Wonderland Complex

The current build is mostly the ground layer of the world.  the maps are all in place, as are a few of the memories.  none of the voice work is done, and minimal text and events are done.  transfers was where i left off, so some doors lead where they should, others...do not.  kind of an apt analogy for the complex itself.  this project is going on hiatus , everything's being burnt so i've a backup and the file is being moved.  i haven't done work on it in 3 weeks now.  the motivation is gone, despite the finish line being in sight.  i have the pans to finish, i just need the motivation.  hopefully, next time i get the strong push to build a game, i'll finish this one.  First game project ECS takes on and it doesn't reach the ship stage.  better luck next time.  I've learned a ton from this project.

Wonderland Complex
Jan 2011 - Apr 2011

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=F0IA1SV7

Another Set of days and updates

A few days ago, seven or eight ish, i decided to start writing daily again, as much to keep it going as to add yet another thing to my daily to do's.  Any that have been refined enough for common reading i'll throw on here.  why not, better than keeping them on file to be released ten years down the line.

wonderland complex is falling behind, though I've a new build (0.4) with the ground work of the world done.  i'm working on transfers which is taking a remarkable amount of time.  it stuns me how much effort it takes to make sure where a door opens to opens back up to a similar place.  with the focus I've been putting on WC, Under the Desk  has inevitably suffered.  i haven't done any more sketches, nor pieced together any of the frames more than i had a week past.  


i did finish Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain, which was a terrific read.  anyone who's ever worked as a line cook, or has ever entertained thoughts of professional cooking, this is a must-read.  Busy days ahead as the end of April rushes towards us ever faster.


I'll polish and post what's presentable from the past few days in the next few minutes (read: short time ish)


bai bai

Thoughts On...Heroes of Mana

   Last night i spent an hour or so playing Heroes of Mana (NDS) and found it enjoyable.  One of the main reasons i had a good time with it was that I've played far too much Warcraft III over the years.  I've also sunk literally hundreds of hours into all three Final Fantasy Tactics games.  both of these lend themselves well, as the art is done by the same guy as FFT:A2, Ryoma Itō.  It's nice Character style, but very easy to spot.  
   One of the issues i found was that after the first twenty or so minutes, i was skipping through the dialogue and story, moving as quickly as i could to get to the combat, the plight of the people and why they were fighting as forgotten as most things that aren't shiny enough to hold my attention.  The crazy thing was, I wasn't missing much.  whenever i did slow down enough to grasp what was going on, the plot was so unbearably by the numbers that it might as well have used the stylus to connect the dots.  does this sound familiar?

A small unit of soldiers featuring a rookie, a grizzled veteran, a a swordsman, a glass canon mage, a female thief, an archer.  they are sent into enemy territory a a diversion while their armada invades the capital to seize a McGuffin.  upon their arrival to the castle, they're turned on and have to fight against their own side.  plot twist which is so overused it might as well be a light curve in the road.  

   I don't know, but the lack of originality on the plot side bugged me.  still, it's a safe product, which is how i have it in my hands. WC3 is fun.  Square RTS's are fun.  throw in a standard plot that allows the player party to get in a lot of fights and we're off on a good time.
   It left me wanting something other than WC3 port skinned and codded by the FFT crew, glorious though they are.  The mechanics work well.  Units are selectable with more accuracy than a mouse would allow, something impressive for hardware, but it doesn't push the envelope far enough.  a bit more freedom on the over world would be appreciated.  
    Maybe my issue with it is it's like many games i enjoy, but not enough like certain ones.  Were it more free roaming like the first FFT, or dare i say it, Mount & Blade, one of the pinnacles of wide open sandbox games, i might have enjoyed it a bit more.  As it is I i might play it more, but I'm pessimistic that it will surprise me.
   Fun, but didn't do enough to distinguish itself on its own merits.


//Images blatantly ripped off of Google.
  

The Awakening – Part V

   Something which occurred to me after bouncing around a few sites was that I’m going about this process with a slight miscalculation.  The elements of these games are more akin to myth arcs of heros than to the fairy tales that plague children with nightmares.  What I mean by this is that they will always contain a level of action as well as exploration, rather than exploration and adventure which happens to have action.  Survival horror overhaul not so much.  Action horror overhaul yes. 

   So what’s the difference?  Well, for one, the tropes that both rely on are different, to a certain degree.  Vulnerability in a protagonist isn’t mandatory, and indeed, Link is nothing if not an adaptable antagonist whose vulnerabilities are downplayed as game play progresses.  Vulnerability is still in place, but not at the forefront.  A parallel would be Dead Space as action horror against Silent Hill as survival horror.  The protagonists are both vulnerable and capable, but Dead Space’s lead is encased in armour and weilds a number of power tools while the lead’s of Silent Hill games are underpowered and mostly stay that way.  The difference is the focus of frailty. 

   This doesn’t deviate that far from my original intent.  Survival horror would have Link negotiate Koholint with a shield and a limited supply of magic powder and that’s it.  Action horror gives him a full complement of tools (see below) while still keeping his frailty (and fatality) a pressing concern by ramping up the difficulty of dungeons and the damage dealt by monsters. Genre change doen with, onwards!

   Legend of Zelda has become, over its many iterations, formulaic.  Link goes about the over world, exploring, uncovering minor treasures (pieces of heart, rupees, etc) and talking to the many inhabitants which he meets.  He is directed, after some story events, towards the first of several themed dungeons.  He makes his to the dungeon.  Inside the dungeon he finds a new tool or weapon which he uses to negotiate the puzzles he encounters and to defeat the boss which guards the quest item.  Link’s new tool might then be used to open up new passages in the over world, allowing for more exploring. 

   This is something which sees some variety (Link finds his new toy before the dungeon, to gain access to it, the boss isn’t beaten using the newly acquired tool) but has, for the most part, become tradition.  This game is no different.  All of the tools and weapons link acquires fit into or overlap between three categories: offense, defence, environmental/ease of access.  What follows is the item placement and the flow.  I’ll go into detail of specific items afterwards.

Wake up/On the Way (OtW) – sword.1, shield.1, magic powder (from mushroom)
Level 1: Tail Cave – Roc’s Feather
OtW – Bombs
Level 2: Bottle Grotto – Power Bracelet
OtW – Shovel, Ocarina
Level 3: Key Cavern – Pegasus Boots
OtW – song, (date with Marin), sword.2
Level 4: Angler’s Tunnel – Flippers
OtW –song
Level 5: Catfish’s Maw – shield.2
OtW – bow, (reveal, life boost)
Level 6: Face Shrine – daydream cloak
OtW – rooster, shield.3
Level 7: Eagle’s Tower – Rope (hookshot replacement)
OtW – sword.3 (seashells)
Level 8: Turtle Rock – fire rod/lamp
OtW – boomerang
Wing Fish/End Game

    For the most part Link’s tools fall under multiple categories.  The sword itself is both ease of access as well as the primary offensive tool.  Bushes that block Link’s way are cut down (ignoring the logic of just jumping over bush, of climbing about it, but that’s game logic so we’ll move past it), opening new paths.  Come to think of it, most all the tools that Link acquires are used to get past broken bridges at one point or another. 

• The Sword – The battered sword (fist level) does one quarter damage and is found on the beach.  The steel sword (second level) does regular damage and is found in caves on the way to Anglers tunnel.  The Seashell Sword (level three) is found in the seashell cottage and does double damage as well as sending out sword beams at full life.
• The Shield – Link gets a wooden shield (first level) from Marin before he explores the beach at the beginning of the game, which last fifteen to twenty hits before breaking.  The solid bone shield (level two) is found in Catfish’s Maw and doesn’t break, but can still be stolen by like-likes.  Link finds the mirror shield (level three) before Eagle’s Tower.
• Magic Powder – Made from a mushroom found in the Mysterious Wood, this changes a few enemies but is mostly used to set things of fire.  Sources of light are valuable and finding refills are important.  Fire and light plays a larger part when night comes and shadows need to be kept at bay.
• Roc’s Feather – Let’s Link jump.  No change.
• Bombs – Bought from the Mabe shop, these now cause far more damage, doing a full seven hearts of damage to Link.  Link is warned about their damage when he buys them from the shop.
• Power Bracelet – Pick up pots rocks and other things.  No change.
• Shovel – Allows Link dig in the ground.  Bought from the shop in Mabe Village. No change.
• Ocarina – Plays songs and is found in the dream shrine in Mabe Village.  Link learns a few more songs, the Ballad of the Wind Fish, Frog’s Song of Soul (resurrects the dead or asleep), Manbo’s Mambo (teleports Link to different ponds on the island), Muse’s Melody (progress the time of day to dawn), Hero’s Anthem (repels monster’s), and Richard’s Requiem (learned upon Richard’s death near the end of the game, this restocks inventory items (bombs, bow, powder, etc).
• Pegasus Boots – Using the boots allows Link to dash as well as charge.  Holding down the button makes Link run on the spot before charging forward.  Tapping a direction without holding down to charged makes link dash in a direction, acting as a dodge backward and a strafe to each side.
• Flippers – Allows Link to swim and dive.  No change.
• Bow – Buy from the shop for a very large sum.  No change.
• Daydream Cloak – similar effect to the Cane of Somaria from A Link to the Past, this turns link intangible and invisible, visible only by his shadow, allowing him to bypass traps and the gaze of monsters, but not holes, or damage by contact.  This is one of the items that is heavily influenced by the reveal of just before Face Shrine, where Link finds it.  
• Rope – The rope is found in Eagle’s tower and, if used with the bow, acts as a makeshift hookshot.  Used alone it immobilizes enemies, tethering them for a short period of time.  Sword and rope makes a wide spin attack, while equipped with the power bracelet it can be used to pull, lift and throw things from a distance.
• Fire rod/lamp – The last tool Link finds in a dungeon, and the last mandatory weapon to equip before Link heads off to wake the Wind Fish, this lantern sends out a stream of fire (link the fire rod) which burns things alive.  When equipped, it also produces a radius of light which repels shadows and nightmarish creatures that thrive on the dark.  This makes traveling the over world far less threatening, as Link now has a constant source of light during the night periods which keep monsters away.
• Boomerang – Traded in a cave on the beach for one of the items in your inventory.  No change

   Those are the items Link comes across.  A few changes, but for the most part, tinged towards a more defensive and reactionary style of game play.  Part VI looks at the dungeons of Koholint, more story and more ways to shift the game towards action horror.

The Awakening - Part IV

   Right into objectives, Zelda games have always been fairly simple as far as the types of goals they present their players and this is no different, nor should it be changed.  There are game arc goals (escape the island) and the host of objectives necessary to complete them.  To give a rambling explanation of the breakdown:

   Link is told that to escape the island he must wake the Wind Fish.  To do that he needs to find eight mystical instruments, each buried in a dungeon and guarded by a boss.  To defeat each boss he has to negotiate the dungeon, more often than not themed around the item, tool or weapon that link finds within said dungeon.  To compound issues, each dungeon is placed in areas that are barricaded, blocked, guarded or generally difficult to get to, making the journey to, and entrance into, each dungeon a leg of the journey.  Once Link has all eight instruments, he had better have found the ocarina (first instance of music involvement in the games, huzzah! Outside of the whistle in link to the past which was more a teleport than a narrative tool), so that he can play the melody to wake the Wind Fish outside of it’s egg, after he’s learned the melody of course.  Playing the melody doesn’t wake the Wind Fish immediately though, as the nightmares that are plaguing the dream that Link has found himself in make a final stand, only after Link makes his way through the featureless maze that is the Wind Fish.  Then Link has to beat THE Nightmare, an amalgamation of many serious enemies, and only after that can Link meet the Wind Fish and then wake up, escaping the island.  Of course Link is still stranded on a plank of wood in the middle of a large body of water, but that’s outside of game play, at the end of the game. 

  Each step breaks down into large goals, which then break down into mid level and immediate goals, providing direction behind the ever looming goal of survival. This is a way with storytelling in most games, and not a bad way to go about it.  Survival Horror tries to veer towards a more expanded story, residing comfortably in act two and three, while feeding act one back to players, usually through logs or narrative that gives exposition.

   Link’s Awakening has little to no act one.  It doesn’t really need it.  Even to those who have a cursory glance of gaming know Link.  He’s the generic hero, the green glad lad who journey’s forth to save the land by beating up the big bad, whoever that may be in whichever landscape he finds himself in.  Lots of the Zelda games have featured three act plots, and they’ve been the better for it.  The plot that Link finds himself in gives a fraction of a first act in the games intro cinematic.  Link’s at sea, struck down by lightning, washed ashore, go.  It doesn’t NEED a complex story, In Medias Res works with such a long running franchise, if the continuity is muddled.  But it can still be fleshed out.

   The Wind Fish is the element that the game revolves around.  Waking it from its slumber brings link back to consciousness.  The entire game is the dreaded dream sequence, loathed and abused by so many TV shows.  It doesn’t need to make use of exposition, because in the broad view of the game, there is no exposition.  The game’s a dream.  Link triggered a dream apocalypse, destroying any exposition revealed about the game.  But it didn’t have to be this way.

   So the climax hits, Link goes to the egg to wake the Wind Fish.  At this point the player knows, for at least a dungeon or two, that the world they’ve been exploring is a dream.  So why not enforce this destruction?  After Link takes out the last nightmare in Turtle Rock (last dungeon) the world could undergo a massive shift.  Nothing overtly menacing, but desperate.  Every NPC Link runs into could act sickeningly sweet, all the time begging Link not to destroy their home. Once the world is on the precipice of destruction, it’s changed.  The monsters of the land are no longer the enemy, Link is.  Monsters do their part to destroy Link, Townsfolk do their part to try to keep themselves alive by keeping Link with them.    She might want to leave the island, but her island is her home, and now that all the NPCs feel the island quake and twist under the pressure of the force trying to end the dream (aka Link) they try to hold on. Marin might actually stand in front of the Wind Fish’s egg, protecting it with herself.  Link might be continually called into question with his actions. 

   And what if, here’s a fun thought, Link has to break his character of “the hero” to do so?  His goal is a very selfish one in this game; escape the island at all costs, even if it means destroying the island full of people you’ve interacted with, people who nursed you back to health.  What if Marin stands opposed on the hills of Tamaranch Mountain?  Link might brush past her and into the Egg, ignoring her pleas for her island. What if the second last form of the nightmare that haunts the Wind Fish isn’t that quick sliding speck of darkness, but in Marin’s form, begging one last time?  Forcing the player to cut down a woman he’s saved, who’s nursed him back to health, who’s gone out on a date with him?  

   The Nightmare takes the form of Marin, who begs him to stand down, to let the world live?  If the player cuts her down where she stands, she transforms into the final form, wailing in agony.  If the player talks to her, she gives them a chilling choice:  Link closes his eyes and wakes up, happy and well in Mabe village, with Marin by his side, or cut down the woman who so resembles the Zelda of his mind, the woman who pulled him from the shores.

   The possibility for a more twisted narrative is there, but it requires tough decisions, ones that can be easily glossed over, but questions which the Zelda games have never asked.  This is that chance.  Part V is going to take a look at the items and the dungeons they deal with, sticking to the thematic formula, but breaking the way they go about it.

The Awakening - Part III

Welcome to Mabe

Link walks about in the morning sun. The village looks quaint and friendly, if not a bit secluded. The atmosphere is upbeat. He finds a field of grass, a store, a crane game store, an odd shaped weather vane statue, a few houses, all lined by forest edge. To the east the path out of the town is blocked by dense trees and a weighty boulder. To the north he finds the entrance to a forest blocked by tall grass. It looks shadowy and ominous even during the day.

As he walks about the village, he finds the sun moving over head. He makes his way past the town library to the path that leads to the beach he washed ashore on. He finds a small group of children playing ball.  Past them, Marin stands near the gate.

Marin informs him that the monsters of the island have a keen nose and that if he’s been wounded, they’ll zero in on him and continuously attack [bleeding tutorial]. To protect him, she gives him a wooden shield, telling he that he can use it to block enemies and turn aside their attacks. Unfortunately, it’s only a flimsy wooden shield [lvl. 1 shield get!] that she bought at the town store some time ago, so it will break after enough abuse. Marin warns Link to be careful, asking again if he really must leave the safety of the village. She closes the gate behind him, telling him that he’ll be able to pass through if he knocks with his shield nearby.

Link makes his way through the octoroks and pushes his way through to find a battered sword lying amidst what’s left of the ruins of his ship. As soon as he goes to claim his sword, an owl flaps down and starts talking.

The monsters of the islands are acting up and Link is to blame. The owl claims that link has come to wake the Wind Fish, for that is the only way Link can escape the island. It then directs link north, to the mysterious woods. After exploring the beach, link notices the sun dropping and heads back to Mabe village, through which he’ll find the entrance to the next step in his journey.

   So much happens in so little time! The bleeding tutorial requires few lines of dialogue and then the player is left to figure it out on their own once they get in a tangle with some enemies. At this point Link can engage enemies and get a feel for the inventory system. The player can swap both items between the buttons, setting up their control scheme for the problems they have to face. The shield Link is given breaks after about twenty hits, which gives the player a vulnerable defence. The sword Link finds, chipped and battered but functional, deals a quarter damage of what a new sword would.

   This presents a chance that some players won’t notice. The store in Mabe village sells shields, a new sword, a shovel, and three hearts to heal what ails Link. One of the easter eggs of Link’s Awakening was the ability to steal from the store, dashing out the door while the clerk is facing away. Once outside, the game says “Guess what? You got it for free. Are you proud of yourself?” This does save time on some of the high ticket items (bow and arrows especially) but upon entering next time, the clerk electrocutes Link to death, and from then on all the NPCs call Link , not by his name, but Thief. The Awakening keeps the same thing, only adds a bit more injury. Players who steal the level 2 sword (does regular damage, four times what the lvl.1 does) are no longer allowed to buy shields. The clerks recognize Link and tell him to put them back. This gives thieving players the opportunity to increase their attack at the cost of never being able to buy a shield again, as well as the name change and the death once Link walks back into the store.

   One departure from the original that might rely on higher tech would be a day/night system. This wouldn’t be a real time system (like the Game Boy Colour Pokemon games used) but would alter depending on screen navigation. Every dozen or so screen shifts advances the time.Morning shifts into Day, which shifts into Evening, which shifts into Night, which shifts into Dawn, which shifts back into Morning.

Once back in Mabe, Link notices that the sun has set. The kids playing ball are gone, as are the chickens that roamed about the village. Putting it out of his mind, he goes north, towards the entrance to the Mysterious Wood.

   A full day cycle would take between 70 and 80 screen shifts, the average change being between twelve and fifteen screen changes. The cycle is also skewed towards darkness, with three of the five parts presenting worse visibility. The difference and point is to change the types of enemies, give the game a bit more depth and to limit visibility, making light an essential point.

   On the NPCs, it’s good to note that those that Link does encounter already have a bit of the uncanny floating about them. This is lost on the player game logic breeds players who exept the eccentricities of the game world. People who stand in a single spot, quest givers that require specific items with no practical alternative, NPCs who trade meaningless items which work in a linear fashion towards an end prize. Games are littered with these tropes, and Zelda games are no different, creating its fair share. The trading game (which was first featured in this game) is another example of bizarre behaviour we now take for granted.

   The day/night cycle and the dreamscape motif provide for creativity which the game misses, as well as plenty of opportunity to provide dread. New among the wandering monsters of Koholint are:

• Veils – these appear during the three night cycles. They spawn as small shadows from the scenery, stretching out and pulling Link in (eye pulse pull mechanic), damaging Link upon contact. They often aren’t clearly visible, only drawing Link in when he’s within a certain range, as opposed to an event triggered by entry into its screen. They can’t be killed. If Link equips a light source, he isn’t affected.

• Morphs – morphing shadows, blobs of inky blackness that cycle through enemies depending on proximity, bleeding effect. Morphs aren’t a cycle of enemies, but a black cloud that shifts between enemies attacks and vague forms. And octorok bullet requires an octorock head, which may sprout if Link passes by within given conditions. These resemble the final nightmare, to a far lesser degree. They run from light, can only be damaged by fire (powder, fire rod, best sword beam, fire/light source).

• Lesser Nightmares – these are periphery monsters, creatures who act intelligently, provide dread and speak in the same style as the bosses. They’re akin to dungeon-less bosses who lurk behind the scenes, slipping off screen whenever Link gets close by. The first one Link encounters is responsible for stealing Bow-Wow, who Link has to go retrieve in order to gain access to Bottle Grotto, the second dungeon.

   This makes me think that I need to spend some time talking about the Zelda dungeon formula and the new complement of weapons and items Link finds through his journey. Also, the many tiered objectives I haven’t gotten too yet, as well as Link’s journey through the Mysterious Wood to find the Tail Key and make his way to the first dungeon. Part IV coming up.

The Awakening - Part II

Morning Comes

Link wakes to find Marin and Tarin's house empty.  Moving about he gets access to the game mechanics, movement via D-pad, inventory (start) and map (select) which is blacked out. Link also has the A and B buttons unassigned.  A glance at the inventory screen shows a blank page, three hearts, and no money. Wandering outside, he gets his first look at Mabe Village.

   Here's a good point to break narrative for a bit to talk about hardware.  Link's Awakening was one of the first game's to push the then-new handheld system.  It was released in 1993, four short years after the system's premier.  Considering this is a reboot more than a decade after the fact, I’m ignoring much of the technological progress that's been made, the most relevant being colour, resolution, memory limitations and layer limitations.  Interestingly enough, some of these hardware issues aren't necessarily a bad thing.  The monochrome nature of the game was re-hauled in the colourful DX remake (Game Boy Colour, 1998), and while it livens up a Zelda game into a bright and diverse experience, the monochrome forces the player to distinguish between the shades of grey. This, in its own small way, pushes the player to use their imagination, which can create far better atmosphere then the handheld could alone.  The modern drive for a sharpened reality look is often to the detriment of horror, which realize heavily on the unknown.  That being said, I’m working under the assumption of an altered state, be it a recoded ROM or a remake from the ground up using modern tech to deliver the same style and end result.

   With this in mind, the resolution wouldn’t change.  Each screen would still have 10 by 8 tile set map, below which is the 10 by 2 heads-up display (HUD).  I have some reservation about keeping the HUD, but it does serve its purpose rather well.  I find that for games that try to keep an atmosphere, the less HUD, the better. 

   The example I have of this isn’t a survival horror, but implements it’s HUD with an ear to the player.  Assassin’s Creed 2 ( I’m going by Xbox360 play) starts with a full HUD featuring life, weapons, button functions, mini-map, hints, info, a veritable cornucopia of user information.  The novel thing is that every single one can be turned off.  Within the pause menu options, the player can toggle every independent piece of HUD on or off, depending on their desired way of play.  While this might show uncertainty on part of the dev team who weren’t sure what to keep as a HUD, the option lets players tailor their experience.  Veterans who don’t need the button configuration, or who know how to take their HP cues from audio signals can clear those features out of the way, giving even more of the screen over to scenery.  What’s more, if the PC is damaged, the life bar may (toggle switch) flash up on the HUD to alert the player, before fading away, leaving the screen uncluttered.

   Back to Awakening.  Would removing the HUD be a bad thing?  Yes and no.  The map system was built around the HUD, rather than the HUD being layered on top of the map system.  That being the case, giving the 10x2 tiles of movement and action would add more hassle than atmosphere, as the HUD never gets in the way of the action.  It may be a bit of a strain on immersion, but on a handheld game, unless you’re playing in the dark (a very, VERY painful process on the original Game boy, which did not feature a backlit screen) the HUD won’t be touched. 

   While I’m still harping on about the HUD, it bears mention that the right side, devoted to heart containers, won’t be filling up the same way.  Heart container’s provide additional life, and provided rewards for both boss completion as well as exploration.  The problem is, more life diminishes the weight and damage posed by enemies, as well as the threat that they pose.  The player starts with three heart containers, gains eight from boss drops, collects 3 from scattered ¼ heart containers, giving them a max life of 14 heart containers.  An easy way to get around this is to ramp up the damage done by late game creatures. 

   Something else is to eliminate the collection of heart pieces.  The logic of finding random containers of life about the island doesn’t make much sense, despite it being a Zelda trope.  However, within the game’s narrative, it might be justified.  Exploration of the dreamscape that Link explores rewards him with further understanding of the area he’s found himself in, characterized by heart containers.  Still, I’d rather explore the land for a reason more thematic then arbitrary boosts. 

   Instead of having the heart containers be boss drops, have them tied to narrative a bit more.  Before going to the sixth dungeon, Face Shrine, Link learns that not only is he within a dream, but waking the Wind Fish (overarching objective) to escape means waking up, causing a dream apocalypse. 

   This one plot point can be given so much more weight than it already had.  From this point on, Link understands why bosses drop lie, their death results in Link achieving a more lucid state.  Any heart containers picked up before this reveal won’t be active, but will be held as a story item, next to the trading game item.  Once Link learns that he’s in a dream, the heart container’s he’s found become active, life, power to survive within the dream, flows through him.  Link get’s a mid game power up with narrative worth, making the early game more challenging while also providing a bit more context to the powers that are being earned.

  

   Euch, okay, I haven’t gotten to the layers of objectives or even out of the house.  Part III picks those up as well as some thoughts on monster design, some items and plot.

The Awakening - LOZ:LA reboot into survival horror. Part I

    For today’s exorcise, i’m going to take a look at one of my favourite games, The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening for the Gameboy, and see how i can spin it into darker territories.  This is a game very close to my heart and one i’ve clocked truly obscene amounts of hours playing, replaying, toying with to understand its secrets.  I even wrote a guide for it that was on gamefaqs for a while, that’s how into this game i was.  As i lay in hot water my mind went drifting through survival horror mechanics and i found that the genre would suit the game rather well, or at least adapt itself to the different tone well.  Sure it isn’t usual Zelda fare, but the series could do with some diversity in the way it goes about reusing the  IP.  They can’t all be green tunic'ed and happy.  Bring on the darkness.

The Awakening

    To start out I'm going to be gutting a lot of conventions of the series, starting with the notion that Link can take on everything on the island, so long as he visits all the dungeons and has the specific items.  there are going to be enemies that can't be killed, a series no-no (outside of plot and NPCs).  The tools and weapons that link collects won't be the standard fare. there will be a sword, but it won't be until after a dungeon or two. there'll be a starting knife, but I'll get to that.  combat, one of the staples of the Zelda franchise, is going to be present, but not until Link learns how to survive.  run and live, then learn how to fight.

    For those who haven't yet Wiki'd the game, or who don't know what I'm talking about, here and here.  with that stated, not that it matters with such an old game, but spoilers and plot and all that will be rent asunder.  you are duly warned.  moving on.

    the real kicker is that the basic premise of the game would remain largely unchanged. Link is on sea in his little dingy of a vessel, a storm hits, his boat gets struck by lighting, and he's tossed into the ocean.  he drifts ashore onto a beach of Koholint and a young girl named Marin takes him home to the local village and nurses him back to health.  upon his waking, he embarks on a quest to escape the island.  Adventure Ho!

Flicking the switch On

    so right off the bat a few things happen which bear mentioning.  the intro cinema takes about 50 seconds to get get to the title splash and pretty much tells us all we need to know.  boat on the ocean, storm, glimpse of a rendered character (oh yeah that'd change, definitely), wreck, sprite lying unconscious on beach, Marin walks up, prods him, the shot pans up to the egg on the mountain which is the title backdrop, bang title splash and the musics been following the pan up, jumping into the melody when the title splash hits.  I'll keep it all save the rendered Link.  less is more and the picture never really was close to the Link i pictured.  a silhouette would get the job done and keep that mystique.  i think it was the round nose that i disliked.  Euch.  the palm beach might be darkened some, but it's not a big deal.

    the music though, would have to change.  i love the music for this game, but it's very catchy, upbeat and hopeful, which isn't the mood to convey.  keep the Zelda melody, but play it down something fierce.  somber lead in, not optimistic.  this isn't a story with a happy ending, but it's an ending that Link has to work towards regardless.  what that ending is though, I'll get to at a later time. suffice to say that the entire score would be calmed down, and depressed: darker moods and sombre renditions.

    the requisite stripping of all items, health, spells, abilities, etc from previous titles happens during the storm, and this works well from both the standpoint of a weaker Link, a good element of horror, as well as providing him a chance to find new items (which of course goes mostly unused 'cause this is a Zelda game, and too much change frightens off the fan base).  next, Link wakes up in a house with a young woman standing over him and her uncle barring the way outside until you say hi and get your shield from him.  this set up's going to change a bit:

Link wakes up and sees the meager shack around him.  near above him a young lady looks eagerly on as he stirs.  outside, dusk is setting on.  pulling himself up, the young lady startles at his movement and rushes to introduce herself and his current situation.  he was found washed ashore and was hurriedly dragged back to the village.  it was a miracle that he was alive when she found him because... Link doesn't find out as Marin's introduction is interrupted by her uncle, sitting near the table on the other side of the room.  pulling himself to his feet, link goes and introduces himself to Tarin, Marin's uncle, who tells him to rest up, and that he shouldn't be going out at night, especially with injuries.  Link crawls back into bed and the night wears on.  he sleeps to rise the next morning.

    the tone is darker and the dread that Link was a lucky find and could just have easily died lying on the sandy beach adds more dread still.  something else to notice is the distinct lack of shield.  Tarin
    Something that I'm adding to the mechanics that isn't really necessary is a day/night cycle.  this will allow for a light mechanic to be implemented at various points and will make all the safe havens that much safer.  every town and gathering of NPCs will be bathed in light, regardless of time.  during the day the island will keep it's usual colouring (or lack there of, this being a game before colours, when the pixel mix was what gave shading), while during the night, darkness is prevalent, holes are that much more easier to fall into, and navigating the island will be that much more treacherous.
    This set up also introduces another mechanic: monster attraction when damaged, more commonly thought of as 'blood in the water.'  when Link is below full health (2.5/3 - .5/3), bleeding for reference sake, monsters are drawn to him.  they can smell him out (as dialogue with townsfolk will tell him).  when he is full health he an stealth by monsters, unless he bumps into them, but otherwise, he's going to have to run, negotiating new terrain and level s quickly, with monsters on his heals.  this makes finding a weapon or a defense that much more important and adds the not often used Zelda stealth mechanic (run by, run by when distracted or turned away, distract, then run by, hide wait then run by) without much more added coding.  upon shifting into a screen containing a foe, if Link is bleeding, monsters sniff once, maybe twice, then come after him, switching their coded paths from default to pursuit, as they do when Link starts to attack them.

Part II kicks off with link actually getting up and about, players getting a feel for the game play and the beginning of tiers upon tiers of objectives.  all that and more, coming up.

The Bridge Wars and RPG VX

Once again i find myself reinstalling the program, building a world i already built which somehow got lost.  a few years ago i put in a few months of free summer time into RPGVX in efforts to build the island of Jaren, bordering Lilon within the Nonaverse.  that being done i moved onto characters plot, event mapping etc.  i don't know where it went but my files of the project disappeared over the spanning years so that all i'm left with is my long hand notes and a theme song Enigmachina made for the project.
So here i am playing around in the program again, a different story lingering in mind, fully aware that whatever time i sink into this will most likely be for not as the story's still to expansive.  The Bridge Wars spans three countries/continents and came out of the domain class'e that i randomly designs skill tiers for.  i'd proly have far better luck writing out snippets of the story.  perhaps i'll do that.
Then again, just mapping out the islands is a good feeling. i think its the catharsis of pulling unfinished projects back into the foreground.
we shall see how things go...

A handful of game ideas

Going through some old notes and docs in my files i came across some quick ideas of what could have once become games.  the treatments were sometimes scrappy at best, mere bylines, but they're ideas non the less.  and they do no good floating my archives if they could be floating around the undermind, so out into the spheres they go.

Treatment  A PC start the game with a past he/ she's trying to forget, the goal of the game to reach the marine recruiting centre that wipes your memory and name, turning you into one of the many ubiquitous amnesiac third person shooter space marines.  Who then try to discover their past.  Funny how that works.

Treatment  Survival horror inversion.  PC is a monster, or something similar. Light hurts you, enemies are trying to fend you off as you poke around.  Upon reflection this bears shocking similarity to the 'i am legend' premise, but maybe that's a good thing.  

Treatment  Instead of trapping the hero in a remote, monster filled location they must escape, place them in a densely populated environment where no one will help them.  bittersweet ending of the hero going insane and only then people see them and helping, once all hope was lost.

Treatment  Have a premise where that the PC is a pacifist and is confronted by shambling body horrors and they try to escape through surreal horror (Undermind methinks)  the player “loses” whenever they decide to fight.  If they take a stand against a monster (decidedly out of character) then the monsters realize that the opponent is now “active” and respond in kind.  A lot.  Hard.  Non standard game over.  Games Aesop about losing the virginity of violence.

Treatment  Simple platformer ala braid and limbo.  Sword dude, long thing double edged rounded tip ninjato mod.  Revolver long reload, inf ammo, but long range.  Characters burst from each other s chest when switching between each other.  Trade off in a literal killer 7 or lost Viking style.

Treatment  Character has only one superpower (similar to braid only not as developed)  which is to freeze frame the game reality.  The plays function button act as the simple save, load.  The way that this could be useful would be a knowledge driven story over a materialistic key or quest item driven story.  The PC has to learn things, which stay with him/her and then when the freeze frame loads he/’she keeps all memory and knowledge gains, loses all material gain.  This could work on a similar pared down version of the engine, where the character sheet wouldn’t be as necessary.  A log of all information, conversation gains (which the game registers as coded triggers anyway) are logged and at any point the game can be captured/loaded.  Of course, because I love the mindscrew too much that I would make it far more common, the more the load and save is used, the worse effect it has on your character.  The character has to use it to progress through the game, but the more its used, the more unhinged the player becomes.  the data that is loaded becomes corrupted.  the character starts to remember  events that others allude to, but they never experienced and they aren't complete memories by any margin.

Treatment A game that focuses on time controls and manipulation.  Not only would it have a physics engine but a time engine as well, which would create possible parallels that the player could switch between randomly while learning and consciously after becoming comfortable with their powers.  Automatic time shifting.

Treatment  A game of hitmen in an active 3d world, mmorpg perhaps, only it wouldn’t be so much of an rpg.  I'm thinking Sid Meyers Pirates only using a glacier engine (Assassin's Creed) in a mmo setting that has interactivity. The few people in the city who kill, a variety of missions, when other players enter into your city/world.

Treatment A game where you play as a shape shifter, morphing between different powers and controls.  Devil may cry meets Pendragon’s Saint Dane meets the powers that Marvel vs Capcom put on display, all in a single character, swappable at will with minor control scheme variation.

Treatment Rpg where you start the game with Hollywood amnesia caused by trauma at a certain level mid game would usually be reserved too.  The narrative switches from the past to the present, where after the intro scenes, you switch control to the past and start to build the characters, the thing here would be a time travel plot of some nature, where the player builds the character that has already been built, only there choices are reflected in the past versions they’ve already played. 

This could also be lampshaded in a way that the player describes in conversation what he/she would want in a companions ability innocuously and that is created with the characters sheet being rolled up later on in the plot and one of the characters saying something to the effect of “ funny, thats so close what you were describing.  Some of the traits described would be opposed or randomized, and would indeed be different on a separate play through following the same path.

I'm thinking this for a modern rpg.  I’d kick it earthbound style with modern-ish weapons or maybe Cthulhu era weaponry, with similar devastating effects.    In fact, I wouldn’t even have a level system inside of it I would have something much more akin to coc’s system where you don’t level up but your skills do.  I love the hit detection that Dark Corners had but I’d have to say atmosphere wise I would like to stick third person.  Something about the movement scheme of first person games never sat well with me, but given the possibilities, it could also be something that lets you switch from first to third person.

The Straw Hat Samurai Analysis

//two days ago i was on a samurai kick and went through some flash games before i stumbled onto this (being the first).  after losing...some time to it, i started toying with thought and then started writing.  yes there will be rambling repetition and horrible grammar, but these are just ideas as they come.  this is going to tagged as game design, though a more apt description would be ramblings towards a design reboot or modification/evolution.  something like that.//

As a flash game, it's pretty tight, survival mode with a simple campaign, move the guy by clicking, any held down trace is a cut that he performs, cancel cuts by clicking before or during the start, bow to draw.  Move guy from place to place.  All in all fairly simple, but that’s what makes flash games so convincing and so enthralling.  Simple mechanics boiled into simple context for quick fun.  Don’t broke fixed etc etc. 

So how to change it.   Assumption of k/l and lets see what I an do to alter and create.

Story:

Basic story mode consists of a retainer to a lord going through territory and wiping out legions of guards, upon slaughtering a final encampment.  First thing to do is to make that longer.  Pull back and look at the war OR go even closer, ignore the war, go where your lord directs and do as you’re told.  For something like this I want to go with a traditional idealistic samurai, true to bushido rather than a noble ronin who does as they please.  The latter provides an open ended world, but hey, linear means more emphasis of the story. 

That being the case.  Id like the story to be wider arching or close.  If closer than it can span he (dreaded) follow-ups and sequels.  The first games can have flashbacks which may or may not be expanded into a full game OR have the fable path (really traditional RPG path) of the samurai raised from birth, rained (combat tutorial) teach the lessons and code of the samurai. 

Ooh!  Non standard game over of seppeku!  Player has to actually cut themselves with a strike to proceed.  If that’s not gravity for actions...then its proly an emo wet dream mixed with samurai tones, but whatever, I’m moving on

I like the idea of giving free action to the player (yes they can kill anything they want, do anything they want in a cut scene, as well as action) however that has to be restricted within boundaries to keep it linear.  In such a tight game, those questions aren’t really asked.  You have a 2d side scrolling stage and that’s it.  You never go into a village or anything like that because it’s not necessary.

Story being what it is I’m going to skip the growth of youth and keep it on grown up level.  20s, 30s indiscriminate age.  Serves a lord properly and tries to be the example of a samurai. 

The twist?:  instead of the pc (samurai) fucking shit up and needing to atone, its the lord who fucks shit up (not all that unusual in and of itself) the samurai, ever faithful retainer, serves and tries to do right by the code as the lord deals with the fallout, more often than not relying on the retainer to save him.

Keep the story.  The lord commits to a campaign and rather than offer his life (he’s a not so honourable lord) goes to battle and mobilizes troops over it.  Over time the troops fall short and while they carve a good path, they eventually are brought to a head. 

I like the idea of death being a permanent ish endeavour, so every “death” advances the plot to the next arc of the story, with the outcome being realized without the help of the samurai, in a mostly negative light.  The retainer is very much superfluous and yet has so many dependants on him. 

At every stage there is possibility of death which advances the story to the next arc.  If live then the retainer advances the plot in a more positive light, eventually winning the campaign...ish.  The army falls but the retainer keeps going to the final lord, which should be epic pain to get to.  If the retainer makes it, then the duel between the lords takes place, the retainers standing in.  This should be an unwinnable fight.  Any death of this gives an “honourable” death game over and the cannon ending. 

Bittersweet ending.  The loophole is to cut down the opposing retainer before the duel starts, like the end fight of bushido blade, which gives a dishonourable game over in which you can then kill the opposing lord.  If you try to kill the opposing lord in scene then you’re blocked by himself or more to it his retainer.

Mechanics and ideas:

Apparently there’s a second of these games which I’ll look at shortly, but first ideas and what not.   Being ever in love with RPG mechanics, I like the idea of money/honour system.  Honour should always be high and if it drops, your money to resupply weapons, upgrade weapons) (longer range, differing brush styles) drops as well.  If you die a good chunk of your “lord’s retainer fund” is cut down to pay for your medical fees.  Or and your weapons might be lost, dropped down to weapons you previously owned, but not those you died with.  Pretty much you get looted when you die. 

I’d like more environmental interactions.  Walls and passages, though keeping to the 2d plane does condense this.  More controls would be nice, giving camera pan to the wasd or arrow keys as well the direction scroll. 

Most mechanics should have the options to change them.  If you want to enable directional camera, toggle.  If you want to enable arrow movement, toggle over the click to move.  Slicing draw mechanic takes priority in the stack, with clicking to move or arrow key move still cancelling attack.  I’d like a run toggle key, also enable-able. 

Scratch strategy mode, didn’t really like it and it kind of removes from the flow in my mind. It does provide variety of game play but it wasn’t necessary. 

I like having a variety of enemies and areas.  I like having smaller retainers standing in your way cutting down your troops and then eventually being overwhelmed should you fall.  I like the idea that if you alone plough through all the enemies, you become a legend and a retainer to be trifled with, the difficulty curve rising to meet you.  If you die before the conclusion of every acc then the difficulty ramps up a bit but never past 1/3 or ½ of what it would be if you never die.  In this way there is an implicit difficulty setting.

And on the subject of difficulty settings, there should definitely be them at main arcs. Or within the arcs.  The lord may give the retainer the choice between paths, and their difficulty may vary, as may there objectives.  This story splitting also allows for some variety in game play.  Not always hacking through legions, but killing specifics or besting specifics. 

Oh, weapon variance for Sinai as additional weapon.  No kill but unconscious, if remain on map for too long then.  Weapons should be available, each with their benefits.  Each uses the same slice mechanic, but the brush of the slice can very as can the slice speed after the slice is finished.  A weapon might include a teleport or a distance before the slice can commence. 

In 2 – shunpo, multiple strokes, finishing moves on downed enemies, launching strikes, more linear stage movements, within stage longevity in a more old style kill on move further via cut scene continue to the end of stage, proper boss fights! 

Well right there that’s some stuff better. 

--

Preset combo moves.  Every city has a dojo or two which can set a key strike move, starting with the samurai in place and ending in the same place, a set kata available at a keystroke as opposed to a slash.  While this would cut down on challenge a lot, it would have downsides, specifically a chiburi that leaves you open to attack, as well as a shorter spline length (maybe) or a thinner edge (maybe) depending on weapon and grade of dojo.  In cities or in temples along mountain paths.  Dojos let you practice your kata (redefine moves for a cost, unless the temple is already under your domain.  Not a conqueror/occupied temple.  Each new dojo offers another kata (assigned key) available to be learned.  Another kata option is by learning the specific strokes, a larger combo is preformed.  All kata, pc made or pre coded end with chiburi, which is the major downside, keeping them as finishing moves or moves with high cost of life. 

--

My main concerns with the second game are the lack of story once again.  Mechanic upgrades, but in comparison, there’s a fraction of story.  A handful of stages and then it kicks you to the To Be Continued, which I can understand as it’s a solo project, yet at the same time, it makes the game feel unfinished, like the author grew weary, gave it a cut and moved on.  I like the added shunpo and finish move, though I can’t get the hang of the launches, though the air juggling is mandatory for the mountain stage.  The bosses were challenging, though not terribly innovative.  I found myself liking the robot samurai duel far better than any of the larger scale fights.  The downside is while the shunpo is a fun feature, it is an incredible game breaker, especially if you walk into boss fights with a full gauge and knowledge of when to exploit it, but hey, that’s have the fun.  Multi beheading a screen full of standing and flying guards and then turning time back on to see all the heads fly off is something that hasn’t lost its charm.  

Oh, and I'm not fond of the fact that he has a mostly revealed face.  Less is more especially with the title being what it is.  Projection on an unknown warrior is far easier with a hidden face.

A good step in the right direction, but not enough.  The concept could benefit a team.  I’m surprised it isn’t on a short list of easy ports to NDS as the slice mechanic seems perfect for the touch screen.   I believe there’s a clone/port for ipod/phone, though I’ve no clue if there’s a relation beyond the slice mechanic.  

//the first game, the second game.  I'll be posting more game design ramblings.  happy holidays and new year on this, the ultimate day of the year. - a//