#splatoon shipshape

[tarditzgrade]

help i just wanted to learn what a splatoon stage was and now i’m learning aboUT FUCKING PHYSICS

WHAT THE HELL IS A MOMENT

[liquidcrystalsky]

so i found out on Shipshape Cargo Co there are flying fish in the waters in the background ! n i wondered, are these actually low Polly models ?? if u what do they look like ?? i thought i might ask u out of all peeps xD i found out from this tweet

holy HELL was this hard, i had to hex edit some files because switch toolbox is dumb trying to find it particles from certain file formats but whatever i got it!

it's actually a model, and from what i can see, there's not a texture, it's only done actually with vertex colours!

here it is in blender. yes it's a full model and not just an image. The raw model file is here:

https://file.garden/ZRWmCDccGFWyKuzh/FlyingFish01.dae

In blender you want this for the material setup, using a colour attribute node. replace principled with whatever material thing you want

[glassesfreekjr]

IMG: candid photo of Red Flare District's (alleged) bassist, Deryn Doe. Wanted for illegal data brokering as of 09/10/122023.

Excerpt from interview with two three members of Red Flare District, Inkopolis News Network; 6 September 122023:

------

Q: So, i take it the band's second single was composed and arranged primarily by... Haddock, was it? Hiddock (he/him), guitarist: Hiddock. Deryn (presumed she/her), bassist: [incoherent] St. Tuna Piano (he/him), frontman & drummer: Yeah, no input from me at all, man. Real inspiring stuff. Shame Petr coul'n't sing vocals again. Q: ... What was the reason this time? St. Tuna Piano: Cuz 'e choked on a bell pepper, that's wot. Irrevokably out o' commission. Deryn: [incoherent] Hiddock: Truth be told, I was initially inspired after our day trip to Um'ami — er, before it flooded last week, that is — but it wasn't until Shipshape Cargo Co. broke into the whole Turf War shtick that this idea just... arose through spontaneous generation; Squid Athena being birthed, fully formed, from her own skull. I mean, like, this new battleground floats through the remains of the polar ice caps — in essence, the impetus of both humanity's extinction and the Great Turf War, now used for a mundane cargo route and commercialized inkspewing. Don't you think that's oddly messed up? Q: Couldn't say. Anyway: there seems to be some degree of curiousity regarding a sample used around the one-minute mark. Any remarks? Hiddock: From a demo tape we found. Lost media; fit the theme. You wouldn't believe if we told you how we got it. Deryn: [fervent babble; no less comprensible] Q: I... don't believe she was even invited to this interview. How, uh... why is your bassist present? Hiddock: Well, "present" isn't... the word I would use. She's here, certainly. St. Tuna Piano: She comes n' goes as she pleases. Sorry if she touches anythin', 'er hands get all sticky. Q: Yes, but where did she come from? St. Tuna Piano: Same place anyone does, I 'xpect. Hiddock: Under a bridge. St. Tuna Piano (abruptly): Don't worry about it. We, eh, take care of her. Or somethin'.

------.

(sample source list can be found on my Youtube)

[arsenicalofarsons]

Went on recon this morning and noticed that on the new Shipshape Cargo map you get splashes on your screen when you go near the water

[aearabelle]

so I noticed on the new ship stage there's ice in the background, which means they probably aren't in Splatlandian/Inkadian waters… do they just like stow away on the ship until it's in the middle of the ocean??

[totaldramafan-lauri]

LOOK AT THEMMMMMM!!! Frye is cute, Big Man looks so flipping cool in that pattern, and Shiver! Is! SO GORGEOUS!!!! *cough* A-anyway-

FrostyFest has been going great so far! A fair amount of losses, sure, but a lot of wins, too! My first win of the day was a 10x battle, even....I feel like I've been pulling my weight, and getting some good teams, too! Not one mirror match also! Things are looking good so far....

Also, uh.....I-I think I have a new favorite map....(In 3) This is a map I've played on before, but never this much in one session....So, it took me a while to realize just how much I love it....A-and I'm willing to bet that, like with Moray, this is a map that has its haters somewhere, and that's fine, cuz this is a weird one....

I've come to really, really like Shipshape Cargo Co.

I-I can't help it....It's just so FUN! Nearly every match I've had on it has been fun! It feels so GOOD to snipe there! The perfect size, and sooooo much good high ground.....Taking the middle feels great, cuz you can overlook soooo much of the enemy base...It's like an even better Eeltail Alley! I-I wish I could've realized how fun this map was sooner than this, but....I am not complaining about playing on it so much!

I-I know this probably sounds like a really random choice for favorite stage, and I dunno how many agree with me, but.....that's just my taste, really.....XD

It's no Moray, which I still miss, but it'll definitely do! I'm happy to have so much love for a new 3 stage! >v< Cuz I already know what my fav 1 and 2 stages are. XD

Speaking of which....Bluefin Depot's back? My prayers are answered! Now, all that will be lost when 1's online goes down will be Saltspray Rig and Urchin Underpass......I'm nostalgic for both of those, but Bluefin was my favorite of the three easily. Glad to have it back!

Here's hoping I can keep up this momentum in Tricolor tomorrow, but.....I-I flipping sucked at that last time, so I don't have a lot of confidence.....I-I'll try by best for Shiver's revenge, tho!!

[lovely-hikari-cosplay]

This Splatfest really said “Oops! All Flounder Heights 🤷🏾‍♀️”

[soup-guts]

Eight losses in a row I’m gonna splat somebody I stg

[invisibleoctopus]

so like is tartar actually confirmed dead or are people just ASSUMING its dead bc it died in the manga + it said that thing about reuniting with the professor but like. maybe it THOUGHT it was gonna die and then it stayed alive somehow

my personal copium theory is maybe the salmonids found it and like rebuilt tartar or saved it somehow and tartar is like "we both hate inklings why dont we work together also maybe u guys are the ones who should replace humans hahaha jk unless...

because i dont know why the fuck else they would put the blender leitmotif there as the song fish sticks sing to encourage the other salmonids to fight harder !!!!

and how the new omega 3 songs have the timpani in the beginning doing the same rhythm as when the NILS statue emerges (which also parallels the scrappers having octavio's theme when u stun them)

[arsenalsquid]

Quad

[nightmarefueler]

I'd like to upload this as an act of shame on our team's Custom Splattershot Jr. Legit troglodyte behavior.

RGY8-M7LC-BR8G-Y0CY

[tarditzgrade]

new video gang go wild

it's another deep dive, this time for the drizzle 2023 stages, crableg capital and shipshape cargo co

[redshift-corridor]

It's nice to see they're bringing back the old SR gear, now what I really want is for them to add the Oceanic Hardhat and remake my old work outfit

[splat-details]

are there any more hidden goobers like marie’s pet scallop?

hmmm..... honestly that little guy is a bit of an outlier, most of the time unique species dont have models unless theyre clearly visible to the player

off the top of my head, some levels in octo expansion have other sea cucumbers hanging out, but as much as i love them, they are just cq cumber retextures lol

there are also some tiny little flying fish that pop up in shipshape cargo co, if you wanna count them

and of course the snapper canal ducks

this one doesnt really fit your request since its just art, but theres this specific poster seen in inkblot art academy but ONLY in splatoon 2, they changed it in splatoon 3 and i miss it </3

[missrekie]

random splatoon lore shit 2(?)

so it has come to attention that a lot of people don't know about the deepcut news dialogues because they were only added in like a year ago 😭. poor deepcut man so I'm gonna highlight some of my favourites and rank em

1. lemuria hub

I find these quotes so funny because it really brings into perspective that turf wars happen in random ass real places 😭 like imagine if you were walking though a peaceful plaza and suddenly 8 footballers appear violently play for 3 mins and then leave without saying a word. it really brings together the fact that the splatoon world is real and functional and people live there (✨worldbuilding✨)

here's another one about this

I may be dumb interpreting this one but this adds onto my metaphor and makes it even funnier 😭 if I'm reading it right (correct me if I'm not) people are literally missing their trains because the allure to throw hands in a public space is just too high. now imagine my previous metaphor but instead of footballers a bunch of random ass guys who were sitting down exhausted spring to live and violently play their hearts out, only to realise they missed the train home. hmm I got sidetracked

overall: 7/10 quotes - funny in verse but I'm biased and lemuria smells

2. makomart

frye on team sweet has been really consistent characterisation for our favourite rotten tooth goblin . girl doesn't have a sweet tooth I'm starting to think it's some sort of addiction 😭. "oh guys I'm sorry the food just happened to fly out of my hands and I added 9 sugars whoopsies silly me". also the more I read the more I realise big man is the tired dad of deepcut with 2 rabid kids.

overall: 6/10 - someone fix Frye's taste buds

bonus: bag chaser shiver

shiver is actually so funny with the ads like I cannot 😭 girl wants a sponsor so bad she be dropping plugs on basically all of the stages it's acc crazy

HELP WHY IS SHE A PR MACHINE THEYRE NOT EVEN GETTING PAID 😭😭😭😭

I found another bonus for shipshape but that one has a few others I wanna talk about so I'll mention that next time

[xb-squaredx]

A Final Look at Splatoon 3

A little over a year ago I put out this post going over my frustrations with Splatoon 3 and my hopes that with another year of planned updates they could address these issues and end on a strong note. As of this writing, Splatoon 3 seems content complete without any plans to add any more substantial content, so it’s time to do a deep dive on how this game spent its final year of updates and come to terms with how this trilogy will close out.

REWORKS AND ROADMAPS

First off, let’s recap my main complaints from the original post and see just how Splatoon 3 addressed those points: I had issues with the game’s online stability, the seasonal update cycles, Salmon Run’s reward system and the quality of the multiplayer stages. To be honest…very few of these complaints were addressed, though I kind of expected that. The online experience in Splatoon 3 is largely the same now as it was back when I made that post, and any alleged improvements aren’t all that noticeable to me. Rooms still break down at random when matchmaking, and you still see a lot of players disconnecting at all points of a match. There was a patch not too long ago that seemingly tried addressing lag issues in matches, though I can’t say I noticed any major differences. For a while the game seemed to disconnect me and then punish me despite doing everything in my power to stomp out issues, though that did diminish greatly over time. Other than that, it’s the same ol’, same ol’.

I didn’t expect the seasonal content droughts to really be addressed and they also went mostly unchanged. In fact, we got LESS per season near the end with less weapons and stages. There was an attempt to improve the frequency of the various Challenges with wacky rule sets though. I’d still argue they were too infrequent and I was often not able to play even when they were active. There was a fun one where Rollers were super-fast, so that was neat I guess. Salmon Run also received a patch that awards players some silver and gold scales per shift if you do all your rewards, but that’s a bandage being slapped on that game’s horrid economy that comes too little too late. The shop still makes you buy things just to see what else is on sale and the prices are still FAR too high most of the time. There’s only one thing I think this game really did that felt like they were responding to criticism and that was regarding the stages.

For one thing, many of the later stages added post-launch got better with time. Starting with Drizzle Season 2023, I think the devs were finally willing to budge on some of their early design decisions with stages. Crableg Capital had a lot more verticality for starters, with Shipshape Cargo Co. having a lot of wide open space and multiple ways to get around and into the enemy side of the stage. From there Robo ROM-en was a really fun stage with a good theme and an interesting lower route that allowed you to actually flank your opponents. Marlin Airport made use of fans that would move platforms around for an interesting stage gimmick too. Our final brand new stage, Lemuria Hub, was an interesting take on asymmetrical stages with more moving platforms as a hazard to make it stand out. Admittedly, Bluefin Depot’s return was a bit underwhelming but it still has a very unique layout that helps it stand out. But the real talking points here were all of the stage reworks.

Starting with version 5.1 Splatoon 3 would start doing stage reworks as they have done in the past two games. First up was Mahi-Mahi Resort, which ended up addressing a lot of my problems. The stage was made a lot bigger even before the water levels dropped, with the side routes on the left side being made bigger and a better flank route overall. It still doesn’t hold a candle to Splatoon 1’s iteration of the stage but it was a great step forward. That said…I think we kind of peaked there. The subsequent reworks for Mincemeat Metalworks and Undertow Spillway were a lot less impactful. They did make the stages a bit better with extended routes out of spawn or slightly reworking the middle of the stages but they were still largely the same and barely count as a rework in my mind.

(Compare the launch version of Mincemeat Metalworks (LEFT) with the reworked version (RIGHT). Sure they're some changes, but at a glance could you even notice?)

The Version 8.0 update ended up changing MULTIPLE stages at once though. Hammerhead Bridge and Barnacle and Dime would also receive reworks, alongside multiple other stages getting smaller changes across a few of the modes. That said, these final reworks were a bit all over the place. Barnacle and Dime did add a new route on the left of the stage and slightly reworked paths out of spawn which was appreciated, and Hammerhead Bridge did extend the routes out of spawn a bit alongside a one-way drop into the middle of the stage on the right side of the stage…but the stage itself was still a glorified corridor. In the other ranked modes (aside from Splat Zones), these changes were barely notable. When it comes to the other assorted changes, some ended up being more notable than expected. Eeltail Alley added some blocks that allowed you another way to get up to the center bridge (though only in Turf War), and the changes made to the lower flank routes on Museum d’Alfonsio and Brinewater Springs were pretty major changes. Adding a random block here or there on Manta Marina…doesn’t really set the world on fire though. Oddly enough, Um’Ami Ruins received a lot of changes that I count it as an unofficial rework, getting a completely revamped right path out of spawn with a new ink rail to get to the middle of the stage faster. To be honest, this game did end up changing more stages than I thought they would, and we are definitely in a much better place with stages now then at launch or even a year ago. But at the same time, the issues these stages faced are systemic and would take way more time to change than a simple patch would allow. I can only hope that Splatoon 4 isn’t afraid to let players ink walls and have more routes to get around. I feel like making sure stages could be modified for extra modes like Big Run or Tricolor Battles, alongside all of the other ranked modes led to stages feeling less dynamic and interesting across the board. Still, as perhaps my biggest beef with this game, I appreciate the effort. With that said though, let’s talk about some of the NEW stuff the final year of this game’s content cycle would give us.

SPLATOON GOES ROGUE(LITE), WITH A GRAND FINALE

Teased way back before the game even officially launched, the single player expansion was hotly anticipated…and they ended up taking quite a bit of time to release it. That said, I think it ended up being well worth the wait. Side Order ends up serving as a bit of a follow-up to the storyline from Splatoon 2’s Octo Expansion while also being a very experimental side mode. Side Order is a roguelite adventure, with Agent 8 having to scale a tower in a digital world in order to take out the embodiment of order itself to save Pearl and Marina. Players start with a weakened main weapon but each floor they ascend gets them a random power-up that can help turn the tables. For every given “run” of the game, failure or not, you get currency to purchase permanent power-ups to ensure the next run goes smoother. It ended up being a lot of fun with some really addictive gameplay that kept me playing until my thumbs hurt. While maybe not quite as large as Octo Expansion was, it was definitely filled with more than enough to keep me coming back again and again until I cleaned my plate and did everything. All the power-ups cataloged, runs with all the weapons, and even the special run with the Order Octo Shot with no upgrades. For Nintendo’s first crack at a rogue-lite I’m happy that they nailed it so well, and it makes me hopeful future Splatoon games continue to experiment with their single player content. If nothing else, Splatoon seems to always nail their single player modes.

That said, as the end approached it was clear that we’d have to say goodbye…and the game did everything in its power to ensure the final main Splatfest would be one to remember. The Grand Festival didn’t just feel like the finale to Splatoon 3 but a celebration of the entire trilogy. All three main idol groups came together to form the Now or Never Seven, performing for an extra-long Splatfest that lasted three entire days. For this event players were also transferred to a completely different locale this time around, the Grand Festival Grounds near the desert crater where our story first began in this game. It felt like a real full-circle moment, and the fact that the developers went and made a HUGE venue filled to the brim with characters and little details that would only be used for three days was pretty impressive. We live in a world where game devs do everything they can to reuse assets and make sure players see everything they worked hard on, and a lot of this stuff was only available for three days! You know, assuming you don’t own an amiibo of the idols.

Adding to that, prior to this event we got a sneak peak of the final Tricolor map, the Grand Festival Bowl with the final Big Run of the game. Once again, introducing content that wouldn’t be readily available afterward, it was a cool way to tease the stage. The prompt for this final Splatfest was also an interesting one, asking players what they valued most: the Past, the Present, or the Future, with the three idol groups all picking a side to represent them. In the end though…it was a blowout. The power of nostalgia dictates that people value the Past more (or maybe they just like the Squid Sisters the most?), and while Present had a decent showing…in the end Future ended with zero points. How fitting that the final Splatfest of this game would once again demonstrate how hard it is to balance three choices without creating a third wheel that doesn’t really contribute to the greater outcome. That bummer aside, I think the Grand Festival was a really special sendoff for the game on the whole. It’s worth noting we’ll still see reruns of some seasonal Splatfests as time goes on, so it isn’t the TRUE end to the game, but its close enough. That said…as good as this finale was, I do think the true final state of the game does come up a bit short.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

With confirmation that no more major updates were planned for this game, fans will have to more or less accept Splatoon 3 for what it IS rather than what it COULD be. I do find it strange that, for a game as obsessed with the number 3 as Splatoon 3 is, we never did get third kits for weapons at all. It is worth noting Splatoon 3 has more weapons than either Splatoon game before it even WITHOUT third kits though, so I’d argue there is still a lot of variety. That being said, the lack of more options for some weapons can really hurt, especially when you consider the long wait some weapons had to even get their second kit (Bamboozler mains I feel for you!) thanks to the seasonal updates. The fact that we got brand new weapons such as the Decavitator right at the end of the game’s life with both kits at once stings all the more.

Considering how much work this game put into multiple versions of stages for certain modes and events, I am a little shocked a final update didn’t let players do private room Tricolor Battles or even be able to add on the modifiers from the random Challenges. Seeing as Shifty Stations became fair game after the Final Fest of 2¸I don’t see a reason for not implementing something similar for the likes of Tricolor stages, or even Big Run stages. I understand that making something limited-time only makes it feel more special (I even just praised this about the Grand Festival), but considering what past games have done it’s hard to feel like 3 isn’t dropping the ball a little bit.

Just so we’re clear here, I still think Splatoon 3 is a game bursting at the seams with content. Between two solid single-player experiences, by far the most stages and weapons in the series (especially if we’re counting variations for modes like Big Run or Tricolor Battles), a more fleshed-out co-op mode with Salmon Run, it even manages to have smaller stuff like a card game hidden within. Both Splatanas and Stingers are interesting new weapons and some of the other new weapons added later on in the game are pretty interesting. I’ll still hold firm that the Zipcaster is one of the coolest special weapons they’ve ever made. The game has a lot of technical polish and the visuals, even if they aren’t a huge leap from past games, feel all the more refined. I put hundreds of hours into the game across these two years and some change, and I enjoyed the vast majority of it. Playing with friends on the weekend was a pretty common activity, as opposed to the other two games that eventually boiled down to dusting it off every so often for a Splatfest and then turning it off again for months at a time. Splatoon 3 is a great game and in a lot of respects a great finale to the trilogy, but I won’t deny I still feel a little let down.

We have no idea what the future holds for this series now. Final Splatfests have had some impact on the next game in the series. Marie having more of a role in 2’s story, or the entire “chaos” theming for 3 on the whole…so who knows how Past winning will impact the hypothetical Splatoon 4. The devs have mentioned the trilogy closing the chapter on the current plot, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a total clean slate moving forward. Maybe we’ll get a game set in the past to get more of that juicy lore. Maybe we’ll get a game that’s geared more towards design elements from the first game even! One can hope, I guess. The Splatoon trilogy has definitely had its share of ups and downs, so I don’t want to paint this as something that only 3 had going on. The first game was at times an unbalanced mess, since it was a new IP that wasn’t sure what it wanted to be yet. The second game got rushed out the door to hit the launch window of the Switch too, and had its own share of strange design decisions (here’s looking at you, Sting Ray). With 3 I had hopes the devs would finally have the time and resources, not to mention past experiences to draw from, to make the best game in the series and…3 was not that at all. But it was also a game made during a pandemic, with a new Nintendo online infrastructure, on top of being on aging hardware that may or may not have once had a “pro” version in development. All things considered I think Splatoon 3 came out OK. It still delivered on a sense of style that stands out from the rest of Nintendo’s games, and kept me coming back for more even with all of these issues, so clearly they were doing a lot right. Whatever the future holds, I’ll always be down to make a mess with some ink.

Stay fresh.

-B