Game news Zelda fans make their creation available to everyone
Published on 05/06/2023 at 19:15
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We often say it, but the fans are really the ones who can move works in the right direction. There are countless productions that have benefited from the positive impact of their community and the open source Zelda engine Solarus is a good example.
Voluntary and passionate, fans are important
As the PCGamer site reveals, nostalgia is an integral part of entertainment. Whether in video games, cinema, music or sport, we all have moments engraved in our memories that we would like to relive. We may take advantage of technological developments or increased comfort, nothing and no one can take away from us, and even less from the fans, this nostalgia that runs through our veins. It’s no coincidence that video games have been at the heart of this nostalgic wave for years now. We no longer count the number of games that bring us back in the footsteps of the microphones and consoles of yesteryear. Big square pixels, synthetic music, genres (shooter, platformer…) the old… we want it and we want more! You only have to look at the number of remakes and homages that emerge every day on Steam and other services of the same type to be convinced of this.
Some fans have pushed this passion to the point of developing their own creative engine. Solarus is probably one of the most famous. Released in 2017, it is actively used today and is used to design Zelda-like games and other 2D action/adventure games. The programmer, Christopho, worked for five long years to develop it. The reason: he was tired of the restrictions imposed by RPG Maker type games and wanted to expand the possibilities for amateur creators. Quite a bet, but it is clear that several years later, it is a total success!
Solarus, the engine of Zelda-like games
Several games have since been made with the Solarus Creation Engine. In addition to the tributes to Zelda, there are titles like Hallow’s Eve, Ocean’s Heart or Yarntown (which is a tribute to Bloodborne). The creator of Solarus, Christopho, spoke in 2017 with PCGamer and we can measure all the path that led him from his first project created with RPG Maker in 2002, Zelda: Mystery of Solarus, until our time.
What surprised me the most was that the game I drew on paper as a kid, and then the first version of RPG Maker, was actually a far cry from the official Zelda games. Of course, it was hard to create interesting enemy battles to play out on paper. But people liked the Zelda: A Link to the Past homage, they started helping me improve the game, and pretty soon we formed a team that decided to make a second Zelda game.
It’s the master stroke! Rather than limit to the restrictions of RPG Maker, the team will then choose to create its own creation engine! Thanks to this tool, many budding developers have embarked on projects and it’s a safe bet that it will be the same for many more years.
Solarus allows you to overcome the limitations of RPG Maker and create interesting, well-crafted and visually engaging adventures. And do not think that we find these games on forgotten media. Ocean’s Heart is available on Nintendo Switch.
The Legend of Zelda – Univers étendu
