Well, I figure since I've gotten into the later parts of this thing already, I should probably post a thread about it. XD
Basically, this is a quest I've been working on for the past month or so using the tileset I made. It's actually based fairly closely on an older quest idea that I was working on years ago but which never actually got finished (mostly because the file got corrupted somehow and I wasn't able to open it in Zquest anymore), though a lot of things have changed since the old version.
There is more of a storyline to it than the standard "get all Triforces, beat Ganon, and save the princess," but not loads of cutscenes around every corner or anything like that--mainly, you'll get a few lines of dialogue toward the beginning telling you what your overall goal is, and then after every dungeon you get short scene filling you in on some background info of the world or giving more details on where the story's headed. I plan on eventually adding a short scene at the very start of the game showing how the heck Link ended up in this world in the first place, but at the moment the game just plops you straight into a random field of bushes and grass.
Note that some of these screenshots are slightly old... the only major difference i can think of between what's shown here and what you'll see when I actually release this thing is that there won't be a minimap inside caves and houses, but there may be other minor changes too.
You start out near a town, where you might be able to find some information on how to proceed. Of course, you start with no sword and no money, so you'll have to find someone willing to give advice for free (or you could just wander a few screens away and find it yourself.)
The screenshot on the right above is a shield shop found near the town, which will be a good place to go once you've gotten some cash built up. You'll have to buy both the small and magic shields, by the way, though the small shield is really cheap. I'd suggest buying the small shield first and going back for the magic shield later once you've accumulated money from some dungeons, rather than grinding for the better shield right away... because grinding is terrible and nobody should ever willingly put themselves through that. Also really cheap: bombs and arrows, which can both be bought 4 at a time in one of the town shops at prices at or below 20 rupees.
Before too long you'll come across the ruler of this kingdom, who sends you off on your quest to gather the 8 holy relics that were scattered across the land for safekeeping centuries ago. If you come back after gathering one or more of the relics hidden in the 8 main dungeons, he'll comment on the most recent (in terms of level number) one that you've found and give a hint as to where one of the others might be located. He doesn't know everything, of course, so once you're beyond a certain point he won't have any more of these hints for you.
Oh, and by the way, the little "relic box" you see Link holding up on the middle screenshot there is just that--a box that each of the relics are stored in. The actual relics themselves all have unique sprites when they appear on your subscreen.
Why gather them all up? Well, that depends on who you ask! You'll hear several different versions of what might happen when you bring them all together from various characters throughout the game (and of course, after you actually get all of them, you'll be able to find out which--if any--of them was actually the real story.)
Here's some screenshots of some of the dungeons--in this case, levels 4, 5, and 6. Nothing's forcing you to do them all in order, though: levels 1 and 4 are accessible from the beginning, level 2 opens up when you find a certain item on the overworld, and once you get the ladder you can get into levels 3 and 5, and after using that ladder to reach another item you can make it into level 6. Levels 7 and 8 are unreachable until after you get a certain item in level 6, though.
A few of these dungeons are multi-floor, as you could guess from the "1F" listing on the map on the right. These are mostly the later dungeons; the first three (and a couple of later ones, too) are all single-floor. Not all dungeons will have a compass in them, by the way--some of the relics have been moved from their original locations (meaning no compass) while others are still in the places they were hidden centuries in the past.
Also a glance at some of the items you'll have in your inventory. A few of the items I have in that subscreen screenshot (particularly the magic ring) are very well hidden, so you might not have all of them by this point in the game.
I may end up redoing at least part of level 2 before I release this, since at the moment I'm not really very satisfied with how that one turned out. Level 1 will probably get a custom boss, also (at the moment it's just three Moldorms, which works, but... I came up with a better idea last night, just need to fiddle with graphics and enemy editor to make it.)
Aside from the main dungeons, there's also a variety of caves strewn about the landscape. On the left is an underwater cave, where your life will slowly drain away (to simulate a limited air supply) and Link will swim rather than walking (that means no shields, so be careful!) The middle screen shows off a new weapon, the spear, which is basically just a modified hookshot (much shorter, but it now does damage in addition to stunning some enemies.) And on the right is... a whole lot of Moblins. Those blue ones are a new type of Moblin I added which rapid-fire spears as they walk, in addition to sometimes stopping to throw one like the normal Moblins do. They're no tougher than the gray/black variety as far as how many hits they take, but they do cause more damage when they hit you.
Some other areas from various points in the game. In the desert scene on the left there's another one of my new enemies, this one based on the Geldarm from Zelda 2. It's basically just a Moldorm with more segments. In the middle is the Mureen Swamp, an area you can reach somewhat early but which is hard to get very far in without flippers. And on the right is Death Mountain, which is full of lava, falling rocks, and Lynels as always.
Hmm... I wonder what could be inside that big fort...
These guys will appear at several points to give you some information on various things. Though they're known as the Seven Sages, they are of course not the same sages that appeared in Ocarina of Time (or the ones in Twilight Princess, or the ones mentioned in A Link to the Past's backstory, and so on.)
From them, you'll find out some of the world's backstory as well as the stories of the sages themselves and more information about the relics you're looking for.
Oh, and speaking of other minor changes since these screenshots were taken... Ezahrayah's name color isn't green anymore, since another sage later on needed that color. XD
Yep, there are cursed items here and there in this game. If you happen to get stuck with one, this guy who lives in the old chapel northeast of town will be able to remove the curse (and destroy the cursed item in the process.) So far there are only three, but I might make another one and/or change one of the ones I already have, since its current effect can cause a glitch that makes your magic meter roll over into the negatives and then refill to max.
EDIT: Poll is kind of old -- I'm most likely going to get Level 9 done, a few things touched up here and there, and then start looking for beta testers before I do a public release version. Also, if you'd like to see what the old version of this (from somewhere around 2007) looked like, here's a link to my first of several blog posts about it (...only one written so far, but more on the way.)
Edited by FnrrfYgmSchnish, 11 August 2015 - 01:23 PM.
)
