splattergnome
03-14-2006, 08:40 AM
One trend I have seen in recent times is that whenever new users ask for certain additions in the suggestion forum, more experienced users tend to respond that they are not neccessary because they can be readily simulated by the existing tools provided by Zelda Classic. While I think its a good thing to provide alternative suggestions on how to implement something in somebody's quest, this does show off a problem I see with Zelda Classic:
ZQuest, as it currently is, is not particularly user friendly for new users. While it is possible to create all types of wonderful and detailed quests with tiered secrets and the like, it is currently very unorganized and frightening to new users. The lack of current up-to-date tutorials and help file only help make things more confusing.
I think that making ZQuest more user-friendly for new users to attract new talents should be a major priority. There are many ways to do this - everything from sorted out flags with pull down menus (this would be particularly nice to sort flags according to type), context-sensitive help - even by adding new hardcoded options.
Now - I can see why people dislike hard-coded solutions when one can hack better solutions through screen warps and inherent flags - but sometimes a few more options would make things easier and faster for new people just interested in making a quest. Mazes, guys, shops - these may all be deprecated (since designed "only" for classic Zelda-type quests and now at least partially possible to simulate with the current engine functions) - but they are important for new users. I would even go as far and say there should be more types of standard rooms and guys and the like. If it helps one user complete a quest which is fun to play, then it has been worth it.
As it is, they will probably be confused by mention of "combos", "tiles", and "flags" - a bit of rearranging, even a bit of renaming (do we really need to keep "Armos->Item" when it isn't only used by Armos?) can go a long way. I am not against ZQuest's complexity - indeed, I want to see more advanced features and possibilities to make more complex quests. However, I think it is also important to cater to newer users as well and not scare them off.
I would like to hear other people's thoughts on this - and ideas on how Zelda Classic could be made more user-friendly and easy-to-use.
splatty
ZQuest, as it currently is, is not particularly user friendly for new users. While it is possible to create all types of wonderful and detailed quests with tiered secrets and the like, it is currently very unorganized and frightening to new users. The lack of current up-to-date tutorials and help file only help make things more confusing.
I think that making ZQuest more user-friendly for new users to attract new talents should be a major priority. There are many ways to do this - everything from sorted out flags with pull down menus (this would be particularly nice to sort flags according to type), context-sensitive help - even by adding new hardcoded options.
Now - I can see why people dislike hard-coded solutions when one can hack better solutions through screen warps and inherent flags - but sometimes a few more options would make things easier and faster for new people just interested in making a quest. Mazes, guys, shops - these may all be deprecated (since designed "only" for classic Zelda-type quests and now at least partially possible to simulate with the current engine functions) - but they are important for new users. I would even go as far and say there should be more types of standard rooms and guys and the like. If it helps one user complete a quest which is fun to play, then it has been worth it.
As it is, they will probably be confused by mention of "combos", "tiles", and "flags" - a bit of rearranging, even a bit of renaming (do we really need to keep "Armos->Item" when it isn't only used by Armos?) can go a long way. I am not against ZQuest's complexity - indeed, I want to see more advanced features and possibilities to make more complex quests. However, I think it is also important to cater to newer users as well and not scare them off.
I would like to hear other people's thoughts on this - and ideas on how Zelda Classic could be made more user-friendly and easy-to-use.
splatty