Project Zelda Engine

Game Information
About Project Zelda Engine:
Date Released:	{{{release}}}
Genre:	Engine
Developer:	Silent Resident
Publisher:	none
ESRB Rating:	{{{ESRB}}}
Platform(s):	Windows

ZFGC Staff Commentary

In the past, we've featured games of many types, whether they were faithful to the classic Zelda formula or took more risks as with our most recent project. However, this quarter's featured project is quite unique, as it isn't a Zelda game per se. Instead, the Project Zelda Engine uses RPG Maker XP to allow people to make their own Zelda games. While the next patch isn't due for nearly another year, it's incredibly versatile as it stands.

Containing a large variety of features and items from past Zelda games, it allows savvy creators to mold an adventure in the land of Hyrule (or elsewhere, if they so desire!) with a large variety of tools and puzzles. You can even use the Ocarina for various songs, or ride Epona, or use masks to transform as in Majora's Mask, and so on and so forth. We had a chat with the creators of this "Zelda Starter Kit" as it is known, and here's what they had to say.

Words from the developer

Q&A

Question 1: A lot of developers try to build their own engines from the ground up. What pushed you towards RPG Maker for this rather than going for something completely custom?

- SilentResident:

   I was just a young teenager with lots of inspirations and fantasy that was fairly enough for creating my own Zelda games.
   But I came into a problem: some famous and great Zelda game creators (aka Zelda Starter Kits) out there did not satisfy me due to     
   software or scripting limitations. And my lack of good knowledge in the area of scripting, did not help either. This prevented me from     
   starting my own software for creating Zelda games with. However, 8     years ago, all that changed. Someday, on the internet, I found an     
   unfinished Zelda Starter Kit created by Mastermind and his team,  called Project Zelda Engine, for RPG Maker XP, but it was dead for     
   a long time. Of course I had no clues (and still I have no clues) for why did Mastermind abandoned his work on it. I have failed in
   finding and contacting him so far. But his work inspired me to continue his well-promising project. And so, I took it over, recruited a
   team of capable scripters, eventers and artists, who shared the same goals/inspiration with me, and started the hard work of
   transforming the Mastermind's engine into something great, for all gamers to use and enjoy. So, here we come!

- MetalZelda:

   Well, RPG Maker comes with a really simple scripting language that everyone can understand, and it makes the engine way
   easier to make, as well as RPG Maker has a build-in map editor and command page list so, this is a plus, everything is
   well organisated, and the Project Zelda Engine was developped within this kind of "programming" first, before passing to
   XAS ABS, and that makes the engine more powerful and more customizable, because, we all know RPG Maker have limits, but XAS
   seems to allow everybody that understand the RUBY scripting language, understandable by everyone to break that limit.
   We don't go for anything that is 'custom', except for the graphics of the engine, because, we love things that are easy
   to understand, and for everyone too, we don't want to do complex things that nobody will understand and make them mad because
   the engine is hard to understand. Even if XAS is a little bit complex, we have some scripters that make things easier,
   and the engine more powerful, without being harder for players to understand.

- Baffou:

   To break the limits of this shareware, and also because it's the one i have started with, and fine to work with.

Question 2: You said that your team is made up of members from all over the world. How do you manage to keep your team together like this? Is communication difficult? Do you ever have management problems?

- MetalZelda:

   We manage our team with Dropbox, a simple software that keep everybody connected all around the world, and it's easy
   to talk too, all the work is synced when we're working on the engine, but the team is very talkative and sometimes we go
   through other discussion than the engine, so, it's well organisated from this point, as well as all PZE members have their
   own folders and can do whatever they want. They are free to decide what they want (except for the engine, SilentResident
   need to approuve something related to the PZE). We never faced some management problem with Dropbox.

- Baffou:

   The Team is managed via Dropbox, which allow us to work together in it.

Question 3: How customizable are things like the advisor and weapons? Can we create our own advisor other than Navi? Same for weapons, can we create our own weapons or are we restricted to those that are provided?

- MetalZelda:

   Everything is customizable in the Project Zelda Engine, from the game logo, to the action battle system, XAS is well known in the
   RPG Maker realm for it's flexibility and making capacity, while PZE comes with a complete 2D styled Zelda Game Maker.
   Every objects are created with somes simple RUBY scripting language (40%), the rest is made within a dummy map where all items
   are stored, and their behaviour are made with the Event Page, making it much easier for making new items if players want
   to make a totaly new item. Navi on the other hand, can be replaced by someone else (Midna, etc ...), all you need is script
   editing and your advisor's sprite. But as I tell earlier, the programming language is easy to understand.

- Baffou:

   You can create almost everything, but to go further in the customization, a little knowledge of Ruby syntax is necessary.

- SilentResident:

   Nothing limits you, as long as you are devoted in creating Zelda games. If you have knowledge, inspriration and dedication,
   then, even the whole world, can fall in your hands! To help the people with the creation of weapons and such stuff in the Project Zelda
   Engine, we, the team, will release a User Encyclopedia shortly after the starter kit's release to the public. It is our duty to pass down     
   to next generations of Zelda game creators, our knowledge and experience from all this work in Project Zelda Engine!

Question 4: Can we import our own resources (sprites, music etc) into the engine?

- MetalZelda:

   Of course you can import your own ressources to the Project Zelda Engine. It is based on RPG Maker so you can
   import your files just by dropping them in the desired folder, they are simple to understand, and very well organisated.
   In comparison to other engines that are hard to understand and difficult to manage their ressources to your games, I think the PZE
   is great on this field. And of course, all ressources you imported in the engine, can directly be used into the game itself,
   making PZE far easier to use, thanks to its user-friendly interface.

- Baffou:

   You can import everything as long you keep the 640 X480 resolution.

- SilentResident:

   You can import audio, graphics, scripts, fonts, and even tools that change the gamma (color) and such stuff! An engine that allows for
   a such customization is what makes the Zelda gamer very happy! Our goal is to make the engine as restrictless as possible!

Question 5: How time consuming is it to bring the Link to the Past style sprites into an HD setting? Have you completed all of the sprite conversions yet or is this an in progress thing?

- MetalZelda:

   It is a hard question ... Because, we always improve sprites while in the same time we add more content to the PZE,
   so, they need to fit perfectly each other, because, the game is a 640 by 480 pixel window, and RPG Maker allow bigger resolutions
   by editing scripts, etc (but we're okay with 640x480, the fullscreen is perfect, it keeps all sprite's quality perfect).
   Bottom line, we just want to make a engine that bring back memories of our childhood, when 2D dominated the gaming market,
   because the Project Zelda Engine include other Zelda stuff (both 2D and 3D).And we don't calculate the time, we're a lot in the
   team to do all the sprite stuff, and it's done nicely and the result are here.

- Baffou:

   It's a long time work, but we doing well. It 's still in process.

- SilentResident:

   Well, it is not hard at all, nor complicated. Just it is time-consuming. Because re-scaling them to HD standards, requires some
   patience and work with your mouse and, of course, a good image editing software that makes the whole job a bit more pleasant..
   But the result is really worth the time! Really, who couldn't enjoy that LTTP-styled HD version of Dark World map in PZE, which brings
   back memories from Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, but in modern, HD resolution...

Links

ZFGC Thread: http://zfgc.com/forum/index.php?topic=39800.0