Help Wanted!

[kamakaziplumber]

News isn't a "weekly update" sort of thing, of course. It could be every day, or every month. >.> Just depends on the news, so, yeah, you're right. Don't worry about that.

And, it's just a sample, so any news you find would be fine. Get old news if you have to. Be sure to link to your source, things like that. If you find new... news, then that's great, and it could be your first post, but if not you can do just about anything you feel comfortable with for th sample.

And, yeah, E3 should be busy for those of you applying to report news, be ready!

[Zelda Veteran]

Okay, I just typed a big report, and Microsoft had a problem, and shut down deleting everything.

I'M DONE WITH THIS.

[MagmarFire]

No autosaving was enabled? Of course, it pays to often save manually.

[Zelda Veteran]

I don't care!
I'm not doing it again!!
AUAUUAUAGGHHH!!!
I HATE TECHNOLOGY!!
I wonder if the Amish people next door are this stressed out with their computer...

[MagmarFire]

I guess I can do the news, then, if I can. You want a sample up, KP?

[Shadow Goris]

Well I'm relly eager to get that place. Here's the patched up sample:
    As you start the game, there will be a couple of cutscenes, one of which is the Deku Tree summoning Link and telling Navi to aid him on his quest. The first time you actually get to control Link is when you have to exit his house. Saria will talk to you outside and say nothing of importance.
    As of now, you will have to get the Kokiri sword and the Deku sheild to be alowed access to the Deku Tree. First, the sword. Go to the Kokiri Training Center on the left of Link's house. As you pass all the fencing, you will see a hole in the wall, which you need to crawl through. In there will be a maze with boulders rolling around. Once inside, go left until you hit the wall, but don't change your direction, and go right. You will end up at a treasure chest with the kokiri sword in it. Open it up and equip the sword.
    It's simple to get the Deku sheild: all you need to do is collect 40 rupees. Some ways to collect them are cutting crab grass, running through grass patches, and throwing rocks. Also, you can go to the Lost Woods which is located North of Link's house on a cliff which has vines to climb on the side of it. Once you collect the rupees, buy the Deku sheild from the shop. However, feel free to buy anything you feel neccasary but just bare in mind that everything in the shop besides the sheild can be found with in the Forest and the first dungeon which you will enter shortly. As you did with the sword, equip the sheild.
    Now that you're all suited up, go to the right side of the Forest and talk to the kokiri boy that's blocking the way to the Deku tree's quarters. When you go up to the Deku tree, he will ask you to go inside him(creep). Do as he says and start the first dungeon.
   
   

[Zelda Veteran]

Very good! I have something to add to that though- jumping across the rock platforms by the Kokiri Shop will nab you 5 easy rupees.

[Shadow Goris]

Oh da i forgot about that...

[kamakaziplumber]

ZV, you get back to trying, or else!  

Magmar, you don't have to do the news if you don't want to, your column is more than enough. However, if you actually are interested in also doing news... well, I wouldn't need another sample necessarily, since you've already proven your writing prowess. But, maybe you should send in a sample news report anyways, just so I can see how it would be. Either is fine, your choice.

Goris, there's still a good bit of spelling errors in there, mostly repeat offenses ("sheild", etc.). That's cosmetic, though. However, there are other parts that could use fixing. For example,

Go to the Kokiri Training Center on the left of Link's house. As you pass all the fencing, you will see a hole in the wall, which you need to crawl through.

That's a bit vague, I think. You should describe the Kokiri Training Center as a fenced in area, instead, and perhaps say to walk to the left of Link's house until you find such an area, instead of just saying it's "on the left of Link's house" (which sounds, to me, like it's directly to the left). Also,

Once inside, go left until you hit the wall, but don't change your direction, and go right.

Wow. That's just awkward. It's simpler just to say "go left, then right", and it's basically the same thing. Don't make things sound more complicated than they are. Also, you might have wanted to mention that the boulders are rolling and must be dodged in there. And, what ZV said, too.

Improvement is still needed, but like I said, these are really just submissions, and not truly staff positions. Even so, they should be as well written as possible before being sent in. I wouldn't want to go back and forth with you like this every time you send in another part.

Hmm... here's a thought: what if you started a topic in, say, the OoT board, related to the walkthrough? There you could post little sections like this one, and then we could all work together to make it clearer and add things to it. The final product would then be added to the walkthrough page itself. Too much? Just throwing it out there.

[Shadow Goris]

good idea! *goes of to scam people into working for him*

[MagmarFire]

Magmar, you don't have to do the news if you don't want to, your column is more than enough. However, if you actually are interested in also doing news... well, I wouldn't need another sample necessarily, since you've already proven your writing prowess. But, maybe you should send in a sample news report anyways, just so I can see how it would be. Either is fine, your choice.

I am quite interested, actually. I remember when Alpha was at the helf for Brawl updates, and it does sound like fun.

I'll get to work on the sample; I don't think it'd be too long because some of the material I use for the E3 updates could be for other updates. Trying to avoid stale styles, you see.

I'll get to work on it, though. It'll be on OoT. That'll be fine, right?

EDIT: Okay, here we are. A rough one, and my info may not be entirely accurate by date or place. Gets the point across, though.


What up, fellow Zelda fans? MagmarFire of the forums, reporting all the news that Nintendo is dishing out at E3 this year on the newest Zelda game, fresh out of the oven! You guys are probably missing Alpha or our very own KamakaziPlumber to do these, but as you can well imagine, they're busy with other matters at the moment.  Guess you'll have to settle with a new writer for now, eh? Well, I suppose so! You're going to deal with it and LIKE it!



...Okay, sorry. Put that pitchfork away...

Well, anyway, as we all know, it was a good...five years, was it? About that time ago, we've had the first handheld Zelda game, Link's Awakening. It captured the magic of A Link to the Past into a package that can fit in the palm of your hand. Revolutionary. Today, however, we get another ground-breaker. Nintendo has just announced that their next Zelda title will be Ocarina of Time, due to be released on the Nintendo 64. That's right—a 3-D Zelda game! We're all stoked to hear of one to hit the shelves, and we'll be taking a good look during the press conference to see what this next game will have in store for us. Let's take a look, shall we?

Graphics

This should be enough for us to be excited: We're about to play a three-dimensional Zelda game—that means we don't have to keep looking down at our green hero while we play. We can enjoy it while, at the same time, enjoying the high-detailed scenery! Can you say, "All-directional first person examination"? ...Okay, maybe you can't, but at least you can see the world from a first-person view to get a good view on the dungeons. And boy, do they look SWEET!

Gameplay

With 3-D graphics comes 3-D gameplay, and with 3-D gameplay comes...whatever comes after it! New to the game is that you can more freely interact with the world by the use of Action Icons, where if you use them in the right places, you can do stuff that can aid you in your quest.

And with battling, more to come is the feature known as Z-Targeting, where you press or hold down the Z button in order to focus on one enemy at a time. With this, you can shoot without aiming manually, keep your camera view on the enemy, and strafe around it and dodge and evade attacks.

And look at that, Link's got a horse!

Storyline

At this point in time, we don't have any news on how the story is going to be, but that will change as news develops. All we have, however, is some news that Link will be able to switch to different time periods and change his form between ages (much like A Link to the Past, no?), meaning we'll be playing as both a child and an adult! And we also seem to have a leaked screenshot of one of the dungeons as an adult: the so-called "Temple of Water."

As you can see, it looks freaking awesome! Think of the puzzles and underwater exploration you can achieve with this one! I would not be surprised if this dungeon were to become one of my favorites in the future, if not for the hopeful ability to walk underwater. Let's just wait and see, won't we?

To the point...

And there you have it! The news up to this point about the next biggest Zelda game in gaming history! I will be here to keep you up-to-date on the Zelda news as the Nintendo Press Conference continues, so check in every now and then for news updates!

Until then, I'm off! We're in for one wild day, guys, and let's hope all this hype on OoT comes up true in the end! Later!

[kamakaziplumber]

It's good, a bit longer than I expected it to be... But, that's because it's an E3-esque article and therefore would contain a lot of information. Short and sweet news reports are always better for less content-filled topics than, say, reports padded with useless information.

So, yeah, I can see you being a news reporter if you think you're up to it. You've got your style, which... might be a bit too personal for straight-out news, but, if that's how you write best, it's fine. Don't try and be something you're not, eh?

And ZV... you'd better be trying again, pal.

[Keaton]

...I'm confused.

What's up with this?  I thought it was just:  "I like your story.  BAM.  You get a front page account."

Like, are you not going to have multiple newspersons?  Why are you making this people do this much work just to prove they have potential, even if it's already there?  Maybe I'm just confused and a little drunk.

Okay, maybe I'm rather drunk.

[darkphantomime]

I don't care!
I'm not doing it again!!
AUAUUAUAGGHHH!!!
I HATE TECHNOLOGY!!
I wonder if the Amish people next door are this stressed out with their computer...

Did you try going back into microsoft word? Usually they'll have the file saved in case an error occurred. Granted, it might not be the entire file, but it would still be salvageable.

[kamakaziplumber]

Sure, in fact I'd hoped for multiple newspersons. I gave Magmar a choice, he didn't have to write up a sample. The only reason I wanted one is to see how his style would play out, is all. Just a precaution, not very necessary considering his earlier sample, but, still. That's all. Why, did you want to do news AND comment on the news, too? AND work on a layout? AND fix up the MM walkthrough? You're crazy, pal.

And, yes, JQ is right ZV.