Moo2wo wrote:Do you have a day picked out you might send Din and I the demo?Not exactly, I'm just going through my list of items to complete before hand. It looks like it may take some more time but it shouldn't be too long now. 😊 Today I should get spells done then I have to do some work in one of the towns (no new scripting, just setup) and finish a few enemies. I'll probably send you guys the demo once all the gameplay is complete and then do the title screen and intro while you guys test everything else.
Zelda 2 in ZC, back from the dead.
There's been more progress. All the level stuff is done, including changing spell costs, damage Link takes and deals, etc.. Also the spells are now working, "Jump" and "Shield" for the demo. You can also get them from the old wisemen, with the proper text and all that.
Anyway I took some screenshots of some of this:
Level up screen, after I've gained several levels:
Link using the Jump spell to get on top of some blocks that he normally can't reach:
Spells in the subscreen, you can select the spell you want to use. The spell is attached to the L and R button (you can hit either) since there isn't a "select" button.
And finally Link with the "Shield" spell on, damage reduction has been implemented:
The quest is getting there, not too much to do before the demo. 😊
What's left before the demo? Enemies?
bobrocks95 wrote:What's left before the demo? Enemies?I have to do a little bit of setup in the town where you get the Jump spell (the name escapes me at the moment) - just some warps and NPCs, no new scripts. I have to finish the multiple lives code and fix some save & continue bugs. And finally I have a couple of enemies that still need scripting, although most are already finished. Out of that, I suspect the enemies will take the most time because they include the boss fight and Yellow Ironknuckle. The simple enemies such as Moblins, Bits, Bots, Bats, etc. are all done. And I think that's it. 😊
I'll also do the title screen and opening story but that will wait until you guys are testing - that won't take very long.
I can't wait! By the way, just out of curiosity, did you ever beat the original? I've been able to get to the last palace with a Game Genie.
Moo2wo wrote:I can't wait! By the way, just out of curiosity, did you ever beat the original? I've been able to get to the last palace with a Game Genie.Way back in the NES days I beat the original without any guides or cheats. Of course I was able to beat lots of crazy hard games back then that way. 😊
A small update: I'm working on the enemies now. I've been unifying the enemy code to make adding new enemy types as simple as possible. Previously each enemy would get its own script (for the most part - enemies with very similar behavior could share a script such as Bit and Bot) and some functionality would be shared.
There are a couple of problems with this approach:
* Even with shared functions there is still a lot of code doing very similar things that can't be easily factored out without passing lots of variables between functions.
* Adding new enemy types was a fair amount of work - even for basic functionality.
* Enemies cannot change into other enemies - which is needed for the "Spell" spell.
So now all the non-boss enemies share the same script with just a few parameters: type and index. I figured out to simulate "member variables" using small arrays (nothing difficult of course). So all the enemies have a common set of data: HP, Damage, Size for collision, XP given on death, etc. All this data is setup based on the enemy type. Then the basic enemy loop looks the same for all enemies, things like collision, damage, damage animation, death animation, etc. are all shared. Then enemy specific behaviors are then called out from the main loop in a standardized fashion - so all code except some very specific enemy AI and movement is now shared. So adding a new enemy is now very easy, I can even use an existing enemy's behavior to get the enemy in very quickly and then modify it from there. This also makes it very easy to modify enemy stats in one place based on difficulty level.
This is nearly done, after which I'll get the Stalfos and Ironknuckles working before finally dealing with the boss fight. I should also mention that the town stuff is talked about before is done as well. You actually need to get the trophy before you can get the Jump spell. 😊
I can't wait! I've got a 2nd demo myself to be working on, so I better get back to work.
I have a question for you guys about the demo.
Due to a few bugs in build 910 save and continue cannot work properly. It looks like the latest build fixes these issues and will make working with lives better (cleaner) due to new features. So here's my question:
Should I upgrade and risk having to fix problems - potentially delaying the demo - and have correct save/continue functionality? Or do I release the demo, with the save/continue caveat so it comes out sooner? I'm leaning toward the first option, but I wanted to get your opinions too.
Hmm...I kind of like the first choice, but could you tell us how long the wait could be?
Backup your quest and then upgrade. The latest betas are approaching stability (for the time being) so I don't forsee any major problems. Certainly not like what happened in the build 935 fiasco.
Moo2wo wrote:Hmm...I kind of like the first choice, but could you tell us how long the wait could be?I don't know yet, there may only be a small delay if there aren't any new bugs that would affect my quest. There will be atleast a small delay because I'll have to test everything - but that won't take too long.
What I should probably do is what jman2050 suggested, backup the quest and try it in the new build. If something goes wrong then hold off until after the demo, otherwise go for it and get the save/continue functionality working.
Well I downloaded the latest build and started testing it with my quest...
I had some issues with ZC Launcher (on Vista) and had to go back to the version of ZCL that I used with build 910 (which still works with the latest build, by the way)...
On the other hand I must say I'm quite impressed with the Zelda Classic and ZQuest 979 build. As far as I can tell the build works perfectly with my quest - it doesn't play any different then it used to - except now I can fix the save and continue issues and if I continue enemies still work (a bug in 910 prevented them from working correctly after a continue). I played through the entire quest so far, I used ZQuest for a while as well. The scripts compile fine, the global array issue is fixed!!!!, all my settings - including screen settings, FFC settings, etc. were preserved. So, unless some major issue comes up which doesn't seem likely, the demo will use build 979.
Anyway I must say that the developers are doing a great job, if the builds keep killing bugs and improving like this then the full version of 2.5 really is around the corner. 😃
I thought it'd be nice to show screenshots of more progress, so here are shots of various enemies in action. It also shows the number of lives screen that shows up when you start and whenever you die (before you start again).
The boss will be coming soon. 😊 Its taken longer then expected, but I'm almost there (to completing the demo and first part of the quest).
I also want to mention that the quest now uses build 982 (due to a fix relating to Misc[] variables). I mentioned having problems with ZCL with build 979 - well I got it to work fine with build 982. I figured I'd clear that up in case others have been put off from the latest builds due to my previous statement. Anyway build 982 seems to be very stable so far, I didn't have to make any changes to the quest. I'll probably stick with this build for the demo unless I have a problem or there is a major fix that will impact my quest.
Long term I'll probably upgrade regularly, with appropriate safety measures taken, so that my scripts will be useful once this is complete. Of course I'll abort an upgrade if there is a buggy build (like 961 I think) so I don't waste too much time.
Sounds good man, keep up the nice work.