Jump to content

Zodiac: Story of the Guardian

Photo

Strategy Guide


  • Please log in to reply
7 replies to this topic

#1 C-Dawg

C-Dawg

    Magus

  • Members

Posted 02 February 2016 - 12:14 AM

As you may have noticed, the quest project has been very quiet lately. I just uploaded the current Beta version (complete with alternate endings and bonus features) but I'm not quite ready to call it version 1.0 just yet. One of the missing elements is a strategy guide, which I think is only fair since I'm disabling map features.

NewStarShipSmell has been doing amazing work on getting me level maps and diagrams to show where to go, and I've been busy(?) working on artwork and text while formatting everything into a booklet style. You can check out a preview of the Guide here, to see what we're working on.  Note that the formulas for the Zodiac Weapons are all overstated by 1/3, since I nerfed them in the latest beta.  Also, there are oodles of typos and formatting issues, but, hey, it's a work in progress.

https://www.dropbox....eview).pdf?dl=0

See you at the final version!


Edited by C-Dawg, 02 February 2016 - 12:24 AM.

  • DCEnygma, Jared, Lightwulf and 3 others like this

#2 Lightwulf

Lightwulf

    Master

  • Members
  • Real Name:I'm not telling you my secret identity!!!
  • Location:Ainrofilac, Ceh Sha Ah (I'm libingual)

Posted 02 February 2016 - 04:21 AM

Wow! :omg:  This is quite impressive!  Nice job on the strategy guide! :D

 

I've admired the cartoon graphics for some time now.  Nice job creating this! :kawaii:

 

Looks like it's similar to Metroid mixed with Megaman X...  both of which I love!!! ;)



#3 DCEnygma

DCEnygma

    you're going to have a bad time

  • Members
  • Real Name:Justin
  • Location:Indianaland

Posted 02 February 2016 - 07:24 AM

Well, to be fair, if you're going for that authentic-NES feel for this book, maybe you should keep the typos and inaccuracies in there! Let's not forget the glorious book of lies that was the Mega Man 1 instruction booklet, after all.

 

Looks great, btw!


  • newstarshipsmell likes this

#4 newstarshipsmell

newstarshipsmell

    Musky Pawgazer

  • Members
  • Location:Skure, Dezoris

Posted 02 February 2016 - 07:45 AM

For the record, I pretty much finished up the maps back in November, but sort of burned out on my umpteenth playthrough and didn't really finish checking them for errors. So while the first 70-80% of the maps are probably perfect/complete, there's probably a handful of missing or misplaced minor items, incorrect markers for how to access them, etc., left in the final areas' final maps that I sent him.

But I think I squashed all the major mistakes I made, like the Stomp Boots map that completely omitted both switches you needed to reach the item, or the Capricorn map path that directed you through multiple solid walls... It was nice to watch MeleeWizard's LP of the final area and have my guess at the correct path actually confirmed (since I never managed to beat the "final" boss and wasn't really clear which path you took through the last section - hence I made educated guesses based off the quest file.)
 

I was supposed to help out taking screenshots of bosses and corridors and whatnot to help fill in the guide, but, yeah well, I managed to find other stuff to do in the meantime... Sound familiar? If there actually are a lot of mistakes left in the maps after release, I'll try to find the time to go over them and fix them for an updated version of the guide, but I'm not sure it really matters that much, so long as all the major stuff is covered. It probably depends upon whether C-Dawg asks me to or not... hell, maybe some minor mistakes would just add to the charm, right?

 

At any rate, you should be pleased to hear I blindly stumbled into a solution for packaging it all up nicely into a single archived download that self-extracts and "installs" itself and immediately launches the quest upon extraction. (I just kept randomly messing around with stuff and googling things until I sort of figured it out.) So once I have a final copy of the quest and accompanying files, I can zip them all up in an SFX archive that will unpack the game wherever you tell it to, and add shortcut icons/menu in your Start folder and on the Desktop (any of which can be deleted if unwanted.) They'll allow the player to open the manual, strategy guide, play the soundtrack, etc., as well as launch any of the however many preloaded save slots he wants it to launch with, bypassing the ZC and TLOZ intros and main menu completely. I've had a few others test it out and they all confirmed it works splendidly on several different Windows OSs, so this should prove to be the one-click solution any fool can download and play that C-Dawg was looking for, rather than fielding the numerous questions/complains about getting it to work which the demos generated last year, on the non-ZC sites he posted it to.

 

It would be awesome if the stupid sideview gravity collision bug in the 2.50.1 and custom builds got fixed before release, but well I'm not holding my breath on that one... Extra frustratingly unfair controller-throwing challenge!



#5 KingPridenia

KingPridenia

    King of Pridenia, Safehaven of the LGBTQ

  • Members
  • Real Name:Adam
  • Location:Pennsylvania

Posted 02 February 2016 - 08:37 PM

That is some beautiful artwork of all of the characters. Kind of gives me a vibe of Mega Man. A lot of time and work went into the entire project, and it clearly shows. Great job!


  • Lightwulf likes this

#6 C-Dawg

C-Dawg

    Magus

  • Members

Posted 03 February 2016 - 11:58 PM

Beautiful?  Well, thanks, but dude, it's literally quick sketchy filler that is intentionally sloppy.  It does the job and it's what I'm going for, but "beautiful" is not really apt!

 

Okay, so I accidentally uploaded the last version as a BETA instead of a DEMO, which has a better download link setup but also means no one can see it.  I fixed that, so as soon as it's approved, the current download link should be accurate.


  • Lightwulf likes this

#7 KingPridenia

KingPridenia

    King of Pridenia, Safehaven of the LGBTQ

  • Members
  • Real Name:Adam
  • Location:Pennsylvania

Posted 04 February 2016 - 12:01 AM

No I totally get the style you're going for. I'm saying with the style you're aiming at with the guide pictures looking like concept art, it's really nice. It looks like flipping through a legitimate Nintendo Power strategy guide or NES instruction booklet.


  • Lightwulf likes this

#8 P-Tux7

P-Tux7

    💛

  • Members

Posted 28 July 2018 - 09:32 AM

Hmm, is this strategy guide project still going on? I really appreciate when quest creators make walkthroughs for their quests, and especially this big one with multiple endings.




1 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 1 guests, 0 anonymous users