Memories of Hyrule

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Memories of Hyrule is a Zelda fan game that I have been developing for the past few years. My goal is to fully recreate the original NES game, The Legend of Zelda in the style of it's SNES sequel A Link to the Past.

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History

The Memories of Hyrule project began in Fall of 2003, during my sophomore year of college. I was interested in starting a fairly large game development project. I knew that trying to do a 3D game would be way too large and ambitious for one person without much game development experience, so I immediately knew that whatever I did, it was going to be 2D. But what kind of game would I make?

I first toyed with the idea of developing a classic-style RPG in the likeness of games such as Dragon Quest, Lunar, or Phantasy Star. The only problem was, I had no ideas for a story. I didn't want to write a story, I just wanted to program! This is what first sparked the idea of remaking a game rather than developing something entirely new. If I was going to remake a game, I knew it would have to be one that I already knew inside and out, so choosing a Zelda game was an obvious choice for me. Initially, however, I did not intend to recreate the original Legend of Zelda. Instead I had planned on recreating Zelda II: The Adventure of Link.

I'm not exactly sure what happened next, but somehow I shifted from Zelda II to the original Zelda. Then, after a few months of experimenting with different languages and tools, I finally settled on C++ and the ClanLib SDK. Since then, I've been working on the project on and off depending on my schedule. Even though I don't have any specific release date in mind, I'm still determined to one day finish this project.

Design

In designing Memories of Hyrule, I have three main goals in mind.

Recreate EVERYTHING from the original game.
This means that every character, enemy, item, level, and feature from The Legend of Zelda must be present and expanded upon in Memories of Hyrule. Naturally, because I'm remaking a game, I have to include everything that was in the original. In doing this, I am also making great strides to expand on absolutely everything in the game that I can. This means that in addition to improved graphics and sound, you can expect things like new abilities, larger and more interactive environments, added dialogue, and improved enemy AI.

Remain true to the look and feel of A Link to the Past while simultaneously taking advantage of the new hardware.
As stated previously, Memories of Hyrule is being created in the graphical style of it's SNES sequel, A Link to the Past. All of the graphics in the game either came directly from A Link to the Past, or they were custom made in the same style. However, the game is being developed for modern PCs and should take advantage of the hardware's capabilities. It should do this while still maintaining the feeling of a classic game.

To maintain this balance, I am only taking advantage of the hardware in ways that are not blatantly obvious to the player. For example, the sheer size of the game is much larger because it is not limited to the size of a cart. Many more enemies and objects can now fit on the screen without the game slowing down. Some small lighting and weather effects can now be applied. As long as they are not overly used, the game will retain it's classic look and feel.

Make the players remember why they loved the original games.
This is quite possibly the most important design goal, as the game's title itself revolves around this very concept. Throughout the entire game, I want the players to essentially relive the experiences they had when they first played the original Zelda games. I want them to be filled with a constant sense of nostalgia.

To achieve this, I am trying to fill the game with things that the players will recognize from the first three games without altering the overall design of The Legend of Zelda. For example, the player may enter a new level and be greeted by the Palace Theme from Zelda II, or they might find the entrance to Level 5 and notice that it bears a striking resemblance to the Eastern Palace in A Link to the Past. If I can achieve this goal, I will consider the game a success. I realize this is a bathetic idea, but I personally believe that video games are a legitimate art form and the creation of one should be treated as such.

Screenshots

Level 5 Entrance

Desert

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