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Re: AoL WIP

Posted: Thu Jan 02, 2020 1:45 pm
by skater43
All right, last WIP picture until we're finished. As we can see, we've finished all the text, bricks, windows, everything except the table down there in the lower right corner (or would be the lower right corner if we could figure out how to get the picture to come out in the right orientation) plus Link and Error. Figure a couple of weeks should be all that it takes to finish up. It was about the end of January when I started this, so we'll be coming in at just about a year to do it, working about an hour a day, just about every day, though I did have, what, three breaks in there to work on other quick projects. So 10ish months actually spent working on it. But it'll be a while before I tackle another big one like this. I've got another 3 or 4 screenshots as potential projects, but those would likely take even longer because they have more stuff/less open space that doesn't need to be stitched. Instead, I've got a quickie project for Four Swords Adventure I'll likely do next. Have a pattern/threads set aside for an A Link to the Past project that's on the list. And one for Link's Awakening, but that'll require some French knots or something beyond just basic stitching. Which isn't a problem other than I'd have to look into/learn how to do that. I've also got a non-Zelda/non-gaming idea, but I'd have to come up with the pattern myself. So I might start messing with that, just getting some stuff on paper, just to get the ball rolling.

In semi-related news, AGDQ 2020 begins this Sunday (https://gamesdonequick.com/) Right now, they haven't set minimum bids for the prizes or what's available when, but that info should be updated soon. Because I work evenings, I'll miss many of the games I want to see live, but there's a lot of good games being run, so looking forward to catching what I can. Meanwhile, spread the word about the event. As I say, I'm not a speedrunner, can't contribute that way, but I can make a prize, I can let people know it's going on and help out that way.

Re: AoL WIP

Posted: Fri Jan 03, 2020 5:19 am
by Firehawke
You are zooming through that project! And it sounds like you have more fun ones on the way!

Re: AoL WIP

Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2020 4:17 pm
by skater43
The last bit didn't take as long as expected and I put in a little extra work Thursday to try to get it done this weekend. And did. :) Framers aren't open Mondays, so I'll drop it off Tuesday, but my work on it is done. I included a pen in the picture just to give some sense of scale. I figure this took about 300 hours, maybe a little more, based on an hour a day just about every day, not quite a year to do with a couple of breaks in the middle. Lot of work, but I've enjoyed working on it. And enjoyed sharing my progress with you guys. Firehawke has been the most vocal supported, but this thread has 7,000 views, and they haven't all been me just hitting refresh :) , so thank you to all the other readers/lurkers out there. Took today off from stitching, but next couple of days we'll get my next project going (see below), so I'll get a new topic up for that for you guys to follow.

Meanwhile, I'm going much simpler for my next one. Got the pattern and threads and everything ready to go for Four Swords Adventure. Pattern I've got is a whopping 60x62 stitches, so way smaller than this one. Figure it'll be a nice couple of weeks project. In fact, I may even have it done to turn in when I pick up my AoL one, we'll see how that timing works out. But, we've now done all the NES and N64 Zelda games. Four Swords, Wind Waker and Twilight Princess will cover the GameCube, though I haven't found a good TP pattern I like yet (any ideas, suggestions, patterns, send 'em along and I'll take a look at them). I have a Link to The Past one queued up, so that'll cover the SNES. And that'll cover the console games I've beaten. Then we'll start in on the handhelds. I've got a pattern for Link's Awakening that'll require me learning some new techniques, but that's okay. Minish Cap, Oracle of Seasons, Oracle of Ages I haven't found any patterns I really like for those yet. And I've played some of Spirit Tracks and Phantom Hourglass, but haven't beaten either yet, but I'm sure I will have by the time I get through all these other projects. I also have an idea for a personal project involving the first Legend of Zelda game. Requires a screenshot, so I've been playing through it again to get to the shot. The concern, though, is it turning into another massive year long project. So I need to figure out how I can show the parts of the screen that matter, without having to do a full 256x224 picture. It'll likely have to be 256 stitches wide from what I'm seeing, but hopefully I can shorten up the height some. So I plan to monkey with that, see how that goes. So that's my current plans.

Re: AoL WIP

Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2020 9:58 pm
by FireKraken
Congrats on the finish! It looks amazing and very nostalgic.

Re: AoL WIP

Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2020 10:45 am
by skater43
Thank you. :) Enjoyed the process, but happy to have finished it. And because us stitchers care about such things, I took a picture of the backside as well. Other than making sure my thread hadn't gotten tangled, obviously I wasn't paying much attention to the back while working on this, but I think it looks pretty good. When doing the pinkish background blocks, I was a little concerned about doing them in clumps of the hoop, rather than straight lines and moving the hoop much more frequently, but we can see those fears were unfounded/you can't tell. Same with the lines at the bottom. And because we are our own worst critics, I'll point out the two mistakes I noticed/made keeping this from being a perfect replica of the screenshot. First, is there's an extra line at the bottom. Miscounted those when going around the edge to set things up, so did an extra one. And the "F" in life has an extra white stitch in the lower horizontal line. Neither are noticeable at a casual glance (and if you noticed the extra line at the bottom, you're basically looking for things that might be wrong. Or are a champion at the "what's different between these pictures" games. :) ), but a couple of things I noticed. But overall, I'm pleased with how it came out, not going to let those minor things detract from the overall picture. Since I was going off a screenshot, rather than someone's pattern, I had to choose the colors myself and I think I did pretty good. A couple of the colors are from threads Mom already had, with no label, so I couldn't tell you exactly what colors they were, but I could for most of the ones I bought special for this project. But as I said, looking forward to doing a nice, simple pattern next, just as kind of a way to unwind after this massive undertaking (though I know others on this board have done/are doing much bigger/more elaborate things). So Four Swords next, prolly ALttP after that since I've got those threads set aside and then we'll go from there.

Re: AoL WIP

Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2020 5:45 pm
by Batboard
Great job. I’ve done a few big ones like that, feels good to be done yet....when it’s done, it’s like that’s all I know how to do know!!!!! :shock: :shock: get that bad boy framed and display it with pride. Can’t wait to see what you got up your sleeve next :thumbsup:

Re: AoL WIP

Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2020 11:11 am
by Firehawke
Wow...it looks fantastic!!! Congrats on the finish!!!

Re: AoL WIP

Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2020 4:47 am
by skater43
Thank you. :) Popped into the framers today for something else and they said they were working on stretching it/getting it ready to go. And cursing all the bricks. And the bricks at the angles. Getting it stretched, and keeping all the lines straight and such is no easy task, but I know they'll do a good job, which is why I use them (that and as I've said, they're about a block away from my place). Other than my LoZ personal project, which may not either, still need to get the screenshot and start messing with it, none of my upcoming/planned Zelda projects have bricks or a lot of straight lines or anything, so should be easier for the framers to deal with.

Re: AoL WIP

Posted: Sun Feb 16, 2020 11:35 am
by skater43
Got my AoL pic back from the framers. Always impressed by the work they do. Finding a place to hang it could be a challenge, but I think that's a good problem to have. :)

Re: AoL WIP

Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2020 10:47 am
by Firehawke
Nice!!!! Have fun picking out a spot!