| Godwin the Goat | |
|---|---|
 Featured Level | |
|
Creator |
|
|
Date created |
May 1st, 2016 (v 1.87) |
|
Play count |
2,500,000+ |
|
4.29 (4,900+ votes) | |
|
Playable character |
|
Godwin the Goat is a featured level by Wings and Strings. It currently has over 2,500,000 plays, and a rating of 4.29 from over 4,900 votes. Wheelchair Guy is the forced character.
Gameplay[]
Taking control of the titular Godwin the Goat, they must explore the map to find hints as to the location of a hidden ruin. After the initial title screen the player stands in front of Glenbrook’s Mill, in the fields of Pine Valley, in a sense the tutorial area of the level. Here would be where the player encounters a gully and familiarise themselves with the basic mechanics of jumping (using Space) as they observe a kid leaping over the ditch. Beyond, the player sees a cream-coloured kid goat ramming a boarded-up archway, introducing the player to headbutting (using Shift), a way of interacting with environmental objects, such as the boarded-up obstacles here and at other points in the level, in this case breaking them down.
Beyond the archway, This time, a billy kid presents you with a crate, introducing the player to another aspect of headbutting; By pressing both Shift and either Left/Right arrows, Godwin is able to push objects. Pushing the crate against the hay shed, the player can jump on top of the shed, headbutt their way through another boarded-up archway and onto the ledge into Lightfoot Pass.
Lightfoot Pass[]
The first puzzle of the level per say starts with you being introduced to Schooner the Goat, balancing atop a cogwheel. Approach him, and he greets you with the following dialogue:
Ahoy, Godwin! If ye be wantin' some good exercise, hop aboard yonder wheel! A wee bit o' hard work is good for ya, lad!
This presents another component in coming puzzles of the level; Godwin can run atop cogwheels to activate certain mechanisms. In this instance, operating a lone hoist platform. Further right to this contraption are two dual hoist platforms and a crate. The nature of the dual hoist platforms is such that when one of them is weighted down, the other is elevated, to the level of nearby cliff. If the player wishes to get onto the ledge, they must weight down the leftmost of the dual platform, furthest away from the cliff, with the crate. To accomplish that, the lone hoist platform nearest to Schooner must be lowered to allow the crate be loaded on and subsequently dropped into the leftmost of the dual platforms.
Switchback Mountain Complexes[]
At this point, there are two major area left to be explored, with hidden wind vanes in the shape of a dragon similar to the one from Dragon Flight School acting as objective markers within. The navigation of both is essential to make out the location of the hidden ruins and achieve victory.
Switchback Mountain (East): Completing the Lightfoot Pass puzzle and jumping onto the ledge is the entrance to the eastern Switchback Mountain complex. Entering the mouth of the mountain complex, there is a tunnel shaft, the way blocked by a door operated by a cogwheel.
Opening the door, the player enters a chamber of sorts with a giant flywheel with two platforms and two smaller cogwheels to either side. The right cogwheel controls the flywheel whilst the left cogwheel controls the only exit located on the upper floor. To exit the complex, the player must build up enough inertia in the flywheel then open the exit door to its fullest extent with the left cogwheel before jumping on the platforms and exiting before the door shuts entirely. The player may find that using Shift in combination with arrow keys may give Godwin some much needed boost to complete this time based puzzle quickly.
Exiting the mountain, the player will find the eastern wind vane. Approaching it shows the following poem;
As evening's glow Hits settled snow In shade of mountains tall, A morning light Is dawning bright Where western waters fall.
From this vantage point, one can also see Canadian Goose flying by. For a better view of the goose, they can from there jump onto Birdwatch Point, or in other words, the top of the frame which suspends the dual hoist platforms
Switchback Mountain (West): This is perhaps the more intricate of the two mountain complexes, with two primary ways of reaching the wind vane. Located behind Glenbrook's Mill, there are two entrances to this, the upper one being obstructed by a stack of TNT, the lower one being boarded up. The player can headbutt their way through the lower entrance, and set off the TNT stack by jumping on the detonator nestled on the rocky outcrop in front of the foot of the mountain.
Entering the upper mineshaft one sees a switcher which controls a vertical turntable that grants access to either a path directly to the western wind vane, but currently blocked by TNT, or when rotated 90° forms part of a elevator shaft that leads to an upper chamber, where the detonator is located. In the lower mineshaft there is similarly a switcher, but one that controls a set of doors leading to a detonator to yet another stack of TNT, this time covering a small crawlspace leading to a functional elevator. The typically orthodox method of reaching the wind vane starts with switching the turntable to its 'elevator shaft' configuration, then going to reach the elevator in the lower mineshaft which would bring the player to the uppermost chamber and a detonator set. Yet another crawlspace to the right of the elevator leads back to the upper mineshaft once the detonator is plunged, whereby the player can simply switch the turntable back to its default position and reach the wind vane. Alternatively, one can forgo the entire section involving the upper mineshaft and instead head straight for the elevator. Once the top of the elevator hits the turntable, go immediately to the left into a concealed crawlspace which links straight to the wind vane.
Whichever way the player chooses to access this weather vane, the following poem shows when it is approached:
As sunrise dawns On golden lawns Of lowland valley grass, A sunset beams Through rushing streams Below the mountain pass.
Piecing two and two together, the hidden ruin will be revealed to be a hidden grotto behind Ironclaw Falls. Arriving at the small pavilion inside will thus cause the level to fade into an ending screen, concluding the level.
Trivia[]
- Funnily enough, one can access the hidden grotto beneath the waterfalls by the start of the level. But without completing the puzzles in the two Switchback Mountain complexes, the victory screen will not show up and instead this monologue shows:
"When foes gone by see eye to eye, Return to venture onward..."
- The stream at Ironclaw Falls interacts with the player vehicle, sending them flowing to the bottom of the fall if the player remains idle.
- If the player manages to jump on and ride the Goose from Birdwatch Point, they can take a shortcut to the wind vane at the exit of the eastern Switchback Mountain complex.
- In the Flash versions of the game there used to exist a bug, first discovered by Ewan111, where pressing Shift then Space in successive order would permit the Godwin sprite to fly. This is ultilised by sam502502's current standing world record for the level, in 58.53 seconds
- Before the level proper was published in May, Wings and Strings did give a quick peek of an environment test in April as a Tumblr Post, as seen here.
