[**Commercial Release Is Now Available**] Realms of Quest IV

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orion70
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Post by orion70 »

I think music is always a plus for a rpg, both in terms of added atmosphere, and as a comment of good or bad moments in gameplay.
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darkatx
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Post by darkatx »

I am jazzed to be helping out - been out of action due to RL but I'm slowly coming back ;)

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Learning all the time... :)
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Ghislain
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Post by Ghislain »

darkatx has been doing GREAT work for the printed manual that is going to be included with the game. I can't wait to hold a copy of this in my hands.

I'll be taking a break for the next few weeks--I've been working on this project for at least an hour a day (and sometimes more) every day since I announced this project back in March. I'll be traveling during my vacation. When I come back, I'll be doing the following things to wrap it up:

1)Creating a splash screen for Realms IV. This will be very small and modest to make room for #2...
2)Background music routines for 32K version of Realms IV. I think the option of having music will just add a little something extra to the game. And the player can of course, turn it off.
3)Creating a splash and game selection screen for Realms I & II for side 2
4)Creating a splash screen for Ultimate Quest (C64) that will also be on side 2.

While I think that Realms III will still be considered the definitive version of the series in terms of graphics and sound, Realms IV beats it in terms of intangibles like gameplay. Overall, I am satisfied with the work I've done on this project so far.
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Ghislain
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Post by Ghislain »

I just spent the afternoon adding backgorund music to Realms IV. I also managed to fit it into the 24K version--so 32K won't be needed to play the game with music.

My next step: creating a splash screen.
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Ghislain
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Post by Ghislain »

I just designed a splash screen:

Image

(the above image is based on one of darkatx's drawings in the manual)

So with the added music routines plus the splash screen, the D64 image has 8 blocks remaining. That was a close call.

I also just implemented POKE 808,100 to disable RUN STOP/RESTORE. Does anybody here know of any negative effects of using that POKE? From my brief testing, there doesn't appear to be any.
Last edited by Ghislain on Thu Oct 10, 2013 3:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Mike
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Post by Mike »

Ghislain wrote:I also just implemented POKE 808,100 to disable RUN STOP/RESTORE. Does anybody here know of any negative effects of using that POKE?
It's surely one of those POKEs that were published by dozens-a-mill in the magazines of those days.

808/809 is the STOP vector, and points to the routine that is supposed to detect, whether the STOP key has been pressed. In that case, it clears the current input and output channels, and returns with the Z flag set.

POKE808,100 will point the STOP vector to the following remnants of the SET TIME routine in the VIC-20 KERNAL:

Code: Select all

.F764  A1 A4       LDA ($A4,X)
.F766  A0 78       LDY #$78
.F768  85 A2       STA $A2
.F76A  86 A1       STX $A1
.F76C  84 A0       STY $A0
.F76E  58          CLI
.F76F  60          RTS
Actually, the first 'instruction' happens to be the operand field of the LDX $A1 instruction which is located 1 byte earlier. While this clears the Z flag by loading a non-0 value into Y, this POKE will trash the jiffy clock each time the STOP key is tested.

Another popular method, which just disables the STOP key halts the jiffy clock entirely, so it's not the best choice here, either.

I'm taking a look, if there exists a better solution which still is short and disables both STOP and STOP/RESTORE without adverse effects.

(BTW: the top lines of the HOME, DEL and STOP keys denote the shifted actions - with RUN meaning: 'run program from tape' ;))
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Ghislain
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Post by Ghislain »

Mike wrote:
Ghislain wrote:I also just implemented POKE 808,100 to disable RUN STOP/RESTORE. Does anybody here know of any negative effects of using that POKE?
It's surely one of those POKEs that were published by dozens-a-mill in the magazines of those days.

808/809 is the STOP vector, and points to the routine that is supposed to detect, whether the STOP key has been pressed. In that case, it clears the current input and output channels, and returns with the Z flag set.

POKE808,100 will point the STOP vector to the following remnants of the SET TIME routine in the VIC-20 KERNAL:

Code: Select all

.F764  A1 A4       LDA ($A4,X)
.F766  A0 78       LDY #$78
.F768  85 A2       STA $A2
.F76A  86 A1       STX $A1
.F76C  84 A0       STY $A0
.F76E  58          CLI
.F76F  60          RTS
Actually, the first 'instruction' happens to be the operand field of the LDX $A1 instruction which is located 1 byte earlier. While this clears the Z flag by loading a non-0 value into Y, this POKE will trash the jiffy clock each time the STOP key is tested.

Another popular method, which just disables the STOP key halts the jiffy clock entirely, so it's not the best choice here, either.

I'm taking a look, if there exists a better solution which still is short and disables both STOP and STOP/RESTORE without adverse effects.

(BTW: the top lines of the HOME, DEL and STOP keys denote the shifted actions - with RUN meaning: 'run program from tape' ;))
Thank you for your response with your wealth of knowledge and information, much appreciated. I do see that POKE 808,100 does affect the TI and TI$ values. I also tested my game by pressing RUN/STOP repeatedly while disk access was occurring, and all that did was effectively pause the loading--once I had stopped pressing RUN/STOP, the disk loading resumed properly as far as I can see.

Since Realms IV doesn't use TI or TI$ values at all, it looks like POKE 808,100 is a fairly safe option in this case.
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Ghislain
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Post by Ghislain »

Image

This is the menu for side 2 when you boot from the VIC-20, letting you choose to play Realms I or Realms II. Booting from the C64 will load Ultimate Quest.
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Ghislain
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Post by Ghislain »

Name: Ultimate Quest: Catacomb
Author: Reslain
Released: October 14, 2013 (originally created in 1989)
Requirements: Commodore 64 + Disk Drive
Description: Vintage CRPG from 1989 that was almost finished is now finally available.

Me and a friend in high school started programming a computer role playing game for the C64 in 1988. It was ambitious for us at the time; it features a city map, wilderness areas and a dungeon to explore. By mid-1989, while we we had done most of the elements featured in the game that you see here, they were quite disjointed and it was full of bugs. So we abandoned it in a semi-finished state. 24 years after the project had been abandoned, I decided to finally finish it so that it can be part of the upcoming Psytronik release, Realms of Quest IV (for the VIC-20).

All of the maps, graphics and original text have been preserved. The main improvements was debugging the game, making sure that all the elements are properly connected and rewriting the slow BASIC routines to draw the maps on the screen into fast assembly language. A new splash screen to introduce the game was created, and it will be included in Psytronik release.

The instructions on how to play can be read from the main menu.

Image

Download.

Discuss.
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orion70
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Post by orion70 »

Very nice! It makes me wanting to go in the garage and hunt for that minor Commodore computer... :P
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Ghislain
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Post by Ghislain »

orion70 wrote:Very nice! It makes me wanting to go in the garage and hunt for that minor Commodore computer... :P
The disks for Ultimate Quest were quite literally preserved in my parents' basement crawl space for a good 10+ years before I finally copied them to digital D64 format.

I wonder how many 8-bit CRPG projects that teenagers worked on in the 1980s that were never released to the public just sitting idle on floppy disks just waiting to be discovered at garage sales?
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Post by Jeff-20 »

I still hold hope that a notebook full of my handwritten games may exist somewhere in my mother's possessions. hahaha This is an inspiring story of preservation!
High Scores, Links, and Jeff's Basic Games page.
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Ghislain
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Re: [**4 Level Demo is now Available**] Realms of Quest IV

Post by Ghislain »

Name: Realms of Quest IV (Official Release)
Author: Ghislain
Released by Psytronik on: January 19, 2014
Requirements: 16K/24K VIC-20 (for Realms IV), Unexpanded VIC-20 (for Realms I+II) and Commodore 64 (for Ultimate Quest: Catacomb). A disk drive is also required.

Image

The adventure continues in Realms of Quest IV where you assemble a group of heroes to do battle against the mysterious Time Lords inside the Dungeon. Thus befalls you, brave adventurer, to accept the challenge and venture forth into the labyrinth below to ensure that evil and chaos do not rise. If you can survive the perils that await beneath, there lay riches, glory and the immortality of your name.

Realms of Quest IV Features:

• 10 Dungeon Levels which have been designed by hand with numerous rooms, secret passages, riddles and traps to traverse and overcome.
• 10 races and 12 classes to choose from to create 8 players for your party.
• You will meet other heroes to help and guide you during your quest.
• Over 100 unique graphical portraits that depict the various monsters that you'll encounter as you travel throughout the Dungeon.
• Over 135 types of equipment to represent weapons, armor, gems, jewelry, potions, scrolls and miscellaneous magical items.
• 60 magic spells that you can cast.
• 3 game fonts to choose from.
• A 16 page printed instruction manual is also included.

All of this for your Commodore VIC-20, a disk drive and 16K of expansion memory. 24K is recommended as it features reduced disk loading times, an improved 3D graphical perspective and game music.

Side two features the Special Anniversary Editions of Realms of Quest I & II for the Unexpanded VIC-20. Also featured is the long-awaited Ultimate Quest: Catacomb for the Commodore 64 - originally created in 1989, now finally completed.

Image

To buy a physical copy of the game on disk and a 16 page printed instruction manual in it's very own plastic jewel case, go here http://www.binaryzone.org/retrostore/in ... cts_id=631

Go here to get a lower-priced budget disk-only version http://www.binaryzone.org/retrostore/in ... cts_id=632

You can also obtain a digital copy of the game here http://www.binaryzone.org/retrostore/in ... cts_id=633

Discuss here http://sleepingelephant.com/ipw-web/bul ... =10&t=6350
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Re: [**Commercial Release Is Now Available**] Realms of Ques

Post by PhotoJim »

Do the games run properly on NTSC machines rather than PAL?

Very curious... looks like a terrific set of games.
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Ghislain
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Re: [**Commercial Release Is Now Available**] Realms of Ques

Post by Ghislain »

PhotoJim wrote:Do the games run properly on NTSC machines rather than PAL?

Very curious... looks like a terrific set of games.
Thank you. All of the 4 games included here can run on NTSC and PAL.
"A slave is one who waits for someone to come and free him." -- Ezra Pound
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