Action RPG or action/adventure games for Lynx?

[+Pac-Lander]

So, I have come across a couple of good looking homebrew games for the Lynx, "Lynx Quest" and an isometric RPG "Lacim's Legacy". 

 

Are either of these commercially available, and are there any other games along these lines available for purchase anywhere? I know "Wyvern's Tales" will soon be releasing more copies, but that is more of a traditional JRPG. 

 

Is there anything out there that is available for the Lynx that is more in the vein of "Landstalkers" or "Legend of Zelda"?

[LordKraken]

Lynx Quest was the winner of the first AtariGamer contest, almost 2 years ago (summer 2019 if I remember correctly). A few physical copies (at least 1) have been produced semi-professionnaly and given away. But it was never sold. Game is complete although relatively short, but it's more hack and slash than an adventure/RPG game. It's technically one of the best game out there. Pretty impressive. The rom is freely available.

 

Lacim's legacy has been put on hold 2 years ago, but according to a recent update from its developer, it's not dead and development will resume at a later stage.

 

Your best chance is to try "Eyes of the Beholder". Rom is available and a few dozen copies were produced (unlicensed) years ago. I'm not entirely sure the game is fully complete though.

Edited June 3, 2021 by LordKraken

[4ever2600]

Lord Kraken is absolutely correct.  One quick note on Eye of the Beholder is the 2 versions that were physically released several years ago are complete and the battery backup save function does work.  Pretty sure the rom floating around is one of those two versions and is complete so if you are using in an emulator, you can use the emulators save feature to play through.  If you are looking for a physical on that one, may take a while as they rarely hit the bay.

 

If you like those style games, you should also check out Wveryn Tales that was physically released and I believe Songbird will be releasing soon as well as Songbirds new title called Unnamed which is a cool little RPG adventure. 

 

Here is a link:

https://songbird-productions.com/product/unnamed/

 

That'll keep you busy for a while. 

 

[4ever2600]

Check out some of the prototypes that the brewing academy has too.  He sells pretty inexpensive carts for the lynx as well.  Though not complete, he has two or three RPG titles that never made the day of light.  One is a different version of Daemonsgate and another is Guardians, Storm over Doria.  He also has Eye of the Beholder, but we haven't confirmed if that version is completed as the save game function isn't quite working yet.

 

https://thebrewingacademy.com/collections/atari-lynx

Edited June 3, 2021 by 4ever2600

[4ever2600]

PS, if you're more into physical vs emulators,  AL here at AA in the store sells a really cool flash cart that is easy to load roms on and play on the real hardware.  I bought one and would seriously consider that as a purchase.  I believe they are in stock too.

[Ninjabba]

13 hours ago, 4ever2600 said:

Check out some of the prototypes that the brewing academy has too.  He sells pretty inexpensive carts for the lynx as well.  Though not complete, he has two or three RPG titles that never made the day of light.  One is a different version of Daemonsgate and another is Guardians, Storm over Doria.  He also has Eye of the Beholder, but we haven't confirmed if that version is completed as the save game function isn't quite working yet.

 

https://thebrewingacademy.com/collections/atari-lynx

I was wondering about this page.. feels like whoever is running that shop is breaching a ton of copyright (EotB for sure, and idk about a lot of the other titles)  and is very non-transparent about the actual contents of those carts.

 

I'd be careful getting copies of Daemonsgate (super buggy, poor gameplay) and I've never seen any content from Guardians other than some screenshots. Is there anything known about the completeness of that prototype?

 

[Ninjabba]

Actually had a more thorough look at thebrewingacademy, didn't realize there were links to actual gameplay on YouTube. First time I see gameplay from Guardians which is quite interesting.

 

In any case, personally not a fan of people making money from repros of protos.. I don't see the point in collecting copies of unfinished products.

I joined AA years ago initially to specifically find more information on Daemonsgate. Someone shared the ROM with me and within a few minutes I could conclude its in such an unfinished state that it wasn't fun at all. Now imagine paying for that experience..

 

[agradeneu]

1 hour ago, Ninjabba said:

Actually had a more thorough look at thebrewingacademy, didn't realize there were links to actual gameplay on YouTube. First time I see gameplay from Guardians which is quite interesting.

 

In any case, personally not a fan of people making money from repros of protos.. I don't see the point in collecting copies of unfinished products.

I joined AA years ago initially to specifically find more information on Daemonsgate. Someone shared the ROM with me and within a few minutes I could conclude its in such an unfinished state that it wasn't fun at all. Now imagine paying for that experience..

 

Dito, never been a fan of that as well. 

[PFG 9000]

6 hours ago, Ninjabba said:

I was wondering about this page.. feels like whoever is running that shop is breaching a ton of copyright (EotB for sure, and idk about a lot of the other titles)  and is very non-transparent about the actual contents of those carts.

 

I'd be careful getting copies of Daemonsgate (super buggy, poor gameplay) and I've never seen any content from Guardians other than some screenshots. Is there anything known about the completeness of that prototype?

 

Check out this thread for more info on that site and how the owner came to possess those prototypes:

 

 

[Lord Mushroom]

On 6/3/2021 at 8:34 PM, aaron1677 said:

So, I have come across a couple of good looking homebrew games for the Lynx, "Lynx Quest" and an isometric RPG "Lacim's Legacy". 

 

Are either of these commercially available, and are there any other games along these lines available for purchase anywhere?

Maybe you can find a used copy of Gauntlet: The Third Encounter.

[4ever2600]

On 6/4/2021 at 5:16 AM, Ninjabba said:

Actually had a more thorough look at thebrewingacademy, didn't realize there were links to actual gameplay on YouTube. First time I see gameplay from Guardians which is quite interesting.

 

In any case, personally not a fan of people making money from repros of protos.. I don't see the point in collecting copies of unfinished products.

I joined AA years ago initially to specifically find more information on Daemonsgate. Someone shared the ROM with me and within a few minutes I could conclude its in such an unfinished state that it wasn't fun at all. Now imagine paying for that experience..

 

I guess to each their own on that one.  Since I'm not a millionaire,  I cannot afford to buy real protos so that was an affordable way for someone like myself to actually play a copy of it on physical hardware and own a copy of a piece of gaming history,  even if it is going to be released in rom form.  So much so when I had the opportunity money came flying out of my wallet so fast it caught on fire.

 

Nevertheless, and looking at the calendar, May 26th marks one week and a year after the day MacRorie said he would release the first batch of 8 or 9 protos he acquired.  

 

Hoping he keeps his word on that one because then I can start looking at some of the codes on different versions of these games, see if I can combine all into a better version as I don't have a way to dump them myself.  

 

Macrorie did you release somewhere else by chance?  Your website etc?  I just don't want to miss it.

 

 

 

[Ninjabba]

On 6/6/2021 at 12:12 AM, 4ever2600 said:

I guess to each their own on that one.  Since I'm not a millionaire,  I cannot afford to buy real protos so that was an affordable way for someone like myself to actually play a copy of it on physical hardware and own a copy of a piece of gaming history,  even if it is going to be released in rom form.  So much so when I had the opportunity money came flying out of my wallet so fast it caught on fire.

 

Nevertheless, and looking at the calendar, May 26th marks one week and a year after the day MacRorie said he would release the first batch of 8 or 9 protos he acquired.  

 

Hoping he keeps his word on that one because then I can start looking at some of the codes on different versions of these games, see if I can combine all into a better version as I don't have a way to dump them myself. 

 

I realize I come across a bit harsh in my opinion, but that might stem from some experience with nasty sellers (on Ebay mainly) that somehow managed to sell (unfinished) homebrews and repros of protos for top dollar. I fully understand that there are collectors out there that are interested in collecting anything related to the Lynx history, I'm definitely one of them, and having an actual cartridge is a plus for people who don't own a flashcard.

 

What I mainly am referring to is indeed releasing the contents of those protos to the community so you can make a better informed decision whether its worth spending your money on it as well as having some talented people on here having a go at it, like you mention. From the original thread it seems that this is actually the plan, so lets wait and see.

[agradeneu]

2 hours ago, Ninjabba said:

I realize I come across a bit harsh in my opinion, but that might stem from some experience with nasty sellers (on Ebay mainly) that somehow managed to sell (unfinished) homebrews and repros of protos for top dollar. I fully understand that there are collectors out there that are interested in collecting anything related to the Lynx history, I'm definitely one of them, and having an actual cartridge is a plus for people who don't own a flashcard.

 

What I mainly am referring to is indeed releasing the contents of those protos to the community so you can make a better informed decision whether its worth spending your money on it as well as having some talented people on here having a go at it, like you mention. From the original thread it seems that this is actually the plan, so lets wait and see.

Not very likely these protos will ever get finished. Firstable, people having the programming and artwork capabilities rather like to create their own games. Second, while there are plans /hopes for finishing Daemonsgate etc. for over 20 years and counting, Wyvern Tales came out of nowhere. In most cases, protos are just easy money grabs for sellers, and hardcore collectors usually fall for it.

So when  these protos will start to circle around we hopefully won't see more people trying to cash in with unauthorized copies on etsy or ebay.

 

 

Edited June 7, 2021 by agradeneu

[LordKraken]

The more advanced prototype could be decompiled to extract the art assets. Then it would be basically redoing the game from scratch, but having the assets already simplify the work a lot. Now there is the copyright issues of course...

[agradeneu]

2 hours ago, LordKraken said:

The more advanced prototype could be decompiled to extract the art assets. Then it would be basically redoing the game from scratch, but having the assets already simplify the work a lot. Now there is the copyright issues of course...

The art assets look very incomplete to me.

 

 

To go back to topic, "Lacims Legacy" looks to be the most promising project for a new RPG, though its not really a Zelda alike. The engine looks great! 

One day a Zelda alike might happen, most likely a game created from scratch and with original concept and artwork by an enthusiastic and motivated team.

 

 

 

Edited June 7, 2021 by agradeneu

[4ever2600]

On 6/4/2021 at 5:16 AM, Ninjabba said:

Actually had a more thorough look at thebrewingacademy, didn't realize there were links to actual gameplay on YouTube. First time I see gameplay from Guardians which is quite interesting.

 

In any case, personally not a fan of people making money from repros of protos.. I don't see the point in collecting copies of unfinished products.

I joined AA years ago initially to specifically find more information on Daemonsgate. Someone shared the ROM with me and within a few minutes I could conclude its in such an unfinished state that it wasn't fun at all. Now imagine paying for that experience..

 

No, I totally understand your side of things as well.  I get steamed when I see proto repros on ebay for 100.00 and up.  Not cool.

 

Macrorie is a stand up guy, a goodfella, and a doctor! Inside joke. He offers a lot of great services for this community.  He will follow thru with his commitments even if it's a little longer than expected.  I've had a lot of dealings with him and has never given bad service once.

 

Then again, so are you Ninjabba.  I'm happy to know all of you and hope you will all help me someday soon as I'd love to use some of the prototypes and maybe make something out of them even if it ends up a programming project from scratch.  I want to accept that challenge.  And believe me,  I'll be needing the entire community's help at that point!

 

Edited June 7, 2021 by 4ever2600

[sage]

23 hours ago, agradeneu said:

Not very likely these protos will ever get finished. Firstable, people having the programming and artwork capabilities rather like to create their own games. Second, while there are plans /hopes for finishing Daemonsgate etc. for over 20 years and counting, Wyvern Tales came out of nowhere. In most cases, protos are just easy money grabs for sellers, and hardcore collectors usually fall for it.

So when  these protos will start to circle around we hopefully won't see more people trying to cash in with unauthorized copies on etsy or ebay.

 

 

you can avoid that by freeing the ROM ;-))

 

[nightmonkeyii]

Lacim’s legacy looks awesome! Looking forward to its release, and physical copy. Seeing some of the cancelled games finished would be lovely. Grew up with the lynx and have recently acquired a lynx ii and many games (sold my original lynx many years ago because the power jack kept breaking)

[Lostdragon]

Found the old test reports etc for Eye Of The Beholder, Scott Stilphen had sent me at the time, might as well share them now. 

 

Vídeo Examples for Lynx Eye of the Beholder 

Tester: Ted Tahquechi Revision 0216 RSA 

April 12, 1993 

The enclosed videotape contains some of the problems you requested. Problem 5 on the March 11th report could not be reproduced (this was the problem with the Drow warriors and the invisibility spell). Also from the same report, number 7 could not be reproduced, this was the problem with the Mage's spells being fired by opening the door to the Kenku nest. 

The problems on the videotape begin with the Fatal. This is the fatal where the player fights down to the second level, and after using a Mage spell, the game freezes. The player uses a very direct route to the second level. This problem has also been seen after the player spent a large amount of time on level one. 

The second example is the problem with the cursor turning to garbage when no item is being held. This example begins with the player moving into the first part of the first level, then resetting and beginning the saved game from the beginning. 

Problem number 10, from the March 11th report is nest. There are two examples of this problem on different monsters in different areas of the dungeon. The first 

example is where the cleric in the player's party casts the 'Cause serious' spell on a Drow. The drow does not flash, but disappears. The second example of this problem 

curs with a Kenku. Once again, the Cleric casts the 'Cause Serious' spell on the Monster, and it disappears but does not flash. 

Here are a couple problems found recently: 

1. There is a problem with the door that leads to the second level. If the player stands in the doorway, and places an item on the pressure plate at location 19, the door will close on top of the party. At this time, the player can move back into level one, or down to level two. If the player moves back into level one, the door will be closed, and the player will have to re-open it to get to the second level. If the player walks down to the second level when the door is closed on his party, the door will remain closed and the player will never be able to go back up to the first level. 

2. When accessing the player options (by pressing the option two button), it is possible to pause the game on a blank screen. If the player pauses the game as he is leaving the options menu, the game screen will be drawn, as usual, then go to a blank screen with the paused sprite on it. When the game is unpaused, the game screen will come up again. 

 

 

 

Edited August 24, 2021 by Lostdragon