Topic: The Final Fantasy Legend (GB)

[TerraEsperZ]

I always found it annoying that the first SaGa game (that's the series the Final Fantasy Legend games belonged to) was never mapped properly while the second and third games were. It might have been because it had a very basic story, forgettable NPCs and incredibly simplistic graphics even for the Game Boy.  In any case, I'm going to correct this injustice! There's just something about a series of game where you can visit several interconnected worlds that inspires me I guess.

This is just a placeholder for now but I should be able to post the maps for the first world over the next few days since I'm almost done with it. I'll be following a format very similar to the one used by Maquiladora for his/her maps of Final Fantasy Legend II, although I haven't heard back from him/her to know if it was okay for me to do so. I thought they were really comprehensive and I liked the idea of having some consistency across both map sets.

***EDIT 09/10/12***

Long story short, this project is close to being finished so I'm posting all the finished maps here.

It's finished!!!

*List updated 06/11/12*

[TerraEsperZ]

Here's the first bunch of maps, covering the first world and almost all of the second.

I'm looking for comments and criticisms as always, especially concerning the location names, the map legend, the overall layouts, etc. The few location names given in-game sound pretty clunky (Castle of Sword/Armor/Shield) and for the rest, I had to come up with descriptive names instead. Given that English isn't my native language, I'm not convinced my choices were the best. Regarding the names of the worlds (World of Continent/Ocean/Sky/Ruins), only the last one sound right but I was mainly trying to be consistent with all four so that could use some improvements too.

Let's begin with the first world...

*EDIT 09/10/12*

See opening post for latest maps

[TerraEsperZ]

First world continued...

*EDIT 09/10/12*

See opening post for latest maps

[TerraEsperZ]

Moving on the second world...

*EDIT 09/10/12*

See opening post for latest maps

[TerraEsperZ]

Second world continued but not finished yet... and finished!

*EDIT 09/10/12*

Outdated maps removed

[Paco]

hmm think you can replace lightblue and lightgreen with darker Color like Red, Black, etc?

Its hard to see. The other Color work just fine only these 2 light Color not. Thank you. ^^

[TerraEsperZ]

I was really afraid of that. I'm trying to come up with colours that are bright and distinct enough without being so bright that they blend in too much with the light graphics of the maps themselves.

I started with approximately the same colours as Maquiladora but I'm starting to regret it a bit. Bright red (treasures) and dark blue(doors/stairs) work very well, but I was having problems coming up with a lighter blue distinct enough from the dark one as well as a good-looking green that wasn't too light. Tell me if the following map looks better with tweaked colors.

*EDIT 09/10/12*

See opening post for latest maps

[Paco]

That looked better than with the old Color.

[TerraEsperZ]

Just a heads up - I've decided to map both the original Game Boy game as well as the Wonderswan remake at roughly the same time. Thanks to Cheat Engine, I'm having an even simpler time playing with the player's position in that version than on the original, allowing me to capture the maps in their entirety. From now on, I'll be posting both version of each map at the same time, and I'll even go back to edit my previous posts once I'm finished with the first world. I'll also be slightly re-doing the layout of the Game Boy maps as well to be consistent across both sets.

I'd really like to know from native English speakers which of the following names would be better:

1) "World of Continent", "World of Ocean", "World of Sky" and "World of Ruins"
OR
"Continent World", "Ocean World", "Sky World", "Ruins World"?

I want to use the same format for all four, but I'd like to know if "Ruins World" is grammatically corrrect, because that format sounds a lot better.

2) "Bandits Cave" OR "Bandits' Cave" OR "Bandit Cave"?

Can a cave really be considered as belonging to a bunch of bandits, or is "bandits" an adjective?

[Will]

According to my English Vocabulary, the most acceptable names are the "World of ..." since Continent World and Ruins World sound a bit silly like "Ruins World" is like a present perfect tense action. "Ocean World" and "Sky World" seem exceptionally okay. Of all the three words in the second set of options, I'd go for Bandit Cave, since the cave is occupied by bandits but may not forever. I see things like Brigand Fort or Empire Outpost a lot in the Exile games by Spiderweb Software.

[Revned]

Is "continent" referred to in the game? Because that's not really a word that's used for anything other than Europe, Africa, etc. What about just "land"? Anyway, Continent World, Ocean World and Sky World are definitely better. World of Ruins sounds better, but Ruins World is probably fine for consistency. Or even Ruin World.

Bandits' Cave is more proper. Bandit Cave is my next choice if you don't want it to be possessive.

[TerraEsperZ]

From what I could find, "continent" is how it's been translated in the various FAQS and web sites covering this game, including those who translated the Wonderswan remake, and feeding the japanese symbols shown in the latter in an online translator do return "the world / the universe" and "continent" quite literally. Besides, the first two SaGa games play around with the idea of multiple worlds that are normally out of reach with one another through normal travel so "world" works best in that respect. I guess they probably meant land rather than an actual continent (in contrast to the other worlds with ocean and sky) but the translation is almost impossible to misconstrue so "continent" it is.

I wanted to be consistent with the world names, but considering that there are a number of side-worlds for which I also need to come up with names, I'm probably going to use whatever format fits best for each.

And I'll be sticking with "Bandit Cave" since I've just redone the labels .

I just found the manual online, and they explicitly refer to the first two worlds as "World of Continent" and "World of Ocean", and although awkward, those names are at least official. They also use "Bandits' Lair" so I guess I'll go redo those labels now...

[dammit9x]

I always found it annoying that the first SaGa game (that's the series the Final Fantasy Legend games belonged to) was never mapped properly while the second and third games were. It might have been because it had a very basic story, forgettable NPCs and incredibly simplistic graphics even for the Game Boy.

SaGa 1 is my favorite of the trilogy because it's so untamed and crazy. You can go around one-shotting everything and get through the game fast even without the memory corruption bug.

This is just a placeholder for now but I should be able to post the maps for the first world over the next few days since I'm almost done with it. I'll be following a format very similar to the one used by Maquiladora for his/her maps of Final Fantasy Legend II, although I haven't heard back from him/her to know if it was okay for me to do so. I thought they were really comprehensive and I liked the idea of having some consistency across both map sets.

I suggest you use the best format for the user instead of imitating old mapsets. Specifically, the practice of using symbols to mark points of interest then labeling them on the side is a relic of grainy magazine scans. It's better to put info right where it's needed, with arrows, transparency, whatever, instead of making the user play Where's Waldo with tiny letters and numbers. (This is a mistake I made myself with the FFL3 maps.) How would you like to use a road map that has all the street names in the corner? Of course, you can keep copies of the non-overlaid layers for future use.

Also, you should include the prices if you are going to list shop stock.

[TerraEsperZ]

Nice to see someone actually challenging my work!

I suggest you use the best format for the user instead of imitating old mapsets. Specifically, the practice of using symbols to mark points of interest then labeling them on the side is a relic of grainy magazine scans. It's better to put info right where it's needed, with arrows, transparency, whatever, instead of making the user play Where's Waldo with tiny letters and numbers. (This is a mistake I made myself with the FFL3 maps.) How would you like to use a road map that has all the street names in the corner? Of course, you can keep copies of the non-overlaid layers for future use.

My main reason for following an "existing" formula is not so much out of imitation but rather because I liked the format and it was essentially a refined version of the system I used when I first submitted maps for Final Fantasy Legend II (they have since been replaced of course).

You have to understand that I create screenshot maps because I want to showcase the beauty of the maps themselves first and foremost. Anything that detracts from that, I add grudgingly only because I don't want the maps to be completely useless. But the less that hides the map, the better. If I were to use labels, they'd have to be smaller and/or more discrete than the ones you used for Final Fantasy Legend III because they hide too much in my opinion. There's also the little matter of the various locations rarely having official names, which makes me hesitant to paste them all over the place.

Heck, this is the exact dilemma I run into every time I try to map an adventure or RPG game, and it never gets any easier. Understand that if I don't follow your ideas, it's not because I don't respect them, but that they sacrifice too much of what's most important in my work, and that's the aesthetic aspect. I'll still make a few attempts but I don't guarantee anything.

Also, you should include the prices if you are going to list shop stock.

Duly noted. I thought about it initially, but after I had a done a dozen maps, I'd forgotten about this aspect.

Anyway, thanks for the honest criticism!

[TerraEsperZ]

Nothing new to post yet, but I've taken Dammit9x's comments into serious consideration. As a result, numbers & letters are now only used to denote connections between doors and/or stairs, and to indicate the location and content of hidden items and chests. Locations, entrances and exits are now clearly labeled and I have to admit that it does look better than before. Of course, now people new to this thread won't understand what half of it is talking about, but I didn't want to clutter things by posting the same maps over and over again.

As for the names, I've found another "official" source for names, namely the old "Game Boy Nintendo Player's Guide". Consequently, I've gone with "Bandit's Lair" since, after checking, the enemy leader there turns out to actually be named "Bandit". And for the world, I've simply gone with the "World 1: the Continent" template. So simple, and yet I hadn't thought about it.

Am I the only mapper here who's this insecure in his choices or what ?