163 replies to this topic

[Moosh]

Hi Pokemonmaster64

Did you beat CoP?

No. I got fed up about halfway through Level 8 after toiling with the walk through walls and whatnot and then discovering that I was only half done with the level.

[Schwa]

You have to give CastChaos credit for his sheer enthusiasm and hard work, though. Just because a megaquest isn't Hero of Dreams or Origin or whatever, doesn't mean the author didn't put a metric "ass-tonne" of work into it.

To be honest I felt really bad when CC finally finished BoaB way-back-when and I loaded it up and tried to play it, because I told him I would-- only to become frustrated with its design and become detered from continuing. I felt like I had betrayed my friend and my promise. But, sadly, most of the problems you described with CoP were rampant in the little I played in BoaB, too, and they killed the game for me.

The reason I find it sad is because I do know just how much effort went into the game. CC and I frequently exchanged ideas in PMs and motivated each-other, back when I was working on Molka Elite. The end result? He actually finished his Quest, even though it's not perfect, and I didn't finish mine at all and when my computer crashed I didn't even think to make a backup of it, and 3+ years of effort and hype vanished in one night.

No matter how "good" his Quests are, CastChaos is the bigger man than I am. Fact.

[Sheik]

The amount of time spent on a work of art does not make it good, though.
I could be spending days scribbling and adding lines on a laaaaarge canvas and even if I end up spending months worth of time on it, that does not grant the final product any value what so ever. I will probably grow fond of my messy painting and I would have to put much enthusiasm into it to actually finish it rather than toss it in the bin but that's not to say other people will like it. The great thing about these kind of things is that there is no definate right or wrong in art. The majority of people, however, will share some sort of common taste in things which my random mess might not meet. And rightfully so.

Edited by Yoshimi, 19 December 2011 - 04:05 PM.

[Moosh]

You have to give CastChaos credit for his sheer enthusiasm and hard work, though. Just because a megaquest isn't Hero of Dreams or Origin or whatever, doesn't mean the author didn't put a metric "ass-tonne" of work into it.

To be honest I felt really bad when CC finally finished BoaB way-back-when and I loaded it up and tried to play it, because I told him I would-- only to become frustrated with its design and become detered from continuing. I felt like I had betrayed my friend and my promise. But, sadly, most of the problems you described with CoP were rampant in the little I played in BoaB, too, and they killed the game for me.

The reason I find it sad is because I do know just how much effort went into the game. CC and I frequently exchanged ideas in PMs and motivated each-other, back when I was working on Molka Elite. The end result? He actually finished his Quest, even though it's not perfect, and I didn't finish mine at all and when my computer crashed I didn't even think to make a backup of it, and 3+ years of effort and hype vanished in one night.

No matter how "good" his Quests are, CastChaos is the bigger man than I am. Fact.

I felt bad too. I really wanted to enjoy this quest as much as I enjoyed the previous two, but I guess my tastes have been refined and CC's stuff just doesn't appeal to me any more. I realize a lot of effort went into the quest but in the end it was all for naught (at least for me) because I didn't enjoy playing it. Funny how your story parallels mine actually. CC and I exchanged ideas too if I recall and then Sword of Ruin got cancelled and CoP was eventually released. I guess CC's just much more persistent than us even if his work turns out less than desired.

I've changed my rating to a 2 simply because I was really grumpy when made the first rating and the quest honestly deserved better than a 1 despite my criticisms.

Edited by Pokemonmaster64, 19 December 2011 - 07:46 PM.

[judasrising]

I felt bad too. I really wanted to enjoy this quest as much as I enjoyed the previous two, but I guess my tastes have been refined and CC's stuff just doesn't appeal to me any more. I realize a lot of effort went into the quest but in the end it was all for naught (at least for me) because I didn't enjoy playing it. Funny how your story parallels mine actually. CC and I exchanged ideas too if I recall and then Sword of Ruin got cancelled and CoP was eventually released. I guess CC's just much more persistent than us even if his work turns out less than desired.

I've changed my rating to a 2 simply because I was really grumpy when made the first rating and the quest honestly deserved better than a 1 despite my criticisms.

So you was grumpy when you rate it just 1 and now 2 , and you write that you liked SB and BB ,why not CoP?
what happened?

[Theryan]

So you was grumpy when you rate it just 1 and now 2 , and you write that you liked SB and BB ,why not CoP?
what happened?

I'm sure part of it is that even though he played the others, they both had their flaws. These flaws, especially the nonsensical secret combos, were told to CC and a lot of people suggested he fix them in later games. He pretty much ignored them, saying it was his own work and he'd make it how he wanted to. When you don't fix problems with a game that a lot of people have, its just bad design, and its awful to have to suffer through the same bad gameplay over and over again.

[Moosh]

So you was grumpy when you rate it just 1 and now 2 , and you write that you liked SB and BB ,why not CoP?
what happened?

Well for one thing, my expectations have gotten higher, not just because it's the third in the series but also because I've played a lot more quests now and many of them are a lot better than BoaB and SB. Since BoaB was one of the first quests I played of course I liked it at the time. After seeing some other classics like Link's Birthday, though, none of CC's works really stand up. Yeah, I was being grumpy and overly biased when I gave it a 1. It's not an all around terrible quest, but it could just use the same type of refining the previous two could and I'm rather frustrated CC hasn't really improved...

As for this one, the setting is kinda weird, nearly ever aspect of the quest is some bizarre crossover from some other series or thing from CC's childhood. BoaB felt like a Zelda game to a certain extent. You don't have to make a game about Zelda stuff to use Zelda Classic, but dangit, it helps. Then there's the gameplay...I can't really say CC is a master of gameplay, what kept BoaB and SB going was mostly the dungeon visuals and stuff. You go "ooh" and "aah" and that keeps things from getting stale. This one...I had to think a while before deciding if my screenshots were from Jellyca Castle or FortBoyard...Then there's the story. The more complex CC gets with his stories, the less comprehensible and more annoying they become. It was just text wall after text wall and I honestly just uncapped FPS to skip through most of it by about halfway through. I can't really blame him though. It's hard doing something like this in a language that's not your native one. Also is it just me or has the series gotten less and less colorful as it progresses...? Maybe by BB4 I'll be seeing in black and white...

[Schwa]

Then there's the story. The more complex CC gets with his stories, the less comprehensible and more annoying they become. It was just text wall after text wall and I honestly just uncapped FPS to skip through most of it by about halfway through.

This.

I need to work on this. I'm very guilty of "text walls", even if they're legible, they're not good when used more than sparingly because they jar the gameplay's rhythm.

I just thought of a way I can make it better when there's a long bit of story dialogue, though. I'll just turn it into a cutscene. If Old Man A is telling Link where Level 1 is and its importance to the plot, the scene would change from them talking inside the house/cave/whatever to a display of the Level 1 entrance, with dialogue still running. Flashbacks, too; instead of some guy telling Link about why he's too scared to go in the Ocean Cave, it would show him too, and flash back to when the guy was a kid and the whale in there ate his dad or whatever.

Aesthetics. They're more important than you'd think. Anyone feel free to use these tips.

[Twilight Knight]

I, for one, thoroughly enjoyed that quest, and most of its flaws resided in the graphical aspect I think, but I don't really bother. 4.5/5 would be my rating. I don't really care what you think about that. You may say I'm a CastChaos fanboy, I won't deny it.

[Vinyl Scratch]

I, for one, thoroughly enjoyed that quest, and most of its flaws resided in the graphical aspect I think, but I don't really bother. 4.5/5 would be my rating. I don't really care what you think about that. You may say I'm a CastChaos fanboy, I won't deny it.

You're a CastChaos fanboy. :)

I mean, seriously, graphical aspect is most of the quest. You've got tile placement, tile choice, palette blend, using the tileset in the way it should be used, etc.

Storyline I could care less about. I'd rather a game have a simple story, look pretty, and play well than one that looks poorly slapped together with a giant wall-of-text with so many grammar errors I could write a book about it.

[Moosh]

I, for one, thoroughly enjoyed that quest, and most of its flaws resided in the graphical aspect I think, but I don't really bother. 4.5/5 would be my rating. I don't really care what you think about that. You may say I'm a CastChaos fanboy, I won't deny it.

You are fully entitled to your opinion and I fully respect it. Since you know CC IRL, there's really nothing at all unusual about being a fanboy. You guys are friends and I know it's really hard to see flaws in his work because of that. So pretty much I know that feel.

I notice CC hasn't replied...I hope my review didn't hurt his feelings. Nothing I say in these reviews should be taken as a personal insult ever. I do them for fun as well as for the benefit of the questmaker.

[judasrising]

Hi Pokemonmaster64

Are you gonna review some more quests?

You could pick up Souls of Wisdom quest and review.

Edited by judasrising, 25 December 2011 - 05:43 PM.

[Twilight Knight]

You are fully entitled to your opinion and I fully respect it. Since you know CC IRL, there's really nothing at all unusual about being a fanboy. You guys are friends and I know it's really hard to see flaws in his work because of that. So pretty much I know that feel.

I notice CC hasn't replied...I hope my review didn't hurt his feelings. Nothing I say in these reviews should be taken as a personal insult ever. I do them for fun as well as for the benefit of the questmaker.

I don't think he is offended, just didn't read it, he rarely reads the forums nowadays except for his own topics.

@Vaelstrom: for me it's kinda opposite. I like the story and gameplay more than the graphics. I love beating challenging dungeons and I thought CoP's dungeon's were very challenging and fun to play. Plus this story was interesting to me.

[TheLegend_njf]

Hi Pokemonmaster64

Are you gonna review some more quests?

You could pick up Souls of Wisdom quest and review.

Souls of Wisdom is such a long quest, that to play it just to make a review is much of a time consuming commitment. Especially since you have to get very far in the game to get the full effect of what the quest has to offer. Many people who have completed the quest has said it has a slow start and tends to disappoint expectations, but their opinions surely changes about half way through the game.

I was speaking to pokemonmaster when he contacted me about this quest but he needs a Mac version of zc beta 18 to play it. If somebody could find the program I am certain he would try.

Now I just had a great idea!! Keep an eye out for it.

[Orithan]

Hey, Poke, Are you going to review any more quests? If so, how about you review IMAQWICHBS TLoZ: A New Dawn. I would be curious about how you'd review that one.

Edited by Orin XD, 04 January 2012 - 12:08 AM.