Hey guys. So, this has been popping around my head lately. When you write your character using magic like "Farore's Wind" or an item like "Roc's Cape," you do go into how it works? Stuff like gravitational fields, re-arrangement of molecules across Hyrule Field, and the laws of thermodynamics? Or, do you prefer to just state the result and work from there? There is no real right or wrong answer, I'm just wondering what people's personal preferences are. Personally, I like going into how magic tampers with the laws of physics. I get a thrill out of it, and it's part of why I'm playing with the idea of going into Engineering R&D. What about you?
It really depends on the situation/treasure itself, for me. Some items I prefer a more "magical" approach, because it lends itself better to the description of the item's effects. That, and some treasures are either inexplicable, or would take far too much time to try and attempt an explanation, that's it's just not worth it to take a physics standpoint. But the reverse is true, too. That said, I always er on the side of physics, when it comes to treasure creation. It's my belief that a treasure should not outright break the laws of physics, only bend them (unless the effect isn't terribly powerful, i.e. the Bottomless Bottle treasure). I think a lot of that comes from a need for balance in the treasure system, because I am constantly asking myself "What would it be like to be on the receiving end of this treasure, and how might I react?"
I never really go deeply into the workings of spells or items used by my characters. RPing for me is more about the characters than about the specifics of their abilities and equipment, so at most I will go into the incantation and gestures used by my mages to work up their spells or into the physical description of an item. Besides, I don't want to think too much on things other than plot and what goes on in my characters' head. That might have something to do with my studying psychology rather than engineering, but that's my approach to almost all my writing. (It's also why action sequences are so damn hard for me.)
Well for Roc's cape, I figure it works something like Batman's cape does in Batman Begins. And even then it probably needs magic to do so. Most treasures in Zelda however have some sort of mechanical nature to it, like the Spinner or the Hookshot. Things that are clearly magic are usually labeled as such.
Zelda definitely has a bit of a unique approach to this problem, I think. While magic is the typical glue of making any fantasy universe make sense, Zelda actually avoids magic quite often. Most puzzles and devices thrown at Link really do have a mechanical vibe to them. While the Hookshot performs some incredible feats, we're expected to realize by the art that the device is probably mechanical in nature. You see something similar with Armos Knights in Minish Cap being somewhat mechanical or with items like the Magnetic Gloves or the Iron Boots. When a treasure is magical, they even go the extra mile there a bit too and use magic to explain the gaps. For example, the Deku Leaf in tWW seems like it could make sense as a sailing device, but it costs magic to compensate for the fact that supporting Link is probably a bit of a stretch. The tunics from OoT are another example of this; wearing a Goron tunic protects you from heat, but even to the regions not strictly covered by the tunic. The magic takes it kind of to the next level. Same thing with some of the masks in both OoT and MM. Some of it may be a stretch, but there's a certain vibe that a lot of things really are the two at work together. Magic is definitely less common in Zelda than a lot of other franchises, though, which can be a lot of fun for looking at varying solutions or explanations.
I personally love the marrying of magic and physics ideas. It's always nice when magic is quantifiable and specific for me. For example if you look at the harry potter series you're not actually ever really sure what it is that makes one wizard stronger than another, its just kind of assumed, whereas in something like the inheritance series (the Eragon books) its almost like it's just another law of physics. It takes into account the idea that energy is never made our destroyed only changed and so magic is the manipulation of energies within your body or other objects around you. It's even effected by distance and lengths of time. That I think is genius and if or when I include magic in any RPing it will most likely take a very scientific form.
I don't know how to do spoilers since the update, so beware: the below is a spiel on why magic does not work in conjunction with physics (although inheritance WORKED! OMGOMGOMG SQUEEE FANBOY). However, wherever possible I use physics. I love physics. I love figuring out how the world works. However, something that comes along with that is the desire to manipulate those rules to figure out the best plan of action. This is why engineers and physicists have developed such awesome stuff recently, including batteries and memory-storage devices. There would be no ipods, laptops, or even reasonable computers without the weirder sections of physics. That desire also makes magic that BENDS the rules of physics ridiculous for me. For example, the JUMP spell seems simple in and of itself, however, these are the ways it can work via physics: a) Body made lighter via decrease in base mass of the matter b) Body made (technically) lighter via increase in magnitude of forces (except weight force) via telekinesis. c) Body made lighter via removal of matter. [Note: Simply decreasing the weight force would still apply the normal rules of inertia to an object, and wouldn't allow a person to jump that much higher, simply increase their hang time. Also, this is an over-simplified list, but most other options result in INCREASED brokenness.] Here are the ways that any reasonable scientist would make these spells broken: For a); Control over the actual mass of an object is INSANE. Before we get into any of the huge things, just imagine being able to adjust the target, not the scale of base mass decrease. Imagining the insane things you can do yet? [Note: If not, then physics isn't your field.] For b); Yeah, this form of telekinesis isn't that broken, I hear you say. Except it is. Imagine just focusing this spell around a smaller location, or shifting around the forces manipulated, or changing the scale of magnification. Can I hear "Perpetual Motion Machine"? [Note: If you haven't heard of a perpetual motion machine, then physics REALLY isn't your field.] For c); I put this in just for perspective, as it's the LEAST broken of the three options. Still allows you to kill anyone, though. Now, while I understand that this post is a little rude, and on the limits of the extreme, the points made here are still valid, as someone, somewhere within a world like that would be trying to make awesome out of nothing, and magic is obvious. Which is why I just say "Magic Spells are Magic", and f*** the actual physics of it. ((Which makes me sad, but hey! I'd be consistently attempting to ruin the forum by accident otherwise.))
