TI-99/4a disk-based CRPG

[+9640News]

6 hours ago, Tursi said:

You've never heard of the TI-99/4A?

 

Beery, I thought you'd been around a while!!

 

Guys, don't turn every time I tease Mizapf into a Classic99 vs MAME debate, please.

 

My ???? for Classic99, was with respect to the Geneve.  Sounds like an upgrade is needed <grin>.

 

Beery

[matthew180]

So how is the beta testing going?  No pressure, just excited to give it a whirl.  I'm curious to see if I can entice my teenager son to stop shooting things in Destiny2 and giving this game a try.

[+adamantyr]

It's going pretty good! The main hurdle we have is anytime I make content changes (which are script-driven), the testers have to start over from scratch because their saved content no longer aligns.

 

I need to spend a few hours myself just testing a lot of content and try and get it as clean as possible before the next major release. I had a release a bit ago where I also refactored the monsters general power levels when it became clear they were TOO strong in places. Trying to get pacing right is a challenge.

[matthew180]

Thanks for the update.  I think balancing is probably one of the hardest aspects of an RPG.  Get it wrong and people will consider the game too hard or too easy, and overall not be happy with it.  I also imagine implementing a difficulty system would be, uh, difficult (no pun intended) too.  But, even if the balancing is off in some places, what people won't forgive are bugs that crash or dump you out of the game right after something like a really hard battle, etc.  Anyway, I'm looking forward to the release.

[Tursi]

9 hours ago, BeeryMiller said:

My ???? for Classic99, was with respect to the Geneve.  Sounds like an upgrade is needed <grin>.

 

Beery

Ahhh, but this isn't a Geneve thread! overruled!

 

[digdugnate]

apologies if someone (or even myself) asked this before and hopefully not derailing the thread too much.

 

not being super technical on how stuff works, is it possible to have a combo cart/disk set where you have a 'loader' that's a GROM-type cart with extra RAM and then the disks that would load the game?  is this something that is 'pie in the sky' and take way more time and effort than it's worth?

 

i was thinking about possible alternatives to the SAMS card and stuff- more idle thinking than anything since I'm *supposed* to be working and doing my Network Engineering thing instead. bleh!

[wierd_w]

11 minutes ago, digdugnate said:

apologies if someone (or even myself) asked this before and hopefully not derailing the thread too much.

 

not being super technical on how stuff works, is it possible to have a combo cart/disk set where you have a 'loader' that's a GROM-type cart with extra RAM and then the disks that would load the game?  is this something that is 'pie in the sky' and take way more time and effort than it's worth?

 

i was thinking about possible alternatives to the SAMS card and stuff- more idle thinking than anything since I'm *supposed* to be working and doing my Network Engineering thing instead. bleh!

 

see HomeAutomation's abuse of the FinalGrom99, and his 512kb pagable RAM version of the mini-memory image.  It's a 4kb mini-memory ROM, with a 4kb pagesize, paged RAM area that is 512kb in size.

 

 

It wont work for this CRPG, because cartridge space is not in the area used by the VDP for character data, and because the page size is too small.  However, an enterprising person could definitely use the FG99 as a 512kb memory expansion in this fashion for software that supports that kind of paging, to store a very very large program, using a page handling routine that is in 32k memory area space.

Edited December 23, 2019 by wierd_w

[digdugnate]

that makes sense!  again, i'm not super knowledgeable on the architecture, but i do enjoy reading about it and learning.

[+adamantyr]

At this time, I have no plans to make the CRPG function with anything other than the SAMS architecture.

 

I had a similar question not long ago, if the Geneve 9640 could natively run it without SAMS. The issue is the same in both cases; 8K pages are too large for the job. There are times I have two 4k pages of consecutive data so that an overlap just spills over into the 2nd page.

 

Also, the game's coding architecture is not designed to clearly delineate ROM from RAM, I occasionally over-write statics here and there, I even had self-writing code at one point.

 

[+adamantyr]

Merry Christmas everyone!

 

Unfortunately, I didn't get the game done by Christmas like I wanted... rest assured though it's going through extensive testing to ensure it's playable and winnable!

 

Meanwhile, you can enjoy this video of one of the testers playing the game from the start and going through the first major quests:

 

 

[+Lee Stewart]

1 hour ago, adamantyr said:

Merry Christmas everyone!

 

Unfortunately, I didn't get the game done by Christmas like I wanted... rest assured though it's going through extensive testing to ensure it's playable and winnable!

 

Meanwhile, you can enjoy this video of one of the testers playing the game from the start and going through the first major quests:

 

I am definitely not a gamer, but that is impressive! 

 

...lee

[+adamantyr]

Beta testing video part 2!

 

 

[+adamantyr]

And he was on a roll, so part 3:

 

 

[Elia Spallanzani fdt]

Wow.

But:  do each character earn the same experience points for each match?

 

In this case, wouldn't the word "the group gains x experience points" be enough?

 

And: does the game use speech synthesis?

[+adamantyr]

8 hours ago, Elia Spallanzani fdt said:

Wow.

But:  do each character earn the same experience points for each match?

 

In this case, wouldn't the word "the group gains x experience points" be enough?

 

And: does the game use speech synthesis?

Characters who end combat disabled only get 1/2 experience. Characters who flee a combat but the rest of the party wins get no experience.

 

The game does not use speech synthesis. I didn't really have any place it could be utilized. I got a future project that will use it though.

[+adamantyr]

Also, part 4! In which I learn I need to scale back some encounters and enemies...

 

 

[Elia Spallanzani fdt]

almost incredible game for a ti99. It would be nice if there was a little more variety in the sound: for example, different victory music or background music during dialogues or in buildings.

[+adamantyr]

1 hour ago, Elia Spallanzani fdt said:

almost incredible game for a ti99. It would be nice if there was a little more variety in the sound: for example, different victory music or background music during dialogues or in buildings.

Almost?!

 

Early on in design I decided no background music. Like any vintage CRPG of the era, put something on your stereo to listen to as you play. It will certainly sound better than anything the chip produces.

 

Changing and updating sounds and maybe adding variety would be a polishing phase step later. I always did like how Alpiner had different tunes for reaching the top, so I'll consider that.

[Elia Spallanzani fdt]

Incredibile game

 

 

There could be a sound connected to a particularly effective or dangerous blow, or a sound for the sensational victory (for example without suffering any damage), or a mocking sound in case of escape.

[Elia Spallanzani fdt]

P.S.

 

talking about combat, maybe for another project, you could insert special attacks. Example:

 

- a giant crab can break a weapon or armor;

 

- a living tree can block a blade that gets stuck;

 

- a purple buffalo can push the character back one square;

 

- a giant armadillo can step on a character and pass him;

 

- a dark elf swordsman can disarm;

 

- a possessed juggler can throw sand in your eyes and randomly move your character for a round;

 

- some monsters may even flee;

 

- a harpy can lift and move you by dropping you;

 

- a doppelganger if he touches you can take your form and your characteristics;

 

- a zombie popping up from the ground and attacking by surprise;

 

- a ghost can force you to run away;

 

-  some monsters might target a specific character or try to avoid it. For example, demons could attack especially the cleric, while savages could try to avoid the magician.

 

 

 

- some enemies may subdue or capture one or more characters and ask for a ransom (gold, objects, carrying out a quest)

 

- some enemies can challenge a character in single combat: if he does not accept he is dishonored and cannot enter the palace;

etc.

Edited December 29, 2019 by Elia Spallanzani fdt
Added last point

[+adamantyr]

8 hours ago, Elia Spallanzani fdt said:

There could be a sound connected to a particularly effective or dangerous blow, or a sound for the sensational victory (for example without suffering any damage), or a mocking sound in case of escape.

There is a different stronger sound for critical hits. Look and listen when they strike and there's three "strike" patterns instead of just one.

 

You'd never hear that sensational victory tune. A mocking tune for escape is possible though. I'd need a good candidate for the music though. I've been mining obscure classical music (I.E. public domain) for a lot of my material. I am trying to avoid using music from other TI games, the sole exception was the Store jingle from ToD.

 

As for your other combat suggestions, remember you've only seen a portion of the special attacks in the game up to now. Several of your suggestions wouldn't work in the current architecture. Fear IS in the game though, which makes your PC's run away and is very debilitating.

 

Monster A.I. may get some more tweaks, particularly with pathfinding, but I've been careful to avoid "threat tracking" because THAT could easily make the game too difficult. If a PC throws a fireball and suddenly every single monster in the game targets him, he'd be dead in very short order.

[Elia Spallanzani fdt]

a simple wah wah trombone?

https://www.soundjay.com/failure-sound-effect.html

[matthew180]

Any updates on a possible release?  Being home 100% of the time with the kids, I would love to play this on the big screen with my son.

[+adamantyr]

Been working on beta testing since November, we're up to build 27, with build 28 in process right now.

 

Drop me a PM, Matt, if you want to join the next build release so you and your son can check it out?

[digdugnate]

 

On 4/1/2020 at 8:29 PM, adamantyr said:

Been working on beta testing since November, we're up to build 27, with build 28 in process right now.

 

Drop me a PM, Matt, if you want to join the next build release so you and your son can check it out?

wow, 28 builds.