[The3Dude]

So I've started making yet another Zelda 1 hack with a goal in mind ...
That goal is to outdo my last two hacks, and I want to try something no one has done as of yet in Zelda 1 hacks.

Here's what I've come up with so far.

1. The world will be darker, takes place at night. Zelda hacks are usually too bright.

2. I am staying away from Link's Awakening overworld graphics, because let's face it... LA graphics are so overused in Z1 hacks. Instead since BS Zelda is the closest thing to a Zelda 1 remake we have, I'm using those graphics as a base and slightly modifying them for this hack.

3. I will try to re-invent the dungeon formula as much as I can.

4. I will do my best to avoid the following in the overworld, Overused shops, secrets that are too similar to others, paths that are too narrow and annoying to go through, and reused screens.

I really want this hack to be for everyone, so I will be making 4 difficulty versions again.

If you have any suggestions please feel free to Post Them Here!.

Here's some screenshots of the graphics and style so far. All I have left to do with graphics is the entire title screen, and the dungeon enemies/bosses.

[Googie]

This looks really cool, bro. The first dungeon still has the original palette, please change the dungeon palettes to give 'em extra flavor.

Can you make the first dungeon palette like this?

[The3Dude]

I haven't really gotten into the colors of dungeons yet, it has mostly been graphics as of now. I for sure won't leave LV1 blue though.

Do you think I should add texture to the overworld floor though? Or should I leave it just gray?

[pocket]

My only suggestions for now is to make sure the starter sword and the first dungeon easy to find and access. A lot of Zelda 1 romhacks make it too difficult to find the sword, making overworld traversal a nightmare, or they make dungeons too difficult to find, and these things have always been deal breakers for me with Zelda romhacks.

I also suggest you make sure each dungeon includes at least one old man that drops a hint about the location of the next dungeon. A lot of people say the NES Zelda games are too cryptic, but the old men in each dungeon are the things that make that statement an exaggeration.  Some hacks don't include hints and make the games themselves actually cryptic.

[The3Dude]

Thanks for your suggestions pocket! For sure the sword will be gotten easily, except on insane mode (Highest Difficulty) patch.

People complained a lot about not having the sword and instead getting a boomerang that kills in my last hack.
So... lol lesson learned. And I for sure get you about old man hints. That's another thing I will take to heart in this hack, HINTS MUST BE VALUABLE.

[acediez]

About the night overworld: don't just make everything black and grey, looks too artificial. Use shades of blue and purple instead. Then add a few bright warm light sources here and there, these will make the rest of the scene feel darker, even if the actual colors aren't too dark.
Take cues from Pokemon Crystal, it has very effective night palettes.

[Googie]

Do you think I should add texture to the overworld floor though? Or should I leave it just gray?

Yeah try to add texture to it, I'm sure it'll look better than leavin' it plain gray.

[pocket]

About the night overworld: don't just make everything black and grey, looks too artificial. Use shades of blue and purple instead. Then add a few bright warm light sources here and there, these will make the rest of the scene feel darker, even if the actual colors aren't too dark.
Take cues from Pokemon Crystal, it has very effective night palettes.

Crystal might also be a good example of how to texture the overworld. It's not as distracting as the grass tiles a lot of people take from Link's Awakening.

[The3Dude]

Here's the best I could do with blue.
Also added grass texture, Iprobably will update it.
Here's what it used to look like with just grassy texture.

[DannyPlaysSomeGames]

Here's the best I could do with blue.
Also added grass texture, Iprobably will update it.
Here's what it used to look like with just grassy texture.

Maybe it's just me, but the colors seem way too intense. If you want them to blend in better, I'd recommend using some softer shades to compliment up the intensity a bit, like having the purple be a tad brigter


Again, GSC for reference.

Also, the original palette you were using could work, it's just that I'd recommend something to replace the grey, like the aforementioned lighter purple.


Here's my stab at it, just to give you an idea of what it could look like.

[Hiei-]

That's a really nice idea for a hack, looking forward to it!

[The3Dude]

All this blue gave me an idea, what if I make it an icy world? Would that be better or would it get redundant?

[Trax]

You could have a specific area that is icy, like the graveyards in the original, with a specific palette.

[Googie]

This looks bad ass!

[The3Dude]

LAVA PALETTE
ICE/SNOW PALETTE
GREEN PALETTE
BROWN PALETTE

What about these palettes. It's hard to get a good purple palette because NES is limited to these.

[NiO]

The game is looking solid, but I dont like Link sprite, compared to the world and enemies he does look too flat, like a paper sheet or something.

I do agree that LA is overused, so I think getting an original sprite could do the work, also maybe other colors.

I do sometimes make sprite work, Im not by any mean an expert but I do try my best so if its ok with you, I could try to edit link sprites and see if I can come up with something that looks less different to your world than the current one.

[The3Dude]

I'd love to see what you come up with, I feel light outlining and shadowing my sprite could be an easy fix to it though.

[Jeville]

I really want this hack to be for everyone, so I will be making 4 difficulty versions again.

[The3Dude]

LOL, I thought that same way until I saw read some reviews of my last hack.

Here's Pamfafoofle's whole quoted review.

"I was looking forward to trying this hack based on the positive reviews, likening it to Zelda Challenge: Outlands, one of my favorite hacks ever. I was disappointed with Link’s Shadow. The difficulty level is way above that of Outlands. Q1 requires you to navigate one full dungeon with many dark rooms both swordless and lampless, and then explore much of the overworld trying to find a shop to buy your sword from, but is otherwise decent. Q2 is ridiculously difficult, with the first sword not available until the third dungeon, the second not available until the seventh, no third sword at all, and a maximum of only 8 heart containers. There are also several points in the flow of gameplay which make no sense. In the first quest, for example, you cannot even enter Dungeon 7 without the Raft, which is contained in Dungeon 8! (There’s an advice room telling you to complete D8 before D7…within the D7 that you can’t enter without already figuring out that you need to explore D8 first!) And the second quest offers you the Letter but (as far as I can tell) no old woman to ever show it to!

It’s not all bad, though. The overworld is pretty well built, and would have been a lot of fun to navigate through were it not for the frustration of not having a sword! I especially enjoyed the reveal-as-you-explore overworld map, a feature I haven’t encountered in any other LOZ hack I’ve played thus far. The dungeons were not phenomenal, but decent, and challenges like navigating a dark room without a lamp or a sword could have been interesting if used in moderation. But I don’t expect to come back and replay this particular hack because I find it more frustrating than fun."

And I made another hack after this one that was reviewed and many people disliked the difficulty... I ended up going back and making 4 versions and included a Master Mode that was harder than the original lol.
January 24, 2020, 06:23:29 pm - (Auto Merged - Double Posts are not allowed before 7 days.)I thought of making an image of Link with different expressions depending on which difficulty patch, I've finished all four... but I'm only showing Normal Modes' art.



and here's the shadowed/better Link sprite.




Looks better in my opinion

[ultimaweapon]

Since I have some time to chime in, I'd thought I'd add my 2 cents.
While a darker world does sound good, with the style of overworld used by Zelda 1, it may not turn out well. Themed settings would be the better way to go. Ice setting, lava setting, etc are all good choices to go with. Some of your current palette choices are good too.

Here's a list of some other ideas for you I thought of based from your last hack.

Allow the Boomerang to do damage again and make it the Magical Boomerang.
Eliminate the Wooden Boomerang and come up with a new item.
Allow for the Red Candle to be purchased again somewhat early(Level 3ish)
If possible, allow for the Blue Candle to be used twice on the screen instead of once.
Replace the Lion Key with a new item.
Make sure your hints are meaningful and not hard to understand.
A final boss other than Dark Link(I have an idea for you I'll share later).

That's all I got for now. Back to work for me, but I'll share more later when I have more time.