236 replies to this topic

[Peteo]

Greetings from the Lost Isle developement studio here in Finland where I am slaving off for DarkFlameWolf and for all you great ZC people.

Here's a brief update on the status of Lost Isle - a quest in the making. As always, I know the lack of demo will frustrate some people, but I'm sure this small newsflash is better than nothing for those who are waiting for LI.

This is a link to the Lost Isle thread at the ZC Spring Expo 2006: http://www.purezc.co...showtopic=19804
(Yeah, that was over a year ago, the quest is oh so late...)

Now in addition to that expo thread, let me tell a few new things about LI and then show some new screenshots:
-The quest is almost finished (in a few weeks) and after that it is time to start the final testing stages. Unfortunately I have no clue how long the testing will take because Wolfie and I will not release the quest before it is a bugfree and enjoyable game. But I'm almost certain it will be released during July unless something goes horribly wrong.
-For what version of ZC will Lost Isle be released?
Well, since there is no sign of ZC 2.5 and Lost Isle wouldn't work on it anyways, we decided to take the most stable build there is (build 254) and ask the developers to fix some bugs so that the b254 could play LI perfectly. Well, DN did us that big favor and therefore LI will be released for b254c (or whatever the official name of our LI specific ZC build will be).
We will release that LI specific ZC build with Lost Isle, and that same build will play DFW's newest quest Origin as well.


Lost Isle Facts:
----------------------
-A duo quest created by DarkFlameWolf (Hidden Duality, Isle of the Winds) and Peteo (Dr. Wily's Revenge)
-Will be released for a specific ZC 2.11 build that will play both Lost Isle and DFW's upcoming Origin perfectly
-The quest takes place on a huge deserted island, though the island is not completely dead yet...
-Lost Isle has a bit of a Metroid-ish feel since Link is all alone in a hostile and haunting environment
-Only 5 main dungeons, but all the optional levels and adventures expand the quest a lot if you dare to accept the extra challenges
-Lots of shortcuts so that backtracking and traveling doesn't become a borefest
-New ways of solving dungeons and puzzles
-New kinds of gameplay mechanics and tricks (LI is taking advantage of some of the newest ZC features)
-The limited amount of Shields and Potions will give players some serious thinking and planning to do
-Custom bosses and custom enemies
-Custom Subscreen
-Some new graphics (enhanced Pure and Minish Cap graphics + Lots of original custom tiles and sprites)
-A thorough and massive Readme file (by Wolfie) will be included with the Lost Isle .zip file

Lost Isle screenshots:
-------------------------------


The title screen of Lost Isle. Press down to start playin'.


Wake up, Link. You have a new adventure ahead of ya.


Subscreen of Lost Isle. Lots of planning went into this one.


Jumping down. I personally like these shortcuts alot.


Getting a major item gives you a text box and a nice fanfare.


Some hot lava cave action.


"Go away, bush!" Link slashing away in a dungeon.


Now this is an interesting looking place...


Morir es vivir, morir es vivir...?


Talking to a friendly(?) undead fellow.


Under the graveyard, there's this dark uncomfortable dungeon...


What? Finally a custom boss screenshot?

If you have any comments or questions, fire away. Again, I don't know the exact release date, and the reason I posted this thread is I just want to prepare you guys for the upcoming LI release. But all other kinds of questions are welcome.


- Pete

[Sharon Daniel]

Yep. (I'm just agreeing with all the inevitable comments that will fallow.)

The only thing I don't like about this quest is that it's not released yet.

Edited by Sharon Daniel, 17 June 2007 - 05:25 AM.

[Dorian]

Great work for the screenies and the use of new features
I'm glad I know about this project for only a few mounth, or else i would have waited even more

congrats, again

[CastChaos]

It really seems like a big, inovative, story type quest. My interest burns again. So, it will be ready by the time I come back from vacation (middle August)? Good.
The fact that you made a thread about just before the release has some modern feeling, too.
I see you use gifs (suitable format) instead of jpeg (useless format).
I can't help but suspect that I will hate this "limited potions, limited shields" thing.

[Peteo]

Castchaos, it will definitely be released before August as said in my first post.

And I know the "limited potions/shields" idea makes some people go "huh? sounds like a very annoying idea!", but I guess I can reveal that even if you use all your potions and lose all your shields, all hope is not lost as there is a way to still get them... okay, I will say no more because I don't know how much Wolfie wants me to reveal things.


Oh yeah, almost forgot, if anyone cares how Wolfie and I have shared the work, here's some info:

What DFW did:
-Came up with the idea and story of the quest
-Created all the overworlds
-Built most of the Caves and house interiors
-Picked most of the MIDIs

What Peteo did:
-Created/Enhanced the graphics you see in Lost Isle
-Built most of the dungeons
-Worked as a detailer (adding detail + other touches to DFW's areas)

I took over the quest about 1 year ago (meaning that during the latest year I have pretty much been the only one who has been editing and building the quest). But it is still as much Wolfie's project as it is mine because she still helps me with ideas and testing, and without her there wouldn't be a Lost Isle quest in the making.

[DarkFlameWolf]

Yes, the LI beta should play Lost Isle and Origin perfectly. It still has a few bugs left in it Dark Nation needs to iron out, but once that's done, there will be nothing stopping these quests from coming out! (Looks to Sephiroth for his end of the bargain of hosting betas) ^_^
Anyhoo, unlike most readme files, this massive 20-page document features everything you could possibly want to know about the quest with minimal spoilers. (beyond the fact that it lists every enemy and item, it just doesn't give you their exact locations, so you still gotta search!) So if you have a general question upon playing the quest, the readme most likely has the answer.

EDIT: Oh and about the limited shields/potions thing: You have access to six shields spaced out at given intervals throughout the quest and about 10 potions also spaced out in a similar manner. There will be late in the game, places where you can 'buy' shields and potions for steep fees. But you have to make what you have last that long until you have access to such shops. This will force people to be resourceful with their potions (esp. for those 0 death count runners) and more mindful of Grasps. (the new like likes)

Edited by DarkFlameWolf, 17 June 2007 - 08:10 AM.

[Dorian]

I have a question about the quest :
does it uses the gameboy item selector? I mean, where you need to assign items on A/B.
I still prefer the zelda-1 system, that's why i'm asking

i had another in mind but it vanished.......

ah, yes, i remember it. Zelda 3 like movement ?

[DarkFlameWolf]

Its classic Zelda 1 item selecting. No changes.
As for the Z3 style movement, we did not implement it.

Edited by DarkFlameWolf, 17 June 2007 - 01:56 PM.

[Dawnlight]

How long will this quest be? Will it be as long as HOD?

[Nathaniel]

From my testing experiences, I say it is pretty long, but it definitely won't be the longest quest ever made for ZC. Not sure if it would even hit the top 10 on that category among quests on PureZC. It is hard to measure it with other quests considering all the factors and possibilities of what players are most likely to get stuck on, but I know for sure that it is not as long as Hero of Dreams. There are only five main dungeons, but most of them are quite large and there are plenty of side things to do as well. Some of these side things are required, and some are optional. The overworld is also very large, but its exploration is meant to be a major part of the quest, as there is more to exploring it than simply finding the next level. So it is a large quest, but you have probably experienced larger if you played quests like Hero of Dreams or Hidden Duality: DC.

[Peteo]

Well trimaster, I have played HoD and got quite far, never finished it though, but it is indeed a huge quest, just like my previous quest Dr. Wily's Revenge. Both of the quests (MMDWR and HoD) take over 20 hours to beat for most people and those quests are most definitely the 2 longest quests in ZC history. To beat Lost Isle you need about 10-20 hours.

...yeah, it's hard to give any exact numbers about how lenghty quest LI is because there's so much optional stuff in it. If you're in a hurry and want to beat the quest fast, you can probably do it easily in 10 hours. But if you want to get every item and treasure, then it could very well take those 20 hours to beat the quest.

And if we talk only about the fila size and amount of maps it took to make Lost Isle, then it definitely is the biggest ZC quest so far.

[Soarin]

Did you guys use any scripts in the making of the the quests?

Edited by bringer of destruction, 17 June 2007 - 04:01 PM.

[Peteo]

Did you guys use any scripts in the making of the tow quests?

The two quests? You mean Lost Isle and origin being the other one?

Lost Isle has some scripts, yes, but to my knowledge Origin is a more traditional kind of quest, so not that many new featrures in Origin. But despite that Wolfie's Origin will be a fun quest.

[Evile]

*wets pants a little* That sounds and looks great. I can't wait till this comes out!
I probably won't be able to finish it anyways.

[Shoelace]

Sounds great guys. !!! I am really excited to play it now. Not that I wasn't, because you know me, I am a big fan of both of you guys. So this will indeed be the one of the greatest quests ever. Can't wait until I get home to see the screens, as my work blocks the pictures for some reason. lol