Author Topic: 2007/10: Castlevania: Harmony Of Dissonance (GBA) - Zeric  (Read 22564 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline JonLeung

  • Administrator
  • *****
  • Posts: 3630
2007/10: Castlevania: Harmony Of Dissonance (GBA) - Zeric
« on: September 30, 2007, 02:02:05 pm »
User posted image
Castlevania: Harmony Of Dissonance


For this month's "Maps of the Month" featurette, I wish to draw your attention to Zeric's Castlevania: Harmony Of Dissonance (GBA) maps.



Drac's back!  And we know what that means - more Castlevania!  This time around, Simon Belmont's grandson, Juste Belmont, must venture into Dracula's Castle after the kidnapping of his friend Lydie, which will lead him on quest to collect the parts of Dracula (much like in Castlevania II: Simon's Quest 50 years earlier), and also to save his friend Maxim, who has been possessed by the Count.



One twist in the story is that at one point, Juste learns that the castle he has been fighting through is actually two separate castles.  Like in many other "dual-world" games, the rooms are very similar in layout between the two castles, but he must frequently travel back and forth between the two in order to collect all the equipment and relics he will need to be able to defeat Dracula...for this generation at least.



The two castles mean, of course, twice as much adventure!  Actually submitted to the site before sprays's Circle Of The Moon map (honoured back in June), this pair of Dracula's Castles was the first time VGMaps.com received a full "Castleroid" map.  It had long been a dream to have one of them mapped, and Zeric came through with two!  And they're huge!  (Luckily, they're also broken up by area, just in case your browser can't handle the full maps.)



So to recognize the effort put into making these massive milestone maps, Zeric's Castlevania: Harmony Of Dissonance maps will be known as VGMaps.com's Maps of the Month for October 2007.

Offline TerraEsperZ

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2315
RE: 2007/10: Castlevania: Harmony Of Dissonance (GBA) - Zeric
« Reply #1 on: October 01, 2007, 05:38:15 am »
Ah, Castlevania: Harmony Of Dissonance! I too have a rather long history where this game's maps are concerned.



This game was one of the first I attempted to map several years ago, back when I didn't quite know what I was doing since all the sprites were missing. Still, I managed to do close to half of the game before losing interest.



I picked it up again two years ago and made a lot of progress in re-doing everything again with much better results. At about that time, I exchanged a few emails with Zeric since I remembered that on an earlier incarnation of the VGMaps forum, he had claimed the game as his to map.



I think I had assumed, with no official news from him, that the project had stalled, but it hadn't. After a few emails where he admitted he was a bit angry at me stealing it from him, I agreed to him that he could have it while I kept working on my maps here because he was using the japanese name for the game and I somehow thought that he was actually working on Aria Of Sorrow.



Anyway, we both kept working on it at a good pace, but as always, I got sidetracked with another set of maps (several sets actually) which allowed Zeric to finished the maps ahead of me. I was a bit disappointed that all my work ended up being for naught, but I understood that I had set myself up for it three times over: by not remembering Zeric's claim on the game way back when, by mistaking which game he was actually mapping because of the japanese name, and by not following it through to the end as is my habit.



I've long had the ambition of mapping all three GBA Castlevania games, something which I've yet to realize because of my lack of focus. Now, only Aria Of Sorrow remains, and even though it would be tempting to finish those maps, I already have too many unfinished maps as is, and someone's bound to come out of the woodwork and publish his maps for the game while I'd still be doing mine so no thanks.



Anyway, back to Zeric, since it's his thread after  all :) What can I say about his maps? Well, they're about 99.99% identical to mine, which is to say that they're as perfect as they can be in my mind. What else needs to be said ;) ?



---

"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
Current project that are on hold because job burnout :
-Drill Dozer (GBA)
-Sonic 3D Blast (Genesis)
-Naya's Quest (PC)

Offline Maxim

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 974
RE: 2007/10: Castlevania: Harmony Of Dissonance (GBA) - Zeric
« Reply #2 on: October 02, 2007, 02:56:25 am »
"and also to save his friend Maxim, who has been possessed by the Count"



Say what?

Offline JonLeung

  • Administrator
  • *****
  • Posts: 3630
RE: 2007/10: Castlevania: Harmony Of Dissonance (GBA) - Zeric
« Reply #3 on: October 03, 2007, 12:15:41 pm »
Hmmm, is that really you, Maxim, or do we need to have our whip ready?



I imagine even Dracula himself might need a map to get around, if his castle keeps getting reconfigured every time he's brought back.  Of course, the link between the castle and himself means the castle is a part of him so maybe he naturally knows how to get around the castle, if he ever actually needs to.  Or something.



Anyway, I was surprised that I hadn't given Zeric the honour of Mapmaker Of The Month for a long time.  Though I'll probably be doing it again soon enough (hint hint).

Offline marioman

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 649
RE: 2007/10: Castlevania: Harmony Of Dissonance (GBA) - Zeric
« Reply #4 on: October 03, 2007, 01:43:22 pm »
JonLeung Said:


and also to save his friend Maxim, who has been possessed by the Count"






*Runs off to frantically look for some garlic*





JonLeung Said:


Anyway, I was surprised that I hadn't given Zeric the honour of Mapmaker Of The Month for a long time. Though I'll probably be doing it again soon enough (hint hint).






New maps or ones that are already on the site?  That particular project that he is working on now will probably get Map of the Month if he ever gets it finished. >_>