Lost Isle

[DarkFlameWolf]

Here is the opening shot of the quests where Link is washed up on shore: (I also plan to put some transparent looming clouds here and there)
http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/4025/lostisleintro9al.gif

This is a project I've long had in mind for about 3 years now. Even before Isle of the Winds was created. Sadly, to this day, I have yet to find a suitable tileset to fully realize how I wanted it to be, but I am going to settle on the Pure EXTREME version of Mr. Zs'. It seems to have a lot of tiles other sets are lacking and has some interesting and gloomy palettes with which I can utilize to the fullest extent. Do not expect this quest to be cheerful or to have colorful palettes, I'm only using the dark, gloomy ones. And to back that up, I've scoured the songs of Duke Nukem 3D for the perfect musical accompaniment to help with that gloomy, depressing mood.

Basically, its another adventure of Link either before or after Koholint (doesn't matter when it happens) where his ship crash lands on ANOTHER island. This time however, it appears to be a deserted island. With one single village of note that seems to be run down and crawling with enemies both friendly and not. The major feature of the island is a rising volcanic mountain in the center of the island and this effectively alters the island's appearance (more on that later).

There are six main areas of the quest overworld:
1. The starting beach, deserted village, graveyard area.
2. The murky, swampy bayous of some ancient Mayan civilization (home to level 1).
3. North of this is the desolate wastelands on the west side of the volcano where it is devoid of life safe for one monstrousity of a fortress (home to level 4).
4. Directly east of the village is where the lava seems to flow down and cake the land with its scorching waste and the wind is always blowing ash, there also seems to be some sort of anomaly high in the sky over the flows (home to level 2).
5. North of the lava flows, sheltered on the eastern side of the volcano is the redwood forest where a deserted castle lies in ruins and beautiful waterfall canyon (home to level 3).
6. The final area is directly north of the village and leads straight up the volcanic mountain, First dodging lava rocks and lava flows to the final snowy peaks at the very top (home to the final level 5).
Hidden amongst all these areas are various caves, tombs, caverns, etc.

As for the levels, each one is unique.
Level 1 is the ancent Mayan Ruin where you must constantly raise and lower the water level to reach and re-reach certain areas of the dungeon as you progress.
Level 2 is a Sky Garden high above the lava flows (the only cheerful palette I'll use). It has two sides, a topside and a dark underside. (think of Illusion of Gaia's sky garden where what you do on one side affects the other)
Level 3 is the ruined castle and the only time you'll be using normal keys other than the boss key. You must find tons of keys and open up the various locked rooms. This dungeon is more non-linear than the rest.
Level 4 is the fortress in the wastelands powered by some sort of electrical energy. You must turn on/off constantly power to certain parts of the fortress to progress forward.
The final level is in the volcano itself where its a simple straight forward dungeon crawling with lava and enemies.

As for items you can have access to:
Wooden Boomerang
Bombs
Bow
Arrow
Ice Arrow (for the volcano)
Red Candle
Whistle
Blue Potion (I'll get to this in a bit)
Bait (for bargaining purposes with friendly monsters)
Wand
Magic Book
Ladder
Raft
Power Gauntlet
Power Gauntlet level 2
Magic Key (for only the ruined castle)
Blue Mail
Magic Shield

If you'll notice, I've left out most of the new items, because in fact, you aren't getting any of them. It'll stick with just the old standard items from the original Zelda. I've also limited you to only the blue mail. Since having 16 hearts, a potion and red mail makes things immensely easy, having nothing but the blue mail as an armor upgrade should be just fine. Furthermore, you cannot buy hearts or potions in shops you find. You must find your blue potions. There is only a SET AMOUNT of blue potions in the quest. You decide how you're going to use them and when. Because once they are gone, they are gone. I'll test this aspect to make sure its fair before release. And no mirror shield, the few mirrorrobes I will be putting in are optional and will have mirrors included in their arenas. Besides, when a like-like gets you, I want there to be some penalty. Furthermore, the gameplay will be similar to that of Metroid where you don't necessarily find key items in dungeons and can simply find them on the overworld and acquiring them opens up new areas of the island to explore.

Anyway, that's my idea. The goal of the game is to find out what exactly happened on the island, where the source of the evil is and where it came from, and finally to eliminate it.
So does this 3 years worth of planning actually sound good?

[rocksfan13]

I like the sound of this!

You have definately have put a lot of thought into it. I'm sure it will show in you work, like the rest did.

Can't wait to see it or if I may as to be so bold, help you in beta testing it?

[Petoe]

Hot damn... sounds totally awesome, wolfie.
Sounds like it's not going to be a very big quest, but I love the idea of a "darker" and "gloomier" quest. I love everything that's depressing. :P

I can't wait to play this quest and I wish I could help you with this project in any way possible...

[DarkFlameWolf]

You may actually be able to help me sooner than you think, check your PMs at PureZC.

[Petoe]

Yes ma'am. Since I'm having extreme difficulties with my own quests, I'll let you use my game making skills as much as you want. ;)
Now I'm going to read thru that PM again. My brains already started to create tons of ideas...

Oh and I'm damn glad you're still making quests!

[ms_zelda_lady]

Sounds absolutely incredible DarkFlameWolf. I'm sure everyone will love it.

ms_zelda_lady

[DarkFlameWolf]

Here is the completed beach area where you wash up on. Looks like Link's ship was big! Its pieces are scattered everywhere! Completed this within an hour.
http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/1039/beach2nd.gif

[Nimono]

In my opinion, those graphics look cool. Which tileset is that? Oh, and how did you get that somewhat-dark look?

[Questions]

Pikaguy that is the Pure Tileset, I believe DFW indirectly said on PureZC Forums that it was PTUX (http://purezc.com/index.php?page=tilesets&id=42).

[DarkFlameWolf]

update to the beach area:
http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/7355/beach4gl.jpg
This is sort of old style, and sort of not. The intention is no longer to find 8 dungeons, get triforce pieces and beat Ganon. In fact, its more of a Metroid type of quest where you explore the world at your leisure and find items and goodies as you explore. Thus opening up further areas to delve into and explore. It'll be like Metroid Prime in the sense that, although there is free exploration, it is on somewhat a linear path when it comes time to exploring dungeons. For example, you will always reach level 1 first, then level 2, then level 3, etc. You won't really hit those levels out of order. However, you can more than likely explore the areas around level 3, but not necessarily enter level 3 until you have acquired the items first from levels 1 and 2. So its 75% freedom and 25% linearity.
I'm trying hard, with three full overworlds to fill, some sort of flow to the whole damn thing. Its really hard and I know there will be some screens that may be a bit bland or maybe repetative. But when working with three overworlds that is supposed to be one cohesive island, can't help but have a repetative screen or two. I just hope that I can make this work.
Furthermore, Petoe agreed to help me with tiles and in creating dungeons 1, 2, 3 and 4. I'll finish up dungeon 5. But for the main attractions of my quest (the 4 unique dungeons), I'd rather an expert come in and whip up something nice. Petoe and I are on a AIM-chat basis and we're co-planning hard on how these level concepts will be pulled off. For one thing, you won't be disappointed!
And as for the triforce pieces, they are in here, but they are no longer the focus of the quest. They are merely a side-quest, something extra to bide your time with and helps with the whistle. There are certain 'blue' willow trees. One in each major part of the island. If you acquire the triforce piece pertaining to that part of the island, you can always warp to that tree. Again, just something extra. And I have tons more ideas, but I'd rather not give them all out just yet.
I've completed the 3 bottom rows of the first part of the overworld and just now creating screens leading into the deserted village.

[Rakki]

The description of this quest isn't the main thing that makes it sound good. The main thing that makes it sound good is the fact that it's being made by you. ;) Now I have yet to beat IotW, but I've still enjoyed as much of it as I have played, so far. And I'm currently having the same problem as you had as far as making my big quest goes. I can't find a tileset that has tiles that I need, or even anything that comes close, to the ideas I have. Furthermore, I can't make those tiles myself because, well, I suck at drawing.

I'm thankful I'm at least creative, in my humble opinion, as far as designing goes, though. Which reminds me, what do you mean you'd like to have an expert for the main attractions (four dungeons) of the quest? Are you looking for someone to help with design, or, ideas, or what? If so, maybe I can lend a hand. While it's true that I have not released a single quest in the years I've used ZQuest (off and on of course), I do have a small example of what I know how to do, if you wanted to see. PM me if you're interested.

[Petoe]

Which reminds me, what do you mean you'd like to have an expert for the main attractions (four dungeons) of the quest? Are you looking for someone to help with design, or, ideas, or what? If so, maybe I can lend a hand. .

If you read her post again, you might notice that she's already getting help from some guy named Peyteo or whatever his name was. I've heard that he's good at dungeon making so don't worry. :p
Whit her overworlds and his dungeons the quest will probably be a joy to play...

[Shoelace]

Yeah, I think we all argee that you are a really good designer DFW. I can't wait for this game and if Petoe is going to help you that makes at that much better as he is also a legendary Zquester. :P

[Rakki]

If you read her post again, you might notice that she's already getting help from some guy named Peyteo or whatever his name was. I've heard that he's good at dungeon making so don't worry. :p
Whit her overworlds and his dungeons the quest will probably be a joy to play...
Whoops, I missed the part where she said you're helping in dungeon design. :p I only saw the part where she said you're helping with tiles.

[DarkFlameWolf]

He's helping with both. If it wasn't for him, I do not believe this quest would ever get finished. So if he quits, the quest is kaput! This is a co-joint venture, can't be anything but. This is definitely a first for me to working with someone so intimately on a quest. So the results should be interesting to say the least. :)

[Rakki]

The really interesting thing to me is the fact that it's been 3 YEARS since you started getting ideas for this quest. Didn't you make IotW in like, a week? :laughing:

Seriously though, I'm not sure if I've played one of Petoe's quests before, but I'm interested to see what a co-op between you and another legendary Zquester will be like.

[Petoe]

I'm sure this quest project is an interesting and great experience for both me and DFW. I've actually always dreamed of making a group quest with some talented zquester, but not until now I finally got a change. And even though DFW is calling all the shots and telling me what to do and what she wants from me, she leaves me enough freedom to put my own unique ideas and stuff into the quest too and we rarely seem to have strong disagreements about quest ideas which makes this all so easy for me.

These group quest thingys always tend to fail, but I promise that this quest will be released as both of us are full of excitement and and we come along pretty well. ;) This quest will be a real collaborative effort and because of that, I hope it will achieve a certain uniquenes never felt in a quest before. 2 very different quest makers going at it together... I'm sure the final product will be at least interesting.

Oh and I have to say it's a joy and pleasure to be working with DFW. She is thorough enough with her instructions and if I ever think about slacking off or being a lazy bum, I'm sure she will get me motivated in a way or another :P

[DarkFlameWolf]

And even though DFW is calling all the shots and telling me what to do and what she wants from me, she leaves me enough freedom to put my own unique ideas and stuff into the quest too and we rarely seem to have strong disagreements about quest ideas which makes this all so easy for me.


Well, its all about compromise. I know that I'm dealing with another quest maker with visions and ideas and a will of his own. So I have to respect his ideas and let him flow freely with his design of the dungeons. I give him the basic layout of what I'd want, what specific features MUST be in each dungeon and then let him decide how to fill in the rest.
But I also have to know when to put my foot down and say no firmly to certain ideas. I've already done so, but thankfully its never been on an issue thats raised any negative hostility between us and that's a good thing. :) Mainly because, I've had all these ideas for about 3 years now and to have them suddenly wiped clean away without justification of an even better idea does not sit well with me.
But I am open to the ideas Petoe poses to me if I think it'll add to the concepts I already have in mind. For example, I was originally going to have one main item, boss key, 20 rupees, HC Piece and a set of bombs in every dungeon and that would be all you'd get. Well, that kind of limited him in his approach to making an interesting dungeon, so he requested that if he could only insert two keys per dungeon. One to access the main item and one to access the boss key. I relented, knowing it would make his job easier and because having no keys in the dungeons wasn't necessarily a 'key' idea/concept that had to stay firm.
He also requested to have Ocarina of Time Song of Time blocks removable only by Ocarina. Again, none of my 'firm' ideas denied this, so I let him have it. Its compromises like these that really helps both quest makers out and furthers the production of the quest.
Hope all that made sense.

[Rakki]

Dungeons with only boss keys was the original idea? I can see why he requested to have more keys per dungeon! :laughing: A dungeon I made for the start of a quest I've also had in mind for a while uses like, 3 or 4 keys, including a boss key, and it's just a dungeon to get the Wooden Sword! I couldn't imagine trying to make a dungeon with only a boss key in it. Although, it does sound like an interesting challenge... Perhaps I'll try making such a dungeon in another quest I'm thinking of. ;) Thanks for the idea, DFW.

[Pineconn]

Dungeons with one key? Hmm... that would be difficult to do, for the designers. Reading the fascinating descriptions of the dungeons above, I'd have to say that each dungeon will take a few months to do. :banghead: Especially water lowering/raising and turning power on and off... Unless that will affect only one room instead of the entire dungeon at a time, then I'm full of crap. Additionally, the dungeons would have to be rather linear, right? However, Metroid: XL pulled that off well, so, again, I'm probably full of crap.

In other words, this game will be awesome when (if?) completed! I must say all gloominess will be rather... depressing, yet exciting at the same time. So far, your plans look top-notch.

(And try not to co-incide with the release of my current quest! :) Nobody would download mine with a simultaneous release! ;) )

[Petoe]

Reading the fascinating descriptions of the dungeons above, I'd have to say that each dungeon will take a few months to do. :banghead: Especially water lowering/raising and turning power on and off... Unless that will affect only one room instead of the entire dungeon at a time, then I'm full of crap. Additionally, the dungeons would have to be rather linear, right? However, Metroid: XL pulled that off well, so, again, I'm probably full of crap.

Well I certainly hope I can make all the dungeons in weekes rather than months!:scared:
But you're right, making those cool sounding dungeons is the biggest challenge for me, ever! But first thing, the lowering/raising water WILL affect all the floors, and no, the dungeons are not going to be linear in any way if it's up to me... Now someone stop me before I get too excited but I will promise this quest will have one of the best dungeons ever made. Period. And since this is DFW's last quest, I'm sure as hell she's going to make her overworld fascinating. ;) And after seeing her latest work, the OW's look at least beautiful.

[Pineconn]

Honestly, after MMDRW, what could you not do? Well, have fun with the dungeon-making! ^_^ But I'd have to disagree with the best dungeons ever... I thought LttP's, OoT's, MM's, TWW's and TMC's dungeons were pretty good... ;) Oh, best ZC dungeons ever? Odds are, yes. :)

Can't wait till it's done. Heck, after waiting 2 years (and counting) for Twilight Princess, I sure could wait for this!

May the force be with you. :)

[Petoe]

Thanks.
And ooops... Sorry about that misunderstanding, I got a little carried away like I usually do with new quest projects. :p
Yeah, every zquester surely knows nothing can beat OoT's and MM's incredible dungeon design, but Wind Waker's? Hah! ;)

But anyways, both me and DFW seem to be pretty excited about this project. After all, this might be the first succesful group quest project, and that would really be something... And it's certainly encouraging to see many people both at here and at PZC who are interested in this quest already in its early stages of building.


All right, I better get out of these forums for a while so that I get actually something done in zquest as well...

[Pineconn]

Come on! I thought Wind Waker's dungeons were better than OoT's and MM's! :p Ah, I guess everyone's entitled to their onion... (or was it opinion?)... ... ... Yeah.

Well, I expect ( :D ) to see a combination of IotW and MMDWR. If so, this game will be... truly awesome. Truly, truly awesome indeed.

*can't think of new ways of encouraging/praising*

So, uh, yeah, good luck! :) Work your magic, y'all! (No, I'm not from Texas or West Virginia.)

[Rakki]

Agreeing with Petoe here, it only took me a couple days to figure out how to correctly make a floor that changes rooms in one of my quests (so that a room which has a big old hole in it has floor in it). Granted, it only changes one way, it's not switchable back and forth, but once you figure out how to do something, it's not very time consuming to copy it around to other places. :p

While we're talking about it, I forgot to mention that I have a somewhat similar, while at the same time different, idea for changing water in a dungeon. Rather than changing water levels, I was thinking of a dungeon that has water jets that block your way (some of which shoot in doorways) which you have to switch to get around. Of course, I can't sprite for crap, so I never even got to make an example of such a dungeon. It's still an idea I want to get done in ZQuest, though.

[DarkFlameWolf]

Well, even though Lost Isle is basically 'one big overworld' it comprises of 6 connected BS-Overworlds. So as of right now, I've complete 2 Overworlds and have four more to go. Right now, I rest and I handed the quest off to Petoe to get started on the first dungeon. I saw the plans and designs he has for level 1 and boy, you are all in for a treat. If this is what he's got for level 1, I simply cannot wait to see his creative ideas on levels 2, 3 and 4!

[DarkFlameWolf]

Half the overworld is done. (that's 3 BS OW's worth of size!) And half left to go! Level 1 is complete and plans for level 2 finished. The quest is now back in the hands of Petoe to create what is, imo, one of the most interesting level dungeon ideas I've envisioned thus far. Work is steadily progressing on the quest and we've set a deadline for ourselves. June 20th will be the 'hopeful' deadline for it to be finished. Key word: finished, not tested. But at the pace we are going now, I have no worries. And that's my update! :D

[Rakki]

I was wondering how this was doing. Glad to hear it's progressing so well. :D At this rate though, it sounds like you'll be finished before Petoe is!

...No offense to you of course, Petoe. :p

[Petoe]

I was wondering how this was doing. Glad to hear it's progressing so well. :D At this rate though, it sounds like you'll be finished before Petoe is!

...No offense to you of course, Petoe. :p

Haha, I'm not offended that easily. ;)

But you're right. DFW builds her overworld's so damn fast, but I build my dungeons so very slowly. Despite that fact I'm pretty confident we get the quest finished in time, and we both can't wait for that to happen as we are pretty excited about how well things are going.

[Nicholas Steel]

what version of zelda classic will this be for?

[Petoe]

Currently we are building it for ZC 1.92 build 183 (because it is the most bugfree ZC version ever so far).
But if a new and stable enough beta gets released before summer, I will try to convince DFW to convert the quest to that latest public beta. ;)

[Nicholas Steel]

thanks for the relatively fast reply and the quest so far looks great.... keep up the good work.

[DarkFlameWolf]

well, maybe the initial release will be for beta 183, but maybe once a stable, more bug free version comes out, both Petoe and I will probably take on the task of converting all my quests to the latest beta. :rolleyes:

[Pineconn]

Hot dog, I'm excited. :)

Meh, but... June 20th is rather close to the 'hopeful' release of mine. Ugh. Your quest would definitely win over mine... I should either step it up or take a long break! ;) Anyway, keep it up! Any release after June 20 would make me very angry!! :angry: (I'm kidding. ;) Anyway, you said finished, not tested...)

[Petoe]

I think it's time for another brief "status report" (I hope you don't mind, Wolfie):

- I have over half of the second level finshed now. I really like what I've been able to do with it so far. DFW comes up with some nice dungeon ideas indeed.
Yesterday I gave the quest file back to DFW because I needed a rest. She will build her billiant OW's during the weekend and I will work on some graphics and stuff during that time.
Everything's going fine at the moment and I have no doubts that the quest will be released in time...

[WindStrike]

You know, I wouldn't be suprised if a lot of people will beg for a walkthrough. So, I'm thinking you can go ahead and start one and continue it as you make the quest (that's what I'm doing for mine... which won't be released for a while because I'm still learning the system and the DoR tileset). However, maybe you would release it several weeks, or maybe even a month after you release the quest. Another quicky, maybe you can make several references to some of the zelda games...

[Nimono]

I hope this quest turns out as good as Isle of the Winds is for me so far (which is very good, I can't get enough of it! But I have to take a big break from it so I can finish my own quest. Oh well.)!

[Petoe]

WindStrike, yaeh, a walkthrough would be nice, but I'm not sure if either one of us is going to have any time to write a walkthrough. But whether there will be a walkthru or not, at least there will always be these "Help me" threads where you will surely find an answer if stuck somewhere.


And pikaguy, both me and DFW intend to make Lost Isle DFW's best quest so far, so Lost Isle should be at least as good as Wolfie's Hidden Duality and Isle of Winds quests. ;) But you guys be the judges when the quest is released to public.

[Nimono]

And pikaguy, both me and DFW intend to make Lost Isle DFW's best quest so far, so Lost Isle should be at least as good as Wolfie's Hidden Duality and Isle of Winds quests. ;) But you guys be the judges when the quest is released to public.
Ooh, I can't wait! I still have to finish Isle of the Winds, though.

[DarkFlameWolf]

simply put, between Lost Isle and my pet project (which I am not naming), and Petoe's full-time devotion to Lost Isle and real life, we do not have the time for a walkthrough. Maybe someone who is more souped up on that idea may be kind enough to write one, but unfortunately, we have a quest to build. :P

[Pineconn]

The quest is before the walkthrough. I have a teeny question for anyone, really.


Well, even though Lost Isle is basically 'one big overworld' it comprises of 6 connected BS-Overworlds.

Is a BS overworld 8x8, like a dungeon, or 16x8? I've never used one, and I'm too lazy to figure it out. :tongue:

[Nimono]

The quest is before the walkthrough. I have a teeny question for anyone, really.



Is a BS overworld 8x8, like a dungeon, or 16x8? I've never used one, and I'm too lazy to figure it out. :tongue:
BS Overworld is 8x8. It's like a dungeon, only in overworld form.

[Petoe]

Yeah, a BS-OW is indeed 8x8 screens. So 6 BS OWs is kind of same as 3 normal OWs, so Lost Isle's Overwolrd will be as big as 3 normal OWs put together. That's quite big, but DFW is doing a good job of making every single screen look good and interesting.


BTW, I got the quest back from her and I am now ready to finish up Level 2. If anyone cares to know, level 2 will be using at least 5 maps and over 20 DMaps... oh my... these dungeons are my biggest and most complex ever... O_O

[firefly]

level 2 will be using at least 5 maps and over 20 DMaps... oh my... these dungeons are my biggest and most complex ever... O_O
Wha... Wha... WHAAAT?! are you sure you have enough maps for the quest? my quests normally take about 116 maps.

[Petoe]

Wha... Wha... WHAAAT?! are you sure you have enough maps for the quest? my quests normally take about 116 maps.

Heh, that WOULD be a valid concern if me and Wolfie were making a huge 8-> dungeon quest, but this one will have 5 levels, kind of like Majora's Mask, so no worries. I am quite certain that when the quest is released, there will be people who will be saying "The quest wasn't that long" but we intend to make the quest as fun as possible so that every minute is a pure joy. :)

Well I guess I better go back to work before I reveal too much and piss Wolfie off... :P

[Pineconn]

Oi. This will be a good quest. 5 maps. Usually my dungeons take 2, 1 for the actual dungeon and another for layers. Also, they'll take a few DMaps, of course, for the dungeon, boss, and special feature things (like read-able wall panels, etc., which I scoot over on the x8-to xF side of the dungeon map to save maps)

Ramble... blah... blabber etc, etc... You get the point. ;) Anyway, this quest is gonna be immense. (Yes, I ate a little too much sugar today. Not my fault. Really.)

[DarkFlameWolf]

well level 2 is done and I've already seen some surprise tricks Petoe has in store for you players and I am excited! They rock! :D
He still has to do some last minute cutscenes, bug fixes and more tile work before handing it back to me. But the quest is around.....30-35% done?

[Petoe]

I'd say 35% at least! ;)
Soon we are in the half way point. Wow, we're actuallu going to finish this one... the first succesful group quest... that's just a great feeling!

Oh and I must work hard on those cutscenes as I want people to go "Woah!!" instead of "meh" when they see those. :p

[DarkFlameWolf]

I'm already going 'woah' and I'm one of the creators of the quest. :D

[Cloral]

I'd say 35% at least! ;)
Wow, we're actuallu going to finish this one... the first succesful group quest... that's just a great feeling!
*Points at Cyclone's group quest*

But yeah, it is a rarity. Which reminds me, I need to finish mine off...

This quest sounds pretty cool. Can't wait to see how it ends up. With Petoe's events and DFW's dungeons this quest is gonna rock.

[DarkFlameWolf]

Must correct you, its Petoe's events and dungeons and DFW's overworlds and style. :P

[Petoe]

Must correct you, its Petoe's events and dungeons and DFW's overworlds and style. :P

To be even more specific, it is:

Wolfie's Story, ideas, style and overworlds + villages.

Peteo's dungeons, tricks and events/cutscenes.

;)

[Pineconn]

Really, you mustn't tease us like this. We know it'll be a combination of IotW and MMDWR... You mustn't keep reminding us... Not make us drool... ;)

Okay, I'm not literally drooling, but you get the point I'm making. :D

BTW, you misspelled your name. ;)



Peteo's dungeons, tricks and events/cutscenes.

[firefly]

BTW, you misspelled your name. ;)
Not really, that's his name in PureZC.

[Petoe]

Hehe, yeah, nowadays I'm known as Peteo, but since you cannot change your username here at AGN, I will be forever known as Petoe here. But call me whatever you want. :p

And yeah, teasing you guys is tons of fun! Heh, well just kidding, but like you said Pineconn, take Wolfie's OWs from IotW and HD and the levels from MMDWR and put them togehter... you should get something really nice.

But... I just finished and BEAT L2 and I must say it tops everything I've done so far. Excluding the bugs I found, it really felt enjoybale. Now I can give the quest back to Wolfie on Thursday and she can continue work on the overwolrds.

[jovo]

i seriously think this will become my new favourite quest!

[Petoe]

Update:

For you AGNers who don't visit PureZC.com, a Zelda Classic Expo event just started there. Many good quests are on the show there, including Lost Isle.

Check out this topic to find out more about LI and see the first screenshots from the game: http://www.purezc.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=19804

[Nimono]

Update:

For you AGNers who don't visit PureZC.com, a Zelda Classic Expo event just started there.
I visit PureZC.com, and I don't know what that expo is. Could you tell me what it is? I'm curious about it badly.

[Love For Fire]

It's a forum where people who are working on projects show off a little off their work with screenshots and usually demos. Members can rate all the projects on a 1-10 scale. The Expo is a really nice place to see what people have up their sleeve. I recommend checking it out, and definitely do not miss Lost Isle, it looks AMAZING.

[Nimono]

It's a forum where people who are working on projects show off a little off their work with screenshots and usually demos. Members can rate all the projects on a 1-10 scale. The Expo is a really nice place to see what people have up their sleeve. I recommend checking it out, and definitely do not miss Lost Isle, it looks AMAZING.
I've heard of a Fall Expo. Exactly how many do they have each year. I think I will check it out, though.

[Petoe]

Currently it seems like PureZC is arranging ZC EXpos twice in a year (A Spring Expo and a Fall Expo).

You can see info of many new interesting ZC related projects there. Just click the earlier link or use this link which takes you to the Expo forum to see yourself: http://www.purezc.com/forums/index.php?showforum=113

:)

[Nimono]

Currently it seems like PureZC is arranging ZC EXpos twice in a year (A Spring Expo and a Fall Expo).

You can see info of many new interesting ZC related projects there. Just click the earlier link or use this link which takes you to the Expo forum to see yourself: http://www.purezc.com/forums/index.php?showforum=113

:)
Thanks for the information. Can anyone put theirc demos and sceenshots there, or can only select people (like people who've been there for some time, or had a certain amount of posts) do that?

[Love For Fire]

Any PureZC member can submit to the expo, however all projects must be sent before a certain date, so there's no way of getting of your work into this expo. Watch the announcements at PureZC for information for submissions into the fall expo.

[DarkFlameWolf]

For those who don't keep up on current events at Purezc, here is what is going on right now with Lost Isle, most of it is good, but some of it is not:


DarkFlameWolf
Well I got some good news and some bad news. And they are both linked. As some may have known or will know now, I have been selected to be an officer in the United States Air Force. I was selected this past February and was given a class date of July 15th (next month) two days ago! So that can only mean one thing, this is a GREAT opportunity for me but at the cost of not being able to see Lost Isle through to completion. Come July 1st, Petoe will assume responsibility over the quest and its testing and release without me. I will try and get my stuff done before then. What 'I' have left to complete is the rest of the caves, the interior of the houses, most of level 5 (Petoe will complete the final boss and ending sequence), the ice temple and the graveyard catacombs. (Now these last two I may not be able to finish, so we'll see)
What Petoe has left to do is to finish level 3, all of level 4, the rest of level 5 and final boss/ending sequence, dream dungeon, master dome, and the 6 triforce dungeons and basic overall tweaking/detailing of the quest. So we both got a full plate, but Petoe will have to finish the rest without me. We will be having many conferences in the coming weeks about the rest of the quest and how it will be so he can carry on the vision I had planned for the rest of the quest.
So the quest will be delayed a few more months because he will be losing a working partner, but the quest isn't over yet! So expect a release sometime later this fall hopefully. I'd like to get back and test it all myself before release, but we'll just have to wait and see how things go.
Petoe responded with:

Petoe
Things got pretty complicated for us now.
As Wolfie said, she's been accepted to USAF (congrats for that!) and it means that after a month she'll be a goner for a very looong time. She said to me that she would be able to check out the situation of Lost Isle after 3-4 months of service and that the quest myst not be released before she sees the final product. But we had a discussion and it appears that our quest designer beauty has enough faith in me to let me handle finalization and the release of the quest. I understand her pain well... It must not be easy knowing that your baby gets released when you're not around and you have no idea how the release will go and will the final product be exactly like you wanted it to be. But despite that I decided to be tough with her and expressed my frustration about how horrible would I have felt if I couldn't release the quest right away when it is finished. Thank goodness she is giving me the green light to release the quest without her. Thank you Wolfie, you have no idea how much it means to me and how great it feels that someone really trusts me as much as you do. But we both have worked our asses off for this quest so I'm gonna make sure that the quest will end up being what you hoped it'd be and that I will not release the quest until it is thoroughly tested and polished.

I feel like an asshole for "forcing" Wolfie to let me handle the release of the quest, but after so many disappointing delays I had with my previous quest MMDWR, I don't wanna disappoint the people who are expecting Lost Isle late this summer/early this fall. But right now it feels like Wolfie is okay with all of this and we well go thru details about Lost Isle's finalization in many upcoming IM conferences. I promise to make sure that DFW's dream comes true and her final quest will be like she dreamed it would be.


But enough of that. Not much changes even though Wolfie's departure changes our schedule drastically. The qyest will be as big as planned and it will be released sometime in august (that's my goal at least, but there's always a possibility of real life getting in the way and thus delaying the quest). Right now my job is to make tons of tiles for Wolfie so that she can finish her areas before she leaves. After she leaves, it's my time to finish all the levels and the side levels she didn't have time to finish.


Now I must get back to work. DFW is expecting some tiles before I have to go to sleep.


~ Pete
And finally from me:

DarkFlameWolf
yes, we don't want another repeat of MMDWR where it was countless updates and then finally a director's cut version to come out before everything was polished and bug-free. lol I told Petoe, even if it means delaying the quest a full month to make sure all bugs are gone after testers have gone through it, then do so. It'll be worth it. Furthermore (this is directed at Petoe), it would be nice, if, after the first round of testing and bug-fixing, let the testers go through it once more from start to finish JUST to be ABSOLUTELY sure we got them all, and yes, that means all breakable pot errors. Ha ha, let's not be lazy now!
And yes to all those who thought it unrealistic to have lava next to snow! I made sure lava melts whatever is around it. Happy now!? :lol:

And that about covers it for now.

[Pineconn]

Wow. That's rather dramatic and soap opera-y, the way you put it. ;) But really, I'll be a little sad to see the release of Lost Isle to be pushed back, but after waiting for Twilight Princess for 2 years, I'm used to it. :rolleyes: Glad to hear the quest is still coming along.

[Rakki]

Congrats about the Air Force, DFW! :D Now, concerning the quest, in my opinion, it's better to delay to make the final product better than to rush to release by a certain date. :p By the way, do you have beta-testers picked out for Lost Isle already? I'm sure you can see where I'm going with this, lol, but if you needed any, I'm willing to help out. :p Mr.Z from PZC, and probably Shoelace as well, should be able to vouch for my testing abilities (since I know it can be tough to find testers who ACTUALLY test for problems >_>; ) if you need it.

[DarkFlameWolf]

yes its one thing to 'play test' it, but its quite another to 'play to break it.' I want testers of the latter kind.

[Petoe]

Yeah, about testers, we want dedicated and experienced testers to test Lost Isle. But we've decided to not to make a "Searching for LI testers" thread since me and Wolfie have pretty good idea of the people we want to test the quest. But it is not forbidden to express interest in testing of Lost Isle, and if I feel like anyone who contacts me about a testing position and he/she seems good enough (and especialle dedicated enough!!) for the job, we have a new tester. ;)


...right DFW?

[DarkFlameWolf]

with that post, didn't you just start a 'searching for testers' thread within this thread? *whaps Petoe* :P No, we already have a list of people we'd like to propose testing to, there may be some additions, but not many. Depends on how many accept.

[WindStrike]

Heh... so much for preping to beat the quest in 20 hours in the month of July.
Uhh, actually... how long do you think the quest might take (say... getting about 90% of everything in the game)?

[Rakki]

Well, here's hoping the quest will be ready for testing before the end of summer, so you don't end up getting a lot of people declining because of school. ^_^;

[Petoe]

WindStrike: Oh, you mean how long does it take for the player to beat the quest? Hmm... that's a tough question. The quest should be as big as any of DFW's previous quests, if not even bigger, but there are so many optional dungeons/caves/minigames etc. in the quest that if players want to run through the game, I'm sure it will be possible in under 10 hours. But trying to to beat the game as thoroughly as possible, it will surely take over 10 hours... could even take 20 since the last levels and the optional levels in the quest will be challenging.

Rakki: Yeah, that's a good point you made there about school. BTW, when does school start for you guys there in America? For us here in Finland it starts in the mid of August. I'm sure the testing can be started in a month and a half. Hopefully earlier.

[Rakki]

It's usually around there for Middle/High School, Petoe. And yet we still usually get out a week or two into June. :sweat: They jip us by cutting our summer two weeks shorter than Elementary kids. Jerks! XD

[Shoelace]

I would be honored to beta test the game. I know Zquest like the back of my hand and I could spot errors really good. So if you need a betatester, I am here. :P The only thing I don't spot is spelling errors. I have to be honest and but my weakness.

Anyways, my classes start in mid-August too. But usually I find time for ZC. :P

[DarkFlameWolf]

Its finally time, tomorrow is my last day of freedom and then its off on a long winded road trip to Alabama, USA for my Basic Officer Training in the United States Air Force. Due to the fact that I'm planning to go career (20+ years) in the force, that leaves game creation time to a bare minimum. Not enough to be worth trying to make new quests for. So everything is now in Petoe's hands and he will be finishing up the rest of the quest and handling beta testing and release of the quest to the community. I was hoping I'd be around for the release of my final quest, but alas, I probably won't be. So this will have to be presented to the ZC community after the fact.
But regardless, when it does come out, I hope everyone enjoys it as much as I have had making it. The stuff I did in Lost Isle has probably been my best work yet, and I am proud to have created this with the help of Petoe. And I am honored to have worked with him on this project and even more grateful that he's taking on the responsibility of finishing it up for me. He now has the final 'list' of things to do by me, so he still has me (sorta) there to guide him on how the rest of the quest should be, I believe I've left it in capable hands. My baby of over three years and I won't be around to see it debut! *sobs*
Finally, I want to thank everyone in the community for supporting me for the time I've been here and being constructive and appreciative of the quests I've released. Thanks for the inspiration and drive for me to create more classics. Now after BOT is over, I will probably have more freedom to get online once and a while and start posting here once more, but I will probably be forever out of the quest making business, its simply too time consuming and my life no longer has a place for it sadly. So I hope that by the release of Lost Isle, I will have contributed something great to the community. Thanks again and I will miss this place for the time I'm gone.

[Pineconn]

I was just curious on the progress of Lost Isle.

This is some major gravedigging, but, you know. It happens.

[DarkFlameWolf]

Progress:
-We've updated Lost Isle to the latest beta (beta 14) but that will change once new betas come out. Our goal is to have it on the most current 'stable' beta out there. So be sure to update your players. In addition once Lost Isle is released, I shall be updating all my quests to 2.11 to accomodate everyone's qualms.
-Levels 1-3 are completely finished now. Level 4 is being worked on with level 5 1/6 done.
-All overworld sections and cave sections are finished and updated.
-Major tweaks and addition of cutscenes, intro and influence by the latest beta features.

Anything else you want to know?

[Pineconn]

(I can tell the overworld is completely done. Your sig. ;) )

Glad to hear it's still coming along. :thumbsup: While I'm at it... Did you two decide to use keys in all the levels, or are you going with the original plan of having keys in only Level 3?

[Petoe]

(I can tell the overworld is completely done. Your sig. ;) )

Glad to hear it's still coming along. :thumbsup: While I'm at it... Did you two decide to use keys in all the levels, or are you going with the original plan of having keys in only Level 3?

Yeah, I am working fewerishly on Lost Isle even at the moment! ;) And when I've got enough work done, I will have Wolfie to build more caves and a whole new level.

About keys, all the major levels (Lv1, 2, 3 and 4) have 2 keys. 1 key for the "Level item Chest" and the other key for the Boss Key Chest. Level 3 is an exception because there are 11 keys at Lv3. So Lv3 is a more basic and um, "old-school" level I guess.

And some of the mini levels will have 1 key for Boss Key Chests. So the quest will have keys, but Lv3 being the only level with many keys.
But I honestly think this is a good and new refreshing way to build a quest and hopefully you as players will like it as well. :)

[Pineconn]

Only 11 keys? My Level 7 for my current quest has 13 keys, plus a boss key. :tongue: No joke.

Anyway, the plans sound good for the dungeons. That makes sense, a key for the item and a key for the boss. I look forward to this quest! It sounds good!

[DarkFlameWolf]

and my level 9 of Hidden Duality has 25 keys. Whose counting? Seriously it really doesn't matter. LOL

[bluedeath]

Will you make any Demo's Dark Flame Wolf?

[DarkFlameWolf]

Unfortunately no. Besides, we're so far deep into Lost Isle that making a demo now would basically be giving away 3/4 of the quest to people. So we might as well finish it at this point. lol

[Bskiffington]

Is it safe to say this quest isnt going to be complete since we havent had any updates in a while?

[Petoe]

Is it safe to say this quest isnt going to be complete since we havent had any updates in a while?

Patience. ;)
Both me and Wolfie are having busy lifes so the progress has been slow. But Lost Isle will be released early next year, that's for sure. I am currently building the last level of the game and after that's done, there's not much left to do anymore. I will ask Wolfie if we should show you guys some new screenshots from the quest soon.

[DarkFlameWolf]

Yes, just because you haven't heard anything about the quest in a long while, does not mean its dead. Its slow going, but it is still going. We still have quite a few optional mini-dungeons still left to do not the mention the ending, so it will take us a little while longer to finish. But it will be good, I promise you that.

[Bskiffington]

Ok, just making sure. I was getting a little worried that there wasn't an update on it in such a long time.

Great to see it's still coming along, can't wait to play it!

[Petoe]

From now on I promise to post updates more often. ;)

And you will see new screenshots of the quest in a month if that's just okay with DFW.

[DarkFlameWolf]

Fine by me, go for it.

[Pineconn]

We still have quite a few optional mini-dungeons still left to do not the mention the ending, so it will take us a little while longer to finish.

Let me guess, the prize for these mini-dungeons is something so small though important, like a potion. :rolleyes:

[Petoe]

Let me guess, the prize for these mini-dungeons is something so small though important, like a potion. :rolleyes:

Nope. It would be pretty silly to have a whole dungeon just for a Potion or an item like that. The prize for those mini dungeons is a Triforce. So Triforce is an optional item in the quest as Lost Isle is not about collecting Triforce Pieces. But it is encouraged to collect them because whenever you get a Triforce from a certain area, you can always warp back to that area with your Ocarina. Also, when you collect all the Triforce piedes, you can enter a big side dungeon, and I promise the prize in the dungeon is awesome. ;)

[DarkFlameWolf]

blarg, you just gave away a big secret! XD

[Petoe]

Um, did not know that was supposed to be a secret. :p
I just don't want people to think that we are wasting time on some silly "Potion minidungeons". ;)

[WindStrike]

Nope. It would be pretty silly to have a whole dungeon just for a Potion or an item like that. The prize for those mini dungeons is a Triforce. So Triforce is an optional item in the quest as Lost Isle is not about collecting Triforce Pieces. But it is encouraged to collect them because whenever you get a Triforce from a certain area, you can always warp back to that area with your Ocarina.
Well, we already knew that much from a previous post...

Also, when you collect all the Triforce piedes, you can enter a big side dungeon, and I promise the prize in the dungeon is awesome.

blarg, you just gave away a big secret! XD
Oh well, I sure there's plenty more big secrets in the game, right? Letting one out is completely fine.

I'm going to guess that big dungeon is either the master dome or it contains the gold arrow or red armor. But of course, I don't feel like knowing that as I'd rather want to have the suprise of: What the heck is it? :)

[Pineconn]

Also, when you collect all the Triforce pieces, you can enter a big side dungeon, and I promise the prize in the dungeon is awesome. ;)

A red potion? :tongue:

[Petoe]

A red potion? :tongue:

Nope, the prize is *drumroll* ...20 Rupees!!! ;)

Okay, just kidding of course. :p You can keep quessing, but we will not reveal the answer. WE want you to be surprised about what that secret side level is and what the prize there is. That much I can reveal that it isn't the Master Dome, but there will be a Mester Dome in the quest too and that will be the only dungeon in LI built by DFW, but she has great plans for it so I think it will be her best MD so far. Yay!

[DarkFlameWolf]

so let's see here:
Wolfie's load of work:
Conceptual design
Quality Assurance
Keeping Petoe in Line
Overworld
Underworld (all caves)
Master Dome

Petoe's Work:
Everything Else! XD

[Petoe]

so let's see here:
Wolfie's load of work:
Conceptual design
Quality Assurance
Keeping Petoe in Line
Overworld
Underworld (all caves)
Master Dome

Petoe's Work:
Everything Else! XD

That's pretty much it in a nutshell, lol. :)

But to be more specific about my workload (if anyone cares):
Main Dungeons and Side Levels
Graphics (Includes the custom subscreen!)
Custom Bosses and other "tricks" (like cutscenes etc)
And that's about it.

We've both worked really hard and the result will be a big, solid custom quest named Lost Isle.

[ShadowTiger]

Wow. This secret item had better be a z item of some sort. :p I want to see a Magic Heart Container that boosts your Maximum Health by freaking SIX or something. You can do that easily, you know. Check it out (http://www.purezc.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=23843).

[Phazite]

Oh! I know! Roc's Feather! :lmao:

I can't wait to play this. I need to make sure to get some good head phones before playing this quest to feel the full effect of it's mood and environments. (if you know what I'm even talking about) So it better have good music to go with it. I want to feel like I'm on the Lost Isle.:)

[Petoe]

Oh don't worry Link75. I think the music is very good quality and fits perfectly to the dark and gloomy theme the quest has. I'd say that audiovisually this quest will be very pleasent experince. Hopefully it will be that gameplay-wise as well. WE will test the quest thoroughly so that the gameplay feels consistent and there won't be any bugs in the game.

[DarkFlameWolf]

I estimated release date is Feb 07, but we won't guarantee anything. That's just our personal goal release date. Once level 4 is done, hopefully the rest should be easy and quick enough to finish. But only time will tell.

[Imprisoned]

What do you mean "the rest should be easy" after level 4??? :O

[DarkFlameWolf]

Easy for us to make and accomplish. :P

Easier than level 4 anyway.....

[Petoe]

Yeah, what Wolfie ment was that Level4 will be so big and hard to build that everything we have to do after that is a walk in the park compared to Lv4. But for players... challenge wise, everything gets just tougher after Lv4. ;) But even though the quest will be challengign, it should be beatable for everyone. We work hard and test it thoroughly to make it a consistent and enjoyable experience.

[Pineconn]

It would be nice if the ZC site would be brought back up so more people could play this quest: people would want to. But alas, those golden years have passed. :sweat:

[Petoe]

Indeed Pineconn. It's a damn shame that no one is taking care of www.zeldaclassic.com. Wolfie offered to do that, but she just got ignored. Really frustrating you know. I think it's not only bad for Lost Isle as you said, but to the whole program and community of ZC that the "main site of ZC" is a totally dead place.

That's one of the reasons why we have decided to make a website for LI sometime in the near future so that it would be easier to direct people towards Zelda Classic and Lost Isle. :)

[Pineconn]

It is unfortunately so. It's really all broken/unfulfilled promises. I hope the people to whom I am directing this is reading this, because they... *sigh* Never mind. Perhaps one day.

But LI looks very interesting [as I've been saying for the past months ;) ]. Hopefully it (and many other, new quests) will have an official home...

Ah, I must work on my quest! It's been getting there!

[DarkFlameWolf]

The quest is slowing down right now due to inherent bugs in the latest ZC betas (the latest being beta 15) and we're struggling trying to find out why things aren't working when they should be, and all we can point to is that ZC is simply messing up. So we're kinda making some screens/stuff in LI, but mainly holding off for the 'promised bug-free 2.5' this Christmas. But we shall see....