But for the most part, that seems to be it. Fan projects based on ARMS seem to be few and far between in general, with even the Spriter’s Resource having no custom art based on it.
However, maybe that’ll all change when people see this mockup. Because as the title says, an artist called bomb998 has drawn what appears to be a GBA version of ARMS, complete with lovely looking 2D sprites and a Punch Out esque style of gameplay.
Here are some pictures showing this non-existent game:
As you can see, it looks incredible. Indeed, if this was ever made as a fan project (or even sold by Nintendo), it actually seems like something that might do really well.
So, go on ARMS fans. Take some inspiration from it, and make the 16-bit fan game ARMS has always deserved!
And now there’s another one! Yep, coming from Kaze Emanuar (the guy behind most of the other major Mario 64 mods posted online recently), this mod goes and adds full online multiplayer to the game! Here’s a video showing a build from early in development:
As you can see, it works pretty well so far. It’s not perfect sure (players don’t interact with each other yet), but it’s miles ahead of old school solutions. Why?
Well in part because you don’t have to share a screen any more. You see, previous multiplayer solutions for this game worked like 3D World did. In other worlds, players shared a screen and when the camera moved away from one it was very hard for them to find their way back. It worked in a basic sense, but it was annoying to set up none the less.
That’s not the case here. Oh no, every player has their own screen view now. So instead of crowding together to avoid being cut off, players can explore different ends of the level at their leisure with no added problems. It’s pretty useful really.
But in future, things may get even better still. That’s because Kaze is also considering expanding this mode significantly. Like for example, allowing 8 players to play Mario 64 at the same time!
Yep, you read that right. 8 player Super Mario 64 co-op. It sounds insane just thinking about it, but it seems like something that’s all doable here.
And to add even more insanity, even custom character models may be possible too. So, the likes of Luigi, Peach, Wario, Waluigi and Toad could all be playable characters here! Sort of like the whole Mushroom Kingdom taking on Bowser at once.
So definitely check it out if you can. It looks really good so far, and will be available to download for free when character interaction has been coded in.
As you know, we’re a big fan of a YouTube series called Boundary Break. This series (hosted by a YouTuber called Shesez) goes into detail about what goes on outside of boundaries of various game worlds, by messing around with the camera to take it out of bounds. It’s a great series, and one you should definitely check out if you’re interested.
However, one game Shesez won’t be covering yet is the Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild. There’s interest in it sure. But no one’s hacked the camera yet, let alone provided a way to setup zoom outs or see what’s outside of the world’s boundaries.
Yet just because that doesn’t exist means we can’t study it! Because while we don’t have a nice convenient magic camera mod, we do have glitches to go out of bounds!
So here’s our take on the game, complete with answers to all your questions about what happens outside of the game world and how it’s been set up on a technical level.
Starting with the Akkala Citadel, the giant fortress underneath the Akkala Sheikah Tower. As you may know, there’s a door you can’t ever open there, part of which seems blocked off by dirt.
So… what’s behind it here? Does it lead to a super-secret dungeon or something?
Hah no. Just empty space I’m afraid. Like so many other unusable doors in video games, it’s merely painted on the wall with no real effect on the game itself.
And the same also goes for the shed behind Link’s House. It’s never opened in game, so the developers never really rendered a room inside it. Why bother with something the player never has access to (legitimately) anyway?
That said, there are a surprising amount of areas where the game does work exactly as you’d expect with no trickery. Take Hyrule Castle for instance. It’s all too easy to assume the inside and outside are separate maps that don’t match up to one another. Or that the final boss arena is on a separate one entirely.
But no, that’s not the case. As anything who’s clipped inside the building walls knows, the entirety of Hyrule Castle exists in game exactly as it appears to the player, with all rooms and passages being connected into a logical way. Heck, even the final boss arena genuinely is underneath the Sanctum, and will load in as you make your way down to it.
That’s impressive given how easy it’d be to do everything the ‘cheap’ way.
Same with the final boss battle. As people who’ve used the final boss escape glitch have found out, the whole world exists in the final battle. Albeit, minus static NPCs, Guardians and enemies that aren’t randomly generated:
And this level of effort continues with the world outside of the boundaries. Why?
Because in a lot of games, the levels or worlds don’t really continue much past their visible edges. Instead, you’ve got a few trees, a bit of land or a few decorations (sort of like a hedgerow on a motorway). It’s very clear in Shesez’s videos.
This is not the case in Breath of the Wild. Instead, the world continues for miles past the boundaries, with what appears to be everything from rivers to mountains and whole mazes lying outside of the world’s end. Really, it’s insane.
So why is this the case?
Well let me explain. Basically, a lot of game developers like to store objects they’re using to build a world or level off to the side. By doing this, they can then copy and paste them to insert level geometry instead of having to go piece by piece.
And that seems to be the case in Breath of the Wild. Everything from Divine Beast placements to bits of the landscape is kept outside of the world so the game’s creators can add them to Hyrule at their leisure. It’s pretty neat really.
Talking of Divine Beasts, you may wonder what’s outside those as well. In that case, I have some bad news for you.
Basically, the Divine Beasts you encounter on the overworld are not the same as the dungeons you explore. The former are mostly static objects (albeit ones with a surprising level of detail), whereas the latter are maps located entirely outside of Hyrule itself. You can see this by looking at MrCheeze’s object map, where the likes of the Vah Nabooris boss is ‘RemainsElectric’, the mostly decorative version is ‘RemainsElectric_Far’ and the actual Divine Beast dungeon is nowhere to be seen.
Which means you can’t leave one except via the map. The land around them isn’t solid.
So we haven’t found a way to go outside the Divine Beast dungeon boundaries yet. The game voids you out the minute you fall off rather than just dumping you back on the overworld.
Additionally, it also means you can’t reach the Divine Beasts early, since at best they’re not accessible from the outside (no working load points to the interior) and at worst they’re not solid at all, like the version of Vah Medoh seen flying above Rito Village:
Vah Ruta also has a shield, but that’s because it’s easy to reach. The others are just impossible to get close to.
The separate map thing also explains what’s outside of shrines and the Trial of the Sword. For the former you’ve got an endless blue void, and for the latter you’ve got a giant alternate world with all the floors located in different parts of it. Hence in theory you could literally walk from floor 1 of the Trial of the Sword right to the last one, assuming you had a way to go through the walls.
This was presumably done to save space. Why have 45 different ‘maps’ when one can do?
Still, there is one interesting detail outside of the shrine boundaries in the game. Namely, the tests of strength have giant empty rooms underneath them:
Yeah, I don’t know what they’re for either. They’re not where the Guardian Scout is stored, since people have made it into the pit before the battle:
And they’re never accessed in normal gameplay either. Maybe they’re where the Monk goes between watching people get killed by the Guardian Scout? Or the tea room for the machine itself?
There’s really no answer here. Nothing in the battle uses this giant empty space.
Additionally, you’ll also notice above that the Guardian Scout doesn’t actually appear in the pit until the cutscene plays.
Not sure why that’s the case. Still, it does let you land in an empty pit and reappear next to a boss, so that’s something.
Moving on from shrines now, one thing a few people may be wondering is what happens in the springs or other areas where shrines are not currently accessible. Are the shrines always behind the doors? Do they exist underground before you activate them?
Well, the answer to those problems is ‘sometimes’ and ‘usually not’.
For the former, it really depends on exactly what doors you’re talking about. In the springs, the shrines actually don’t appear until the doors open, so clipping through with merely mark the non-existent shrine on your map and display its name in an empty room:
Whereas going through one of the snowball opened doors in the Hebra region will always lead you to a working shrine. Because those ones are always loaded, regardless of whether the door is open:
So why is like this? Why the disparities here?
The answer is because of the Sheikah Sensor. Put simply, the game doesn’t want the Sheikah Sensor to go off when you reach a spring, since it spoils the surprise of what’s behind the door (even if everyone’s probably figured out the obvious answer here).
As a result, the shrines aren’t loaded. To stop the sensor spoiling the surprise.
At the same time however, the snow doors in Hebra are NOT meant to be a surprise. So, it does load it early, as to tell you there’s a shrine nearby without spoiling where exactly said shrine can be found. Same goes with the one behind a cracked wall in the Hebra plunge area. Or the ones behind bombable walls elsewhere in the world.
If the challenge is finding a shrine, it’ll be loaded in early. If the challenge is uncovering a mystery, it won’t be.
As for underground ones?
They don’t load in early. Well, at least as far as I can tell. Again, it’s so the Sheikah Sensor doesn’t go off when you’re standing above where the shrine loads in, which would spoil the ‘surprise’ and clue people into the shrine quest inevitably found nearby.
However, there’s one weird exception here. Namely, the shrine you need to open with lightning. For whatever reason, that one always does load in. To the point the reset glitch would bring back the mound around it…
No idea why it’s an exception, but it is.
Either way, the tactic of not loading in things you’re not supposed to know about yet continues through much of the game. Yunobo doesn’t appear in the Northern Mine until you activate the Divine Beast Rudania quest. The Yiga guards don’t appear in the hideout until you speak to Riju (the door is also locked before then as well). Teba doesn’t appear at the Flight Range until you speak to both the elder and his wife.
In other words, almost every attempt at ‘skipping ahead’ will fail miserably here. The game is incredibly well prepared for almost every ‘trick’ the player may throw at it.
Still, back to the Yiga Clan thing now. Remember when you fought Master Kohga? Did you ever wonder where exactly that pit went?
Well if so, wonder no more! Because thanks to the good old out of bounds glitch, we’ve traced the pit all the way to the bottom, finding that it ends with what appears to be a spiky floor floating above water:
It’s… a pretty long fall, and you’ll void out instantly if you get too close to it from out of bounds, but it’s interesting to see quite how far beneath the floor it goes on for.
And that’s also true of a fair few other objects in the game. Those Sheikah Towers go down a long way for example:
Whereas things like trees and poles stick into the floor a fair bit too:
Presumably this is for convenience sake, since it means the developers can stick the objects on a slope without them appearing to be cut off along the bottom.
Speaking of stuff going below the floor, you might be wondering where the Stal enemies come from at night. Do they really come up through the floor as it appears in game?
Well to cut a short story even shorter… yes. They appear (as a complete model) about 4-6 feet below the floor, then burst through the ground with the usual animation. The opposite happens when they dig back into the ground, like when it’s nearing sunset or they can’t find Link:
Similarly, while we’re on that subject, you may be wondering what’s underneath Hyrule in general. What would you see if you fell through the floor while exploring? Water. Or a bottomless pit depending on where you are in the world.
That’s because the entirety of the game world is either above water or a pit depending on how far north you are. Are you close to the north or west edges?
If so, it’s a bottomless pit that’s down there, which acts exactly like falling off the edge of the world would.
Elsewhere though (like even beneath the desert), you’ve basically got an endless ocean instead. Why is this?
Well, I think it’s because a lot of games use ‘water’ as a fall back for when the player ends up outside the world map.
And they do this because water limits how far a player can go or fall, depending on the game and its mechanics. For example, in the Mario Kart series it acts as a trigger for Lakitu to put you back in bounds near where you fell off, whereas falling into a non-descript pit may instead cause the game to freak out and plonk you back on the start line
In Zelda on the other hand, it basically acts as a way to force you to get back in bounds sooner rather than later. What do I mean by this?
I mean that because you run out of stamina if you swim too far, the game has a quick way to respawn you back on dry land later. This provides the player with a get out clause if they fall beneath the world (like the bottomless pit does up north), and prevents a softlock situation if the player ends up falling out of bounds while still on the Great Plateau without a Sheikah Slate.
That said, it’s not completely deserted down there. Occasionally you’ll find half a mountain underneath the floor, with certain areas having land you can walk on. Other times you’ll see weird ‘waterfalls’ with screwed up physics, invisible floors or even invisible combinations of slopes and ledges that seem like they were meant to be an earlier version of the world geometry.
It’s also got a few things you can’t normally see. Like these flowers mysteriously placed underneath the floor of the Yiga Clan Hideout:
Or the bottom to the lake the Gerudo Tower happens to rest in:
So yeah, that’s it for now. I hope you enjoyed this look at what’s going on outside of the game’s boundaries in The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild, and I hope Shesez takes some of this into consideration for his video when it finally goes online.
Post your thoughts on the article in the comments below or on the Gaming Latest forums today!
A while ago, Nintendo released a remake of The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess for Wii U. This remake had slightly improved graphics, some Amiibo functionality and a new ‘dungeon’ called the Cave of Shadows among other minor features, and generally got okay reviews on release.
At the same time though, it was also… seen as rather unambitious. Yeah it was functional sure. Yes, it certainly looked a tad cleaner than the GameCube and Wii version sure.
But compared to other Nintendo remakes, it felt a tad rushed. Like the team behind it didn’t really have the time or budget to go all out with the project.
Yet despite that being the case, there was also another Twilight Princess remake project in development. This one was fan run, and tried to redo the game in a far more significant way than Nintendo’s version ever could. It planned for new dungeons, new character models and geometry, new items and content… basically, it was Twilight Princess completely rebooted from the ground up.
And that’s what today’s interview is about! Yep now we’ve gotten ARTAKE Games to talk about their own Twilight Princess inspired Zelda game, as well as how their plans progressed from a simple remake to a massive overhaul the likes of which haven’t been before.
So, if you’re interested in the project (or what a reimagined Twilight Princess would be like in general), keep reading!
Well, you know the drill here. Who are you guys? What’s the background for the people listed on the ARTAKE Games staff page?
We’re a group of likeminded individuals trying to step into the gaming industry. I (Tomoya, the project’s main founder) started this project way back on April 1st, 2015 with the “Tomoya’s Twilight Princess HD Project.” It unexpectedly went viral, especially when Tino (developer of Ishiiruka, a custom build of the Dolphin emulator) implemented material maps alongside advanced lighting techniques that modern games use into an old emulated game(The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.)
However, an unfortunate thing happened where Nintendo manually took down our trailer video that gained A LOT of momentum and popularity since Nintendo released their official TPHD remaster. This was good timing for the team that I gathered from the fame to halt development so we can focus on a project that we perhaps make revenue with. We made a video describing what happened and took our halt of the project in action and start pre-production of an original title.
About 3-4 months in pre-production, we came to realization that life is taking a toll on us with bills and time limitations for certain members, and the project we started (the pre-production one called Kaiyo,) was too ambitious for our first original game. What happened? The project stopped so we can think of a quicker way to make money, which was working on a mobile app called Jumpy Jelly.
The app took about 3-4 months(again) to develop, and was a great way to test the team’s trust, endurance, organization, etc. Of course, all things were bad since it was our first game, but the product was finished and organization, endurance, trust etc. improved as we progressed. At the end of the day, the project was complete and finished a game as a team. Forgot to mention that during pre-production of Kaiyo, we decided to make a business name called “Hamasaki Games” since “Tomoya Hamasaki” was used as my public name, and I pretty much founded the whole shebang ranging from making a name for myself, making a name for Ishiiruka, making a name for the texture project, and most of all making a name for the team I once had.
^ All this happened from April 1st, 2015 – February 2017
Wait, the team you once had?
That’s right… a team that I ONCE had and bonded with. I’m not going to point any names, but they were great friends (more than just a working team.) It was unfortunate how things went the way it did. They claim to have left because I apparently treat them with disrespect as leaked from one of my VERY trusted team members… like almost brother/father trust. This person leaked private messaged I had with him to the team and purposely to steal them away to work on their own game.
However, maybe they weren’t stolen, but then again, they kicked me from my own project I started from my own Discord server. I can’t seem to win this fight and is something that will ALWAYS haunt and bother me, no matter what anybody says. At the end of the day, I don’t know what they were thinking… I have no idea what I did wrong. It still bothers me… and it’s sad that they didn’t even talk with me, but instead censor me and show leaked conversations to back their point.
Things are complicated when it comes to explaining this stuff, but damn was it a day where I snapped and couldn’t believe what happened. I am a very transparent person, and I’m extremely trusting – a weakness that clearly showed from what happened. I couldn’t get my server back since I was blocked from it – all communication from everybody was blocked or something.
Nor could I contact anybody but Skillar Babcock (a long-term supporter since the beginning and became a team member as a 3D modeler.) Since Skillar was in the server, he asked the person that stole the team and kicked me to have me join and explain myself, but he refused to have a talk – damn this makes my blood boil thinking about the past – so I had no choice but to stream. I started a live stream to catch them on the act and to tell the fans not to trust them.
Then there came the PM leaks… especially PMs that were about things that were already resolved. What happened is that the thief took OLD conversations and memories and exaggerated them via stream and team, polluting them with propaganda. Though everything he shares is what happened, it’s stuff that shouldn’t be leaked and was resolved and WAS USUALLY casual shit talk. EVYERYBODY shit talks about each other at some point, but when you have a history of 2 years of friendship and talk, and compile that into a leak folder… it looks BAD. I was LITERALLY demonized from my old team. This hurt me A LOT and if there was only a way to confront them to have them choke on their guilt, if they have any or any sense of morality, respect and honour.
I got my server back and everything else, because of the stream, but left without a team. Even team members I had 1-1 conversations with, bonded, deep talk, etc. – they left without even… I… I just… whatever.
It was a rough weekend, and had a few supporters that stood by my side. A few supporters were talented people, and wanted to join my team. I then scouted on the internet and found A LOT of talent that joined recently. If you go on the website, it shows their role and shows their experience. They’re all members recruited from the internet. Not sure what background info you want, but I made this story so you can better understand why the old Hamasaki Games crew no longer exists.
And this all happened recently – 2 – 3 weeks ago.
I want to leave with 1 note – be careful with who you trust, even if they’re like family. Like a good ol’ team member said – “Keep your hopes high, but keep your head low.”
What about the name of the company/group? What the hell is an ARTAKE anyway?
After all the drama that happened, especially to the public, I had to rebrand Hamasaki Games into the business model I want our company to have. We basically create alternatives to games that we all love, and specially the older ones back in the 90’s since those were the ones that revolutionized gaming today. Good thing we had a supporter named “Matt” which gave some business name ideas, and since he knew the model, he came up with ARTAKE Games. If you read into the name, you can hear “Our Take” – Our Take Games – “Our Take on games” – ARTAKE Games.
How did you first get into video games? Given you’re remaking a Zelda title, I assume you started with the NES game or something?
I started with the NES but hated all the games (including Zelda 1 and 2) besides Mario and Castlevania and Metroid. I got into serious gaming when the SNES was introduced to my life.
And what games are you playing now anyway? Have you tried the Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild yet?
Back when I was younger, in my teens, I was straying away from consoles a lot and moving towards computers more often. This was especially true during the Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3 era. With this, I got into computer gaming, but found most of my time playing StarCraft 2 Wings of Liberty, Heart of the Swarm and stopped playing when Legacy of the Void was released. I’m mentioning this because THAT was my bread and butter COMPETIVELY. So now that I stopped StarCraft like… 4 years ago, what do I play now? Isn’t it obvious that it’s League of Legends? Everybody that quit StarCraft pretty much migrated to LoL. I can’t play it religiously anymore since I have this project and maintaining promises and a team and development strips away A LOT of your time to enjoy things like my precious League of Legends.
I would also find myself playing Zelda games here and there, but if I were to get back into console games, it would only be for a Zelda game, and that’s when Breath of the Wild kicked in, BUT… but… it… it was like that girl that you dated because you expected more from what she promised.
You see… you love the looks of her and love how she plays in bed, but her overall… personality and content is terrible. Breath of the Wild had GREAT gameplay, was a great Sims/RPG simulator, great cooking simulator, but… that’s not what Zelda is. It lacked story and overall… CONTENT. I mean… yeah there were shrines, but those were all the same atmosphere and overall EASY puzzles besides a couple and majority were Trial of Strength or Test of Strength or whatever they’re called. It just… it’s a good foundation for a Zelda game, and want to see what they do with the next one. I’m not going to judge Breath of the Wild till we get that last DLC.
Played it on Cemu, by the way. I can’t afford a Wii U or a Switch.
How about game development? What’s your history there?
Well I’ve always wanted to make video games since I was a kid. My first take on making a video game was using Macromedia Flash 8 back in the good ol’ Flash days via Newgrounds. I was making platformers and thinking of innovative ways to improve a simple mobile game. I came up with some great ideas, but I was a stupid little kid that was just toying with video games, get far in it, finish it and delete the work since I never had a computer of my own. It was either my dad’s computer or my mom’s laptop. I didn’t get my own computer till I was 15-16 years old.
When I got my own computer, I was making websites and apps. I made mobile apps that took off making a lot of money that were called “Draw2GO Apps.” They teach you how to draw and you can still find them on Amazon App store today 😊
Why didn’t you stick with the apps? Well… my family controlled the money, and got nothing. SI basically said screw it, I’m going to make a video game again like I once tried as a kid. However, I was a one-man army, and needed to think of a way to gather a team to success. Since I had art skills and art runs in the family, I decided to start small with the “Twilight Princess HD Texture Project.” EVERYBODY, however, can make a texture pack, so I scouted on the Dophin Forums and found Tino, the Ishiiruka dev. I feel I already explained, and you know where this goes from that long story above.
Either way, onto the subject of your main project. Why did you decide to remake Twilight Princess anyway?
Because back when it was just a texture project, I promised the fans gameplay changes and lighting effects and new dungeons and more content. You see… I was a stupid kid that got into game development that had no idea what true game development is, so I made stupid promises like that (way too ambitious, thinking like a gamer.)
I want to give the fans what I promised to not only prove them, but to prove myself that I can achieve something like re-imagining Twilight Princess with all the new features etc.
Besides, Zelda is my ONLY go-to-game. I’ve always been a huge fan of Zelda. I have a Zelda key chain, a Zelda wallet, Zelda wallpaper and many Zelda T-shirts. I even have a Link amiibo even though I don’t have a Wii U; Really, I just wanted the figurine.
Also, this is something that people may not know if they’re new to the project, Twilight Princess is my MOST HATED Zelda game. I HATE the art style, I HATE the story and I HATE the wolf mechanic. So I chose Twilight Princess to challenge myself to make it into my MOST FAVORITE Zelda game. I want this to take the spot from Majora’s Mask (My favorite Zelda game of all time.)
Did you ever consider reworking any other Zelda games at that time?
Yes, Majora’s Mask
What did you think when Nintendo announced Twilight Princess HD? Was it a bit of a shock to you?
No – it wasn’t a shock, but it was disappointing because I contacted them asking if we could remake the game for them. I was just making a texture pack with Tino adding advanced lighting, and yet they hire a cheap company to make a really bad texture pack port for the Wii U. The Twilight Princess HD official is literally what you can get on the internet from say “Victor Rosa’s Texture Pack.” Same style, but free and better.
How about the game’s content/quality? How does it stack up in your eyes?
If you mean how I look at Twilight Princess’ content/quality by default? Well… it’s good, and it’s TRUE Zelda – like Twilight Princess IS what a 3D Zelda game SHOULD be, but the content and overall quality was WAY TOO ahead of its time. The wolf Link mechanic was terrible and the game felt like a HUGE empty shell. We want to fix that, of course – TRY to fix all of it.
Regardless of that though, it seems like the project has drifted a bit. When did you decide you wanted to go beyond what a mere remaster or remake?
February 2017 after the Jumpy Jelly app was finished.
How do you decide what to add to the game? Because based on your streams, it seems like you’re mostly focusing on new connecting areas between major parts of Twilight Princess’ game world…
Well, we’re focusing on making 1 dungeon at a time to release something to the public. That’s right – we want to focus on making 1 dungeon READY to be completed by the player full of puzzles, dungeon item, main dungeon mechanic, completely redesigned and original, a story and a boss – ALL for free, but Patrons get 2-week early access
After we’re done finishing ALL the dungeons in Twilight Princess, and ALL being completely original with its own story and… everything else I mentioned earlier, we’re going to pitch ALL the dungeons to Nintendo to possibly have it where we can get permission to finish the full game. If they don’t approve it and depending on the amount of support we get from Patreon, we’ll either work on our own original title (not much Patreon support) OR we connect the dungeons that were finished to the overworld and add the full game/original story. More info about this will be given regarding new overworld/story content when the time comes.
What about the graphical elements? The new designs are certainly a tad more complex than the existing game ones. Who creates those? What influences them?
I am the 3D modeler that modelled the main characters model (Link.) Pravesh, a modeler from India, is the one that modelled the houses/structures. The influence is basically – character models have an Overwatch sense of detail and style, but the environment has the style of Breath of the Wild.
And how exactly did you build such a good team for the project? It’s always hard to get people to help out with fan games and mods, especially free ones…
Well – I spent restless hours recruiting. It’s a lot of work and a lot of convincing. It drains you, but the result is worth it. Just go to 3D modelling forums and big sites like Polycount. I also try to be as transparent as possible – HIDING NOTHING and if I do hide something, I end up confessing on my own will.
Do ever worry that you may be a bit too ambitious here? Cause some people may be getting URA Zelda Restoration Project vibes from this remake…
It’s not too ambitious since we’re doing dungeon by dungeon. Our original goal was to start from Ordon Village, and start making the WHOLE game with the story, but our team was crippled, and the team has shrunk to a degree where we HAD to go by a tactic of: finish one dungeon (Forest Temple is the first) and then release it to the public, after that work on the next one.
So, we only have to worry about dungeons instead of the world.
And hey, given all the new content, did you ever think to just make a new Zelda game from scratch without the Twilight Princess stuff?
Well it would be awesome to do that, especially if we become partners with Nintendo. I have many ideas for a Zelda game, and if Nintendo doesn’t want to become partners, we have an original game in stock ready for development after this Twilight Princess one that’s basically Zelda inspired, but completely original at the same time with an interesting mechanic.
Still, there are a few things that fans don’t quite remember so fondly about Twilight Princess, like the intro, some of the bosses and certain aspects of the dungeon design. Will any of this be tweaked in your redone version?
Yes – as I stated; ALL dungeons WILL be completely original and redesigned. Like… the diagram is COMPLETELY different for the Forest Temple. The theme of it is COMPLETELY different. What kind of design are we going for the Forest Temple? Like… it’s still inside of a Deku tree, but it’ll be… well… listen to this song and maybe you can take a guess.
What about the items? Will you add a few more places to use the Dominion Rod for example?
We’ll probably add an upgrade system and have the dominion rod have more of a use. Even the Ordon Sword will have a… SPECIAL touch that I do not want to spoil.
Any more plans for the Twilight Realm? Always thought that was a bit of a wasted opportunity in Twilight Princess. All this interesting world, and the only thing you ever see is a single dungeon…
The Twilight Realm will become the “Twilight World.” Our idea for the Twilight World is to basically become the Dark World from A Link to the Past. This world will have a total of 4 dungeons including the Palace of Twilight. So you go into the Twilight World for the first time, you can’t go into the Palace of Twilight because of a barrier. I have a Google doc that I can share with you describing more about the game.
Either way, may as well ask about a few other projects on your site too. What’s Project Eventide about?
It’s the Twilight Princess re-imaged project that the entire interview was about.
Does it tie into Breath of the Wild? The name says yes, but the realistic part of me says there’s no way in hell anyone can mod the game yet…
Eventide means “Twilight” and… no we’re not modding Breath of the Wild.
Another project you list is Jumpy Jelly, the only indie game mentioned on the site. Is this another thing you want to make more of in future? Will ARTAKE Games eventually focus on indie titles rather than fan projects?
Yes
Unfortunately, quite a few fan projects have been shut down by companies like Nintendo recently, and I remember them trying the same thing with your Twilight Princess remake. What’s the situation on that?
This project is completely original, no assets are from Nintendo, all dungeons and worlds are completely redesigned, EVERYTHING made from scratch. You’ll see when the first dungeon is released.
It also led to you moving to a more… private mode of development, complete with YouTube and Twitch streams rather than smaller videos and less promotion. Have you ever considered just moving your channel to a site like VidMe or something?
No – I don’t even know what VidMe is. We’re being completely open with this project. We want to show Nintendo we mean serious business and we can finish a product and impress them.
And given Nintendo has tried to take down the project once, do you ever worry they’ll try it again when it’s finally released? What plans do you have in place for that?
They didn’t try to take it down – they took down one of our videos because we had more coverage for Twilight Princess HD in Google and YouTube search. Hell – if you went on YouTube back in the day and searched “Twilight Princess,” our project shows #1.
Could your Zelda fan projects be potentially retooled into a more original setup? I’ve seen that happen for a few fan games in the past (like Breath of the NES and Zelda Maker) …
Yes – it is one of the goals of this project. In the end, we’ll have a finished engine, developed team, mechanics and skills for our next original product.
Still, it seems the internet liked your Twilight Princess remake when it was first announced. But it’s been a while since then, and it’ll be even longer before it’s out. So… how do you plan to promote it the second time?
When we release the first dungeon to the public, we’ll make a trailer that will blow your minds
Are you going to focus more on the marketing side of things as it nears release?
Market the team, but not the project. We don’t want this project to look like we’re trying to compete with Nintendo. We want to market the team as a group that’s trying to make ARTAKE Games a company to provide alternative games for fans of a dead series or successful series.
What plans do you have for games and remakes after that and Project Eventide?
Project Kaiyo
Finally, what advice would you give people wanting to get into game development?
Start small like with a simple platformer, learn a lot (become a generalist,) be careful with who you trust and be realistic. Anybody can achieve anything – even a person that made a simple game like Flappy Bird or Undertale.
And you know what?
We agree entirely. Too many fan game and indie dev teams start out with a big ambitious plan and end up getting nowhere with it. Or if they do get somewhere, the lack of expertise and usually poor level of organisation completely sinks the project somewhere further down the line.
So don’t start out big; start small and make your way up gradually. That way, you’ll have a foundation for your projects and the guarantee of something to show along the line.
Still, what do you think of the interview? Did you find it an interesting read? Does the idea of a reimagined Twilight Princess strike your fancy?
Post your thoughts on that here or on social media today!
