Topic: Peardian's map projects in progress and planned

[Peardian]

Yeah, I just saw! I won't be able to finish mapping the original game in time for its release, that's for sure. It's like with Ocarina of Time 3D all over again!

[Peardian]

I'm happy to say that mapping of Termina Field is underway! I think I have all of the models for the field itself ripped, but it's hard to tell because there is just so much stuff in it and interactive objects don't spawn until they are within draw distance. There are at least 204 clumps of grass in the whole field! Now it's just a matter of making sure I captured everything and fixing it up visually. After that, there are nearly a dozen grottos to grab.

You'll also notice that I haven't started the Majora's Mask figure gallery yet. One reason is that I haven't quite figured out yet the visual style I want to use for them. The other is that half the characters in the game are located in Clock Town, and a good number of them I didn't even encounter during my mapping of it. The will take a lot of time to capture and fix up everyone, so I want to wait until I have more spare time or get further along in the game.


I did render one of them out, however, as a special HD wallpaper. Keep in mind that the camera angle and lighting was set up just for this wallpaper and is not indicative of what the final figures will look like.


Oh, and I made some other wallpapers, too! These are of the scene you see every time you play the Song of Time. It comes in normal Link and Deku Link variations.

[Trop]

I guess it makes sense that Termina would be rough, it's got parts from the whole game in it.  But HALF of the game's characters are in Clock Town?!  That does surprise me.  Your Mask Salesman wallpaper would be a great style for the figures.  Like your holding it in your hand instead of looking down into a glass case.

[Revned]

Great wallpapers! Using the clock as the trophy base was a nice touch.

[Peardian]

Okay, half might be exaggerating a bit, but it certainly feels like it! It's easy to overlook super minor characters when you're just playing (remember the generic guy who stares at the moon on Day 1?) but they really stand out when you're ripping every little polygon in an area.

Also, rendering all of the figures like the wallpaper would be fun, but I still want to be able to dynamically place them on a webpage like I did with Ocarina of Time's figures.

[JonLeung]

That's one of the things I love about Majora's Mask - the three-day time loop provides Groundhog Day (1993) scenarios, whereby you soon get to know where the NPCs are and when and what they're having to deal with.  It makes those NPCs feel more real, rather than just the hint-dropping bystanders in many other games.  I'm sure you'll eventually count all the characters when you render them all, but unless my memory is that bad, I actually wouldn't be surprised if half or even most of the NPCs (or at least those with actual quests) are in Clock Town alone.  Because of the limited time it isn't very fun to have to find someone far from town, though I do remember there are some of those.  If there is one downside, it's that I'm pretty sure it's not possible to help every single person out in a single three-day run and then also save the world (the Anju and Kafei one, if I remember correctly, concludes during the time you would be confronting the final boss), though presumably stopping the moon from slamming into Termina would buy everyone more time...

[TerraEsperZ]

It's generally accepted that the minimum number of cycles for 100% completion of the game is 4 cycles, or 3 if you don't count the obligatory first one where you get the ocarina. I can't explain why myself, but there are numerous discussions on speedrun forums about it.

[JonLeung]

I don't watch tons of speedruns, but when I'm in the mood, I do find them quite impressive.  I have seen a few Zelda ones, and now that you've mentioned it, it dawns on me that I haven't watched a Majora's Mask speedrun, ironic considering the game is based around limited time.

A quick Google search says a Majora's Mask any-percent speedrun is at about the hour-and-a-half mark; quite impressive.  I like the glitch speedruns of Ocarina Of Time (18 minutes!) and Skyward Sword (5-and-a-half minutes!) where taking advantage of a glitch can take them right to the end of the game.  I'm really not sure which I find more impressive - a very quick speedrun which probably depends on exact precision and timing to take advantage of such glitches, or a longer speedrun that still requires precision (though maybe not necessarily having to be as exact), but having to still be quite focused for a long(er) stretch of time.

I've seen VGMaps mentioned around the 'net as a resource for speedrun players, and of course Andy Dick has that Atlas Videos channel on YouTube that often use speedruns and VGMaps together, but I haven't seen a speedrunner directly attributing their success to having maps available.  I guess after replaying games umpteen times to be able to be so fast, they probably have it all in their head, but you'd think someone would still rely on maps to plan their initial attempt...

[Peardian]

Guess what? Termina Field is finally finished!

I'm really disappointed that I only managed to make two whole maps this entire year, but at least they're big ones!

[Trop]

It's spectacular.  I never noticed how many big dead trees there are.  Or how big Clock Town really is.  And I knew the mountain was big but damn.  And I never knew about the Skull Kid in the grass!

[Peardian]

I live! Not to bring a new map (not yet) but I do have some exciting news! Nintendo just released Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 on the Wii U virtual console.

The best part? They've included the e-Reader levels! But not just the ones that were released in the US... all of them!


This means we now have official English names for all of the World e+ levels. I don't want to update my maps with the new names (lazy...) but I guess at least the index page links can be updated. So, here are all of the new names. I'm skipping the ones that were already officially translated.

e+-11: Magical Note Blocks 2 > A Musical Trek
e+-12: Airship 1 > Armored Airship
e+-13: Chill Cavern > Ice Dungeon
e+-14: Inner Maze > A Sky-High Adventure
e+-15: Tropical Splash > Sea to Sky
e+-16: Castle à Go-Go > It's a Shoe-In
e+-17: Frappé Snowland > Slip Slidin' Away
e+-18: Frozen Fortress > Ice Cubed
e+-19: Pipe Maze > Puzzling Pipe Maze
e+-20: Spiral Tower > A Towering Tour
e+-21: 60 Seconds > Castle Dash
e+-22: Ropeland > Rich with Ropes
e+-23: Haunted Hall > Vexing Doors
e+-24: Clear Skies > Caped Escape
e+-25: Koopahari Desert > Ground Work
e+-26: Aqua Bars Of Doom > An Aqueous Adventure
e+-27: The Gauntlet > Bowser's Last Stand
e+-28: Hammer Bro. Ship > Koopaling Confusion
e+-29: Bowser's Airship (Part 1) > Bowser's Airship 1
e+-30: Bowser's Airship (Part 2) > Bowser's Airship 2
e+-Promo: Mad Dash > No Time to Dawdle
e+-Promo: Coro Coro Castle > Treacherous Halls

Note: No Time to Dawdle is positioned as the 2nd promo stage, and Treacherous Halls as the 3rd

[JonLeung]

Busy week...haven't had time to put some maps I've received recently...but this is easy enough to fix, so it'll happen next chance I get to the computer to update.

Would like it if you could update the names on the images one day though...  

Now would you say the inclusion of e-Reader levels would be worth the purchase of the game?  I don't know that I need to buy Super Mario Bros. 3 again, but if these 30+ stages are worth it...

If only they could have updated Super Mario All-Stars + World to include these.    I guess that's asking for too much.  Or maybe when they release a 50th anniversary thing...

EDIT: Okay, updated.  See them here.

[Peardian]

Is it worth it? I'd say it depends on how much of a 2D Mario / SMB3 fan you are. If you love Super Mario Bros. 3 and wish there was more of it, then it's definitely worth it. Or, if you're a big fan of rom hacks/fangames, and you want to experience SMB2 vegetables and SMW enemies in official SMB3 courses, then it's definitely worth it. Also, it's only like $8 for the game, which includes all of SMB3 and classic Mario Bros.


And of course, if you do play it, my maps can help you find all of the collectibles~

[JonLeung]

Yeah, I might look into it.  Just the idea of throwing vegetables around à la Super Mario Bros. 2 but in Super Mario Bros. 3 is neat enough.  I'm not into hacks, and I thought the appeal of new Mario stages would be sated by Super Mario Maker, but alas, not really.

I sort of get why Super Mario Bros. 2 isn't part of the whole Super Mario Maker package, but even without that huge chunk of stuff, there still are many things missing from it.  *coughslopescough*  A recent update that added bumpers and a fire-spitting Clown Car seemed unnecessary - focus on the missing stuff before the new stuff!  Sure they introduced P-switch doors, but they are visible before hitting the switch...boo!  (And I don't mean "boo" as in the ghost enemy Boo, but maybe I did because tricky Ghost Houses would be possible if only there were entirely invisible doors...)

It shames me to say that though I got Super Mario Maker on the first week (and I also have the pin set Best Buy was giving with the pre-orders, and I also have the two associated amiibo), other than to unlock new Mystery Mushrooms, I haven't really played it.  I haven't even finished making ONE stage!  Some Mario fan I am.  I only have a half-finished SMB3 stage where you have to kick a Koopa Shell and send it on its own twisting path while you try to keep up but on a separate path.  I hope to finish it one day...  And it's been, what, four months since it came out?  Sheesh...

[Rew]

So I've been perusing Peardian's glorious Yoshi's Island maps recently for Super NES. Then I decided to take a look at the GBA version of those maps on this site, and I found only Secret stages 1 and 2 were done. I don't suppose someone could coax Peardian out of retirement for Secret stages 3 through 6? =P (Those would probably be easier to map than Ocarina of Time or Majora's Mask after all!)