Alright, the so-called 'z3' demo's up.
New screens:
z3 Demo:
DOWNLOADz3 Trailer:
DOWNLOADControls:
Direction keys plus
X = sword (not used in this demo)
S = shield
Z = context-sensitive action
A = assigned item (not used in this demo)
+ / - on keypad = toggles between windowed and fullscreen modes
Please note this is not an early release of the demo I'd intended for completion in August this year. This demo was originally concieved as just being a taster, released pretty much for the hell of showing something at z3, which should have been back in May. That deadline passed and there's still not been a z3, and as a result I've not been able to get back into it. But I no longer care about z3 - I just want this demo out there. It's the prologue and as such there's not much to do beyond a bit of exploration and conversation, but it *is* the actual game - so expect to start out item-less!
For those of you who have been following this project (I thank you
) this demo will introduce you for the first time to a concept I've previously only made cryptic references to, revolving around the passing of time, and the comings and goings of the passengers and crew of three ships in the sea ports of Hyrule. Yes, we're on the Great Sea again. This game is loosely set some vague number of centuries after The Wind Waker, and the water has begun to recede and three new provinces have been established. Travel between them, however, is still only possible by sailboat. There are three ships (named Din's Fire, Farore's Wind and, yep, Nayru's Love) that sail around Hyrule on a continuous round-trip journey that takes three days, i.e. a day in each port, travelling through the night. Each ship will dock in all of the three sea ports over the course of the rotating three-day cycle - think of them as following each other in a circle (or triangle
) round the map.
When Link boards one of the ships for the first time, he is mistaken for the new trainee cabin boy and is told to report to the captain, who issues him with his Cabin Boy's Handbook. Similar to the Bombers' Notebook in that it is used to keep track of each of the crew and passengers' routines (with space for anybody else he might meet along the way) it ticks them off when you've cured them of their particular nightmare.
Whilst all this sailing is a crafty way of making the map seem huge, like you have to cross oceans and visit far-off lands to complete your quest, it's primarily a nice, tidy way of imposing a repeating three-day sequence onto the game without the Groundhog Day-style repetition of Majora's Mask. You're not doomed to repeat the same three days over and over, it's just that each ship rolls in to port once every three days, and when they do, the crew and passengers have a big influence on the lives and routines of the locals, thus tailoring the gameplay to that specific day.
Hope I've explained that properly.
Harbour Concept Art:
Between the original z3 deadline and now, I couldn't realistically get all the additional stuff I wanted to include done in time, so the harbour of Hyrule Town is for the most part empty. You'll see the ships in this demo, and get a feel for how it all works, but you won't see much evidence of the passengers and crew, I'm afraid... And you might find some of the NPCs that do appear in the game mysteriously disappear at certain times. This is because they are affected by clock-based conditions that I haven't coded yet - not because I've forgotten about them! For example, you'll meet a guy in Kakariko Village (known to me only as 'Parcel Guy') who you won't be able to find anywhere on the third day. He will ultimately be found in Hyrule Castle Town yelling at the Postman for not delivering his mail. But the Post Office hasn't been completed as yet... So, just be mindful of stuff like that. But experiment - though the demo effectively ends when you reach the harbour (since there's nothing further to do) you can go back to Kakariko Village and observe a little of the lives of its inhabitants over the three day cycle. If you've got nothing better to do, that is...
What else? Oh yeah, there's currently no way into either the windmill or the gravedigger's hut. So I wouldn't waste your time looking for one, if I were you. Same goes for the Lost Woods and Lake Hylia. Though they're signposted I've not got round to completing them yet.
And no, you don't get a sword in this demo. It stops short of the sequence in the story where you first get a sword. If you really want to heck up some bushes, you can always go back and play the technical demo again, which can be found
here.
The file weighs in at a hefty 10Mb because there's a load of uncompressed sound effects in there. I will work on reducing this before the next demo. There are some effects missing because I didn't think it would be a good idea making the file any bigger at this stage...
So, like I said, this demo's meant as a little taster. I've still got a lot of work to do to join up the two segments I've finished: this opening segment, and the first (virtually finished) dungeon. When I've done that much, I will release it as another demo, finished to as high a standard as I can. I'm happy with the quality of everything apart from Hyrule Town harbour - it's just unfinished and a little unpolished right now. Hopefully it evokes the right atmosphere though. There's still the odd thing I need to get done elsewhere, but the rest of it should be representative of the finished product.
I hope you enjoy the demo.
KM