Hyrule Conquest

[The Undying Nephalim]

2 hours ago, wowgetoffyourcellphone said:

Have you tried any other hacks?

I have tried spawning many particles rapidly to try and create the illusion of a solid beam, the problem is at most speeds there's "gaps" between the particles and even then it looks like many small round particles and not a clean solid beam. I really want to try and recreate a solid and nearly instantaneous beam effect that has almost no travel time from the attacker to its target.

[asterix]

I am just trying to copy this from https://www.moddb.com/mods/hyrule-conquest/news/slimy-zolas-oh-my

The Zolas are almost done, featuring lots of added slime. That's about it.

Posted by The_Undying_Nephalim on Feb 7th, 2024

It's a few months shy of a year since I decided to take a hiatus from this project. I regretfully must say this hiatus is not done, as I still have little to no interest left in Zelda at this point and am quite deep into the middle of Star Fox Event Horizon at the moment. That being said, I've made a bit of an effort to try and get the last faction I was working on completed sporadically in the last 9 months. The last time I talked about them, the faction had the tentative name of "Wild Zoras." True to my character for any who know me, months later I became extremely dissatisfied with this name. At the moment, they're just called "Zolas." This is not an arbitrary choice, the reasoning for sticking with what is essentially a mistranslated name will become more obvious when we take a look at their roster and a predominate feature of their entire faction: Zol slime.

1. The Slow Swarm - A notable trait of playing as the Zolas that will be noticeable after fielding a variety of their units is that many of them have slow movement speeds. Many of the creatures in their roster are monsters that traditionally have been portrayed as sluggish and slow moving in Zelda games; for examples their numerous Zols, Octoroks, and even a Like Like. Having large portions of your forces be composed of slow moving units is not unique in Hyrule Conquest: both the Stalfos and Darknuts are known for their very sluggish movements speeds. However while the Darknuts make up for this with heavy armor values and outright being difficult to kill, and the Stalfos counter this weakness being able to replace their fallen troops with necromancy, the Zola forces are neither durable nor do they have the ability to rise from the dead. The Zolas paradoxically are encouraged to send many of their slow moving units to their deaths: a vast majority of their roster spawns additional swarms of units when they are slain. Be it their Zol's spawning batches of Gels, Bari splitting into pairs of Biri, or even their Octoballoon scouts exploding into showers of Puffers, the Zolas have many means of rapidly increasing their numbers as they begin to lose troops in battle. Even some of their larger units can spawn some of their lower tier units for free when they are killed in battle.

2. Walking Bases - The second trait of the Zolas, which has been discussed in detail in a previous article, is that almost all of their bases are completely mobile. With the exception of their Octorok Cave which trains the rest of their buildings, every other Zola structure is contained within the shell of a giant Octorok that can walk about. For more specific details about this feature, check out this article on the matter.

3. The "Zol" Slime - Lastly, the third pillar of the Zola is their use of slime, or as it's referred to in-universe and their namesake, "Zol." If there is one thing that unites the various creatures working together with the Zolas, it is their natural ability to create and secret this nefarious ooze. Octoroks and Parella Ink turns into this icky ooze. Zols and Zol Likes are able to secrete and spread it. This slimy sludge creates both passive buffs for your forces and debuffs for enemies that come into contact with it.

With that out of the way, lets take a look at their heroes and units:

Tier 1 Heroes:

Barudakan
- Queen Oren's favorite bodyguard, Barudakan is an easily amused soldier who loves his lot in life. While not exactly a brilliant tactician or commander, or a warrior with much finesse for that matter, his brute force and knack for "refusing to die" have lead him to win many skirmishes and campaigns against his enemies. His body is heavily scarred from his many near death battles, but he almost seems unaware of his disfiguring wounds. If there is one thing that Barudakan is more interested in than fighting, its fairies. This Zola has devoted much of his free time to learning about Fairies and he hopes to catch one as a pet one day.

Maiamai
- One of the only living Octorok mothers in Hyrule's current age, Maiamai maintains a symbiotic alliance with Queen Oren that has benefited both people for generations. While generally peaceful, she is obsessive of her newborns and will violently protect them. Like most Octoroks, she fears the Octorok sea god Bellum and perpetuates his return to Hyrule.

Tier 2 Heroes:

Krel
- A highly intelligent mage who came into service of Queen Oren. He presents himself as an arrogant wisecraker, though amongst the Wild Zora he perhaps is the most loyal servant the royals have in their service. Nothing is known of Krel's origin of where he came from or what his real motivations might possibly be. He seems to have vast knowledge of the Zol slime that links the Zora, Octroks, and Parella together and how to control it.

Jellyf
- A very enigmatic figure in the court of the Zola, Jellyf is believed to be ancient and possibly one of the oldest beings alive in Hyrule. Jellyf uses her personal servants to speak for her, only speaking directly to Queen Oren. Jellyf's mysterious motivations raise suspicion and concern even amongst the royal court, but the turnaround success of reconquering lost Zola coves and territory since her arrival has kept any from questioning her.

Tier 3 Heroes:

Queen Oren
- The real power that holds the Wild Zora together, Queen Oren is a shrewd diplomat and has a keen understanding of aquatic warfare. Unlike many of her contemporaries, she is more than capable of being reasoned with and has more or less become the spokesperson of her people. Despite this, is seems Queen Oren has suppressed much and is prone to huge fits of rage, fits that become so bad she'll bloat into a horrifying monster. Her land dwelling Zora cousins believe it's only a matter of time before she slips up and causes a full scale war between the various Zora kingdoms.

King Zaro
- King Zaro wields immense power among his people, despite this he prefers to let his wife Oren run his little kingdom and spends most of his time lounging around and avoiding his responsibilities. While not necessarily lazy, he simply has little interest in running a kingdom. King Zaro is known however, for his intense rivalry with the Zora kings of the Dominion and Lanayru Province. If there is anything that can call him to action it's the opportunity to ruin their reputation, foil their endeavors, or if possible conquer their entire kingdoms.
 

Unit Roster:

Zol - Zols are the foundation of the Zola as a civilization. These living slimes gather and spread the Zol sludge everywhere they go and large colonies of them are a sure sign that their Zola masters are only a season behind them. In game Zols are slow moving melee creatures that are capable of crawling across almost all terrain, notably cliffs and mountains. Zols split into two Gels if they are slain in combat.

Octorok - Octoroks are one of the most common wildlife found throughout Hyrule. Zolas love to keep them as pets and their equivalent to guard dogs. Ocroroks serve as cheap ranged units in the Zola forces, spitting small rocks at their targets.

Drudge - The lowest of the Zolas, Drudges are little more than slaves to their underwater overlords. They spend most of their lives raising and tending Octos, harvesting barnacles, and hunting and raiding. Within the Zola forces they serve as a simple Spearman unit, making them a cheap and effective way to halt enemy cavalry.

Bari - These parasitic jellyfish are used by Zolas to infect and kill large beasts that they plan on consuming. They can only survive without a host for several days. They are able to shock and briefly stun their targets with a pair of dangling tentacles. If slain a Bari will split into a pair of small Biri.

Tailpasaran - Another parasitic monster used by Zolas to infect their enemies. Tailpasarans are able to stay motionless for long periods of time, springing forth with surprise on their prey. In-game they are slow moving melee creatures with Camouflage.

Octoballoon - These gas filled Octorocks are cleverly used by Zolas to scout out new lands to see if they are worthy of moving into and infesting. Octoballoons have a very large Line of Sight, but are at the mercy of winds and cannot be directly controlled by the player. If slain an Octoballoon will explode, hurting enemies beneath it and spawn a swarm of Puffers from its corpse.

Zol Like - These horrific creatures are able to create a nearly endless supply of slime to be used by the Zolas. While their slow speed makes them very poor combat creatures, they are able to almost completely immobilize enemies that venture too close. Zol Likes spawn a pair of Zols if they are slain.

Aerocuda - A small flying creature that is attracted to Zola slime. They are often used by Zolas as hunting animals. Aerocudas are very fast and can attack enemies in melee, but are otherwise quite frail.

Geozard - Large and durable Zolas that serve as footsoldiers of their armies. Geozards wield crude swords and any debris they can find as a protective shield. Despite their lack of traditional armor, their slimy scales make them surprisingly durable and resistant to physical damage.

Mucktorok - These Octorok monstrosities have been warped by the Zol slime into gibbering beasts. While frail, they are able to spit slime from quite a distance at targets. This slime can actually briefly ground flying units with this attack as well, making them very nasty counters to enemy fliers. There is a small chance that this slime attack will spawn an attacking Gel.

Aqua Auger - Lance wielding Zolas riding on the backs of Aquamenti dragons, these Augers serve as vicious cavalry that can easily take on other opposing cavalry.

Bigocto - These large Octo creatures are not quite large enough to house a Zola base, but their durable shells give them use in Zola armies. Bigoctos are very durable, in particular their are highly resistant to non-magical ranged attacks like arrows and javelins. This makes them an excellent mobile shield against archer heavy armies.

Parella - The Parella function as two different units depending if they are on land or in the sea. On land they are slow moving ranged units that spit ink at enemies, temporarily damaging their Line of Sight. In the water they are fast moving and graceful swimmers that latch unto and slow down enemy ships and other aquatic creatures. Regardless of land or seas, Parella are always able to use their chameleon-like skin to blend into their environment, granting them Stealth.

Geozard Chief - The Commander unit of Zola forces, armed with a large sword and shield. While predominately a melee unit, Geozard Chiefs have a secondary fireball attack that slowly charges, periodically allowing them to deal splashing fire damage.

Dera Zol - These large slimy creatures wear durable shells and serve as living battering rams. In addition to their strong melee attack against buildings, the Zol slime oozed from these creatures slowly and passively deals damage to any structure in range. When slain a Dera Zol will spawn Zols.

Octogon - A very large living siege weapon, Octogons are specialized Octoroks that can lob giant stones kept within their shells. These monsters are ideal for taking out turrets and otherwise heavily defended bases from a safe distance. When slain an Octogon will spawn Puffers.

Sludge Sharks - A Unique Unit only available to Krel. Sludge sharks are creature units that creates Zol slime that slows down enemy units around itself. They are much quicker than most Zola units and have quite a strong bite in melee. When slain a Sludge Shark will spawn a Mucktorok.

Bari Host - A Unique Unit only available to Jellyf. These Parella carry a swarm of Bari Jellyish with them, which spawn and attack enemies if the Host is slain in battle. While living, Bari Hosts allow Bari, Tailpasaran, and other Parella to regenerate their health at a notably higher rate when attached to their battalions.

Feral - A Unique Unit only available to Queen Oren. These crazed Zola are kept on a leash by their own people, and let loose in ravaging packs on their enemies. A Feral can quickly tear apart an unarmored target with with claws and long tongue and regenerate any of its wounds with each injury dealt to a foe. They are also exceptionally fast and can even catch up to speedy Cavalry. If slain in battle, a Feral will spawn a Tailpasaran.

Cyclops Ku - A Unique Unit only available to King Zaro. These very slow and lumbering infantry units are able to spit burning fireballs from quite a distance. This makes them ideal for burning down enemy structures as well as anything vulnerable to fire. They also sport strong shells on their back, making them very resistant to melee attacks.

Aquamentus - Zola Legendary unit. This massive water dragon sports powerful rending claws, a lancing horn on its head, and short range but deadly fire breath. Its wings are quite small for its size however, and as such this dragon can only use them for extended leaps rather then consistent flight.

In addition, there are several units that the Zolas cannot directly train, but are instead spawned from slain units. All three of these creatures are more or less just mini versions of existing units.

Gel - A tiny version of the Zol slime.

Biri - A tiny version of the Bari.

Puffer - A tiny version of the Octorok. It loses its ranged attack in exchange for a melee attack, however.

[Lion.Kanzen]

My god...

How envious I am of that mod.

[wowgetoffyourcellphone]

Very cool

[asterix]

I am trying to copy this from https://www.moddb.com/mods/hyrule-conquest/downloads/hyrule-conquest-016

Final release of Hyrule Conquest, Adds the Zola faction.

---

 

I felt an obligation to the finish the Zolas, seeing as I was right in the middle of working on them when I quit a year ago. This is likely the final release of Hyrule Conquest, assuming there are not any horrific bugs that slipped past into the mod that need fixed. I have lost all motivation and love for Zelda and have shifted my focus to working on Star Fox Event Horizon. There are still issues within the game that have not been addressed, for example the 0.26 version broke unit pathing when they walk out of buildings, so some units will walk through walls as they are finished being trained. It is far too much work than I am willing to do to fix these issues, I am heavily invested in devoting my time to Star Fox Event Horizon at the moment.

PLEASE READ INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS, HYRULE CONQUEST REQUIRES A NEW METHOD TO INSTALL.

Installation:
- Delete any previous version of Hyrule Conquest you have. It will absolutely conflict with this new version.
- Install the Alpha 26 version of 0AD, which can be downloaded here: Play0ad.com
- Locate 0AD's pyrogensis.exe file. The default filepath to it is C:\Program Files (x86)\0 A.D. alpha\binaries\system\pyrogenesis.exe
- Drag "hyrule-conquest.pyromod" onto pyrogensis.exe. This will automatically unpack and install the mod in the correct location. 0AD will then automatically start and open the mod menu with Hyrule Conquest enabled. Click Save Configuration, then Start Mods. hyrule-conquest.pyromod can be found inside the zip you downloaded from moddb.

New Features:
- Adds the Zolas as a playable faction
- Numerous bug and tooltip fixes.

FOR THOSE WITH PERFORMANCE ISSUES:
- Hyrule Conquest aims to have the best looking models possible, however 0AD is currently not optimized for that goal. It is highly recommended that if you are experiencing frame rate issues to lower the model quality in the Options > Graphics (Advanced) menu. Reducing Shadow Quality can also have a decent positive impact on frame rates.

[asterix]