As of this update (accompanying a new beta release for testers, and some new screenshots), Zelda II Hyrule is almost complete, with all it's towns, caves (except for Death Mountain), battles, and some new secrets, like 3-stair warps and a bunch of secret islands surrounding Hyrule- and all 7 of it's palaces (though the first 6 feature major differences and skipping some reused rooms from the original, to make each fit within their own 8x8 space, the Great Palace is my attempt at a 1:1 recreation of the original). This makes a running total of 17 dungeons completed, and 2 overworlds.
One big thing remains- the final dungeon and the road to it, which includes Zelda II's Death Mountain with it's convoluted cavern maze. I've begun work on that, but it's not yet accessible in the new beta release. I am also considering a brief detour into familiar areas south of Death Mountain on the way to the final dungeon, which is located near Spectacle Rock. The final dungeon will be primarily new areas, however, as I intend to make the massive inventory of scripted items all come together for this final challenge.
I also intend to re-test everything myself before the project's end. Anyone who wishes to test, resume testing, or re-test is welcome to do so, though be warned that I'm not certain about how well everything works yet. I am also very much open to suggestions on changing thing such as anything that seems to result in forced damage, or that malfunctions- I am at the very least always interested in hearing opinions and suggestions, though I will ultimately use my own judgement about the design.
Since testing began I've also added a bunch of new features I hadn't planned, such as:
- Tall sprites in sideview areas for Link, Zelda, and various Link-size enemies. (These behave exactly as normal, but it adds a much more Zelda II-aesthetic.)
- A Zelda II-based level up system. A note for testers with old save files:
- A few extra items, and a few items that change between Link and Zelda that didn't before.
- The trading sequence extends beyond Calatia and into Hyrule, where it gives you a powerful item that might make the game much easier if used well (you'll want to stock up on magic potions more often though).
- A double-rupee ring (idea from the "Randomizer" quests by Hero of Fire) and a wealth medal make it much easier to buy thnigs.
- A Mode Menu that lets you change various aspects of the game, such as difficulty, a different L/R button configuration, and other changes.
- A Very, very crude alternate scrolling system, that lets Zelda press the map button to turn on a minimal sort of "free-rang scrolling" in overworld areas. All game mechanics will work the same- screen by screen- but the graphics will be displayed as though you are freely scrolling around, with some graphical glitches here and there. (this can be toggled freely any time, just switch to Zelda and press Map.) For those curious about the scripting on that...
- An Error Mode that approximately simulates a malfunctioning game cartridge/corruption, with bizarre random occurrences and scrambling of objects, graphics, and more, for some fun goofing around.
- A Mickey Mousecapade II mode that lets you play with different character sprites. (enter the filename MICKEY, or, on the flute, play Right Left Left Left Up Up to toggle)
- An almost-unplayable reference joke if you name your file DARKNUTS- if you dare to see what lie within.
Other changes also include (that I can remember- I haven't kept perfect track of each change unfortunately):
- Various bug fixes and minor screen redesigns in areas from previous betas (the Tower of Seline in particular should be less brutal, I hope- doubly so if you turn on "Reduce Enemies' mode)
- Link's candle and magic book make red fire, while Zelda's make blue fire. This enables them to melt differently colored ice,which replaces certain burnable trees (but not the overworld secret trees) from Yokoi palace and other locations.
- The locations that had the white sword, silver arrows, and blue ring, all have different items found in Calatia such as the slash, bug-catching net, and double arrow techniques, which themselves have been replaced by items such as P-bags and the newly added Upward Thrust (which should be added automatically to older testers' save files).
- In sideview, you must hold down to use the downward thrust attack now (and up for the upward thrust). It's physics have been slightly rewritten to make it safer to jump on more enemies with it, also.
- The Secret Seashells give you a new prize, available at 40 instead of 30. (This should be obtainable for all players, evne with old files that got the old prize).
Thank you for checking out this project, and I look forward to completing it! : )
P.S. to testers:
Edited by Mitsukara, 13 September 2016 - 12:56 PM.
Good luck!
