#kinitoconsole

[pico-digital-studios]

KinitoPET console port ideas

In the wake of KinitoPET's growing success, I thought about how a console port of the game would work if troy_en ever decides to do something like that.

WARNING!: Spoilers are prominent for the game ahead, so don't read on unless you've played or watched all of KinitoPET, including the game's secret ending.

To start, let's talk about the...

Interface

Since the game takes place on a simulated PC, changes will obviously have to be made for the game to function there.

To begin with, the control scheme. The general idea I had was for the mouse cursor to be moved with the left analogue stick, and for interactions to be made with one of the different buttons on the controller. Pressing the console's respective start/pause button will quickly bring up the pause menu for you to change settings or return to a regular desktop.

As most of the consoles lack their own wallpaper settings built in (Nintendo Switch, I'm especially looking at you for your lack of themes), the My Pictures folder instead links to some pre-prepared images that you can set as the in-game desktop background. For 3D Pinball's controls, it works similarly to games like Pinball FX, using the trigger buttons to move the flippers, and one of the normal buttons to control the plunger.

Now, about the game's achievements/trophies. Steam was the main way of unlocking KinitoPET's various achievements, so I felt the system could also be applied for the Xbox and PlayStation systems. However, a new workaround is needed for Switch, since that lacks an achievement system outright. As such, like with the Portal and Stanley Parable ports, I thought about a separate Achievements menu/application where the unlocked and yet-to-be-unlocked achievements can be viewed from.

KinitoPET in general

Since the game needs keyboard input at various points, the ports would have ways to overcome this, using the console's respective on-screen keyboard for these inputs. If it supports touch-screen, then all the better, too. Kinito's instructions are also tweaked to make up for the consoles not actually having keyboards by default.

As the game also reads from your Steam friend list and what Steam games you have in your library, I thought about the game also having its own way of reading this; namely, pulling the options from your console's friend list, and if your highlighted favourite game is in the respective console's store, along with various others you have save data for.

For the 3D sections in the game, the left analogue stick helps with movement, while the right analogue stick (for controllers that support it; otherwise, the D-Pad works) moves the camera view.

Fourth-wall scares

Now, this is something that definitely needs tweaking due to it being on consoles.

First off, a lot of fans will know that when Kinito is told that he's NOT your best friend, he turns up your system volume to reiterate that question. Obviously, this isn't going to work for consoles that have their audio come from a TV, but if the console has built-in volume controls on its own (like Switch), Kinito will raise the console's volume from there.

Next, the Paint jumpscare. This one opens up your PC's actual MS Paint briefly to facilitate the scare, but in this case, a fullscreen in-game Paint window would appear to create the "ARE YOU REALLY (NAME)?" taunt.

Now, next up is the infamous Camera scare Kinito pulls on you. Now, we all know that unless your TV or console actually HAS camera support, it's outright ineffective, so I thought of another workaround. Kinito, instead, asks to "see your avatar", pulling a direct model of your Avatar/Mii on full show. If you don't have one, he'll instead nab one of the generic defaults.

Also, about the recording secret, another twist is thrown in; if you have captured screenshots or recorded snippets of gameplay, Kinito questions this, actually pulling said screenshots/recordings from your console's gallery to question you with.

Now, onto the darker questions of the Analysis Hub. Remember what I said above about the friends toggle? Well, two of the questions, those being "Can you trust everything that (NAME) says?" and "Who would you rather kill?" actually read that friend list data for you to look through.

For the address-hunting/doxxing scare, the dialogue obviously changes unless your console has a proper built-in web browser:

"Hey. It seems like you made a mistake when filling out your address. I would find out your address for you, but your system doesn't have the capacity to let me do so. But just so you know, I could."

And last, and most importantly, the Command Prompt sequence. Kinito will instead point your attention to the My Computer icon, which is toggled in the console ports to house other sub-applications, a built-in console included, for you to type either Kinito's system access command, or the commands and codes needed to outright get rid of him.

Oh, right! Let's not forget about the game-closing sequences. At the end of each act of the game, pop-up windows appear to inform you that that part of the game is over, though for the consoles, this isn't possible, so on-screen text would appear before the game crashes deliberately, necessitating you to actually restart the game.

Your World

When Kinito is preparing to show off your house, since he can't exactly turn off your monitor, he simply resorts to asking you to close your eyes. In the house itself, he recycles the data he found in your console to utilise here. For instance, in the special office, the cover art of your favourite game on that console is on the computer, with other games that have save data on the shelves. Your console friends are each gathered around the dining table and sofas, and the TV, which originally showed nothing, plays random recordings from your console gallery to give you something to watch.

I personally also had the thought about Your World being accessible without an off-screen timer if you wished to explore either the funfair or your island/forest/field's house without any pressure on your shoulders. In the idea, the rollercoaster would instead park up by the entrance to another chute, and taking this one will let you go back to your funfair if you wish.

Secret Ending tweaks

As the Secret Ending requires even more interaction on your part, new tweaks are needed to help this fully work.

The "Lense.exe" program creates a magnifying glass that you can use to gather the files and email logs. Since they likely can't be stored on your console's system memory, they are instead stored in a bar accessible once you get inside the Dark Land. The respective passwords are saved by the game for you, and will be entered for you in order for each one you find before opening the console in Act 3.

If you don't have all of the passwords, the game will stop entering them should a crucial one be missing, and deny you that access. If you have all of them, though, and get to the confirmatory code, the game will ask you to confirm this final decision, and if you go through with it, you've achieved the secret ending!

Well, that's all I can really think about for a potential future console port for KinitoPET. I do know it's going to be a lot harder work to work with, though I'm sure it can work out, since the Godot engine (which KinitoPET runs on) is cross-platform.