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This is a bit of a stretch, and it is probably just a coincidence, but please bear with me for a moment. The (in my mind) iconic-looking GOAT image of the mouse holding the lantern, reminds me a bit of the story of Diogenes the Greek philosopher... carrying a lamp in the daytime. He claimed he was 'looking for an honest man'.


Also, as we know, the Island of Periclave is a tricky place... and part of your adventure there will be to bring the light of truth to the dark corners of the island's deceits.

So, as well as looking visually beautiful, the lantern kind of symbolises the light of truth... perhaps?

Ya know there is a possibility there is some truth to your observation. In the picture there is a strong torch just above the lil hero mouse, so the fact they have a lantern out WITH a torch seems a bit silly and redundant.. so possibly the area will be well lite (more or less) by torches and ambient/environmental light and the lantern itself will illuminate the truth, including secret doors, hidden writing, and even spectral ghosts normally not seen. Much like my idea for the telescope, you could easily alter the lantern if you so chose by swapping the outer glass globe for alternates, or if it was a direction one with an inner mirror to focus light, swap the reflector so it changes the tone/tint of the reflected image.



Then you could have a mechanic to stop, swap, and have a few different lighting scenarios, depending on what you are searching for. To start it would be normal lantern light, then get a red globe to look for signs or battle (or blood) , a blue glass to look for magic and enchantments, green for ephemeral spirits and sprites(or hidden stuff covered by flora and briars) and bright white for briefly repelling the undead (and detecting them nearby via a proximity detection like Frodo's sword in LOTR as it glows blue when goblins or orcs are near). Could even have a very hard to find globe that is stained glass/multicolored that helps locate treasure.

Would also mean some minor resource management in possibly having to use and locate fuel oil. If you had other uses for oil (like in trap making/setting or short term weapon augments) it would make for some nifty strategy and planning. Do you save the oil for searching for goodies, or make a solid fire trap to avoid a major battle? Or use just a little on the sword and dive into the fight swinging?

As usual, Evilking, your prolific imagination stuns me

From the level I played, the lantern was found in a well-lit area... and not needed. However, to progress further, the player needed to carry it to light the darker corridors ahead. Of course, I tried blundering around in the dark without it, but I couldn't see much. It was weird and cool to experience 'darkness' as part of a video game mechanic, though perhaps it has been done before (Amnesia maybe, I've only played it briefly so far). The mouse was moving about just fine in the semi-darkness, but I just couldn't quite see everything.

I can also see the lamp's potential as a lethal one-use weapon. The mouse could throw it or flail it in a circle around him... if the lamp hits something, it shatters and sets fire to it. It might be really handy for injuring or slowing down bigger monsters.

Your suggestion for using the oil as a flaming trap, or pouring the oil on other weapons (swords, and especially arrows) to augment them is really slick. As I probably mentioned before, I'm not sure if this kind of crafting is planned for GOAT, but it is an interesting prospect.

The idea of different glass on the lamp revealing different items or dimensions, just like your spyglass, is clever! Although (in my mind) the mouse carrying the lamp is kind of iconic, I'm fairly sure he will just be using the lantern mechanic occasionally.... like underground and when night falls (no news on a day/night system yet, but I'm hoping - fingers crossed).

Just a side note... although we have seen a lot of images from underground recently, I believe Seith will mix things up, with a lot of large outdoor areas too. He has stated that you'll have the whole island to explore, below and above ground (and probably inside of buildings and structures too).

Nice ideas all around as usual! Just to clarify a bit the lantern's role in regard to dark areas: sometimes you'll be able to move on through darkness without it, but in that case items and secrets will remain hidden to you.

As you can see in the original video trailer the way you interact with objects in GoaT is to get close to them until their name appears, indicating you will "activate" them if you press the action button. However when you're in almost complete darkness the items, switches, etc... will not be interactive.

So using the lantern brings real benefits (on top of, well, seeing...) and is not just a cosmetic thing. The lantern will indeed be indispensable to progress through the game. Better make sure you stock up on oil!

Seith wrote: Better make sure you stock up on oil!

Oh I got a case of oil already in tow.. you can light the lamp with extra virgin olive oil, right? lol...

evilkinggumby wrote:you can light the lamp with extra virgin olive oil, right?

Yes you can, it burns really well. In fact my car runs very well on olive oil (any grade) and is very economical. Sometimes, if I'm feeling exotic, I mix some coconut oil (with a splash of lime) in the gas tank too.

So let me get this straight

you put the lime

in the coconut

and drive it all day?

@EvilKing... nice! And now to just shamelessly take this thread even further off topic...