On a related note -- when I see the minuscule filesize of the original Zelda game on emulators, I marvel at how little text/code/information could produce how much wonder, how far-reaching impact, and how many hours of enchantment for me.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Legend_of_Zelda_(video_gam...

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erwincoumans 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Indeed, magic. How about the Commodore 64, there was a game (Eindeloos, Radarsoft, 1985) within 64kb that has a huge map. Someone recently (after 40 years!) extracted the map (500 screens) and the png alone is 800kb. See the story an zoom in and try finding the little heart in the map! https://adayinthelifeof.nl/2025/03/07/endless.html

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jsheard 8 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Zelda 1 was 128 kB, for those wondering, and that's without any compression. Double that for the sequel.

	▲	rlv-dan 2 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		> without any compression Perhaps not compression as we see it today. But one could argue that tile based graphics and code based music is a form of compression. Old games used a myriad of cool tricks to get around their limitations.
	▲	Andrex 7 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		That honestly doesn't seem too bad. Zelda 1 is relatively large but it reuses a lot of assets and honestly probably doesn't have that much text. (More than a Mario but way less than a Dragon Warrior.)

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3RTB297 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

My favorite slight of hand was that all the dungeons and caves were part of a single rectangular map. Designers carved out a few specific designs, then other levels were clearly what worked with the remaining map screens available so it all fit in the space they had, with caves thrown in to take up single screen gaps.

https://ian-albert.com/games/legend_of_zelda_maps/

	▲	Morizero 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		And created them in somewhat recognizable shapes, e.g. eagle