How long does it take to make a complete hack?

I would have put this in my other topic of general questions but i decided to put this one here just in case someone else comes looking for the same answer.

Like it says in the title, i am currently working on a complete overhaul hack for alttp, like parallel worlds or goddess of wisdom, called The legend of Zelda: Fairy Guardians and I have everything done up till what happens after the first dungeon and 24 of the 64 overworld tiles (not including the dark world) done and another 11 or so partially done. I first came up with the idea for this hack about 3 years ago when i first found out about rom hacking and i toyed around with the idea but i didn't really start to work on it until about 8 months ago and ive only really worked on it in my free time in between work and school (my guess is about 14-15 hours a week).

I really do enjoy building the world and dungeons (to me its just like building something in minecraft of which i have wasted many hours in) and i am studding computer science and program as a hobby so i love to dig through the code and figure stuff out. The problem is i always jump from project to project, i am studding computer science mostly to become an indie game developer and have started and almost never completed many projects and or games over the years so when i picked this project back up i made a goal to finish it (comparatively i'm doing pretty good considering i never managed to focus working on anything for more than a month) but now i am starting to wonder wether going further is really worth my time or if i should spend my time making my own game that i could actually sell and make a profit from (unless you guys have some way of making money off of your hacks that i'm unaware of).

Well so that was a lot more than i planned on writing but there you have it. So what do you guys think? how long did it take you to complete a rom hack and how many hours a week roughly did you spend working on it?

thanks in advance.

How long it takes mostly depends on skill set and knowledge of the tools that are available.

But it also depends on your scope, you can do a short 1 dungeon hack that is much much easier than a total rewrite.

You also need to have a clear focus for your game. If you play around with a bunch of ideas and never make anything then it could take longer.

So what you need is:

- Clear idea of what you want to create
- Hacking skills and knowledge of the editing tools and game
- Lots and lots of free time

So I don't know how long a project will be, different hacks require different time, but you need the 3 things mentioned above.

i definitely have a clear idea of what i want to create, i can see it all in my head. maybe not so much of what the inside of each dungeon (8 overworld and 4 darkworld) will look like layout wise but i have a very clear idea of what i want the overworlds to look like and where the dungeons will be located as well as their theme as evidence by the maps ive made:



as for the second point i guess that's true most of the first months were spent learning how to deal with HM alone lol and after these 8 months i do feel like i am fairly familiar with the game and its code.

and as for free time that can be a hindrance, especially when i come home from school or work and really don't feel motivated to work on it. but like i said before ive done pretty goo so far in staying motivated.

I don't want to interrupt this thread because I don't program, but music keeps me motivated. I have no idea what music to suggest, but I have been listening to a lot of Darkwave lately. Everyone has their taste in music. Sensorica which is ambient rave music kept me really focused when playing a lot of Zelda hacks. For me it makes it that much more enjoyable.

How long does it take to make a complete hack?

If you are talking about using the same amount of material than the original game and make everything new, including overworld and dungeon, and maybe even new gfx and ASM, it will take you 4 years minimum, considering you work at least on something every day. This can be done in less time if you have help.

It all depends on your ambitions. It can take either a year or up to ten years lol

I guess I never formally announced my retirement from Zelda hacking... Based on that, I'd say it can take a good 20 years

You're right! I'm still waiting for Legends of Hyrule and Dodongo's Gold!

Long time no see NEONswift!