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[jsm116]

So it turns out there's not a lot for me to do between the wife becoming pregnant and the baby being born. Also, job hunting and school don't take up that much of my day. Also also, if I try to put more than 2500 words/day into my novel I go all wiggly. So I needed something else to keep me occupied and my wife suggested I go back to Zelda, as I really do enjoy questmaking. Which is to say that Brightsea Empire is back! I decided to start from scratch, as the classic tileset wasn't doing it for me. And I wasn't in love with the maps. I honestly wasn't that far into the quest so starting over wasn't a huge loss. Most of the time I'd put in was on the scripting, which I was able to rebuild with certain things being done correctly from the start rather than kludging things together after the fact. So I grabbed the EZGB tileset, fired up notepad++, and got to work.

And now I'm almost ready to post a demo that covers the first 8x8 overworld and first two dungeons.

Exciting features!
-Four buttons of fun. The game is designed to be played with a game controller, but a keyboard will work fine too. (B) - Weapons (A) - Tools (X) - Magic (Y) - Jump. Jumping is a big part of not getting dead.
-Three panel subscreen that covers not just switching equipment but also info on inventory items and tech scrolls.
-Tech scrolls, you ask? Yes! Each weapon and tool can be upgraded by finding the scrolls, 2 per weapon and 1 per tool. Most of these aren't essential to beating the game, but they do make it more fun.
-Six spells that power up throughout the game. White magic is learned by leveling up, Black magic is found throughout the world.
-EXP system that buffs you throughout the game
-New enemies aplenty
-Sardonic humor coming from people, books, signs, notices, whatever.
-Fully scripted shops that allow for up to 8 items per shop and don't try to sell you something you already own.
-Scripted treasure chests that allow for having up to 8 chests per screen (heck yeah storage rooms!)
-LttP style maps (thanks Moscow) for the dungeons

Things I'm working on
-Still figuring my way through ghost.zh. So far I've got a throwing morningstar darknut, a boss that throws more and faster spike balls as he gets hurt, and an air elemental that traps you with a punishing whirlwind. Enemies I've got plans for are a fire elemental that shoots fire (duh), an earth elemental that throws rocks and causes earthquakes, a water elemental that's very slippery, and some kind of jumping ninja guy. And some more bosses. Those are going to take some thought.
-The part of quest making I've always hated was the actual drawing of the maps. This is why it takes me forever to put out a new quest. Also I get bogged down in the minutiae of scripting (which is the part I really like anyway). But switching over to the EZGB tiles have helped--Link's Awakening holds a special place in my heart and I like working with the graphics.
-I'll have some screenshots up before long, and I'll probably do a demo sometime pretty soon.
-Sound is always the last thing I deal with so the demo won't have music and the sfx are wonky if they're there at all. I will recommend playing it muted. I'll cover this again when I put out the demo. Honestly since I'm usually watching TV when I play Zelda I leave the sound off and forget to make sure the sounds are correct when I'm adding new items or enemies.

So anyway, I'll have more soon. Thanks for hanging in!