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Zelda Classic is a fan-made, freely downloadable computer game program based on the NES console game The Legend of Zelda. It began in 1999 as a DOS clone of the Original Legend of Zelda, which came out for the NES in 1986. It is more than the original however, in that it also includes a program called ZQuest, which is used to edit game files to create entirely new games, commonly called "quests" In addition to the two "quests" that were included in the Original Legend of Zelda, Zelda Classic includes an "official" third quest. The third quest is opened after the first two quests are completed and is more difficult than the second quest. The third quest was not designed by Zelda Classic's programmers. Instead, it was the result of a quest design contest. The contest had several rules that required entrants to submit quests with a similar look and feel to the original two quests. The winning entry was submitted by Alphadawg, who also created the "official" ZQuest tutorial. The game has since grown into a capable game editor and engine. There are many custom quests created by other users that one can download and open in Zelda Classic to play them. Quests released to the public may be password protected by the author to prevent others from editing them. The features of ZQuest have grown so much since its creation that it is easily possible to create a quest that looks entirely unlike Zelda. For example, there are several graphics packs for the program that allow a change in the style of graphics in any quest you create, or you can make your own graphics set (though you were once limited only to 8-bit color, but now you can have 256 colors per blocks of 16x16 pixels). And although the game is still bound by the basic movement system as the original, many new items, enemies, and object types are available, as well as custom background music and animation. The most recent stable release is version 2.10, which runs on Windows. Ports for Linux, Mac OS X and the GP2X handheld are also currently in the making, due for release with the next version, 2.11. New features in 1.92 include transparent layers and increased tile and map space, making Zelda Classic (and particularly the ZQuest editor) more complex and versatile. Version 2.10 includes an updated GUI for the ZQuest editor based on the Windows 98 and 2000 operating systems' interface, as opposed to the DOS-based interface that had been used up to then. The next version, 2.11, looks to expand on this even more with the ability to create and use larger sprites, use 256 colors for graphics, and many more new features. Zelda Classic is currently on good terms with Nintendo, the official owner of the Zelda franchise. Zelda Classic utilizes the Allegro library.
Contributors Phantom Menace - The original programmer of Zelda Classic, who had programmed several smaller DOS games and had toyed with the idea of cloning LoZ for years. His first attempt in 1993 using GWBASIC was abandoned because of technical limitations. Was inspired to take up the challenge again in 1999 after seeing a Zelda clone demo by War Lord. Stopped working on the game after version 1.84 in mid 2000. War Lord - Webmaster and head administrator of Armageddon Games, the site that hosts Zelda Classic. Also helped with the reproduction of the first and second quests. Nutz4Linux - Administrator of Armageddon Games during its early days. Attempted a Windows port of Zelda Classic, but failed. Repton - Developer at Armageddon Games for a short time. Helped with porting to Windows. fatcatfan - Assistant programmer of Zelda Classic. Also develops third party programs. jman2050 - Newer programmer. Has added many features in the short amount of time that he has been on the team, and shows much promise. Ganonator - Added to the team, but never assisted in development. Some suggest that he was very unfamiliar with the code and didn't have the proper background, but his true reason for leaving was to create a MMORTS codenamed "Project Seven" behind closed doors for Armageddon Games. Koopa - Koopa has been a newer developer of Zelda Classic. As well as de-bugging and programming, he hopes to release an official tutorial for the upcoming version of ZQuest, version 2.50. Takuya - Takuya was added to the team in June of 2006, and is responsible for checking build status on Mac OS X, as well as releasing bug fixes and general coding. Tygore - Current webmaster of www.zeldaclassic.com Alphadawg - Creator of the official third quest and the official ZQuest tutorial. | ||||||||
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