DarkFlameWolf
08-19-2006, 04:26 PM
This is somewhat a plug for a past quest of mine, but also isn't either. For one, I haven't worked on it in the editor for years and haven't played the quest itself in over a year. So I just recently had the time to sit down over the past few weeks in my spare time here at BOT and play it with a fresh set of 'player' eyes. No longer did I have my 'creator' cap on when I was playing it. Why? Because I nearly forgot most of how to get through the damn quest!:googly: ha ha But regardless, despite my more hyped quests such as Hidden Duality and Isle of the Winds, Fragments of Power remained my personal favorite, and replaying it recently further confirmed my decision and my reflection below will explain why. (this is for myself to get my thoughts out, and for those interesting in hearing what I think as a creator of my work)
The quest itself is a small, short romp through a classic Zelda-style world with 8 triforce dungeons and one final dungeon. (plus my standard master dome addition) It is created in BS Style graphics and can be completed in roughly 4-5 hours. The beautiful thing about this quest besides its simplicity is that when making it, I remember I basically just randomly created screens, dungeons, etc. and simply pieced things together to 'make it work!' And playing it years later, it works amazingly well, imo. I'd like to say I had everything meticulously planned and everything was intentionally done in the quest, but I cannot lie and claim that. Everything about this quest was random, besides a simple general overview of what the quest was supposed to cover, I made it up as I went. Fortunately, this style of quest designing lent itself well to the BS tileset and to the quest itself as a whole. I cannot remember a more fun time I've had playing a quest recently. Now to my individual reflections:
The Overworld: The Overworld couldn't have been planned out better. It slowly reveals itself to the player in a convincing way and doesn't allow the player any further access to advanced areas than when its time. Which gives a almost linear feel to the quest despite having the freedom to roam around those 'restricted areas.' Something I feel I also accomplished in my upcoming Lost Isle. The HC Pieces, without intentionally intending to, are spread out just perfect so that you can acquire a new Heart Container after every level past 4. In later quests, I couldn't have done that randomly without extensive pre-planning. The secrets are cleverly hidden and the shortcuts from area to area are expertly placed. I wish some of my later overworlds were as neatly, compactly made as this one was.
Level 1: A simple level that suits its purpose as a initial level. I like it because it isn't too tough and the puzzles are quite simple to figure out. A very solid level that sets the tone for the rest of the quest.
Level 2: A little bump in the road. This level isn't as well-polished as some of the others and it shows. The initial spike room is a bit rough considering all enemies must be destroyed before you can push a block to lower them. Can be tricky when coming in from the sides. The level also doesn't have a definitive 'flow' to it which also lends to its confusion. But on the whole, it still is a good level, just not a solid one.
Level 3: A similar take to level 5 of Revenge 1 from PrinceMSC but on a smaller less complex scale. Its a good solid level, don't really have many real comments other than that. It also introduces the 'all spike' room that I use later on in this quest and in others.
Level 4: This was a fun one to make and its a shame I gave out the boots this early. I could have done much more with the spikes in later levels instead of now just having them for show. The flow is a bit inconsistent, but the level is quite fun to play and is rewarding when you finally get the blue ring.
Level 5: A personal favorite of mine and based off an idea from level 6 of Revenge 1 from PrinceMSC. I basically took his idea of ladder-holed rooms and made it practically every single room in the dungeon. I came up with some wacky floor designs trying to make those ladder gaps work!
Level 6: An interesting level that is quite fun to look at it from a design standpoint, but a terror to play. It is probably a pain to play based on the equipment you will have at the time you reach it. Its a sharp difficulty spike at this point in the quest. But I do like how I utilized the Lens of Truth extensively in this level.
Level 7: A short, small level that probably should have been bigger. Regardless, it was a re-hash of similar ideas used in previous levels, but taken to a new degree with the new items acquired at this point. The flow of the level is a bit inconsistent, requiring some repeated backtracking, but the level itself is solid. Unfortunately is slacks off in the difficulty department from level 6.
Level 8: Level 7 of Hidden Duality was based off this level design. This level design was based off a small section of level 7 of Revenge 2 by PrinceMSC. I simply took his concept of 'two path-way' rooms and made an entire level out of that idea. Level 7 of Hidden Duality did not turn out as good as this level did, imo. The difficulty spikes again and the red ring is introduced. A fun level to play and figure out and quite a shock from the past few levels where each level got smaller than the last. A favorite of mine.
Level 9: One of my favorite levels in the quest with its '5 key hunt' that foreshadows a bigger key hunt in Hidden Duality, which I was to make later that year. It basically utilizes all the item puzzles introduced in every past level and throws them back at the player in new forms to see if they can recognize the solutions again. The flow is quite good, requiring backtracking through the level only once to get all 5 keys. The final slew of bosses is something I introduced here and brought back for every one of my quests since.
Master Dome: My first true iteration of a master dome in any of my quests. It is the first, it is the original. It is a simple design and guards its secrets well.
A fun little romp where I can basically just place enemies indiscriminately and not care if its doable. (I do care, but you know what I mean)
Overall: I think the reason I like this quest better than some of my others like the popular Hidden Duality and Isle of the Winds is probably because of several reasons: 1) It is a small, simplistic, short romp through classic Zelda gameplay. 2) It can be completed in 4-5 hours or less. 3) It is not as difficult as my later quests are, so more people can play it and possibly beat it. 4) Because of the reduced difficulty, it actually is quite fun to play.
So all in all, Hidden Duality may have brought the dark world/light world concept to popular ZC Quest gaming, and Isle of the Winds bringing a variation of the Wind Waker theme, Fragments of Power brings the simplistic nature of a fun Zelda romp. One that I take no shame in calling my favorite. (Although Lost Isle looks to soon take that spot soon!)
You can comment on this if you wish, but I just needed to get these thoughts out. :)
Thank you.
The quest itself is a small, short romp through a classic Zelda-style world with 8 triforce dungeons and one final dungeon. (plus my standard master dome addition) It is created in BS Style graphics and can be completed in roughly 4-5 hours. The beautiful thing about this quest besides its simplicity is that when making it, I remember I basically just randomly created screens, dungeons, etc. and simply pieced things together to 'make it work!' And playing it years later, it works amazingly well, imo. I'd like to say I had everything meticulously planned and everything was intentionally done in the quest, but I cannot lie and claim that. Everything about this quest was random, besides a simple general overview of what the quest was supposed to cover, I made it up as I went. Fortunately, this style of quest designing lent itself well to the BS tileset and to the quest itself as a whole. I cannot remember a more fun time I've had playing a quest recently. Now to my individual reflections:
The Overworld: The Overworld couldn't have been planned out better. It slowly reveals itself to the player in a convincing way and doesn't allow the player any further access to advanced areas than when its time. Which gives a almost linear feel to the quest despite having the freedom to roam around those 'restricted areas.' Something I feel I also accomplished in my upcoming Lost Isle. The HC Pieces, without intentionally intending to, are spread out just perfect so that you can acquire a new Heart Container after every level past 4. In later quests, I couldn't have done that randomly without extensive pre-planning. The secrets are cleverly hidden and the shortcuts from area to area are expertly placed. I wish some of my later overworlds were as neatly, compactly made as this one was.
Level 1: A simple level that suits its purpose as a initial level. I like it because it isn't too tough and the puzzles are quite simple to figure out. A very solid level that sets the tone for the rest of the quest.
Level 2: A little bump in the road. This level isn't as well-polished as some of the others and it shows. The initial spike room is a bit rough considering all enemies must be destroyed before you can push a block to lower them. Can be tricky when coming in from the sides. The level also doesn't have a definitive 'flow' to it which also lends to its confusion. But on the whole, it still is a good level, just not a solid one.
Level 3: A similar take to level 5 of Revenge 1 from PrinceMSC but on a smaller less complex scale. Its a good solid level, don't really have many real comments other than that. It also introduces the 'all spike' room that I use later on in this quest and in others.
Level 4: This was a fun one to make and its a shame I gave out the boots this early. I could have done much more with the spikes in later levels instead of now just having them for show. The flow is a bit inconsistent, but the level is quite fun to play and is rewarding when you finally get the blue ring.
Level 5: A personal favorite of mine and based off an idea from level 6 of Revenge 1 from PrinceMSC. I basically took his idea of ladder-holed rooms and made it practically every single room in the dungeon. I came up with some wacky floor designs trying to make those ladder gaps work!
Level 6: An interesting level that is quite fun to look at it from a design standpoint, but a terror to play. It is probably a pain to play based on the equipment you will have at the time you reach it. Its a sharp difficulty spike at this point in the quest. But I do like how I utilized the Lens of Truth extensively in this level.
Level 7: A short, small level that probably should have been bigger. Regardless, it was a re-hash of similar ideas used in previous levels, but taken to a new degree with the new items acquired at this point. The flow of the level is a bit inconsistent, requiring some repeated backtracking, but the level itself is solid. Unfortunately is slacks off in the difficulty department from level 6.
Level 8: Level 7 of Hidden Duality was based off this level design. This level design was based off a small section of level 7 of Revenge 2 by PrinceMSC. I simply took his concept of 'two path-way' rooms and made an entire level out of that idea. Level 7 of Hidden Duality did not turn out as good as this level did, imo. The difficulty spikes again and the red ring is introduced. A fun level to play and figure out and quite a shock from the past few levels where each level got smaller than the last. A favorite of mine.
Level 9: One of my favorite levels in the quest with its '5 key hunt' that foreshadows a bigger key hunt in Hidden Duality, which I was to make later that year. It basically utilizes all the item puzzles introduced in every past level and throws them back at the player in new forms to see if they can recognize the solutions again. The flow is quite good, requiring backtracking through the level only once to get all 5 keys. The final slew of bosses is something I introduced here and brought back for every one of my quests since.
Master Dome: My first true iteration of a master dome in any of my quests. It is the first, it is the original. It is a simple design and guards its secrets well.
A fun little romp where I can basically just place enemies indiscriminately and not care if its doable. (I do care, but you know what I mean)
Overall: I think the reason I like this quest better than some of my others like the popular Hidden Duality and Isle of the Winds is probably because of several reasons: 1) It is a small, simplistic, short romp through classic Zelda gameplay. 2) It can be completed in 4-5 hours or less. 3) It is not as difficult as my later quests are, so more people can play it and possibly beat it. 4) Because of the reduced difficulty, it actually is quite fun to play.
So all in all, Hidden Duality may have brought the dark world/light world concept to popular ZC Quest gaming, and Isle of the Winds bringing a variation of the Wind Waker theme, Fragments of Power brings the simplistic nature of a fun Zelda romp. One that I take no shame in calling my favorite. (Although Lost Isle looks to soon take that spot soon!)
You can comment on this if you wish, but I just needed to get these thoughts out. :)
Thank you.