusting them tomorrow.

*Yes, it's pretty hard to tell which of the bats is the "middle one" most of the time, but it's a bit easier to work out the top and bottom, as they reach the highest and lowest points respectively.

EDIT #2: The overworld bats are now flying around the tower! Furthermore, each one has its sprites animated at the correct speed, precisely matching the path movement. To get all of this happening as it should, I replaced the GIF of the bat with a CSS-animated sprite sheet — which also allows for a five-fold bandwidth saving as an added bonus. Each bat features four separate CSS animations in order to reproduce the horizontal movement, vertical movement, layer priority, and the sprite animation itself.

[Geno]

Cool! I keep forgetting about those bats, haha

All we need are the Zinger's turning animations, and I think the overworld map will be perfect!

(although the Zingers oddly also look a bit fuzzy when facing to the left, for some reason)

[sonosublime]

If you want to gain some insight as to why Kleever's arena has that unused section, check out Greg Mayles' twitter.

https://twitter.com/Ghoulyboy

Apparently it was a secret area to get Squawks.

[Crammalamma]

I love how the designs for Animal Antics he showed actually include the unused space to the left of Squawks' and Rattly's sections.

[Qyzbud]

Yes, it's great seeing these early level designs, and reading Gregg's explanations of this and that. I guess the original plan was to make players navigate the entirety of the Squawks and Rattly areas in order to finish the level, making a notoriously difficult level even more treacherous!

Spoiler!

And here's a photo of original plan for Kleever's Kiln (as VideoViking mentioned in another topic):

Spoiler!

Helps explain the mystery quite nicely.

—

Anyhow, a few small updates have been made to the maps of Gangplank Galleon's levels; each Bonus Area map now has the basic info (task/time) included on the room label, and I'm working on adding Zinger movements wherever they're missing (I'm up to Topsail Trouble, and just animated the Zinger guarding the — most other Zingers in this level are moving now, too ).

Edit 1: Topsail Trouble's Zingers are done!
Edit 2: Hot-Head Hop's Zingers are done! Barrel Kannons now have aim arrows when hovered, too!
Edit 3: Kannon's Klaim's Zingers are done! Barrel Kannons now have aim arrows when hovered, too!

[Geno]

An odd consistency, while stages like Topsail Trouble, Lava Lagoon, and Squawks Shaft have their weather/rising and lowering water/glowy stuff in the main map, Mainbrace Mayhem, Lockjaw's Locker, and Kannon's Klaim all use completely separate pages for their effects

[Qyzbud]

You're quite right about Topsail Trouble and Lava Lagoon being one-page maps, but Squawks's Shaft has an alternate page to showcase its enhancements — mainly due to the large file sizes involved in the animated graphics Kingizor provided to enable the glowing terrain.

When I was first introducing the various enhanced features for these maps, I was a bit nervous about the possibility of them getting in the way and causing slowdown, etc., but as time marched on, my implementation methods improved a bit, and since nobody complained about the effects causing slowdown or annoyance in general, I decided to keep them more readily available by default (which was my personal preference from the start).

I have always intended to consolidate these alternate maps into a single page once I had time to make the effects easily toggleable. Perhaps today is the day...

EDIT: It wasn't. But hey, I've got the Hot Air Balloons of Red-Hot Ride (plus their cargo!) bobbing around now, and the Zingers and Flitters are doing their thing, too. The Flitters that fly continuously to the left have been given on-hover info; their directional arrows appear on hover, or by toggling the third overlay button.

[vege]

Your maps are working great on Maxthon browser, seriously your project is perfect, i like to enter to Animal Antics: Squawks, my childhood memories are coming back, thanks.

[Qyzbud]

My pleasure, vege! Thanks for the positive feedback.

There's been something of a heatwave where I live lately, so I've decided to leave my warm-air-emitting dev PC dormant over the past few days to avoid making a fiery furnace of my living space. Today seems to be the last of the hot weather for a while, so I'll get back to my mapping desk very soon.

Apart from adding Zinger and Flitter movements to the rest of the maps they're missing from, I'm most looking forward to making Clapper respond to clicks in an animated fashion, giving boss areas a bit more movement and interactivity where practicable, and of course plotting out the entirety of Screech's flight path — amongst plenty of other things.

There's also a great deal left to be done to improve DKC's maps, and I'd better start getting organised for DKC3's countdown before too long, too. An obsessively devoted cartographer's work is never done...

[Qyzbud]

In an effort to break the mapping development drought, I've finished up the Zinger movements and labelled the contents of each Chest on our Squawks's Shaft map. Mini-Neckies have hover movement now too, but there's room for improvement yet. Barrel Kannon firing directions and visual Chest content guides will be added soon.

[OneOf99]

So how do you get this info? Do you just play the level over and over again to get the chest items?