[Z1] Automap Hack

[snarfblam]

Legend of Zelda Automap

I'm working on a hack that will track where the player has been in the overworld. It's already somewhat functional. Just need to fix a couple of issues, and work it into the saving system.

Once it's done, I'm going to use it for my otherwise finished hack, and also release a patch and source.



Update: I've released a new version that has an actual map of the overworld.

Plain Map
Drawn Map

[MathOnNapkins]

Just out of curiosity, did you have to add more save RAM or anything like that to do this? A lot of games don't use all their available RAM resources, though, so maybe you lucked out.

edit: I guess you haven't added it to save RAM yet, though I imagine you've already got that planned out?

[snarfblam]

Actually, all the RAM I'm using is save RAM. There's plenty available. Right now, without saving and loading implemented, the map data is persisted between games and between separate save files. Of course that will go away once I add some proper save and load routines, which looks like it should be very simple.

On the other hand, I seem to have caused an issue where patterns randomly become glitched when entering/exiting a level, which might be tricky to track down :/

[MathOnNapkins]

The dungeons in Z1 automap already, don't they? It's been a while since I played it.

[Zknight7126]

This would be very helpful, I have trouble getting around, having it record would help me know where I have been in comparison to where I am.

[Blarget2]

But wont the whole map just be a big white block when your done exploring?

[squishy_ichigo]

Did you miss that the screen you are in is colored grey?
Even if the map is completely white minus this one grey block, you can totally tell where you are in relation to everything else.

[Blarget2]

I couldn't. even if i could see the grey block. All i would know is if I'm close to that grey spot. maybe add region colors atleast?

[snarfblam]

It looks like I've got my map pretty much finished. I'd love to get some help testing, if anyone is interested. I'm gonna test myself, of course, but I always seem to overlook something, so help is nice. I want to put the game through its paces and make sure the map does what it's supposed to do when, for example:

• You Maintain/use multiple saves
• You continue/save/retry or load/delete/beat the game
• You change locations on map via recorder/"Take any road you want" stairway
• You enter and exit caves and play levels

A few people have made suggestions such as showing how screens connect on the map or making different parts of the world different colors. I can't think of any way to do this without drawing the tiles on the fly, which is more work than I am interested in. When I'm done, I'm planning on sharing the code along side the patch so others can extend it if they see fit.

I'm also interested in input on the appearance of the map. So click this thing:
[spoiler=Map Styles][/spoiler]
My favorite one is the first one, but I want everyone's opinions and suggestions. With the palette the map is using, I'm limited to gray, white, and blue. It's presumably possible for me to make the map use one of the other palettes, but I haven't looked too far into that.

[Parabox]

I find [2,1] the best. Has the clearest difference between visited and non-visited squares.
I also like how [2,2], [2,3] and [1,3] match up, and [1,1] seems to be in the wrong place, while the others don't seem to belong.

[MathOnNapkins]

Personally I prefer the second one (top middle). I'd go with the the first one, but it strikes too strong a resemblance with the TMNT 1 NES map colors and layout for my tastes.

[Quietus]

I like the middle one on the bottom row.  The grey squares seem dark enough to not be in your face, which seems important, as they'll be visible for most of the game, and flooding that corner of the screen for the early part of the game.  Similarly, the more subdued white dots don't burn your eyes once the map is complete later on.

[FullOfFail]

I think the 3rd one (top row, all the way to the right) looks the most natural. Almost looks as if it was already in the game to begin with.

[snarfblam]

Since people kept asking for it, here is version 0.1 of the auto-map, now with an actual map of the overworld.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/12027218/Automap%200.1.IPS (or try the plain map patch)

[Parabox]

This will definitely make Zelda 1 more awesome. Thanks broseph.