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[ywkls]

Part 32

 

I blame the whole falling into a hole and getting booted out of bounds on your confusion before.

Couldn't possible be my convoluted dungeon design! 

I find I can sometimes do better with these puzzles that have only one block than others.

 

That waterfall is actually an intended shortcut.

Did you know? The Sword of Fate was going to be the level 5 upgrade for the quest if you played as Link

I changed things slightly when revising the characters.

Much like Ball and Chain, it doesn't use MP.

 

That hidden money was placed there because I ran out of ideas for rewards but wanted something there.

Definitely intended for purchasing things.

 

The boss here started life as a Crystalline Beast.

However, I couldn't get the sprites to look right.

Ball and Chain is the recommended strategy since he's weak to it.

You will notice that introductory cutscenes only happen once.

 

Congratulations on guiding all the Lost Farires!

Once you speak to the Fairy Queen in Moonlit Grotto, you will have completed one of four steps to the post-game!

 

The Masked Rito is the hardest of the Masked Marauders.

The script is named Medli or Not.

You can't deliver it until after level 8's item, though.

 

You were in the right place for the postal clues but examined the wrong object.

The postman in the info house completes the Lost Letter quest.

The sleepy guy gives clues on how to open the next dungeon.

 

The Masked Monkey is obviously Kiki on a bad day.

His love of bananas is only exceeded by Moosh's laziness.

Those two entrances are very cleverly hidden.

I try not to be too cryptic or deliberately obtuse, but don't always succeed.

[ywkls]

Part 33

 

The Ball and Chain is highly recommended for the Masked Zora.

Many of these later fighters become damage per second races.

I still have no idea why those clues get broken.

The same is true of the Crystalline Flames not being shown right.

Would you believe that the Masked Rito is actually harder?

 

Fortunately, even if you die; your progress as Farore is saved forever.

That makes completing the area slightly easier.

I never added an indicator on how many Mirror Shards you have.

If you miss one you get a different cutscene.

 

There were several bugs associated with the Revival Potion and the scripted game over.

This caused it to be revised several times.

 

You finally progressed the Trading Sequence!

Hopefully you will be able to get further along before too much longer.

All of the steps have extra dialogue after you do their event.

The same is true for the letter deliveries.

[ywkls]

Part 34

 

Did you know?

It is actually possible to finish the Trading Sequence before level 8.

While not required, it definitely makes things easier.

 

Would you believe that the way to open both level 8's used to be even more convoluted?

The original route involved both characters going to the other's world to open the way.

So many people got lost trying to find them that I ended up moving the destinations.

 

The clues from the Farore's Memories work only for the next in numerical order.

Once you have done them all, they offer no further hints.

You can complete those before level 8 as well, though no reward is available until post-game.

 

I guess that remembering that Winter's Chill freezes some water is something I should have made more obvious.

Also, stumped by behind the tree shenanigans once more! I'm sensing a trend here!

 

It should be noted that most late bosses are strong against the medaliions.

The Seed Shooter is your invaluable friend in this.

That one boss does teleport a lot.

[ywkls]

Part 35

 

Trade items cross world because reasons.

I agree that the placement of the clues is somewhat inconvenient.

 

Both level 8's have 3 floors.

Nayru's side has two in the present and one in the past.

The intent was indeed to mimic Oracle of Ages mechanics.

 

Combining puzzle types is the name of the game here.

We're getting to the really complicated ones.

Wait until you reach the final post-game dungeon.

 

I actually did have Moas in the dungeon at one point but the script didn't work too well.

There are some enemies exclusive to a specific time period.

 

I may or may not have overused the turnstile script.

We'll have to let history decide. 

You can determine the time period by looking at the subscreen.

Fun fact: the Magic Book's powers originally worked like the Magic Boots.

However, after many got confused; I made it where you switched it on the subscreen.

The object you use to upgrade the Magic Book is actually an npc. Not sure why it was broken.

 

Medusa shows off several new scripts.

These include firing lasers!

Also, projectiles that spawn more of the same!

And wavy effects upon contacting an enemy.

 

I had a lot of strange bugs in making this dungeon.

These included instances where the Switchhook simply refused to work in some rooms.

That's why I have that one Gale Fruit puzzle.

The switchhook diamonds are known to have issues like you saw.

 

Did you know? Some previous people who were in that one path room spent nearly 15 minutes on that puzzle.

For the life of me, I'm not sure why.

[ywkls]

Part 36

 

When the quest was first made, I had stations to change the power of the Magic Book.

This worked a lot like how the Magic Boots do in Din level 7.

I prefer this method, as it so happens.

I tend to run out of controls rather often as it happens.

 

Some large enemies don't like to play nice with solidity.

There's not much I can do to prevent it, really.

Did you know? In addition to a unique mini-boss and boss in each dungeon; there's over 80 unique foes.

Almost every dungeon has enemies which aren't found anywhere else.

 

That new puzzle with blocks was discovered making this dungeon.

It actually doesn't require any scripting to work.

All internal shenanigans!

 

That bug with the hole script shows its ugly head again!

I'm pretty sure I know what caused it too.

 

I do think that to a certain extent, I do a good job teaching players what they're expected to do in my quests.

It's just they're so long, you can forget things.

[ywkls]

Part 37

 

That puzzle you got stuck on was actually the very first one to use this new technique.

I added the pit because the original was too easy.

 

The power of Night's Glow is one of the few abilities which don't have any fancy shenanigans going on.

It's just really strong and can go through many defenses.

 

The boss of Nayru level 8 went through several revisions before settling on this one.

Other possibilities included a giant octopus.

 

By acquiring the Silver Magic Ring, you've completed another requirement for the post-game.

The museum of bad quest design once had Z3 scrolling.

However, it proved too game-breaking.

Also, the MeleeWizard came requires beating both post-game dungeons for Din and Nayru.

 

Though it isn't obvious, the Ball and Chain tries to home in on an enemy at the end of its arc.

You may want to wait for your third armor upgrade or the completion of the trading sequence before trying that Masked Zora again.

 

The idea behind the Lost Citadel changed late in the development of the quest.

The first floor was spring and winter.

The second is summer.

The third is autumn.

I actually made a custom palette for that last floor.

 

I guess expecting a player to remember a mechanic they haven't seen in many dungeons is a bit much.

Too bad those torches aren't entirely consistent across the quest.

 

The layout of the Lost Citadel is probably one of the more intricate.

There's not a lot of clues as to how to get around.

I noticed a few instances where you could reach screens which seemed to have no purpose.

 

With a winter theme, bringing back ice block puzzles felt natural to me.

Still not very good at making them, though.

 

The mini-boss is indeed Ralph.

The lasers were supplies via Moosh.

The power of Quake is very useful, shredding nearly all enemies.

Edited by ywkls, 22 February 2022 - 11:50 PM.

[ywkls]

Part 38

 

Winter Chill is the most powerful rod ability.

Freezing water is somewhat arbitrary.

Quake does hit the whole screen despite appearances to the contrary.

It is meant to be spammed, especially in these later dungeons.

Fun fact: I added a scripted version of the ability to stomp enemies in the sequel to this.

 

The second half of level 8 is a key hunt.

Two paths, each requiring the same amount of keys.

If you can believe it, I actually forgot that Din had bombs while designing the dungeon and made that cracked wall to be opened by Bombos.

 

While making level 8, I realized that I'd forgotten to add some rooms.

Thus, I made that warp behind the tree so they'd be included.

You could say that being sneaky is my modus operandi.

Hence the barely visible Quake tile.

[ywkls]

Part 39

 

It should be noted that what is doing damage to Ambi isn't Quake directly.

Rather, the 4 projectiles which go in each direction do.

With this, all dungeons except the last are done!

Also, all sidequests can now be completed.

 

While official lore is silent on this matter, I feel that my characterization of Hilda does fit.

This won't be the last time we see a version of her in this series.

 

The only requirement in that one ice block puzzle is to turn all the water to ice.

The type of ice doesn't matter.

This is where all those keys you got come into play.

The only way to fail the Trial of Darkness is to die.

That puzzle with the multiple switches was hard to do.

It was because of this area that I made the version of the pit script which places you on the last solid spot.

 

Each of Farore's main abilities corresponds to one of the 4 traditional elements in RPGs.

In order; they are wind, water, fire and earth.

I'm still not sure why that trigger in the Trial of Darkness doesn't make the secret sound.

The area is definitely made to prey on your expectations.

 

Choosing the boss for Farore was easy considering the reference at the end of Passage Through Time.

The idea of the first form is he used the Shards of Darkness as a shield.

The fight was made intentionally easy.

Completing the Farore memories is one of the requirements for accessing the post game.

You don't get any reward to doing it now.

[ywkls]

Part 40

 

The Revival Potion shouldn't be necessary.

All fights are built around not needing it.

However, it can help you.

 

Congratulations on getting the last heart piece!

Also good job hunting down all the Magic Containers!

The Trading Sequence is full of very clever puns.

Gotta catch them all!

The ease of access to Trading Sequence spots isn't on purpose.

 

Quake sure has a lot of routes which can be opened but not finished.

This is due to how I set them up when I created the areas.

Only one of them leads to post-game content.

Much of the post-game is optional.

This includes the three challenges of the Mini-game Replay, Boss Rush and Super-boss.

[ywkls]

Part 41

 

I do believe that is a penguin sprite.

I don't remember if it came with the tileset or was imported.

Also, behind the tree strikes again!

 

It is my experience that a lot of people forget that cave you swim in north of Lynna City.

There used to be a Lost Fairy there but people couldn't find it.

That's all 10 Blue Keys! Hope they were worth your time!

The pouch looks like a quiver because the item used arrow ammo.

 

Congratulations on finishing the trading sequence!

Now the process of completing the quest will be much easier!

 

Crystal Volvagia was designed to be in the top tier difficulty of the optional bosses Din fights.

Did you know? He's made where he'll always face you even if you're on the far side of the room.

I'm not sure why that shutter broke. I just removed it to prevent further errors.

Originally, you had to fight the final boss to get the item from the person who tells you about the Crystalline Flames in the info house.

However, when I decided to make the Masked Marauders quest; I decided to make the last Crystalline Beast give you the reward instead.

 

The Masked Zora has exactly the same health as Crystal Volvagia.

This also is why he's so extremely hard.

Completing the fight and delivering the letter completes this quest line as well!

Talking to the postman in the info house in Lynna City opens the final fight there are well.

[ywkls]

Part 42

 

Wolf Link is explicitly designed where you will run out of MP before you defeat him.

Both Ember Seeds and the Ball and Chain are quite effective.

By defeating him, you have completed another requirement for the post-game.

You actually used your Revival Potion during the fight.

 

The Crystalline Thunderbird is actually slightly easier.

It tends to get stuck in routines which allow you to deal a lot of damage.

The Seed Shooter is quite effective in it.

This fight is also designed where you will run out of MP before it is over.

By defeating it, you have completed the last requirement for the post-game.

 

When the quest was first made, you could change characters anywhere.

Many bugs were found this way.

I decided to keep the feature for the Black Tower.

It is only disabled in puzzle and boss rooms, along with areas that have warps.

That entrance area also has the ability disabled, because reasons.

 

Did you know? The detail where the character holds up the mirror if in the same room exists on the overworld too.

Anywhere they can crossover and be on the same screen, it shows up.

Very few places it will still appear.

The gimmick with both characters pressing switches was lifted directly from Panoply of Calatia.

[ywkls]

Part 43

 

Each Oracle must face slightly harder versions of older bosses.

These have about double the health of the older ones.

Though some just have better defenses.

 

Confused much? The Black Tower has only begun to challenge your navigaional skills!

Though not as bad as the Temple of Time, it's still pretty intricate.

The rooms with the Shiekah Stones have the Magical Mirror disabled.

This is because warps tend to mess with the script.

It is turned off in puzzle rooms to prevent cheating or getting stuck in solid objects.

 

By leaving before the boss exploded, it didn't count as dead.

In later quests, I hold the door closed longer to prevent this.

 

I added extra save and warp points to the Black Tower after designing it.

This was because it was just so long.

 

Those enemies are called Phantom Knights in this quest.

This is because they walk through walls.

This was arranged due to their size.

Tunkrads untie! Based on Panoply of Calatia.

 

If you're wondering why the puzzle with blocks that change direction looks weird, there's a perfectly logical reason.

The process involves combo cycling.

Unfortunately, that doesn't respect the color the combos which it cycles to has.

[ywkls]

Part 44

 

The Black Tower really shows off how tricky my dungeon design can get.

I added those warp points at the top because of just how massive the place truly is.

Most of the dungeon design is wander for a while, solve some puzzles; get some keys, fight some foes and then repeat.

 

It isn't necessarily made obvious, but both Oracles spend more time in the opposite world in the second half of the dungeon.

This was a deliberate choice I made to ensure ultimate confusion!

I myself tend to get a little turned around, which tells you just how intricate it is.

 

I could have probably made another save point at the halfway warp.

I guess I just concluded that people would think to go back there as well.

 

All of the boss refights are the same behaviors.

The only change was to make Evil Nayru not a sideview enemy.

[ywkls]

Part 45

 

I'm pretty sure that those Pols Voice are indeed only weak to Nayru.

There are some other foes which are only weak to Din's attacks.

This makes getting through the Black Tower something of an endurance test.

 

I enjoyed making all of these various boss fights so much I couldn't resist having them appear again.

There's a secret area after the true ending which allows you to face any of them you like.

 

The order in which you do some things in the black tower is up to you to a certain degree.

However others are more set in stone.

I ran out of ideas for some rewards, which is why they're keys.

I also kind of ran out of enemies so a few choices were a bit out there.

For reference, Carock is weak to the lightning rod.

 

Placing these particular items so late in the quest means that they don't get a lot of use.

Fun fact: during the development of the Black Tower, I tried to make Mirror Octorocks.

However, I found it nearly impossible to bounce back their shots.

So I instead made all Mirror Wizzrobes.

 

The final armor upgrade is only effective in the Black Tower, the first two post-game dungeons and the three challenges.

In the post-game secret dungeon, you acquire a different armor; known internally as the Triple Threat.

[ywkls]

Part 46

 

Dark Link was built with both strengths and weaknesses.

It was discovered during testing that he would get locked in his spin attack for a long time.

This also happened to be when he was most vulnerable.

The duration of this was reduced but the behavior was otherwise left alone.

Also, bonus points for keeping Link a wordless protagonist!

I should not that the plot was what didn't work for the Link/Dark Link idea.

The cutscene which follows each of the final bosses is slightly different depending on which one is defeated first.

After you're done, the overworld effects persist for the remainder of your playtime.

 

It is at this point that the major twist of the game is revealed.

Everything is part of a giant time loop.

With the power of the Essences, Veran went back in time to change the past.

And the power of the Fragments of Darkness let her control the forces of good.

Don't try to figure it out. Just accept and move on.

 

Veran's fast, frenetic behavior was actually a happy accident.

Though not intended, I liked it some much that I kept it.

For reference to the overall plot, the idea of the perpetual rain is that Labrynna is flooded and becomes the world of Wind Waker.

Whereas the Mirror World is overcome by a dense fog and turns into the Twilight Realm from Twilight Princess.

 

When designing the post-game dungeons, I originally planned to have each individual on only one floor long.

However, i was inspired to lengthen them to what they are now.

Each floor of the trials has a special visual effect.

The trial of water has wavy underwater.

The trial of wind has clouds.

The trial of fire has a heat aura.

And the trial of ice has snow.

 

The other primary gimmick of the trials are the large crystals.

The areas cause a constant health drain.

If you hit the crystals with a particular ability, this turns off.

Clues to each are found near the beginning of each floor of the trials.

The crystals do shut off the drain effects on both floors.

I disabled the ability to jump or use Fall Breeze in the Trial of Ice because otherwise it would be too easy to get around.

 

The Magic Octorocks here were made specifically for this dungeon.

Did you know? A glitch involving Like Likes was discovered making this quest.

That's why they only start showing up here.

Suffice it to say, if you're eaten while warping; bad things happen.