7 replies to this topic

[SpacemanDan]

Since I'm doing my quest, LoRII from the ground up again, I figured this would be a great opportunity to change things up, and while I love the pure set, I realized it wasn't the style I wanted for this quest. So, I decided to start working on a tile set that takes tiles from various RPGs, and so far, it's looking alright. (I'm even using the same perspective in dungeons, and not the typical Zelda dungeon perspective.) However, the RPGs I'm ripping from would look odd with a small Link. So, either I change the tiles to fit more with the small Link, or, the idea I'm leaning toward, make Link bigger to fit.

Of course, I'd change various things to match, such as certain enemies. (Some enemies, in my opinion, work better small where as some will need to be bigger.) Now, I'm not thinking about 32x32 Link, but rather a 16x32, and even then, I don't intend to use all of the tile height.
Something like the RTP character sets in RPG Maker 200(3).

However, on the downside, I'm guessing I'll need to cater items to a bigger Link sprite, among other things, and I'm also worried about fun stuff like collisions and scripts not working the way they should or the way I need them to.

Thoughts? What kinds of risks am I going to be up against by using a bigger Link? Would it be worth doing?

[Moosh]

It depends. A 16x32 link with the normal hitbox would be fine. I rather like the idea of a taller, more adult looking Link. The problems start when you use a 32x32 link (minish cap link for example). With a 32x32 Link, you pretty much HAVE to use a bigger hitbox, and with a bigger hitbox, you find that enemies are tougher to avoid and you might have more trouble designing screens to be maneuverable (this is more of a problem in dungeons where tight spaces are pretty much a given). Normal 16x16 pixel tiles are dwarfed compared to jumbo link and the 16x16 enemies simply look pathetic. In the end, you either have to put up with the fact that link is taller than most enemies or you have to script 32x32 enemies. With 32x32 enemies, screens start to feel a bit cramped, and eventually, you just need a bigger Zelda Classic. I'm not saying a 32x32 link sprites are entirely bad (Freedom has managed to do it decently), but it's just an extra hassle.
Scratch that. I didn't read enough...

Edited by Pokemonmaster64, 12 October 2010 - 06:31 PM.

[SpacemanDan]

No no, that's some good input. A bigger hit box was something I was a little worried about. But since it's just height adjusting, I'm thinking, like you said, I don't have to worry about a bigger hit box. I always liked the idea of a taller Link, but the problem that comes up with it, among others, is making everything else fit, though I don't think it would be too difficult, especially if I use a specific script header. (Only means I'll have to have a script attacthed to most enemies. )

So yeah, thanks for your input.

[Saffith]

I've been using something like this:

CODE

global script BigEnemies
{
    void run()
    {
        while(true)
        {
            ExtendEnemies();
            Waitframe();
        }
    }
    
    void ExtendEnemies
    {
        npc enemy;
        
        for(int i=Screen->NumNPCs(); i>0; i--)
        {
            enemy=Screen->LoadNPC(i);
            
            if(enemy->Extend==0 && enemy->Attributes[10]!=0)
            {
                if(enemy->Attributes[10]==1)
                    enemy->Extend=1;
                else if(enemy->Attributes[10]==2)
                    enemy->Extend=2;
            }
        }
    }
}

Then you just set an enemy's misc. attribute 11 to 1 or 2 to have it extended accordingly.

[SpacemanDan]

That's awesome. Thank you so much for posting that. That's one issue gone, now. The only other thing I'm worried about is actually drawing the sprites, but that shouldn't be too bad, since I only need more than the basic walking animations for a few characters.

If anybody's interested in seeing what I've got so far, here's a thing I threw together in Graphics Gale, though it'll work fine in ZC once I import all the stuff.



I wasn't aiming for good screen design as much as I was trying to see how everything would work together. The character you see is just a character I made to test out how the taller sprites would look, though I am using her as a character in the game after some major adjustments. As you can see, a smaller Link graphic would not work at all. It's going to be very layer intensive once I get into ZQuest. The water border and against the mountain is nowhere near final, but the water itself is.

[Jared]

Wow, great job.
I mean it.

[Cameron]

Is the dirt just a recolored water sprite? I ask because it would kinda be weird if they were close together.

[SpacemanDan]

@Lynker: Thanks!

@Cameron: No, they're from two different games, I believe. When I do proper transitions, I'll make it look better with them together.