**New Release** REALMS OF QUEST 3 (available for order!)

[Ghislain]

I announced on Lemon 64 today that I'm starting making the game "REALMS OF QUEST sixty-IV" (for the Commodore 64) :

http://www.lemon64.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=407732

Hopefully, this will turn into a successfully completed project.

[Pedro Lambrini]

Good luck! I'll keep an eye on this one too.

[rhurst]

If you do it, no doubt it will be successful -- enjoy!

[ral-clan]

By the way...I've never been able to get the D64 of this game to run under VICE. Just what are the specs it requires? I've tried a fully expanded VIC with no luck. The game loads partially and then just won't go anywhere. (I also purchased the real floppy version but haven't had time to play it on a real VIC-20 yet).

[robinsonmason]

This is the PERFECT game for the VIC-20. Well, for an old-school CRPG fan like me. I just picked my premium copy up from binary zone. I actually bought a VIC-20 on e-bay just to enjoy this as it should be enjoyed, but I've been playing in VICE so far (not sure what's wrong ral-clan, do you have "full" in VIC settings enabled? It requires a 32K expansion I'm pretty sure)

I guess I'll have to be on the lookout for a proper memory expansion cart or spring for the mega cart some day...

I would have found a way to get my father to spring for a 32K cart if this had been out in the old days.

Thanks for making this great game, I am going to review it in the coming week at the C64Walkabout blog I run.

Cheers,
-Robinson

[robinsonmason]

I announced on Lemon 64 today that I'm starting making the game "REALMS OF QUEST sixty-IV" (for the Commodore 64) :

http://www.lemon64.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=407732

Hopefully, this will turn into a successfully completed project.

Wow. I look forward to this. I'd love to purchase a shiny new floppy in the binary zone set so I don't have to deal with my decaying 80's CRPG media.

I'm a fan of Phantasie I-II on the C64 (III was a bit too busy) - and I look forward to all of the enhancements you can bring to the table like added flavor text, animations or whatnot.

How much, if any code can you recycle? It seems like a big undertaking!

[Ghislain]

By the way...I've never been able to get the D64 of this game to run under VICE. Just what are the specs it requires? I've tried a fully expanded VIC with no luck. The game loads partially and then just won't go anywhere. (I also purchased the real floppy version but haven't had time to play it on a real VIC-20 yet).

...maybe you can try posting a screenshot of what happens here?

Have you tried turning off "true drive emulation" ?

[Ghislain]

This is the PERFECT game for the VIC-20. Well, for an old-school CRPG fan like me. I just picked my premium copy up from binary zone. I actually bought a VIC-20 on e-bay just to enjoy this as it should be enjoyed, but I've been playing in VICE so far (not sure what's wrong ral-clan, do you have "full" in VIC settings enabled? It requires a 32K expansion I'm pretty sure)

I guess I'll have to be on the lookout for a proper memory expansion cart or spring for the mega cart some day...

I would have found a way to get my father to spring for a 32K cart if this had been out in the old days.

Thanks for making this great game, I am going to review it in the coming week at the C64Walkabout blog I run.

Thanks! I did not expect anyone to actually purchase a VIC-20 on the account of my game. Hopefully you'll be able to locate some form of memory expansion. Mega Cart is the most obvious one to get (and has a lot of really cool features). Even if you only have 16K expansion, there the "dunjon crawler" (basically a stripped-down version) that can be played as well.

Wow. I look forward to this. I'd love to purchase a shiny new floppy in the binary zone set so I don't have to deal with my decaying 80's CRPG media.

I'm a fan of Phantasie I-II on the C64 (III was a bit too busy) - and I look forward to all of the enhancements you can bring to the table like added flavor text, animations or whatnot.

How much, if any code can you recycle? It seems like a big undertaking!

While I am re-using a lot of the code for Realms III, it will have additional classes, races, spells, items, monsters, etc. I want the game to completely be in PETSCII graphics at first before graphics and sound are added. If I do finish it with a 'commercial grade' Psytronik release, I will probably include the PETSCII version as well. The reason being that I'm a big fan of 1970s RPG games.

Realms III only had about 10 or so non-weapon magic items, I want Realms IV to have hundreds of them. I even want there to be cursed items as well. The ultimate CRPG for me would be to have a plethora of magic items as plentiful and diverse as the AD&D Dungeon Master's Guide (1st Edition).

I do feel a little bit bad about making the sequel a C64 game, but just as the Realms III release contained a complete anthology of my own VIC-20 games, I want the Realms IV release to have all of the C64 games I made as well.

It is a huge undertaking, and I confess that I'm taking it easy this time. Good thing that I have a source code base that I can build on.

[robinsonmason]

Ghislain, thanks for the reply! I missed this response until today. Yep, I got my VIC-20 and was ready to roll with the game - sadly my 1541 drive I've had for my 64 since the 90's but stuck in the closet for a couple of years is out of alignment and my attempts to fix it were for naught. But I'm still enjoying the game in VICE!

Things I love:

1. The fact that when you choose a spell level you see the actual spell names -- no memorization required like Ultima or Phantasie of some list of numbers or letters. For that matter, all of the "R" to Run commands are listed out -- again, who wants to have to look at a manual for commands?

2. Nice 3D dungeons with features in them -- in a VIC-20! -- they look good from what little I've seen of them so far (see below)

3. Ultima/Phantasie-style overland map.

4. Retro-cool graphics in the Inn, Temple, etc.

5. Tight gameplay -- unforgiving and challenging.

I just got my first "Special Item" today - a +10 Flail - cool!

Suggestions:

1. For low level adventuring in ROQ III, turning in gold for XP is very dicey. If you drop ALL gold into XP, then get poisoned by monsters that do not drop gold after you kill them, well, I've found myself lost in those situations and glad for frequent save games! So....I would suggest a time limit on the poison. Say 40 turns? That way if you save your healing up you at least have a chance to survive. Otherwise you're dead and looking at a hard road to 500 gold to rez at the temple, unless you have a level 3+ Priest in your party when someone is poisoned and you're out of gold. For this reason I've found myself sticking close to town with my party and avoiding the dungeons until later. Am I doing it wrong? Will fountains cure poison in dungeons? As a tip to players I'd suggest pumping all Gold for XP into your Priest at least until the character hits level 3...!

2. Allow Charm Monster to work a bit more frequently on low level monsters as I went about a dozen times before finally getting it to work. Otherwise it makes more sense always to cast Magic Missile. Unless...see #3...

3. I'd love it if in ROQ Sixty-4 you would add the Bard's Tale-like ability to add certain (all?) monsters to your party. If you limit it to simple beasts like Giant Rats or whatever they could have their special ability - poison, petrify, whatever, but otherwise work like Monks using "unarmed" attacks with a scaling claw/bite. If leveling them is too much of an involved process, a player could use them as-is for a while, then drop and charm/tame a new creature after outgrowing the non-leveling addition to your party. The ability to add monsters to one slot in your party was one of my favorite features of the Bard's Tale series. (Not sure when they added that - III?) This could also be helpful if you lose the beast in a dungeon to poison or something - you could drop it and add a new creature.

3. A flavor description of the other towns on the map would be neat (though I've only been to two so far).

4. Auto-map feature for Dungeons (probably only realistic for the ROQ Sixty-4 version). Either an auto-map or "flavor" objects in hallways or occasional torches, cobwebs, etc. on walls to help remember where you are visually. Either way. I was never very good with the old Wizardry type dungeons!

[Ghislain]

Ghislain, thanks for the reply! I missed this response until today. Yep, I got my VIC-20 and was ready to roll with the game - sadly my 1541 drive I've had for my 64 since the 90's but stuck in the closet for a couple of years is out of alignment and my attempts to fix it were for naught. But I'm still enjoying the game in VICE!

Thanks for your kind words. It's good to hear from those who are CRPG fans what they think about the game.

It's really too bad that your disk drive doesn't work. I think the game should be played on the real hardware.

Things I love:

1. The fact that when you choose a spell level you see the actual spell names -- no memorization required like Ultima or Phantasie of some list of numbers or letters. For that matter, all of the "R" to Run commands are listed out -- again, who wants to have to look at a manual for commands?

That's the one thing I am most proud about--the interface. It can even be controlled with a joystick (firebutton = RETURN key). Phantasie has an almost-perfect interface, except that you have to enter a spell number. Ultima, as great as it is, requires you to memorize the keyboard commands.

2. Nice 3D dungeons with features in them -- in a VIC-20! -- they look good from what little I've seen of them so far (see below)

3. Ultima/Phantasie-style overland map.

4. Retro-cool graphics in the Inn, Temple, etc.

5. Tight gameplay -- unforgiving and challenging.

I just got my first "Special Item" today - a +10 Flail - cool!

Congrats on getting a +10 weapon! I think the most powerful weapon I ever found was a +8 crossbow.

Suggestions:

1. For low level adventuring in ROQ III, turning in gold for XP is very dicey. If you drop ALL gold into XP, then get poisoned by monsters that do not drop gold after you kill them, well, I've found myself lost in those situations and glad for frequent save games! So....I would suggest a time limit on the poison. Say 40 turns? That way if you save your healing up you at least have a chance to survive. Otherwise you're dead and looking at a hard road to 500 gold to rez at the temple, unless you have a level 3+ Priest in your party when someone is poisoned and you're out of gold. For this reason I've found myself sticking close to town with my party and avoiding the dungeons until later. Am I doing it wrong? Will fountains cure poison in dungeons? As a tip to players I'd suggest pumping all Gold for XP into your Priest at least until the character hits level 3...!

This is a fair criticism for the "cash in your gold for XP" option at the castle. I implemented this as a tribute to Telengard. But when I added a price for sleeping at the Inn, I should have also allowed for an option to type in the amount of gold you can cash in. By the time I recognized this "feature", it was too close to the release date. I only had a handful of bytes and it would have required a few dev and test cycles.

There is a work-around, however. Before you cash in your gold, buy an item from the store (say for 50 GP). After you cash in your gold, go back to the store and sell the item you just bought at half price (25 GP).

2. Allow Charm Monster to work a bit more frequently on low level monsters as I went about a dozen times before finally getting it to work. Otherwise it makes more sense always to cast Magic Missile. Unless...see #3...

What's the intelligence of the spell caster who was trying to cast it? Eventually, the stun/kill spells work more effectively at higher levels as well.

3. I'd love it if in ROQ Sixty-4 you would add the Bard's Tale-like ability to add certain (all?) monsters to your party. If you limit it to simple beasts like Giant Rats or whatever they could have their special ability - poison, petrify, whatever, but otherwise work like Monks using "unarmed" attacks with a scaling claw/bite. If leveling them is too much of an involved process, a player could use them as-is for a while, then drop and charm/tame a new creature after outgrowing the non-leveling addition to your party. The ability to add monsters to one slot in your party was one of my favorite features of the Bard's Tale series. (Not sure when they added that - III?) This could also be helpful if you lose the beast in a dungeon to poison or something - you could drop it and add a new creature.

For Realms IV, I'm considering adding the ability to summon/capture/subdue monsters. I could go with reserving slot #7 for this, or even add a seperate screen to allow 6 additional slots to allow multiple monsters. I could really add a greater variety of spells. Of course, the length of time that a monster stays with your party will vary. A wizard's FIND FAMILIAR will basically stay until it dies. A "charmed" monster will only stay with the party until the effect of the spell wears off. A subdued dragon (like in first edition AD&D), will leave the party after you rest at the inn. Something like this will be a bit difficult to program but I think it can be done.

3. A flavor description of the other towns on the map would be neat (though I've only been to two so far).

I'm going to be creating separate maps for towns, so they'll most likely have names.

4. Auto-map feature for Dungeons (probably only realistic for the ROQ Sixty-4 version). Either an auto-map or "flavor" objects in hallways or occasional torches, cobwebs, etc. on walls to help remember where you are visually. Either way. I was never very good with the old Wizardry type dungeons!

Auto-map is not really a high priority for me, but I do like the idea of placing objects on walls to make certain rooms/passages look a bit different. I could even place a tiny dot on a wall when a THIEF or RANGER's ability to spot these things become successful--it will be up to the player to spot the anomaly on the screen in order to OPEN SECRET DOOR.

[robinsonmason]

It's really too bad that your disk drive doesn't work. I think the game should be played on the real hardware.

Well, I'm not counting her (my 1541) out yet! Still a couple of things I can try.

There is a work-around, however. Before you cash in your gold, buy an item from the store (say for 50 GP). After you cash in your gold, go back to the store and sell the item you just bought at half price (25 GP).

Nice idea - even a dagger at 10G would work for a one time rest at the inn. But a Mace at 20 would be safer and get you 2 visits.

What's the intelligence of the spell caster who was trying to cast it? Eventually, the stun/kill spells work more effectively at higher levels as well.

Pretty sure it's 18 on a human mage. I did notice the spell level caps and am regretting my Priest with a 16 or 17 wisdom now -- hoping that some random buff or something will raise it in a dungeon.

For Realms IV, I'm considering adding the ability to summon/capture/subdue monsters. I could go with reserving slot #7 for this, or even add a seperate screen to allow 6 additional slots to allow multiple monsters.

This sounds great. I think Phantasie allowed elementals and such to be temporarily summoned (or purchased?) into an extra slot --- or perhaps even required you give up a slot for them. I'd be very happy with just a slot #7 reserved.

I do like the idea of placing objects on walls to make certain rooms/passages look a bit different. I could even place a tiny dot on a wall when a THIEF or RANGER's ability to spot these things become successful--it will be up to the player to spot the anomaly on the screen in order to OPEN SECRET DOOR.

I remember this well from Ultima 3, etc. - but the idea of making the dot visible based on skill is a neat one.

Thanks for the replies!

[Ghislain]

This sounds great. I think Phantasie allowed elementals and such to be temporarily summoned (or purchased?) into an extra slot --- or perhaps even required you give up a slot for them. I'd be very happy with just a slot #7 reserved.

Maybe I'll just go with a free slot in #7 for that purpose then. No need to overthink or overdo the monster slot concept.

I remember this well from Ultima 3, etc. - but the idea of making the dot visible based on skill is a neat one.

The idea came up to me as I was replying to you. I'm a big fan of simple game mechanics.

[English Invader]

I do feel a little bit bad about making the sequel a C64 game.

No need to feel bad. I, for one, am very interested to see what you can do with a C64. Good luck.

[robinsonmason]

I posted a (positive, of course) review up on my blog: http://c64walkabout.com/2010/04/13/the- ... tware.aspx

[Royas]

been away for a long while.

glad to see the game turned out so good