grimlick

This is the final entry in the SwordQuest 'Jr' series. WaterWorld is pretty much the easiest game of the three anyway, so making it 'Jr' wasn't nearly as hard as the other two. One significant tweak here, I didn't like how the game 'reset' after each clue, so I disabled that feature. Unfortunately, there is a considerable pause after the clue before you can start playing again. But other than that it seems to work fine. Another tweak was getting rid of all of the in-game hints. They just seemed annoying without any real benefit. Each room needs at least 4 items to get a clue. The clue will help with the next room, as long as you work from the top room to bottom room in that order. The final clue will actually help in AirWorld, if you are able to get a copy of that game. Although there is no official PAL version of WaterWorld, a conversion was made by Omegamatrix (among many other PAL conversions), so I hacked that one to match the NTSC version. Hopefully it works as intended. Swordquest Waterworld Jr.bin Swordquest Waterworld Jr (PAL).bin I actually have some more ideas for the three SwordQuest games, but they must wait until I get much better at understanding and manipulating 2600 code. Until then, thank you all!

Swordquest Fireworld is a very buggy game (and the PAL version even more so, if you can believe that). Plus it is ridiculously difficult. I'm assuming that was in order to limit the number of contest entrants. I'm surprised anyone was ever able go get even one clue, let alone all of them without some kind of hints list. Anyway, I think I was able to get it to a point where it can be completed in one short session. It's not quite as internally independent as I would have liked, the main issue being that there is no way to know what room you are in unless you memorize either the path to get there or the color scheme of the room itself. I made it so that the item you need to bring into the first five rooms is the item that makes that challenge easier. Unfortunately this doesn't apply to the second set of five rooms. You're going to have to remember that item and go and get it back to use it again. Apart from those issues, I think it's a serviceable game. If not exactly fun, at least it is playable and beat-able. As you can see, the game is all "FOOD and DAGGER" related. I really wanted to incorporate that element. The first clue is important if you want to play the game from beginning to end (though not necessary, the clues can be obtained in any order). Swordquest Fireworld Jr (v2).bin Swordquest Fireworld Jr (PAL)(v2).bin Just a quick edit: these weren't quite 'jr' enough for me, so I shortened the challenges, made it so you didn't really have to be carrying any objects, and made the last 2 clues easier to deal with.

I was thinking it would be fun to make a program that re-creates the board game part of The Quest for the Rings so that the entire game can be played on a computer. However, since I have very limited programming experience, I thought it would be easier to do it in Microsoft Excel. No such luck. It looks like I might have to get into some macro programming in order to get this to do even part of what I want it to do. I have no macro experience either, so that doesn't help much. So far all I've been able to do is set up some randomization tables for the different scenarios that you can input as the "Ringmaster" in the game. Here's what I've been able to come up with so far: There needs to be 3 levels of randomization: Level 1: The castles. According to the manual there are 23 castles consisting of 7 dungeons, 6 crystal caverns, 6 shifting halls and 4 infernos. Level 2: The rings. There are 10 rings scattered within the 23 castles. Level 3: Monsters. There are 3 dragons and 3 Nightmares. All 6 out of 23, there can't be both dragons and nightmares. I was able to set up this simple table: Each time the table is reset the numbers at the top change to make a different scenario This will get you through the game eventually, but there are issues with it. Namely, it doesn't take into account what has been done before so you can encounter dragons more than three times, for instance. I would eventually like to implement the following features: -Setting up the board game map (with a picture of the actual map as the background) with 23 castles that can be uncovered to reveal the different scenarios. -Expanding the randomization to the 23 castles. Setting them out as the board game would be, and limiting them to what was able to be done during actual game play. -Implementing a movement counter to keep track of the player's turns. -And while this is ridiculously beyond my capabilities, it would be awesome to have a program that not only plays the board game, but also automatically re-directs you to an emulator that plays the game with the current scenario from the board. Any help, tips, ideas, advice, criticism or harsh language would be greatly appreciated. questrand.xlsx P.S. Another element of the game is the keyboard overlay for the Odyssey2 system itself. And if you don't have an actual Odyssey2 and overlay, this can be kind of a pain getting the keys right. I've been able to come up with a workable solution by using a keyboard I got from a local thrift store: I'm obviously not an artist either, but you get the idea. Actually, I think it might be fun to make some 3-D printed keycaps in the shape of the elements, but this isn't the right type of keyboard for that.

It took a lot longer than it probably should have, but her is the PAL version of the Swordquest Jr hack. It is as close to the NTSC version as I could get it, but the PAL clue system is weirdly different and I couldn't quite figure out the number system. (If anyone has some tips to fix that, I would greatly appreciate it.) Swordquest Earthworld Jr (PAL)(v1).bin Well, onwards to the Fireworld hack, should be a lot of fun figuring that one out!

I have a idea and a bit of a challenge for other owners of the Atari 50 anniversary collection. I would like to see if the same icons show up on the other game platforms. I have the Nintendo Switch version, and from what I can see, the other platforms available are: Microsoft Windows PlayStation 4 PlayStation 5 Xbox One Xbox Series X/S Atari VCS *Nintendo Switch (the one I have) Here are the instructions to get to the icons: Finish the game (there are a couple of walk-throughs on YouTube if you need them). After placing the four staffs in room 8 and being transported to the 'sword area', there doesn't seem to be anything you can do except walk around a little. However, after 7 and a half minutes in the area, the sky gets slightly darker, like a slow sunset. After another seven and a half minutes it gets even more dark. It continues this pattern over and over every seven and a half minutes. After about an hour or so of gradual darkening, the sky becomes completely black. You can still see the player and the rest of the room, but the sky and the hilt of the sword are dark. This 'night' lasts for about an half hour and then the sky finally starts becoming a little brighter, like a slow sunrise. Pretty soon it's bright enough to see that the sword hilt is completely gone from the stone (although I don't know if that is significant). And if you continue waiting for another hour or so when the sky is at it's brightest, there suddenly appears the four symbols in the air. I've waited at this point for another couple of hours, but it seems that this is all it's going to do. If you have time to kill and want to get to try this challenge, please post your screenshots so that we can compare. I'm hoping there are some further clues here, because if not, I will have to think of something else. Thank you, everyone!

Yes, I've been working on some ideas for the other two. I've actually started on the Fireworld Jr hack, but the Fireworld game itself is so buggy that I'm having a difficult time making it do what I want it to do. As a bit of a preview, I'm trying to incorporate the 'food' and 'dagger' clue that was given in Earthworld, but never followed up on.

It is do-able. However the PAL game layout is a bit different from the NTSC, as far as rooms and clues and the like, so it might have to be a different version, somewhat. I'll see what I can do.

I've always though that the Swordquest games were ridiculously hard to figure out, if not impossible without a step-by-step guide. So I decided to make a version that can be figured out within the game itself and not reliant on any outside clues like a manual or walk-through guide. The basic game is the same. Items must be found and placed in certain rooms. However, this has process has been organized and streamlined so that it's not as random as it was. The graphics have been changed to make the item-to-room matching easier. The clues, the items belonging to a particular room, and the number of items needed for each room has been changed to create a more logical progression to the placements. The clues no longer point to the comic book, but instead show what the next room/item is. The challenges are a bit easier (maybe too easy?). The difficulty level in the original was way beyond my ability without slowing the emulator down, so this helps immensely. I would love to see other variations of this game if anyone is open to re-hacking this hack or going back to the original and starting from there. If interested, I can post the notes that I have that will help in easily hacking the game. Special thanks to Asaki for posting the Earthworld source code deconstruction. That was invaluable in figuring out what does what in the code. Check out his Swordquest Earthworld "tournament" hack in the hacks section (it is what inspired this whole thing here.) Swordquest Earthworld Jr.bin

While playing the Nintendo Switch version of the Atari 50th Anniversary game compilation, at the end of the Swordquest Airworld game, there looks like there is another clue. Maybe for a more satisfying ending? A completion to the Talisman/Chalice/Crown poem? Are they finally giving away the last two prizes? One can only hope. Anyway, I can't figure this one out. Any ideas?

Yep, I played through the 4 versions of Earthworld (NTSC, PAL, BETA and Tribute), the 3 versions of Fireworld (NTSC, PAL and Tournament), and the only Waterworld version that there seems to be. Plus, just for fun I played the games in 'fried' mode, which was very interesting. In fried Earthworld, all the items, including the warriors sword, start out in Virgo, and for some reason the Aquarius, Taurus and Sagittarius challenges are a lot easier. In fried Fireworld, all the items start out in room 'J' (the diamond room), but the game can't be completed because you are unable to shoot bullets (or whatever they are ) in the snake challenges. Weird. In fried Waterworld, all the items start out in room I. But after you get the first clue, the game resets and everything is back where it's supposed to be. All in all, they are a fun little set of games, providing you have the solutions to them ahead of time. Airworld kind of did what your Tribute version did and provide clues for completing the game right there in the manual, so that made it a nice finale to the series.

I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed this tribute version of the game. I only found it just recently, after the Airworld game was released on the Atari anniversary collection, and I wanted to go through the first three games before tackling that one. I think your version is what the original games should have been like if they had put more thought and effort into them. I love how the poems are a guide, encouraging the completion of the game, rather than making it so ridiculously complex that there will hardly be anyone to claim the physical prizes. Which is the only reason I can think of for them to make the game so impossible. Anyway, I'm not a coder by any means, so most of this conversation went over my head, but I just wanted to say that your effort here is greatly appreciated and it makes me wonder at the possibilities that would make the other two games more enjoyable in the same manner. Thanks again!