Coming Soon (Hopefully): REALMS OF QUEST V

I've been away from the online VIC-20 community for the past few years, but I have been mulling over what I'd like to do for a new Realms of Quest game. Some of the features that I have in mind are:

-32K RAM expansion required (lesser expansion modes will not be supported this time around)
-multiple disk sides (will play on a single disk drive, but to avoid excessive disk swapping the game works best on an SD card reader or 2 disk drives)
-hundreds of monster, character and scenery portraits (44*88 multicolor pixels)
-16 player races and 16 player classes
-A party can have up to 10 player characters (I think this would be a record for 8 bit RPGs)
-printed game manual and box
-game music
-An overland map that exceeds the Ultima IV world in terms of size
-cities to explore and townspeople to talk to (possibly).

More details here:
http://sleepingelephant.com/ipw-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=8380

I Used To Draw Spider-Man Comics

From 1987 to 1994, I drew 61 issues of my very own Spider-Man comic book series when I was a teenager.  I would look at the artwork from comics and draw my own stories and sometimes borrowing from the actual stories in the real comic books with a few modifications of my own.

This is issue #59 (1992) which is largely based on the Amazing Spider-Man #3 with some plot elements that deviate from the original.  Considering that a lot of the dialogue was written by Stan Lee himself, I had this comic book autographed by "The Man" himself at the Calgary Comic Expo in 2012.

I might consider scanning the rest of the series, but the earlier issues are not as good and it wasn't until issue 55 or so where I started to come on my own.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE COMIC IN CBR FORMAT.

Realms of Quest IV...Commercial Release is now available.

Name: Realms of Quest IV (Official Release)
Author: Ghislain
Released by Psytronik on: January 19, 2014
Requirements: 16K/24K VIC-20 (for Realms IV), Unexpanded VIC-20 (for Realms I+II) and Commodore 64 (for Ultimate Quest: Catacomb). A disk drive is also required.



The adventure continues in Realms of Quest IV where you assemble a group of heroes to do battle against the mysterious Time Lords inside the Dungeon. Thus befalls you, brave adventurer, to accept the challenge and venture forth into the labyrinth below to ensure that evil and chaos do not rise. If you can survive the perils that await beneath, there lay riches, glory and the immortality of your name.

Realms of Quest IV Features:

• 10 Dungeon Levels which have been designed by hand with numerous rooms, secret passages, riddles and traps to traverse and overcome.
• 10 races and 12 classes to choose from to create 8 players for your party.
• You will meet other heroes to help and guide you during your quest.
• Over 100 unique graphical portraits that depict the various monsters that you'll encounter as you travel throughout the Dungeon.
• Over 135 types of equipment to represent weapons, armor, gems, jewelry, potions, scrolls and miscellaneous magical items.
• 60 magic spells that you can cast.
• 3 game fonts to choose from.
• A 16 page printed instruction manual is also included.

All of this for your Commodore VIC-20, a disk drive and 16K of expansion memory. 24K is recommended as it features reduced disk loading times, an improved 3D graphical perspective and game music.

Side two features the Special Anniversary Editions of Realms of Quest I & II for the Unexpanded VIC-20. Also featured is the long-awaited Ultimate Quest: Catacomb for the Commodore 64 - originally created in 1989, now finally completed.

You can obtain a copy of Realms of Quest IV from Psytronik.

Discuss here viewtopic.php?f=10&t=6350

Vintage 1989 CRPG Ultimate Quest is finally available 24 years later.

Name: Ultimate Quest: Catacomb
Author: Reslain
Released: October 14, 2013 (originally created in 1989)
Requirements: Commodore 64 + Disk Drive
Description: Vintage CRPG from 1989 that was almost finished is now finally available.

Me and a friend in high school started programming a computer role playing game for the C64 in 1988. It was ambitious for us at the time; it features a city map, wilderness areas and a dungeon to explore. By mid-1989, while we we had done most of the elements featured in the game that you see here, they were quite disjointed and it was full of bugs. So we abandoned it in a semi-finished state. 24 years after the project had been abandoned, I decided to finally finish it so that it can be part of the upcoming Psytronik release, Realms of Quest IV (for the VIC-20).

All of the maps, graphics and original text have been preserved. The main improvements was debugging the game, making sure that all the elements are properly connected and rewriting the slow BASIC routines to draw the maps on the screen into fast assembly language. A new splash screen to introduce the game was created, and it will be included in Psytronik release.

The instructions on how to play can be read from the main menu.

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Realms of Quest IV: 4-Level Demo Version... is now available

  
Name: Realms of Quest IV: 4-Level Demo Version
Author: Ghislain
Released: September 1, 2013
Requirements: VIC-20 with 16K minimum memory expansion is required. 24K is recommended for better performance (for less disk usage) and greater 3D graphical perspective. A disk drive is also required.
Description: Demo version of the upcoming Psytronik release for Realms of Quest IV where the first four levels of the dungeon can be explored. The attached PDF manual is still a work in progress, but serves as a preview of how the printed version will look like when the whole game package is published.

The long-awaited follow-up to Realms of Quest III is almost completed. As I continue work on finishing Ultimate Quest for the Commodore 64 (intended to be on Side 2 of this Psytronik release), I make the first four Dungeon levels available to everyone.

Realms of Quest IV has the following features:

• 10 Dungeon Levels with various riddles, traps and NPC characters who can aid you on your quest (4 levels only for Demo Version)
• Over 100 monster graphic portraits (50 in Demo Version)
• 10 races and 12 classes to choose from as you assemble 8 players for your party
• 60 magic spells
• Over 135 items (weapons, armor, shield, gems, jewels, potions and scrolls)
  
• 3 game fonts to choose from

The enemy this time are the mysterious Time Lords who threaten the reign of the fairer creatures above the earth. Befalls thus you, brave adventurers, to battle the labyrinth below all our feet, and ensure for yet another generation, that the evils and chaos do not rise. How it can be so, that this peace last forever, none knows. All one knows, is in the Dungeon, lay riches, glory and the immortality of your name. 

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YOUTUBE VIDEO. 

*NEW* Psytronik Release: THEATER OF WAR

 

IF YOU ARE LOOKING TO DOWNLOAD THE MORE DETAILED INSTRUCTION PDF BOOKLETS, CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THEM.

Psytronik and System IIII present the THEATER OF WAR TRILOGY for the Unexpanded VIC-20. This game lets you recreate battles from the First or Second World War.

This commercial release includes 12 games and programs: Theater of War I, Theater of War II, Theater of War III, Break-Fast II, Face VS Heel, magiTOOL, Olympic Dash, Space Warz, Street Battle, VICroLeague Wrestling I, VICroLeague Wrestling II and Worm-Out.

You can obtain a copy of Theater of War from Psytronik.

Game can be discussed here.

Work in Progress: REALMS OF QUEST IV

I've been at work these past few weeks on Realms of Quest IV for the Commodore VIC-20.  I've planned the following features and constraints for this project:

• 8 character party
• 10 races: Human, Elf, Dwarf, Hobbit, Gnoll, Gnome, Kobold, Ogre, Orc, Sprite
• 12 classes: Fighter, Wizard, Priest, Thief, Bard, Lord, Monk, Sage, Ninja, Paladin, Peasant, Ranger
• Aging will be a factor
• The weaker class/race characters will tend to advance in levels quicker than those stronger class/race characters. So an Ogre Peasant will level up a lot faster than an Elf Lord.
• There won't be any race restrictions for classes, as long as the requirements are met, you can create any character you like. You can have a Gnoll Wizard if you like
• The adventure will take place in a 10 level dungeon that will be designed by hand (instead of being procedurally generated like in Realms 2 and 3) with various puzzles and pitfalls. There will even be NPCs that you will encounter along the way.
• 3 rows of monsters during combat
• 60 Wizard and Priest spells 
• It will be a Wizardry-style dungeon crawler which shows 64x64 pixel images at the upper left corner of the screen.

The system requirements will be 16KB RAM Expansion + Disk Drive. I will try to use up as much of the 170KB disk that the game takes place in.

I will mostly post updates and document my progress on the VIC-20 Denial forum here: http://sleepingelephant.com/ipw-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?t=6350

VICroLeague Wrestling 2

Name: VICroLeague Wrestling 2
Author: Ghislain
Released: March 2, 2013
Requirements: Unexpanded VIC-20 + Disk Drive.
Description: A simple pro wrestling game that uses 64x64 pixel images to animate the action.

This is a follow-up to the original, but features twice as many wrestling move animations. I was originally going to program multiple matches in this edition, but I decided to stop after finishing MADNESS MAN vs ULTRAMANIAC.

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VICroLeague Wrestling

Name: VICroLeague Wrestling
Author: Ghislain
Released: March 1, 2013 (originally made in 1991)
Requirements: Unexpanded VIC-20 + Disk Drive.
Description: A simple pro wrestling game.

Here is another VIC-20 game I had originally made when I was in high school in my bedroom. I've improved the game interface and graphics loading routines. This version contains the original 64x64 pixel wrestling move animations I had designed. I will likely make a follow-up (VICroLeague Wrestling 2) with even more matches and a greater variety of animated wrestling holds.

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Worm-Out + Paratrooper

Name: Worm-Out + Paratrooper
Author: Ghislain
Released: February 23, 2013 (originally made in 1988-1990)
Requirements: Unexpanded VIC-20 + Disk Drive.
Description: 3 Simple VIC-20 Games I made a long time ago.

I've 'remastered' two previously-released VIC-20 games: WORM-OUT II and PARATROOPER. I've repackaged these with the never before released WORM-OUT I that I created in 1988 (with some added improvements). The instructions on how to play these games can be read when you start a game. 


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magiTOOL

Name: magiTOOL
Author: Ghislain
Released: February 3, 2013
Requirements: Unexpanded VIC-20 + Disk Drive.
Description: Self-made toolkit that I used back in the day with my VIC-20 projects.

In the pre-internet days, I didn't have any VIC-20 tools like an ML monitor, graphics or sound editor. So I made my own. These were made between 1990-1996 and I put them all together under a single package:

magiPROG: Machine language assembler that uses decimal numbers.
magiCHAR: Build 8x8 custom characters
magiDRAW: 64x96 multicolor image editor
magiSONG: Play and record music with a piano keyboard. 7 voice combinations and 3 scales are supported.
 
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Street Battle for the VIC-20

Name: Street Battle
Author: Ghislain
Released: January 27, 2013 (originally made in 1993)
Requirements: Unexpanded VIC-20 + Disk Drive.
Description: A simple street fighting game.

I must have made dozens of ASCII fighting games on the VIC-20 back in the day. So I made one that was somewhat complete with actual graphics, but I never properly finished it until now.

To play, you use the function keys to perform jump, punch, kick and dodge against various enemies.

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Olympic Dash for the VIC-20

Name: Olympic Dash
Author: Ghislain
Released: January 13, 2013 (originally programmed in 1996)
Requirements: Unexpanded VIC-20 + Joystick + Disk Drive.
Description: A proof-of-concept for a track and field action game. The 100 meter dash was the only event that has been programmed so far.

As I continue to resurrect my lost VIC-20 games, I bring you "Olympic Dash". I had made an ASCII 100 meter dash and javelin throw event-based game back in 1988 and me and my friends spent many an afternoon mashing the joysticks trying to beat each other's records. In 1996, I had made several graphics for a multi-event track and field game (in the same vein as Epyx's "Summer Games" and Konami's "Track and Field"), but I had only ever programmed the 100 meter dash event and putting it aside so I could finish programming it at a future date.

So instead of pondering and mulling over for another 17 years to finish the other events, I decided to make a splash screen, instructions menu and mock screenshots of the unfinished events packaged around the 100 meter event--just to finally put it out now. Despite it being a single-event game, it is still playable. Just use your imagination as to how the other events that I wanted to program would be like.
 
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Comet64 for VIC-20

Name: Comet64 for VIC-20
Author: Ghislain (wrote menu loader and configurator)
Released: November 18, 2012
Requirements: VIC-20 and Comet64 modem. 16K RAM expansion needed to run Plus Term. 8K RAM at $A000 needed for VICTERM. 8K RAM expansion for Mighty Term.
Description: A disk with utilities that can be used with the Comet64 modem.

How does one connect online with a VIC-20 if dial-up BBSes and even telephone land lines are becoming a thing of the past?  By using CommodoreServer.com's Comet64 modem, you can connect your VIC-20 to the internet and gain access to various telnet BBS services.

I wrote a menu program that lets you choose the BBS you want to connect to as well as choosing which terminal program will connect to it:

-Plus Term (for Commodore graphics in 22 column mode)
-VICTERM Cartridge (for 40 column mode, make sure that RAM expansion points to A000 for this)
-Mighty Term (by Craig Bruce for 80 column mode)
-Dumb Terminal (use as a last resort if the above options don't work or if you don't have 8K memory expansion)

And after you choose which BBS you want to connect to, the Comet64 will try to connect to the previous BBS setting.  Wait until text has paused, and then press RETURN.  The menu program will then change your Comet64's configuration settings so that you can connect to the BBS that you want.  After the terminal program has loaded, make sure that it is set to 1200 baud in it's own configuration.  Depending on which BBS you connect to, you should make sure that the character configuration is set appropriately (ASCII or Commodore).

You can change which BBSes appear in the menu by modifying lines 301-309 in the LOADER program.  Each has 3 entries: name of BBS, IP address and port number.  You can find out the IP address of a BBS by using a command line window on your PC and then type 'ping bbsname.com'.

I found that Comet64 worked best on the VIC-20 in 1200 baud mode.  So make sure you configure your Comet64 is configured to do so--use the WizNet configuration tool on your PC from here.  To use it, launch the configuration tool and press search. If it can't find it, use the DIRECT IP SEARCH and put in the IP address of your device. You can find this in the DHCP section of your router under DHCP clients.  Once it finds it, change the server IP and port to the BBS you want to contact. Press SETTING and it will push the config to your device. Hit exit.  Credit to Commodore Revial's Blog for instructions on how to use the configuration tool.

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Click here for a list of Commodore-based BBSes.

Click here for a list of 80 column (non-Commodore) BBSes.

Space Warz

Name: Space Warz
Author: Ghislain
Released: September 23, 2012 (originally programmed in 1993)
Requirements: Unexpanded VIC-20 + Disk Drive.
Description: A text-based adventure of interactive fiction.

I found another lost gem among my old VIC-20 disks.  Here it is, revamped and improved with a hi-res splash screen intro with two famous pieces of movie music along with instructions on how to play.

It is a tongue-in-cheek tribute to that film that took us to a time that was long ago, in a galaxy far, far away.

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Break-Fast II

Name: Break-Fast II
Author: Ghislain
Released: June 10, 2012 (originally programmed in 1990)
Requirements: Unexpanded VIC-20 + Disk Drive.
Description: Puzzle action game

I was playing around with my old VIC-20 disks and came across a game I had made way back in 1990. I must have overlooked it when I was compiling the "System IIII Anthology" collection for side two of the Realms of Quest Trilogy Psytronik release.

So, I made some improvements and added in-game instructions along with a splash screen. It is very easy to play--only the space bar is used to control the action. Once you've played it a few times, it becomes self-evident what the game is about.

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Complete Realms of Quest Trilogy...and the entire System IIII Collection

Requirements: for Windows +VICE Emulator

I've decided to publicly release my entire collection of VIC-20 games into a single zip archive. This also includes the full commercial version of Realms of Quest III that was released in 2009. Included with these is the VIC-20 VICE Emulator for convenience along with instructions.

The following games are included in the collection:

Break-Fast (1988)
Haunted House (1990)
Dunjon Master (1990)
Worm-Out II (1990)
Paratrooper (1990)
Ringside Wrestling (1990)
Realms of Quest I (1991)
Realms of Quest II: Unfinished Demo (1993)
Monkey Kong (1993)
Vicfall! (1993)
Ice Hockey (1996)
Meteor Zone (1996)
Ringside Boxing (1996)
Vicfall II (1996)
Dunjon I & II (2003)
Vicside Boxing (2004)
Realms of Quest II (2004)
Realms of Quest II: Special Edition (2006)
Napoleon Simulator (2006)
Realms of Quest II: Mega-Cart Edition (2007)
Realms of Quest III (2009)
Realms of Quest III: Dunjon Crawler (2009)
Theater of War I (2010)
Face VS Heel (2010)
Realms of Quest I & II: Anniversary Edition (2011)
Theater of War II: The Pacific (2011)
Theater of War III: Western Front 1918 (2011)

If you are interested in getting most of these games in a commercially-produced package which includes floppy disk and a 36-printed manual, please visit http://www.psytronik.net.

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Theater of War III: Western Front 1918

Requirements: Unexpanded VIC-20 + Disk Drive.
Description: The tactical wargaming series for the VIC-20 now takes place in the trenches of World War I.

March 1918. Russia, in the midst of revolution and civil war has surrendered in the East. Now is the chance to break the stalemate on the Western Front. As a commander of the German Empire's army, your task will be to take on the French forces as you advance to the Marne river, and then onwards to Paris. Be aware, however, that with each successful victory, the Allied resources of the British and the Americans will be increasingly used against you.

Includes a two-player option. Instructions are included in the game program from the main menu and a PDF manual is included with the download.

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Theater of War II: The Pacific

Requirements: Unexpanded VIC-20 + Disk Drive.
Description: In the sequel to the first WW2 Tactical Strategy game that takes place on the Eastern Front in Russia, this time you are transported to the Pacific Ocean where you command the Imperial Japanese Navy against the American forces.

The preamble states: "June 1942. Our Grand Imperial Navy is chasing the Yankee interlopers across the Pacific Ocean. We will attack a fatal blow at Midway and then hunt them into their havens". If you can defeat the the enemy through five levels of increasing difficulty, you will have achieved the ultimate victory.

There is also a two-player option. Instructions are included in the game program from the main menu.

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Realms of Quest I: Anniversary Edition!

Hail adventurer! Welcome to the 20th anniversary edition of the original Realms of Quest I. Nearly 20 years to the day that the original was completed, here is a very special edition of the inaugural game of the CRPG franchise for the Commodore VIC-20. There are vast improvements:

-User-friendly instructions
-A unique name for each of the 36 magic spells
-Much better interface, display and text.

Instructions and a "Book of Beasts" (bestiary) can be read from the main game menu.

For the Unexpanded VIC-20 w/Disk Drive

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