Flags and Secrets
A beginner's tutorial by Koopa.
I wrote this some time ago, hope it's useful. Thanks to those who helped, and who got me started on this in the first place. Without further ado, I present: the first part of my zc articles!
Secrets are the way to make things happen in ZC. For example you could burn a bush and some stairs appear. This is a hands-on play-it-yourself step-by-step tutorial.
The flags screen is under Tools -> Flags, or press F8. To place flags Double-click on one to select it, then click where you want to place that flag on the screen. You can place any number of any type of flag on a screen, though they can't overlap. You can press Keypad * and / to move the flag selector to the right or left, respectively. Right-click to exit flag placement mode. Flag 0 is to erase flags. Pressing F turns flag display on/off in zquest. (Note that it only displays them. Your actions are also slightly limited while in Flag display mode. To turn it off, simply press F again.) The secret combe screen is under Data -> Secret Combos.
So, what's this good for?
There are many types of flag, two important ones are "action" flags where you have to do something to trigger secrets and "secret" flags which get triggered by actions.
Action Flags:
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3 - Whistle
4 - Burn (Any candle)
5 - Arrow (Any)
6 - Bomb (Any)
11- Bomb (Super)
68, 69, 70 - Boomerang (Any, magic, fire)
71, 72 - Arrow (Silver, fire)
73 - Burn (Red candle)
74 - Burn (Wand fire)
76 - Wand
77 - Wand, when reflected from a mirror
78 - Fireball, when reflected from you mirror shield
79, 80, 81, 82 Sword (Any, white, magic, master)
83, 84, 85, 86 Sword beam ("Throwing your sword")
87 Hookshot
88 Wand (Touch)
89 Hammer
90 Strike (With anything)
Secret Flags
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16 - 31
When you use the right item on a flagged tile:
- The combo itself changes into the secret combo for that flag.
- All secret flags change into their secret combo.
Secret combos are set under Data -> Secret Combos.
Here are some examples of using flags. I've done all this in a small demo quest that you can look at, it's not passworded.
Flag Demo Quest (For ZC 2.10 Or Above)
1) A bush that you have to burn to remove it.
place the bush and put a burn(any) flag [4] on it. Put floor (grass or similar) in the "blue candle" secret combo. That's it, burn the bush and you can walk through.
The bush and its flag.
2) Burn a bush to make a bush somewhere else disappear.
Place a bush and a burn flag on it. Put a bush again in the burn secret combo. Place a secret [16] flag on the bush you want to have removed. Place floor / grass in the secret 16 combo.
Setting the secret combo.
3) Make a dungeon entrance appear.
Place the entrance in the secret combos, the rest same as above.
The screen - and the secrets. (21 is a cave type combo)
4) Temporary and permanent secrets.
Once you're in the dungeon note that you can burn that block, but
- On an overworld dmap, secrets once triggered stay triggered. Go back and the bushed are still gone.
- On a dungeon dmap, secrets are not permanent - leave the room and re-enter and everything goes back to how it started.
5) Enemies and shutters. Enemy flags.
Shutter doors are closed doors that open when you kill all enemies. Shutters seem only to work in dungeon dmaps that have a level number greater than 0 set.
At this point let me introduce enemy flags. They are No's 37-46. Use only one of each per screen, if at all. Normally enemies are placed randomly. With these flags they appear exactly where you want them to.
6) Push Blocks part 1.
Flags 1,2, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51 are for blocks that trigger a secret when you push them in the allowed direction(s). Where the block stood the screen's under combo (set under Data->Under Combo) appears. You can push anything that has a push flag, exept if it is the combo type "push heavy" or "push very heavy" in which case you need the bracelet level 1 or 2. Whatever the combo type if there is no push flag on it you can't push it.
You can set the screen data "Block -> Shutters" under Data -> Screen Data so that you have to push a block not kill all enemies to open the shutters.
Finally, blocks of combo type "Push wait" can only be pushed when all enemies are dead.
7) Push blocks part 2 - Block puzzles.
Flags 52-65 are "silent" blocks that do not trigger secrets. One use is for obstacles, another for block puzzles. For these you need flag 66 (Block trigger), when all block triggers on a screen are occupied by a block the secret triggers. (Or the shutter opens, if set). Flag 67 is to surround your puzzle so that you can not push blocks onto them. Note that once you push a block onto a trigger you can't move it off again.
A block puzzle .. and its flags. Note the pale "66"s on the trigger spots.
Another method that comes in handy with push flags is the use of multiple undercombos with the utilization of layers. SEE Layers to learn about layering.
If you place a push flag on any combo and assign the undercombo to that object on layers 1 or 2, when the object is pushed or slashed if its a bush or slashable combo, the layered tile will appear in it's place. This is invaluable if you want secrets triggered on the screen and can't use secret combos for the different undercombos you want displayed.
If you want a slashable object that you don't want the player to move, simply place a no push blocks #67 flag in the one way path of the direction that the player would push in or simply place the object along a wall or other non-walkable object and place the corresponding flag that pushes the object into it. However, if you have the "Solid Objects" quest rule turned off, you will need to place the flag #67 in it's place as well.
In Zquest, it will show the undercombo over the object. In the game, it will show the object and the undercombo under it if the object has transparent colors.
8) The Zelda flag. You stand here, you win.
