ZCG: Zelda Styled Gameplay?

[HeroOfFire]

A look into my latest crazy idea made real...



ZCG is short for Zelda Classic Gauntlet. The game takes place in what appears to be a massive dungeon composed of many smaller dungeons, including the familiar shapes from the 1st and 2nd quests. But this is no ordinary quest.

The story breaks the fourth wall as Ganon, tired of constant defeat in all these ZC quests, pulls you, the player, into a hectic mess of dungeons. Why Ganon wants revenge on you is not said, but that doesn't matter anymore. You must traverse the mess of dungeons to find Ganon, defeat him, and then hope that action leads you back home.

Since the player is you, the sprites for your avatar can be decided on to your liking. This is why each screenshot has a different "Link" in it.

The quest is a blend of the gameplay physics I created back in ZCB, traditional ZC engine physics, and a few new twists.

First, you gain experience from most enemies. Level up to get skill points, which you can spend in a series of stats and skills, similar to Zelda 2 gameplay.

Second, all attacks cost magic, also called energy, but your life and magic slowly regain no matter what.

Third, enemies drop coins on occasion. Lets just say "Think Mario..."
EDIT: Well, it seems Mario wanted his coins back. So, force gems and fairies instead.

Attacks are used via my ZCB input system: "A" will perfrom different attacks if you're in the air or moving, instead of standing still. In this quest, you can choose what each attack is at any time. "L" is still jump, and "R"... will be discussed in detail later.

As for the graphics, they are mostly standard pure graphics with custom palettes that could be a Pure/DOR hybrid. The screens will look rather simple, as a slight reference to the simple design of the original NES quests, but later dungeons will have additional variety as well as scripted obsticles.

Perhaps the most notable feature already finished and displayed here is the script for the doors. All of these screens are interiors, which normally means standard NES-dungeon doors are impossible. The script actually simulates the door types, including enemy-based shutters and locked doors that open on both sides. Also, these scripts do support having a door that isn't centered.

For once, I'm posting about a quest without any playable demo, but don't fear. Once I script the functionality for several of the weapon types and add in the weapon data screens, I'll release the first demo. At current moment, the demo will allow full leveling (up to the planned maximum of level 99), fully functional skill point spending (and most of the results from the spending), and about 7 weapons scattered within 3 almost complete dungeons (they will lack only their scripted bosses, the rewards for beating the boss, and any of the fancier scripts such as those seen in my holidy gift scripts quest). I will post updates over time, and I will discuss why "R" is significant.

[Gleeok]

Looking good! I do like lots of dungeons. Keep us updated on the demo status.

A look into my latest crazy idea made real...

Attacks are used via my ZCB input system: "A" will perfrom different attacks if you're in the air or moving, instead of standing still. In this quest, you can choose what each attack is at any time. "L" is still jump, and "R"... will be discussed in detail later.

I'm assuming 'R' is for magic here.

[Din]

Well, this sounds fun! I'll be looking forward to both ZCB and ZCG.

[HeroOfFire]

A little update about how you (the in-game avatar) compare to Link.

Swordplay:
Link can often shoot off sword beams from even the first sword in the quest, and may even start the quest with a slashing attack style.
You don't seem to be capable of producing sword beams with the Wooden Sword, your attack is a simple stab, and it even costs magic to attack. On the other hand, you can be either left handed or right, which is a nice personal touch to youself. You can eventually get swords that you slash with, though they will cost more magic per attack...

Shield:
Link almost always starts with a Wooden Shield.
You literally start with nothing. Not even a Shield. You can get one very easily though...with a special advantage too.

Jumping:
Link needs the Roc's Feather to jump.
You can jump by default, although it costs a little magic too (no surprise...). Plus, you can look forward to some great jump upgrades later in the quest.

Inventory:
Link is almost always stuck with a sword and only one modifiable weapon slot. He stores his items, both passive and active, on a subscreen.
Your subscreen is lacking any active weaponry. Somehow, you carry all the weapons you find, and can assign them to six different button combos. None of these even need to be a sword.

Ammo:
Generally, Link needs bomb and arrow ammo to use those weapons.
You never run out of ammo, since every attack simply consumes magic, which slowly regenerates.

Life:
Link usually starts with 3 hearts and gets more by finding Pieces of Heart and Heart Containers.
You start with a life bar that is the equivilent of 3 hearts. Instead of items, you use your skill points to get more hearts. Plus, you have a slow life regen.

Death:
When Link runs out of hearts, Game Over!
When you run out of life, you simply reappear in "safe rooms" with full life and access to a fairy to regen life, magic, and remove jinxes. What a deal!

I'm making progress on the attack sytem: now weapons can be assigned to slots and the slots are filled with the first weapon you pick up in the quest.

This quest has several dungeons of different shapes and difficulites from many of the "classic" NES quests. In addition to the 18 dungeons from the 1st and 2nd quests, another 18 are confirmed from my Lost1st and Lost2nd quests. I posted a seperate thread about these quests earlier this year, so go there if you want to pass the time or get a heads up on what those dungeons will be shaped like.

Also, "R" is not magic, but it can relate to using magic. Perhaps next update, I can show how "R" is key to gameplay.

[HeroOfFire]

Didn't want to have to double post, but there is much to show and tell here.

A demo is nearly ready. The size of the demo has, er, more than doubled. Now the basic layouts* of levels 1-8 are in, and you can also see thr... I mean two rooms in level 9. Each level except level 9 contains 2 weapons. Combined with a weapon given to you right off the bat (you can guess what it is), there are 18 different weapons to try out in the demo!

*Basic layout means all main items, doors, passages, etc. are in, but no custom bosses or fancy scripted obsticles yet. You may note the out-of-date boss enemies in this demo. They will be replaced over time.

And now, what does "R" do?

THIS.


This... is the OVERSCREEN. It is the focus of the gameplay, as the subscreen only shows passive items (such as the wallet) and the dungeon items (map, compass, and boss key). It uses a cursor moved by the mouse, but selections are made with "A". Beware. If you take damage while the overscreen is open, it will close automatically.

There is a lot to it. First on the left, the leveling/skill point system.
Every level, you get a skill point. Spend it in any of the 15 catergories.

The 6 Stats, which can be trained in 9 times each.
Life: Gain 1 Heart per Skill Point
Stamina: Improve Life Regain.
Energy: Gain 1 Magic Bar per Skill Point.
Technique: Improve Magic Regain.
Agility: Enable/Improve Running Speed. To run, first put a skill point into this stat. Then, quickly press in the same direction three times to start running.
Acrobatics: Improve Jumping Height.

The 9 Skills, which can be trained in 5 times each.
Melee, Ranged, Explosive, Spells, and Motion: Put skill points in these to be able to use more advanced weapons of that type.
Attack: Increase all Weapon Damage by 1 per skill point (Note: It takes 2 damage to kill a Lv1 Octorok. It takes 4 damage to kill a Lv1 Stalfos.)
Special: Improve the features of all weapons (ranged weapons go farther for example.)
Efficiency: Reduce the energy cost of all attacks by 2. An attack will always cost at least 2 energy.
Defense: Gives you shields and mail (armor rings). The first point gives you weak shields. The third point improves the shields. All other points improve your mail.

Now the other menus.
Weapon Selection: Used to choose what weapon each button combo uses. In order, A, B, A while moving, B while moving, A while in the air, B while in the air. The red menu to the right appears when you select one of the button combos. Use the arrow keys and "A" to change the weapon. You can only change to a weapon that is usabe (you have the weapon and you have enough skill points in the appropriate attack type.)

Equiptment (Center Bottom): Shows passive equipment not in the subscreen.
Shield: Appears when you have a skill point in defense. You can select it with "A" and then use the arrow keys to cycle between three variations that each block and deflect different weapons.
Mail: Shows any mail upgrade you have from your defense skill.
Empty Vial: Opens a potion vial menu. Potions will not be in the demo though.
Triforce: Opens the Triforce/Artifact menu. It shows your progress on completing each of the trifprces/artifacts from each of the 9-dungeon sets.
Magic Key: Shows all the Magic Keys you have obtained. You can find one Magic Key in the demo, but no doors specific for it.
Force Gem: Opens a force ability menu. Spend your force gems on the abilities by selecting them. By default, you have only one ability but another can be obtained in the demo.

Other Things:
I replaced the coins/1-up mushrooms with force gems and fairies. Force gems randomly drop and are used to pay force ability costs. Fairies will revive you when you lose all life, but none can be easily found in this demo.

Also, scripted custom doors, including bombable walls FTW!


*The silver topped door means it connects to a different dungon. Keep an eye out for these.

The purpose of the upcoming demo is to introduce you to the basic gameplay. Although 60% of the weapon types are implemented, only 34% are represented in the demo. Also, shops are planed in the future where you can buy extra keys, potion vials, faries, and larger wallets. Custom bosses will come over time, and staircases to different floors will be added too (each 9-dungeon set is on a differnet floor. The 2nd quest dungeons are the floor below the 1st quest ones.)

But before I release the demo, I am pondering something. But will anyone like it?

[Banon]

DANG IT! I was gonna use that magic meter idea!

*sigh

Looks great, I especially like the choose your own character idea.

[HeroOfFire]

http://www.mediafire.com/file/neitzt...ZCGDemo001.qst

Well, that went fast. Here's the demo. I've been developing it in a somewhat older stable version for some time, so build 910 or later should play it fine.

However, I wanted to do something different. Something unexpected. Then it hit me.

Most quests have a dark overtone in their palettes. So for something different, I spend the last several hours redoing the level palettes into something more bright and cheerful.

But that made the quest look like childs play. So I borrowed a 3rd quest tactic and began replacing blocks with statues. This is what it now looks like.


All I can say is good luck. Beware of Arrows, Passwords, Rocks, Ice, Lava, Fireballs, Octoroks, Overheating, Levels, and Swords. Oh, and remember that mouse clicking isn't supported in the engine. So if you have a cursor, move it with the mouse but "click" things with "A".

[C-Dawg]

Your screenshots and quest description remind me a lot of Deadly Towers.

Good luck with that.

[Gleeok]

I am downloading it now. :)

ps; thank you for not using crappy file hosting this time.

[Din]

Same over here. This looks promising. Plus, no more rapidshare! Heck yeah!