My New Zelda Idea.

[dmax3901]

Right so I'm obviously new to this forum, I've often visited thehylia.com to check up on news (especially when WW and TP were being hyped beyond belief) but never have I actually registered or posted.

The other day I was thinking about where the new Wii Zelda coul take us and my mind conjured up a concept I at the time thought was quite interesting. You may think it's terrible, fair enough, but for some bizarre reason I have a strong desire to share it with others in the Zelda community.

So here's the idea:

- The game is set in the Sky. A similar sort of scenario to Wind Waker, an epic area with isolated plots of land dotted amongst the world map.

- The art direction is an issue that is really puzzling me. I honestly have no idea what Nintendo will come up with here, I really hope they show something at E3. For my idea however, I guess I envision a WW style, but much darker. That could well be not possible with cel-shaded graphics, but who knows.

- Link can traverse the sky using a certain flying device. This could be some kind of Zelda-esque machinery or some magical object that gives him special powers or even wings. (a complete transformation into a bird would be too much like TP I'm sure you'll agree)

- The different areas (islands) could be held up once again by the handy powers of magic/machinery. One could even be a giant flying creature with a town/dungeon on its back.

- The significant item e.g. the equivalent of the Ocarina/Masks/Wind Waker, will change the weather. Weather types could include Storms with heavy rain and lightning, Snow and of course the harsh sun.

- One scenario I came up with was that in order to access a heavily guarded area, Link must conjure up a storm before attempting to fly into the enemies stronghold, so he isn't spotted by the patrols.

- It's easy to think of puzzles that could be solved using rain, heat from the sun, strong winds, lightning/thunder, melting/freezing etc. Perhaps Link could even have control over the seasons? Some characters only in appear in Spring and so forth.

That's about all I came up with, I'll probably remember more as soon as I post but ah well.

Tell me what you think. :D

[hisak]

I really like this idea. It sounds like a mix of TWW's overworld and MP3Corruption's SkyTown. There would probably be some dissent, especially considering how poorly received TP's City in the Sky was, but I think it could work. There's also the whole "Zelda shouldn't be futuristic" group, but I don't really have a probably with slight advances like this.

- Link can traverse the sky using a certain flying device. This could be some kind of Zelda-esque machinery or some magical object that gives him special powers or even wings. (a complete transformation into a bird would be too much like TP I'm sure you'll agree)

I think that a Kargorok would work fine for this, just as it did in TP. As long as they could find a good control scheme, it could also provide for some pretty engaging battle scenarios.

- The significant item e.g. the equivalent of the Ocarina/Masks/Wind Waker, will change the weather. Weather types could include Storms with heavy rain and lightning, Snow and of course the harsh sun.

I like this too, but they could run the risk of making it too similar to Oracle of Seasons. Then again, they could use it to influence dungeons, which could lead to some really interesting puzzles and dungeon designs.

The more I think about it, the more I like it, and it actually seems like something that Nintendo could end up doing. Will they do it? Probably not. but it's still a great idea.

[Ghost]

Flying is amazing, so having a whole game about that would be great. I thought that TP could have done its flying better, but it was still fun. It would be great to just be able to launch yourself into the air and fly around, and especially for the combat.

The only problem I have with your idea is that I think it should be TP-esque graphics, but otherwise I think it's a great idea.

You could also have storms to block certain islands off until you get better flying things or can manipulate the weather.

If you bring in a game in the sky, then the rito are a must. I love those guys, even if they are just a bunch of mailmen, but a skyworld is perfect for them.

[hisak]

The only problem I have with your idea is that I think it should be TP-esque graphics, but otherwise I think it's a great idea.

TP-esque graphics could work, as long as they make the surroundings more appealing to the eye than they were with City in the Sky.

You could also have storms to block certain islands off until you get better flying things or can manipulate the weather.

This would make sense but would unfortunately give another excuse to limit exploration. It would still be an improvement from TP, however.

A definite yes to the Rito. I hadn't even thought of them.

[Ghost]

A definite yes to the Rito. I hadn't even thought of them.

I notice the little guys.

TP-esque graphics could work, as long as they make the surroundings more appealing to the eye than they were with City in the Sky.

Do you hate TP or just the Sky City? But yeah, that place was trash. The Oocca couldn't really talk and it didn't even feel like a city.

[hisak]

I don't hate TP; in fact, it's one of my favorite Gamecube games. But City in the Sky wasn't very appealing to the eye and could have been much, much better.

[Be_yourself]

I kinda like the idea, but

-how do we believably get a world in the sky?

-how would flying be that different from sailing? it would seperate all the land masses, which in my mind was quite annoying in TWW, and unessisary.

i do like the idea of season changing, i think it is a fantastic versitile idea for a Zelda game that would allow much more depth in all facets of gameplay, main quest and sidequests or just simple exploration...

[River Devil]

Interesting concepts.  And brainstorming about the next Zelda game is always fun!

Being in the sky is a pretty neat idea, but I don't think it would fly (see what I did there?).  I'm not knocking your idea, but one of the complaints WW usually receives it that it involved too much sailing.  The ocean is pretty spacious with not a whole lot going on, and the sky isn't too much different.  Whereas land has forests, deserts, jungles, mountains, caves, arctic regions, etc., to give your travels much variety.  I could foresee people saying "There too much flying involved".

I wouldn't be one of those people though.  I actually like the sailing in WW.  It made you appreciate just how vast the world was.

I think I would also enjoy an adventure in the sky.  In Celestia in TP, I actually went through most of the temple convinced that the temple item would be some sort of wings that would basically turn Link into Pit from Kid Icarus.

In this "sky" adventure, you can have all sorts of fun with atmospheric conditions (as you stated).  Not just storms, but different types of clouds, wind patterns, pressure zones, etc.  It would also be neat for one temple or area to be a mountain so tall that its tip pokes through the clouds.

[hisak]

I don't think that the land masses would necessarily have to be that far apart. It wouldn't be any more unrealistic to have floating cities and dungeons close to each other than it would be to have them far apart.

[River Devil]

I don't think that the land masses would necessarily have to be that far apart. It wouldn't be any more unrealistic to have floating cities and dungeons close to each other than it would be to have them far apart.

I agree.  It shouldn't have a "1 per grid quadrant" distribution like WW did.  It kind of ruins the whole "exploring" thing when you know there's only 1 thing to find in the area.

[hisak]

I actually would prefer it if there weren't any quadrants/sectors at all. I mean, I don't want the overworld to become overcrowded, but there's better ways of dealing with space and loading issues.

[dmax3901]

I personally enjoyed the sailing in WW, as you said it made the amount of space feel epic. The only thing WW lacked was populated islands like windfall.

Imagine a windfall sized city on a floating rock, with wooden paths everywhere, except when you look down its not ocean, but empty air... would be epic :D

[hisak]

I agree that TWW needed more busy village islands (although Windfall was great), and if (a huge, but possible, if) this happens, there needs to be quite a few of them.

Whereas land has forests, deserts, jungles, mountains, caves, arctic regions, etc., to give your travels much variety.

I get why people want more variety, but we've already seen a lot of these in Zelda games. I'm not saying that the established locales are bad, but some new and completely original ideas would be wonderful. I would have enough trust to believe that they would keep it from becoming monotonous.

[Be_yourself]

what extra locales would the sky add that couldn't be added on the ground?

there are plenty more interpretations of the forests, beaches, and mountains etc. etc. that could be made, i don't think we have seen any of them developed as much as they could be.

[dmax3901]

what extra locales would the sky add that couldn't be added on the ground?

Here's a list of random ideas:

-There could be one area right near space, on the edge of the atmosphere, possible low-gravity gameplay?

-Could be an area on the back of a giant flying creature (eagle, dragon)

-Could be towns on zeppelins or other flying platforms.

-There could be temples based on these themes: clouds, lightning/thunder, rain, snow (not quite as original this one)

[Be_yourself]

what extra locales would the sky add that couldn't be added on the ground?

Here's a list of random ideas:

-There could be one area right near space, on the edge of the atmosphere, possible low-gravity gameplay?

-Could be an area on the back of a giant flying creature (eagle, dragon)

-Could be towns on zeppelins or other flying platforms.

-There could be temples based on these themes: clouds, lightning/thunder, rain, snow (not quite as original this one)

Well, the themes could be on the ground, in the air, or anywhere(oooh rhymes)

I'll give you the top two, but the towns, well, how would having the towns fly on zepplins be anny different from normal towns, other then aesthetics?

I think with this flying idea, i wouldn't mind say an area of the game that was set skywards, say part of the overworld, reached by say climbing a mountain could reach an aerial village and environment topped off with a level but as the basis for a whole game i think it doesn;t really have enough possibilities, i like my feet on the ground...

[dmax3901]

I think with this flying idea, i wouldn't mind say an area of the game that was set skywards, say part of the overworld, reached by say climbing a mountain could reach an aerial village and environment topped off with a level but as the basis for a whole game i think it doesn;t really have enough possibilities, i like my feet on the ground...

Fair enough, I'd be happy if it consisted of just part of the game as long as it didn't feel rushed.

[hisak]

what extra locales would the sky add that couldn't be added on the ground?

Honestly, I think the Zelda team deserves our trust when it comes to this. The locales in TWW were wonderfully varied, and very few of them could have been done with a Hyrule-esque overworld. You could also explore underneath these towns/dungeons, similar to Pianta Village in Super Mario Sunshine (except with better execution).

[ashwinder]

Interesting concept. It would have to be properly executed so as not to be gimmicky also there would probably need to be a good reason for why everything had somehow taken to the sky. Also if everything is in the sky... what's beneath the sky or is it just endless sky?

[Be_yourself]

what extra locales would the sky add that couldn't be added on the ground?

Honestly, I think the Zelda team deserves our trust when it comes to this. The locales in TWW were wonderfully varied, and very few of them could have been done with a Hyrule-esque overworld. You could also explore underneath these towns/dungeons, similar to Pianta Village in Super Mario Sunshine (except with better execution).

Never played sunshine...please explain...

I'm not sure i would agree TWW's areas were wonderfully varied either, don't get me wrong, i liked them, but each area was so fleeting that it wasn't really substantial enough, it was usually an island with one puzzle/activity on it, most of them were generic "islands" we had a fire, and an ice island, then the only other substantial islands were windfall(a town), Dragon roost(tropical volcano), deku island(a green forest) and outset(tropical village).  Besides the tropics all of these could have been done on a land based game, set in hyrule, i even think if they added a sea side to hyrule they could do the tropics fine...