Abandoned Armos Factory (Boomerangs' Minidungeon)

[cheez8]

Another abandoned factory? I guess I'm a bit more worried about my dungeon theme now, considering that the way I planned things, a revisit for the second level boomerang would be possible right before the dungeons which turned out to be "Old <townname>" and "Ancient Demonic Shoe Factory."

Anyway, I figured I should probably post something about the ideas I've had for this so far to 1) prove that I haven't been entirely lazy about this and 2) maybe get some feedback so I can either start working or adjust things about the dungeon's fundamental concept, and then start. Basically, the idea I had for this dungeon is that it would be some place that used to produce Armos statues way back in the day but was abandoned for reasons unknown, and is now filled with the kind of critters that hole up in abandoned factories (mostly Tektites.)

Seeing as it would technically be available after the first dungeon, and probably at least easy to find after the second dungeon, the main part wouldn't be too complicated. In fact, there wouldn't really be any puzzles- all that you'd need to do to get the boomerang would be to make your way through a few enemy-filled rooms. There'd be a few sidepaths though, including a couple that look like they'd have things if you came back with different items.

As for the second visit, I had planned for the blue boomerang to be accessible after the Amulet, but I don't know now with the dungeon theme issue I mentioned earlier. I could always change this one's theme, I suppose. Either way, using whatever item (currently the Amulet) would open up a path downward, deeper into the side-scrolling mechanical parts of the factory rather than the ground floor, and it might even have a bit of a familiar security system to deal with. The level 2 boomerang would be a lot more challenging to get than the first one, obviously, though I haven't given much thought into the lower floor's layout yet.

The layout of the first floor would be shaped like a top, because that's incredibly relevant to both Armos statues and Boomerangs. Yep, totally.

I don't have any progress to show for this yet, but I know what I plan to do for the first floor, and I don't think I'll be needing any advanced resources for this! Far as I can tell, I'll only be using one or two DMaps for the two floors, with the first floor being the usual top-down, and the transition between floors being side-scrolling. I might make the lower floor either one, or a mix.

Anyway... tell me what you think, I guess! Any good ideas? Any bad ideas I should change or omit? I wish to know!

[Nimono]

One question: Why would the level 2 boomerang be so hard to get when the only thing different about it from level 1 is distance, which I really don't think matters too much? Stun is stun. They're both ranged weapons, and anything immune to boomerangs isn't going to be stunned by the level 2 one. Unless, of course, we script it in to be a REAL upgrade? Perhaps it'd work like the magical boomerang in Oracle of Seasons? I just don't see much point to making an upgrade hard to get when the upgrade isn't really THAT much more different than the first version.

[CodeGorilla]

One question: Why would the level 2 boomerang be so hard to get when the only thing different about it from level 1 is distance, which I really don't think matters too much? Stun is stun. They're both ranged weapons, and anything immune to boomerangs isn't going to be stunned by the level 2 one. Unless, of course, we script it in to be a REAL upgrade? Perhaps it'd work like the magical boomerang in Oracle of Seasons? I just don't see much point to making an upgrade hard to get when the upgrade isn't really THAT much more different than the first version.

I dunno, when I play the game, I tend to find that the extra distance actually makes a pretty big difference, so it makes sense to me. We could always just use the Fire Boomerang that's built in if the power level needs to be bumped up.

As for the theme of the dungeon itself, I think it sounds pretty cool! I don't see it overlapping too much with my dungeon, but I can see it being a slight concern with Moosh/Nabe's dungeon, and having all three potentially in a row could be a problem. That said, there are only so many ways to concept a dungeon, especially with the base tile set, so. /shrug

[cheez8]

One question: Why would the level 2 boomerang be so hard to get when the only thing different about it from level 1 is distance, which I really don't think matters too much? Stun is stun. They're both ranged weapons, and anything immune to boomerangs isn't going to be stunned by the level 2 one. Unless, of course, we script it in to be a REAL upgrade? Perhaps it'd work like the magical boomerang in Oracle of Seasons? I just don't see much point to making an upgrade hard to get when the upgrade isn't really THAT much more different than the first version.

...You know, you have a point. The upgrade really is more convenient than useful... I dunno! A Magical Boomerang-type upgrade would be a lot more awesome, so we could go with that, but otherwise I guess I'd make the two visits be possible without as much time inbetween.

I dunno, when I play the game, I tend to find that the extra distance actually makes a pretty big difference, so it makes sense to me. We could always just use the Fire Boomerang that's built in if the power level needs to be bumped up.

As for the theme of the dungeon itself, I think it sounds pretty cool! I don't see it overlapping too much with my dungeon, but I can see it being a slight concern with Moosh/Nabe's dungeon, and having all three potentially in a row could be a problem. That said, there are only so many ways to concept a dungeon, especially with the base tile set, so. /shrug

Ooh, fire boomerang? That sounds like an upgrade, for sure! ...Now that I look at it though, it seems way too much of an upgrade for being available after Dungeon 5. Stunning every enemy, including Darknuts and Bubbles, is a little much especially considering a less capable version of that would be the Hookshot's main non-navigation purpose a couple dungeons later. If I went with that, I'd have to delay access until way later, like after Dungeon 9 or so.

Glad you think the theme sounds good though! I still feel a little sheepish about the similarities, so maybe I really ought to shift the second visit anyway. Depends on what kind of boomerang it'll end up giving out as to where.


So... that said, what do you guys think about the second boomerang? Should I give out the normal blue boomerang and make it available earlier, should I give out a "Magical Boomerang" upgrade and make it available around the same time (halfway through the game), or should I give out the Fire Boomerang and make it available waaay at the end of the game? I already know where my vote would go, but I want to hear other people too.

[KingTwelveSixteen]

I like the idea of having a magic boomerang in the game.

[LaularuKyrumo]

I almost don't want to go with the Fire Boomerang, but that's just because I intended on turning the Wand into a super-stun that would deal thunder damage with the Book upgrade, and it would be redundant with the inclusion of the fire boomerang--meaning I'd either have to scrap the entire dungeon idea and/or come up with a different idea for the wand.