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adamantyr

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Everything posted by adamantyr

  1. adamantyr
    I actually tested the graphics on my own 13-inch CRT NTSC monitor, so I definitely can understand that. That's one reason the text is white on the top, grey in the middle, and cyan at the bottom; it's not to look cool but to slowly dim the text to make it easier to read on a CRT screen. (Otherwise, you have to double space everything, white text on black background just SCREAMS into your eyes.) Several floors I did end up redesigning to make them "darker" with more black and less shape so they stood out against obstacles. Most of those are in buildings and dungeons. World tiles still ended up a bit busy like snow, grass, sand, etc. Dirt in dungeons I just used blue to make them darker rather than reducing pixel count. It was an interesting experiment when I realized how much NTSC influences pixel design. Luminosity actually matters more than color; bright against bright just leads to a muddy mess that you can't see at all. With only 15 colors to work with, it can get challenging to create pleasing contrasts that don't look garish or weird on modern displays but are also viewable on NTSC. I've considered if I should do a "color-blind" version of the game, and just go full monochrome with it, but as of yet no one has really asked for it. If I was doing a sequel, I'd probably make sure that any given floor tile was only 20-30% filled.
  2. adamantyr
    Well done background noise, it definitely matches up well with the original! That said, I probably won't be enabling it. I've yet to see an emulator perfectly render the classic NTSC style of image, but that may not be possible to do. For one thing, to be truly accurate it should be projected on a curved surface, like a classic CRT monitor. Also, as someone who went crazy a few years ago and bought a TON of Magnavox monitors, every single one is slightly different. So opinions on the "perfect" rendering will widely vary as well.
  3. adamantyr
    I translated TI-Trek to assembly language way back when I first got back into my TI in the early 00's. I remembered thinking the BASIC listing was truly terrible; broken up with GOTO for no logical reason at all. I didn't do speech because I honestly thought it was a gimmick in the BASIC version which slowed the game down too much. Plus speech was not something I knew how to do in assembly at the time. http://crpg.adamantyr.com/misc/titrek.htm
  4. adamantyr
    A couple years ago, Tursi laid out what would be needed for a 2nd run: - someone else needs to negotiate and pay for the license from Digital Leisure - note that this likely includes a minimum quantity up front - the packing materials need to be redesigned (I don't know exactly what, but the license holders noted any new version needs something changed ;) ) - someone else needs to pay for the packing materials (labels and boxes and insets) - someone else needs to buy the raw programmed PCBs from me wholesale - someone else needs to assemble the carts (including sourcing their own shells), sell them, and distribute them I am willing to help with contacts and introductions, and the programming of the PCBs. I have enough blank PCBs to do a fairly good sized run. However I won't do anything without license in hand. The key words here are "Someone else".
  5. adamantyr
    The main issue to a 2nd run is the licensing. Mike didn't want to pursue it because there were issues with the first run. If someone solves all that for him, that may change things.
  6. adamantyr
    It would be nice to have all the documentation converted to a modern text file format, honestly. I've dug through those files many times and I keep losing track of things. In one spot, he talks about module programming and how to approach using the SAMS in that manner, as well as detailing the loader he created, which used an expanded header so that memory images could be loaded into pages.
  7. adamantyr
    Shots fired across the bow! At both of them.
  8. adamantyr
    I was thinking about publishing a hint book. The main issue is deciding what goes into it, and what the style is. I was going to have it in a narrative form much like the Ultima hint books, but another part of me thinks it should be more in the style of Avernum, a no-frills straight-up guide on exactly what to do. Any opinions?
  9. adamantyr
    I did submit to GOG as well. They have just left the ticket lie there since January. From what I've heard this is pretty typical for them.
  10. adamantyr
  11. adamantyr
  12. adamantyr
    Yes, critical applies to melee and ranged attacks. Page 7 of the manual states: "Your character's chance to land a critical attack in melee or ranged combat."
  13. adamantyr
    Yep, you have to have all three. The game disk contains your saved game data, as well as the monster data, in addition to the game binary and loaders.
  14. adamantyr
    Yes, disks are always required. The cartridge is mainly to speed up the game load (cart is faster than disk), and it also offers a means by which you COULD run the game on a 180K drive system, albeit with a lot of swapping.
  15. adamantyr
    Thanks, Michael! If you ever want to write up full instructions on how to set the game up I'll be happy to add them to my website.
  16. adamantyr
    Correct. Fatigue costs are fixed. Generally speaking, the more you have things impacted by character choice, the more likely you will have strange imbalances in places later. I decided that having every class gain some stamina per level was a better mechanic for increasing your ability to cast spells over reducing cost. Having both would just lead to high level characters being TOO powerful.
  17. adamantyr
    It does, it will increase their duration potential.
  18. adamantyr
    Affinity adds a bonus to power's base value and double that for range value. It does not affect spell cost in fatigue. I had considered that in early design, but found it could create situations where spells became too trivially easy to cast. Instead I focused on just making the spells more noticeably potent when you had affinity. Yes, wands use ranged skill to determine hit chance. Thank you! I really did use his GIMLET system while doing a lot of the design, to address shortcomings that were all too frequent in old-school CRPG's. I suspect, though, he rated games like Ultima IV and V a long time ago, and he will not be as generous with his scores. He's admitted that Ultima III's score is a little high.
  19. adamantyr
    Also... https://store.steampowered.com/app/1539750/Realms_of_Antiquity_The_Shattered_Crown/
  20. adamantyr
    Hopefully Chet is honored and not like "So I'm DEAD here? And Irene too?!"
  21. adamantyr
  22. adamantyr
    Looks like a line got cut off by the option screen... that's hard to predict happening. After the last line he says: "The sealed gate lies in the burial mounds to the west. Seek the circle of stones." I'll add in a pause to press any key to break up the screen in that instance.
  23. adamantyr
    I considered that in early design, but decided just omitting the option to equip would tell you that you can't equip it. The main time errors happen is when you try and do something like equip an offhand item while wielding a two-handed weapon, or equipping different ammunition to what you already have.
  24. adamantyr
    Yeah, interface limitations made that impossible. There are ways around it; casting magic blade for example will allow you to damage anything.
  25. adamantyr
    The 52k was I think if you had a mini memory cartridge installed. That was during TIs support phase the only cartridge that offered RAM in the cart space address. Honestly, it just feels like if it weren't for expense (RAM chips didn't drop in price until 82-83), the 32k expansion should have been part of the base console.
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