7 replies to this topic

[Avaro]

Hello, this is an analysis of the falling sequence in Tower of Shadows 2.5, made by an author called Avataro? Whoever that is.
 
The sequence starts after you beat the final boss of the game, Ganon, who curses you for defeating him (quote: "HOW COULD YOU DEFEAT ME? I AM MUCH BETTER THAN YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"). Ganon explodes and the explosion knocks Link off the tower they were fighting on.
 

Spoiler

 
What follows is Link falling down, while a 3rd person narrator starts narrating this fall in a strange news-reporter like fashion. The tone of the narration is very distant and unconcerned with what's happening, or actually it even seems enthused about it. As if mocking the player.
 

Spoiler

 
The music that accompanies this situation is a track by Espilan, aptly titled "File No.167" (https://www.purezc.n...ge=music&id=283), which features a very front and center S.O.S. rythm that drones on throughout the whole track. While the track sounds overall serious and urgent, the S.O.S rythm is also a little comedic in my opinion, matching the falling sequence's mixed tone of serious and non-serious.

 

Finally, the narration goes on to explain how you need a certain number of hearts to survive the fall. It also mentions that you need less if you have the blue tunic (16 with, 8 without). This is the culmination of the sequence. A mandatory, unavoidable damage check right after the final boss.

 

Spoiler

 

There was a vague warning to this situation at the fortune teller in the goron cave, but it was not clear at all. We can only theorize if this massive "fuck you" has any intended deeper purpose, or if this was the result of a 14 year old quest author's lack of giving it much thought. Much like many other things in this quest, it doesn't seem to add anything substantial to the experience. At least Espilan's music always delivers.

 

...

 

ok but for real, this quest is really old and bad, and i wonder if i should have it removed from the database, to spare any future players the pain. this damage check was only the tip of the iceberg in terms of horrible decisions throughout the quest.

[Russ]

ok but for real, this quest is really old and bad, and i wonder if i should have it removed from the database, to spare any future players the pain. this damage check was only the tip of the iceberg in terms of horrible decisions throughout the quest.

I tend to look at things like this like... it may not be the best, but it's a piece of history and there's people who might enjoy it or be upset if it vanishes. I typically don't remove my old stuff from the database unless there's a really good reason. For example, I took down LotH DX when I released LotH 3.0 to avoid any confusion/people downloading the wrong version of the quest.

[Taco Chopper]

I'll echo Russ's view here - considering the way preserving content on the internet goes, I think it's important to keep your content up on the database even if it isn't something you're too fond of. My old quests are... not very well designed, are generally low quality in many ways, but they're still part of ZC's history.

 

I can't emphasise that enough, particularly in the late 00's/early 2010s, when the database wasn't allowing any quests that were newer than 2.10. Want to submit your quest that's newer than that? Well, too bad! Sister sites like ZC Realm popped up to host those quests, and have long since vanished. So who knows how many quests - complete, incomplete, or in any other state - have been lost to the internet graveyard. I'm just lucky that sites like mediafire are still up and running, or else LSVO would have disappeared as well.

 

tl;dr it's ok to be self-critical at your own quests!!! just take what you did and use that to help you improve in whatever creative task you do next!! 

[Avaro]

i see, that's a good point! i'll keep it up then, i just wouldn't recommend playing it. and also yeah, it's unfortunate that those sister sites have vanished. i hope this never happens with the PZC database, but then again, can stuff last forever? i sometimes wonder if old games can be preserved for 100 years, or 200, 300?

[connor.clark]

I have a few copies of the quest database lying around, so we at least have some redundancy

[Aevin]

I do think it's cool to keep your older work available, if nothing else, as a testament to how far you've come as a developer. Besides, even old quests of lower quality can serve as a peek into the mindset of the maker, like a snapshot of some things they were feeling when they made it. I think in many cases, that's worth preserving.

[Moosh]

It might have been the result of a 14-year-old's bad game design sense, but this sequence was legitimately iconic. One of the most memorable ZC moments. I remember being simply floored by the audacity of this Avataro guy to put a mandatory damage check in such a place and then laughing my ass off when I landed.

 

Also you monster, this kinda makes me wanna try replaying Tower of Shadows.

[Chris]

I might confuse it with another Avataro quest, but I am pretty sure I enjoyed Tower of Shadows.

Also, perfectionism isn't a good thing imo, you shouldn't look negatively towards Avataro's early endeavors, rather fondly remember Avataro's determination to get into quest-making (something many of us lack) and how Avataro has grown since.