Placid Plastic Duck Simulator – A Brief Guide to the Chameleon Duck (DLC)

The mechanics of this specific duck explained in detail (based on my relatively limited observations).

Chameleon Duck Guide

Note: Credit goes to John Travoltage

The Basic Concept

To summarize, the chameleon duck can change its appearance into another duck you currently have in the pool when it gets close enough. You don’t need to name it to keep it separate from the original; it’s still possible to tell them apart since the chameleon duck retains its unique coarse texture and, if you look really closely, the small, off-center circles representing its original eyes also remain.

Hint: it’s the one in the middle.

For whatever reason, the characteristics of when the change happens are different between my two laptops (for reference: a Lenovo Ideapad (herein named “Mr. PotatoTop” because it’s that lame) and an Acer Predator). On Mr. PotatoTop, the duck cycled between appearances upon every contact with another one, while on the Acer it remains in one form for a longer period and doesn’t change on every single contact. Mr. PotatoTop can barely handle this game, so could it have something to do with the framerate?

An extreme close-up where the eyes are more obvious.

Limitations

Alas, the copying powers of the chameleon are not infallible. If it tries to copy a duck with extra accessories or functions, like the one with the bubble pipe, it can only copy the base appearance (in this case, plain yellow):

Is it a super-secret trick to make the firefighter duck lose its cool hat? No, it’s just the chameleon.

An easy to see example of not being able to copy added functionality – the light-bulb duck center-right, the chameleon in the center.

Furthermore, there are at least two ducks that the chameleon simply cannot copy at all, and will revert to its original appearance if it tries to:

• The disco ball duck.
• The duck with the big head.

I think the common link between these two is that they both have separate models from the rest of the collection – the disco ball duck needing one so light reflections are particularly strong on the shiny surfaces, as with a real disco ball, and the big headed duck… well, I’m sure you can connect the dots.

Other Intricacies

Interestingly, the chameleon can copy the original, fake appearance of the duck-looking duck, and keep it once the original’s disguise wears off:

Contact with the water shot out by the firefighter duck (and presumably the clown duck also) is sufficient to trigger the copying effect:

This is where I would have put a photo of this in action if I wasn’t so slow.

The End

I don’t have anything else to say here right now, so have another picture:

Another scene that would bring Mr. PotatoTop to its knees.