RPG "The Sorrow of Gadhlan' Thur" from Kai Magazine

By hamlet

Scribe (4105)

17-09-2018, 08:47

That looks really nice! Keep on the great work Oscar!

By journey

Hero (570)

17-09-2018, 09:35

The game looks good and visually seems a (good) mix between Faxanadu/Ys3/Golvellius

Music is provisional?

Because remind me a lot the first stage og Super EDF for Super Famicom

By La Gaseta Msx

Supporter (13)

17-09-2018, 11:52

Congratulations for your great work Kai team!, thanks to make our dreams reality.

By Kai Magazine

Paragon (1420)

17-09-2018, 16:56

Thank you, guys!

By Kai Magazine

Paragon (1420)

17-09-2018, 17:07

journey wrote:

The game looks good and visually seems a (good) mix between Faxanadu/Ys3/Golvellius

Music is provisional?

Because remind me a lot the first stage og Super EDF for Super Famicom

Hi Journey, thank you.

Regarding the music, do you mean this music?

https://youtu.be/ZOFwh4WJ4O8

What do you feel it is too similar? the baseline? the accords? the melody?
I just listened to it and I found no similarities, but we have some good musicians here and they can correct me if I am wrong.
This song is an fm version of a music I did for the first video of myths and dragons promo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24RckUzT74A

But I never used that song for myths and dragons because John Hassink asked me for the exclusivity of the soundtrack, so I discarted that song and I recycled it for this new game.

Do you ask if the music is provisional because it is too similar and I should change it?

Kind regards:
Oscar

By PingPong

Prophet (4087)

17-09-2018, 17:45

One word. Graphics are standing. Especially sprites.
@Kai are you using hw or sw sprites?

By Kai Magazine

Paragon (1420)

17-09-2018, 18:35

Hardware sprites. That video shows how the game works on a z80. Software sprites are too slow for that framerate
It is worth mentioning that I spent several days experimenting with the correct OR color combination for the screen 5 palette in order to achieve that many colors in a single character.
It was not easy, I can assure you that.

By journey

Hero (570)

17-09-2018, 18:41

Kai Magazine wrote:

Hi Journey, thank you.

Regarding the music, do you mean this music?

https://youtu.be/ZOFwh4WJ4O8

What do you feel it is too similar? the baseline? the accords? the melody?
I just listened to it and I found no similarities, but we have some good musicians here and they can correct me if I am wrong.
This song is an fm version of a music I did for the first video of myths and dragons promo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24RckUzT74A

But I never used that song for myths and dragons because John Hassink asked me for the exclusivity of the soundtrack, so I discarted that song and I recycled it for this new game.

Do you ask if the music is provisional because it is too similar and I should change it?

Kind regards:
Oscar

Ciao Oscar,

I mean from 33 sec.
I do not know why, but it reminds me that melody line.

Anyway, not a problem for me, only pure curiosity

I've already preordered the game :)

By Kai Magazine

Paragon (1420)

17-09-2018, 18:42

Thank you, Journey

By PingPong

Prophet (4087)

17-09-2018, 22:14

Kai Magazine wrote:

Hardware sprites. That video shows how the game works on a z80. Software sprites are too slow for that framerate
It is worth mentioning that I spent several days experimenting with the correct OR color combination for the screen 5 palette in order to achieve that many colors in a single character.
It was not easy, I can assure you that.

Sprite Graphics are stunning, i can assure you ;-)
About the necessity to use hw sprites to let it run on z80 i think it is mainly a VDP blitter issue not z80 unless you use the cpu to do sw sprites instead of vdp. But i think it is crazy.

By Grauw

Ascended (10681)

17-09-2018, 23:02

How many sprites per character? All just two?

Sprites are cool .

By Kai Magazine

Paragon (1420)

18-09-2018, 10:20

4 sprites per humanoid (16*32 pixels), using 2 sprites for each 16x16 area, 3 colors per line.

By Kai Magazine

Paragon (1420)

18-09-2018, 10:35

PingPong wrote:

Kai Magazine wrote:

Hardware sprites. That video shows how the game works on a z80. Software sprites are too slow for that framerate
It is worth mentioning that I spent several days experimenting with the correct OR color combination for the screen 5 palette in order to achieve that many colors in a single character.
It was not easy, I can assure you that.

Sprite Graphics are stunning, i can assure you ;-)
About the necessity to use hw sprites to let it run on z80 i think it is mainly a VDP blitter issue not z80 unless you use the cpu to do sw sprites instead of vdp. But i think it is crazy.

Thank you PingPong

When I say "Software sprites are too slow for that framerate" I mean this:
The frame rate is determined by the cpu time process + gpu time process. It is not always possible to make them work both at the same time. Sometimes when making several consecutive graphic operations, the CPU will just wait. After the graphic operations have finished, the cpu will start working and the gpu will wait.
For example on Life on Mars (2015) all sprites are software sprites. On r800 the game works at twice the frame rate than z80. This is because the r800 reduces the cpu processing time a whole lot, making the frame rate higher.
In short, the problem is the multi-tasking between cpu+gpu. it is not always possible...

By OeiOeiVogeltje

Paragon (1426)

19-09-2018, 02:17

finally a game where you can jump...

By OeiOeiVogeltje

Paragon (1426)

29-09-2018, 23:44

and uhm
how do you get out new games like that so quickly?

By DarkSchneider

Paladin (944)

07-10-2018, 12:57

The sprites OR operation is nicely used. Surely you miss (like everyone) a good tool for creating sprites in SM2 (Sprite Mode 2) with OR.

By JohnHassink

Ambassador (5645)

11-12-2018, 04:10

A try-out for the SCC version of the overworld theme. Would like to know your opinion, now I can still change stuff about it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O26u2mu56-E&feature=youtu.be

By max_iwamoto

Hero (627)

11-12-2018, 06:42

Any update on when the game will be released?

By JohnHassink

Ambassador (5645)

11-12-2018, 07:17

January 17th.

By JohnHassink

Ambassador (5645)

11-12-2018, 07:45

BTW, for the people who are quick to click on things, here is the PSG version of the dungeon theme:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_pYVh8LcZc
Will be deleted soon so get it while it's hot. ;)

By journey

Hero (570)

11-12-2018, 07:50

JohnHassink wrote:

A try-out for the SCC version of the overworld theme. Would like to know your opinion, now I can still change stuff about it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O26u2mu56-E&feature=youtu.be

Fantastic tune!

Please, add the SCC soundtrack in the game!

By JohnHassink

Ambassador (5645)

11-12-2018, 08:48

Thank you. Yes, the entire soundtrack of the game will support SCC. This is how it will actually sound in the game with SCC (but there are PSG versions, too).

By ARTRAG

Enlighted (6914)

11-12-2018, 09:40

It will be the first game in turbo basic to use the trilotracker replayer and sfx on 3 channels, all for msx2 with 64kb ram without mappers

By Kai Magazine

Paragon (1420)

11-12-2018, 12:47

Thank you to Artrag for his hard work into making this possible
This was supposed to be a secret/surprise and the information given here is wrong:
The game will be delivered with psg and FM support, as the original announcement states.
The SCC support is an unannounced extra which will only work with an external scc. The game cartridge will not include scc chip.
We might do a limited batch with scc included in the cartridge for those interested in it but it will be more expensive since the cartridge itself is more expensive.
Also, while the game works flawlessly on z80 with psg or fm musics, Trilo tracker replayer + the 3 channels psg sound effect replayer consume a huge amount of cpu resources (way more than opl4!) so the game suffers small slow downs with scc on z80, so we might condition the scc usage to turbo machines.
I insist: this is an unannounced feature that we are experimenting on at this very moment. There are no guarantees.
Do not buy the game thinking it will have an internal scc or that it will inconditionally work fine on your MSX. We are just experimenting. Noone was supposed to know about this.

By ARTRAG

Enlighted (6914)

11-12-2018, 15:19

sorry for spoiling the surprise!!!
Anyway external Scc should work just fine.
There is no need for a Scc chip on the cartridge.

By Kai Magazine

Paragon (1420)

11-12-2018, 16:27

Nothing to apologyze for, Artrag, once you saw John's post you felt it was public domain and you added some technical data on the work you did, so there is nothing wrong with that.

By the way, the slow downs on z80 are fixed now, so the game will work on z80 and scc (where available).

By syn

Prophet (2113)

11-12-2018, 21:57

So for FM you use moonblaster, scc uses trilotracker?

By Kai Magazine

Paragon (1420)

11-12-2018, 22:45

Yes. As far as I know, the Trilo tracker FM replayer is incomplete.

By hamlet

Scribe (4105)

21-12-2018, 21:19

JohnHassink wrote:

January 17th.

It would be great to see some cartridges fore sale in Nijmegen fair!

By raymond

Hero (622)

23-01-2019, 16:36

Has the game been released?

By Coyote

Rookie (31)

26-01-2019, 10:00

Nope Raymond.
It could not be finished in time. This was the game I wanted to buy at the Meeting.
Maybe for next June or earlier.

By max_iwamoto

Hero (627)

27-01-2019, 17:11

Any update on when the game will be released?

By journey

Hero (570)

28-02-2019, 10:37

max_iwamoto wrote:

Any update on when the game will be released?

No news?

By max_iwamoto

Hero (627)

05-05-2019, 19:40

I pre-paid for this game 6 months ago and I have no idea if it will be released any time soon. An update from the creator would nice.

By raymond

Hero (622)

10-05-2019, 21:23

max_iwamoto wrote:

I pre-paid for this game 6 months ago and I have no idea if it will be released any time soon. An update from the creator would nice.

I agree. An update would be very nice

By Grauw

Ascended (10681)

10-05-2019, 21:57

Oscar posted an update here where max_iwamoto crossposted the same question.

Kai Magazine wrote:

Hello folks, I am sorry about the delay...
As I have been explaining to everyone who have contacted us regarding the status of this project, due to a series of unfortunate events in my life (which I will not go on here in public) 6 months ago, I had to look for a job outside the MSX development.
This means that the MSX is now on a secondary plane and I have very little time for MSX developments.
Anyway the game is advancing as we speak, it is nearly finished and it should be released by the end of June if no new surprises arise.
We will post an updated video of the game in a couple of weeks aprox.
Kind regards:
Oscar Kenneth
Kai Magazine Software

By valkyre

Hero (631)

01-07-2019, 21:27

Any updated game play yet?

By hamlet

Scribe (4105)

01-07-2019, 21:56

Oscar!
Like many users in this community I admire your work very much and am happy about every new game you develop.
Since you do this with all your heart and soul, I am not angry to wait a few days longer. I much prefer a balanced result to a work completed in a hurry that is finished without love.
That it's not about earning money, but about having fun in your work. Not 'bout limited hardware, but unlimited ideas. That's what you have proven.
My gratitude for all the wonderful games you gave us and above all: many thanks you showed us that MSX still has so much potential. That inspired many to dare similar things.
I understand that it is not possible to make a living from this work and provide safety for children. And I am happy if you have found a job that can give you this security. That is understandable, I act the same way.
But if I may ask you for one thing: Make your actions transparent. The people who now ask about your work trust you blindly. They proved that almost a year ago. Please provide and from time to time with the current state of affairs. That would be great and would give your work the icing on the cake.
Thank you for your work!

By max_iwamoto

Hero (627)

01-07-2019, 23:22

I agree with Hamlet. We have no issues to wait a bit longer but timely updates would help the wait.
I understand if we didn't pay any $ we could not insist on the game status, but since many people prepaid, I think it's your obligation to give them an update on when the game will be realised or at least publish gameplay preview as was promissed in May.

By Kai Magazine

Paragon (1420)

02-07-2019, 11:33

Hi folks,
Sorry for my silence. Yes, I should have uploaded a game play video as I said, but I preferred to finish the game and then translate it into English, than to have 2 versions under development.
The game is finished; I am translating it into English. It is being beta tested in front of me for the last 2 days and there will be at least 2 days more of beta testing at my home (the game is long) so I can evaluate correctly the length, difficulty and game flux.
It is incredibly complicated to make an open world RPG game due to balancing many factors that are intertwined together and affect one another. To change an element or a mechanic in the world means to redesign several things and to test it from the beginning all over again, so that was unexpected but it must be done.
Also, depending on how many hours it takes to complete the full game at this moment, and considering the fact that I still have some free space in the rom, I might make the world even bigger (1 week of work) if those who prepaid agree.

I would also like to clarify out that not "many" people prepaid, just 20 or so, 9 months ago.
This lack of support for this game together with the constant lack of cartridges forced me to look for a job outside the MSX world.

Anyway, for those 20 who supported me and preordered, I am finishing the game and I am doing my best with it since they actually went ahead and trusted in me and in the game, so you will not be disappointed.
If it wasn't for those 20 preorders I would never have bothered finishing the game.

I will record a video today (in English) and I will post it here.

By Kai Magazine

Paragon (1420)

02-07-2019, 16:00

Here are 2 video links:

Long gameplay with SCC musics

Short gameplay with PSG musics

Sorry about the terrible gameplay but I am not used to the emulator lag (I code on a real MSX).

I will post explaining a bit of the game and the SCC support as soon as I can. I will also open a thread to ask a couple of questions to those who made the preorder (for their benefit, only good things).
After that, I will post about the final game release wich will consist of a batch of 25 cartridges only, since there are no 2048k cartridges available.

To those who made the prepurchase: I am very sorry about the delay!

By Kai Magazine

Paragon (1420)

02-07-2019, 16:21

Due to some messages I just received,I must clarify:
All those who made the preorder have their cartridge ensured already.
The 25 cartridges batch is for those who didn t preorder the game.
If anyone wishes to order the game, there are only 25 available at the moment and we will not be able to make a new batch for 2 or 3 months.

By journey

Hero (570)

02-07-2019, 20:21

Great work Oscar!!

By max_iwamoto

Hero (627)

03-07-2019, 04:50

The game looks really great and the world is really big! Great job!

By MiCv2

Resident (47)

10-10-2019, 23:53

Hello,
have a question ..
Have bought the game as a digital edition. Is it possible to play the game
on a MiST FPGA with one-chip MSX core?
Regards, MiC

By Kai Magazine

Paragon (1420)

11-10-2019, 14:23

I can't say for sure since I don't have a MiST and I don't know anyone who does, personally, so I couldn't test it, but I know it works on one-chip and Zemmix, so it should work if the core and rom loader is the same version.

By MiCv2

Resident (47)

12-10-2019, 20:13

Thanks for the Information.
It works very well with Carnivore2 or RetroPie
With TC64 or MiST (FPGA) ocmsx-core, no chance.
The core is probably too old…

By hamlet

Scribe (4105)

12-10-2019, 20:21

I can't run it on my TC (V2) either. This may be due to the version of the kernel, at the moment I can't see any wrong setting.

By MiCv2

Resident (47)

13-10-2019, 01:19

The game works on the MiST Solution is described here ..

https://github.com/mist-devel/mist-board/issues/120

Am happy, thank you gyurco :)

By moldov31337

Expert (97)

01-12-2021, 11:19

Hello guys!

I tried to run the game on MiSTer FPGA 1chip MSX core and couldn't manage to do that. But thanks to the guys from Russian MSX Discord channel I succefuly found the way how to run the game.

- cut first 4000h bytes from ROM file (dsk2rom header)
- save the file with DSK extention
- open saved DSK file in DiskManager and copy all the files to mounted VHD partion for MSX core on MiSTer SD Card (in any sufficient folder)
- then run 1chip MSX core on MiSTer FPGA, choose SofaRUN or MM and go to previously created forlder with game files and run AUTOEXEC.BAS
- here we go!

RPG "The Sorrow of Gadhlan' Thur" from Kai Magazine

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RPG "The Sorrow of Gadhlan' Thur" from Kai Magazine

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