When it comes to mods for the Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild, there are some truly incredible projects available to download online. There’s Second Wind, a mod which adds tons of new enemies, items and locations. We covered that one in an interview back in March.
There’s the Hyrule Rebuild project, which tries to give us the Hyrule of 100 years ago, by using objects and characters from the world of Age of Calamity to revive the fallen kingdom.
And then there’s Relics of the Past. Designed by a team led by ShadowMarth-JTW, the game hopes to improve BoTW by making it a more challenging experience overall, with far more enemy variety and interesting setups than ever before. Guardians are now common enemies and are found in places all over Hyrule. Divine Beast dungeons have more than just malice and Guardian Scouts to worry about…
Plus in some cases, all new tough forms of enemies have been added to give you an extra challenge too, like the dangerous malice enemies and the fearsome Yiga Inquisitor.
It’s basically Master Mode done right, and one of the best mods available for Breath of the Wild as of this point.
So in this interview, we’re gonna ask how it all happened. How this plucky team of modders made one of the most interesting, challenging Breath of the Wild mods in the game’s history, and revolutionised the streaming world in the process.
You ready? Let’s go!
The Interview
First of all, who are you? Who is the team behind Relics of the Past?
ShadowMarth-JTW: Hey! Thank you for having us! I am ShadowMarth, The Project Lead/Mod Creator for Relics of the Past. The team consists of 42 members, this includes map editors, sound editors, modelers, graphical and concept artists, Testers, event editors and supporters. With me at this time are my Assistant Team Lead[SDarkMagic], My two Senior Team Leads[Quantum & JaySkilling] and a few of my other members.
Quantum: Hello! As Marth said, thanks so much for having us. I am Quantum_Leap23, or Quantum for short. My current position is Senior Team Lead.
TheLegendOfSam: Hiya, I’m Sam, and echoing everyone else, thank you very much for having us! I’m the Lead Switch Tester for Relics of the Past.
Samuel: Heyho, I’m Samuel, the concept artist for this project. Thanks for having us!
SDarkMagic: Hi, I’m SDarkMagic, the assistant team lead for the project but you can call me Dark. Thank you for taking the time to interview us and showing interest in our project!
JaySkilling: Hey, thanks for showing interest in this! I’m JaySkilling, the other Senior Team Lead of the project.
Terukosan: Hi there I’m Terukosan or Lunarcus depending on the platform you find me on, I joined the project when ShadowMarth found me streaming the public release of the game and invited me on to help out!
Croton: Hello! I am Croton and I am a new Section Editor who is grateful to be part of the team!
KirbyDaGamerPuff: Greetings Internet! I am Kirby, the current modeler for this project, responsible for things like the Calamity Lynel and Malice Moblin, and eventually Ancient Weaponry Mk.II
The Calamity Lynel makes even the Golden Lynels look like wimps by comparison…
Torphedo: Hey! I do some event scripting when I have time, but I haven’t had the chance to do much on the project.
And how did you get into gaming? What was your first game?
ShadowMarth-JTW: My first game ever was for the game boy color, a title called “Commander Keen”. I played the original Super Mario Bros and from there moved on to the Nintendo 64. My favs were Zelda Ocarina of Time, Smash Bros and Mario Kart 64
Quantum: My first experience with gaming would have to be when my parents bought me a Nintendo Wii for Christmas when I was around seven or eight years old. My first game I played on it would have to be World of Goo made by the Tomorrow Corporation.
TheLegendOfSam: I think my first experience was going over a cousin’s house and seeing his cool Nintendo games when I was a toddler. My first game was either Ocarina of Time, or Super Mario 64. It’s been so long that I can’t really remember. But I played just about everything I could whenever we’d go over to my cousin’s house.
Samuel: My first gaming experience was when I was about 8 years old. We went to a flea market where we bought a Game Boy Advance SP with Tetris and Link’s Awakening DX. I never finished the Zelda Game since the game was in english but i loved the gameplay. Been in love with Zelda ever since.
JaySkilling: I was a big Nintendo kid, practically growing up with a N64, gameboy, and gamecube. I don’t remember my first game but I always played the cheap games we could find in the used section of GameStop.
Terukosan: I first got into gaming when I was very young, maybe 4 or 5 years old. I would always go upstairs and watch my grandmother play Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past and it’s still my favorite Zelda game to date. It was either that or when I got my first Gameboy with a copy of Pokemon Red.
Kirby: I’ll be quite honest, I’m not sure when I FIRST got into gaming, but my earliest memories of it were going to my hometown’s public library and playing Wizard101. I first truly got into gaming with my ~14th birthday when I received a Nintendo 3DS and Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam.
Torphedo: My first game was Minecraft, when it was still in beta. I was about 7 at the time, so most of my creations were abominations. I also played Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, which offered amazing customization with surprisingly few bugs. I still love both games to this day for their open-endedness.
Banjo-Kazooie Nuts & Bolts was a surprise favourite for Torphedo
What about your intro to the Zelda series?
ShadowMarth-JTW: Playing Ocarina of Time as a kid bore a unique experience on its own compared to the other Nintendo games.At first I found that the game was pretty creepy. I can vividly remember my first time seeing a Zora in Lake Hylia. I thought it was a water ghost and it spooked me so much I turned the game off lol and that’s just one of the interesting experiences I’ve had. Ocarina of time felt like this immersive adventure where I could truly feel the dangers and thrills of the Hyrule.
Like many fans, ShadowMarth-JTW was introduced to the Zelda series by Ocarina of Time
Quantum: My first experience with a Zelda game would have to be Twilight Princess for Wii, I put maybe 100 hours into it before getting bored and uninterested, and would remain uninterested with Zelda games until the release of Breath of the Wild.
TheLegendOfSam: Ocarina of Time was my first proper intro to the Zelda series. I probably saw my cousin play A Link to the Past, but Ocarina was what started it all for me. I used to love drawing it and I could play it for hours on end. Now if only I could find my 3D copy…
Samuel: As mentioned above, Link’s Awakening DX was my first Zelda game. After trying to beat it I purchased The Minish cap. I got immediately hooked on the cute artstyle!
Link’s Awakening DX was Samuel’s first Zelda game
SDarkMagic: My first time playing a Legend of Zelda title was actually with Breath of the Wild on the WiiU. I enjoyed playing through that so much that I decided to play through it again as well as try out some of the other titles in the Zelda series such as Twilight Princess and Ocarina of Time.
JaySkilling: First game I remember clearly was the Minish Cap and something about there always being something to do always makes it one of my favorites. One thing I loved was the blademasters who all taught Link his different sword skills.
Terukosan: Playing Link to the Past with my grandmother was my first Zelda game. Then I got into Ocarina of Time when we got a Nintendo 64.
Kirby: Back when the Wii was getting halfway through its lifecycle around 2012 I got to experience The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword on a cousin’s Wii. That game captivated me with the motion controls as silly as that seems, but it felt really nice to be able to swing a remote and wield a nunchuck like a real sword and shield.
What games are you playing now?
ShadowMarth-JTW: Still lots of Breath of the Wild, Specifically Relics, Playtesting aside it’s still fun to just do personal playthrough. I also play a good bit of Dota 2. I’m an avid Winter Wyvern main in that game. I put a lot of work into being good with that character in Dota.
Quantum: I don’t play Breath of the Wild as much as I used to, but I play many other games now. You can usually find me playing some FPS such as Apex Legends or turn-based/strategy games like Darkest Dungeon.
TheLegendOfSam: Breath of the Wild and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, with some Pokémon Legends: Arceus and Brilliant Diamond thrown in the mix.
Samuel: The Isle, Path of Titans, Breath of the Wild, Super Smash Bros, Pokémon Unite
JaySkilling: Can I say just testing different mods in botw? I’ve hardly played many games recently just being busy with life but I always love trying to add stuff into botw.
Terukosan: I mainly play MMO’s such as Final Fantasy XIV, an old Korean MMO called Mabinogi. I recently started playing Elite Dangerous!
Croton: I love replaying Breath of the Wild challenges and experiencing new mods, along with following current switch releases, and playing hard combat-heavy adventure games like Hollow Knight and Elden Ring!
Croton is currently playing titles like Elden Ring alongside BoTW
Kirby: I’ve become quite tired of Breath of the Wild and the series as of late, and have been playing Elden Ring and been broadening my interests with rouge-likes and more action oriented games compared to slower puzzle games alongside platformers and adventure games.
Torphedo: I can’t remember exactly which Zelda game was my first, but I think I was first exposed to it by watching my stepdad play Skyward Sword. I loved the atmosphere and unique enemies (the evil cats scared me).
Generally, what do you think of the original Breath of the Wild? Any things you like/dislike about the game?
ShadowMarth-JTW: I do really love Breath of the Wild, I still think it’s a game everyone should try. My favorite things of botw are exploration and combat, I still to this day just love running on foot exploring the plethora of areas in the game. I will say the vanilla game lacks luster in exploration, rewards and challenging enemies. Which lo behold, that’s exactly what one of the biggest things Relics adds. A few mechanics like swimming and climbing are just a little too slow for my taste, which are two things Relics also improves. Essentially Relics is me customizing botw to my own taste. It just so happens that the result is also something many people also enjoy. I figured it would be cool to share my creation with the community.
Quantum: Breath of the Wild was an amazing change of pace from Twilight Princess for me. The “come and go as you please” open world felt amazing to traverse. One of my favorite things about the game was the whole weather system. I could just stand in the same spot for ages and watch the weather play out. One of my only dislikes about the game was the durability system, and the fact that you’ll always have good weapons that you’ll never use for fear of losing them.
TheLegendOfSam: I loved the vastness of Hyrule in Breath of the Wild and the designs of the weapons and NPCs and enemies. The Zora are so cool and you can see all the effort that went into the design of this game. There’s also a deep appreciation (especially after playing Skyward Sword HD) for how many of the mechanics have evolved to be what they are in this game. Of course, having played Age of Calamity, I don’t like how empty Breath of the Wild is now. Hyrule wasn’t just ruined, it was utterly annihilated! My biggest legitimate complaint is that the Trousers of the Wild, when dyed, are the same color as the Tunic of the Wild. I think the trousers should match the sleeves instead like they do with the undyed set! I like consistency, dang it!
Samuel: I love the way the overworld looks, it feels empty but there’s a reason why. The Calamity devastated the kingdom and it really shows. There’s honestly nothing I really dislike in the game. There’s always new stuff to discover, even after 5 years.
Terukosan: I honestly think the original Breath of the Wild was an amazing game and a great change from the older titles, the open world really got me hooked and kept me interested in the game, a lot of exploration. The combat was also very fun, the one thing I didn’t like however was the durability system, and the lack of crafting, but you gotta work with what you got.
Croton: It is the first (and only) game that makes me feel like I exist within it while playing. Outside of its roots of exploration/combat/puzzle solving, the world of hyrule and the way a player can move about it with the given tools is a breath of fresh air, and is what invites me to come back every time
Kirby: Quite honestly, the Shrines and Divine Beasts are really fascinating to me. All the smooth stones with sharp corners, moving parts, traps, and glowing lights felt otherworldly and it was exciting to just walk around some times. However, these are also one of my biggest gripes with the game. Not including DLC Shrines, a whopping 30 Shrines are Blessings, and 20 are Tests of Strength. That leaves 70 Shrines for unique puzzles and scenarios. There is so much opportunity for creativity but it was just walk in, possibly fight a generic robot, grab a loot chest, and scoot at the exit. That’s just lame if you ask me.
The sheer amount of blessing shrines was disappointing to the Relics of the Past team
Torphedo: I love the game, but it’s full of holes and missed opportunities. The way it’s built allows you to do all sorts of crazy things, but it seems like they ran out of time. I hope the developers are able to bring out more ideas and unique mechanics in the sequel. Overall, I’d say BotW is a game of huge potential, with not much of it truly harnessed.
Onto BoTW modding now. How did you get started with that?
ShadowMarth-JTW: With me having many years of experience modding games at the time, I knew that it wouldn’t be hard for me to get into modding Breath of the Wild. It wasn’t until I saw a Youtube video announcing that Overworld editing was possible in the game now. As soon as I learned of this I immediately began getting my hands on the tools. Quite literally an hour after watching the video I had the tool setup. Just didn’t know how to use it yet.
Quantum: I believe I joined the team about a year ago, when I was watching a streamer playing the mod. I recall saying that it “must be cool to work with the relics team”. Marth saw my message and offered me a spot on the team.
TheLegendOfSam: Oh geez I can’t even remember. I’d replay the game so much and didn’t want to wait to farm the materials to upgrade things every play through, so I learned how to save edit, and then realized that I could add mods too like changing weapon and armor values or durability.
Samuel: I just scrolled through Youtube and saw BotW mods show up and decided to check it out: I then entered a BotW modding server on discord. I met a few friends back there and one recommended me to the team because he thinked that they’ll like my art.
JaySkilling: I was streaming relics after hearing about it from a friend and then ShadowMarth popped into chat and after talking to him about wanting to learn he reached out to me after stream.
Kirby: To be frank, once I learned that Shrine editing was a thing that could be done, I was excited to entirely overhaul Shrines, or improve upon existing ones, taking their existing concept, and taking it further.
Torphedo: I started by seeing Pointcrow play Relics of the Past on YouTube. I set it up for myself, started using some other mods, then began editing existing mods, and eventually made my own. My goal has been to learn as much as possible about the game engine so I can execute my ideas more easily.
And what made you decide to start work on Relics of the Past specifically?
ShadowMarth-JTW: My ambition was already there, all there was left to do was execute. After I got set up and learned the basics, I began putting together a team. I wanted to create a mod that fundamentally built off the vanilla game while also providing more challenge and a fresh experience with quality of life changes to compliment it. The idea was to be able to use your pre-existing knowledge and experience and have it aid you in adapting to the new changes. The familiarity of vanilla gameplay was key to allowing people to understand what Relics of the Past is aiming to achieve.
Quantum: For me it was seeing what the mod had become, in people’s eyes, and what it could be. It’s been amazing working on the mod and with the team.
TheLegendOfSam: Honestly, it was the only big project that was being worked on for Switch. I mean, seeing the difficulty! Having a harder mode with extra content when I’d played through the vanilla version so many times made it massively appealing. I must have pestered Marth ad nauseam when I saw the first glimpse of Relics and just kept telling him to let me know when he was ready to test stuff for the Switch version.
Samuel: The deciding factor to me was that they really liked what I came up with so I thought that I could give it a shot. After a year I am still here and I really enjoy working with the team.
JaySkilling: Like I was saying, Marth reached out to me about learning to mod and after teaching me I knew I wanted to help out in any way I could on his passion project.
Croton: I most appreciate how this mod changes the combat mechanics to allow more options that segway off existing base moves. Multi hitting dash attacks, enhanced jump and charge attacks, and shield surf dodging are amongst some of my favorites; and are all well accustomed to taking down the larger scale enemy camps that this mod offers. I wanted to develop this mod to create more crazy scenarios the player can get themself into using these great mechanics at their disposal
One of the main selling points of Relics of the Past is the focus on having more Guardians spread throughout Hyrule. What was the reasoning behind this?
ShadowMarth-JTW: I was honestly fascinated by the Guardians. The way they’re designed, the lore behind them, the King’s explanation of the calamity and the guardians really brought them to life for me and I had always wondered why they were not represented as such in the gameplay. They are normally slow, easy to beat and lose track of your position far too easily to the point where I felt they were a laughing stock. The guardian rework in Relics is directly inspired by the memory shown when King Rhoam is explaining the details of the calamity 100 years prior.
Despite being prominent in the marketing, Guardians aren’t particularly threatening in BoTW itself
TheLegendOfSam: I believe you mentioned at some point that you also wanted them to match what was seen in the E3 2014 trailer.
Were you disappointed by how little Master Mode changed?
ShadowMarth-JTW: Yes, just like many others I strongly felt master mode could have been so much more. Outside of the Great Plateau nothing was really new outside of the little wooden air forts that you see in various locations. I thought to myself that it could have added more.
TheLegendOfSam: I was, yes. It had potential but fell short of that, and from the looks of the sequel so far, it looks like they’re trying to rectify that by giving us a second overworld in the Sky rather than just random floating platforms.
Samuel: Yes. There could’ve been so much more, it really had potential. Floating enemy camps and such is nice but the enemies on them are still weak. Even in the beginning: Golden variants are cool but they aren’t really challenging once you know how to defeat basic enemies.
These floating camps are cool, but don’t add much to Master Mode difficulty wise
Croton: At first I enjoyed master mode, because the bar for Zelda “hero modes” has never been very high to begin with. But after seeing the challenges capable in this mod, it doesn’t even compare – and it makes me think that they definitely could have done even a bit more with Master Mode even with just enemy placements
Kirby: Honestly, I find it kinda weird how generic the changes are. Tougher enemies, and not much else. Other “hard mode”s or “bonus quests” in Zelda are far more interesting. Wind Waker kept Link in the starting outfit through the whole game, Master Quest reworked dungeons (Spirit Temple is still filled with demon worms), and flipped the overworld horizontally. There really isn’t enough in Breath of the Wild’s Master Mode to justify playing it after the regular mode.
The game also has some new enemies too. What made you add those to the game?
Relics of the Past adds tougher versions of existing enemies, like these Malice Moblins
ShadowMarth-JTW: Well for new forms of challenge and to add a little variety. While our new enemies consist mainly of new variants of existing monsters, we still aimed to make them feel new enough to keep the player on their toes.
And how did you decide what to add there? The Yiga Inquisitor was a neat surprise…
ShadowMarth-JTW: We honestly are heavily restricted with what we can create as far as new enemies. Using Second Wind as a reference, Most of their new entities are using pre-existing AI structures as a base. For example, the Armos the mod has is based on Chuchu AI. With that in mind I began to think about some new attributes I could assign to these custom enemies. In the latest build, the red-orange Firebrand monsters are also iconic because they indefinitely regenerate HP as long as they are touching fire. These new attributes for the new enemies are supposed to make the player think more about what they should do as these enemies have more elemental immunity in contrast to vanilla Breath of the Wild. Breaking existing combat conventions in an attempt to have the player rely more on skill to get through the game.
Have you looked into more advanced custom enemy types, like in Second Wind?
ShadowMarth-JTW: Well I guess I did partially answer this in the previous question. Yes we have. Relics has its own theme in comparison to Second Wind. Not to mention we don’t want to copy Second Wind ideas. So anything we come up with moving forward will have those challenges to be mindful of. To come up with a new enemy that is entirely unique, that fits the theme all while dealing with the current AI restrictions previously mentioned is a big limitation to try and work around, but we will do our best!
Torphedo: From what I’ve done with AI, new enemies are quite a pain. I think they use code from the executable itself, so we can’t feasibly add new stuff. To my knowledge, new AI basically has to be cobbled together from existing ones.
What about adjustments to the bosses? Can you change their HP, make them hit harder, etc?
ShadowMarth-JTW: Yes we are able to adjust attributes such as those. Lynels have already received a very specific tweak to endlag on their stun time and a few of their attacks to keep players on their toes. We already doubled the health on common monsters to increase the difficulty and compliment the weapon surplus in Relics.
SDarkMagic: Additionally, we are also able to edit the major bosses, such as the Blights and Calamity Ganon, not only by adding more HP but also by editing some of their AI configuration files. For example, Thunderblight Ganon now has a chance to do a 3 frame dash attack on you when fighting him in the sanctum and Calamity Ganon moves faster and is more aggressive than he would be in vanilla.
Thunderblight Ganon is even tougher in Relics of the Past!
Weapons and clothing have also been made easier to find in the world too, with some powerful items not present in the base game. What was the thought process for where to add these here?
ShadowMarth-JTW: Relics doesn’t hold back with the difficulty presented to the player. The style of difficulty Relics achieves causes your gameplay to feel heavily resource dependent, whether that’s weapons, materials or armor. Being that it’s nearing 3 years of development time, We have been able to explore just about every crevice the world has to offer. Exploration is also a big part of the mod and so we just took advantage of the plethora of locations that would reward detailed exploration. We’ve also implemented a concept called “Power Weapons” where you could essentially find what appears to be just a normal weapon but it has an abnormally high attack up. The most well known example would be the Ancient Short Sword that has attack up +84 on it. We built off the idea that in Breath of the Wild, when you explore, it usually leads into more exploration and it typically chains itself until you end up in a significant location.
Relics of the Past adds all kind of crazy powerful new weapons, like these ones from the Akkala Tech Lab
Are there any future changes you’re excited for in Relics of the Past?
ShadowMarth-JTW: Version 3.0 is easily the biggest ambition that we could set. We’re planning for this version to be jam packed with so much more content that even those like myself who have combed every detail of the current release, can have a fresh experience again. It most certainly will be difficult to achieve this but we won’t let that stop us from trying!
Quantum: Yes! In the next few major patches, we should be reaching complete map coverage of our edits to the game. I honestly can’t wait for when a player has nowhere safe to run from the challenges ahead of them.
What other Breath of the Wild mods are you impressed by and why?
ShadowMarth-JTW: Waikuteru’s Breath of the Wild Randomizer and Second Wind easily.
The Randomizer really is awe inspiring for me because it implements really neat uses of events, concepts and custom weapons. The event work that was done is mindblowing and I genuinely cannot find words to express how impressive it is that it was all done by himself with no team. Some of the structure it has would take literal months to set up. It’s really cool. What I love most about Second Wind is the sheer limitless creativity. So much new content, new animals, new enemies. No other mod in my opinion achieves the same level of creativity. The work on the custom shrines is absolutely insane. Every shrine feels like a brand new world, always fresh, always unique. It’s amazingly impressive.
TheLegendOfSam: I’m impressed by Second Wind even though I can’t experience it myself at the moment. And the Hyrule Rebuild Attempt, and the Skyview Temple, and the custom dungeon (is that one public or just a video on YouTube?), and… Heck, I’m impressed by anything and everything, let’s be honest!
Samuel: The project I am most excited for is Hyrule Rebuild Attempt. I always loved the thought of restoring forgotten towns, villages IRL and seeing how it looked 100 years ago is my cup of tea. Especially after playing and experiencing Hyrule in Age of Calamity.
JaySkilling: There are so many mods right now that are still being developed like this one called Dangerous to Go Alone that is aiming to add new dungeons and items. Besides that I absolutely love Second Wind and have contributed a few of the models for the new areas like the Abandoned mines and the Dream World, a little biased i guess.
Torphedo: I love ZoeyEule’s projects, she’s great at animation scripting, custom items, and AI. She’s made custom enemies, some prototype dungeons, a working gun (with the help of an animator named Naomiii), and new magic spells. Her main project is called Dangerous to Go Alone, as JaySkilling mentioned. I also love Waikuteru’s work, because he’s practically a wizard with quests and event scripting. His randomizer is an absolute marvel.
Do you think the community is getting more ambitious with these projects?
ShadowMarth-JTW: Yes, without a doubt. I can for sure say that these projects that are popping up are continuously really cool ideas. The evolving tools that we are now gaining access to goes miles in this department.
Greenlord: I think it’s really tied to the knowledge, resources, and tools available to modders. Relics seems to be in its prime right now, but that’s because it really started years ago when knowledge and tools around map editing were new. There’s been no shortage of ambitious ideas in the community, only a shortage of the means to achieve them until recently.
TheLegendOfSam: I wouldn’t say the community is getting more ambitious, so much as it is getting the resources to realize its ambitions. Recent developments have made larger-scale projects possible and now-common tools make it so almost anyone can make their own personal mods.
Torphedo: Absolutely. As the community in general better understands the game, we’re able to make increasingly more complex mods. Case in point, Waikuteru made a randomizer using just the tools available in the game engine.
Relics of the Past has been a huge success online, with tons of streamers and YouTubers playing it for their fans. How does it feel seeing your project succeed this much?
ShadowMarth-JTW: Genuinely, I’m still trying to get used to it. Not once did I ever think Relics would be this successful. It’s true validation for me personally that the work I do is worth it.
Quantum: It feels like watching a child grow up, in a sense. It’s amazing seeing how many people play the mod, not just on stream.
Samuel: I love it. Seeing how people react to new challenges and enemies gives me joy. Especially after seeing reactions to enemies I’ve created (not modeled but designed).
Kirby: It’s a really weird feeling for people to see things I’ve created, and liked them and wondered who did it. It’s weird enough and foreign enough to me that my instinctive reaction is to pretend I had nothing to do with it, deny any contribution, say it’s not even that good, or say it wasn’t even me entirely, and all I did was some “minor” contribution.
Do you have any future modding plans for when the game is finished?
ShadowMarth-JTW: Uhm, well, Im interested in modding Breath of the Wild 2 but, I don’t know about having a big project for it because I am also looking to get into content creation
Could BoTW 2 get its own Relics of the Past?
TheLegendOfSam: If I ever get a better computer that allows me to overworld edit, I want to take the Hyrule Rebuild Attempt and do something similar. Since I’m not sure what direction that project is taking, I am leery of saying too much. Of course, depending on how the sequel to Breath of the Wild goes, that may change because I also like making things fit with established continuity and I may need to adapt my ideas accordingly.
JaySkilling: I’m a very new modder in the community just passing a year here so i can’t wait to be modding botw and botw2 for a long time as well as putting out some of my own projects!
Torphedo: I want to make a mod to pet the dogs. I know how to make the animation and play it, but had trouble triggering it. I know how to fix it now, but I can’t use my PC so I can’t finish and publish the mod 🙁
Finally, what advice would you give someone getting started in Breath of the Wild modding and why?
ShadowMarth-JTW: Be ready for tons of trial and error. Be patient and open minded. With modding it can be very frustrating to try and fix any bugs. There will be instances where some bugs will quite literally have you question your own experience and capabilities. Pushing past these and figuring it out will ultimately make you better on multiple levels
Greenlord: Annoy people and ask questions until you know everything they know. Then try to answer as many questions as you get. Also check out the wiki!
Samuel: I do not mod games myself but i think it’s good to stay focused on what you love. If you’re stuck, ask for help. Or watch tutorials. There’s no shame in getting help as long as it helps you. And of course, check out the wiki.
TheLegendOfSam: Check out the wiki and the discord server and any other community resources or individuals you can find. And ask questions! Lots of questions! Repeat the same questions until you remember the answer and can message someone saying, “I was going to ask how to do this, but then I remembered.” Also pay it forward, keep an eye out for tools and guides and resources, and thank all those who’ve helped you along the way. BotW I mean, btw, thanks, Marth! Oh yeah there’s a why at the end of that question. Why? Because that’s the best way to learn and getting out of your shell to ask for help can have many other benefits than just learning how to mod.
Torphedo: Find something vaguely similar to what you want to do, then tinker with their mod. Using other people’s work as a starting point will speed up the development process, and you
don’t need to understand everything before getting started. In my experience, tinkering is the fastest and most fun way to make a mod.
Yeah, isn’t that the truth Torphedo? As someone who’s worked on a few mods myself, I usually learnt a lot more about programming after trying out different things too.
And that brings up an interesting point about game design too.
Namely… planning everything out too much can be completely counter productive. By thinking too hard about everything you want to include, you leave no room to try out new stuff and learn on a more piecemeal basis.
Game design and development is a learning process, and there’s no better way to take advantage of that than to see what you can learn, and build your levels and games around those findings. Start small, work your way up to bigger stuff as you gain more experience. Rinse and repeat.
Either way, thanks for the interview guys! Your work on Relics of the Past is amazing, and we’re super excited to see what kind of crazy stuff gets added to the mod in future as well.
However, what do you readers think? Are you guys fans of Relics of the Past? What do you hope they add in future versions of the mod?
Tell us your thoughts on the matter (as well as the interview and game as a whole) in the comments below, on social media or on our Discord server today!