11 replies to this topic

[HeroOfFire]

I doubt anyone was expecting this. But I found enough information to recreate the famous Outlands hack in Zelda Clasic, and gave it the randomizer twist.

First off, special thanks to GameMakr24 for making the original hack and to DragonDePlatino for the Koten tileset, which I feel does a good job of giving an NES-styled quest a different look.

Although most of the layouts have remained the same from the hack, enemies do not, and instead follow a difficulty curve. In addition, both dungeon sets are available from the same overworld. No second overworld here, like there was the previous randomizers. THIS TIME WILL BE DIFFERENT!

I then created two additional dungeon sets using only the room layouts from the hack, as well as mostly following the same design trends. All one-way doors are one-way shutters for example, since the hack only used those. Pushable blocks are still consistent between rooms of identical layouts. I've placed several hint shops in the overworld that reveal game mechanics or harder secrets. This should make the quest a fair difficulty, both with enemies and exploration.

As for the item randomization, there are a few changes. First, you start with two items that may work together. One is right at the start, the other just inside Level 1. Key items are now shuffled based on what you can access, so you might need the ladder to get the whistle in one run and need the whistle for the ladder in another run. This also means you might not be able to complete a dungeon when you first enter but still have access to a good part of it including some item locations.

Instead of triforce pieces you are collecting Tetrarch Fairies, and by default locations that could contain a fairy but don't will instead contain a piece of heart.

The magic key is placed in one of the four level 9's in a specific location you can reach with all the keys in the level, and you are expected to use the magic key to complete the level 9s. You can buy keys if you get stuck.

Custom randomization has changed as well. Besides shuffling the level 9 prizes, you can also shuffle the magic key and the heart pieces with the main items. Placing useful items in early locations means some useful items like one of the Tunics or Whisp Rings will not appear in a level 5 or higher. Finally, placing items more evenly simply changes how the randomizer places items, to reduce the chance of several items of the same type from being grouped together, possibly only in level 9s.

There are other fun features to discover while playing, so try exploring and experimenting.

The first beta allows 100% item collection and can be completed. All that is missing is a few scripted bosses, maybe a bonus dungeon or two, and options for the item presets (more on that with the next beta).

[Alucard648]

Does those letter-labeled dungeoms (like Level T or Level R) take all letters of Latin alphabet or not?

[Eppy]

Definitely have to try this out on Sunday.

[Avaro]

Wow, another Randomizer quest? How many of those do you already have? xD
Anyways, this one seems very promising, as I appreciate the new ideas and changes.

[Binx]

This looks really cool. I also really like the use of Koten, it gives the quest a very fresh look.

[KingPridenia]

I'm going to be interested to see how you did level 9, seeing as that was 9x8 in Outlands, something I'm pretty sure ZC can't handle unless you made it an overworld styled map, which would lead to other complications. I am kind of surprised that a comment between myself and Dockside2012 ended up taking form into this Randomizer.

[HylianGlaceon]

Possibly a minor bug here, the Teleport warp on the left doesn't seem to work on this screen like the others. Not sure if I can get to the right side without it.

 

EDIT1: Nvm, found a way through. Kinda strange...

 

I think I found a new bug though:

Spoiler

I don't see any point to this item spawning here as there's no boss nor doors to open, only Lanmolas. I can't find the other item here in this dungeon, I'm assuming it's supposed to spawn here.

 

EDIT2: Also found an F6->Continue bug in the same area.

Spoiler

 

 

Apart from that, I think the tiles got switched for the Peril Rings and Whisp Rings. I was kinda confused when I could still get permajinxed when I got the Skull ring only to get the Whisp ring later on.

 

Other than those things, it's been great so far. I'm really liking it.

 

EDIT3: The seed I used is here for bug testing purposes - 1364702647119698 

Edited by HylianGlaceon, 02 February 2015 - 12:59 AM.

[HeroOfFire]

I have uploaded a new beta that fixes an item spawning bug and changes the slash mechanics to something more standard. Most saves should be fine, although the bug was triggered from finding but not picking up certain items. Namely, if you saw but did not pick up a normal ladder, wooden arrow, normal bow, blue hammer, feather, or wooden sword, there is a small chance you might have triggered the bug and will find a kill-all-enemies item later on in an item location. Hopefully this is the only bug in this area and few of you have triggered it.

 

Also, curse you scrolling warps setting continue points when I don't want it! I also had to fix them in another dungeon exactly like that one.

 

Here's some advice:

 

If you explore well, you can find enough free bait to feed every Goriya.

 

Only the Outlands 1 dungeons are given Level numbers. The other sets spell out 9 letter words in level order. Or in the case of Outlands 2, an 8 letter word and a C.

 

For the determined, an even 101% item collection is possible. This will change when I add bonus dungeons.

 

Levels O, R, and E are the other Level 1s.

[Alucard648]

Also, curse you scrolling warps setting continue points when I don't want it! I also had to fix them in another dungeon exactly like that one.

Quest->Rules->Combos->Scrolling Warps Don`t Set Continue Point.

[HeroOfFire]

That should be the last of the quest rules that were defaulted to something I didn't want.

 

So looking it over, I started calling the new dungeons Expanded and switched to Extended at some point and kept with that name. The next betas will properly call the new dungeon sets Expanded, since they are expansions to the original design.

 

I've also implemented a better way to know which custom options have been enabled for the randomizer.

 

It seems the big issue arising is there are very few locations the player can search for items early on. I'm thinking I could fix this by moving Expanded 1 Level R (the Level 1) to a new location that doesn't require the candle to enter. This adds 2 more item locations players could access with any starting items (the ladder is only needed for an expansion and the route to the boss). If I do that, I could also move Expanded 1 Level A (the Level 2) to where Level R used to be, changing the item needed to enter from the ladder to the candle. These changes would only affect future item placement in seeds where the randomizer attempts to place the first candle in Level R or the first ladder in Level A. What do you think? I'm looking at placing Level R in a bombable cave near Level 1, so you wouldn't have to travel far from the start to find it.

 

I've also changed Expanded 2 Level E (the Level 1) so the item room behind a fake wall is a little more obvious, as well as giving access to the expansion without requiring the ladder. You'lll still need a candle to enter.

 

The next beta will also include more preset item locations. Unlike previous randomizers with a non-randomized mode, preset item locations also place the items. The diffence is there is no random factor involved, the items are placed based on a hardcoded table. So the end result is the same as a non-randomized mode, except I can have up to 16 of these tables. The final version will have 16 different pre-built item layouts to choose from. These locations don't have to follow the rules of the randomizer, so I could make a swordless preset where all the swords are in Level 9s or a preset where you have to follow a trail of key items in a specific order to get them all. The first preset already in the betas demonstrates this: you start with a shield to help you get the sword, you go and track down the raft to get the whistle to get the ladder, and many items are placed in locations similar to what you found in those locations in the original hack.

[HeroOfFire]

This item spawning bug has been causing problems, but I think I've got it this time. The latest beta fixes the OTHER way items spawn incorrectly, leading to the debug Kill-All-Enemies item appearing.

 

I've also moved a few levels around as mentioned above, to increase the number of item locations you can reach early.

 

The item randomizer also spawns key items a little differently now, most of them will spawn earlier and useful items will only appear up to Level 6s. Only the Flippers can spawn in a Level 7, and no key items will appear above a Level 4. Also, until the randomizer places the ladder it will only place other high-priority key items. This may increase the chance of needing a key item to reach the ladder, but at least you know it can't spawn in higher levels.

 

Note the second ladder may still spawn in a place you need the ladder to reach.

 

Hopefully now your seeds will be safe from bugs and I can go finish the missing end-game features.

[HammerGuy]

Will the enemies be "Outlands-ified" like the mod did (basically swapping the graphics of most enemies around if I recall) or remain Hyrulean?