Tower And Dragon V3.0 For Commodore PET Computers - Only 8K Required!2024-01-08 Version 3.0 Released! Only requires 8K memory and is playable by tape or disk.For updates and new information, go to: Tower And Dragon.For a better online emulator where your character save file downloads, go here: Masswerk: Tower And Dragon.For version 3.0: Over the course of
several months, as a hobby I found ways to optimize code and memory in
Tower And Dragon(T&D). At one point I had over 300 bytes of free
memory. I had not seen over 300 bytes of free memory since prior to
adding audio version 0.9 beta. Programming Version 3.0 then began.3.0 Teaser Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cvzx7q3nFNc3.0 Teaser VideoFor More Details About Version 3.0, TAP HERE.Tower
And Dragon is a classic dungeon crawling adventure with primary and
offhand weapon, armor, quest storyline, moving walls, teleportation, and
unique tilesets and monsters for each dungeon level. Your character
starts out just after landing a boat on the shore near an ancient ruin,
discovered by following a dream. Player Quotes:Kimberly Cook- It was beautiful.Marshall Sutherland- The thought that this whole thing runs in 8K just boggles my mind.Richard Suematsu (ref. plot)- I like how you don't understand what's going on in the first 2 levels and then it starts to come into focus.Frederic Bezies- ...The
end is really touching. For that alone, it rewards the fact of having
invested 35 minutes per level to explore them completely, because the
secret passages are rather numerous.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1YFQ-3sEsYThe Making Of 1.0 (36 minutes)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oR9TUzgQuWAArchive Release 2.0 Video (3 minutes) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnvDYabBdAAArchive Release 1.0 Video (3 minutes)IndieRetroNews Release Link: IndieRetroNews: Tower And Dragon 2.0Tower
And Dragon is written in assembly language, only requires an 8K
Commodore PET, and is playable by disk drive or tape cassette on ROM1,
ROM2, and ROM4 systems and is compatible with the SNES controller. You
can play with more memory, but part of the design was to make sure the
game would work on some of the oldest stock PET systems still around.
Screen expands for 80 Column Commodore PETS and the game should be
compatible with 8032, 8096, 8296, and SuperPET, as well as N and SK
variants. The audio soundtrack on the splash screen uses Shiru's
BuzzKick engine, converted to the PET and gives Tower And Dragon a
unique and distinct audio that new games will follow. He also converted
the theme music to run under BuzzKick. While the splash screen utilizes
BuzzKick engine, it is not used in-game due to lack of memory.
Therefore, only simple audio is utilized while in-game.To keep
with the vintage theme, I recovered the data from maps in a game that I
made as a boy in 1980. Those vintage maps are utilized in Tower And
Dragon! The game is a tribute to the game that inspired me to become a
programmer: "Dungeon" from 1979. Like Dungeon, this game only requires
8K of memory.Instruction ScreenNorbert
Landsteiner has a wonderful online PET emulator with recently released
version 2.0 that includes audio. Play Online Here: Masswerk: Tower And Dragon.
This will make it easy for anyone to try out the game, as well as any
other vintage games for the PET. His powerful emulator correctly works
with Back To The Pet, A Bright Shining Star, and Faulty Robots.Version HistoryNew in V3.0 2024-01-08Almost all monsters are animated.Armor and weapons have names.There is finally a use for gold. There is now a village with a vendor up north in the outdoor area.While
there are a few other items available at the vendor, You can now
purchase a heal enchant. The enchant activates once per purchase and is
expensive. I didn't want to change the "feel" of the game too much. To
heal you press H.There are a total of 3 new zones to
explore in the game. I say zones as they are not ruin levels. The
village is accessible from the outdoor area. The other two zones are
accessible from the ruin.A few boss mobs have been added.If coming from version 2, The stairs down on level 1 are worth visiting.Level
3 has been mostly restored to about 85% (possibly more) to its original
state as I made it as a boy 40 years ago. Not that it is an awesome
area or anything, but still neat. If coming from V2: Going to the stairs
down on this level is significant.There are better weapons
available in the game than previously available. If coming from version
2, simply killing monsters on level 3 and 4 should upgrade.The end is tougher if coming from v2. Let me know if you can beat it without any upgrades or leveling.Completely
enclosing character's avatar in any stairs/boat tile temporarily
changes your spawn point to that location until you change zones or
reload.While there is only so much you can do with text graphics, the dragon animation is worth viewing.Added more help option on title screens.When
you have won, be sure to check out what is cooking on the stove. I used
almost all available memory on the level to add some polish. Rebalanced all the zones, painful. This required me exploring every room, and looting every gold on every level.I can't tell you the number of times I had to clear every mob from the new zones to thoroughly test. A few Easter eggs have been added. Hint: A few things change based off of your progression. Support for quests has been added.New in V2.7 2023-09-15Additional 20% Improvement in performance.On
CBM 80 Column Systems: Game now uses full 80 columns for main game
display. Movement is a bit sluggish, but makes up for it in extra view
range.It should be compatible with 8032, 8096, 8296, and SuperPET, as well as N and SK variants. If
you have actual hardware, I'd love to hear from you that it works,
hopefully with pictures. I've only been able to test using Vice.Many thanks to Frederic Bezies for playtesting & brainstorming.Tape cassette version is fixed, it was missing critical files.Slightly modified Level 3 and end boss maps to preserve theme in 80 columns.Minor bug fixes.2023-07-23 Version 2.0 ReleasedThe game starts with an outdoor adventure!There are now animated tiles.All levels are fortified with room decorations.Game
programmed around ROM 1 bugs with the Commodore PET disk drive
(IEEE-488), allowing it to work with a disk drive! To get it operating,
see project rom1diskmagic.20% improvement in performance.As with 1.1, this all runs in only 8K of memory. To make something this complex has been an ongoing battle.Unfortunately, character save files from version 1.x are not compatible.Fixed screen corruption on save (only effected tape cassette version in some cases).2023-03-13 Version 1.1 ReleasedAdded support for Super Nintendo Controller.For a PET, this adapter is required: SNES Adapter. You will also need a game controller. I had success with these controllers: Hyperkin "Scout" Controller8Bitdo SN30 Wireless (excellent)From Masswerk Online Emulator, it is recommended to play using Firefox. I found this USB controller set worked well: kiwitatá Super NESMinor bug fixes.2023-02-27 Version 1.0 ReleasedROM1 Disk Magic: Allows the use of IEEE-488 disk drive devices on a stock ROM 1 or BASIC 1 stock Commodore PET. https://hub.inktada.com/channel/rom1diskmagic
Jason Scott
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