5 replies to this topic

[Anthus]

I haven't checked the newest beta, and I'm basing this off of 2.50.2, but why are the first two quests passworded? I can understand not wanting people to mess with the default loaded first/ second quest, but why not include an unpassworded example of those two with ZC? I'm not even trying to advertise my own attempt at such a thing (as it has various minor inconsistencies and quirks), but I think it would be really useful to newcomers. Quests files are so tiny, especially for those two quests, so what's the harm in copying, removing the password, and including a 'cracked' version so people don't have to dig for a thread on AGN that has an old 'cracked' version from like 1.92, or maybe 2.10?

[Timelord]

See now, this be what happens when you do not read the changelog!

They are both unlocked in 2.53.0 Beta 2.

I haven't checked the newest beta, and I'm basing this off of 2.50.2, but why are the first two quests passworded? I can understand not wanting people to mess with the default loaded first/ second quest, but why not include an unpassworded example of those two with ZC? I'm not even trying to advertise my own attempt at such a thing (as it has various minor inconsistencies and quirks), but I think it would be really useful to newcomers. Quests files are so tiny, especially for those two quests, so what's the harm in copying, removing the password, and including a 'cracked' version so people don't have to dig for a thread on AGN that has an old 'cracked' version from like 1.92, or maybe 2.10?

I do not recall if Beta 1 lacked them, but I have had them ready to roll out since 2.50.2. The Beta 2 package and later, have them as unlocked assets in some form. 3rd-5th are /not/ unlocked at present.

Edited by ZoriaRPG, 03 August 2017 - 01:18 AM.

[Anthus]

See now, this be what happens when you do not read the changelog!

They are both unlocked in 2.53.0 Beta 2.


I do not recall if Beta 1 lacked them, but I have had them ready to roll out since 2.50.2. The Beta 2 package and later, have them as unlocked assets in some form. 3rd-5th are /not/ unlocked at present.

 

That's good to know, and really helpful. And changelogs? I can't even read an entire Ikea furniture manual which has no words, so how can I be expected to read a whole changelog?

[Lüt]

Though in that regard, how about making the standard quests loadable like any other quest?

 

When I last played Zelda 1 on a Nintendo emulator many years ago, I remembered there was a third quest included with ZC, so I got the program and tried to load 3rd.qst, but it gave me an error message saying it wasn't a custom quest and that I had to beat the second quest to access it. So I rushed through the entire first and second quests, again, just to get to that nightmare of a third quest. Then, much later, on some obscure corner of the internet, I find you can enter a special name to access it. Seriously, who would ever know? So really, can you just make those loadable like all the others? I mean, if the creators were that insistent they not be accessed, the name codes wouldn't be an option anyway. That was a heck of a waste of time, and I'm sure I can't be the only person to have done that.

[Timelord]

Though in that regard, how about making the standard quests loadable like any other quest?
 
When I last played Zelda 1 on a Nintendo emulator many years ago, I remembered there was a third quest included with ZC, so I got the program and tried to load 3rd.qst, but it gave me an error message saying it wasn't a custom quest and that I had to beat the second quest to access it. So I rushed through the entire first and second quests, again, just to get to that nightmare of a third quest. Then, much later, on some obscure corner of the internet, I find you can enter a special name to access it. Seriously, who would ever know? So really, can you just make those loadable like all the others? I mean, if the creators were that insistent they not be accessed, the name codes wouldn't be an option anyway. That was a heck of a waste of time, and I'm sure I can't be the only person to have done that.

This decision is above my pay grade.

The name-entry passwords for 3rd, 4th, and 5th, are in the Wiki, on both websites, and they might be in the ZC docs included with the programme. If not, then that is an oversight that I can fix.

We could probably put 3rd, 4th, and 5th, up as single quests to download, with fixes to allow running them on their own; but please understand that the entire 1st-5th quest loading mechanic is extremely hardcoded at present. The quest header has a 'Quest Number' field. THis was visible through 2.50.1, and any user could add quest numbers to their quests, but this largely confused users, so it was made to be invisible.

The idea of quest numbers, is to allow loading a serialised quest, which is what 1st-5th do, and what they use. If you try to manually load a quest with a 'quest number' value that is greater than 0, you will encounter an error. This means that making standalone 3rd, 4th, and 5th quests, requires more than merely dumping them under a new filename. This equally applies to 1st, and 2nd.

If the authors of these quests do not object, then we could (either or both) unlock them, or provide standalone versions of them. For the present, making the name entry passwords more evident in the programme might be an option.

For reference, the name entry passwords are ZELDA, ALPHA, GANON, and JEAN. I know that they are in the Wiki, because I added or edited that section, and added them, at some point in the past. (See the link, above.)

[DarkDragon]

I believe the original intent behind locking the default quests is to prevent a flood of custom quests that are just very lightly-edited versions of 1st.qst.

 

The later quests are password-protected presumably because their authors protected them.

 

NB that quest passwords are a very "soft" layer of security: if ZC can read your quest, so can anybody with enough programming skill to compile the source code and change one or two lines.