Leo's Fortune Beta

The beta icon for Leo's Fortune. Features the early visuals of the beta.

The Leo's Fortune Beta was the precursor to the final build of Leo's Fortune. It was a lot closer to the final build than the Leo's Fortune Prototype, putting a greater focus on physics and puzzle based platforming. Most of the differences in this version are in the visuals, level design, and story details. A full list of changes is available below.

## Summary

Leo wakes up one day to find his fortune stolen. He suspects three of his family members of being the perpetrator; Cousin Victor, Aunt Olga, and Uncle Sergej. He leaves a note for Mathilda, his wife, and leaves to find his gold. As he leaves, he discovers the world to be covered in vines and a strange Red Mist. On his travels, he encounters a strange mechanical version of himself named Steam Leo. It challenges him to a race, which Leo wins, causing Steam Leo to fly away. This happens a few times throughout the game. He also observes a strange device named The Steaming Apparatus, which appears to be watching and following him. Near the end of the game, he finds his three family members, however they all say they didn't steal his gold, they helped the real perpetrator. Leo discovers that the one behind it all was Mathilda. She reveals that she had taken his gold due to it taking his kindness. She points Leo to the gold, which rests inside The Apparatus.

As Leo heads there, he encounters Steam Leo again, who reveals the truth. It says that they were created by The Apparatus in order to study and replace Leo as the Grand Inventor of Greatest Engineering, as The Apparatus planned on using not just Leo's gold, but his blood to restart its heart. However, as Steam Leo raced with Leo, they came to the conclusion The Apparatus was a blight on the world. They say that The Apparatus is effectively holding the world at ransom, convincing the people they need to endlessly consume the resources and lives of people in order to stop the planet from destroying itself, when it reality it was The Apparatus who was killing the world; releasing the vines and Red Mist. Steam Leo gives Leo two options; one, he takes his gold and walks away, allowing for Steam Leo to destroy The Apparatus and, according to them, free the planet. Or two, Leo could continue into The Apparatus to continue the alleged cycle, but he will have to go through Steam Leo to do so. This decision leads to two different endings.

If the player goes with the first option of leaving, the game ends right there. Leo takes his fortune and lets Steam Leo destroy The Apparatus. Because of this, everyone in Leo's family assumes him to still be rude. Leo tries to convince them with what Steam Leo told him, but they don't buy it. Everyone, including Mathilda, leaves, leaving Leo all alone with his fortune. After the destruction of The Apparatus, a wave of vines and Red Mist is released around the world. Leo uses his fortune and engineering skills to work on devices that clear vines and capture Red Mist, and he spends the foreseeable future helping others recover from the disaster.

If the player decides to continue inside of The Apparatus, they must first race Steam Leo. Once they win, Leo destroys Steam Leo, and heads into The Apparatus. A level similar to level 20 from the final game plays out, with Leo transporting his molten fortune towards the heart. Once he reaches the heart, the gold pours in, but it doesn't start beating. Remembering what Steam Leo says, Leo accepts his fate. He jumps into the heart, and it begins to beat. The vines and Red Mist disappear from the world, and The Apparatus begins to walk again. Mathilda is left alone, sad to see Leo gone, but she knows he's still alive within the heart of The Apparatus.

## Changes

* The art style is a lot closer to the final release, but they are still many differences. The backgrounds are still entirely 2D instead of the 2.5D of the final game, and the general lighting and model quality is still a bit off. A few of the later areas have untextured, unrendered assets.
* The physics and control of Leo are pretty much identical to the final game, however there's a sizable amount of collision issues, especially with the puffed form.
* Steam Leo and the entire truth about The Apparatus is cut from the final game, likely to make the story simpler and easier to digest.
* A lot of a darker tone is removed, but some things still remain like a few death animations that were cut in the final release.
* A few enemies remain in the game, but they're much simpler and fewer in number than the prototype.
* Most of the levels have their respective mechanics as seen in the final release, but a lot of the layouts and designs have been noticeably tweaked and shifted.