Zelda speech at the GDC
Brian points me to an engrossing
speech about Zelda given at the Game Developer’s Conference
last month, by Eiji Aonuma, the producer of the franchise. The transcript is
full of tasty little making-of anecdotes:
In Ocarina of Time I also took on the challenge of incorporating Adventure
Elements into dungeon design, by which I mean giving each dungeon some type of
theme, such as rescuing the trapped Gorons, or hunting down and defeating the
Poe Sisters.
But what’s most captivating is the serious treatment of the guiding
principles behind all Zelda games, namely Zelda Reality. I was also
surprised—and yet, not really surprised—at the mention of interactive
fiction as an influence (informing the relationship between player,
puzzle, and narrative).