Daibouken: Floor 1 of Arben Temple

It's certainly been a while since the last Zelda video, but here it is. I decided to play my game again, hoping to finally figure out an answer to my question. That question was whether the battle system was worth the extra effort. Well, after playing through it, although the Neo BBS is not perfect, I realized that it was enjoyable and simple. I want to pay more attention to puzzle solving, so the battle system isn't any more complex than it needs to be.

Watch the video if you're interested.

Zelda Resource Kit: Version 1.0

For those of you interested, here are some Zelda Resources.

DOWNLOAD ALL: Complete Pack (v1.o)

• Animations (v1.o)
• Charsets (v1.o)
• Chipsets (v1.o)
• Music (v1.o)
• Sound (v1.o)

Bouken Battle System gets a functionality upgrade

This post has been long overdue, so it's about time I make it. As you may know, the Bouken Battle System was quite a rather lengthy and bug-prone bit of code to have in my game. The only way to implement it without it interfering was to make battles take place in select rooms. Well, that's not going to happen. Rather than take the wimp's way out, I've decided to refine and strengthen my code for the BBS. In the course of two days (only a couple of hours spent reworking it) I finished the Neo-BBS. Everything the old had to offer sans the possible bugs.

In addition to changing the code, I've also opted to simplify the whole RPG element. Much like the game, Super Paper Mario, the focus will be more on puzzle solving then RPG. Don't worry, you'll still get to fight and level up and all of that, but you'll find yourself more concerned with figuring out the answer to a difficult puzzle. Gaining levels will only increase your stats slightly, if at all, but you will gain levels frequently. In fact, you only need to defeat 3 monsters in the first dungeon to get to level 2.

More Bouken Battle System Information:
Here is a shot of the "Status Screen."
As you can see, Link is pretty weak. But more importantly, it is best that I explain the meaning behind the stats.

Power: (ATK) Link's strength rating.
Dexterity: (DEF) Link's defense rating.
Wisdom: (INT) The more wise you are, the more efficient your spells are.
Courage: (SPEED) The more courageous you are, the better chance you have of landing a blow.

HP and MP are pretty self-explanatory. And Rupees are currency.



Battle Algorithms

Sword Attack
Damage = [(LINK ATK * COMBO)/2] - ENEMY DEF
Note: The Combo default is 2. As in, if you don't pull off a combo, the algorithm looks like this: Damage =LINK ATK - ENEMY DEF.

Bomb Attack
Damage = (LINK ATK*2) - ENEMY DEF
Note: In other words, it's two times Link's ATK minus the enemies defense. Obviously, this can be one of your most powerful weapons. But unlike the sword, it is ammo based.

Small/Big Arrow Attack
Damage = LINK ATK
Note: The arrows pierce defense. When enemies start getting higher DEF, the Arrow can be more useful. But equipping the bow does not raise your attack much, if at all. However, bows that require Big Arrow's do raise your attack more, but still not as much as a Bomb or Sword.

Magic Cane/Gust Cannon Attack
Damage = 0
Note: This two psuedo-weapons don't actually deal damage. Instead, they slow down your opponent or fade them away. Both weapons raise your SPEED a lot, so it's harder to get hit while trying to inflict such a status condition on your opponent.

A few more screens trickle in...

A couple of more screens. These were taken from Hyrule Field. I haven't really worked on the game much, but I will probably do some more mapping on Hyrule to make it bigger. I plan on it being ginormous.

Update drought, I won't deny it.

Thanks to the mounting pressures of schoolwork and such, I haven't had much time or desire to work on Zelda or Mario. Interest in game making tends to come in spurts for those of us who aren't paid (nor want to be) for our hard work. It seems as if releasing that demo really did me in for a while because I haven't done much work on Daibouken since. I will try to refocus my energies on Mario which may prove more fun to work on after a long hiatus.

Important! Demo v1.2b Patch!

You may be missing this file for the Demo v1.2!

It has come to my attention that a file is missing from the Demo. A "water1.png" as it were. This was a very bad oversight from U Division, accidentally using an RTP animation file and not adding it to the Daibouken folder. My bad. For those of you unable to complete the Demo, just follow these steps.

1. Download water1.png
2. Put the file in the "Battle" folder of the Demo Folder
3. Play the game.

If you are too lazy to do that, you can just give Demo v1.2b a download that comes complete with the update.

Now that you've played the Demo v1.2...

How was it? Did Demo v1.2 provide a sufficient step-up from it's predecessor or is the Daibouken game still in the realm of mediocrity? Did you enjoy it, and if so, what were your likes? What were your dislikes? Just leave a comment about your experience with the game. If you haven't tried it yet, just scroll down to the previous post. Any comment is useful for us as developers to improve our projects.

Day 3: The Grand Demo itself!

Download Daibouken Demo v1.2!!!

Well, that that's. The last and the most important day of the launch party has come, so grab version 1.2 without a moments delay. Later, I may put up some reviews and reactions to it if you'd rather here what other people have to say before trying it. And if you simply want to see it, scroll down to Day 2 for the videos. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

Day 2: Demo v1.2 Speed Run!

SPOILERS!!!!!!!!

Now that you have been warned, check out these vids:

Part 1



Part 2

Party Day 1: Screenshot Blitz!

As promised, the first day of festivities is a barrage of screenshots. As you can see, the map no longer has that old, almost faded look of Link to the Past. Now it features the much brighter feel of Minish Cap. And now for 11 screens and some commentary.

Click the image for a full-size view!

1:Link surrounded by... hay?
2:To find treasure, one must play hopscotch over water.



3:Don't stay underwater too long! Just look at how much your HP dropped!
4:The Slvr Sword! Can't wait to forge it into the Rzr!



5:Everyone knows Chain Chomps float over water.
6:A random Hylian Guard watches link solve the puzzle.


7:Yeah, we get it. Link's got hops.
8:Ah! The room radiates when a treasure is found.



9:Another pic showing off the uses of the Arbot's Bow.
10:Wait... you can pull stones now? Blasphemy!



11: And finallly, hit that switch!

Announcing: The Feature Demo v1.2 Three Day Launch Party!!

Caution, the biggest read on U Divison up ahead.

Yes, you read right. Tomorrow will be the beginning of the three day Daibouken Feature Demo v1.2 Launch Party. After the success of Demo v1.0, it was only a matter of time before U Division released an update to it. I planned on doing so after it reached 100 downloads, but I kind of forgot to and as of now Demo v1.0 had been downloaded 118 times! Sounds like a good number to me.

I'm pretty much finished with it now, but I think it wouldn't hurt to fix a couple of things and maybe make it a little longer. Basically, each day of this "party" I will release a certain piece of media for the game. Here's a list to clarify:

Thursday - All Screenshots released
Friday - A video of the entire Demo (If you don't want to spoil the Demo, don't watch)
Saturday - The Demo itself is released.

Now to answer the questions that are bound to be raised.

New Features/Updates:

1. HUD Display
2. Weapon Change and the use of 4 different Weapons (Wooden Sword, Bombs, Slvr Sword, Arbot's Bow)
3. Pulling (Forgot that you could only push stones in the last one)
4. Fixed Glitches
5. Pretty much 100% Minish Cap graphics
6. About 6-10 minutes of gameplay
7. Humorous and helpful NPCs to further explain features
   

I don't see any mention of the Bouken Battle System on that list. Does that mean I still can't fight monsters yet?

• Yes and no. True, there is no Bouken Battle System on the v1.2, but that doesn't mean you can't fight monsters. Just like in any Zelda game, sometimes you need to use your weapon to indirectly kill a monster. I don't want to give too much away or it'll ruin a nice surprise in the new demo.

I haven't played Demo v1.0. Should I even bother?

• No, you shouldn't. V1.2 is better in every way. If you're really that eager, give v1.0 a download but it'd be a better idea to just wait for the bigger, better and badder Demo v1.2.
  

I've played Demo v1.0. It was great and all but should I even bother with the v1.2 after experiencing the first?

• You definitely need to try out the second even if you've fiddled around with the first. I wont lie and say there is a groundbreaking difference, but v1.2 does offer a but look at what direction Daibouken is headed in. It's shaping up to be more Zelda-y so I suggest you take a look.

V1.0 was not much of a challenge. Will v1.2 be harder?

• Well, correct me if I am wrong... but are YOU ASKING ME FOR A CHALLEEEENGE!!! Okay, HomeStar Runner reference aside, v1.2 doesn't add much in the difficulty department so far. But, I will say it is harder. One of the major reasons is that you can actually die. Yes, now that the HUD system is up, you can see your HP. Those monsters that bump you take about 1 HP, and the the things with blades on them that move from side to side do a bit more, about 4 HP.
  

What happened to Demo v1.1?

• I had originally planned to release v1.1 when the site passed 5,000 hits. It was going to be more of a glitch fix then anything. Basically, to further polish off the the first demo without adding to much content. I decided it wasn't a big enough leap, and, instead, did not release it.

What happened to all of the character art you promised?

• Well... I never really got around to that. Maybe during summer.

Demo v1.0 is being reworked, expect Demo v1.2 soon!

The title pretty much tells you all you need to know, but I might as well add on to that. Yes, I am currently updated the long overdue version of the demo. I'm not quite sure what I want to show off right now, but I do have a few guarantees. After all, it's v1.2, so it won't be too big of a jump.

Here's a list of what to expect so far:
-All features from Demo 1.0
-New Minish Cap graphics
-HUD display system
-Ability to change and use different weapons for puzzle solving

I'll keep you posted on this new demo as I get more work done in it. It's surprising I've done anything on Daibouken seeing as how it's spring break. That just shows how dedicated I am.

Daibouken: Almost a year in production...

...and I have yet to even think about quitting. That's a good sign for someone notorious of starting but never finishing his projects. The fire of working on the Zelda game has not died out in the least. Especially since this the first time I've ever gotten close to finishing any of the major systems of the game. The CMS and CBS are looking better each time I work on them, and, to my surprise, I can actually see an end in sight. I've already done about 90% of the unique coding, the rest is copy, pasting, and slight alteration.

To celebrate Daibouken's birthday, I'll try to whip up something special... You'll see.

Shrinking Daibouken: The Change to Minish Cap Graphics

Wow. Now doesn't that look really nice? This is the future of Daibouken. Yes, for some reason I had started off Daibouken using a Minish Link but Link to the Past tilesets. To be honest, this was all becuase of availablility. I thought that to use the Minish Cap sprites, I'd have to make the chipsests myself. That's what I had to do for Mario, and look what happened to him. It's been a year since I started Daibouken. In that time, lots more Minish Cap CharaSets and ChipSets have been made. I'm sure there is a sufficent amount of them, although I must admit LttP had more.

So, I will now officially announc that Daibouken will be fully Minish Cap now. Actually, the Weapon Icons will still be Ocarina of Time/ Majora's Mask. Simply put, Minish looks much richer and detailed and actually fits with the version of Link I'm using. You'll be seeing Minish Screenshots from now on.

All in a days work!

I guess I deserve a pat on the back for this accomplishment. In only a day I was able to finish coding and spriting the shield equipment screen for the Custom Menu System. This has been a relatively productive week, and this is just evidence of that. In order to do this, I had to make 5 of the 8 different shield sprites myself, and had to code the menu part as well. All I have left are Tunics, Caps, and Accessories before the Equipment screen (probably the most important part of the menu) is finished. Go me.

Something to add to the "Complete" List

Yup, I finally finished off something that should have been done a while ago. For my Bouken Battle System, I needed a bunch of sprites for Link using different weapons. I found a really good sprite sheet, but it would take time to turn those raw sprites into an organized sets (CharaSets, BattleSets, Chipsets, etc...) and finally, into animation. Well, for all of Link's weapon he now has the corresponding animation to go with it. I don't have a specific list of things to do for the BBS but if I did, that would no longer be on it.

Bouken Battle System: 70% Complete.

Friday Media: Sheild GIF

Well, although it arrived late, it still arrived. The first Friday Media piece is none other than Link... shielding. Having just finished transforming raw sprites into beautiful animation, I celebrated by making this small GIF with a cool GIF making program.

I can now officially say that the shielding feature of the Bouken Battle System is 100% done.

Rejoice! Another video for your viewing!

Here you go. Another short clip showing of some great footage. This is actually of the Bouken Battle System, a topic more interesting than the last. Take a look at this epic battle between Link and a flying electric jelly fish who burns you on contact... WHAT?

As a side note: I've decided to make things a little more formal about the videos. Most likely, I'll implement a "Friday Media" day where I release a piece of media (screenshot, video, music, character art, etc) instead of the scattered stuff throughout the week.

Speaking of character art, look forward to a big batch of my sketches after March 26.

Bouken Battle System: The First Boss!

Ever since I started the ambitious idea of the Bouken Battle System, I knew that I'd someday have to face the task of creating a boss. Like in any other Zelda game, the boss is not usually defeated by hacking and slashing. Often times you need a special weapon, or a certain combination of actions before he is vulnerable to damage. With those thoughts in mind, yesterday I started work on the programming of the first boss. I don't want to give much away yet, but let's just say it's coming along really nicely. There's a bit of puzzle involved with it, but the majority is, of course, fighting. But one thing you'll find fighting (and beating) this boss in Daibouken that you wont' find in any other Zelda: the satisfaction of knowing that fighting all the monsters before him actually made you stronger!

Video: A Weapon Sampling

Here's the first of the "Feature Video" series U Division has decided to do. Not quite a trailer, but worthy enough to be Youtubed.

You may be wondering why I moved Link around during this video. Well, it wouldn't be real-time if you could only stand when you changed it... right?

Just in case you didn't catch Daibouken's earlier Youtube.com debuts:

Trailer 1:


Trailer 2: