Zelda 1 ROM hack finally released! "Trial of Courage"

[ultimaweapon]

Then I'm sure you went overboard with Master. LOL

[The3Dude]

It's beatable, don't worry

(UPDATE)
V1.4 -

Added a compass to Lv5 in all Quest 2s from all versions.
Made compass reachable in Lv7 of all versions Quest 2.
(Thanks to erpster2!)

Increased the overworld's breathing room in the casual and newbie patches, it is now easier to explore.
(Thanks to ifightdragons' updated review.)

[erpster2]

I found some more problems in the 2nd quest that need to be fixed.

about the compass fix in lvl 7 of the 2nd quest (in v1.4 & v1.5) - while that made the compass reachable, it created a new problem in making the dungeon map in that same lvl 7 unreachable



it seems that the compass fix may have also affected a few other item placements in that dungeon level like the dungeon map; maybe there's an alternate solution that will make both the compass & map items reachable.  though the map was reachable from v1.0 to v1.3 of the game (before the compass fix)

also in lvl 7 of quest 2, after bombing a wall from this room



which leads to this room



change the solid wall on the left (highlighted with a red circle) into a bombable wall in case players need to back track (I kinda got stuck here once because there was a locked door in a later room before the triforce room and needed to go back and get a key in an earlier room)

and finally, beating dark Link to collect the final sword in lvl 8 of the 2nd quest and I got stuck here and the shutter doors never open



perhaps leave one of the previous doors open like in lvl 9 of the 1st quest where there was an open door in the room where the final sword can be found after beating dark Link

-after making those improvements, the 2nd quest should be close to or at 100% playable

[The3Dude]

New update released!

V1.6

Many fixes and touchups! More enemy variety in areas. Changed Pols voice's colors to the red palette. Fixed text glitches. Fixed a wrong tile combo placement in the NE part of the world. Fixed all Q2 Dungeon bugs that "erpster2″ brought to my attention. Thanks again! Fixed Link's hair shrinking when he walks. Colored in the bubble enemies nose so it's not transparent. Got rid of pushable blocks that don't trigger anything.

[lexluthermiester]

New update released!

V1.6

Many fixes and touchups! More enemy variety in areas. Changed Pols voice's colors to the red palette. Fixed text glitches. Fixed a wrong tile combo placement in the NE part of the world. Fixed all Q2 Dungeon bugs that "erpster2″ brought to my attention. Thanks again! Fixed Link's hair shrinking when he walks. Colored in the bubble enemies nose so it's not transparent. Got rid of pushable blocks that don't trigger anything.

Playing through it today was fun. Going to take on the Second Quest tomorrow.

[The3Dude]

You try Casual mode yet?

[lexluthermiester]

You try Casual mode yet?

Both Veteran and Casual.

The amount of detail and thoughtful planning that went into this project is impressive and very cool!

I'm still working on an LLE version of this for people, like myself, who enjoy freedom of exploration as well as sequence breaking. Will get you a patch when I'm close to finishing it.

[The3Dude]

Thanks, I'll be sure to check it out.

But yeah, I created a big DOCX file for how everything would play out in the hack, even the smallest details and the orders you'd be able to do things. Once I finished the doc, that's when I started really hacking. The overworld was the worst part, because I drew so many maps on a paper grid, but ended up trashing 5 of them. So I tried one more time, and finally got an overworld that had secrets but didn't feel like one big pathway.

Dungeons and the title screen were the most enjoyable parts to make in the hack though. The graphics were tedious, especially the overworld graphics! So for now I feel like I did enough hacking...  
If anything I'll just keep improving Trial of Courage and help any others if they need help with their hacks. After at least a few months of a break, I'll finish my Shiek's Quest Zelda II hack that is currently in development.

So, if anyone needs hacking help, with graphics or with Zelda 1 or 2, I'm glad to help.

[Trax]

I gave it a try and I completed the 2 first dungeons, plus lots of exploration. It's very good so far. The Overworld is well designed, the difficulty is well balanced, graphics are good and dungeons are well designed as well. One thing I noticed is that it seems enemy groups in the Overworld are the same as in the original, i.e. at the same coordinates. I like the idea of the Cuckoos that can hurt you! I also like the idea of having to return to previous dungeons for extra items in previously inaccessible rooms.

A few glitches I found so far (v1.6) :

- A hint in dungeon 2 says "Go behind tear in Map3.". Is it intended or you just lacked space to write the text? Because, you can make a line break without any trouble.
- You can center text by using the value 0x25 as many times as needed, which I call "leading space".
- The hint text that costs 30 rupees has glitches in it. The second line of text goes beyond the right side of the cave. You can add a third line to solve the problem.
- A shop (can't remember where) has bombs, red lamp and key. The bombs are free, no text for cost. Is that intended?

Other than that, a question. Do enemies get random HP (on Veteran)? Or is there another mechanism at work? Whatever the answer, I think it's an interesting twist to the game.

If you need help with bugs and possibly ASM, I can help. Let me know.

[lexluthermiester]

Thanks, I'll be sure to check it out.

See PM.

[The3Dude]

- A hint in dungeon 2 says "Go behind tear in Map3.". Is it intended or you just lacked space to write the text? Because, you can make a line break without any trouble. The hint text that costs 30 rupees has glitches in it. The second line of text goes beyond the right side of the cave. You can add a third line to solve the problem.

I found those two bugs already, I've been working on v1.7 .
- A shop (can't remember where) has bombs, red lamp and key. The bombs are free, no text for cost. Is that intended?
Yes, it's intended for the bombs to be free.

Other than that, a question. Do enemies get random HP (on Veteran)? Or is there another mechanism at work? Whatever the answer, I think it's an interesting twist to the game.
No, enemies don't have random HP, but I can see why you'd think that.

(From Section 5 in my included manual) "The Boomerang can now kill enemies by repeated throws, throwing it at close proximity does more damage AND when it is returning it also does more damage."

But you do ASM? Would you be interested in making a team Zelda 1 hack?

[Sam Atoms]

Hi-ho, just got to say that this might be the best hack of Zelda 1 since the Legend of Link.  I've got a couple of small things for the 1.7 release:  the spelling of the word "UNFAMILIAR" should be checked in the story panel, and the item menu doesn't chime when you select the boomerang.

I'm playing on Veteran, and I've been trying to go through this without the help of the manual.  There is a room in level 5 that I can't seem to get into in the 1.6 version no matter what direction I approach from, that I could get into in the original release.  The room is at the top of the map, directly north-west of the room where you get the raft..  I suspect that this room has, or leads to the second bomb upgrade.


* (highlight the white text to reveal the spoiler words)

[The3Dude]

Alright, thanks for letting me know!

I'll be sure to fix that too (uploading new update today) I'll pm you details about the lv5 room tho.

And thanks for the feedback!




a review wouldn't hurt

[Trax]

In the User Manual, in how to extract the ZIP file, there's a bunch of "?" for Mac OS. Opening ZIP files in Mac OS is done via the Finder. Just open the archive and that's it. And for the IPS patcher, MultiPatch for Mac (http://www.romhacking.net/utilities/746/) does the job.

I have a question about the game itself. I went into Dungeon 5 and visited almost all rooms, and I think some rooms are not accessible because I need a specific item. So I found Dungeon 6, but I didn't go very far, because of a locked door. My question: are there enough keys in every dungeon to account for all locked doors, so that I'm guaranteed to never need to buy a key?

[The3Dude]

Yes, you should never have to buy any keys, also try exploring past the map. Lv5 has a few off map rooms. Check every wall.

[Sam Atoms]

All right, I'm in level 6 of the second quest, passing through several ingenious dungeons along the way.  I have the red candle, letter, book, and white sword, but not the ladder, whistle, or large shield.  I'm at a place where it seems like the only way on is to buy a key.  I've got the money to do it, but is that necessary?

[The3Dude]

No, you should never have to buy any keys. I've beaten it many times while testing. No buying required

[Trax]

Yeah, I found my way, but it was not about keys, I just missed a few rooms in level 3, so I went back and found the Letter.

More glitches (v1.6) :

Did anyone mention the glitchy fairies in dungeons? It doesn't crash the game, and it refills your health fine. The hearts surrounding Link are more numerous, it makes the game lag a bit, and after the hearts disappear, two extra fairy sprites appear randomly.

In dungeon 3, a hint about burning a tree above the armos, has glitched tiles on the 3rd line. First line is "BURN THE TREE AT". The entire text could be ywanked back a bit and have first line say "BURN THE TREE AT THE", and it will free up space for the two next lines.

The Ghost that says the hint "ABOVE THE NE. RIVER" also has glitched tiles. You could avoid that by using three lines of text instead of two, and it would let you say "NORTHEAST" instead of "NE".

One thing I bumped into that may confuse people. Because you can have Potions without having the Letter first, it's very likely that you have a Potion (Red or Blue) in your inventory before finding the guy who says nothing and needs the Letter. If it's the case, the guy doesn't react. You have to actually drink the Blue Potion to have the item slot turn back to Letter, and then the guy will reveal the shop.

There is a room in Dungeon 9 (First Quest), first column (from left), 4th row (from top), that has 4 Traps in it. I don't think there's any possible way to push the block and open the south door without being hit at least once. Are you comfortable with that?

[Sam Atoms]

Well, it's done.  I was having trouble getting to the last four rooms of level 9 -- ok, what I thought would be the last four rooms anyway -- and I was going to post asking for help earlier today but instead decided to fine-toothed-comb through the dungeon and found the room I'd forgotten to check.

Speaking of which, I think there's a door near the end of level 9 that was left open, and should be locked until you defeat a particular guy in the room.  And when I say the end, I mean the real one.  That's about as much as I can say without spoiling the finish.

[erpster2]

Did anyone mention the glitchy fairies in dungeons? It doesn't crash the game, and it refills your health fine. The hearts surrounding Link are more numerous, it makes the game lag a bit, and after the hearts disappear, two extra fairy sprites appear randomly.

that fairy glitch in dungeons also occurs in some other zelda 1 hacks {I nearly forgot which ones but I know it was some level in the 2nd quest of The Awakening of Onyx hack that had a dungeon room with 3 fairies} (so it's almost by design unless there's a way to put only one fairy sprite in a room but the dungeon master editor can only allow a minimum of 3 not less)

All right, I'm in level 6 of the second quest, passing through several ingenious dungeons along the way.  I have the red candle, letter, book, and white sword, but not the ladder, whistle, or large shield.  I'm at a place where it seems like the only way on is to buy a key.  I've got the money to do it, but is that necessary?

although I'm kinda late in responding to this, Sam Atoms but the stepladder is somewhere in level 6 of the 2nd quest - and I found all the keys to that level - no need to buy any keys; but you'll need a key to access a locked room where it contains the ladder.  backtrack to any previous rooms and try to push a wall to walk thru it or bomb a wall that looks suspicious.


@The3Dude: I did finally play the "master quest" version of Trial of Courage v1.6 a few weeks ago (I've died on that one at least ten times in all saved games)