Question......

[DarkFlameWolf]

Okay, for people to have a real educated response, they must have played Hidden Duality and Fragments of Power, both I have made. Only then can you make some sort of educated response I am looking for. First off, my next quest will feature 12 dungeons, but after so many complaints about them being so confusing and hard, I'm cracking down on the macro dungeon puzzles and making most of the dungeons rather rudimentary and simple in nature, the block puzzles will take a major hit too. Fragments of Power will be my model in which I will be creating these 12 new dungeons and I will be making it somewhat less confusing than even those dungeons found in FoP. So a bit more on the fighting side and less so on the puzzle side. Furthermore, the difficulty won't be truly evident until levels 6-9. (more so in the final 2 levels) and of course the 3 optional dungeons will be tough as nails. So basically, I'm appealing this new quest to the wider gaming audience and for those who gave up on HD because of its difficulty. So my question to all of you is, is this a good idea? Is it good that I'm splitting up my quests into varying degrees of difficulty or should I keep up the tempo from HD and not change the pace and have it be more of the same?

[ShadowTiger]

I'm not sure. :shrug: A lot of us had questions about it, and couldn't defeat it. But that is a good thing, as it shows that you are capable of creating a truly kick@$$ quest, DFW. ;) HD was one of those quests that people would have been lining up in stroves to download, and people pulling out hair, and shirts, and.. yeah. So kudos on a gaming opportunity well introduced. ;)

So if you decide to make a less complicated quest, it'll just be one of those regular, runathemill quests that people play, finish, and go play another, to repeat and repeat until they find an HD equivalent.

So don't stop making these kick@$$ quests. You have the potential, we all know it, and have experienced it.

[Blonde799]

It is a good idea.:) And, for those who want it harder, you could just release a harder version of the quest.

[Pathwalker]

I agree with Blonde 799, both versions would be nice.

[Cloral]

No! Don't get rid of the puzzles! Without the tricks, it wouldn't be the same.

The one thing I would suggest is to make sure that you supply hints as to how puzzles can be solved. For instance, if a wall needs to be bombed, make sure there's some clue to this. And I would suggest having the player start with the bomb limit at 8 instead of 4 - in HD, I found myself running out of bombs way too often (especially in the Tungsten Excavation).

[Ielen]

DFW, your puzzles were challenging & if you scale down on that, it would not be that good. If you could also remove the magic powder requirement for the Blue/Red candle it would be great :)

[Petoe]

Don't make it any easier. I love tough quests. But if you have to, then make 2, or even 3 different versions (easy, normal, hard) if you like.

Easier way of doing a easy/hard mode is something that Blonde suggested to me for a while ago. If you have some kind of a title screen, it could say on a screen "easy" and "normal/hard" for example. If you choose the easy mode, then put Link going through a screen under a layer on a conveyor collecting some upgrades to make the game easier. That's just a suggestion.

[captlagnaf]

I think that there should be a balance. If you solve hard puzzles you should be rewarded with something that is going to make it eazy to deal with the enemies in each level. If the puzzles are hard and the enemies are overwelming it makes it dishearting to continue if all you do is die and retry.

[DarkFlameWolf]

well the lanterns no longer require magic power Ielen and the bomb initial limit is now 8 instead of 4 Cloral with upgrades going up to 40 bombs and 10 super bombs. And I'll look into that double version thingy....and see what I can do about puzzles.

http://dynamic5.gamespy.com/~darkwolf/3rooms.jpg
Here is a example of how my catwalks will work in my dungeons. Except for a minor graphical glitch when walking up the staircases (and of course, the enemies popping up on the new room map when you get to the level of the catwalk) the transition between catwalk and lower floor is seamless. I'll be using this extensively in my dungeons. Furthermore, you can see all above you on the catwalk and all below you when you're on the catwalk. Extensive use of layers, but it pays off. :)

[ShadowTiger]

Sweet! :kawaii: Awesome Layering work, miz Wolf. :p Congratulations. The Catwalk in the screenshot given appears relatively unnecessary, but impressive nevertheless. :)

[Ielen]

Link catwalking hehehe :P
Nice screenshot!

[Ganonator]

As far as your difficulty, I say do whatever you want to do.

On the catwalk screens, very well done. I'm currently working on some within a water shrine, and they aren't working at all like i want them to :sweat: It looks like this is going to be a good quest.

[DarkFlameWolf]

well, of course this catwalk is unnecessary, but it looks awesome in the game. But there will more necessary catwalks later.

[Sephiroth]

On the topic of catwalks, I say that I'm using them in my quest.. hehehe.. a catwalk over deadly lava... ROTFLMAO. hehehe

[lilbit]

I think you have your answer, Dark. HD will be one I play more than once just like the origional Zelda back in the ancient days on N64. Yea, there are some good points made above, but how much work do you want to put into 1 quest when you could be moving on to the next good one for us ;)
Thanks for all your hard work and effort; you do a great job!!!

[DarkFlameWolf]

you mean this one won't be good lilbit? :P

[carrot red]

Ok, I waited to have time to play more of HD DC before answering. I simply loved your level 8, Gnarled something or the other. (It reminded me a lot of that of Fragments of Power.)
I enjoy challenging quests, but the best would be those you enjoy making and not cater to the masses. Do what you feel is right and you can't go wrong.

I love the catwalk, be it necessary or not.:)

[DarkFlameWolf]

well, I'll not cater to the masses, but I will cater to the newbies with not talented fingers. However, not to worry for those hard-core challenge extremists, there will be 3 optional dungeons meant specifically for you. ;)

[Yoshiman]

I suppose 3 extra dungeons would be nice, but I like the challenges. It makes it all... Non-linear. Sort of like a true Zelda game. Do keep up the good work, DFW.

[DarkFlameWolf]

well exploration will be non-linear, but dungeon completion will not be.