Overworld

Overworld

Release type: Incomplete
Release date: N/A (begun July 2010)
Levels: 4
Author: Don'Pan Software
Related games: Link vs. Gannon, The Legend of Zelda: Harry's Awakening

About thirteen years after my last Game-Maker project, I unearthed the software as part of a series for an indie game blog. I was surprised how good the design tools still were. If anything, they were more fun to use than most of the games they produced — clear, intuitive, instantly rewarding. I knew the engine’s limits, and I was curious how well it would serve to make a contemporary indie game. In my articles I had mentioned the engine’s strengths; as a test, I chose to replicate The Legend of Zelda as exactly as possible.

I ripped the original sprites and background tiles, then enlarged them by 25% in Photoshop to fit Game-Maker’s standard. It turned out that despite the difference in scale one Game-Maker screen had the same number of tiles as an NES screen — so I recreated the maps as closely as I could, block by block. I found tricks to allow Link to burn bushes and touch an Armos to bring it to life (and maybe find a secret passage). I gave the Octorocks complex behaviors and allowed the Leevers to burrow, immune to the player’s protests.

The only real problem remaining with Overworld was the counter/flag issue. I used a web of level nodes to ensure that Link would only find the wooden sword the first time into the cave, but I knew that after just a few choices the game would soon get much too complex to keep track of that way.

I stopped after filling the world map; I figured I made my point. The dimensions are different from the original Zelda overworld — taller, narrower, and a little smaller overall — so I made do, compressing some locations and expanding or moving others. I figured if I ever continued with the game I could split the overworld across two maps; maybe connect them with bridges across a river.

Roaming the overworld in Overworld.

Although the game was never a serious effort, and indeed took no more than a few hours from me, my mind began to swim with the new techniques I found while bending and cajoling RSD’s engine — the screen-by-screen level design; the complex monster behaviors; the constrained color palette; multi-stage attacks; new monster birthing techniques; and in particular, using monster counter-buffers to alter the level geometry. Those techniques, and their very buggy repercussions, would quickly become the basis for Builder, my first new Game-Maker game in half a lifetime.

- [Azurelore Korrigan]

Story

Overworld

Many years ago prince darkness " Gannon " stole one of the Triforce with Power. Princess Zelda had one of the Triforce with Wisdom. She divided it into " 8 "units to hide it from " Gannon " before she was captured.

Go find the " 8 "units " Link " to save her.

Instructions

Welcome to Overworld, a pastiche of Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda. It's not the easiest thing to replicate in RSD's Game-Maker, but the engine can handle more than one might think.

The game is incomplete, and will likely remain so. The level structure required to support all of the flags between dungeon and overworld would be a nightmare. Still, you can explore some implementation techniques.

Use the arrow keys to move.

Enter the cave, and use the [space bar] to pick up the sword.

Try all four weapons:

• S: Sword
• A: Candle
• Q: Bow & arrow
• W: Wand

Explore the overworld, defeat monsters, and collect power-ups.

Credits

Design and implementation: Aderack

Game engine: Recreational Software Designs

Original design, graphics, and sound: Nintendo

Availability

This game was not distributed in any form.

Archive History

Overworld has been retained as part of the archive from the game's inception.

Links

Interviews / Articles

• The History of A-J Games, Part Seven
• The Game-Maker Story: Infoboxes (Gamasutra)

Misc. Links

• Older YouTube clip
• Play Overworld online

Downloads

• Overworld (unfinished) (172 kB)