Varia Progress
 

Well, here's what I've been working on for the past few weeks. The intro is simple and smooth. Introduces players to controls, the inventory, and other gameplay objects. These videos aren't the end of what I've made, there is more, so log on and play if you want to find out what's next.




Feel free to point out things you like and don't like, I'm always up for some constructive critisim and any thoughts or suggestions. :)

It looks cool! I like it, keep working on it :)

It is pretty cool indeed, keep on making new things for it. :p

Few other things I think I should share. Varia's Boomerrang! Will stun enemies (freeze them in their tracks for a few seconds) collect items far away. Cool feature it has, after pushing D to throw it, if you continue to hold down D it will stay in place where you stop until you let up on D key, then it will return to you. Very useful for collecting items in walls or items you just can't reach or get too. ;]

Also, players will now drown if you swim in varia for too long. Of course the problem will be solved when find the flippers, but then you have to worry about holding your breath when you dive to the sea floor!



Also, in the first video I posted above, the stone grass behind the castles will ventually be replaced by a switch the player must grab, and there will be town NPC's walking around. Soon to come as well as more to come. :P

Awesome, great job, keep working on it!

Agreed! I especially like the boomerang and the drowning thingy.

When did you start your developing career? Just recently or have you been at it for a while?

Oh I started back in 04' Napo and Inverness taught me to script, the other jobs I learned on my own. Varia started in 07-08 not quite sure, but it didn't really have any direction until late 09. I just got a new account, witha fresh server about 3 weeks ago, and this is what I've done so far. :)

good work! I seldomly see servers going in the more classic direction, but u executed it very nicely!

That boomerang is awesome! :D

I'll let you guys know some other items being worked on and/or completed.

• Swords - Completed
• Armors - Completed
• Shields - Completed
• Items/Weapons:

• Old Fishing Rod - Completed
• Boomerrang - Completed
• Hookshot - Completed
• Grappling Hook - Completed
• Hammer - Not started
• Bombs - Completed
• Bow - In Progress
• Bombs Lv2 - Completed
• Bow Lv2 - Not started
• Cross Bow - Not Started
• Cross Bow Lv2 - Not Started
• Staff - Not Started
• Magic Wand - Not Started
• Potions - Not started
• Glove - Completed
• Glove Lv2 - Completed
• Icarus Feather - Not Started
• Pegasus Feather - Not Started
• Mercury Boots - Not Started
• Iron Boots - Not Started
• Winged Boots - Not Started
• Halo Boots - Not Started
• Lantern - Not Started
• Sling - Completed
• Slingshot - Not Started
• Boomerrang Lv2 - Not Started
  
• Magic:

• Wind:

• Wind Cutter Lv1 - In Progress
• Wind Cutter Lv2 - In Progress
• Wind Cutter Lv3 - In Progress
• Levitate - Not Started
  
• Fire:

• Fire Punch - Not Started
• Flamethrower - Not Started
• Fire Kick - Not Started
• Afterburn - Not Started
  
• Water:

• Soul Searcher - Not Started
• Water Pillars - Not Started
• Ice Daggers - Not Started
• Water Pressure - Not Started
• Thunder:

• Sound Barrier - Not Started
• Thunder Clap - Not Started
• Thunder Storm - Not Started
• Lightning Storm - Not Started
  

More to come, this is not a complete list by any means.

it looks alright and all, it just makes me happy to know theres a playerworld people are working on

Just "a" *person on this one

hmm the boomerang is strange, why do you need to click again (I assume...) for the boomerang to retract?

What do you mean click? Its all done with the D key, push it to throw it, if you hoild D, when it reaches it maximum dist or hits a wall it will stay in place until you release D. If you just simple push and release D it will just go and come back automatically.

Cool, keep going!!

Looks great so far :]

Anyone who is still using percentages to describe how much they've done on a server you should try this instead.

The best team configuration.

I don't know why he should for just items. If they aren't done than why should we have to know they're only 38% and a coffee break away from completion?

Suggest you read Mallard's post one more time.

He means listing each individual thing as either done or not done, rather than saying "Server is 31.41592653589793% done".

Some servers break them up into groups though and might say "Graphics 60% done, Scripts 80% done, Levels 90% done. Which still doesn't make sense because on most servers you will never stop adding levels, adding/improving graphics or tweaking/improving/adding scripts.

Nothing looks inherently bad, you look as if you've gotten a decent base down. Problem is, I'm not seeing any reason to play this server. I'm assuming you want to take this further than simply a sandbox for you to practice and play around with scripts.

My advice is try something new. I know it's easier said then, done, but really, your item demo is a boomerang (PICKS UP ITEMS WHOO) that's been in every god damn Zelda game anyone can remember as if it's something to get excited over. You can't even tell that it's a horse anymore, but the blood's still fresh on the club. Your future item/spell list is again following the default template. Use it as a starting point if anything, but don't just use it as is.

Yes, you're making a game on what was once Zelda Online.
Yes, you're using a limited engine.
Yes, you're better off developing and working on an entirely different engine. But if you insist on using Graal...

There's got to be something, some new element you can come up with. Not the same generic WIND/FIRE/WATER spells and BOOMERANGS AND BOOTS WITH WINGS. Or if you insist on using these items, remake them. Have them used for entirely different purposes than the typical Zelda game or Graal Classic style server.

Whatever you decide, you're going to have to come up with some more original ideas to get any further than a few random passerbys.

Yeah... My mistake ^^

You make good points but you also brought them up through very unoriginal suggestion.

What I refer to is this below.

What can he honest to god try? Now we know copy pasting the ideas from another game is just a terrible idea but really, If you want to help this guy with a suggestion.. Give an idea! Shoot I'll give one right now, Obviously a joke but hell even jokes have some small idea poppers. There is honestly no new ideas with kind of thing unless you want to mimic something in some way shape or form.

Make a futuristic server where everyone is running in mass chaos away from malfunctioning out of control mech walkers which were made by humanity as a weapon for a dictator but something went wrong and now they'll enslave the human race and it is your duty to save them or otherwise the humans will be tortured, and killed by their evil new robot overlords for their blood to fuel their leader's battery. (Yeah there's a lot wrong with this but hey its something. and I know most generic story ever, Like a 4th graders english report)
But I suggest you try what Monty said and Recreate them in your own image.

I personally believe this server has very high potential but he needs some creative staff, Mostly with storywriting and laying out what there is to do.

Oh trust me, there's more content than what you see. There's going to be more "liveliness to the server too" as you stated the game base/start is down. I still need to figure a way to tell the players to go north west non-chalantly, there's small somewhat mundane details I need to sort out, but I'll get to those after I finish the first 8 dungeons. One thing I do disagree, I am enjoying my server being very zelda-isc. I plan similating of course, but it will have its own flares, and the spell system is unique, I haven't seen it done one any other server I've played so just wait until its fully released. Otherwise thank you for your input. :)

When they do perecents, I'm pretty sure they just mean the content that is planned to be on the server when it is released, not all the content that will ever be made on that server, but the content that is definitely intended to be released/near complete.

Exactly. I told him he's better off using another engine. However, it's always possible to make something at least a little different than the norm.

And I agree, 'try something new' may be cliche, but it's still what he needs to do. The reasons why I'm not throwing out a bunch of ideas such as yours is because such a dramatic shift means Varia's completely out of the picture. I'm sure that's not what the owner wants. If he really is interested in some new things, I'd be happy to think-tank with him as to how this could be accomplished. But as for now I'm just trying to give him a nudge in the right direction rather than clutter this thread with a bunch of random ideas I had, and he can do what he wishes with the suggestion.


And Omega, I'm never against Zelda. I ****ing love Zelda. I just want a new Zelda style experience that's not another clone.

I agree with you, and a like, nice quest part, with an equally fun and exciting multiplayer experience.

Give me a month or two then. ;]

MrOmega, may I suggest watching a Let's Play of The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords, it can give you some ideas so you can make your own, but it's always good to take a look at a Zelda game to get started :)

I actually played through four swords last week :P

I can't name any Graal playerworlds that has any of these items, except maybe some old version of Classic.

Maybe I'd share your opinion if I had played more Zelda games, but right now I have confidence Varia can be great because every reincarnation of it that I've seen has been a lot of fun.

Good, well you might want to make some things from Four Swords similar to your server. Just a couple small things, not "too" big things. What I mean is maybe try making a lot of creative items, maybe even require teamwork for some things. Possibly lower the player speed a bit and make the sword slashing a little slower. Change the gralat image, maybe when you throw a stone or bush, it has a nice little spark or something, or dust when it finally falls/drops. Make most houses require a key that can be found after you slash through bushes/throw rocks and such. Because honestly, who leaves their house open all the time to strangers? Just because it isn't modern doesn't mean there weren't criminals or thieves :P. Anyway, I'm a person who notices a lot of small details and even though they aren't always the biggest concern, I love the fact when I see small details are very nice. Big things are cool too. :)

I do have a quest that requires you have another player to complete, as in, you must lift the other player and throw him across a chasm, then use the hook shot to pull them back over.
We use quantums, not gralats ;P
Right now I'm using leaps when the player throws an object, maybe I could incorporate some particle engine effects maybe? I like that idea.

Yeah :D Sounds cool, in my opinion I kind of like that sort-of cartoonish look Four Swords has, not very cartoonish, but it looks really nice. Maybe Varia could have a similar look. Continue Varia!!

Ok so, Varia is going staff only for the next day or two. I have made a new tileset which I've worked on for the past two days and it uses layer so I'm going to have to go through the levels and update them. No worries the tileset is based pics1.png so when I reopen all will look the same, I've added a few new tiles, removed useless ones. Sorry for any inconvience :)

So the tileset looks more like a tileset on Zelda, yet not a copy but better? If this is true, I love you.

I may release to the public for public use, it has proper diagonal castle walls the old brown sand tilkes I kept and will call them dirt, made new more zelda-sc sand tiles so on and so forth

Varia will be reopen sometime tomorrow late afternoon/evening EST, also check out my blog if your want some indepth details on Varia

I can't wait to play Varia!

Varia is now reopened to the public, Varia now uses layers! As such, there are bounds to be some screw ups, Although the first few levels (until after the castle) should be fine. All the scripts are updated to accomodate the layer leveling (cutting bushes/swamps etc) The Castle scene has been given more depth/story to it, not quite finished yet. So come check Varia out but please bare with me until I have completely updated all the levels to use layers. If you notice something screwed up/buggy, please let me know via PM if I'm online or forum pm. Thank you. ;]

The tilelayers seem to be very buggy.

When entering an inside level, it seems to grab elements from the gmap...random grass will appear in the blackness, and as I leave and enter, it gets worse.
To where the level is covered with random tiles.

I also could not finish the forest portion of the opening quest because half of the forest was black squares, and I could not progress.