Valley of the Pikmin

Valley of the Pikmin is a fan-made concept for a Pikmin game created by Soprano. The core elements of this Pikmin fangame are that the areas are all connected together, that there is a full day-night cycle, and that the progression through the game is non-linear.

Areas
Unlike the official games in the Pikmin series, which have fully separate areas of which only one can be visited on a day, this fangame features a single large interconnected map, making it somewhat of an open-world game. However, there are still several distinct areas of the world, each of which is themed around a different biome. Each area is mostly self-contained, but contains transitional corridors linking it to other areas, allowing multiple areas to be visited within a single day. The entire map is set in a small valley, with a gradual temperature gradient from hot in the west to cold in the east.

There are 7 overground areas and 4 underground areas. Each overground area has a landing site, and the ship and Onion can only be sent to these landing sites, and only one landing site at a time. Overground areas are connected to their neighbors through corridors that transition from one biome to the other and that also lack music. The underground areas, also called caves, exist underneath the overground areas, and are connected to the overground areas by ramps, holes, and geysers. They have multiple entrances that can be in different overground areas, making them an alternative way of getting between overground areas, but they are also explorable areas themselves, with enemies and collectible items. Items in caves have to be carried to the landing site on the surface to be collected. Some caves also have multiple sublevels, adding even more verticality. The caves are not connected to the other caves, however.

There is a full 24-hour day-night cycle. Every minute of real time represents an hour in the game world. When night-time falls, additional enemies spawn to make surviving in overground areas much harder, and at sunrise, these additional enemies leave. However, underground areas are unaffected by the day-night cycle, making them safer places during the night. (Items still need to be carried outside to be collected though.) Leaders and Pikmin aren't teleported to the ship at the end of the day, so players will need to collect all their Pikmin and bring them back to the safety of the landing site to ensure their survival. There is a fatigue mechanic that slows leaders down the longer they have been on the planet, so it is not practical to stay on the planet all the time; leaving the planet is necessary to let the leaders rest, and also to move the ship and Onion to a different landing site. Selecting a new area to land in advances the clock to the start of the next day.

Overground areas
This temperate forest area is the first area in the game, and is located at the center of the valley. It contains a mix of open plains and small rooms, and has a wide river running through the middle. This jungle area is located upstream from the Cool Garden, and features dense vegetation that makes it especially dangerous at night. This drier area on the west side of the valley contains vegetation similar to the in Pikmin 3. This area is on the coast, where the river from the Lush Jungle and Cool Garden empties into the sea, and features a sloped beach with rising and falling tides that change what terrain is accessible and inaccessible by non-Blue Pikmin at different times of the day. This area in the northeast is dry and mostly barren, with complex sedimentary rock formations. Some parts of the area have strong wind, which affects the trajectories of Pikmin in the air. Located on the eastern edge of the valley, this is a steep mountain where snow falls. Verticality plays a significant role in this area's design. Located on the western edge of the valley, this area is dangerous with flowing lava that can even kill Red Pikmin. The final boss of the game is located at the top of this area.
 * Cool Garden
 * Lush Jungle
 * Tropical Desert
 * Golden Beach
 * Rocky Wasteland
 * Snowy Mountain
 * The Volcano

Underground areas
This spacious cave is filled with crystalline formations. This cave features winding corridors and lots of mushrooms. This cave features pipes of flowing water, and in sections underneath the Snowy Mountain, some of the water has frozen into ice. This cave is so dark, it's impossible to see anything in it without a spacesuit upgrade to light up the area around the leaders.
 * Crystal Cavern
 * Fungal Maze
 * Watery Tunnels
 * Dark Depths

Structure
This fangame is structured like a game. The official Pikmin games are already arguably Metroidvanias, but this game is more obviously so, with a clear system of upgrades that are required to overcome certain obstacles. Each Pikmin type is an upgrade, but there are also additional upgrades that expand the player's abilities in different ways. These include additional leaders that can be rescued, and a light upgrade that makes it possible to see in the Dark Depths. (Note that the Dark Depths is actually fully explorable without this upgrade, it's just that you can't see what you're doing. This means that if you've memorized the layout, you can navigate it without the upgrade, which would be useful for speedruns.)

A key part of the upgrade system in this game is that there isn't a single order that upgrades have to be unlocked in. It's possible to complete the game in many different ways, which makes every playthrough different. For example, the Pikmin type the player starts with is Red Pikmin, but early on while exploring the Cool Garden, the player will arrive at a fork in the path, with a hole leading to the Crystal Cavern and a hole leading to the Fungal Maze. If the player chooses the Crystal Cavern, they will unlock Rock Pikmin as the second type, and if the player chooses the Fungal Maze, they will unlock White Pikmin as the second type. Progressing through either cave will soon lead back to the surface, where it becomes possible to head to the other cave to unlock the other Pikmin type, but the player can also choose to make progress in a different direction. With either Rock Pikmin or White Pikmin, it is possible to unlock the next types, Yellow Pikmin and Winged Pikmin. And with either of those types, it possible to unlock the next types, Purple Pikmin and Blue Pikmin. This results in there being many possible orders to unlock the Pikmin types in.

Pikmin types
All 7 Pikmin types from the 3 official Pikmin games are featured in this fangame. However, some of their abilities are slightly changed. The first type obtained, these Pikmin are strong in combat and are fire-resistant, allowing them to destroy fire geysers and stamp out flammable leaves. These Pikmin can be thrown higher and are resistant to electricity, which allows them to destroy electric gates and complete electric circuits. These Pikmin can survive underwater unlike the other types, giving them exclusive access to certain sections of areas. These Pikmin are very heavy, allowing them to compress heavy paper bags that couldn't otherwise be compressed due to the 100 Pikmin limit. They can also slow enemies down in combat through their weight, but they are slow at attacking themselves, and also carry objects slower. They have the carrying strength and weight of 10 Pikmin. These Pikmin are resistant to poison, which lets them destroy poisonous obstacles. They can also spit poison (an ability from the ), which they use to attack Pikmin instead of slapping them with their stem. This deals damage at a constant rate while the Pikmin is latched on, rather than dealing damage in bursts, and is also more effective against certain enemies. These Pikmin are as hard as rocks, allowing them to break crystals and crystal walls. They deal a lot of damage when thrown onto an enemy, but cannot latch on to enemies. These Pikmin can fly, which allows them to bypass horizontal obstacles like water and flaming leaves, without being able to enter these hazardous areas. This gives them access to various shortcuts. They can also lift up clipboards.
 * Red Pikmin
 * Yellow Pikmin
 * Blue Pikmin
 * Purple Pikmin
 * White Pikmin
 * Rock Pikmin
 * Winged Pikmin