The Crimson Mists

[Alexfrog]

My quest, 'The Crimson Mists' is coming along well, and I've gotten over most of the hurdles in learning zquest, so it should probably move along even faster now. I've completed about 1/3rd of the overworld screens, 2 level dungeons and 4 mini-dungeons...and tested them out.


Things I am trying to do with the quest:

1) All the level entrances and special item locations are hidden, but there are always clues to help show you where to search, and also to tell you what is around the area, so you wont just miss something critical and go on without it and get stuck.

2) The quest is challenging but not overpoweringly so. I am pretty good at the game, and died a few times in getting through the first two levels, but made progress while I was doing it and it wasnt frustrating. Would probably be a bit harder if I didnt know where everything was. ;)
If I put several difficult dungeon rooms in a row, and youve only got 4 hearts, youre going to be getting a heart or a fairy after each of those rooms to keep you going...and you'll be glad its there. I really love rooms with a red darknut and a couple other enemies and shooting statues on the sides, when youve got the basic shield and 3-5 hearts. You gotta keep running around to avoid the fire, while trying to hit that guy from the side. ;)

3) You have to work for everything (mini dungeons for special items like heart container pieces and so on), but the reward is roughly equivalent to the difficulty. (If the entrance to that mini-dungeon was hard to find, the area will be easier. If its obvious ('wow, that tree is a surrounded by a different color grass, lets burn it'), then it'll be tough).

4) There are sometimes alternate, easier solutions to more difficult puzzles, but they'll cost you something, (like you pay more rupies or something).

5) The overworld has varied, interesting terrain areas, and also clues to tell you 'ok, I'm really in a new area now, did I get everything out of the previous area before I go on?' And there might even be a guy telling you how many things there were in that area, so you'll know you got it all. (Its always frustrating to not know if you have missed something or not).

6) I promise you, there is always exactly one special item in each dungeon level. If you got it, you know thats all you had to find. If you didnt find one, you know there was actually something there so look for it! This is something that frustrates me when its not the case, just like if the 'one secret per screen' rule is broken.
I like to know when I have solved the puzzle so I can go on to the next one...


Hopefully I will have it completed in late June.

[ms_zelda_lady]

I hope you realize that a red darknut, a couple of other enemies, shooting statues on the side and only a basic shield add up to frustration and death. Even with fairies to help out it can be too hard. I for one think that if you have all those enemies and no better shield that the one you start with you won't have too many people liking your quest.
Why do some people make the difficulty so hard at the beginning and think its challenging?
Although I would still try it out and see how hard it is, I hope you change your mind about the difficulty at the beginning.

ms_zelda_lady

[Alexfrog]

I hope you realize that a red darknut, a couple of other enemies, shooting statues on the side and only a basic shield add up to frustration and death. Even with fairies to help out it can be too hard. I for one think that if you have all those enemies and no better shield that the one you start with you won't have too many people liking your quest.
Why do some people make the difficulty so hard at the beginning and think its challenging?
Although I would still try it out and see how hard it is, I hope you change your mind about the difficulty at the beginning.

ms_zelda_lady

Hmm. I didnt see this as overly difficult, but as reasonably challenging. I can usually make it through those rooms without too much trouble (especially if I start at full health so I can shoot my sword). Maybe I've just learned to fight darknuts really well after going through a couple other peoples custom quests with rooms like 6 blue darknuts with 5 hearts and things like that which are REALLY hard.

My goal is not to make it too hard, so it is good to get feedback on this. I dont want to scare people off with the difficulty, but I dont want it to be like the first zelda quest where I never die.

I am not saying you are going to have to go through 6 rooms of darknut + enemies + 2 shooting statues in level 1. More like 2-3 with a heart or fairy for killing them.

My rule is that I should be able to get through it myself with only a couple or a few deaths per level, and an occasional death in mini-dungeons or the overworld. (By the way, you always start up at full hearts, ready to go again).

What are some opinions on the difficulty of the following rooms:

(Assume wooden sword, 3-5 hearts, basic shield, with boomerang and bombs available -- bombs are a good way to kill darknuts early in the game if they are tough for you, and boomerangs are great against many types of enemies)


* Several (3-4) blue goriyas (boomerang throwers that take 6 hits and do 1 heart damage. There is at least 1 room of this in level 2 of the first zelda quest, so I dont see that as too hard).

* Red darknut and two to three easy, minor enemies, with 2 shooting statues.

* Red darknut + 2 red goriyas + 2 shooting statues (that one is a bit tough).

* Red darknut + 4 shooting statues

* A few mummys (gibdo?). They take some time to kill and are deadly to touch, but they are slow and easy to kill from a distance, or with a boomerang).

* 2 aquamentus (1 per side) (if you enter at full health I dont thing this is so bad)

* A manhandla (that thing that you blow the sides off of and it gets faster, that you basically have to kill with bombs)

* A 1-headed dragon


How challenging do you find these? The manhandla and the dragon are the things that give me the most trouble, if I miss with the bomb on the manhandla and he gets faster, or if I get hurt on the dragon and can no longer shoot at him.
The other rooms will often hurt me but only rarely will be able to kill me, unless several are strung together without a chance to heal.

Also: I frequently use molblins in the overworld map (both red and black ones, 2 and 3 hits respectively) You can block their shots with the basic shield, and they only do 1/2 heart, so I figured this is reasonable with only 3 hearts. Is this reasonable for th over world areas, frequently 6-7 molblins of mixed colors in the screen, with 3 hearts, wood sword, boomerang?
I find they are actually easier than the fast octorocs.


The majority of my dungeon rooms have basic things like skeletons, the jumpy guys (tektites), molblins and so on that you can kill fairly easily and hope to get hearts from.

Thanks for the feedback!

[ms_zelda_lady]

Its not so much how many enemies but the fact of putting the enemies, the shooting statues and the basic shield together that make it difficult. Have a shop that sells a shield so that at least when you are hit by the shooting statues you are able to deflect them.
The rest of what you've said sounds great to me. Difficult but not so bad that anyone would really give up at the beginning.

Thanks for listening,
ms_zelda_lady

[Alexfrog]

I understand that the statues are hard. You get hit and you lose the ability to shoot your sword, and then the darknut becomes more difficult.

I think they are doable beause there are only 3-4 enemies in the room, so there is room to run, and there are generally only 2 statues not 4, so you arent just constantly dodging bullets.

The magic shield will become available after level 2, and then once you get it rooms with shooting statues, and with 4 statues, become more common.


I dont think it'll be overpowering. Yes, it'll likely kill you a few times, but you start over at the beginning of the dungeon at full health, and youve already cleared through some of the areas, and gone through some of the sidepaths, so you can make it through more easily.

Now, if someone just CANT beat a room with a darknut, two enemies, and two statues, then this quest is probably not for them, as it is designed to be somewhat harder than the original 2nd quest (i.e. the level of difficulty at which I sometimes die, but I dont get frustrated).

I'm going to have my brother play through it and see if he thinks its too hard.

[Dart Zaidyer]

What graphics set are you using to make this quest? Are there screenshots?
And does it actually involve crimson mist, or is this just another one of those "the name has absolutely nothing to do with the subject" type quests?

[Alexfrog]

I am using the graphics from 'example182.qst' that comes with the latest version. They are pretty good, the ones that look a lot like the graphics from a link to the past. (What do you call this graphics set??)

There arent screenshots yet, there will be when I am done.

The crimson mists are an important, large, area of the game that you reach after completeing levels 1 and 2. I am going to do my best to make them graphically fit the name. :) (There is that reddish/grey waterfll tile that can do for some of it...)

You'll have to return to the crimson mists several times, once you get the necessary items to progress further in them, so you ahve to go in, get some stuff, go to a new area you havent been to yet, get some stuff, go back in to a new area of the mists you can now get to, get some stuff, go to a new area , and so on...thus they are the central location of the game.
I am hoping for it not to be one where the name doesnt fit the subject.