When you say ZFGC is taking the trophy for NCFC, what do you mean? All but 3 of the games are by people from ZFGC, and we're pretty much all friendly rivals as well. Honestly, I'm rooting for King Tetiro and Chiming Bell, as he's been able to create a smooth engine (For the most part), add in a decent story from the looks of it, and have a full demo up to the end of his first dungeon by now.
Also, thanks for the kind words and support. I'm not going to give up on this game, and I definitely want to, and plan on finishing it. A lot of Zelda fan game creators that people seem to love usually stop not even half-way through, for whatever reason(s) they have. A lot of people seem to like my game, and I feel like if I ever stopped completely, I'd be letting down the fans, the community, and myself.
EDIT: Left out some other stuff I wanted to say...It's almost surprising that people really like my game as much as they do. When I look at other fan games, for instance, Crystal of Gidna, I just think "Wow, there's no way I'll ever be able to make my game as good or even better as it." I constantly try to improve my game, whether it be minor things like different kinds of plants in areas, rather than just bushes and tall grass, or major things, like new gameplay mechanics, items, etc.
IDK, I guess since I'm always working on it, testing it, etc., I get too used to the game, and it starts to feel dull to me, so I go and add something new. I mean, there's no limit to how much I can improve, and there will always be room for improvement, as no fan game is pefect, especially not mine. Like, when I look at my HUD, it looks boring to me, and I feel as though I could do so much better, but then I go and get feedback, and people love it. It's just hard to come to a half-way point between fans liking something, and then liking something myself.
EDIT2: Forgot to mention, the lightning flash is also in-game. I added a new weather effect for storms, where it gets a bit darker than it does during rain (Actually, it doesn't get any darker during rain, as I just picture that rain as rain showers), and there's flashes of lightning/thunder. I also added rain sounds, so it loops when it's raining or storming. I'm not sure what other weather effects I should add, as I've pretty much added all the main ones (Rainy, Stormy, Snowy, Sunny, Cloudy, Foggy). I love improving the atmosphere of the game as much as possible, so if anyone else has some global weather suggestions (As opposed to things like sandstorms which I will be adding to the Dustbird Desert), feel free to list them, and I'll try my best to add them.
EDIT3: Lol. I just keep thinking of more things I want to say. The graphical design/effects thing you mentioned...I try not to limit myself to 16/32-bit limitations, or rather, I don't try to limit myself to common 2D game mechanics/gameplay. If I actually knew how to use 3D, or even a better programming language, it'd probably still be the same as it is now, just in 3D and whatnot. I prefer 2D games as well, as I feel more emotion, atmosphere, and feeling can be put into a 2D game, as opposed to a 3D game. I just think 2D games look a lot nicer as well. Sadly, the current generation of gaming is all about 3D, and it's rare to find good 2D games, as developers that DO make 2D games are typically either indie developers (Not that that's bad, as there are a ton of great 2D games), or developers that make shovelware.
