How a Bucket Full of Pink Cow Dung Became an Item in The Immortal John Triptych

The developer of *The Immortal John Triptych* describes the challenges of designing a game using Renaissance-style paintings, including balancing door placement and navigation. After struggling to integrate courtyard scenes, they discovered a 19th-century painting that provided a suitable backdrop, despite its anachronistic style. The scene required adjustments, such as removing figures and adding a background musician to fill space.

To cover a poorly patched area, the developer considered animated figures but ultimately chose a static bull from their "stuff" folder for simplicity. This led to experimenting with interactions, including a pump and running water animation. The developer then noticed the bull’s positioning, which inspired a humorous puzzle involving pink cow excrement.

The puzzle involves feeding the bull different foods to produce varying colors of dung, collected in a bucket labeled as "milkshake." The collected dung is then fed to a screaming child in a previous room. The developer acknowledges the absurdity but attributes it to the artwork’s influence.

The game, part of *The Immortal John Triptych*, will launch on Xbox on August 27. The developer encourages players to wishlist the title, noting the unconventional but intentional creative choices made during development.