Progress has been going great! I managed to breeze through making the Magic Key Maze (which, BTW, is just called "Key Maze" in-game, so don't be fooled when you see that). Here are some tidbits you might like to know about the maze:
- Every screen of the maze itself (not including the cave-palette entrance screens) has both a lock block and a boss lock block, including the boss room and the prize room after it.
- Sometimes either the lock block or the boss lock block can't be seen until you unlock the other type.
- Shortly before beginning working on the dungeon screens of the maze, I decided the gameplay might be kinda' bland if all there was to do was unlock things and explore. So, I added enemies (to most of the screens) to add an element of danger. If you find a boss-type enemy, you know you're near a big treasure!
- There are floor tiles that have 4 dots on them. That means that when either a lock block or boss lock block is unlocked (yes, they both look the same), a block will appear in place of that tile. But, you never know which type it will be! Sometimes a hidden lock block or boss lock block will appear on one of those tiles.
- This ain't no tiny dungeon! Not including the cave-palette entrance area, there are a total of 31 screens to explore.
I have many things mapped out, but level 9 isn't one of them. I've been waiting on getting a printout of a certain area from a certain previous Zelda game before I could do that. I just got it within the past couple of days, so I've got work to do.
But I will say this: A big thank-you to Nolornbon for his "stick dungeon" design! I used it to create unique dungeon walls and doors for this level (and another top-secret area as well). The door combos are all set up. Now just gotta' create the level.
That's all for now!