NeoFirst Development Diary

[Din]

A little back in posts, but for the talk of the Minish in the Mystic Forest, will the children call them "Minish," as they perfer to call themselves, or "Picori," as races from Hylian to Gerudo call them?

[_L_]

You know, I've never really understood why each of those words were preferred by each race. Simply by looking at the prominent phonemes of the Minish's language (sample: "Pico riki poko ti po!") one would immediately assume that "Picori" was their native word for themselves. "Minish", on the other hand, is almost certainly rooted in the 'English' spoken by Hyruleans ('mini', 'diminished' etc).

So, to answer your question: they'll probably just call them "the tiny people" or something.

[Sir_Johnamus]

Or the pleasant gnomes.
Neofirst is looking good so far, keep up the good work. But for the disappeared dad thing, can't we break away from the typical story and just say that he has a job elsewhere in the world and he seldom comes home? It seems a lot more interesting that way. Othre than that, I like it.

Yay. This is post numbre 400.

[Aegix Drakan]

wow...this is lookin' pretty sweet so far...

I'm hyped.

[_L_]

But for the disappeared dad thing, can't we break away from the typical story and just say that he has a job elsewhere in the world and he seldom comes home? It seems a lot more interesting that way. Othre than that, I like it.

Well, it serves as a convenient explanation for Link's immunity to the forest's curse, which is the reason why Zelda initially recruits him. But I don't intend it to be an intrusive detail.

[_L_]

Today, allow me to present some minor enemy sprites that I have recently produced.

Blue Bubble

It makes much more sense that a water-coated skull should cure the curse laid by a fire-coated skull, don't you agree? ...Well, a bit more sense than that burning eye Moa thing that most of the popular tilesets currently use.

Armos with north-facing tiles

The Armos now has as many facings as First Quest's Armos. The fastest Armos is now blue rather than red. Remember that rule from First Quest: the toughest enemies are blue.

????

That verminous thief from the first dungeon of Zelda 2! But now his knife and armor are gone - replaced with the Goriya's tunic. Personally, I think it makes more sense considering his minimal HP and offensive power. But it'll be quite probable that this foe will appear in large quantities and move at high speed.

I'll call him Keaton, after a near-identical enemy in The Minish Cap.

Summoner Wizzrobe

A simple proposition: affix that crow's head to a Wizzrobe's robe, and apply an extra band of colour. Hopefully it will be sufficient to remind you of that fellow in the Wind Temple of The Wind Waker.

[Shazza Dani]

Those summoners look a lot like the ones I made for Majora (from PureZC) -- except I used the BS Wizzrobe's body.

[Russ]

The summoner sprites need a little bit of work, but otherwise, they're good.

[LostInHyru1e]

I'm hyped on this quest's features, but the overworld detail variety and design both look a little amateurish. Particularly in your post that begins with "Placolyte!"

Those grass tiles shouldn't repeat so much. I am of the opinion that old DoR is pretty ugly to begin with, but that's just me.

[_L_]

The Lakeside Labyrinth is a 5th level dungeon designed by Phoenix. It only requires the Hookshot and one Bomb (or just the Flippers), and offers a slightly longer Hookshot in return. According to this fellow, it is "old, and apparently hasn't seen permanant inhabitants in a long time. ... Many areas of floor have given way, making liberal use of the hookshot required."

Moreover, Phoenix mandated a specific hookshot switch combo. What kind of switch, I thought, would be activated by a hook and chain, but obviously not by a wood boomerang or an arrow? What I designed was a simple metal cogwheel.

Hit the cogwheel to make the spikes begin their cycling.

And, from there, I decided to add several moving gear and chain decorations to the dungeon. These are presumably the mechanisms, formerly hidden under the tiles, that move the perpetually active spike traps that thwart Link in this labyrinth.

These small parts are quite noticable when animated.

The dungeon is already completed, though, and there isn't much room for gear-themed scripted traps to be added. But, I wonder...