West of Loathing

West of Loathing
Developer: Asymmetric Publications Publisher: Asymmetric Publications Platforms: Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Nintendo Switch Released internationally: August 10, 2017 This game has unused areas. This game has hidden development-related text. This game has unused graphics. This game has unused items. This game has unused text.

West of Loathing is a comedic turn-based RPG that takes place in a fictionalized version of the American frontier. It draws heavily from Kingdom of Loathing, one of Asymmetric's previous games, even down to the same stick figure aesthetic.

Unused Graphics

Placeholder Graphics There's a lot of very early placeholder graphics still in the files.

• 

  Reference sheet for the player character. The filename contains the date 2015/11/19 - almost two years before the game's full release.

• 

  Extremely early character creation sheet.

• 

  A cheat sign. According to the data, this would be used in Ghostwood in order to skip the puzzle. It's unknown how to get it to show up, if even possible.

• 

  An El Vibrato store. Aside from the odd font, the filename states that this would go in Frisco.

• 

  This is the icon used for a mob's skill. Since the player never controls an enemy mob (aside from the minigame in Fort of Darkness, which have unique icons) this goes unused.

• 

  This is the default graphic loaded for an NPC that doesn't have a prefab set.

Unused Text

"Congratulations, you bought a horse and finished the prologue section of West of Loathing.  
Thanks for playing through the entire thing -- your dedication to unfinished software is sure to become part of the mythology of the West."

"West of Loathing will be out on Steam for Windows, Mac, and Linux in just a few months, and then iOS shortly after.  
We're planning on a handful of things leading up to our launch that might be good potential hooks for stories.  
Feel free to reach out if you'd like to talk about them, or if you have any other questions."

"West of Loathing will be out on Steam for Windows, Mac, and Linux in just a few months, and then iOS shortly after.  
You can go to our website (westofloathing.com) to sign up for our newsletter, where we'll keep you in the loop about release date and other details."

Messages from demo versions.

Straight and to the point. A bit snarky. Well-educated but not high-falutin', so she doesn't throw out long words except when needed for precision.

Similarly, she doesn't clip her g's like the others and generally speaks correctly, but she will throw in an 'ain't' or 'helluva' once in a while, 
because that's how people speak 'round these parts. I imagine the more snarky she's feeling, the more down-homey she gets.
tut_alicetalk is the current longest example.

words: damn, blasted, "Dead people ought to damn well stay dead."
laugh: Heh.

Examples:
What's the matter? The whole world's gone to hell in a horsecart and you ask what's the matter? Bandits, cow demons, dead men walking -- why don't you go ahead and pick one, and I'll drink to <i>that.</i>
You haven't seen it? Corpses and skeletons staggering around like puppets with half their strings cut, looking to take a bite out of the living?

Alice's husband's name was Elliot.

A character reference for Doc Alice.

Pete has the basic cartoon prospector voice. Pete is the basic cartoon prospector. 
\npc_pete_tutorial\ is the current longest example.

you -> ya
your -> yer
for -> fer
isn't/aren't/haven't/etc. -> ain't 
drops the g from '-ing' on words at least two syllables
those -> them
that -> what (rules unclear but e.g. \those that go\ -> \them what go\)
very -> right e.g. \a right fine mess\
misc. contractions like use'ta 'cause s'pose gonna etc.
sample words and phrases: heck dang ain't'cha unnerground tarnation feller thank ya kindly dagblasted machines! etc.
laugh: Hee!

Examples:
Listen kid.  All this stuff what I been buyin' from ya... you been spendin' time unnerground ain't'cha? Well you lissen ta Ol' Pete's advice: You'll stay outta Orehole if ya know what's good for ya.  
There's stuff down on the fortieth level that ain't worth messin' with for a fella wants to keep his eyes... if ya catch my meanin'.
That there is a right shiny rock you got stranger! I'll give ya 67 Meat fer that rock.
Who me?  Well heck stranger I say all kinds o' things!  F'r'instance: %pete_ramblings%

A character reference for Pete.

Susie talks like a cowboy. So like Pete but rather less so.
tut_susie is the current largest example.

drops the g from '-ing' on words at least two syllables
isn't/aren't/haven't/etc. -> ain't 
misc. contractions like use'ta, 'cause, s'pose, gonna, etc.
sample words and phrases: damn, friggin', reckon, got no call to..., can't rightly say..., Yeehaw!, etc.
laugh: Hah!

Examples:
Howdy, cowboy who's gonna be searchin' the spittoon for his teeth if he don't leave me in peace.
I saw it happen. Saw the whole damn thing and couldn't do nothin' about it.
It was a raid. See, Ma and Pa used to ranch cattle, back before... well, before they \came home\. Pa didn't make it, but 
Ma and I managed to rebuild. We ranched pigs instead, and she left me the place when she passed.
Look, I know you got no call to do a favor for a stranger, but I ain't got a lot've options.
Thanks, firstname. Can't rightly say what this means to me.
Well, that's enough wallowin' in misery. Time for me to hit the road. If you want me to tag along when you head west, you just say the word.

A character reference for Susie.

Remember that Gary only speaks Goblintongue and the player is a novice speaker.
* enthusiasm
* no articles / helping verbs
* all verbs are in gerund form.

Idioms and interjections and stuff have awkward repeats in them like they involve a lot of repeated / alternating syllables in goblintongue.  The more excited he is the more repetitive it gets.  
Rearranged / slightly different idioms.  \far up and high away\
Longest script so far is tut_garytalk
laugh: Hey!  Hey oh.  Oh oh hey!  Oh!

Examples:
Hi.  Hi hello.  Hello I am Gary.  Who are you?
Okay I do talking!  Gary likes to talking!  What you doing down here?
Oh!  Hey oh!  Gary likes to looking too!  Gary now looking for way out of this dump.  Gary not having much luck though.
Hey.  What?  That being terrible idea!  Bartender not being good idea man.
Gary wants to popping but not here!  Too close! Too close to home!  Gary wants to popping far up and high away!  New Gary everywhere everywhere everywhere!
Gary doesn't likes to settling!  Gary wants to traveling and popping!  If you going far up and high away maybe taking Gary with you eh?  Eh?

A character reference for Gary.

A full-screen framing foreground parallax image is: 3072x2560 at full sprite size (pre-shrink)

A reference for the game's artist.

There's an engraved plate on the side of the device.

On the event of the death of the soldier outfitted with this device, it is to be removed BEFORE interment and returned to the reclamation officer at the nearest military cemetery.

Oh hey, it even provides the location of the nearest one in case a civilian finds it!

The message that one gets when they use the unused item military dental device.

This will reveal the location of a new mine.

The message that one gets when they use the unused item mine paystub.

This will reveal the location of the next fort.

This message likely had an item associated with it, but whatever it was, it's gone now.

Unused Items

Item	Notes		Item	Notes
super dynamite (DEBUG) I'll... have the soup. This item is used in combat. For debuggin'.	Throws a stick of dynamite at the enemy that deals a whopping 999 damage. Unsellable.		debug megabadge We don't need no stinking badges, but just in case... This item goes on your lapel. +99 Muscle +99 Mysticality +99 Moxie +99 Maximum AP	Unsellable. The name should be a clear indicator of what it's for.
coupon for [something] This coupon entitles the bearer to one free //looseend: ONE FREE WHAT	Unsellable. According to the game's data, this item would have been available in the Postal Way Station, but it isn't.		military dental device This is some sort of weird dental prosthesis, apparently issued by the army. Inspect it	Unsellable. This item's use script is called "item_breadcrumb_cemetery4" - presumably, it was meant to be used as a breadcrumb to direct the player to the Military Cemetery. Using it gives an unused message.
mine paystub This is a paystub from a different mine than the one you found it in -- must be from a miner who got transferred. Inspect it	Unsellable. The item's use script is called "item_breadcrumb_mine", so presumably it was meant to direct the player to a mine. Using it indeed clarifies this in an unused message.		mask without eyeholes This mask should never have made it through quality control at the factory.	Unsellable, but able to be equipped on the head.

Item Looseend/Note Text

Inside the data of the game, some items are tagged to include a small note. These are references for the developers, or ideas for where to put items that don't yet have a purpose.

Item	Data
The Best Love Poem Ever Written	"This should be used to solve some lovestruck person's problem - Part of the olive / bill saga maybe?"
Percussive Maintenance	"Maybe add one more source of this somewhere"
Gold Medal Silversmithing	"Create a payoff for this somewhere"
military dental device	"find a place to put this"
marching orders	"Gets you from fort1 to fort2"
mine paystub	"Use this somewhere. 2->3 maybe, since 2 has multiple ways into it?"
guffin	"wire this up somewhere -- [terrible food. Useful for trading or selling in a gulch; maybe some goblin wants one specifically]"
mask without eyeholes	"put this somewhere that needs a gag"
clip-on bow tie	"this can be anywhere pre-G. Guy at Fort Unnecessary sends you somewhere to get it? Or it just shows up somewhere."
very thick spectacles	"Put this somewhere, wherever Pvt. Blindman sends you."
spit-soaked boots	"these only have AP on them, so can be best in slot for that."
skull with an odd tag on it	"gets you from cemetery1 to cemetery2"
mine paystub	"Will eventually give a specific mine discovery."
El Vibrato rod	"Detects El Vibrato caches in various underground locations"
strange stone arrow	"Unlocks The Perfessor, who unlocks all further El Vibrato stuff."
fungicide bomb	"used to end certain goblin encounters without a fight."
headpiece El-vibrato headband	"protects from Roberto Madness"
consumable lock	"this is a multi-purpose item that can be used for... multiple purposes. A kind of commodity good."
sarsaparilla	"cannot be stackable 'cause of name generator"
big coil of barbed wire	"Used to protect Lazy A Dude ranch so they can grow cowsbane, once it's silver-plated"
gore-splattered scroll	"ritual recipe for Daveyard"
toy skeletons	"Used to direct the army at Fort Alldead"
bean-iron ladle	"low damage, tuned for spellslinging"
bean-iron whisk	"low damage, it's for spellslingers"
St. Beffus' thigh	"Should have higher than usual base damage for the region."
fancy knife	"set at region B power as a reward 'cause you can only open one of the three containers"
tuna fork	"weak base damage, mostly for non-melee folks"

Areas

Access to these zones can be gained by editing the .JSON save file located here:

%systemdrive%\Users\%username%\AppData\LocalLow\Asymmetric Software\West of Loathing

...and swapping out the entries in "location" and "WAA_ID" to the internal names present in the galleries (keep quotation marks intact.) Change the x,y location to 1,1 to prevent softlocks.

To be completely safe, creation of a new character and/or save file backup is highly recommended. It is entirely possible to cause the character to become completely unusable by mistake!

The Twilight Zone

The Twilight Zone is West of Loathing's main debugging room. On the left side of the room, it has objects that are able to give you one of every item, give you every map location, let you fight any enemy in the game (provided you know the internal encounter name) and a few other miscellaneous options.

On the right side of the room, there is, according to a signboard, a whole bunch of "random crap" - true to its description, a lot of the objects are for testing or are non-interactable. The most interesting object is a "Debug Hat" that gives you 99 dynamite, 1 Deputy Pistol, and options to warp to a few different areas.

This map and Cold Storage are the only unused maps that have pointers on the world map.

• 

  aaa_twilightzone

• 
• 

Cold Storage

Cold Storage, also known as The Freezer, is an area with an unknown purpose. It's labeled as debug on the world map, and contains all four pardners and all four horses. It isn't possible to change your pardner or horse once they're selected.

• 

  aaa_coldstorage

• 

Photo Studio

This room might have an internal use, it might have had a use in the past, or it might have never had a use whatsoever. The only thing we can be assured of now is that save for a non-interactable Crazy Horse, it's entirely empty.

Upon entering this zone after using the Debug Hat, you're given a Four-Gallon Hat, a Floppy Derby, and a Barely-Enchanted Hat.

• 

  zzz_photostudio

Trailer Zone

This is the area that the developers recorded parts of the teaser trailer in. There's several non-interactable NPCs, along with a switchbox that changes the animation of the cowboy.

• 

  aaa_trailerzone

• 

Alamo Rent-A-Mule (Basement)

This is supposedly the basement of the Alamo Rent-A-Mule. The only thing of interest is a single crate that displays a message saying a fight club is (or was) planned. The stairs lead to inside the Alamo Rent-A-Mule.

• 

  fort7_basement

Silver Plater interior (no longer used)

It seems that the Silver Plater once had a house you could enter. Of course, as the name of this room points out, that idea was scrapped.

The door takes you to right outside the Silver Plater's booth.

• 

  xxx_silverplater_interior

Bandit Camp 10

Empty, save for your horse and pardner. According to the name, it might have been a planned bandit camp.

• 

  zzz_bandit10

Circus PH Areas

All of these are placeholder rooms for the Circus. Talking to any of the "NPCs" gives the same events as the final one does (balloon clown gives balloon clown event, etc.). Half of the arrows don't port you like they should, and the ones that do port you to the finished version.

There are two additional empty placeholder rooms in the game's data called "Tanning Vats" and "Liming & Bating." The circus has no tanning rooms in the final game.

• 

  zzz_clowns_circus_food

• 

  zzz_clowns_circus_games

• 

  zz_clowns_circus_outsideshow

• 

  zzz_clowns_circus_outsidestage

The Cow Level

Surprisingly, not a Diablo II joke. It's completely empty save for your Pardner and a set of doors. Entering the doors takes you to the Hellstrom Ranch. At one point in time, perhaps it might have been possible to enter the portal present there?

• 

  zzz_cowlevel

Gibberin' Gulch

The Gibberin' Gulch is an empty gulch. Your pardner and horse are squished in the corner, at 0,0. Considering the internal name, this was probably a planned goblin area.

• 

  zzz_goblin2

Northwestern Goblin Cave

This is an unfinished goblin cave with a few equally unfinished floors. The last one has a few "goblin houses" in it. It's also worth mentioning that none of the cave doors work correctly, they have "shadows", and most are horribly misaligned.

• 

  zzz_goblin4

• 

  zzz_goblin4_cave1

• 

  zzz_goblin4_cave2

• 

  zzz_goblin4_cave3

• 

  zzz_goblin4_maincave

Goblinville

This is an unfinished goblin town. Where's the goblin houses?

None of the houses are interactable.

• 

  zzz_goblin5

• 

President Goblin's Castle

Based on this room and the above few, it seems that the goblins might have had a larger part in the story than they ended up having.

Interacting with the house causes the game to point out that it is, in fact, a goblin castle.

• 

  zzz_goblin6

Puzzle Mine B

This room is a placeholder for a room in Jumbleneck Mine - the one where you get the paper bag. The lunchbox gives the same items and message as it does in the final room.

• 

  zzz_mine4_levelb

Old Train Station

Judging by the internal name, this was likely a bandit hiding place. There's three headless bodies standing in front of a house, and a placeholder cart to the right.

This room actually has an unfinished event. Entering the shed gives you a prompt to build an ambush for some bandits. Based on your mysticality, you can set an ambush that varies in effectiveness. Unfortunately, nothing happens afterwards.

• 

  zzz_oldbandit6

• 

The Perfessor's Cellar

An empty cellar supposedly belonging to the Perfessor, judging by the internal name, the room's name, and the fact that the stairs lead you to right outside the Perfessor's Shack. In the final game, he doesn't have a cellar.

Your pardner spawns here at 0,0 for some reason.

• 

  zzz_professor_cellar

Riff's Testing Ground

A testing room that has two NPCs. The NPC contains dialogue from a few different events, and the horse starts the event that occurs when you first encounter the Pale Horse.

• 

  zzz_rifftest

The Desert

The internal name suggests this is just a testing room. There's two invisible objects in the room that the player character can't pass through.

• 

  zzz_testarea2

Testville

A room containing nothing but two placeholder faces. Interacting with the one on the right makes the player character think to say hello, or something to that effect. It's difficult to discern the intent, is what I'm saying.

• 

  zzz_testville

Additional Empty Rooms

These rooms do not have an area to walk in, and thus cause either a softlock or a complete crash.

• zzz_aaa_start
• zzz_clonetest2
• zzz_clowns_tannery_room2
• zzz_clowns_tannery_room3
• zzz_testclone
• zzz_test_Balls2
• zzz_test_balls3
• zzz_test_cemetery
• zzz_tut_outskirts
• zzz_unused_tut_jail