Much of this thread was compiled from information gathered from Ebola Zaire's The Big Fat Zelda Classic Assistance Thread and Deviance's Zelda Classic FAQS (Noobs Click In). My props to them. There's also an official FAQ on ZeldaClassic.com which you may want to read.
Feel free to post in this thread if you have anything you'd like to add to it!
And now for the number 1 question being asked. Pardon the red massiveness that is the question title.
Help! I want to play quests, but I don't know how to get them to load!
- Open Zelda Classic. (zelda-w.exe, or use zlaunch-w.exe to load it)
- Press ENTER to get past the Armageddon Games logo.
- Press ENTER to get past the Zelda Classic title screen.
- Choose "Register your name", type any name you'd like, and press enter.
(Enter "ZELDA" here to skip to the Legend of Zelda 2nd quest, "ALPHA" to skip to AGN's Official Third Quest, or "GANON" to skip to AGN's Official Fourth Quest.)- If you'd like to play any of the official quests, simply press enter with your save file selected now. If you didn't enter any of the names above, you'll be taken to the original Legend of Zelda first quest.
(If you'd like to load a custom quest, skip this step and go to step 6.)- Press ALT on your save file.
(Note that when the program asks you to hit "A", it's actually asking you to hit the key you have mapped to the A button. "A" is usually mapped to ALT by default -- you may change your key bindings by hitting ESC, then choosing Settings -> Controls from the menu.)- Press ALT again, then click "Browse" in the pop-up. Browse to the quest you want to play using the File Select dialog and double click it.
- You'll be given a brief pop-up with the quest title and author. If it's the quest you want to play, hit OK.
- Now hit ENTER and you're ready to play!
What are the currently available versions of ZC?
The current version of ZC is 2.5. Available for Windows, Linux, and OSX.
There are other versions of ZC available at the Downloads Page but 2.5 is the recommended version for all quest files.
When is the next ZC version coming out?
With 2.5 being the latest (as of 2013) version that has been released to the public that isn't an outright Release Candidate for testing, the next "version" of any particular variety is likely well off. 2.5 will suffice for now.
I found a bug with the latest beta version of ZC! What do I do?
Post a thread about it in the Bug Tracker.
Help! I'm trying to play a quest I had previously loaded, but now Zelda Classic can't find it! -OR- I'm trying to load an official quest, but it says 1st/2nd/3rd/4th.qst not found!
It's possible that your quest directory is set to the wrong location. To change the quest directory, open the menu by hitting ESC then go to Misc -> Quest Directory... and locate the directory with the quest you want to play, then hit "OK".
Help! I'm a Windows Vista user, and I'm having trouble getting ZC to load!
Your surest bet is to use 2.50 -- 2.10 is known to be difficult to get working with Windows Vista out of the box. If you still want to try running 2.10 and earlier in Vista, try one of these two solutions:
- Right-click the file and select "Run as Administrator."
- Use ZC Launcher to open Zelda Classic or ZQuest.
If that doesn't work, then you may want to try this courtesy of Rydia:
Where can I get custom quests to play?Quote:
Ok, well, I've been trying to get 2.10 to open on my Vista PC, but to no avail, I was not able to. I've been trying for over 6 months. So, I went on a hunt to find out how to get it to run. Well, I had stumbled onto something called Virtual PC 2007 from Microsoft to allow me to install another OS inside of Vista as a program you can run. (It totally kicks ass seeing XP boot up in a window) So, I did that, and the computer would still do the triple flash thing, and crashed... Total SUCKAGE. So, I found another program like that called Parallels Workstation 2.2, and once again, installed it, and install XP as a program. Once again, it did the triple flash deal, then crashed... So finally I've been going around searching forums all over the interweb, and came across one. I did what one guy had said to do in the quote.
CNet Forums Compatibility Topic.Quote:
Originally Posted by John.Wilkinson @ forums.cnet.com
So I right click the folder containing ZC and ZQ 2.10, and went "Explore" and right clicked both programs and set the compatibility to Windows XP SP2, and clicked the "Run as Admin" Checkbox. (Without the "Run as Admin," you can't load or save quests...) So, I went to load ZC, and the Admin approval thing came up, and I clicked "Approve," and it loaded ZC, and allowed me to load a quest, and play it. So, I played for about 10 minutes to check it out, and it runs like a charm. I then closed ZC, and tried ZQ, again coming up with the Admin Approval, and I clicked "Approve," thus opening ZQ in windowed mode, but went to "Etc" and down to Fullscreen. (You can leave it as windowed if that's your preference.) But I did a test quest, and it worked 100%. So if you Vista-goers have any problems before try this, and post your outcome here so I know if it's just luck on my part, or if it's a fix to all Vista users.Good luck. ;)
(I also tried this with ZC/ZQ 1.92B183/184. Well, my outcome with that isn't exactly what I had wanted. It worked for ZC, but ZQ still doesn't want to load quests or save them. I kinda wished ZQ worked rather then ZC, because I am building my quest in Beta 183.)
There are two major quest databases you can download custom quests from:
In addition, check out our very own Quest Announcement/Discussion forum and PureZC's Quest Projects and Custom Quest Discussion for updates on quests in the making and demoes! PureZC also hosts a semi-annual Expo which features information and demos of quests in the making, so keep your eyes peeled for those too!
I need help with the ZQuest editor!
You can get help with the ZQuest editor in our ZC Quest Editor Help forum. Check the sticky threads before posting a thread for links to tutorials and other resources -- you may find that your question's already been answered!
Does Nintendo know about this project?
From a previous FAQ thread:
A note about passwords:Quote:
Nintendo officially does not care about fan projects, as long as they are not for profit. ZC has been around for years and there are probably plenty of people telling them about it all the time, especially after being recognized on TechTV's The ScreenSavers and EGM magazine.
You may have heard about Nintendo "shutting down" fan projects in the past... These were lies perpetrated by disgruntled schemers and cowardly hosts hoping to avoid trouble. Unfortunately, these two root causes seem to perpetuate eachother and as a result, it can get pretty aggravating.
The fact of the matter is that Nintendo only uses real, actual mail to deliver cease-and-desist orders. So if you see or get a threatening message in any other format, don't believe it. Nintendo has no interest in suing you for being a fan.
If you are making a custom quest, particularly in versions before 2.50 (but also in the latest versions), do not use a password for the quest that you use for other things! It is very easy for third parties to obtain quest passwords from 2.10 and before. Although no exploits to retrieve passwords from 2.50 are currently known, it's still better to be on the safe side and use a unique password.