We are currently working on prototyping the implementation of voice-acting into all dialogue. Although this differs from the original Zelda game, with the new technology available to us due to Minecraft updates we want to work with this technology to see if it will heighten the effect of the game. The accents would therefore be localised around Great Britain, and narrated in a particular manner.
Let us know what you think: will voice-acting improve the playing experience, or is it better to leave some things to the imagination? Could you bare Ganondorf sounding different to how you imagined? Would an extra 30MB of audio clips put you off downloading the resource pack, or have no effect at all?
We need your feedback! This will be a mammoth task for us to take on if we choose to go ahead with it, so we want to make sure we're making the right decision before we do the heavy work.
Thanks community!
Mental Block Gaming
That just sounds bloody awesome! I would love that!
I've always wanted to voice act. And would love to do some voices. Although I'm American, don't know if that's a problem..
If enough volunteers come forward so that we could localise an area around America, then it's certainly a possibility. The difficulty with working long distance is that we won't be able to record it in our studio so the quality wouldn't be in line with the rest of the recordings, the accent would be American which requires an entire area to be American (and to make sense to be that way), and we can't promise that every applicant will have their clips featured in the final game; however, I am still open to the idea. I'll let you know how things progress - makes of my week will be dedicated to developing NPC dialogue, so I should have an answer relatively soon.
What do you say? Any budding voice actors out there?
If enough volunteers come forward so that we could localise an area around America, then it's certainly a possibility. The difficulty with working long distance is that we won't be able to record it in our studio so the quality wouldn't be in line with the rest of the recordings, the accent would be American which requires an entire area to be American (and to make sense to be that way), and we can't promise that every applicant will have their clips featured in the final game; however, I am still open to the idea. I'll let you know how things progress - makes of my week will be dedicated to developing NPC dialogue, so I should have an answer relatively soon.
What do you say? Any budding voice actors out there?
Apologies for the long quiet stretch! The pair of us have been busy with exams and training courses over the past couple of weeks, but hopefully things will settle down again for a little while now.
We've not been able to update you guys with very much lately because we've been working on developing the lore of the world and tying in Link's adventure with that of the three protagonists from Templars of Hyrule. We aren't able to share NPC dialogue in the same way that we show screenshots since it can spoil the rewards that comes with talking to NPCs, such as uncovering the hidden lore of Hyrule and embarking on several optional side-quests. I'll share one example with you folks, just to prove we've been working hard!
Mr. Phil Anjeez is a skeletal minion working in Dodongo's Cavern under the rule of the new king. Although he never had a special relationship to King Dodongo I, he finds King Dodongo II insufferable and is so fed up of organizing the coronation banquet invitations that he resorts to asking his foes for help.
Mr. Anjeez: And then she can come… But then they won’t attend! Oh, blast this godforsaken party! Huh? Who are you? Not more bloomin’ party guests I hope! I’m having enough trouble with that as it is. Yes, believe it or not we’re having a party in this infernal pit. Not my first choice of venue, but how on earth am I supposed to find somewhere grandiose at such short notice? King Dodongo II decided he would throw some coronation party following the death of our former ruler last week. From what I heard, some green-hoodied hooligan raided our cavern and bumped off old ‘Dongo without a shred of mercy. Boy, have I got a bone to pick with this new guy, though… I don’t even know where to start! He’s a nightmare! He spent the entire year’s budget on some wretched machine – a green head that shoots explosives, of all things – and is obsessed with refurbishing the cavern, as evidenced by yesterday’s “Health and Safety Briefing.” Din, give me strength… And now I’m in charge of inviting the party guests – only he has umpteen rules and regulations and I’m sick to the back teeth of it! “Oh it’s fine, Phil’ll sort it!” And now here I am, slaving away because of his stupid requirements. Tell you what – four skulls are better than one, right? Help me figure this out and I’ll let you upstairs to the King’s royal stash. That’s if there even is a solution to this bloomin’ thing…
In addition to creating characters and their dialogue, we are also littering the world with small Easter eggs. There are a myriad of novels to be collected throughout Hyrule, among which The Goron, the Witch and the Wallmaster and Zora the Explorer are definitely my favourites. (In fact, if anybody has some inspired novel title that they wish to share with us, please do! Chances are we'll put it in the game.)
What's more, the resource pack is getting nicely fleshed out now, and nearing completion (with the exception of the voice-acting clips). Here's a screenshot of some example items that feature in the game. Around 35 custom items have been added to the game.
We hope that's enough to satiate your interest for now! A rework of the very, very beginning of the game has meant that not much progress has been made on the Shadow Temple, but rest assured it is around 85% complete.
tl;dr Shadow temple 90% Ganon's Castle 50% Under the Well 25% We need testers! Website nearly ready Voiceovers on hold Pics coming tomorrow
Good news!
We've been working really hard this week to pump out some new content in terms of puzzles and dungeons, seeing as we'd recently spent so much time working on post-production tasks and small aesthetic improvements. The Shadow Temple is now 90% complete and makes for a smooth, streamlined and cohesive experience instead of just showcasing a series of unrelated puzzles. Snapshots to follow! The only thing missing is Bongo Bongo. We're working on a new command that's coming in the next Minecraft update involving the Lens of Truth, so until then Bongo Bongo is just going to have to be a little patient. For now, here's a teaser picture of the Shadow Temple until the full pic post tomorrow.
In other news, Ganon's Castle has been a big focus for this week. The Spirit Barrier, Water Barrier and Shadow Barrier have all been designed, leaving just the Fire Barrier to be conceived. The Water Barrier and Shadow Barrier were finished off today, although the Spirit Barrier remains unconstructed. I would estimate that the barriers are 75% done, and the whole of Ganon's is probably around 50% complete. (I'm sure those boss battles will prove to be challenging...) Furthermore, plans have been put in place for Under the Well, so I'm going to call that around 25% complete too.
As is becoming clear, the end is in sight! If premade groups of three are willing to help us test the game, please get in touch. We're looking at doing 4-5 hosted full runs to clear out all the bugs before we release the first version of the map.
Outside of working on the map, Mental Block Gaming's website is looking great and is nearly ready for launch. There are just a few small changes to make and then we can hit the web! Once it's ready for the viewing public, we'll post a link here for you guys.
We've already started recording a few voiceovers, but given the sheer volume of speech we may put that on hold and release it as a feature at a later date, instead prioritising the completion of the game. Would people be dissuaded from downloading a Resource Pack of around 100MB? We feel that the base Resource Pack with the Zelda sounds and custom items is core to the experience, but none of the story is detracted from if we don't included the VOs. Give us your opinion. Maybe you'll change our minds.
We're very proud of our newest addition to the world, the Shadow Temple. Here are some sights you may recognise and some others you may not. Due to the puzzle-based nature of correctly using the Lens of Truth, we will need to keep a close eye on this temple to make sure it's the right difficulty for players.
Note that the Spirit Barrier has now been constructed too, leaving only the Fire Barrier. Just to put things in context, here's an updated infographic to show how far along we are in the map-making process. We're getting to the final stretch now!
Hylifax Bank is a hub of commerce for all the Hylians. Deposits, withdrawals, opening accounts, and making payments are all in a day's work for sisters Rosy and Raelyn who run the place. Rosy is a lovely, calm, courteous and beautiful young woman. Everyone who comes to the bank loves to be served by her. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for Raelyn. Rude, rash and ignorant are some of the words disgruntled customers mutter under their breath after being served by the lesser of the two sisters.
At Mental Block Gaming we like to flesh out characters, giving them a backstory, hopes, dreams, fears, motivations, friends and enemies. Our game is about more than just the gameplay - we want to enhance the virtual world by filling it with a diverse range of compelling and amusing characters. The game currently boasts more than 40 carefully crafted NPCs for you to interact with. When the game is finally released, feel free to get chatting! You might learn a thing or two.
Looks AMAZING! Can't wait to play it and hope it finishes soon. Never got around to finishing the game (still stuck on the first part of the forest temple) so for me I can actually play it when i know the controls very well *voice starts going down at I*.
Glad you're excited! We're looking forward to getting the map ready for you too.
When we started creating this project, horses hadn't actually yet been released in Minecraft. As such, Epona doesn't fit the scale of our map and we would have to redesign older areas to accommodate. Lon Lon Ranch is located right in the centre of Hyrule Field. We decided to reduce Hyrule Field in size because wandering around acres of grass blocks wasn't deemed very interesting, so instead it just serves as a small hub between different towns of Hyrule. This is why we decided to keep Lon Lon Ranch out of the game. Very observant of you to notice, though.
The barriers of the six sacred sages have been added to the world. Each of the barriers represents one of the temples from Link's future world, with the addition of the Light Barrier. They all feature a puzzle from their respective temples, but with an added twist.
All that remains to be completed in the castle is the final boss battle with Ganondorf himself (and of course tying up the loose ends with the narrative).
Due to the popularity of Mental Block Gaming's work so far, we've decided to launch our very own website! There you can keep up to date with our latest work and also browse through all the maps we've made so far. If you have any suggestions or feedback, or if you find an error on the page please let us know either by PM or via the website's 'Contact Us' function. Happy gaming!
I haven't checked on this in sometime, but it seems like you have been hard at work. I cannot wait to be able to play this. I think I might need to start getting some of my friends together to get ready to play this map and do a Let's Play on it.
Seeing the work on Ganon's Castle...all I can say is bravo. That is purely amazing.
Thanks for your kind comments! They're always much appreciated.
Mental Block Gaming is making the most of the Easter break! Half of it will be spent relaxing and the other half will be spent working hard to get our final product polished and ready for you guys. We're really hoping to have something tangible by the end of April so that we can start beta testing in preparation for the game's release.
As we're tying up loose ends now, the end and the beginning are starting to take shape. Here is the dialogue that greets you at the very start of the game. What do you guys think?
Rauru: My name is Rauru, the Sage of Light. The three golden goddesses have summoned you here because our world is in grave danger. A great evil is yet to befall the land. The Hero of Time has been tasked with saving Hyrule, but he cannot do it alone. This is where you three come in.
The road is too perilous to walk alone. Each of you have been specifically chosen by the golden goddesses to represent the Gorons, the Zoras and the Kokiri. You will need to rely on each other’s power, wisdom and courage to complete your quest and eventually restore peace to Hyrule.
Do not stray too far from one another, for danger lurks around every corner. You never know when you will require one another’s assistance.
These are dark times. The Hero of Time is currently in a seven year slumber under my supervision so he can safely mature into the saviour Hyrule needs. But the Dark Lord has corrupted the Temple of Time. Unless the Door of Time is opened, our hero will never be able to leave. Once he opened the door, the power of the three great Spiritual Stones was scattered throughout the land. The essence of their power still remains, but must yet be found.
Templars, this is your task. Collect the Essence of the Forest, the Essence of Fire and the Essence of Water to re-imbue the stones with their lost power, thereby opening the Door of Time.
You will now each be sent back to your tribes. From there, you must find each other and gather the essences. I am counting on you. The fate of Hyrule lies in your hands.
After the dialogue, the three heroes get transported to their starter homes. The players are allowed to decide which of the three tribes they would like to come from to add some customization to the game. These are the homes they get teleported to.
We've also been playing with the settings for music and jukeboxes to see if we can get songs to play in confined areas. With updates to command blocks in the past few updates we are now able to edit a song's volume so it reaches every corner of a given zone. Work will be spent this week implementing the soundtrack.
As promised, we've been working hard this week. 50 NPC dialogue scripts are completed. A big thank you to Scartalon5 for contributing to our team of voice actors. If anybody else would like to have a go, contact me and I'll send some more dialogue over.
It is vitally important that we find groups of playtesters as soon as possible. The map is now complete, we just need to add some final touches that will be highlighted by the testers. Alpha testing is very relaxed - we'll work in short bursts to your schedule. You don't need to worry about being able to run a server. In fact, if you're worried about getting a server set up you would probably be best doing a run with us and we'll make sure everything goes smoothly. Alpha testers will be credited.
Ganondorf's boss battle is looking intense. Photos to follow!
Here are the pictures of Ganondorf's final battle as promised. Very excited about the upcoming release.
Alpha testers are urgently required, as we can't release the map until it's been vetted for errors. If you are interested in being part of the team, please get in contact with us using the contact form at the bottom of our home page. (Groups of threes greatly preferred.) You will get to see the game early as well as be credited for your assistance.
We'll keep you posted as we progress through the next phase of development.
Just a little update with where the map is at the moment. We'll be undergoing some major testing this weekend to iron out any small bugs. If there are still other groups interested in doing alpha tests, don't hesitate to get in touch. In other news, we've estimated that the playtime of the map is around 14 hours start to finish. This is erring on the side of caution - we expect most groups to finish in a shorter time, especially those who are particularly good at puzzle-solving or already familiar with Ocarina of Time.
In the meantime, we've been putting in a few little aesthetic features like additional dialogue and tweaks to music sensitivity in certain zones. The dialogue's redstone has been challenging, but of course nothing that our chief redstone engineer can't deal with. Here's a screenshot of (half of) Sheik's redstone.
Pretty complicated, right? Fortunately Sheik's is one of the most complex ones out there, but that's not to say the others are much easier. Hopefully this will give you insight on why the map is taking so long - painstakingly setting out timers and triple-checking command blocks can be a lengthy process. Thanks for sticking with us though! We promise - it's worth the wait.
That just sounds bloody awesome! I would love that!
If enough volunteers come forward so that we could localise an area around America, then it's certainly a possibility. The difficulty with working long distance is that we won't be able to record it in our studio so the quality wouldn't be in line with the rest of the recordings, the accent would be American which requires an entire area to be American (and to make sense to be that way), and we can't promise that every applicant will have their clips featured in the final game; however, I am still open to the idea. I'll let you know how things progress - makes of my week will be dedicated to developing NPC dialogue, so I should have an answer relatively soon.
What do you say? Any budding voice actors out there?
Fair Enough.
Can't wait to play it!
We've not been able to update you guys with very much lately because we've been working on developing the lore of the world and tying in Link's adventure with that of the three protagonists from Templars of Hyrule. We aren't able to share NPC dialogue in the same way that we show screenshots since it can spoil the rewards that comes with talking to NPCs, such as uncovering the hidden lore of Hyrule and embarking on several optional side-quests. I'll share one example with you folks, just to prove we've been working hard!
Mr. Anjeez: And then she can come… But then they won’t attend! Oh, blast this godforsaken party! Huh? Who are you? Not more bloomin’ party guests I hope! I’m having enough trouble with that as it is. Yes, believe it or not we’re having a party in this infernal pit. Not my first choice of venue, but how on earth am I supposed to find somewhere grandiose at such short notice? King Dodongo II decided he would throw some coronation party following the death of our former ruler last week. From what I heard, some green-hoodied hooligan raided our cavern and bumped off old ‘Dongo without a shred of mercy. Boy, have I got a bone to pick with this new guy, though… I don’t even know where to start! He’s a nightmare! He spent the entire year’s budget on some wretched machine – a green head that shoots explosives, of all things – and is obsessed with refurbishing the cavern, as evidenced by yesterday’s “Health and Safety Briefing.” Din, give me strength… And now I’m in charge of inviting the party guests – only he has umpteen rules and regulations and I’m sick to the back teeth of it! “Oh it’s fine, Phil’ll sort it!” And now here I am, slaving away because of his stupid requirements. Tell you what – four skulls are better than one, right? Help me figure this out and I’ll let you upstairs to the King’s royal stash. That’s if there even is a solution to this bloomin’ thing…
In addition to creating characters and their dialogue, we are also littering the world with small Easter eggs. There are a myriad of novels to be collected throughout Hyrule, among which The Goron, the Witch and the Wallmaster and Zora the Explorer are definitely my favourites. (In fact, if anybody has some inspired novel title that they wish to share with us, please do! Chances are we'll put it in the game.)
What's more, the resource pack is getting nicely fleshed out now, and nearing completion (with the exception of the voice-acting clips). Here's a screenshot of some example items that feature in the game. Around 35 custom items have been added to the game.
We hope that's enough to satiate your interest for now! A rework of the very, very beginning of the game has meant that not much progress has been made on the Shadow Temple, but rest assured it is around 85% complete.
Shadow temple 90%
Ganon's Castle 50%
Under the Well 25%
We need testers!
Website nearly ready
Voiceovers on hold
Pics coming tomorrow
Good news!
We've been working really hard this week to pump out some new content in terms of puzzles and dungeons, seeing as we'd recently spent so much time working on post-production tasks and small aesthetic improvements. The Shadow Temple is now 90% complete and makes for a smooth, streamlined and cohesive experience instead of just showcasing a series of unrelated puzzles. Snapshots to follow! The only thing missing is Bongo Bongo. We're working on a new command that's coming in the next Minecraft update involving the Lens of Truth, so until then Bongo Bongo is just going to have to be a little patient. For now, here's a teaser picture of the Shadow Temple until the full pic post tomorrow.
In other news, Ganon's Castle has been a big focus for this week. The Spirit Barrier, Water Barrier and Shadow Barrier have all been designed, leaving just the Fire Barrier to be conceived. The Water Barrier and Shadow Barrier were finished off today, although the Spirit Barrier remains unconstructed. I would estimate that the barriers are 75% done, and the whole of Ganon's is probably around 50% complete. (I'm sure those boss battles will prove to be challenging...) Furthermore, plans have been put in place for Under the Well, so I'm going to call that around 25% complete too.
As is becoming clear, the end is in sight! If premade groups of three are willing to help us test the game, please get in touch. We're looking at doing 4-5 hosted full runs to clear out all the bugs before we release the first version of the map.
Outside of working on the map, Mental Block Gaming's website is looking great and is nearly ready for launch. There are just a few small changes to make and then we can hit the web! Once it's ready for the viewing public, we'll post a link here for you guys.
We've already started recording a few voiceovers, but given the sheer volume of speech we may put that on hold and release it as a feature at a later date, instead prioritising the completion of the game. Would people be dissuaded from downloading a Resource Pack of around 100MB? We feel that the base Resource Pack with the Zelda sounds and custom items is core to the experience, but none of the story is detracted from if we don't included the VOs. Give us your opinion. Maybe you'll change our minds.
As promised, snaps to follow!
Mental Block Gaming
We're very proud of our newest addition to the world, the Shadow Temple. Here are some sights you may recognise and some others you may not. Due to the puzzle-based nature of correctly using the Lens of Truth, we will need to keep a close eye on this temple to make sure it's the right difficulty for players.
Note that the Spirit Barrier has now been constructed too, leaving only the Fire Barrier. Just to put things in context, here's an updated infographic to show how far along we are in the map-making process. We're getting to the final stretch now!
Thanks for your continued interest.
Mental Block Gaming
Hylifax Bank is a hub of commerce for all the Hylians. Deposits, withdrawals, opening accounts, and making payments are all in a day's work for sisters Rosy and Raelyn who run the place. Rosy is a lovely, calm, courteous and beautiful young woman. Everyone who comes to the bank loves to be served by her. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for Raelyn. Rude, rash and ignorant are some of the words disgruntled customers mutter under their breath after being served by the lesser of the two sisters.
At Mental Block Gaming we like to flesh out characters, giving them a backstory, hopes, dreams, fears, motivations, friends and enemies. Our game is about more than just the gameplay - we want to enhance the virtual world by filling it with a diverse range of compelling and amusing characters. The game currently boasts more than 40 carefully crafted NPCs for you to interact with. When the game is finally released, feel free to get chatting! You might learn a thing or two.
When we started creating this project, horses hadn't actually yet been released in Minecraft. As such, Epona doesn't fit the scale of our map and we would have to redesign older areas to accommodate. Lon Lon Ranch is located right in the centre of Hyrule Field. We decided to reduce Hyrule Field in size because wandering around acres of grass blocks wasn't deemed very interesting, so instead it just serves as a small hub between different towns of Hyrule. This is why we decided to keep Lon Lon Ranch out of the game. Very observant of you to notice, though.
The barriers of the six sacred sages have been added to the world. Each of the barriers represents one of the temples from Link's future world, with the addition of the Light Barrier. They all feature a puzzle from their respective temples, but with an added twist.
All that remains to be completed in the castle is the final boss battle with Ganondorf himself (and of course tying up the loose ends with the narrative).
Seeing the work on Ganon's Castle...all I can say is bravo. That is purely amazing.
Mental Block Gaming is making the most of the Easter break! Half of it will be spent relaxing and the other half will be spent working hard to get our final product polished and ready for you guys. We're really hoping to have something tangible by the end of April so that we can start beta testing in preparation for the game's release.
As we're tying up loose ends now, the end and the beginning are starting to take shape. Here is the dialogue that greets you at the very start of the game. What do you guys think?
The road is too perilous to walk alone. Each of you have been specifically chosen by the golden goddesses to represent the Gorons, the Zoras and the Kokiri. You will need to rely on each other’s power, wisdom and courage to complete your quest and eventually restore peace to Hyrule.
Do not stray too far from one another, for danger lurks around every corner. You never know when you will require one another’s assistance.
These are dark times. The Hero of Time is currently in a seven year slumber under my supervision so he can safely mature into the saviour Hyrule needs. But the Dark Lord has corrupted the Temple of Time. Unless the Door of Time is opened, our hero will never be able to leave. Once he opened the door, the power of the three great Spiritual Stones was scattered throughout the land. The essence of their power still remains, but must yet be found.
Templars, this is your task. Collect the Essence of the Forest, the Essence of Fire and the Essence of Water to re-imbue the stones with their lost power, thereby opening the Door of Time.
You will now each be sent back to your tribes. From there, you must find each other and gather the essences. I am counting on you. The fate of Hyrule lies in your hands.
After the dialogue, the three heroes get transported to their starter homes. The players are allowed to decide which of the three tribes they would like to come from to add some customization to the game. These are the homes they get teleported to.
We've also been playing with the settings for music and jukeboxes to see if we can get songs to play in confined areas. With updates to command blocks in the past few updates we are now able to edit a song's volume so it reaches every corner of a given zone. Work will be spent this week implementing the soundtrack.
Stay tuned! We're so close now!
It is vitally important that we find groups of playtesters as soon as possible. The map is now complete, we just need to add some final touches that will be highlighted by the testers. Alpha testing is very relaxed - we'll work in short bursts to your schedule. You don't need to worry about being able to run a server. In fact, if you're worried about getting a server set up you would probably be best doing a run with us and we'll make sure everything goes smoothly. Alpha testers will be credited.
Ganondorf's boss battle is looking intense. Photos to follow!
Alpha testers are urgently required, as we can't release the map until it's been vetted for errors. If you are interested in being part of the team, please get in contact with us using the contact form at the bottom of our home page. (Groups of threes greatly preferred.) You will get to see the game early as well as be credited for your assistance.
We'll keep you posted as we progress through the next phase of development.
Mental Block Gaming
In the meantime, we've been putting in a few little aesthetic features like additional dialogue and tweaks to music sensitivity in certain zones. The dialogue's redstone has been challenging, but of course nothing that our chief redstone engineer can't deal with. Here's a screenshot of (half of) Sheik's redstone.
Pretty complicated, right? Fortunately Sheik's is one of the most complex ones out there, but that's not to say the others are much easier. Hopefully this will give you insight on why the map is taking so long - painstakingly setting out timers and triple-checking command blocks can be a lengthy process. Thanks for sticking with us though! We promise - it's worth the wait.