Lore, Myths and Backgrounds.

[Ooterspyce]

So ive been casually following this game for a few years now, and everytime ive returned, the game has become increasingly impressive, and as a result, ive decided to finally drop in on the forums. When it comes down to it, the lore and universe surrounding the game have always been far more interesting to me, and so i am here to inquire about the universe surrounding Overgrowth. Ive gleaned what i could from the wiki, which wasnt very much at all, and watched a ton of the developement videos, however i am left with quite a few questions. 1. Are there any complete maps of the island. 2. Has there ever been any lore surrounding how each animal got there 3. Has there ever been any lore surrounding the monoliths. 4. Are there any sigmificant or clearly designated locations on the island. Whenever i watch a developement video, they always work in random locations (for simple tech demos,of course). I am however, incredibly interested in seeing a giant cat city or rabbit village or rat enclave. On that note, i must also inquire whether or not the full game will integrate some rpg elements such as villages, civilian (non-agressive) npc's, bartering, hiring arms and creating weapons as wells as stat progression (i.e. jump strength, agility etc.) Feel free to ignore the whole rpg bit as it seems thecommunity had already made it clear that they wish to avoid stats and what not. However my inquiry concerning the lore and background story was entirely genuine. Excuse any spelling or grammar errors seeing as im typing this on a nook.

[Endoperez]

RPG type stuff you mentioned seems to be less important than the action game part.

Have you read the Overgrowth comic yet? It doesn't offer that much detail on the things you mentioned, but it does show bits of dog culture.

http://www.wolfire.com/comic#1

Other than that, I think you're out of luck. I don't remember seeing those things in any sort of details, and I've been hanging in here for so long I'd probably have heard about them.

[Korban3]

Ninjas mentioned that he was hoping to get a comic update made soon. He's still fighting some poison oak right now, I think, but hopefully we'll see more of the comic real soon

[Synapse]

I too am very interested in the lore of the Overgrowth universe, I have got a bit of info but it's probably all stuff you've seen before.

1.Rats that abide in the desert live in large nest-like structures that usually only hold 5 or so rats, due to their being a people that enjoys hoarding junk. Most of the nests are filled with about 97% possessions and 3% occupants.

2. The monololiths are mysterious structures made of a material called "crete". The structures share some characteristics with crystals in that they grow slowly over time. Some structures have a base of steel cable (or something like that) that is found near the center of several layers of crete.

3. "The Overgrowth" is a location.

That's all I've got as of now. Well, that's all I know for sure... there are always theories.

[Korban3]

3. "The Overgrowth" is a location.

Now that, I haven't heard. That is quite interesting.

[Arigatōr]

1. Are there any complete maps of the island.
[...]
4. Are there any sigmificant or clearly designated locations on the island. Whenever i watch a developement video, they always work in random locations (for simple tech demos,of course).

There is an art asset overview which shows a 3D map of the island Lugaru. It's maybe not the final version of how the world of Overgrowth will look like, but you can already see the different types of landscapes the island is going to contain.

3. "The Overgrowth" is a location.

I think the title 'overgrowth' refers to something said in a dialogue at the end of 'Lugaru'. I posted my thoughts about that in a recent thread in the secret preorder forum. I don't think the ending of Lugaru is a big spoiler but I put it in spoiler brackets in case someone plans to play Lugaru without knowing anything about the events in the plot.

[+] End of Lugaru and my interpretation of the term overgrowth

In Lugaru the rabbit kingdom where the protagonist Turner lives is attacked by wolves, who kill rabbits to eat them. At the end of the game Turner "finally reaches Ash, the alpha wolf. He warns that if Turner defeats him it would mean ruin for the rabbits as they would overpopulate and starve without the wolves enforcing the natural order. Turner refuses to listen, and manages to successfully overpower Ash and defeat him." (quoted from the wikipedia entry)

So I assume "Overgrowth" means overpopulation of the rabbits or maybe of all the animal races except the wolves (but English is not my mother tongue and I don't know if the two terms are synonyms). Accordingly, a major plot element of the game could be conflicts between the growing animal kingdoms because living space, food and other resources becoming scarce.

[Synapse]

The word overgrowth refers to the "overgrowing" of vegetation and or certain mutations that involve the overgrowth of an appendage or internal organ. Of course it could be viewed in a more abstract sense, in which case the theory of it refering to overpopulation becomes more plausible. However part of my reasoning for the whole thing about "The Overgrowth"being a location are the lyrics of the Overgrowth rock song:
"Draw your weapon, walk the road to the overgrowth."

But who knows, maybe the story could be about the search for the overgrowth due to the lack of resources caused by overpopulation. One can only guess.

[Anton]

The Overgrowth"being a location are the lyrics of the Overgrowth rock song:
"Draw your weapon, walk the road to the overgrowth."

That rock song you are referring to is not from the devs, but created by a fan, so I wouldn't hold too much information from what they said in that.

I can't remember where, but at some point Jeff/Aubrey/David/John said something about the reason they used the name Overgrowth, and that it had no less than 5 meanings to the game… hopefully we'll be able to learn what that means at some point!

[Synapse]

The Overgrowth"being a location are the lyrics of the Overgrowth rock song:
"Draw your weapon, walk the road to the overgrowth."

That rock song you are referring to is not from the devs, but created by a fan, so I wouldn't hold too much information from what they said in that.

I can't remember where, but at some point Jeff/Aubrey/David/John said something about the reason they used the name Overgrowth, and that it had no less than 5 meanings to the game… hopefully we'll be able to learn what that means at some point!

Oh, well that's nice to know.

[SteelRaven7]

I suppose it could be this one?