3 replies to this topic

[KingPridenia]

Wow. This has really gotten pathetic of me. This is the second time I've had to make this post. Am I just being overwhelmed by the fear of my quest being disliked for being a glorified LoZ hack that I'm too scared to move on? Or am I just plain losing motivation in general? I don't know, but I think in a way it more has to do with the fact Windows 10 simply hates ZQuest. Just pressing the "i" key makes it crash and there are a few things that seem to also cause crashing that compatibility mode does nothing to solve (seriously, compatibility mode is useless). In short, other than a few small changes here and there on rare occasion, I have done little post Expo other than address a few common complaints and change a palette here and there.

My plans for level 4 are as follows:

• Make it a hybrid of an NES-dungeon and a more freeform dungeon. I will be adding in a basement level to it and putting in a few shortcuts here and there to address the problems with the original game's level 4 design. More or less, in the words of a blue winged bear, it's just a linear enemy gauntlet with no shortcuts. Death just adds a lot of tedium that doesn't add to the difficulty. Having shortcuts, mostly involving the dungeon item(s), will address this design flaw.
• Better balance enemies. The original debuted Red Wizzrobes, Blue Darknuts in dungeons, Like-Likes, Red Lanmolas, Keese/Vire Tribbles, Gel/Zol Tribbles, a Super Darknut and worst of all, a Patra as the boss. That's a lot of new enemies. My proposal is to keep a few enemies as being new, but consider changing the boss to something a bit easier. Also, as I did with level 3, I'm not going to spam the hell out of bosses.
• Place the map in an easier location other than the path to the boss. That's just bad design IMO.
• Keep the overall difficulty such that you "should" have the Blue Ring at this point, but you're not completely screwed if you didn't go into the optional but recommended dungeon to get it. Considering many of the enemies above can do 2 hearts base damage, that may cause a sudden spike in difficulty although I'm hoping the player would have the Blue Ring. But if I balance around no ring at all, 8 hearts and having Red Potions, then those that have the Blue Ring will find level 4 to be a joke.

Some other quest-related changes are as follows:

• Made a block in level 2 pushable (suggested by NewJourneysFire)
• Redesigned level 2 a bit to mitigate backtracking
• Swapped a normal key and Boss Key location in level 2 to address the above point
• Reinstated rings changing Link's tunic color (suggested by Pixcalibur and many others)
• Bone Club has been turned back into a Wooden Sword and is referred to as a "splinter stick"
• Boomerangs can now block projectiles and Magical Boomerang's price has been reduced

Other questions:

• Should I change the Silver Scoprion (Leever 3) to be a different enemy to make getting the Empty Bottle (allows you to buy Red Potions) to another enemy to make it easier/harder to get or possibly make it so you can't get it as early? For instance, replacing the Leever 3 with a Digdogger so you have to return to the level 3 area with the Whistle to get the Empty Bottle?
• The Sand Dune Temple isn't exactly a "mini-dungeon" as size-wise, it's on par with the main levels. What's a better name for dungeons that you're strongly recommended to go to, but are NOT mandatory?
• Should I start focusing purely on the overworld design before making the dungeons going forward or continue designing the world as I go?
• Should I take Evan20000's advice and resprite my first boss as Moosh to make it less boring (related to some screenshots I posted in a different thread yesterday as a response to Evan's joke he made during NJF's stream of my Expo)?
• Should I reduce the range of the Magic Boomerang to make it a more attractive purchase? I have no plans of adding damage to it since I want to reserve stunning Darknuts and Wizzrobes for the Fire Boomerang and Longshot only.
• Should I begin to instate monster "weaknesses"? For instance, an enemy may be weak to arrows but resistant to the sword without arrows being a one-hit kill.
• Considering the danger level and in some cases questionable design behind some of the game's stronger enemies, do you guys feel that the following revamps would be balanced?

• Stalfos 3: Keep at 12 HP, reduce contact damage from 6 to 4 and reduce sword damage from 24 down to 16
• Super Darknut: Keep at 32 HP, reduce contact damage from 16 to 12
• Death Knight: Keep at 60 HP, reduce contact damage from 40 to 16 and reduce sword damage from 80 to 24 (at Red Ring level, a sword does 1 1/2 hearts instead of 5 hearts)
• Mirror Wizzrobe: Reduce HP from 192 to 64-80, reduce overall damage from 32 down to 16 (takes 4-5 reflected shots instead of 6)
• Cracktorok: Keep at 40 HP, reduce contact damage from 20 to 8 and magic damage from 40 to 16

In short with #7, I want to make it so no enemy does more than 6 hearts baseline damage.

I appreciate any feedback that I get.

[TK8305]

Don't over analyze. Just balance stuff out as best you can.  Can't please every person on this forum with every detail.

[Eddy]

Well, I said it before and I'll say it again. It doesn't really matter how long it takes to complete sections of a quest or whatever. You can have a 1 year break and still end up with some good stuff. It just takes time to get that motivation back, so just don't worry about it. Worrying only makes things worse, and then it leads to rushing a project and then you got a mediocre quest.

 

As for the changes and plans, they all look pretty sweet and definitely will make the quest better.

 

As for questions, that's a lot of questions Will answer anyway... (sorry for some of them being short, but most of those questions are pretty easy to answer IMO lol)

 

1 - Up to you, I don't mind either way.

2 - Bonus Dungeon? Side Dungeon? Extra Dungeon? I dunno. I still would call it a Mini Dungeon anyway because I'm too used to that name.

3 - I always go for the 2nd approach so I have a clear direction as to where the quest is going, but that can be pretty tricky for others. The other way works better for other people but doesn't work so well for me, so honestly I can't really answer that since it's more of a preference thing. (Go with whichever one works best for you and what you're most comfortable with)

4 - Would be fine for a joke quest, don't think it would fit too well for a quest like this though.

5 - I'm honestly fine with full range myself, but up to you I guess.

6 - Would be a neat system, I've seen some other quests do this, but not a lot of them do that. I'd say go for it.

7 - All of those enemy changes look good.

 

Also, gonna second TK's comment about over analysing. Over analysing a project can get pretty crazy after a while and then you'll definitely stress out far more than you need to and worry about almost everything. (not saying you're doing this now because you aren't, just some advice for the future when you're nearing completion)

 

Good luck with getting Level 4 done!

[KingPridenia]

Don't over analyze. Just balance stuff out as best you can.  Can't please every person on this forum with every detail.

 

I do admit that is one thing I should work on. I have a good idea what balanced enemies and content are like and I really need to stop doubting myself and fearing feedback.

 

Well, I said it before and I'll say it again. It doesn't really matter how long it takes to complete sections of a quest or whatever. You can have a 1 year break and still end up with some good stuff. It just takes time to get that motivation back, so just don't worry about it. Worrying only makes things worse, and then it leads to rushing a project and then you got a mediocre quest.

 

As for the changes and plans, they all look pretty sweet and definitely will make the quest better.

 

As for questions, that's a lot of questions Will answer anyway... (sorry for some of them being short, but most of those questions are pretty easy to answer IMO lol)

 

1 - Up to you, I don't mind either way.

2 - Bonus Dungeon? Side Dungeon? Extra Dungeon? I dunno. I still would call it a Mini Dungeon anyway because I'm too used to that name.

3 - I always go for the 2nd approach so I have a clear direction as to where the quest is going, but that can be pretty tricky for others. The other way works better for other people but doesn't work so well for me, so honestly I can't really answer that since it's more of a preference thing. (Go with whichever one works best for you and what you're most comfortable with)

4 - Would be fine for a joke quest, don't think it would fit too well for a quest like this though.

5 - I'm honestly fine with full range myself, but up to you I guess.

6 - Would be a neat system, I've seen some other quests do this, but not a lot of them do that. I'd say go for it.

7 - All of those enemy changes look good.

 

Also, gonna second TK's comment about over analysing. Over analysing a project can get pretty crazy after a while and then you'll definitely stress out far more than you need to and worry about almost everything. (not saying you're doing this now because you aren't, just some advice for the future when you're nearing completion)

 

Good luck with getting Level 4 done!

 

Thanks Eddy! I'll keep those things in mind going forward.