Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling

Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling is an indie RPG revolving around Team Snakemouth (comprised of the strong-willed Kabbu, the greedy and sarcastic Vi, and the mysterious Leif) seeking the titular Sapling, a sapling capable of eternal life, for Queen Elizant II in the name of her deceased mother. Of course, journeying for such a prized item won't be easy, and the trio will encounter rivaling teams, natural dangers, totalitarian kingdoms, and past trauma along the way.

Bug Fables was inspired heavily by the first two Paper Mario games, serving as a spiritual successor to them (heck, the game was actually named "Paper Bugs" early in development!) while bringing a number of its own ideas to the table and just plain being a solid game all around.

Prototype Info

Prerelease Info

Unused Areas#

There are a few rooms that can only be accessed through an edited save file or the test room's room change NPC.

TestRoom - Room 0#

This room uses the model and floor textures of the main room from the prototype version of the game. There is an exit on the west side, and exiting the room sends the player to the Ant Mines.

West Side#

On the west side of the room, there are NPCs that allow the player to change their current party, items, medals, experience points, stats, skills, save name, Chompy name, and room ID. There is another NPC that allows the player to view the IDs of items, medals, skills, and rooms. There is even a shop, but attempting to enter it will softlock the game. Certain NPCs can also softlock the game.

There are also various objects here, such as the save crystals, pressure plates, signs, a moveable rock, and a cuttable bush.

East Side#

On the east side of the Test Room are NPCs that allow the player to warp to certain events in a Chapter. Near the south, there is a Mother Chomper that the player can talk to that offers unique battles. In the middle of this side, there are passive bandits and ruffians. Like the other side, there are various interactable objects.

SnakemouthEmpty - Room 15#

In the demo, this room was accessed through Snakemouth Den's big door and housed a Zombiant that allowed the player to refight the Chapter 1 boss. While the big door takes you to Upper Snakemouth in the final game, the demo's room is still present in the files.

Demo v0.4.5	Final

SnakemouthEmpty.txt (Demo)

SnakemouthEmpty.txt (Final)

Vi: ...Well, this is disappointing.
Leif: Yeah.
Kabbu: Maybe the door was a trap 
as well...
Vi: Oh well. Let's check the room out.

Hey hey. Well done coming here!
Do you want to rebattle the spider?
>Bring it on!
   Alright alright! Here we go!
>No thank you!
   Well, that's too bad. 

Come back later when you think you 
can take it again!

I hope you had fun there! You can 
retry as many times as you'd like.

Kabbu: This ant is different from
other ants we saw.
Vi: How so?
Leif: For once, it is not trying to 
kill us.
Kabbu: Maybe we should talk to 
it to see what it wants.

Kabbu: @Test for global tag system@
Vi:Ok Kabbu, that's nice. 
Look at this: @Woooah!

Developer Messages#

Enemy_Tattle.txt contains messages from the developer for enemies that cannot normally be spied.

Maki:

Maki@If you can access this data, you're one of 'em hackers. Good job 
finding this! @beetattle@beetletattle@mothtattle

Sand Wall:

Sand Wall@The best moment to stop datamining was when you opened the file@beetattle@beetletattle@mothtattle

Ice Wall, the immediate next entry:

Ice Wall@The next best moment was now@beetattle@beetletattle@mothtattle

Web:

Web@You can stop now.@beetattle@beetletattle@mothtattle

Unused Abilities#

Revival Massage#

Within the game files, there is code for an unused move for Vi called "Revival Massage", which, according to its description:

Revival Massage@Revives a fallen party member with 5 HP.

Unused Enemies#

Mr. Tester#

Present only in the test room. Has 500 HP and 0 defense. He acts as a dummy, so he will heal 500 HP to himself and 99 TP to the player every turn unless he is frozen.

(Source: The Spriter's Resource)

Artbook Enemies#

In the game's official artbook, rough sketches of 6 cut enemies are shown, these include:

A cordyceps-infected caterpillar.
A "dragonfly-like being".
A worm.
A fly with a sunflower face.
A robot ant.
And a Deadlander.

With the exception of the cordyceps caterpillar and the Deadlander, it's unknown where most of these enemies would've been placed in for the final game.

(Source: Bug Fables: The Art of Bugaria Page 109)

Unused Graphics#

Everlasting King defeat frames#

According to Genow, the Everlasting King was originally going to have sprites for the tree wilting. In the final game, the tree remains the same until it's locked up.

(Source: The Spriter's Resource, Bug Fables: The Art of Bugaria)

Unused Sleeping Sprites#

Within the game files, there are unused sleeping sprites for the propeller Seedlings and Mimic Spider, respectively. These, however, cannot be seen in-game, the former due to it being knocked to the ground if inflicted with a sleep status effect, and the latter due to its sleep immunity.

Unused Text#

Unused Translation#

To do:
Is the text used in v1.1.1, or was it retranslated?

The following text files contain Portuguese dialogue and text. A Portuguese translation was added to the game in v1.1.1.

ActionCommands_00002
AntBridge
Antpalace1_00002
Antpalace2
BoardQuests_00002
BugariaOutskirtsSnakemouthCorridor1_00003
BugariaOutskirtsSnakemouthCorridor2_00003
BugariaOutskirtsOutsideCity_00003
CommonDialogue_00002
DesertBadlands
EnemyTattle_00001
Items_00003
MenuText_00002
NearSnakemouth_00003
OutsideSnakemouth_00003
Skills
SnakemouthDoorRoom_00001
SnakemouthFallRoom_00002
SnakemouthLake_00002
SnakemouthMushroomPit_00001
SnakemouthTop
SnakemouthTreasureRoom
SnakemouthUndergroundDoor_00003
SnakemouthUndergroundLeftA
SnakemouthUndergroundLeftB
SnakemouthUndergroundRightA_00001
SnakemouthUndergroundRightB

Enemy Descriptions#

Enemy_Tattle.txt contains even more unused text for enemies who can't normally be spied.

Wasp King:

Wasp King@No one cared who he was until he put on the crown...
@beetattle@beetletattle@mothtattle

Mr. Tester, the unused enemy:

Mr. Tester@YAMEROOOOO@beetattle@beetletattle@Isn't this too meta?

Vine:

Vine@jk jk. wE cAN't sTOp yOU AnYMOre!@beetattle@beetletattle@mothtattle

Unused Dialogue#

Unused Text

Final Text

Some say regular termites aren't fit for combat.
To them I say - meet my blade and be proven wrong!

Vi: This guy's cool. I like him. 
Kabbu?:Feeling a bit identified, I presume. 
Vi: Yup! I'm all for those who say "shut up and watch me do great!"
Leif?:For everyone's sake, let's hope we don't need to beat him down then.

Hmph. They said that workers aren't strong enough to fight...
I will show them!

Vi: You go, super regular normal dude!
Kabbu: Vi's found a hero, eh? 
Vi: Wha-No! I'm my own hero! I should be HIS hero! 
Leif: |wavy|*Sigh*.|wavy|

Unused Audio#

To do:
Upload the rest.

ACBeep2#

An unused sound for charging an attack.

BattleStart1#

The sound of the leaf rustling that plays before a battle.

BeeFlyDrop#

A short version of BeeFly2.

BeepLoop#

Block2#

The sound effect for blocking an attack. Used in the demo versions, but not in the final game.

Boing1#

An alternate sound for bouncing on a spring.

BridgeRope#

Confirm0#

Confirm1#

Confirm2#

CrowdChatter2#

An alternate version of CrowdChatter. The crowd sounds more humanlike.

Death4#

The sound of an enemy dying. Used in the demo versions, but not in the final game.

OmegaMove#

An unused sound for Deadlander Omega.

Unused Music#

Vi and Kabbu themes#

According to composer Tristan Alric, the other members of Team Snakemouth (namely Vi and Kabbu) were going to have their own themes, with a "sad" arrangement similar to Leif. Vi's would gotten a surf rock tune medley, while Kabbu would've gotten a calm, orchestral, yet goofy, heroic, and adventurous theme. Both were scrapped for different reasons, with Vi's being that none of the test samples stuck to Tristan, and Kabbu's due to disagreements on what his theme should feel like and scheduling conflicts.

(Source: mrdeuter, mrdeuter)

Unused Arcade Games#

According to the developers, there were originally meant to be three Termacade games.

Board Game#

Watch on YouTube

Present in the files are text and sprites for a Mario Party-style arcade game. A short video (see right) showing off the basic functionality of the game was released.

BoardGame.txt#

You can't enter the gate without a key!
Open the gate?
Spaces Left:
Stop Wheel
1st
2nd
Your inventory is full!

Sprites#

Present on the spritesheet that contains the other, used arcade games.

(Source: Genow_BFDev, Developer Video, The Spriter's Resource)

Kart Game#

The text files mention an arcade game called "Kart Kart". No kart game is ever seen in the arcade, though it's probably a safe bet that this would've been a Mario Kart-style arcade game.