Like I mentioned in the previous post on this, I planned on posting up more of those screenshots from the old version of this thing -- and here they are!
Here's the starting point for this ancient version of the game. Not
drastically different from the current version, with the difference being that in the old version you had to wander around in the woods until you found a sword, being unable to get into the town or to any other important places until then.
The current version still keeps you in the starting area until you can chop down bushes (though you have access to the starting field and most of the town right away), but sends you into the castle to get a sword from one of the king's followers instead of having it out in the middle of nowhere.
This is (sort of?) a hint that the first upgraded sword can be found in a cave located on the far end of the lake. The lake (complete with sword cave) still exists in the current version, but now it's a lot smaller (only one screen, rather than its own area with its own music and everything) and a lot more well-hidden (you have to swim up a narrow river into the mountains to find it, rather than it being just plopped right there next to the town.)
Level 1 was... pretty generic back then. It's just this random cave north of town, infested with Leevers and Octoroks, and with a Gohma for the boss. It makes it seem like the relic at the end just kinda got dropped off in a random bug-infested cave, rather than being specifically placed there with various guards left to protect it as with most of them in the new version.
Of course, the new version does have one level that wasn't the original location of a relic, so maybe this one's a place where somebody stole it, then lost it somehow. Or hid it there but never came back for it.
As far as I can tell, the old version forces you to buy a key in order to get through Level 1, which is kind of annoying. This little mountain area is where the key shop is located, with one of those cave entrances taking you back into Level 1 and the other going to the shop.
And here's a room in Level 1 that was... kinda badly designed. >_< You have to kill all the enemies in the room before the blocks become pushable, but... they spawn outside the block circle, so when coming back in from the stairs you end up kinda trapped there unless you can bomb the Leever (and whatever else was in there) when it gets close to the blocks. Whoops.
A Moldorm as a sort of mini-boss. I think the boss key was hidden in the waterfall here, but I can't remember for sure. Also, these "cave" dungeon graphics are really ugly. I'm not sure why I did the "mountain edges" tiles around the side rather than just solid block walls all around, but it makes things look pretty bad.
And here's the boss! Those rocks are set up to block arrows, which makes this a little less pathetic of a boss (as there was no enemy editor back when I made this, so the red Gohma takes just one hit before dying.) Actually set up pretty well, considering how long ago this was. And upon beating the big crab (some people apparently see Gohmas as spiders, thanks to Ocarina of Time and other newer Zelda games portraying them more spidery, but I've always seen them as giant crabs that traded their pincers for eye-lasers), the bridges on either side become connected so you can walk up and through the door up above.
Now, going up north for a bit. Shown here are the orcs and goblins that I replaced Moblins and Goriyas with in this thing, since the old version was intended to be a completely un-Zelda-related world that Link just happened to end up transported to (vs. the "alternate Hyrule" sort of setup that the current version has.)
I still like the northern area's map setups pretty well, even as old as they are now. The dark brown-red rock and grayish-blue-green trees and slightly purplish ground just are a nice combination, I guess. The snow effects add a bit, too.
Bombing the way into a shed. If I remember right, there were several of these sheds and entering this one let you teleport to the others (which were in parts of the mountains you couldn't reach on foot.)
Shop guy here sells bombs and torches, which replace the Blue Candle. This would've been a great opportunity to use the "has stab/slash graphics" options that Zelda Classic for some reason includes for the candle type items, which would make a lot more sense for a torch vs. a candle... but I'm not sure if that was possible back when I made this.
Also, when playing through this I wandered up this way first after getting stuck in Level 1, before
finally finding the arrows that I needed in a shop all the way back in the first town. D'oh.
Another example of bad screen design... why does this screen even exist? There's nothing here but rock... maybe if I at least had some other stuff on the lower-left that you could see from this town but not actually reach, but nope... just rock.
There are definitely not any screens like this in the current version. XD
Also absent from the current version: oddball NPCs in houses just blurting out random stuff like this. There is one old lady who comments on how strange Link's clothes are, but everyone else is actually helpful in some way.
One of those other sheds I mentioned earlier, in a more dangerous area of the map than the town. Not sure why there are skeletons out here, but they show up in several spots throughout the north -- I think I may have been planning on there being an undead-themed optional(?) side-dungeon somewhere up here, as when I was poking around with the game file I noticed a midi file titled "Necromancer's Tower" which was not yet used for anything when I stopped working on this. There was also a darker snowy area east of the regular snowy area, though only one screen of it existed since you couldn't actually get there yet at this point.
As the northern area in general is
drastically shrunk-down in the current version compared to the old one, obviously there aren't equivalents of these things in the new one.
The teleportation sheds eventually take you to a heart container.
And here's the path to a lower-elevation, less-snowy region of the northlands... in the old version this was where the castle was located. There is a similar area in the current version (with an arrow-trigger that causes a bridge to appear, and a mountainous area on the other side) but I think there's just a heart container or some other item hidden there rather than a whole extra area of the map.
Darknuts! Or just regular ol' knights, I suppose. A few of these guys wander around the outer edges of the castle's area.
And here's a moat. A big moat. The current version's castle has a much smaller moat and bridge, though they are still there (no Zoras in the moat this time, though.)
This guy sells you stuff if you bring him the king's letter.
Kinda neat little courtyard-ish area here.
Also a pretty neat room, with the statue "fountains" on the walls. I think there was probably something in the water here you could get once you had the flippers.
And here's the king and his letter...
...which lets you buy stuff from that knight. Including the always-useful shield.
The "door repair charge" old man is always present, of course. He's got a bit longer text in the old version, though. And apparently kids bombing his door open is something that happens often...
Level 2! The colors are a bit glaringly bright (red/orange
everything) but overall I actually still like this dungeon, probably more than the current version's Level 2 even.
Here's a thing I like -- the "push statues to grind down the spikes" puzzles, of which there are a few of scattered around. This one, unfortunately, leads to a room that doesn't go anywhere else... so to get back down, you have to hurt yourself on the spikes, as they come back when you leave the room.
This one is right above the other one, and has statues shooting at you while you push that one (non-shooting) statue to clear a path over the spikes.
Mixed up the enemies a bit for the cellar rooms here -- though the orcs don't
quite cooperate, starting out inside the walls and then immediately walking up one space to actually be in the right places.
Ladder! Which, oddly enough, is the special item found in the current verison's Level 2, also.
And now I've got the map, which reveals this level's neat sword-shaped layout.
It took me a while to figure this out during my playthrough, but Level 2 also has a "back door" entrance that's required to beat it. It's how you get to the boss, to be specific.
And the boss is... an Aquamentus (an awful-looking one, to be specific XD) along with a group of useless sideline orcs who don't actually throw spears at Link like I had intended, due to their area being too narrow for them to ever choose to turn to the left. Also, some traps to make it harder to come around from different angles.
And relic #2, the random shiny sword which was removed from the lineup of relics between versions. Can't honestly remember why it was there in the old version -- I can't remember what specific thing it was supposed to be, while most of the other relics in both versions are based on actual items from mythology or ancient religion of some sort (like the holy grail, various magical fruits and stones, crystal skulls) or just plain ol' history (the scroll from both versions was intended as basically a Dead Sea Scrolls sort of thing... which, actually, now that I think about it... makes the placement of that relic in old-version Level 1, a random cave, make a lot more sense. XD) The only exceptions being the old king's crown (no reference to any specific real-life or mythical king, just "a king of this area in the distant past") and a Burijeoo symbol (which I just threw in as a bit of an inside joke. XD)
But having a golden shiny sword, which can't even be used as a sword by Link for some odd reason, just seems weird. I wonder what I was thinking when including that one.
Going to the top edge of the northlands area gets you this kind of thing -- clouds, blue sky, and a big ol' yellow not-quite-round sun. Which, somewhat awkwardly, shows up twice on the screen as you're scrolling from one map up here to the next, since it shows up on every screen up here.
The dark, spooky area of the northern mountains. Complete with purple trees/rocks and lots of skeletons!
And now that you have a ladder, you can cross broken bridges (and see awful-looking ocean water graphics. XD)
Eastern plains area, complete with many random holes in the ground. I think I had the
Link's Awakening prairie area in my mind here, as I'm not sure why else I'd put so many random holes in the ground in a similar grassy area.
And... here's something random. A sort of "mini-dungeon" hidden under an Armos or something like that.
...with a blue Darknut inside! Just one. Hmm.
And if you beat that one random Darknut, you can get the Power Bracelet. The current version also has the bracelet hidden under an Armos, but more in the "original Zelda" style where it's literally just lying under the Armos.
Here's that lake I mentioned before. Which has Tektites, randomly.
And another "ugly ocean waves tiles" area. With a spooky house that I never actually made, since it wasn't reachable until you got the flippers and I think the point where I stopped working on this was right around that point (flippers are in Level 4.)
In the western areas, things get a little spooky. Like Vires and skeletons on the overworld, as you can see from the one about to hop on Link's head right here.
Also spooky: this cave with a load of invisible Ghinis, including a single "normal" one that you need to kill to pass to the next room...
...which has a heart piece. This is one of several mini-dungeons, along with the Guarded Chamber shown above.
More spooky brown woods with skeletons (these ones shoot spooky black/red claw beam things at you, since the skeletons in this game have no swords.)
Of course, this would be where the graveyard is, too.
Underneath a grave... Moldorms and bizarre shooting statue things. I think there was another heart piece or maybe a magic container hidden here.
Yep, this is a Monty Python reference. There was also going to be a "Knight Who Says Ni" somewhere that you had to give the shrubbery to in order to pass (the shrubbery item works like the bait in the original Zelda.)
And... here's an old dude who was apparently locked under a bush, who rewards you with... exactly the same amount of money you would've had to pay to get a key to unlock it. D'oh.
And under a rock, it's the Dirty Rock Casino! Appropriately named, I guess. XD
Hidden under the castle is... a kinda neat little side-scrolling area, with skeletons for some reason!
And that takes you to this random isolated spot in the mountains, where the key that opens the way to Level 3 is hidden. And said key is awkwardly not-outlined, so it blends in pretty bad with the ground.
Level 3, where everything's as green as an old Game Boy screen and there are Rope snake statues rather than regular statues.
Also, a very annoying room with red Bubbles. Sometimes, you can get stuck with a Bubble arrangement that makes it impossible to get through without hitting one or both types of them, so it may be possible to be stuck without a way to get to a blue Bubble that undoes their curse on your items. D'oh.
Also, the hookshot is here! And super awkward looking. The head is clearly not aligned with the chain links, and the handle is sort of off to the side of Link's hand somewhere rather than in his hand. D'oh. XD
Also here: random walking robot bombs!
A quick detour from Level 3, here's the area of the lake where the white sword is hidden.
Ta-da, sword!
And Level 3's boss is... a red snake? Actually it's three of them, one at a time. They work like Zelda Classic's level-3 Leevers, which pop up from the ground and then charge
really fast at you... and hurt a lot if they hit you. Fortunately, only one pops up at a time, and you can stun them with the hookshot or boomerang. Actually, I'm not sure if I ever put the boomerang in this one. I don't think I found it when testing, anyway...
And... a magic container? Huh. Yeah, this one alternated between heart and magic containers, with levels 1 and 2 having a heart container and level 3 having magic. I can't remember what level 4 had, but it was probably also magic considering the frog-wizards were there.
Heading to the western area of the north, things get
really snowy, and then you can find...
...another mini-dungeon, this one a little less "mini" than others. It should be obvious what boss is at the end of this one, just going by the name. XD
What's less obvious is that it's also where...
...you get the raft. Which lets you sail across the sea to a smaller western landmass, where levels 4 and 5 are located. Well, 4 is anyway, since I actually got that one finished-ish. XD
Yep, here's the "Knight Who Says Ni." Can't remember what he was guarding, but if you bring him the shrubbery he'll let you through.
And this guy just immediately attacks you with fireballs as soon as you come through the door.
Mt. Gurivyo, home of... yep, those are Burijeoo! Level 5 was going to be a crashed Burijeoo spacecraft, and there's mentions around the town of Mureen that apparently the ancestors of the town's population believed the Burijeoo who crashed there in the past were gods or something.
And here's the Mureen Swamp, located southeast of Mt. Gurivyo and not far outside the town of Mureen (of course.) This area survived into the current version pretty much intact -- still rainy, still lots of water, still Bago-Bagos (the skeleton fish) and Peahats and such roaming around.
Speaking of Peahats, here's the ugliest Peahat sprites ever. Yuck, they're really bad. >_<
And hidden in the Mureen Swamp, much like in the current version of this game, is...
...well, the current version is Level 6 rather than Level 4, and the name is different, but still. There's a tree for the entrance, it's in the Mureen Swamp, and it's populated by froggy wizards and an abundance of water.
There's also these things, which you have to be careful around, because...
...they're on a timer, blasting out electrical beams like this every now and then, which hurt
a lot. Nothing quite like these in the current version, though there are glowing spikeballs in some underwater sections which hurt a lot also.
And here's the flippers. Hidden under some random smashable blocks (the cracked ones,) in a room full of blobs. But this is pretty much the point where this game ends, as in another room I accidentally put a locked door next to "you have to swim in this" type water, which due to a weird glitch makes the door impossible to unlock and pass through.
D'oh.
No comments:
Post a Comment