Tips to making a good quest:

1. Use my rule. If you can't find something you like, customize it. I want the BS tiles but BS first is passworded.

2. To make a hard quest, do what Phantom Menace did in the demo EX. You get the boomerang and have to fend with it until you get 2 heart containers to get the sword. Then put hard enemies after that.

My boss's are going to be challenging but not too much. My first boss is 3 blue darknuts but you continue there if you lose. you don't slash and the very beginning but if you go somewhere obvious in the very beginning (Not wooded sword cave) you learn it as it's almost needed for the darknuts. It's not in a dungeon either and not the normal overworld. (The Darknut boss is in a different overworld which means you have to find the entrance to it. It's forest themed so where do think it would be? Not the lost woods but you had to come here in the first quest before. That's all I'll say. It'll have 3 new overworlds.)

Hm... I was gonna make the hammer the item in the second level ( not strenght wise, for another reason ) but reading this i think Ill change it to something else. Heres my tip:
Dont make dungeons easy as hell. I had to redo one of mine 3 times because it was to small, then it still to easy, and finnaly I got it to work. Also, dont overdo on the plot. People want to make wierd creatures explode to remeber.

SeirraMist wrote:Hm... I was gonna make the hammer the item in the second level ( not strenght wise, for another reason ) but reading this i think Ill change it to something else. Heres my tip:
Dont make dungeons easy as hell. I had to redo one of mine 3 times because it was to small, then it still to easy, and finnaly I got it to work. Also, dont overdo on the plot. People want to make wierd creatures explode to remeber.

And don't have aquamentus as the first boss. That guy is too easy. What about a blue darknut? 4 darknuts? 5 blue goriyas? The Boss doesn't always have to be a boss enemy. Also, try not to provide the hammer too early. Unless your going to add tough enemies then it's fine but I would rather use the sword over hammer. I like to put the hammer in level 5 or 6. Right before the magic sword. Being able to go through darknut sheilds make them pushovers. Even a Superdarknut with only 3 hearts and no tunic is simple with the hammer. Don't make the quest too short either. The purpose of my quest is supposed to be very long.

They key to a good quest is to make it unique in some way.
Put a little bit of you into your quest.
try stuff no one else has tried
give adequate clues to the player, a quest isn't fun if you're lost.
put in a feature that will make people remember your name.

And A good story helps too.

I think one key to making difficult quests is where you place items and how early the player can get them because you can be accidentally making parts of the game easier than originally intended--especially if the player can get things like the Letter/Potions, Rings, Heart Containers, and the various sword upgrades early in the game.

For instance, in one quest out there, the White Sword is in the spot where in the original games, you crossed the river to get a Heart Container. To get this, you have to get the Whistle in Level 1, the Power Bracelet in Level 2, then work through Level 3 to get the Ladder--all of this with the Wooden Sword, and no boomerangs or rings. Along Level 3, you have to fight two Digdoggers (one 3-kid), and the ladder room has two Blue Wizzrobes.

There better mirriors in that blue wizzrobe room then.. I put a hookshot in a mini level and lens of truth in that mini level before level 3. Does this mean everything is going to be simple? No. There is going to be a enemy difficulty leap. I also find Stalfos 3 easy so there are SOME in level 3. Not that much. I also provide a blue tunic after level 1 and a red tunic in level 4 but you gotta pay big bucks and that it's still hard even with that. Yes I provide a white sword after a mini level before level 3 but even with that level 3 is a pain in the ass to beat. (The Blue Lanmolas, Blue Wizzrobes, And of course the Stalfos 3) You can provide very useful items and still make the game hard is all i'm saying. Hammer in level 2 is a no no. Just having the power of a slow magic sword is too uber. I see it as an early item.

More Quick Notes:

1) Aquamentos is a great boss. HOWEVER he is only good for the 1st level as a actual boss. After that you may want to consider "spicing" it up by putting like 4 Aquamentos in a room and just make them like plain enemies.

This is my major problem, but Im tryign to beat it...
2) Not every room has to have a purpose. Try to design dungeons with many rooms with just doors and enemies. If every room has a puzzle or treasure chest, it wouldent be as fun.

3) As I said before, dont make a game to heavy on story, and no gameplay. People want to make little monsters explode ^^

I am making On Yonder.
It is huuuuuuuuuuuge. It may not be finishable by people who have no patients.
The point: Make a plot/gameplay that is easy to get in to. Don't make it drag on and on without a point.

What all games in general need is a good balance of gameplay, story, and graphics.
Try to keep your dungeons fun and challenging. Try to make all of your tiles pleasing to look at. And above all, try to keep your game from getting boring.

Try to give your game a very interesting story, but also don't make it too complicated. When every NPC in the game talks to you for six strings about a random war that happened 500 years ago, I tend to lose interest. But remember that having a unique story in your quest will be what distinguishes it from other quests. I rarely ever even bother playing a quest whose story is just "the basic collect triforces and save Zelda" storyline.

I don't play quests to see the little monsters explode, because that gets boring after about five seconds. I play quests to fight my way through an interesting but simple storyline.

well collecting 8 golden triangles IS interesting but simple... o.o

but really, try to add a good amount of detail in your graphics in your quest, and select music that fits the current mood well.

Do NOT do this.

If you know you can do this:

(well, that's a screen that took me only 1 minute to make, I made it like that just to make it look like the 1st one but a little better).

Do NOT do this.

If you know you can do this:

(well, that's a screen that took me only 1 minute to make, but it can be good for newcomers to make, I made it like that just to make it look like the 1st one but a little better).

Well, how about some advice from an oldbie?

Music can add a lot to the quest if chosen wisely, I didn't realize this till my last few quests, but if you want to you you can just add music that you particularly like, heck it's your quest do what you want.

Another suggestion, make the colors pleasing to the eye, while red and blue might be good colors you might want to darken them some, and they really are too bright when added together in a color scheme.

Characters: While some may think that using familiar characters, if you are good at making tiles might I suggest introducing new characters, who knows maybe your character will be the next big videogame icon.

I think writing a faq to go along with your quest is extremely important . How many times have you been stuck on someones poorly desighned quest?? It's not like game faqs keeps these things on pop .

I don't like cheating but some parts of games are ridiculous . I.E. Lost woods parts where you have to go up so many times and left etc , this is a staple of zelda , but to me was always extremely annoying . That example doesnt really apply to ZC but you get my drift .

also make a good compelling story

Regarding TheLamer's point on being stuck on a quest, you might want to put in overworld caves or dungeon rooms where a guy gives you hints. For example, you can use a "clue room" to provide Link with a hint on how to eventually finish the dungeon or on where to go or what to do next.

Of course, you could go to extremes and write a complete walkthrough, but then that would give everything away.

DarkFlameWolf wrote:okay, how about 1 heart, only the blue candle and the sword in level 2? 😃 j/k

Here's a tip, add a little humor to the quest

Make some references to some of the Zelda Games. It's not one of those 'guaranteed to improve a quest,' but if you can pull it off well enough, it may work. Heck, you could probably pull a reference or two from some other quests.

I think you shoudn't make it too hard, just keep it moderately challenging. I perfer fun quests over overly hard quests. And I know a way to make a good qust. First, open Zeldaclassic in fullscreen. Then hold Alt and press tab. Then load the quest editor. Now, at any time you can press alt+tab to switch from making the quest from playing it! Though you need to press 'reset' in the menu for any changes you make to take effect. It's a good way to test it for bugs.

That's not a good idea. I've tried that before and if you save changes in ZQuest while you're playing that quest in ZC, it will crash.

😕 That never happenes to me.

When I alt-tab out of ZC, then bring ZC back up, the colors are screwed up. The border is pink, the transparent layers look funny, and anything in CSet 0 looks funny. This used to happen anytime I opened ZC, but fixed it by disabling some nVidia enhancer program... Some enhancer.

Let's not forget probably the most important thing with quests. There should be NO BUGS whatsoever. You can have the finest graphics, story line, music, etc... But no one will play a quest that has errors that keep the player from being able to finish the game because the designer forgot to fix them.

On that note, Read this topic as well. It's definitely a "What NOT to do."

LinkMaster500 wrote:Let's not forget probably the most important thing with quests. There should be NO BUGS whatsoever. You can have the finest graphics, story line, music, etc... But no one will play a quest that has errors that keep the player from being able to finish the game because the designer forgot to fix them.

Which means test it out several times. The only major bug I had in my quest was a last minute change that I didn't test out myself. It's good to have other people testing it as well since they will try things you didn't intend which may help find more bugs you need to fix that you wouldn't have noticed on your own.

Give your dungeons a theme, then build them. Try to make the puzzles and enemies in your dungeon fit into that dungeon's theme. Also, try to make the item logical for that dungeon. To point out an extreme case, don't put the Flippers in a lava/fire-themed dungeon unless you're totally sadistic.

I actually use aquamentus as my first boss, and place blocks in the room that make it difficult to dodge his attacks. Very effective for making him more of a challange.

(These are no particular order...)

-Eye candy is good in a quest, but be sure to put gameplay first. You could have the best looking overworld with dungeons that look amazing, nobody will play it if all you do is walk around aimlessly. Don't get me wrong, detailed screens are good too.
-Secrets! Make darn sure there are things players can do before and after a dungeon. It's no fun if all you're doing is going from point A to point B with nothing to do on the way. Wether it would be Heart Peices or a whole dungeon for an item, it really makes it more enjoyable.
-A story is good, too. Brainstorm, and see what kind of ideas you can come up with, you never know.
-Make an outline of your quest you can refer to. It can be as simple as what you want to include, and what the levels are, or as complicated as giving detailed illustrations of your overworld, and exactly where the key for this door is in eah level. What ever works.
-Experiment! Make a quick test quest to test new things BEFORE putting it in your good quest.
-Dungeon design is something you should keep in mind. It's alot more fun to have to search for the boss key, than to have it sitting right next to the boss door. Make numerous passages and hidden secrets so it dosn't turn out as the most linear dungeon on earth.
-Puzzles are important! From block puzzles to ladder/hookshot puzzles, you should put some things to keep players busy in your quest.
-Variety is also good! If all an overworld is is a bunch of trees and mountains, all being the exact same, you'll get bored. Make some change in the atmosphere. Maybe your next destination will be the Dark Forest of Flying Monkeys!
-Setting and mood are crucial. If you're in a cheery town, don't have a dark, evil MIDI playing. If the shadow dungeon is dark, and scary, don't use bright colours.
-Try something nobody has ever seen before! It will add to the enjoyment if it's fresh, and new. (If it's done right)
-Midis are crucial for setting mood. Use a bright and cheery midi for the Happy Mouse Village Of Cheese.:drool😞Yum!)
-MAKE IT BUG FREE! You heard me! Make it bug free, or I WILL send Old man Jenkins to do it properly. (j/k) Serously, though, make sure you beta test your quest as well as allowing others.
-Give hints for things that aren't that obvious. It's no fun trying to find the maze path if all you have to go on is the exit path.
-Keep updated! Now, I don't mean if a new version comes out, you HAVE to use it, but I mean, if you use the first version on ZC, then, you are missing out on alot. Some may want to use 2.10 until 2.11 is done.
-Read some tutorials, learn some new things you may want to include in your quest. You never know what you may find.
-Lastly, (for now, anyways...) have fun!