8 replies to this topic

[Lightwulf]

Update time!!!

As you might have noticed in my signature, I finished the boss for Top Secret Area (TSA) #1 on 12/27/2013. (I actually stayed up late the previous night and made tremendous progress on it; mostly copying and pasting rooms, adding secret combos, assigning warps, and setting flags.) Since then, and officially today, TSA #1 is done!

I started TSA #2 tonight. However, it appears that my drawn (on paper) floor plan for TSA #2 was thrown away, along with my tentative screen plan for the boss. Luckily, I remember most of it, so I've been able to redraw the dungeon floor plan and have proceeded with making it. I only have a few screens right now and, as I've said, it's Top Secret so I can't tell you much about it; but what I can tell you is that this area uses the same dungeon doors (by Nolornbon ) that I used in level 9.
I can also tell you (reiterate, actually, because I've mentioned it before) that the boss of this area is going to be a custom boss (just like TSA #1 had a custom boss) so I will be making animations and using warps when I make it. So, yeah, it will probably take a while to complete just like TSA #1's boss took a while to complete. I will keep my progress on the boss for TSA #2 separate from my tally of progress on TSA #2 itself (just like I did for TSA #1) since I don't know how many screens the boss will take up.

So, besides TSA #2 and its boss, all I have left to do in this quest is make the ending, and I'm done!!! As it currently stands, I just updated the quest completion percentage in my signature from 92.4% to the current quest completion percentage of 96.6%! Progress is being made!!!

[sutibu]

Awesome! I've been following this quest behind the scenes for years (has it been years?) and I'm definitely looking forward to it. Looking at the screens has me excited. I'll definitely be playing this one once it's completed. If I get a chance before then I'll check out the demo. Good luck with its completion!

スティーブ

[Eddy]

the current quest completion percentage of 96.6%! Progress is being made!!!

YES! I'm really looking forward to playing this!

And expect and LP of this in the future when the time comes, I still have yet to place this somewhere on my list

[Air Luigi]

I hope you get the time for working in this quest continuously. I have been avoiding to play in depth the demo for a year >.< This looks a blast to play with the massive overworld, villages, placement of secrets and the custom stuff

[Legen Dary]

For what I've seen, I think I'm gonna love your quest, and it's difficult for me to love any quest, so maybe this is saying something.

Keep up the good work!

[Lightwulf]

Thanks, guys!

@sutibu: Yes, it actually has been years. I first announced it in 2011, when I actually first started in late 2010.

@EddytheOliveira: LP, FTW!!! If I had a microphone, I'd do something like that, myself, so I could bring the characters to life with voice acting!

@AirLuigi (I always liked that nick, BTW!): Yeah, sorry it's taking so long. If I didn't have family responsibilities, it probably would've been done a while ago.

@Legen Dary: Thanks!

[Lightwulf]

I started TSA #2 tonight. However, it appears that my drawn (on paper) floor plan for TSA #2 was thrown away, along with my tentative screen plan for the boss. Luckily, I remember most of it, so I've been able to redraw the dungeon floor plan and have proceeded with making it. ...

Well, it turns out that it wasn't thrown away! I found my plans!!! Yaaay!!! They weren't too much different from what I'd redrawn; I only had a few details off.

So, yeah, it's coming along quickly. I have over 75% of TSA #2 (besides the boss) completed already! Though the boss might take a while to do...

[Air Luigi]

Nice!

Although I don't have any idea about how your custom bosses work, those type of bosses are aging bad compared with the new scripted bosses. In my experience playing old 1.92/2.10 quests, the custom bosses tend to be a bit overcomplicated and unnatural, and not fun at all (there are exceptions). They aren't "real bosses" after all. And the questmaker take a loooooong time making them, and in my opinion, rarely worth the effort. Custom bosses aren't as amazing as back in the day, and they take more time than an scripted boss.

So, my advice is that a simpler custom boss may work better than an complex one. But I think is a bit later to say this, you only need one boss more xD

[Lightwulf]

@Air Luigi: I think I know what you mean, but keep in mind that 2.10 doesn't have the enemy editor. My intent was to create a quest within 2.10 limitations and then upgrade it to 2.50 later, as a DX version. And, just so you know, I'm not afraid to make 16-step animations with frame speed 1 just to make a nice animation. As an artist, I like to make it look good. And besides, for the kind of area that TSA #2 is, I wouldn't want any simpler bosses (unless you know how to make a regular enemy that's 4 tiles x 4 tiles in size!), though I can simplify my method to reduce the needed animations as much as possible. ... Sorry I can't explain more; that'll have to wait until after this quest is released and people ask about it.

... Of course, with custom bosses can come problems/bugs. (But then again, so does everything else, right? ) I've already had my share of bugs with the boss of TSA #1. My animations don't always start as planned (but, yes, I am aware of an option in 2.50 that can remedy that). *My direct warps aren't warping directly for some reason, forcing me to use blue warp squares to designate where Link will appear on each screen which I did not want to do. I'm not sure if it has to do with being a Dungeon-type DMap; or possibly that timed warps don't warp directly; or if maybe it has to do with using a high level number; or what else it could be. If you have any ideas on how to fix these in 2.10 (or even 2.50), please let me know.

Because of these problems, I've been thinking I'll have to at least do a minimal upgrade to 2.50 just prior to submission to the database. It won't involve adding enemies or anything; just mainly fixing these animation problems (which annoy the heck out of me) so that my cut scenes and custom bosses will work as intended. That being said, I was also considering submitting a 2.10 version for purity's sake, for those who would want to play it in 2.10, because it's designed for and playable in 2.10.