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Classic Gaming with Zelda Homebrew

Posted by Zonk on from the i-am-a-prisoner-in-the-dungeon-of-the-castle dept.

Belgarath writes "Zelda Classic is a free homebrew clone of the original Legend of Zelda for the NES. Additionally, it allows people to create their own zelda quests and games using the handy editor (called z-quest) included in the software. Until now only windows versions have been available but there are beta test groups for the Linux and Apple platforms."

18 of 58 comments (clear)

  1. another game for mac! by bach37 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Yes! Make that now 5 total games for mac!

    /Okay maybe not so funny. (Yes, I am an iBook user- just trying to make a joke before you all mod me to hell.) :)

  2. This is what I've been waiting for! by Emrikol · · Score: 5, Informative

    I've always wanted to re-play Zelda with new (more SNES-ish) graphics! The "Basic 1st" is what you're looking for.

    Oh...and apple? Why's this under apple?

    --
    You're all bastards!
  3. Why do we celebrate clones? by Temporal · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Honestly. Why re-make Zelda when you could be creating something completely original? I mean, if people want to remake Zelda, copyright violations aside (and yes, they are violating copyrights), it's up to them how to spend their time. But, honestly, the tendency for open source game developers to spend massive amounts of time simply copying something we already have disappoints me. I would be far more interested if someone had created an entirely original gameplay engine and an entirely original game to go with it. And really, it isn't that hard. In my experience, inventing your own gameplay mechanics is far easier and more fun than implementing them.

    1. Re:Why do we celebrate clones? by skadus · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I'd imagine if you knock ZClassic, you probably don't play any Doom or Quake mods, do you?

      It's not just a 'remake' of Zelda, it's a remake with an editor.

      Yeah, it's not quite the same as making a whole new game, but think of it less as a game and more of a toolset with a demo game, like Neverwinter Nights or some of the id game engines (I've heard people before say games like Quake 3 were less of a full game and more of a starting point for mods). What better way to show off a Zelda toolset than with a tile-by-tile remake of the game the engine is based on?

      People have made tons of quests for ZClassic, from plain old Zelda quests to MegaMan X quests, and everything in-between.

      And the point behind using an editor to make a game rather than building from scratch? You can just jump in and *create* rather than coding every last bit of it first.

    2. Re:Why do we celebrate clones? by Temporal · · Score: 2

      That's great. I am glad that they included an editor, and that people are creating somewhat-more-original games with it. But why not create an original gameplay system with an editor, rather than a copy of Zelda with an editor? As I understand it, quests made with ZClassic all use Zelda-style gameplay mechanics (correct me if I'm wrong).

      And the answer I see is this: By copying Zelda, they can capitalize on the Zelda name, saying "Hey look! You can make your own Zelda with this!", thus drawing attention. Whereas, if they created something original, it would be much harder to get attention. I'm sure there is some sort of original gameplay system out there with an editor that Slashdot could be reporting on, and it would be nice if they did. (I'm sort of working on one myself, but sadly I don't have enough time to be serious about it.)

    3. Re:Why do we celebrate clones? by Temporal · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Irrelevant. Copying the graphics, tile layout, user interface, etc. by hand is still copying, and counts as copyright infringement. There is no clause in copyright law that says only machine-based copying is illegal. Try retyping a book letter-for-letter then selling your retype; you won't get very far.

    4. Re:Why do we celebrate clones? by cgenman · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Yes, but Zelda is a classic worthy of celebration. Much like how people keep remaking and re-releasing much loved movies and songs, videogames deserve the same treatment. Now, whether they're being remade for the benefit of humanity or because someone wants to feel closer to a classic somehow is another story discussion, but the draw is definitely there.

      Plus, it's a great way to get to understand the decisions that went into the creation of the classic without the hassle and failures of from-scratch development. Inventing your own gameplay is fraught with peril, especially as it is a skill people are expected to pick up on their own. This way you deconstruct an existing engine down to the minutest detail, without having to worry about your own design mistakes or lack of available art resources.

      And on top of that, they created the engine specifically to allow anyone to design levels for the classic. Imagine if anyone could go back with the original storm trooper outfits and create their own scenes or storylines for starwars. Some of it would be as good as troops, and some of it would be as bad as The Phantom Menace. Certainly letting anyone be a level designer for a classic Miyamoto game is reason enough for the project's existence.

      I do agree, though, that it would be nice if there were more original OS games developed, but that doesn't mean classics like this shouldn't get people excited enough to go out and make their own versions.

      --
      The ______ Agenda
    5. Re:Why do we celebrate clones? by Mornelithe · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I've never personally understood why a man would want to have sex with another man, or why some people like the taste of straight gin. Apparently there are a variety of people in this world with different likes and dislikes, and some of them aren't exactly the same as either you or I.

      By the way, are your games really completely new? Are you inventing new genres that aren't at all based on any existing game genres (fps, puzzle, rts, rpg, etc.)? Truly original ideas that aren't related to/derived from other existing ideas are hard to come by.

      --

      I've come for the woman, and your head.

  4. Did this too...got a letter from a lawyer. by Tronster · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I took on the Nehe Open Source Zelda project two years ago. We made much progress (portals from overworld to underworld, most all weapons implemented, etc...) and then we got a letter from Nintendo's lawyers about the graphics. We had lifted them from an emulator (screen shots and Photoshop-action) and so we needed to scrap them.

    The project could have continued but that took a significant amount of air out of my sails. I gave the code to a friend at the BaltoLUG who added SDL to it and made it work on Linux. This new project is still up but not being actively developed: Openlynks. Sadely, the level editor was made in Visual Basic 6 and so unlike the C++/OpenGL game engine, it hasn't been ported over.

    The remains of the project pages are here.

  5. Shut down... by TLSPRWR · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I predict less than a week before Nintendo finds and shuts this project down like they have all the other remakes/original games based off their intellectual property.
    Yes, as a webmaster, I've gotten a cease and desist letter for hosting a Mario fangame site, and there are countless examples of other fan projects that are released FOR FREE but Nintendo doesn't like someone using their characters. Sega, however is VERY lenient, and we know they know about us.

  6. Nin ten dont stop by eamonman · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Hopefully Nintendo won't squish this project now that it's made the front page of Slashdot. Their website does appear to mention Nintendo's copyright on the page, but that doesn't mean they have big N's permission.

    But I would think (hope) that Nintendo wouldn't really have a problem with them as:
    1. It's non-profit.
    2. It maintains a brand awareness of their product.
    3. It doesn't look like people are trying to ruin /change the image of Zelda/Link (at least not in a bad way). I don't feel that this is one of those Star Wars / Star Trek strict universe/timeline things...

    --
    0- Eamonman Proud member of DNRC
  7. Already one out there by TupperTrenine · · Score: 4, Informative

    There is already a Zelda-clone MMORPG called Graal Online. It has a level editor and its own scripting language for in-game NPCs.

    Although I'm sure this is quite different... I am at school and cannot check it out :)

  8. Differences between Classic and Original. by Pentomino · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I tried this back in college, when it was just for DOS. Fun stuff, though you can tell that some parts of the game are based on idealized memories.

    For example, we all knew that blue Tektites were more likely to drop 5-Rupee pieces than most characters, and blue Moblins were more likely to drop bombs. But in Zelda Classic, it seems they drop these respective treasures three or four times per screen. Makes it a little too easy, I think, but nobody to my knowledge has reverse-engineered the game to the point where we understand what the probabilities really are.

    But the one feature I love the most about Zelda Classic: you can switch B-button weapons without taking five seconds to scroll up to the selection screen. I love that. I wish the N64 ports had that.

  9. Pull the story and bury it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    As the person who submitted this story to slashdot I am appalled that slashdot would edit and rewrite my entire submission, taking it out of context and important information with no respect to journalistic integrity or respect for the internet community.

    As such I do not want my name on something that is not my work, and ask that you pull this story and bury it on ethical grounds.

    - Belgarath

  10. I haven't got time to play this by lukestuts · · Score: 2, Funny

    I can't start on Zelda when I haven't finished Photoshop!

  11. Man, what resolution is that.... by llamaluvr · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...like, um, 4*3???

    --
    Insightful: 76, Off-Topic: 379, Flamebait: 24, Funny: 152, Interesting: 201, Underrated: 55, Troll: 9, Total: 896
  12. Mac OS X beta tester sign-up by vonFinkelstien · · Score: 2, Informative

    Sign up for the OS X version in their forum. Click on ZC Discussions, then search for "mac" and your find it.

  13. Re:The interesting........ by jonwil · · Score: 2, Informative

    As someone who has not only been around before the first release of Hyrule Magic and knows the author but has even added code to it myself (at least I think they are still using my code) I must say that Hyrule Magic is one of the 2 best editors for any ROM that I have ever seen/used.
    The other one is Lunar Magic, an editor for the SNES classic Super Mario World.

    If you like zelda and editing, Hyrule Magic is a serious tool.
    And if you like zelda, play the excellent Zelda 3 Challenge hack when it is released.

    I wont link to the actual Hyrule MAgic site since it seems to be suffering bandwidth/hosting issues and the last thing that they need right now is a slashdotting :)