Shadesquest

SHADESQUEST: ULTIMATE EDITION is a side-game to DDE found in the ‘Games’ folder within disk_backup_445. The game was created in-universe by Spike; in actuality it was created and developed by tsuchiphox with small contributions from other devs.

Overview

SHADESQUEST is an RPG Maker XP game that the character Spike started making when he was much younger (around 13) in-universe. The game itself mostly relies on default or edited default assets as it was Spike’s first ‘serious’ attempt at an RPG.

There are four main areas in the game; the field, the sewer, the moon, and the sun. The protagonist is a purple dinosaur wearing sunglasses named Spork, which is canonically a self-insert character of Spike himself. The main plot consists of Spork having his sunglasses stolen by the game’s main antagonist ‘Mathios’, and having to wear a replacement pair while he tracks down his original shades. In-universe, Spike cut the ending short to work on another game idea he had, as stated in the readme included in the game’s folder.

Story

The game begins with an intro cutscene explaining Spork losing his shades to Mathios. He is kicked out of “the cool house” for having no swagger, and has to leave to find Mathios and get his shades back. Spork tracks Mathios down through the field and the sewer, catching up with him just in time to watch Mathios fly away on a rocket ship, headed for the sun. Spork hops in another rocket ship and tries to tail him, but is redirected to “Planet Moonulon” instead of the sun. Eventually, Spork gets the resources to make it to the sun and confronts Mathios about the shades, which he is preparing to incinerate. This is when Spork’s failing grade on his math test is revealed, and it’s decided that Spork will retake the test to get Mathios to return what he stole. After passing the test, Spork is awarded his shades back and goes back to the cool house, where all his friends are having a dance party.

Items

This is a complete list of all items you can find in the game and where/how to obtain them.

Standard Items

• Water - heals 40 hp - purchase from every shop.
• Soda - key item - purchase from the shop after finding a voucher.
• Rock - deals 10 dmg to one enemy - purchase from every shop, or find by interacting with rocks.
• Super Water - heal 85 hp - purchase from every shop.
• Voucher - key item - given by Carl east of the city.
• Bomb - key item - given by Louie on the bomb farm south of the starting area.
• Fruit Punch - heal 100 hp - found in a chest in the sewer.
• Anti-Sun Spray - no usage - purchase from the shop in Moontown.
• Moon Cookie - heal 100 hp - purchase from the shop in Moontown.
• Star Milkshake - heal 245 hp - purchase from the shop in Moontown.
• Sun Keys 1 and 2 - key item(s) - obtained by completing puzzles on the sun.
• Skateboard - unused item.
• Amulet - unused item.
• TTOKEN - key item(s) - obtained by ???.

Armor

• Lame Glasses - 10 def - starting gear.
• Nerd Glasses - 4 def - purchase from the shop at the starting area.
• Anti-Sun Specks - 45 def - purchase from the shop in Moontown.
• COOLEST SHADES OF ALL TIME - 999 def - obtained by beating the final boss.
• Lizard Scale - 15 def - obtained by speaking with the lizard in the city.

Weapons

• Knife-Gun - 20 atk - starting gear.
• Katana-Gun - 40 atk - purchase from the shop in the starting area.
• Cyborg Machine Gun Missle Arm - 90 atk - purchase from the shop in Moontown.
• Super Flaming Death Scythe - 140 atk - purchase from the shop in Moontown.
• Ultra Dragon Energy Fist - 60 atk - unused weapon.
• _missing - 999 atk - obtained by ???.

Trivia

• You are able to buy items from the first shopkeep if you talk to him again after the initial interaction. This is a good way to stock up on any early items if needed, even though the game is relatively easy.
• There are several unused images, items, and rooms in the game that are more or less completely inaccessible in-game.
  • This includes an outdated version of the title screen, where the game is called “Dinosaurquest” instead of the final title.
  • The unused item “Amulet” was originally intended to be a reward for a sidequest in the city, which involved taking a path to the south that doesn’t exist in the final game.
  • There is an unused dialogue sprite for the NPC on the moon that blocks you from getting the ticket early. That character used to be more important to the story, but for some reason it was cut.