ZeldaClone_NES

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Technologies
• Game/Engine

Introduction

This game was created for educational purposes and to help develop my skills with C++, Lua, and understanding of data management.

It uses the Pikuma Game Engine from the course https://courses.pikuma.com/courses/2dgameengine. This was a great course and I recommend it to anyone wanting to start learning more on creating Game Engines.

I have taken what I learned from that course and applied it to creating this Zelda Clone and Tilemap/Quest Editor. This is not a finished game and the quest editor does not really work; however, it was fun to make.

There are also many changes that I would like to make if I had more time, but I have other projects that have a higher priority.

Build

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Requires CMake 3.26 and vcpkg

Get VCPKG:

git clone https://github.com/microsoft/vcpkg
./vcpkg/bootstrap-vcpkg.bat

Make sure the following environment variables are set:

VCPKG_ROOT=[path_to_vcpkg]
VCPKG_DEFAULT_TRIPLET=x64-windows

Install dependencies

./vcpkg install glm sdl2[alsa] sdl2-mixer[mpg123] sdl2-ttf sdl2-image lua sol2

• For sdl2_mixer you name need to use:

./vcpkg install sdl2-mixer[mpg123] --recurse

• I tested this on Ubuntu 24 and the build works. Just adjust default triplet for VCPKG to VCPKG_DEFAULT_TRIPLET=x64-linux

Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/dwjclark11/ZeldaClone_NES.git
cd ZeldaClone_NES
cmake -S . -B build

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Game Controls

Key	Button	Function
W	DPAD UP	Move Up
D	DPAD RIGHT	Move Right
S	DPAD DOWN	Move Down
A	DPAD LEFT	Move Left
Q	START	Pause Menu
ESC	N/A	Quit Game
RShift	A BTN	Sword Attack
SpaceBar	X BTN	Special Item

• GamePad Buttons are based on the SDL_GameControllerButtons == X BOX Style Gamepad.
• These are default keys that are now changable inside of the settings state. Changes the Action/Key/Btn Bindings.

User Experience

• This is a small video where I demonstrate the current status of the game/editor, I will update this as development continues.

• New Video - Basic Gameplay

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New_Zelda_Video.mp4

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• Fairy Fountain

Fairy_fountain.mp4

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• Oldest Video

Game_Experience.mp4

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Tilemap Editor Controls

   * Under Construction!!

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Game/Engine

This game/engine includes the following:

• An ECS (Entity Component System) to help manage entities, components, and systems that are in the game.

• A functioning Tilemap/Quest Editor that can create:

  • Tilemaps
  • colliders
  • triggers (transport/secret areas/ traps/ etc.)
  • Uses Dear ImGui as the user interface
  • The Tilemap/Quest Editor still has some bugs; however, it does work

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Issues

There are still tonnes of issues in order to have a proper working game.

• Needs proper AI for enemies.
• Quest editor is currently broken.
• Needs proper animations when going into caves.
• Player can still move after getting triforce.
• Titlescreen does not reset properly and will eventually crash.

Keep Coding and Take it Easy!