MOUTHWASHING Q&A: PART II
Hello!
This is the second in our series of Q&A post. Thanks again to everyone who wrote questions! We definitely feel like a broken record at this point, but seriously, the amount of fan art, engagement in the Wrong Organ discord server, the funny animations, we couldn't have imagined a better response to our weird game.
We're glad y'all enjoyed the last Q&A post and that it sparked some discussions!
Keep it all coming! We've had a blast looking through everything that's being created about Mouthwashing! (And yes, even the Family Guy crossovers.)
Use the #Mouthwashing hashtag, tag us @Wrong_Organ on Twitter, or post on Discord: Wrong Organ and CR Channel servers.
[h3]AND NOW, ONTO Q&A PART II:[/h3]
- How did the story and characters change during development, if at all?
The story remained pretty much the same from the initial outline except at first the player was meant to question whether they’re playing as Jimmy or Curly much more, but that quickly became just frustrating and confusing moreso than compelling.
There was going to be one more crew member, another maintenance worker who would have worked alongside Swansea and Daisuke. They were cut very early on though since they didn’t serve enough of a plot function.
Curly was never supposed to be shown pre-crash until about a month before release when the script for that scene got a small rewrite. Then we had to scramble to make the model.
- If mouthwash wasn’t the thing that was in the cargo hold that the crew lived off of, what would you have used? What flavor is the mouthwash?
Mouthwash was the first idea but we briefly considered hand sanitizer, rubbing alcohol or just straight up hard liquor. Mouthwash just has that vibe of being the worst and most absurd option, plus the bottles could have a recognizable design. We considered having a few variants of different flavors but the uniformity of all the bottles being the exact same kinda adds to the sad horror of it all. The mouthwash tastes like blue.
- How did you decide on the name Wrong Organ? and what's the story behind your little mascot guy?
Aristotle, and in fact for centuries the larger scientific community, used to believe that life could spontaneously generate from non-living matter as long as the circumstances were favorable. The base elements for life, decay and rebirth simply had to be in balance. Maggots could spring forth, immaculate, from rotting meat. Golden swarms of bees are birthed from the carcasses of cows and lions. Snakes form inside the bone marrow of human spines. Anyway the mascot is called Worba and Johanna came up with the company name.
[h3]Shelley Duvall Tribute[/h3]
(via @chen7249, on Twitter)
- Was there anything that the team wanted to include/planned for Mouthwashing that got scrapped and you wish you could have kept?
We wanted a larger area of the ship (such as the sleeping quarters) to be accessible in the pre-crash sections but there weren't enough gameplay or narrative reasons to justify creating the extra assets and level area to make it happen. Our writer Johanna wanted Swansea to have his dog with him on board the ship but the idea was voted out because… well. Swansea still has a picture of his dog on display in Utility though.
- What was the funniest part of the game to work on?
Coming up with slang terms and writing funny expressions for Swansea. Recording Curly’s pill feeding sounds was also a lot of fun.
- What are your inspirations for creating your music, and how would you categorize it?
Inspiration comes from everywhere and changes depending on what the day is like. Say we saw a movie or heard a new album, that might influence what we write later. Martin tends to write music very fast and a lot of it is improvised at first to get an idea down, then edited down to something cohesive. It helps to be curious and to want to try new things as often as you can, that way creating doesn't ever turn into a habit. We would categorize it as Electronic, Ambient, New Wave, Experimental, but there's so many genres on the OST that it's hard to pinpoint.
- What were the designing processes for each character? Who was the hardest to execute fully?
Post crash Curly was the first thing Johanna drew for the game, his appearance was always central to the identity of the story. The rest of the crew came together pretty easily since they had to be painted with pretty broad strokes personality-wise due to the limited length of the game. The designs similarly had to remain simple yet convey that character effectively. Since everyone would be wearing similar company clothing it became an opportunity in itself to convey how each character customizes/accessories their uniform.
Daisuke’s patterned shirt took so long to texture! Plus his model was the first one Johanna made, then decided to use a different model base so he had to be entirely redone again from scratch. But the second model looks a lot better at least. Jimmy was difficult because we wanted him to remain an “everyman” to a degree while still having enough of a strong visual character concept to fit in with the rest of the cast.
[h3]Swan & Hibiscus[/h3]
(via @soltachan, on Twitter)
- What moment in the game was the most difficult to write/get to a point where you were happy with it?
The length of any given talking scene was usually the most difficult thing to work around because even in a game like this which is narrative driven you don’t want the conversations to drag.
One part where this was especially difficult was in the first pre-crash scene where Curly goes from having his psych eval with Anya to eventually the conversation with Jimmy in the cockpit. Initially both conversations were much longer and you got to see some of the evaluation actually be conducted. However the question/answer format was way too tedious and made the conversations stilted, which is why we ended up using a fadeout to imply the test had been done and have Curly and Jimmy talk sort of around it instead. Makes it more personal while still giving you the framing device of the psych evals. An even earlier concept had you give each character a psych eval as Curly.
- Is it canon that Curly was to be promoted after the trip (to some managerial desk role I guess?) while the others were terminated?
No, Pony Express is going under entirely so everyone is losing their jobs. However, Curly was set to receive both a commendation and exceptional references while the rest of the crew would not.
- How does the technology of the Pony Express compare to other ships?
The Tulpar is very much an older and cheaper model than what would be standard. Pony Express is the shipping option you know has like a consistent 30% chance of losing all your stuff entirely. But you just can’t beat those prices.
- Who is Jaxson the dog?
The best dog.
- If Curly could have had his birthday on Earth, what flavor of cake would he like best?
Curly isn’t all that into sweets. His friends (including Jimmy) made him a cake out of chocolate and caramel whey protein powder one year. It collapsed under its own weight and tasted like a chalkboard. One of Curly’s fondest birthday memories.
[h2]Fan Art Spotlight:[/h2]
[h3]take responsibility[/h3]
(via @spearmintaii, on Twitter)
[h3]theyaremanycolors[/h3]
(via @flamecrust, on Twitter)
[h3]it's like you said, together we can fix anything[/h3]
(via @McMorthern, on Twitter)
[h3]Them[/h3]
(via @relina_ruj, on Twitter)
[h3]Mouthwashing[/h3]
(via @Enigma_Eta, on Twitter)
[h3]Mouthwashing restaurant AU[/h3]
(via @tomimatsu2101, on Twitter)
[h3]Wonderful game![/h3]
(via @1tsKerington, on Twitter)
[h3]Don’t be daft![/h3]
(via @Skraggie, on Twitter)
[h3]curlykawa[/h3]
(via @ghoulfreaks, on Twitter)
[h3]Follow The Leader[/h3]
(via @MuffDash, on Twitter)
See you next week for Part III!
With lots of love,
Wrong Organ & CR Channel
[h3]The True Friendship[/h3]
[h3]The not-so-bright-yet-shining Daisuke [/h3]
[h3]Party time![/h3]
[h3]“LOVE THEM WHILE YOU CAN”[/h3]
[h3]Jimmy can fix it[/h3]
[h3]The Ending We Needed[/h3]
[h3]100% BEST MEAT, GUARANTEED BY PONY EXPRESS[/h3]
[h3]Curly+Anya 💊✨[/h3]