Okay, on paper i've mapped out the whole game. I can see the image in my head and now its down to mapping it in Solarus. I've done all the icons and game logos and gathered all the necessary resources (NPC charsets, music, etc)
I've divided up the maps into West Hyrule, East Hyrule, Death Mountain and Maze Island. Each 'screen' is 1024x1024 and there are 15 sections for West and East Hyrule. 6 for Death Mountain and Maze Island. I'll be tweaking things to work a little better with Zelda as a series and tie things up a bit better in general.
For those that don't know, the official story is:
Several years after the events of The Legend of Zelda, the now-sixteen-year-old Link notices a strange mark on the back of his left hand, exactly like the crest of Hyrule. He seeks out Impa, who responds by taking Link to the North Castle, where a door has been magically sealed for generations. Impa places the back of Link's left hand on the door, and it opens, revealing a sleeping maiden. Impa tells Link that the maiden is Zelda (not the Zelda from the first game), the princess of Hyrule from long ago, and the origin of the "Legend of Zelda". Zelda's brother had tried to force her into telling their recently deceased father's secrets concerning the last of three sacred golden triangle treasures of his kingdom, known collectively as the Triforce. Princess Zelda refused to reveal its location, and the prince's wizard friend, in anger, tried to strike her down with a spell. Zelda fell under a powerful sleeping spell, but the wizard was unable to control the wildly arcing magic and was killed by it. The prince, filled with remorse and unable to reverse the spell, had his sister placed in the castle tower, in the hope that she would one day be awakened. He decreed that princesses born to the royal family from that point on would be named Zelda, in remembrance of this tragedy.
Impa says that the mark on Link's hand means that he is the hero chosen to awaken Zelda. She gives Link a chest containing six crystals and ancient writings that only a great future king of Hyrule can read. Link finds that he can read the document, even though he has never seen the language before; it indicates that the crystals must be set into statues within six palaces scattered all over Hyrule. This will open the way to the Great Palace, which contains the Triforce of Courage. Only the power of the combined Triforces can awaken the enchanted Zelda. Taking the crystals, Link sets out to restore them to their palaces. Meanwhile, the followers of Ganon are seeking to kill Link, as sprinkling his blood on Ganon’s ashes will bring Ganon back to life.
Ultimately, Link restores the crystals to the six palaces, defeating a strong guardian within each one to do so, and enters the Great Palace. After venturing deep inside, Link must battle a flying creature known as Thunderbird, followed by a shadowy doppelgänger of himself known as Dark Link. Link then claims the Triforce of Courage and returns to Zelda. The three triangles unite into the collective Triforce, and Link's wish awakens Zelda. The game ends as they (presumably) kiss under a falling curtain.So I was thinking maybe omit the part about it being a different Zelda (because that's stupid) but I could add an intro to the game, maybe add the Prince (who looks like this -
https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/zelda/images/9/90/Prince_of_Hyrule.png/revision/latest?cb=20090927233717 ) and Impa (who looks like this -
https://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/zelda/images/b/b8/Sleeping_Zelda.png/revision/latest?cb=20091012015619 ) with appropriate dialogue regarding the mistake the Prince made, the tragedy that happened and the intent to name all future princesses 'Zelda'.
I could also alter the story that the 'Wizard friend' was actually Agahnim/Shadow of Ganon controlling the Prince for intel on the Triforce and instead of dying, he gets what he wants and rushes off to the Great Palace where he later transforms into Shadow Link and attacks you. Maybe I can make the Shadow of Ganon attempt to control Link the way he did the Prince but have Link resist forcing the Shadow into a mirror where he breaks free as Shadow Link. I feel that would link the game to Zelda 1 and LttP and the series in general. Seeing as Zelda 2 is the end of a potential timeline with no subsequent sequels, I could probably take a few liberties story-wise for the sake of clarity and continuity. Maybe I could mention that the blood of the Hero can be spread over Ganon's ashes to resurrect him too. Alternatively I could have the Prince at his fathers grave (King's Tomb) and have him do the Aghanim reveal there and just have Impa in the beginning explaining the back story and what Link should be doing as opposed to just being plonked in front of Zelda randomly.
I'll cut out most of the spells and sword techniques and replace them with interchangeable items and stuff. I'll be removing the regular jump (obviously) and maybe instead replace it with a Roc's Feather item later so there are still pitfalls. Maybe replace the Jump Spell with Hookshot instead. Rather then the Fireball Spell, i'll probably just have the Bow. Maybe even get the Bow earlier and later instead of the Fireball Spell, get the Fire Arrows. Instead of the Reflect Spell I can just have the Mirror Shield. I can keep the Hammer but use it AND Bombs for large boulders, small barriers and walls. Rather then the Shield Spell I can have the red and blue tunics later in the game. Rather then sword techniques I can add the blade beam, spinning technique, extra swords, extra shields, etc I might keep the Fairy Spell and make it an item instead and have it work similar to the Magic Cape. I'd like to have medallions like A Link to the Past but i'd want them to be different and named after the Goddesses themselves.
I dunno, as it is currently i'm mapping the game for now but I have a lot of ideas for mechanics and to make things work in a top down perspective rather then the old side scrolling style. Any help would be appreciated. I'm not much of a sprite artist. I guess I could do that sort of thing if I had to but i'd rather the game have polish. This project could be a big one for Solarus when completed
