Revisiting the Tower of Bab-il

You probably know by now that I enjoy recreating maps from older games. Partly for nostalgia, partly for rote experience in putting maps together (to hone my skills for when I create my own maps), and partly just because it's hypnotic, and I tend to "fall into it" easily, and it's a good way to log hours working in RPG Maker when my creative juices aren't flowing so freely. Suffice to say, it's monotonous work, but I do enjoy it.

Anyway, I worked out a makeshift floor plan for the Tower of Zot from Final Fantasy IV a while ago, but that was just an appetizer. What I think I really wanted to work on was the even greater Tower of Bab-il from the same game. I love this dungeon for so many reasons. It's so epic. Not only is it a tower tall enough to bridge two worlds - the Overworld and the Underworld - but it actually forms two mostly separate dungeons that you encounter at different points in the game. So the first time, you think to yourself, "this place is huge", and yet there are still parts of it you can see across walls and such that you haven't accessed. Then you come back later in the game (starting from the top instead of the bottom this time), and you think, "oh cool, I'm back here." And you imagine that you've explored most of it already, until you realize just how much more was left. And then there's all kinds of cool stuff going on in the tower - mad scientists, and dramatic transformations, tricks and traps; and you finally escape the second time by hijacking an airship that's docked. Going back through this tower, I'm realizing how much it has influenced me, in terms of bits and pieces of ideas that I have planned for one or more dungeons in Dragonfaith.

Well, if you're tired of just sitting around talking about it, I invite you to explore the tower yourself. I've recreated it in RPG Maker MV. I used parallax mapping for the first time, because, although low-res, the original graphics have much more character than what RPG Maker provides. The treasure chests aren't operational, there are no enemy encounters (so explore to your heart's content), but I did manage to pull together a Paladin Cecil sprite for you to lead around. I figure it's worth at least a walk-through, for old time's sake.

Tower of Bab-il: Win | Mac (130 MB)