The faces on the Spanker TVs, drawn by Sarah Hamilton.
The Spankers (formally Galvanic Disciplinary Devices) are Joy Detectors in We Happy Few. Found both in Hamlyn Village and the Parade District.
Spankers can be found primarily in important buildings and houses, acting as security systems that'll shock the Downer.
History[]
Since February 13th, 1956, Spankers were produced by a company called "Grenold Eletric", using a prototype from Dr. Helen Faraday which she came up with to manage the increase of Downers roaming the streets.
Although the company keeps creating and installing Spankers, Helen no longer wants to come up with new ideas for keeping Downers at bay.
Gameplay[]
Spankers are used as security systems throughout Wellington Wells, usually activated by other Joy Detectors.
When activated, they'll charge up the spanker (conductor) before shocking the nearby Downer, they are capable of shocking more than one Downer.
A red bar will light up while it's charging. Once three has been lit, the fourth charge will shock the player. If the player isn't nearby a spanker, it'll charge up a 4th time and immediately shock the player once they enter its radius. If the player waits for the alarm to fade, the spanker will deactivate and not shock the player.
The player cannot hide from the spanker.
Appearance[]
TV[]
TV-spankers are, as the name suggests, TV screens of a smiley face with an in-built spanker charger on its head. It'll detect whoever isn't on Joy, give them 3 seconds to leave its detection radius before charging up the spanker and electrocute the individual. They cannot be turned off, unless they're connected to a control box.
Another version of the TV-spanker appears during We All Fall Down, able to scan the area from right to left, and will only shock the player if they're spotted in its headlight.
Conductor[]
Conductors are the most common form of Spankers in Hamlyn Village, usually found either attached to walls and roofs, or on tall pillars. They tend to be activated through alarm systems, such as when passing through Downer Detectors, or a Revolver. Because of this, the conductor itself cannot be deactivated, but the device it's attached to can.
Intelli-spanker[]
Intelli-spankers can only be found in the Parade District, specifically during the quest, House Call. They're essentially the same as the TV spankers.
Trivia[]
- Although the official name for the devices is "Galvanic Disciplinary Device", one of the workers at Grenold Electric cheekily dubbed them "Spankers".
- The word "Galvanic" refers to the production of a direct electrical current, especially one produced chemically.
- Early in development, the Spankers were referred to as "Tesla Coil Traps".
- Spankers have been shown to be controlled remotely as well, being used by Reg Cutty to force Arthur to work faster during the side quest, The Slaughterer's Apprentice.
- Though it's very possible that Reg manipulated the spanker to behave this way.
Gallery[]
In-Game[]
Concepts[]
Misc.[]
