the-legend-of-beryl-reichardt-crpg

Bery playable in ToDR!!!!

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 22:15:42 +0100

Thanks to the brilliant conversion tool by Howard Kistler, I have had the opportunity to play "The Legend of Beryl Reichardt," the ToD version on his "Tunnels of Doom Reboot" program. I'm blown away. =) I had forgotten many of the enemies and quest items I created for that game!!! Most of my character and spell values and levels are off, but at least its playable. I shall try to recreate some of the characters and quest items and post some pictures here. If you don't have ToDR by DreamCodex, please DL it so you can try it out! =)

Data Parsing and the "info-access" methodology

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 20:25:43 +0100

Learning some new information about the ToD data files today. I am hoping to absorb some of the techniques into my own game, "The Legend of Beryl Reichardt" while keeping the "unique" flare of a totally new game engine. See, on the TI (for those of you who are unaware) Tunnels of Doom holds the dubious honor of being the only RPG put out by the company before it collapsed under it's own weight. Subsequently, Old Dark Caves and The Legends series came out, but neither of these games were widely distributed, and remain generally obscure and relatively unknown. I have found a love for these games over the years but no game in the entirety of my life affected me in the way ToD did so many years ago.
Anyway, back to the point... I have recently become friends with the man behind the DreamCodex remakes, Howard Kistler. His remake of Tunnels of Doom, "Tunnels of Doom Reboot," is spectacularly constructed and has become a favorite time killer of mine. While no game will ever replace ToD in my heart and mind, ToDR is pretty close. He also created a piece of software that allows for original ToD games to be converted and run on the ToDR game platform!!! This toolkit (which is free for download) holds the key for understanding the data structures of the original ToD games which in turn allows for a better understanding of how the whole shebang works. For my purposes, this is crucial. More on that later.
I have posted previously about the game structures and combat engines I intend to implement into "The Legend of Beryl Reichardt," and I wish to maintain that direction. I also, however, intend to figure out the parsing methods ToD used to code entire dungeons using next to NO memory. Remember, the TI has only 16k of console RAM. 16K!!! And what makes this even more insane is the fact that the original ToD games were released on tape. That means that using the tape loading method, the user did not have access to any piece of the 32k memory expansion stored in the Peripheral Expansion Box, or "PEB.". So.... What made this possible? How did the designers implement such giant pieces of data on a cassette tape using only 16k of RAM to run the entire game? The answer is simple. "Data compression." I do not mean digital compression, as nothing of the kind truly existed at the time. The following is a concept made known to me on the Atariage thread by Codex himself, Matthew Hagerty, and Adamantyr, the developer of "Realms of Antiquity," another TI-99 RPG in the works.

Data parsing....

The premise: take a large chunk of information and break it down into uniform-length "strings" which can be deciphered by a separate program. This program takes the strings and applies "game-values" to them. The beat way to explain this is by an example.

For the regular monsters, they'd compress very easily with a simple ID and a few digits, plus the name string, like so:

F1312Scorpion____
F2412Skeleton____
F3212Giant_Spider

These could be compressed even further, but let's see what these do first. Take the first entry - F1312Scorpion____

F = This monster is found in the Forest World (alternatively you could number the worlds, making this a 1 instead).
1 = It is the first monster definition for this world, and since you have fewer than 10 monsters per world, you only need a single digit to distinguish them.
- Together "F1" is the unique ID of this monster, because each world has a unique letter, and within that world each monster has a unique number
3 = Hitpoints - note that the actual Hitpoints for this creature is 15. However, you've made all Hitpoints divisible by 5, so we can use that to compress them. What we store is the Hitpoints divided by 5, and when creating the creature we multiply this by 5 to get the real value. Since no regular monster has more than 45 Hitpoints (5 x 9), we can again use a single digit for this. ToD uses this technique a lot in the monster files.
1 = Attack bonus
2 = EP

The rest of the encoding is the name of the creature, with _ characters standing in for spaces so that you can see how many are required (up to the length of the longest name is what needs to be allocated).

Now, we can be even more clever in storing our monster values. None of the individual digits we've used so far comes even close to the maximum byte value of 255. So we can cut up the byte to let it represent multiple attributes. Once more, ToD leads the way in doing this, which led to some headaches in decoding it as attributes like resistance, mobility, and negotiation were all packed into one number. But to continue, we can cut a byte up into three pieces, the first of which stores the hitpoints, the second the Attack, and the third the EP.

As you know, a byte has 8 bits - 00000000. We'll use 4 to store the Hitpoints number, which has a possible range of 1 to 15 (5 to 75), more than enough given your monster list. We'll use two more to store the Attack, which has a range of 1 to 3, and the last two to store the EP, which has a range of 2 to 5. So here's how our byte gets cut up:

00 00 0000
EP AT HP

The first 4 bits are the easiest to set, because they're the low bits, so they number they represent is the same as the actual number. For the Scorpion the Hitpoints (divided by 5) are 3, so we store the number three in our bits:

00 00 0011 = 3
EP AT HP

Now the Attack. For this beastie the value is 1, so we'll store the binary representation for 1 in the two bits we set aside for Attack:

00 01 0011 = 19
EP AT HP

Notice that we can store anything from 0 (00) to 3 (11) for Attack. More than that and we'd need one or more extra bits. This is why planning in advance pays off - you need to know the maximum possible values of EVERY attribute in the game so that you can scope out their space.

Back to the number, we need to encode EP in the highest bits. Since this can range from 2 to 5, and we can store 0 to 3 in two bits, we'll store a value and then add 2 to it, so that it falls within the desired range. (0 + 2 is the lowest possible value, 3 + 2 is the highest) The Scorpion has a 2, the lowest value, so we leave it as 0 in the byte:

00 01 0011 = 19
EP AT HP

So with a single byte of the value 19, we have encoded every attribute of the Scorpion except its ID and its name. To extract these value out the parser needs to do some bit-masking and bit-shifting, but that's not too tough.

Thanks to Codex, Adamantyr and Matthew180 from Atariage for the help on this one!

Combat Engine Thoughts

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 05:37:06 +0100

Addressing the last blog entry, I have written a mock-up battle engine. Below is the rough outline of what the battle engines will look like. This is ONLY for lower level enemies. The boss enemies/high level enemies such as "Doppleslicer," "Unipanx," and "Anifax" will have an entirely different battle engine, entirely different screenshot, they will be 4 times the size of the lower level enemies, and they will probably make up the majority of the character sets as far as graphic complexity. Imagine a giant dragon on the right side of the screen in profile and the party members also in profile... Boss battles will take place in a 2D sideview mode. But the engine described below is for the lower level enemies.

**General attack for the Player---EP/10+Attack=RSE (relative strike effectiveness)
**Magic attack for the player---EP/10+MP=RME (relative magic effectiveness)

Since enemies do not have a "defend" statistic, their defenses do not need to be factored in. The enemies only have HP. Therefore, the RSE or RME will be equated to an enemy's "level" and an equation will determine whether a Strike will be effective and HOW effective. As I said, this is a "general" idea... The +1, +2, etc. stuff in the previous posts are placekeepers until I develop this engine better--- But it IS the general outline, and as I refine and develop, of course things will change.

New Beryl Reichardt statistical updates

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 01:26:57 +0100

I have been doing some engine development, trying to determine how to make this game more plausible. The following information is what I've come up with so far, and remember that this is mostly theoretical until we are a bit closer to implementation. Just wanted to put this out there. =)

Your game Characters have the following statistics:
1) HP
2) MP
3) EP
4) Attack
5) Defend

Enemies: (Attrubutes) +X (X=benefit from defeating)

Forest/town World***
Scorpions (15 HP) +2 EP
Skeletons (20 HP) +2 EP
Giant Spiders (10 HP) +2 EP
**no static characters

Desert World***
Sand Sentinels (30 HP) +2 Attack, +3 EP
Giant Spiders (10 HP) +3 EP
Skeletons (20 HP) +3 EP
Scorpions (15 HP) +3 EP
Whirlwinds (25 HP) +3 EP
*Static characters (uniques)
Doppleslicer (80 HP, Whirlwind Magic) +5 HP, +25 EP, +10 Attack, +10 Defend *universal (affects all characters)

Caves World***
Skeletons (20 HP) +4 EP
Cave Spiders (10 HP) +4 EP
Cave dwellers (30 HP) +4 EP
Scorpions (15 HP) +4 EP
*Static characters (uniques)
Unipanx (100 HP, Melee Magic) +10 HP, +50 EP, +15 Attack, +15 Defend *universal (affects all characters)

Dungeon World***
Lost Souls (40 HP) +5 EP
Skeletons (20 HP) +5 EP
Cave Spiders (10 HP) +5 EP
Demagons (50 HP) +5 EP
Dungeon Scorpions (25 HP) +5 EP
*Static characters (uniques)
Anifax the black dragon (250 HP, Lightning Magic, Whirlwind Magic, Melee Magic) ***GAME OVER*** great job, you win

***Items (non-"world"-specific/random)
(((based on who "takes" the item)))

Ruby Amulet (+2 HP)
Ruby Ring (+2 MP)
Diamond Amulet (+4 HP)
Diamond Ring (+4 MP)
Red Potion (+5 HP)
Green Potion (+5 MP)
Scroll of Martial Arts (+5 Attack)
Scroll of Meditation (+5 Defend)
Gold stashes (varying amount of gold)

***Items (world-specific/static)
(((based on who "takes" the item)))

***Town/Forest World
1) Elf Key/Elf Treasure Box (containing 100 gold, 5 red potions, and the "password" to move on to the next level)

***Desert World
1) Amulet of Wind (increases MP by +20 for the character chosen to wear it)
2) Hero's Sword (once the Doppleslicer is killed, the sword appears-- Only Beryl can wield it. Increases attack by +20---This moves the party to the next level)
3) Magic Key/Magic chest (containg the Magic Wand--- increases MP by 15 universally *all characters benefit)

***Cave World
1) Helm of Reichardt (Can only be worn by Beryl, increases Defend by +20

***Dungeon World
1) Staff of Reckoning (Increases Attack by +15)
2) Shield of Reichardt (Inreases Defend by +15--- Only Beryl can use)

The Legend of Beryl Reichardt (TI-99 CRPG)

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 04:39:53 +0100

Well, I've bit the bullet and started a new blog for "The Legend of Beryl Reichardt."
To this point, my development progress has been spread out between my Opry99er
blog, the Atariage forum, and the TI-99/4a list servers. What I hope to do with this blog
is centralize my efforts and help organize my thoughts; as much for myself as for those
interested in the goings on. I suppose the best place to start is the beginning.I began
the conceptualization for "The Legend of Beryl Reichardt" after re-entering the TI-99
world 2 years ago. Tunnels of Doom had always been my favorite game from when I
was a kid... I always loved the feel of being in my basement at 2 AM as a 5 or 6 year
old kid, hoping the roar of the PEB fan didn't wake up my parents. I would crawl from
floor to floor in the dreaded "Tunnels of Doom" trying to find Orbs, swords, and everything
else the tunnels had to offer. Those memories stayed with me my entire life... 20 years
later, I began to learn to code in Extended BASIC on the TI-99/4a and have been having
a blast doing it. My first goal was to write this RPG.... But I knew that I did not have the
necessary programming skills yet.

The first thing I tried to do was to write a custom Tunnels of Doom Game called
"The Legend of Beryl Reichardt" using John Behnke's ToD editor (Asgard software). I
made some significant progress in doing the edit, even with the tedious and
cumbersome user interface the editor had. Of course, that is all relative--- In 1986,
it would have been deemed a very slick piece of software, and (despite its difficulty) I
found it to be usable. I spent a month or so designing characters, developing the plot
of the game, creating enemies and objects that were to be found inside the Tunnels.
Unfortunately, a faulty disk drive ate my editor disk, so my progress came to a halt,
and the unfinished game is all that remains from the experience. You can download
it from the Oprysoftware page of my website, Opry99er.com. As I said, it is unfinished,
but partially playable. This would only fuel my desire to move forward and
create the standalone RPG "The Legend of Beryl Reichardt" for which this blog
has been created. My programming skills needed to be tuned, as I hadn't done
much more than simple BASIC commands as a kid, "Hello World," and such.
So my foray into TI-99 XB programming began, and that's where I am now.

Knowing I needed a skillset I did not have, I decided to start making a few
programs in XB. I started in with a few demos of other game ideas and
eventually wrote "Lemonade Stand" for the TI-99/4a, and then "Honeycomb
Rapture."

**Screenshot from "Lemonade Stand"

"Lemonade Stand" debuted at the 2009 Chicago TI Faire to great reviews and praise,
which kept me programming. You can DL this game from the Oprysoftware
page of my website "Opry99er.com." After Lemonade Stand, I turned my
attention back to "The Legend of Beryl Reichardt" and started thinking about the game
engine--- only to realize that I still did not have the skills required to create a game of
this scope and magnitude. Then, a marvellous thing happened... Something that would
serve to change my programming world. The TI-99/4a got its own subforum on
Atariage.com. A game programming contest was started to welcome the programmers
to the forum, and my development of "Honeycomb Rapture" started. It was a fast and
furious learning process which taught me more in 3 months than the previous year of
programming had taught me. I completed my second full release for the TI-99/4a on
February 14th, 2010. You can DL "Honeycomb Rapture" from the Oprysoft page of my
website "Opry99er.com". Honeycomb was a different experience... it was an arcade style
game that stretched the boundaries of my skills. I learned much about the limitations of
my language of choice, Extended BASIC, and also learned about many possibilities of
which I had not been previously aware.

**Screenshot from "Honeycomb Rapture"

Once I had completed the game, my attention IMMEDIATELY returned to
"The Legend of Beryl Reichardt" and this time, to stick. I believe that now is the
time... I have been planning for a few weeks now, and I will be posting blogs as
my game progresses. Hopefully you will be able to follow the development from
the "concept" stage to a full-blown, polished TI-99 CRPG. Below are a few
mockup screenshots of my game. Please enjoy!

**SPRITE designs



**Mockup for "cave" screen

**Battle sequence in "dungeon"

**Battle sequence in "desert" world