NOTICE!
SPIRIT'S QUEST HAS BEEN ABANDONED AND ALL THE DATA HAS BEEN RELEASED TO THE PUBLIC
You will find the Spirit's Quest project download link in the last post on page 7.
(Note: this title graphic is merely a placeholder)The Legend of Zelda: Spirit's Quest
INDEX
Since this is a rather long post, I've made it easier to navigate by letting you jump directly to a section, or sub-section, of your choice. You may also easily jump back to the top of the page by clicking one of the triforce icons (located in the section titles).
Another thing you may notice is that, next to all of the sub-sections listed, there are "last updated" dates. I put them in the sections index so that you may easily find what's been updated lately without having to actually click a link to a section to see if it's been updated or not (as I had it before). To make it even easier to spot new updates, the latest update will be put in bold. Nice huh? ^,^ !
SECTIONS INDEX:
ABOUT
GENERAL INFO: Name: "The Legend of Zelda: Spirit's Quest"
Type: Platformer
Genre: Action, Adventure
Players: 1 player only
Graphical Style: 2D, Custom (Link's character style is based off of Cave Story's main character)
Resolution: 320x240
Dev Tool: Game Maker 8.0
Influences: Cave Story, Zelda II, anime, Legend of Princess, many other Zelda games and Zelda-related things.
Total Progress:
2%
(Note: There's no way to tell exact percentage at this point in development. Actually, true percentage is impossible to show, so this will always be a rough estimate.)
STORY: TLoZ: Spirit's Quest once again puts you in the boots of the young hero, Link. However, instead of Link embarking on a quest to save Hyrule or another land from a great evil as he usually does, Link will find himself being forced to fight for his own life (though, ultimately, if Link dies then Hyrule is in danger, no?).
It all starts when Link is sleeping peacefully in his house (no doubt dreaming of that hottie, Zelda ;p) when he is interrupted by the sudden appearance of a seemingly demented Wizzrobe. After the Wizzrobe introduces himself as Tangle, he tells Link that he wants to play a game with him. As Tangle explains the rules, he reveals that Link must face a dungeon of trials in which Link must pass in order to escape the dungeon. After Tangle expresses the joy he will get out of watching Link fight for his life, Tangle transports Link into an eerie and dimly lit dungeon room. Link has no choice but to "play" Tangle's game if he wants to win his freedom. And so it begins.
MAIN CHARACTERS:
Link:
Yep, it's that guy in green again. In this game, Link is a teenager living in a small house within a secluded forest area. So, what's Link's backstory? Why is he living in a secluded forest area? My answer is this: We don't ask why, we don't care why, all we know is that we want to play an epic adventure and stab things!
(Pic N/A) Tangle the Wizzrobe:
This guy is the big evil of the story. It's clear that there's something terribly wrong with this guy, I mean, even more so than other Wizzrobes.
Sprite, the Fairy (or is it Fairy the Sprite? ...):
Sprite will join Link on his adventure. To Link's surprise, Sprite will end up being very unlike the nice fairies he's previously known and heard of. Sprite's not like them at all, no way! Sprite is like a powerful ball of magical anger, just waiting to kill! Kill!! KILL!!!
(Pic N/A) Tangle's 5 Bros and 5 Sissys: (To prevent over-spoiling, there will be no pic)
That's right, there are more Wizzrobes like Tangle, 10 to be exact. Tangle's bros and sissys can't wait to play with Link.
(Pic N/A) Marty the Ghost:
Marty runs "the shop" in the game. Marty is a ghost, yes, but he's like Casper, he's friendly (sorry if you don't get the reference). He's just there to help you out as much as he can, but hey, he needs to make a profit ya know, so he's going to ask you to pay up! I mean, come on, a ghost can only be so friendly.
GAMEPLAY: Link will have to run and jump through a massive dungeon, gathering various useful items, fighting many kinds of enemies, solving puzzles, etc. Pretty much what you'd expect from a Zelda... or is it? Actually, though there are plenty of the more-common Zelda elements, there are also some fairly original ones.
When you first get your fairy, Sprite, she will have the power to heal Link at the cost of magic power. However, her magic does not stop there. As Link progresses on his quest, he will obtain new powers for Sprite to use. Let's just say that, while most fairies can only heal, this fairy will be able to destroy (no more wimpy fairies!). Of course Sprite will also give hints and helps on the quest, as you'd expect.
The game will be constructed in a way that makes each quest unique. In explaining, Link will have to complete 10 different areas in what is basically a massive dungeon. But, for every new quest, each of the 10 area's will be constructed differently and will contain different treasures. I guess you could say that it's semi-randomly generated, which means that every new quest REALLY is a new quest.
Also, because of the unique way I'm making the game play out, I'm able to make the gameplay a bit less-linear than Nintendo's official Zelda games. Meaning that you, the player, gets to choose how to play the game (i.e. which areas you want to beat first or save for later, which items you want to have first or save for later, etc).
DEVELOPMENT
STEPS OF DEVELOPMENT:What's Done?- Camera Movement Engine
- Platform PaC (Physics and Collisions) Engine
- Acceleration and deceleration/friction (x movement)
- Jumping and gravity (y movement)
- Part-pixel movement (e.g. ability to move 1/4 of a pixel at a time)
- All solid collisions
- Slope movement
- Stairways and platforms (these can be jumped up through and landed on, as well as dropped down from)
- Moving Platforms (these can be jumped up through and landed on, as well as dropped down from)
- Ice (character slides down slopes and gains momentum, allowing the player to gain a lot of speed, but ice also has a fair loss of movement control)
- Liquid-type (i.e. any substance Link can swim in)
- Muck-type (e.g. sinking sand or swampy marshes)
- Climbable-type
- Link's Basic Animations and Actions
- Planning of Link's actions & animations (excluding special animations for certain items which will be added later in the development)
- Button assignments for using Link's abilities (i.e. item button, action button, button combos for the sword, etc) and inventory as well as the fairy's magic
What's Being Done?- Heads Up Display
- HUD functionality engine (i.e. getting life/magic, losing life/magic, increasing/decreasing heart containers, action button graphic that tells what actions may be taken, etc)
What Comes Next?- Link's Basic Animations and Actions
- Adding Link's animations to the already coded "basic" actions (i.e. walking, jumping, swimming, look up and down, etc)
- Coding Link's dodging action + Link's animations for that
- Coding grab/push/pull-type + Link's animations for that
- Coding pickup-type + Link's animations for that (e.g. a pickup type is like a pot or a bomb flower that you may pick up and carry around)
- Fix up any sprites of Link that need it (there are definitely a few that need some tlc)
Ok, What Comes After That? When all of Link's basic actions and animations are complete, I will add in the item sub-screen and I will begin to add in items. Before I do anything with other items, I will add all of Link's sword and shield actions, as this is his main item (the sword and shield act as one item). After the sword and shield are coded in, I will probably add in Link's fairy and set up her AI a bit. Since the fairy plays an important role, I may add in all of her magic skills before doing Link's items, since her magic will be fairly easy to code compared to Link's items anyway. One way or another, I will work on adding things to the item screen, one by one. Of course, I will probably have to make a couple enemies (probably Keese and Gels) in here to test some items and fairy magic on (oh yeah baby!).
After I get the items done, I might decide to work on the introduction to the game which leads into the menu. At this point I will probably add in settings (for controls, text speed, whether to allow story skip, etc) and saving. Then I will probably add in the very first story part of the game which leads to the starting point of the actual gameplay. Somewhere in here I will have to begin to think in great detail on how I will go about creating the randomly generated rooms, how they will be saved and loaded, etc (the oober tricky stuff). And that's about as far as I can think without developing the game further. But that's the rough plan on how it will go down. I do have a ton more planned, it's just not all together yet because the game needs to come along further first.
VIDEOS AND SCREENS:| LATEST: | | |  07/19/2011 - First Legit Screenshot: The HUD |  | That's right, you're no longer looking at a mockup. Therefore, this is my first "real" screenshot. The HUD is totally functional except for the yellow action notifier that pops up when Link is able to do various things (e.g. use, climb, pick up, grab, enter, open, etc). The HP and MP bars have drain and fill animations, the sword and shield "glow" when Link is able to do a special attack/defense move, the counts of HP, MP, keys, rupees, arrows, and bombs, are completely functional, etc.
| | |  03/18/2011 - Physics and Collision Test 2 | | In this second video update of the Physics and Collisions (PaC) Engine, all known issues have been fixed and more has been added. The PaC now has part-pixel movement for a much better feel and response. Also, ice physics and moving platforms have been added in.
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DEMO RELEASES:No demos yet. Patience laddy!
GML RELEASES: Nothing to give yet. Unfortunately, very little GML will be released until the game is complete or at least near completion. This is to insure quality of the code. Also, I don't want to end up releasing code that get's changed later on because of a change in the game's mechanics or something. But don't worry, I plan to release my source code eventually, and in the form of tutorials and examples so pretty much anyone can pick it up and understand it. This is the plan anyway.
OTHER RELEASES:| LATEST: | | | | 06/27/2011 - A revised HUD mockup. |  | | | | 04/14/2010 - Early design of Tangle. |  |
| | PREVIOUS: | | | | 03/28/2010 - Item/Menu screen design. |  | | | | 03/28/2010 - A HUD mockup. |  | | | | 03/28/2010 - An early palette and tile test. |  |
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WANT TO HELP? HERE'S HOW!
PLEASE READ THIS FIRST: I began this project with the intent of doing everything myself, and I still expect to do almost all of the work. However, I decided that if anyone else really wants to help out with the game's development, I should let them. If you want to contribute to the project, please read the following before doing anything:
Below this sub-section, I have many other sub-sections listed, with each sub-section having to do with an area of development (e.g. programming, sprites, etc) in which I may or may not want help with, depending on what the details say.
As the project progresses, I will update the details of these sub-sections to make sure that I'm asking for things that I need. So please be sure to check up on the "last updated" date (located in the sections index), because, if it has changed since the last time you saw it, that means that I have either taken out something that I no longer need, or I have added in something new that I need.
Any help given will earn you a place in the credits, according to how much and what type of help you've given to the project. I'm a firm believer in giving credit where credit is due.
IMPORTANT:
If you plan to help with coding or any of the graphics, understand that I plan to release most of the code and ALL of the graphics so that anyone can use them to learn from and to use in their own projects. Absolutely no graphic will be made strictly for Spirit's Quest use; I will release all the graphics sometime after the game's completion. This means that, if you help out by making a graphic or by giving code, your work will be released as a resource for anyone to use in whatever way they please. If you wish to be credited for something, make sure to let me know, otherwise I will label it as, "...by (your name). No credit required." If you don't want your work to be given out freely as a resource then don't submit anything to this project, or you can just help out in another area of development besides programming or graphics.
PROGRAMMING: Sorry programmers, but I plan to code everything myself. However, I will not hesitate to ask for help if I need it. Furthermore, I do plan to release a few of my engine tests in GMK format ( Game Maker 8 ). This means that, if you have Game Maker 8, you can look at the code and offer any suggestions that you may have to make it better. If your suggestion is good, I will make the necessary code adjustments myself and you will be credited accordingly under "code helps".
When the game is complete, if you wish to port this to another language (a "real" one), feel free to ask me. If I think it's a good idea, I will give you the GMK of the game and I'll offer whatever help necessary to make it happen. (Note to Mamoru: If you still plan on porting this to your Surface Engine, then so do I.)
SPRITES: I have no specific things to list at this time. Be sure to check up on this for an update every now and then, as I'm sure I'll have something to post here eventually.
TILES: I have no specific things to list at this time. Be sure to check up on this for an update every now and then, as I'm sure I'll have something to post here eventually.
MUSIC: I currently have no openings for music. For one thing, the project isn't quite at the point where music is needed. Another reason why I don't have any openings is because I already have Darklight helping with music, and I plan on doing some music myself as well. Furthermore, it's best to keep the number of composers at a minimum, for quality consistency reasons as well as a few other reasons. I don't expect I'll ever need another composer for this project, but you never know.
SOUND EFFECTS: Usually, most people use ripped sounds from other Zelda games. I might end up doing just that, since making custom sound effects is something I know practically nothing about. If anyone here actually makes sound effects and wants to help out in this area, send a PM my way or make a post in this thread. However, at this point in time, I'm not really concerned about sounds as much as other things like programming and graphics.
OTHER WAYS YOU CAN HELP:Feedback: It's greatly appreciated when you play around with any released demos and/or engine tests and give me feedback on your likes, dislikes, what you would change, etc. The same goes for any aspect of the game, whether it is regarding the graphics, gameplay, item functions, the HUD layout, anything. If you don't have any constructive criticism to give, then just letting me know how much you love the project is also appreciated.
Testing: Once I get some demos up, you can try to break any of the demos that I've upload and let me know of any flaws you might find (please be as detailed as possible) so that I can try to fix them and upload a new version with the fixes. I really want solid quality here, so the more testers the better. Thanks in advance testers!
Enemy Ideas: One area that I can definitely say is open to suggestion is what enemies the game should have. However, bosses are pretty much figured out at this point in time, so I'm not looking for any boss suggestions. This does not mean I will not be able to use bosses of previous Zelda's as normal enemies. This game is going to need some pretty intense enemies toward the end, so feel free to suggest any enemy of previous Zelda games. I'm not just looking for names of enemies from previous Zelda games but I'd also like to hear how you think the enemy AI should work and maybe even give me some new ideas for actions not seen in previous Zelda's. You could even throw out a design for the enemy if you wish. Lastly, though I'd like to have mostly familiar Zelda enemies, I do want a few original ones, so feel free to throw an original enemy idea at me, just be sure to give good details on it's design (throw me some concept art if you wish) and it's AI. As I said, I'm totally open to any enemy-related suggestions.
WHO'S RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS?
THE TEAM:FrozenFire - Project Lead, Programmer, Game Design, Graphics, etc.
Darklight - Music.
CREDITS:PROGRAMMING:
FrozenFire
CODE HELPS:
Mamoruanime (helped me without even knowing it!)
Aero88 (suggested to use parents)
GRAPHICS:
FrozenFire
Ryuza
(also some placeholder graphics from Nintendo, i.e. some of the title)
MUSIC:
Darklight
FrozenFire
SOUND EFFECTS:
N/A
TESTING:
FrozenFire
CREATIVE CONSULTANTS:
Martijn dh
Darklight
Ryuza
Niek
SPECIAL THANKS:
ZFGC - Thanks for the support guys!
Pixel - This game would not exist without Pixel's game, Cave Story.[/td][/tr][/table][/td][/tr][/table]
