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#1 Shane

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Posted 02 April 2016 - 02:15 AM

A lot of people have asked how do I go about making screens. I even got a request in making a thread for it. I personally tried dodging this because to be honest, I just wing them most of the time. Sometimes my method changes depending on my mood and what I'm creating. In this quest's case, I just winged it. But I caved in, so I will show you all how I (generally) make a screen, using an existing one I have made. Hopefully this will also give me enough time to do something big and substantial with my next update.

Anyways, here are the three main steps to my method, nothing fancy or surprising:

1: Primary Structure

A screen can look pretty damn boring if everything is straight and boxy, especially mountains. I think my issues in the past was that I designed my screens too boxy in order to obtain that Gameboy Zelda feel and look. But let's be honest: Zelda Classic's screen size is just far too big for it to work and look great. So if you're like me, you're better off going wild with the structure. In my case, I start off with the mountains, so I can determine what will be on each elevation. The following screen is going to be a coastal field, so ocean goes on the bottom.

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It looks fine, but we could spice up the mountain a little bit more. Since the bottom right section is definitely going to be inaccessible, I will do something there. It's a little difference, and wouldn't matter to most, but it can add a better sense of depth, even if trivial.

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2: Secondary Structure

Things like trees, water, houses, etc. I consider second. There won't be any water or houses but there will be trees, and I want to add just a few so I can add enough detail afterwards and not clutter the screen. I will add some to the top right to close off that corner. You don't have to close off your corners but IMO it just makes the screen look nicer. Once everything is structured we can determine where the details will go.

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3: Details

Things like grass, bushes, interactive objects (such as rocks, burnable trees, etc.) are all the finishing touches that can determine how your screen can be interacted with. I want to add not only bushes but a secret here too, but I will do that last. First, I place bushes in areas that aren't in the way. This gives enough breathing and fighting space for the player while having stuff on the side. It will also leave enough room to add other things too.

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Next I added grass and rocks in the water. I decided that since this screen won't be accessible via swimming so I can go all out on the water details which will also tell the player they can't swim here. I would generally make it very clear that you can swim here otherwise by making a clear and direct path surrounded by rocks and whatnot. Making swimming tedious by adding rocks (and other kinds of details) everywhere without thought can be pretty frustrating. So you ought to be as considerate with detailing the water as you would do elsewhere. Since 16x16 tiles of rocks can look pretty boring, and the trees need layers, I decided to make 8x8 rocks in which I can layer onto the screen. Though, I learned that Link can swim right through them which looks odd, so I removed them from any accessible paths in the water so they're mostly a visual thing now (if I'm making any sense here).

Lastly, I added thorns in which Link can get rid of via his boomerang. And who knows? Maybe there's a secret underneath one of them...

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Well, that's it! Pretty simple, right? Hopefully this helps people who have asked and requested this understand my mindset behind designing screens (for the most part). I would say go wild but also be thoughtful. It's all about experimenting and trial and error. It took me a few tries to get this screen right (especially the mountains), so it's easier said than done. It's all about practice and patience honestly.

I hope this makes up for the lack of updates as of late too. I don't want to show just caves for the next few updates. Hopefully I will get to the dungeons soon. :)


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#2 Mani Kanina

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Posted 02 April 2016 - 04:15 AM

0/10 too much water.

Nah, but this looks good.
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#3 Eddy

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Posted 02 April 2016 - 05:09 AM

I find it interesting that I make my screens in a similar way (except I already have all the grass to begin with lol). Very nice to see how your screens are made and that screen itself looks really neat.


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#4 TheLegend_njf

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Posted 02 April 2016 - 09:18 AM

0/10 too much water.

Nah, but this looks good.

 

I know you were joking, so this response really isn't directed towards you, it's just my thought about the water in general.

 

I like how the water adds depth into this overworld. Out of all the overworlds I've seen Shane do, this one is my personal favorite, probably because it runs closer to my own personal preference in overworld design. Anybody who's seen me design overworlds know how much I like adding in depth. lol

 

It beats "flat world" which I tend to see in a lot of quests. 


Edited by NewJourneysFire, 02 April 2016 - 09:18 AM.

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#5 Demonlink

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Posted 02 April 2016 - 02:23 PM

Nice tutorial indeed, and I see you and I build screens by similar methods. I, would actually be interested even more in how you create your palettes. What I can't seem to get right are the hue shifts and color tones. And damn man, you're a hell of a master with EZGBZ. :)


Edited by Demonlink, 02 April 2016 - 02:24 PM.

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