The Dog Island - Tumblr Posts
whoever made the story for this game hated kids so much
Dog from The Dog Island
Some "The Dog Island" themed images I made for @ellevandersneed's streams a few years back.
THE DOG Island unused stuff
I've been digging into THE DOG Island's files for a while. It's a pretty precious game to me, so I've always been interested in its history - and now I actually have something to show for it! So in case anyone else is a fan of the game, or just curious, or both, I'll put some of it in this post c:
I've converted the entire "icon_dt" folder into png files and put them here. This includes not only item icons and enemy emotions, but also icons/artwork for animals and enemies (all of these go unused except for the bat, which is used in the final Minecart minigame). There's also some unused items - mainly pastries and drinks.
Here
Look at these little guys.......
Some fans might remember this old trailer from youtube.
This says a lot about what older versions of the game may have looked like, including a different health bar and a lot of changes to item finding and such. Puroro town seemed to have changed a bit - in this trailer, you look to be delivering milk to others, and the scene with Dr. Hill occurs during the daytime.
While trying to find something else, I stumbled across some unused Puroro Town dialogue which may have come from this stage in development and, surprisingly, was still translated into English. This confirms that the player was once intended to deliver milk, and that Emilio/Maria's sickness suddenly becomes worse *before* the festival instead of during. You also get the extra context that Mar (or "Maw", in this case) usually delivers milk, but can't because your sibling is sick. The scene with Dr. Hill also seems a bit more blunt.
here
Some script names indicate that there was once intended to be a hunger system in the game.
There's probably a lot more to see (and probably that I've even seen already), but can you blame me for forgetting when I've not been properly documenting it lol
If anyone has any questions or wants me to get/check something from the files for them then feel free to ask! There's no guarantee I can do it but it's always worth a shot.
EDIT: I made a video on an entire unused area in the game here!
hello, yesterday I posted about some interesting stuff I saw in the files of The Dog Island so of course TODAY is the day I find something major
It's an unused map! An old version of Rune Caverns ("Rune Cave"). This version is much unlike the final version of the area, which is more like a glorified corridor. I'm really struggling with getting this map to work but I'm not going to give up yet - I'd really love to see it in more depth!!
Looking at the enemy data/putting it into other areas shows there were 3 bats, 2 cobras, 1 crocodile and a swarm of bees. Yes, that's right, bees. BEES ARE NOT ENEMIES IN THE FINAL GAME. But here they are with a smiley emotion like your average green snake. what is going on
Object data shows a few big doors and some items that weren't in the final version of Rune Caverns (eg. Amyrallis flower)
(...also those of you who followed me for art i'm sorry I haven't drawn much)
I finally got into the unused area in THE DOG Island and made a video about it here!
If you're wondering why I was having trouble accessing it, the map was actually perfectly fine. I just panicked when I realised what I'd found and forgot one of the important steps in getting these things to work haha
Hi, THE DOG ISLAND's speedrun world record holder here!
This post has covered most of the "why is this in a game for kids" story elements, but I'd also like to add on some things to do with the in-game enemies:
When certain conditions are met, most enemies are able to grab hold of your dog and do a special attacking animation. It deals extra damage accompanied by the sound of your dog yelping repeatedly. (This usually only happens if you're careless, which means it's relatively unknown outside of speedrunning, where it becomes a menace)
In various cave areas, there are bat enemies which begin asleep. If you move at above walking speed, they will wake up and chase you- they move at about equal to your top speed. These are also the first enemies you encounter that cannot be stunned, which is the only way you can defend yourself. These were among the scariest enemies for most people playing this as kids.
This is made worse by a required quest that has you collecting 4 items, each hidden in the range of a bat.
Crocodiles are usually found swimming in water, leading to the assumption that if you stay on land you're safe. The first time a crocodile chases you onto dry land is the most terrifying.
Enemies from the lategame wasteland areas include buffalo, which are fast and hurtle towards you at top speed from almost the moment they load in, and deal almost half of the maximum health you can get when you first need to visit there.
In terms of the developers, they made another game in the same year that, in the US, goes by Petz Dogz 2 and Petz Catz 2 (Wii & PS2 versions) and reused a lot of the same code. It improves on some stuff and isn't as... *gestures* this - the worst it gets is a wolf destroying your hometown - but it also has less content and various other flaws. Anyone interested in something similar should look into this. (It also has a nice soundtrack and anyone familiar with Izzzyzzz will recognise its music from her videos!)
Back to THE DOG Island, for its credits, they play after the game ends so you can probably find them at the end of any video walkthrough/let's play
And finally, I'd like to reiterate someone else's earlier point that the soundtrack IS amazing. A lot of it is nice chill acoustic guitar stuff. take, for example, the regular town theme:
https://youtu.be/BkDaEk8ZeUk
but there's so many other cool songs. you should give it a listen! anyway I could go on about stuff with this game for a long time but I'll leave it at that for now. I hope tumblr finding this inspires some people to check it out. even if out of some kind of morbid curiosity. (i love this game. i love it so much. i played it when i was a kid the plot did not scare me but the green snakes did.)
whoever made the story for this game hated kids so much
THE DOG Island iceberg! The recent popular post about this game reminded me that me and a friend worked on this a while back, so today I finally put our ideas onto an image.
If anyone wants anything explained, just ask! This is my first time making an iceberg so maybe some things couldve been categorised better or I missed something, but hopefully it's interesting to people anyway
thanks to remo who had the idea in the first place and contributed a bunch
what are things you could confidently info dump about? if I needed a beginner’s course on something, what could I go to you about?
THE DOG Island has a fishing minigame!
The Dog Island has a fishing minigame!
Well this got more attention than I expected it to. So under the read more, I'll put explanations for everything!
Looking back at this, yeah, some things could've been handled a little better in this iceberg, but in the end it's just a bit of fun, innit
1 - The peak
Petz Dogz/Catz 2 - game by the same devs released later the same year. It reuses most of THE DOG Island's code with some improvements and a different, shorter story.
Oliver - Name of the save file used in TheDogzLife's (now known as Dogfish) walkthrough from 2009. Back then, it was known enough that some people erroneously considered it the player's canon name. This is one I definitely should have categorised lower, since these days the Game Grumps are the better known youtubers who played this game.
Potan's girlfriend - The character Dr. Potan failed to cure. (I remember once seeing a version of the game that only ever referred to her as a "best friend", even in the cutscene after Deflungi, but I've struggled to find info on this?)
2- The surface
Special Grapes - one of many quest items able to be found well before you encounter the quest it's used for. I consider Special Grapes the most notable example, an easy find from the first time you enter Treely Woods, despite being for a quest you get in Snow Village.
Enemy Accessories - Stunning enemies has a low chance to give you a unique accessory, specific to the enemy type/area.
Collector's Hats - Giving every item asked for by an item collector gives you unique hats for each category.
Grand Sniff Master - The highest level you can reach. This gives you the full 10 hearts. Talk to Tao after you've become a sniff master to get this.
Ancient Grove has every flower - Self-explanatory. Every flower is always available in the ancient grove, and each one is always in the exact same spot.
3 - Beneath the surface
Minigame NPCs - Some minigame opponents are NPCs, such as Goliath, Ohlala and Boris.
Your dad was on the island first - The game sometimes implies that your dad, absent for the entire game, was on the island before you. Some dogs remark that you look a lot like someone they once met who came from Puroro town, as does the Ancient Monster. After the credits, a scene plays that shows your dad returning home, where he says he got lost but was helped by Petasi.
JP minor differences - The Japanese version, THE DOG ISLAND ひとつの花の物語 (The Search for the One Flower), has various minor differences from the international version released after it. These include a removed idle animation, music flowing in and out of some cutscenes differently, the order of the breed select being completely different, the final cutscene and credits being skippable (they're unskippable in the international release), a wii remote battery warning at 2 bars and, inexplicably, marginally faster load times.
Red Cobras always face you - unlike other types of cobra, which always turn clockwise, the red cobras from the post-anc road ruins will always turn in whichever direction is closer to you.
Water crocodile on land - Crocodiles in Zoomy Lake are capable of climbing onto some surfaces. The anc road crocodile can also do this, and does less damage when on land.
Snake Patrol - if a sleeping snake is awoken, but you leave its sight range before the waking animation finishes, the snake will begin to randomly "patrol" like polar bears and buffalo do.
Enemy Special Attacks - enemies can sometimes attack with a special animation that does more damage. They are accompanied by the sound of your dog yelping repeatedly. The ancient monster, besides its own special attack, also has another attack that doesn't fit this criteria but is still unique - if you manage to leave its sight range, it will begin slamming its foot on the floor. If it does this 3 times without being interrupted, it will suddenly jump and roar, which will hit you regardless of where you are in the room and deal 3 hearts of damage.
4 - Getting deeper
Enemy damage variation - Some enemies of the same type do different amounts of damage to each other. Boars in Green Meadows do half a heart, but boars in Hoya Plains do a full heart. Bats prior to anc road do half a heart, vs 1.5 hearts in anc road. Crocodiles in Zoomy do 1 heart, Chiro does 2 hearts, and Anc Road does between 2.5 on land and 3 in water. (anc road croc occasionally does different numbers though, which is a pain to test. basically, it hurte a lot)
Handwoven Bag increases inventory space - the item "Handwoven Bag", which can be gotten from a letter from your mother, will give you an extra row of inventory space.
Dry Valley Nest - there's a nest in the northeast of Dry Valley that's guarded by a vulture and yellow cobra. Despite being guarded, there's nothing here.
Bug & Fish Setups - whenever you enter an area, the game determines the bug setup and fish setup used. These decide what kinds of bugs and fish you can find. This is important because some bugs or fish are exclusive to some setups, meaning you can randomly be unable to catch a bug or fish without reloading the area. (This mostly applies to bugs. Most fish will be catchable regardless of setup, just at different rates. StrategyWiki has an in-depth page on bugs, and I made a spreadsheet containing every area's possible fish - I didn't get around to doing all the fish odds but I may someday.)
Moon Day Gift - a letter from your sibling late in the game asks for a Yellowtail Kingfish for Moon Day. If you send one, then your sibling will send a gift in return. If it is a brother, they send a black swallowtail. If it is a sister, they send a flower accessory.
Falling Blocks w/o penguin - the falling blocks in East Chilly Field are actually always the same. The penguin will pick a random path, however all of them are there at all times, meaning if you can memorise the path you can get to the other side without ever barking at the penguin.
Amalia's Bells - Amalia's bells are unique to her and, unlike every other accessory, cannot be found anywhere or worn by the player.
5 - the bottom
Ancs are fairies - In the Japanese version, Ancs are referred to as ようせい (fairies)
Giving Henry's Painting to Rohme - if you have Henry's painting, and you refuse to give it to Hans (say no when asked), you will be able to give it to Le Palpa Rohme instead, who says he will display it in the restaurant.
PAL Minigame Timer - The timer for racing and sledding minigames in the PAL version of the game does not properly count time, but not in the way you'd expect. A good explanation is here.
Fastest Gold Watch Route - the Gold Watch, much like Special Grapes, can be obtained before the quest that calls for it. What's special about the Golden Watch, however, is that you can deliver it to Noble before the quest marker ever appears. This is also interesting because Noble is not even the quest-giver. This is used in the speedrun route!
Bark effective on Ancient Monster - It is actually possible to bark at the Ancient Monster. When the ancient monster cannot see you and is slamming its foot on the ground, you can bark at it and it will have a different stunned animation. You cannot truly damage it this way, however.
Disrespecting Ohlala's passion - similar to Henry's painting, it's an alternative choice in a quest line compared to the obvious answer. If you ever suggest Henry to Ohlala in the circus questline, then he will say "Oh, you must be kidding! Henry is a strolling artistic genius, not a (dancer/singer/muscleman)! Forget it. I'm disappointed in you!" Unlike selecting the option "I don't know", this completely locks the questline. If you talk to him again he will only say "I hate people who disrespect my passion!"
6 - the abyss
Meat-based Health Bar - a trailer for the game shows many differences to the final version, including a health bar where, instead of hearts, it is represented by a chunk of meat. The art for this has not been left over in the files. Some other differences include the player having actual lines and a different item finding system.
Unused food items - there are around 100 unused items in the files that represent various meals and foods, including cake, drinks, steak, etc.
Rune Cave - Unused area. A much more expanded upon version of Rune Caverns. I made a video about it here.
Ratisraf - dog that only appears in Chiro caves after talking to Tao, but before talking to Alice for the key, and at no other time. Quite possibly the least well known NPC
Sibling collapsed before festival - An early version of the Puroro town segment can be found in the game's files, fully translated, and is actually also shown in the trailer mentioned earlier. The player's mother is referred to as "Maw", and usually helps Enzo deliver milk. You do so in her place to 3 characters - Ornelo, Hugo and Gloria - because she is busy looking after the player's sibling. A big change from the final game is that the player's sibling collapses before the festival, instead of during it. The conversation with Dr. Hill and Maw is different, more bluntly implying that your sibling will die without intervention and your father is gone. I copied all the translated lines I found about this here.
Outside of the iceberg, there are a few other unused lines I found this way, including one I found referring to an old version of the postman delivery system and internal names for all the characters (I can't remember where I found them, but some I noted down were Alex as the "pilosopher", Amalia as the "sister of pilosopher", Bill as the "ex-bully", Henry as the "hunter of the wandering", and Wilbur as the "HeatBall maniac").
Thanks for reading all this, and hopefully you learned something new ^^ have a nice day, fellow dog game fans!
THE DOG Island iceberg! The recent popular post about this game reminded me that me and a friend worked on this a while back, so today I finally put our ideas onto an image.
If anyone wants anything explained, just ask! This is my first time making an iceberg so maybe some things couldve been categorised better or I missed something, but hopefully it's interesting to people anyway
thanks to remo who had the idea in the first place and contributed a bunch
On this day, 15 years ago, THE DOG Island -ひとつの花の物語- first released for Wii and PS2 in Japan. (26th April 2007)
Happy 15th birthday, THE DOG Island!
THE DOG Island discord server(s)
I've noticed this game has had some attention recently, so I thought I'd share some discords I'm in that might be relevant to people looking for them. ^^
"The Dog Island and Petz 2" (https://discord.gg/ghAeH2Ad8C)
Server about The Dog Island and Yukes' other similar game, Petz Catz/Dogz 2, although ultimately it seems much more Dog Island talk happens here.
"The Dog Island Speedrunning" (https://discord.gg/rxanquDGRm)
The server with the speedrunners in it. Has a bunch of resources and the expert knowledge of the people who play game fast.
"South Pawville" (https://discord.gg/EBhSvf73HU)
This discord is only about Petz Catz/Dogz 2, but has tons more members than the other two, and because there's a lot of overlap between catzdogz fans and dog island fans, plenty of dog island talk still happens here. You also get the joy of a catzdogz player playing The Dog Island for the first time every so often!
I wanted to draw this for THE DOG Island's 15th anniversary and then didn't oops. Wilbur still celebrating though
Just making a quick post about this - while researching something, I came across the Japanese yokai Zashiki Warashi. From what I'm seeing so far, they live in houses, are the size of a young child, are fond of mischief and make strange noises, and can bring good fortune - especially if properly looked after by the house's inhabitants. Some say not everyone can see them. Does that sound familiar at all to those of you that played THE DOG Island?
Ancs also being referred to as Yōsei in the Japanese version, how they're spoken about, themes in the game about remembering tradition - it seems likely to me that this is the real inspiration for Petasi. Thought this would be an interesting tidbit to share!
do you love THE DOG Island?? do you want to help contribute to a free unofficial guide-themed zine??? then!!! check this out!!!
my bestie and i were lamenting the lack of an official guide, and thought "let's just make one!" but of course, with a creative and fun take on it!
