I posted an update at the following location:
http://board.acmlm.org/thread.php?id=6905
I tried to post it here too, but I was told the following:
You have included too many images in your signature or in your previous post. Please go back and correct the problem and then continue again.
Images include use of smilies, the vB code tag and HTML <img> tags. The use of these is all subject to them being enabled by the administrator.
Maybe it's because the message was too long?
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Hi everyone,
It has been over a month (since June 27th) since I realized my Zelda 3 Challenge website is either down or deleted. I discovered this while trying to upload my latest diary entry, which by coincidence was before any questioning emails arrived. I sent an email to Cymoro, who hosts the site, but he hasn't responded. I don't want to change URLs because (a) fans everywhere know this address and (b) it's the first result when searching Google for Zelda 3 Challenge.
Though I love my current web site, I need a mirror site where I can post my latest progress. I would really like to have space in either of the two places I'm posting this message, but any reliable place will do -- I can always post & email the new link. Alternately, I may just post diary updates to message boards, using a service such as PhotoBucket to temporarily store screenshots.
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In the meantime, here's the update I couldn't upload:
June 19, 2006 - Quick update before bed. The past month hasn't been very eventful, Zelda3C-wise. I've been sitting on a checklist of final things to do before the town can be considered absolutely finished. There were 8 items on this list, and now there are only 3. I've spent a few hours each weekend working out these final issues. Weekdays lately have been fruitless -- it's like the nights keep getting shorter. Sigh, where does the time go?
1.) Forest entrance - The area north of town needed a great tree-filled area to make it seem like you're actually nearing a forest. So, I finally put the pine trees to real use, overlapping many of them, creating new blocks to represent their new positions, and making Link's backyard a lot nicer in the process.
2.) Wide stairs with narrow path - The paths and stairs which ascend the cliff divider weren't lining up nicely, so it didn't seem like the "roads" were well planned. This was caused partly by all the shifting I did with the houses as I lined them up for hookshot use as well as having space to jump down from the rooftops. Now the stairs are the correct width and the north/south path even meets the "hedge-walled bridge" directly.
3.) Door frame exits - This is one of the issues I still need to tackle. I have a few different types of door frames which vary at the top. I knew they couldn't vary at the sides, but -- my mistake -- the tops get picky as you *leave* each house. I have a way of fixing this which involves using the "bomb door frame" since you can't bomb any house walls in Meridia. I just have to sit down and shift the uses of a few tiles to make it work.
4.) Chimneys to add - Many of the houses never got chimneys because, being log cabins, they should be easy to add. They weren't quite that easy, since placing a chimney behind a cabin made it look like it didn't truly attach to the house. I took the time to give ALL houses chimneys because (a) it gets really cold in Calatia's climate and (b) I want to use "chimney smoke" on certain houses, which was previously used by the Dwarven Swordsmith house.
5.) Store with sign - I needed to work out some issues to get a sign over the store's door. Didn't take long.
6.) Stone palette - The houses which have rock walls instead of logs have always bugged me because the palette was too bright. It looked too similar to the paths, like it could be walked on. I drew with several different color combinations, but didn't like any of them. At this point, I have dark "cement seal" with dark pink "rocks". It looks kind of creepy, lol, so I'll change the actual palette's dark pink to dark grey soon.
7.) Diagonal mountain VS. clifftop - There were two places where a diagonal mountian base met a diagonal clifftop. Though it looked cool, Link could follow along the side of the mountain and bypass the jump-down tiles at the clifftop's edge. This allowed him to push against the cliff's mountain tiles themselves, making it look like he'd found an invisible wall. By changing which tiles I was using, I fixed the problem which retaining the great look of the mountain's edge.
8.) Arrows fly through log cabins - This is the last of the three issues still remaining on this checklist. If you stand to the north of a log cabin and shoot an arrow south, the arrow flies straight through! This is because the wall type is "short", meaning it stops Link but not objects. It never collides with a "tall" wall tile because it first comes in contact with a "jump south" tile, which lets it fly forever until after a "jump north" tile is encountered, which in these cases, never happens. Anyway, I need to swap some tiles, which may be easy or hard, depending on whether I find an appropriate tile that isn't used often.
As you can imagine, this checklist is actually a sample of what I go through on a regular basis. Little issues are always coming up; I find myself resolving things in particular areas before I can move back into the greater scheme of things. Who could imagine there would be this many things to do in town!? I often reassure myself that most of the places in this overworld won't be as problematic. Plus, it's all part of the learning experience. I just wish I could get started on Harmony Forest itself, but I hate leaving anything unfinished.
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Here's a new update for today:
July 30, 2006 - I'm thrilled to announce that the town of Meridia is FINALLY complete! Everything I listed previously has been resolved. Even the farm house & storage shed are completely redone, using new house pieces. The town has been a major project unto itself, lasting several months because of the unique problems involved. It even took longer than Calatia Castle, which has completely new graphics and structures. It's so nice to walk around town, enter any house I want (though interiors aren't finalized yet) and not see anything that needs changed or fixed.
My original plan was to move on to Harmony Forest, north of town, using leafy trees AND pine trees similtaneously to create an initially peaceful, yet eventually deadly, wooded area. Instead, I'm keeping my promise to my best graphics artist and finally putting our large collection of new monster graphics to use. I'm setting up a ROM (never to be made public) which showcases every new monster appearance. It's a testing ROM & holding area to see how well the creatures animate during interaction. As monster graphics are finalized, they will be copied into the actual Zelda3C ROM. I started with one of the hardest monsters, it seems, as the graphics submitted don't fit into the tiles allowed. This one is about 2/3 finished now. Its presence throughout the game really sets Calatia apart from Zelda 3's Hyrule.
I'm sorry that updates and progress have been so limited. I remain ever loyal to this project, yet I must always let real life take priority. I have a great treasure gathered here on my hard drive, teeming with painstaking programming, incredible plans and ambitious quest design. My little brother is tired of hearing me always say "Yeah, that *is* cool -- it gives me a great idea for Zelda3C!" while we're out & about or playing games. I still have no idea how much longer this project will take -- I only know that it has to be right, down to every detail. It's the curse and blessing of the perfectionist.