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[ALL PHYSICAL COPIES SOLD OUT!] Realms of Quest V for the VIC-20 (digital version is available)

hitfan

Double Sided Games
Developer
Joined
May 15, 2009
Messages
310
Work continues on the game. I do wonder if I'll ever see the light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak. But even if the project takes more than a year to complete, I take heart that it took Brian Wilson 38 years to finally complete SMiLE and Victor Hugo 17 years to write Les Miserables. Cleve's been working at Grimoire for 20+ years now. Hopefully this game won't take nearly as long (though you could say that Realms 1 through 4 are basically working prototypes of the current game).

I added 2 features to the combat module:

Auto-Hit: This makes the entire party perform basic weapon attacks for the next combat round.

Repeat: This makes the entire party perform their previous actions for the next combat round.

If any repeating action requires further input from the user (like casting a spell, using an item or selecting a monster row while using a missile weapon), then the player will be prompted for those inputs.

 
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hitfan

Double Sided Games
Developer
Joined
May 15, 2009
Messages
310
And thats vic-20? ZOIKS!

So IV was c64?

I noticed the psytronik site offered a variety of games for systems? I take it physical copies have old school boxes and media? What about manuals?

I suppose one could print one out. Seems anything can be done these days old school.

Any chances you will go back to previous titles of Realms of quest and update or change to a similar style as V? I realize the first two were solo and not party mechanic.

While I've pondered making them for the C64 at one time, all of these games have been made for the VIC-20 after thinking it over.

Psytronik specializes in publishing new games for old systems. They pretty much produce packaging and manuals on an on-needed basis for each sale.

Now that you asked, I'm actually considering "re-skinning" the first "Realms of Quest" with Realms V's interface, graphics and music. And it wouldn't be all that hard to do, but I want to focus on finishing the current game first.
 

hitfan

Double Sided Games
Developer
Joined
May 15, 2009
Messages
310
BRACE YOURSELVES FOR THE ULTIMATE INCLINE...

Today, I'm programming the Ally combat option. What this does is allow the player's Ally/Summoned Monster/Controlled Monster to perform a combat option in the player's stead.

Here, Morgannah the Wizard inspects the ally in her inventory, which is an Ogre she controlled by way of magic in a previous combat encounter.



Now Morgannah commands the Ogre to perform an attack in her stead. Drats, it was only able to do 1 hit point of damage.




And because every player is allowed to have an ally and there are 10 players in a party -- the party size is effectively comprised of 20 members.

And any kills that your Ally performs in combat is given to the controlling player's experience for the purpose of leveling up!
 

kain611

Augur
Joined
Dec 2, 2007
Messages
219
My first post in this thread. Looks solid and I am feeling up for this!! Bet you still be Cleve on releasing ;
 

hitfan

Double Sided Games
Developer
Joined
May 15, 2009
Messages
310
My first post in this thread. Looks solid and I am feeling up for this!! Bet you still be Cleve on releasing ;

Thanks! I started serious work on it back in February. I think that it will be another 12 months of work before it's finished.

But then, I'm quite pessimistic. Much of the combat engine is almost finished and after I'm done with that, it's designing cities and dungeons (and the modules that run and display them) and it will probably be downhill from there.
 

Grauken

Gourd vibes only
Patron
Joined
Mar 22, 2013
Messages
12,740
Don't worry, you'll likely beat Grimoire for a release date anyway
 

hitfan

Double Sided Games
Developer
Joined
May 15, 2009
Messages
310
This is for all the times that I hijacked the mega Grimoire thread to plug my own CRPG project:

realms5.jpg


A tip of the hat to you, Sir. I look forward to playing the game once I get the Steam key.
 

hitfan

Double Sided Games
Developer
Joined
May 15, 2009
Messages
310
Just when you thought that this game couldn't possibly have any more incline....

In the past, I was Dungeon-Mastering a D&D session and a newbie asked me if it was possible to use his CHARISMA to seduce a monster in combat.

Ever since that time, I always thought it would be pretty cool to implement such a game mechanic. Recently inspired by the PLATO version of Oubliette, I implemented the Courtesan class whose special power allows it to seduce humanoid enemies to join the player side as an ally.

To demonstrate, I include screenshots of a character I just created and the gnoll she just seduced.











INCLINE!!!!
 

hitfan

Double Sided Games
Developer
Joined
May 15, 2009
Messages
310
MORE INCLINE!!

Here's an explanation for the powers I've programmed so far in the game, who can use them and what is the primary attribute that determines success.

Turn - Cleric - Destroy Undead (One Row) - Wisdom (Same as Exile the Undead but half as powerful)

Seduce - Courtesan - Control Humanoid - Charisma

Whisper - Druid - Control Animal - Wisdom

Beckon - Demondim - Control Demon - Wisdom

Subdue - Lord - Control Mythical - Strength

Disband - Sage - Destroy Contrived (Single) - Intelligence

Condemn - Monk - Destroy Immortal (Single) - Wisdom

These powers do not use any spell units -- but can only be attempted once per battle.
 

hitfan

Double Sided Games
Developer
Joined
May 15, 2009
Messages
310
Is there a definition of "Contrived" that I don't know about?

Basically it's a word I use to stand in for "Misc. Non-Living" -- mostly constructs (like golems) and non-living organisms that are not undead. They can't be affected by wizard kill spells and so in my game, sages can "disband" these types of creatures.

Immortals are the most powerful monsters in the game, even the Priest 'kill demon' spells don't affect them. I figure that the humble monk, with years of prayer and meditation have mastered the power to destroy them.
 

Grauken

Gourd vibes only
Patron
Joined
Mar 22, 2013
Messages
12,740
What are non-living organisms, something like fire elementals?
 

hitfan

Double Sided Games
Developer
Joined
May 15, 2009
Messages
310



I just programmed (and tested) the singing fight option. Previously, I was only planning to give bards this power, but after thinking about it, I also decided to give it to courtesans. The courtesan is an underpowered character, and the seduce power that they can wield does basically the same thing as a charm monster wizard spell (albeit, seduce does not cost any spell units, they can be used once for every battle, and can only work against humanoids). So having an ability to sing adds a bit more depth to the courtesan class.

How it works:

When a player sings, the entire party gets an armor bonus and a saving throw bonus of 2 for the duration of that combat turn. A charisma check is also performed to see if an additional bonus of 2 to these is also applied (so you can get a bonus of 2 or 4).

The singing bonus applies irrespective if the entire party is under the influence of the priest buff defense spells, so these can work in tandem. However, the singing bonus is NOT cumulative if more than one bard/courtesan decides to sing for that combat turn (and just to note, priest buff spells are also not cumulative as well). I did this because I don't want a party to become indestructible (although a natural roll of 20 does make an automatic hit -- yes, my game does use d20 internally for combat attacks).
 

hitfan

Double Sided Games
Developer
Joined
May 15, 2009
Messages
310
Since the combat module is pretty much 95% completed, I decided to go through a monster image review and re-do some of the graphics. Here are some of the new images:







 

hitfan

Double Sided Games
Developer
Joined
May 15, 2009
Messages
310
Somebody Else is making a CRPG for the VIC-20! (Pool of Radiance style)

https://twitter.com/petrih3/status/897548652498923520




He will be a worthy adversary. #VIC20

PS: apparently the creator of Legend of Grimrock is making this game.

I might get my butt kicked here, guys. But I will not go down without a fight ;)

PPS: legend of Grimrock is ranked #1 dungeon crawler of all time while Realms III & IV are #55 and #64 respectively http://www.dungeoncrawlers.org/top-100/
 
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hitfan

Double Sided Games
Developer
Joined
May 15, 2009
Messages
310
When I did the 135+ monster images, I sort of did them in assembly line fashion. Many of them I wasn't satisfied with on the first run but after spending upwards of 60-90 minutes on some of them I decided that I should be satisfied with "good enough". So it's nice to go back on the second run and just re-do those images that I'm not satisfied with from a fresher and less mentally fatigued perspective.








Next on the agenda after the graphics review will be creating the cities and the engine to explore them. I've been playing Ultima VII lately to inspire me as to how I will program the portions of the game where you interact with the townspeople.

Speaking of Ultima VII -- I find the game mechanic regarding food to be very tedious and annoying. Not only do the characters in your party complain constantly about being hungry, you have to manually go inside their inventory, double click on the food item and then quite literally drag it to their mouths. And then 5 minutes later, they still complain about being hungry.

I think a detailed world is nice, but I also think that there should be a certain layer of abstraction in gaming where you don't worry about these kinds of details.
 

hitfan

Double Sided Games
Developer
Joined
May 15, 2009
Messages
310
Are you doing all the graphics yourself? I love the art direction and consistency, its awesome

Thanks. Yes, I've been doing the graphics -- I basically find something on a Google Image search, touch it up with GIMP then downscale it to 44*88 pixels and then use a script to convert it to 8-bit VIC-20 multicolor format (VIC-20 multicolor pixels are twice as large on the X axis).

For example, the image that I use for the temple:



Was sourced from holy grail art from the middle ages:

'

The source image is obviously public domain now, and while I'm certain that many of the images that I source from Google Images are copyright, I think they go through enough transformation (cropping, flipping, contrast/brightness changes, downsizing and dithering) that they become almost unrecognizable to their original creators (which in essense becomes a new de-facto creation). That being said, the image source of Roland from Pool of Radiance that I currently use as a placeholder for male human portraits will probably be changed to a less iconic image (I sort of did that as a tribute).
 

hitfan

Double Sided Games
Developer
Joined
May 15, 2009
Messages
310
More recent monster graphic touch-ups:





 

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