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Darkblasters: A new graphical 84+/SE RPG written in TI-BASIC

Posted: Tue 07 Sep, 2021 11:17 am
by DJ_O
So I wanted to have something Illusiat-related, since Illusiat 20th anniversary is on the horizon, but the Illusiat 1+2 remake or Illusiat 13 revival finally never happened. That said, I still got something somewhat similar, RPG-related: Darkblasters!

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Back in late 2012, when the TI-84 Plus C Silver Edition color screen z80 calculator got announced, I wanted to experiment with layered text sprites. Games like Serenity and Metroid Pi used this technique, although the latter did not use the shifted method. In the process, I wanted to attempt making an RPG like Illusiat 6/Nemesiat, but with larger maps while being (hopefully) smaller.

I eventually got the color calculator model before pushing this RPG engine further, so only the walking engine was done and in 2014 it was posted in Omnimaga downloads section. I have recently uploaded it to TI-Planet, Cemetech and Ticalc.org as well. (As it turn out, layered text sprites would not work on the CSE, making a direct port of this engine impossible. )

https://tiplanet.org/forum/archives_voir.php?id=2790407
https://www.cemetech.net/downloads/files/2178/x2410
https://www.ticalc.org/archives/files/f ... 47676.html

Almost 9 years later, it's being revived as Darkblasters! It features four dungeons, a town and a forest, all with over 390 rooms to explore, some magic spells and items, but no shop and in-game currency. There will be no experience points, so your max HP/MP will go up every battle, along with your skill points. Magic will get stronger the more you use it. You'll also not be able to enter buildings in the town, but you will be able to talk to NPC's.

My goals:
-Keep the game and its RAM usage as small as possible
-Hopefully keep it in one file, unlike my entire RPG calculatography.
-Make sure that the speed remains fast enough for 15 MHz calcs. 83+ will be playable, but not the most optimal experience.
-Keep compatibility with the TI-82 Advanced and TI-84 Plus-T models. (This is why the game remains in pure TI-BASIC)

So far, what is implemented are the 390 rooms, connection between each area, magic animations (although they're currently separate from the game), the intro text (same) and everything shown in the screenies above. The file size is 5753 bytes right now.

Re: Darkblasters: A new graphical 84+/SE RPG written in TI-BASIC

Posted: Tue 14 Sep, 2021 11:07 am
by tr1p1ea
This might be one of your most graphically impressive pure BASIC games yet!

Re: Darkblasters: A new graphical 84+/SE RPG written in TI-BASIC

Posted: Wed 15 Sep, 2021 1:56 pm
by benryves
That looks great! Very nice work and it's always impressive to see the creative ways you're able to make the most of the calculator's capabilities. :)

Re: Darkblasters: A new graphical 84+/SE RPG written in TI-BASIC

Posted: Thu 16 Sep, 2021 12:09 am
by DJ_O
Thanks! 20 years minus 7 days ago, I released my first ever TI-83 Plus RPG, Illusiat. Today, after over 16 years without releasing an original RPG for calculators, I am finally releasing a new one: Darkblasters!

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXgmHlyTSkg

Inspired by Lufia, Quest 64, Dragon Quest, Illusiat and Mana Force series, Darkblasters is a role-playing game meant to showcase pure TI-BASIC graphical capabilities while trying to keep speed as fast as possible. It features over 390 rooms to explore, NPC's, some items and magic spells, many monsters and sprite-based graphics. No ASM/Axe/Grammer lib were used, in order to ensure full compatibility with 15 MHz z80 calculator models that lacks official ASM support.
A long time ago, mankind became nearly extinct after the entire world population did the Tide Pod
eating challenge simultaneously. From the dead rose a new illness that transformed animals into
monsters and many humnan survivors into Darkblasters, evil mages that look like knights.

Today, the Darkblasters stole the three crystals protecting the Kingdom of Walritia. You must defeat
the mages before they take over the world.
Here are the download links:
https://www.ticalc.org/archives/files/f ... 47684.html
https://tiplanet.org/forum/archives_voir.php?id=2790407
https://www.cemetech.net/downloads/files/2178

Re: Darkblasters: A new graphical 84+/SE RPG written in TI-BASIC

Posted: Thu 16 Sep, 2021 5:03 am
by tr1p1ea
Very nice backstory lol and congrats on the release!

Re: Darkblasters: A new graphical 84+/SE RPG written in TI-BASIC

Posted: Fri 17 Sep, 2021 10:13 pm
by chickendude
Awesome, your projects have always been really great, will have to toss this on my calc and give it a spin! I agree with tr1p1ea, the graphics look particularly nice.