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The Forbidden City

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The Forbidden City


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#1 Jamian

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Posted 18 July 2014 - 12:52 PM

The Forbidden City

a quest by Jamian

 

I've been working on this quest for five or six months now, this is the longest time I've ever spent on a single ZC project... which means either I've gotten slower, or I've developed OCD, or maybe I've developed an addiction to scripting (which helps you create cool stuff, but also takes more time). Or maybe (this is the option I like best) I just want this to be really good so I'm taking my time.

 

Either way, after working on this in the shadows for months, I now feel like sharing some of it with the forum. The quest definitely has similarities with my previous quest, Promised Lands, though it won't be Promised Lands 2 because I like to try new things. I'm going to have 7 levels, all of them large ones (multiple floors, miniboss and boss, etc.), and this time I'm also sometimes having quite big "sub-level" areas of sorts between the main levels, so the total playing time should be similar, actually maybe a little bit longer.

 

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The quest has more story than in my previous works. I still would not call it story-driven because you'll spend most of your time in dungeons (dungeon-rompers are what I enjoy making the most), but this time I've gotten rid of the McGuffins entirely. Completing a dungeon either nets you a new item that allows you to further explore the overworld, or triggers an event that similarly broadens your horizons. You must complete the dungeons in a linear fashion, but there are no Triforce pieces or no such items to collect, making your progression feel more natural (I hope).

 

The shovel unsurprisingly returns here, but I'll have some new scripted items as well. The most important one being an actual ocarina item, which lets you play musical notes and triggers things if you play a specific song. For example, at some point you can learn a song that works like the flute from ALTTP, taking you to an overworld map that lets you choose where to teleport, as long as you've visited that location before.

 

dk6xUhK.png

 

I also have a ring system like in the Oracle games. You can collect many rings throughout the quest, which for the most part give you specific bonuses or abilities. Like in said games, the trick is you can't wear them all at once, so you have to choose what to wear (one ring at a time at first, then two if you find the level 2 ring box). No more bestiary this time, but you'll still get a percentage completion at the end of the quest, and the rings will be a part of that.

 

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While I'm on the subject of the Oracles games, there is also a Gasha Seed system. Rings and other things can often be found inside.

 

UT93Hwu.png

 

There are other cool things I'm itching to show you, but I want to keep some element of surprise, so this is all I'd like to reveal for now. Things you can expect include:

- Complex dungeons

- A few minigames

- Fully scripted boss fights

- A few things not seen before in a ZC quest, at least so far

- Custom overworld caves

- Sideview areas when you're using stairs in dungeons

- Villainous villains

- Jimmies

 

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As I'm writing this, I'm currently halfway through making level 5 (out of 7) so I'm far from being done with even the beta version, but I felt like sharing some of this stuff in the meantime. Stay tuned, and I hope you'll be looking forward to this.


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#2 TheLegend_njf

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Posted 18 July 2014 - 01:02 PM

This quest sounds like it's going to be your best one yet. It'll be Top 10 for sure. 



#3 Jared

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Posted 18 July 2014 - 01:03 PM

Oh my lord, this looks absolutely splendid! I can't wait to play this! I hope I can get over all of the style-clashing, though.


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#4 Russ

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Posted 18 July 2014 - 01:33 PM

Huh... it's almost funny. In about a year, I've seen you go from having good ideas but being unsure how to execute them well to being one of the best quest creators on this site (you've easily surpassed me, at the very least). Promised Lands was amazing, and from what little you've shown us, this appears to be even better. I'm really looking forward to seeing how this turns out.
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#5 WindRobe

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Posted 18 July 2014 - 03:02 PM

another sweet quest by jamian yet again, im gonna watch this for sure this looks like another great promised land not sequel or prequel type of quest and i like the way u added music from zelda ocarina of time type of music playing and song learning on this quest really different for a zc quest.


Edited by zcfan, 18 July 2014 - 03:06 PM.


#6 Air Luigi

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Posted 18 July 2014 - 03:43 PM

I was speaking with a friend some weeks ago about how it would be your next project. Funny.

 

Promised Lands was a big jump in quality and a big change in your dungeon design philosophy. Of course, I will play this quest the first day.

 

Spoiler

 

Time Fortress ftw



#7 Evan20000

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Posted 18 July 2014 - 03:50 PM

HYPE!

 

Seriously, this made my afternoon.



#8 Air Luigi

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Posted 18 July 2014 - 03:56 PM

HYPE!

 

Seriously, this made my afternoon.

 

crazy-basketball-fan-o.gif


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#9 Jamian

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Posted 18 July 2014 - 04:11 PM

I truly appreciate all the great words. Thanks everybody!

 

Jared: As you can probably see, I'm using the Instrumentality tileset again (But I've been messing with some of the palettes, now that I understand how one can easily edit palettes). You can expect me to use it and have style clashes in the same way I did with PL though. No better no worse. Mild style clashing personally doesn't bother me, but your mileage may vary.

 

Luigi: I am indeed trying to make my overworld more interesting, and there will be some cool things to be found in the overworld... though the meat of the game will still definitely be found in the dungeons. But I think the overworld here, while not the star of the game, is a bit more interesting than in my previous quests.


Edited by Jamian, 18 July 2014 - 04:13 PM.

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#10 Moosh

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Posted 18 July 2014 - 06:39 PM

Music... Gameplay... Tileset... Scripts. Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then everything changed when the Tileset Nation attacked. Only the Champion, master of all four elements, could stop them. But when the world needed him most, he vanished. A hundred years passed and my brother and I discovered the new Champion, a scriptbender named Jamian. And although his scriptbending skills are great, he still has a lot to learn before he's ready to save anyone. But I believe Jamian can save the world.

 

JamianTime_zpsb0db0302.gif


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#11 SyrianBallaS

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Posted 19 July 2014 - 03:03 AM

playing actual songs with the flute/orcarina seems like a really cool idea

 

Don't know if this is possible but I would suggest having a song to switch between day and night and some events can only be triggered at night, its only a suggestion though

 

Well good luck with your quest, I played promised lands and it's very close feel of an official zelda title



#12 pixcalibur

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Posted 19 July 2014 - 12:42 PM

Man, hopefully I can get through the other quests you have Jamian before this one comes out.  Still have 1 1/2 quests left to test out (Linked to the Past and 1/2 of Promised Lands).  Pics look really interesting, having some Oracles components there



#13 WindRobe

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Posted 20 July 2014 - 05:01 PM

@jamian

just wondering r u gonna release a demo or ur just gonna hold off untill full quest is complete?



#14 Jamian

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Posted 21 July 2014 - 04:12 AM

I don't release demos for a couple of reasons. One of them is I want to keep some surprises intact when the quest is released. Another is I don't want people to play an unpolished, inferior version of the quest. So I'm going to wait until it's complete.



#15 TheLegend_njf

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Posted 21 July 2014 - 09:09 AM

Will this quest continue to be excluded from the Quest Project Database? I'm certain it is a feature that some people don't like or just wouldn't be bothered with because I know of a few great projects that will never be included there, but I'm just curious.


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