Topic: The Legend Of Zelda: Oracle Of Hours (April Fools' 2008 Project) - Brainstorming Topic

[JonLeung]

RT 55J Said:

Speaking of knowing beforehand, the title of this thread should be changed, as even unregistered users can see the thread in the most recent posts list.

That's weird.  The topic title shouldn't've even been visible.  But it's fixed now.



Nice to see that I fooled you too, a couple years ago.  



I spoke to bustin98 briefly today about the possibility of him drawing the villain as a piece of coloured artwork, if we wanted to let Zelda fan sites know about this beforehand.  We haven't decided on a villain yet, but maybe bustin98 could do some sketches and we could pick the one we like and he could do one fully coloured.  I asked if he could emulate the Oracle artwork fairly closely, and in the case of a villain, he wouldn't be bound to the same "accuracy" as drawing Link (though I asked about that too).  He mentioned that colouring it would be a good idea, as the characters he drew last year, while pretty good, could have used some colour.



But of course I should ask you if we even want to send artwork and/or screenshots of the game to other web sites at all, and if we do, if we should give them forewarning that it's a joke, or risk it ruined before we even put it up here.  After all, this is OUR joke.  Does VGMaps.com need help in perpetuating the joke?  Perhaps we should just let it be, and at some point someone's going to be fooled.  More on this later...

[bustin98]

Hey, I popped in and read pretty much everything thats going on. Day and night sounds cool. What I didn't come away with from all the reading is what is the villains role in the game is, other than the last boss. I'll make some designs, but I need some info, if there is any. Otherwise I could just draw up some designs based on an idea that the baddie is a creature of the night, and an idea of him being a creature of light. That may go against the norm, but sometimes the enemy is the unexpected...



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Cool beans

[TerraEsperZ]

He could have two forms, one that looks heroic and regal (maybe the story of the game could have us fooled into thinking someone else is the villain), and one that is more demonic when his real identity is revealed; the two looking vaguely similar in general shape.



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"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." [...] The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. - Captain Jean-Luc Picard



B*tch, meet reality. Reality, meet b*tch. - Me

[bustin98]

Just had a thought. I don't know if the two forms would be intruding on the Prince of Persia Two Thrones idea. But I like the idea and would be cool to draw up.

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Cool beans

[TerraEsperZ]

I don't think so. With "The Two Thrones", the double identity was part of the gameplay. Here, we'd basically have a disguise and a true form.



And by the way, anyone has ideas about what they'd like to see on the overworld? One thing I thought about is that both Oracle games basically had two worlds to explore: Seasons had both Holodrum and underground Subrosia, while Ages had Labrynna in the present as well as the past. I'd expect a third Oracle game to feature something similar, but to be honest, that would entail much more work which I'm certain we don't need right now. I'm only mentioning it as a matter if principle.



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"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." [...] The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. - Captain Jean-Luc Picard



B*tch, meet reality. Reality, meet b*tch. - Me

[JonLeung]

Well, we do know that there would be night and day, and there should be enough variation for the two to be separate maps.



You would probably want to start with the day map (since it'd be more colourful), then when it's pretty much done, you derive the night map by darkening it or palette swapping the brightest colours.  Then of course you change the things for the night...closing up flowers, changing other plant life, raising the tide level, closing up buildings, opening/closing certain dungeons (though most of that should be taken care of with the specific day/night obstacles).  I was hesitant to have the water frozen during the night as that sounds too much like Oracle Of Seasons, but I suppose in the vicinity of the icy dungeon there could be a couple small patches that become ice.  You could have a large animal blocking a path (like the walrus or whatever it was in Link's Awakening that blocked the desert) that's asleep or in a different position.  Or a group of people in different positions, like in the excavation area.  (The thing about the tide...it's probably easier to show it rising if it was the whole south portion.  But I guess you didn't want that.  It's still doable on the side, of course, and you'd find a way.)



There's lots you could do, and yet it would still be relatively simple.  It doesn't have five "worlds" like Seasons (you mention Subrosia and Holodrum, but Holodrum had four seasons (and you also mapped the "default seasons")), and the two "worlds" wouldn't be as varied as the time periods in Ages.  Heck, day/night shouldn't even be as different as the Light/Dark Worlds of A Link To The Past.  You're changing some things, some of which are tile replacements (yay for Revned's tile slicer/splicer), and other minor things, but you wouldn't be altering the landscape or structures at all (other than the overall colour).



I actually think it'd be kind of fun...depending on how the time goes I could do the nighttime map instead of a third (or fourth!) dungeon if time allows if you didn't want to do it.  It seems like that'd be the most fun part, actually.  I've always enjoyed multiple "worlds" in the same physical space.  But if you made the day map, I think we'd both want you to do the night map if it's as simple as I'm thinking it will be.

[marioman]

Just a few things:



Here is an interesting article:



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Legend_of_Zelda:_The_Triforce_Trilogy



I hate to keep bringing up the name, but here is an interesting piece of info:



The titles Fruit of the Mysterious Tree: Chapter of Earth and Fruit of the Mysterious Tree: Chapter of Time and Space were used in Japan, while the North American and European versions were renamed Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages, respectively.



The Japanese name would have probably been something like Mysterious Tree: Chapter of Sun and Moon.  (Therefore leading to Oracle of Days, but that's another issue.)



Also, I don't know if you are going to provide a Photoshopped picture of the cartridge for "authenticity", but if you do, the label should be GREEN.



Lastly, what about the day/night switcher being a lantern?  Just an idea.



Nice to see the overworld map progressing.  IMO, that is the most interesting part of the Oracle games.

[RT 55J]

The boss that RT 55J used for his map already appears in the Ancient Ruins of OoS. Just to let you know.



Shows you how much I played the Oracle games.



Anyways, after looking at the Ancient Ruins map, I have come to the conclusion that the pixel artist who butchered Manhandla should die. I'm keeping my version.

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Dot? Dot. Dot!

[JonLeung]

I was going to ask, why is there a bombable opening into the boss room?  It's kinda awkward.  I don't see the point of getting a sneak peek at the boss and then falling.  And then what?  I don't even think that would work, you'd come back in the previous screen, which isn't right.  If we were making a StarTropics game, it wouldn't be too weird to have a room where you fall right away, but this here is too awkward.  I'd change it.



I also wonder if anyone's good with sprite art to do mini-bosses and bosses for people like me who might suck at original designs.

[RT 55J]

I was going to ask, why is there a bombable opening into the boss room?



That's just my twisted sense of humor at work.

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Dot? Dot. Dot!

[marioman]

Here is a continuation of my recent idea list:



Maybe we should build up the side quests by saying that there were x-many (50?) quests, and you get something special for completing them all.  Again, that would just reinforce the courage element of the game.



Another thing.  Wasn't the name of the Vampire Crypt going to be changed to something more Zelda-esque?

[JonLeung]

I would change the bombable opening, RT.  >_<



And marioman, since we're making maps, though coherent, I don't think we're going to be concerned with the inner workings of every little thing in the game, especially sidequests.  I'm sure TerraEsperZ will work in a number of things that imply sidequests but I see little point as to defining exactly what they are.  I suppose if someone were to make a fake review of the game, we could mention such things like examples of some and the number of them, but otherwise it seems like something we can't really integrate in the maps themselves.



And I'm questioning my previous idea of having other web sites in on this or having a review.  The maps should stand on their own.  Last year, I saw a few sites that debunked the http:://solid-x.com web site before any link to VGMaps.com was put up, likely causing our maps to not be noticed.  They said something about the screenshots on the site, but clearly hadn't seen the maps.  Not to say I didn't like the web site, but the timing of some Internet April Fool's joke scourers hit it up at the wrong time.



That said, while I would like bustin98's artistic take on the villain, we probably won't use it as I originally intended.  But maybe if he can do sprite art he can make us some bosses and mini-bosses?



The names aren't final.  It should probably still be some kind of dark/creepy crypt thing.  As to whether the boss is actually a vampire is probably a moot point.



I thought about a sundial myself, earlier.  Seemed too literal as a time-switching device.  The lantern you mentioned before is better.  I wonder if we can rework it to something else (but similar), though, since a lantern has been in several Zelda games.  Well, maybe it'll be okay if no one has dark rooms in their dungeons.  BESIDES the fact that I don't want to be the dick who shoots down every idea that isn't mine.

[TerraEsperZ]

A lantern seems too common to me. I'd rather it be something time-related, like an ornate mecanical watch, or even a sundial if it can be made to look good. How about a medallion like in ""The Mysterious Cities of Gold" cartoon, where you have a smaller sun surrounded by a crescent moon with sun rays motifs, thereby incorporating both day and night?



And yeah, this project is already big enough without putting time into defining every little subquest and caves. The goal for me will be to create locations that seem to hint that something should happen there, or places that seem unreachable at first glance but with interesting features so that peopel imagine that something cool must take place there.



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"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." [...] The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. - Captain Jean-Luc Picard



B*tch, meet reality. Reality, meet b*tch. - Me

[marioman]

I didn't mean give a list of the sidequests.  I was just saying that we could say that there is an incentive for completing all of the sidequests.  (An extra boss, connectivity with the other games, an item, etc.)  I figure that you are going to give a description of the game, so I was just making a suggestion for that.



The medallion switcher seems too generic.  The switchers in the other games have more than one part.  (The different songs for the Harp of Ages, and the different gems for the Rod of Seasons.)  I guess we would need a part that brings daylight and one that brings darkness.  Maybe that will trigger some ideas.

[RT 55J]

The medallion switcher seems too generic. The switchers in the other games have more than one part. (The different songs for the Harp of Ages, and the different gems for the Rod of Seasons.) I guess we would need a part that brings daylight and one that brings darkness. Maybe that will trigger some ideas.



Gun of Hours - Shoot yourself in the foot to switch the time of day! Different bullets have different effects. The only problem is it costs one heart.



Mushroom - While this might not actually change the time of day, you won't be able to tell the difference. Different sides have different effects.



Ocarina of Time - Play this instrument to...



Nevermind.



Another update.

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Dot? Dot. Dot!