Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord - Complete Version (in ZC 2.10!!) - Now Released!

[pLeitorian]

Yep, I finally finished it, thanks to Zelda Classic 2.10. Debugging's done and it works great (except that there is no Gold Ring icon).

What is it? Well, just as "Adventure of Link" was a thematic adaptation of Zelda II, this is a thematic adaptation of Wizardry I. It plays like a regular quest, but the plot is that of Wizardry I (more or less) - and many mechanisms are similar. The resemblance is only fleeting (and I never could get magic implemented; shame on me. Maybe in a year there will be a director's cut or something, heh.)

You can find this (along with all my other quests), in the usual location, my Zelda Classic quests page (http://www.geocities.com/pleitorian/plunder/zeldaclassic.html).

Note that there is a short walkthrough and many hints in the Readme files, and the maps from the old beta version are still posted here (http://www.geocities.com/pleitorian/plunder/beta/beta.html) on my site.

I've toned it down a bit and added a few extra conveniences to make playing the quest far less tedious. I also threw in a surprise ending at the last minute; hope you like it! However, this is still a very challenging quest: I tried to make one that the "experts" would approve of, one that is not insanely hard but that is not as easy as your ordinary everyday quest.

Someday I would love to implement the extra items on the subscreen, a magic meter, add cut-scenes for text currently displayed in regular rooms with flames, and possibly come up with a more sensible whistle-warp system than I did. But that day is a long way off because it is beyond my Zelda Classic knowledge... and very time consuming.

So go give it a download... and good luck!

[ms_zelda_lady]

:D Wow thats great pLeitorian. Can't wait to play it.

ms_zelda_lady

[pLeitorian]

Update:

I discovered a couple continue bugs on Level 3 and Level 4 because of dual cave/dungeon Dmaps for those levels. In 1.92 B183, Link reappeared at the level entrance, but in 2.10, he is reappearing on screens based on scrolling warps. So I fixed that... and also dropped the Magic Shield cost to $100 like the help file says it should be (I thought I had done that previously).

So if you have the earlier version, you might want the new copy. Also, if anyone finds any other bugs that they think are important, please give the thread a bump and I'll look into it.

Cheers!

[Thain]

Since I liked your other quest Adventure of Link I thought I'd try this one aswell. Proving grounds.

Consider this constructive feedback.

I found a bit to many bugs, quest-glitches in it to give it top-rating. A bit to many unlogical ways of solving matters and the find items almost everywhere kind of made the quest lose its red line because if you knew where the items were you could get very strong very early.

The ending was fun and something I never seen before. The quest overall was well balanced monster-wise.

The warp system between levels and back to the overworld was strange and made me frustrated several times. Plenty were the occasions where I had to save and reset just to get back to the beginning. The idea is great. If developed more, even better.

Two things that you should avoid.

1: Adding a walkthru like that. It didn't bring much help and had to many errors in it.

2: There were plenty of errors in the FAQ aswell. Mainly the locations of items.

Except that, good job. It was fun to play.

[pLeitorian]

Thanks, Thain. Duly noted.

This quest was started in 2003-2004, then sat for a year with a Beta version out (through Level 7), then I slapped the ending together. I did not much feel like ripping tons of stuff up and starting over (especially with the lag time; I'd be liable to break something).

Rest assured that my upcoming quests, "Toy" and a much more ambitious, unnamed one, won't have this problem. In fact, Toy is pretty much a very short, straight-up fighter's quest (go to Level 1, get item, to go to Level 2, and get item). Toy's total development time should be like... two or three weeks worth of weeknights (and look at Nth Quest, that was done in one month, and I don't think it really shows at all).

The FAQ was a year old and the walkthrough was, admittedly, hasitly and sloppily done.