Sorcery Plus Plus

[Ian Price]

Not sure if anyone here is familiar with the old 8bit game Sorcery, well I'm currently working on a PB remake of the fantastic CPC version.

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[Adaz]

Woww:)
I liked that game!
I hope you won't use the original graphics, but the Source 3D engine :))

[Ian Price]

I'm strictly a 2D guy, but the graphics will be changed, but they will retain a chunky look (I love chunky - it's my style).

[kevin]

It's looking pretty good, though it's not a game I remember

[Ian Price]

I suspect it's because Amstrad CPC wasn't popular in Oz. It was probably the Amstrad's most loved and well known games and helped to sell thousands of them.

Strangely, it's actually a much improved version of a terrible C64 original. The Spectrum version was also dire.

Sorcery spawned a sequel in the form of Sorcery Plus, which was basically a remixed version with nearly 30 extra new rooms. It came out as a disk only on Amstrad CPC 6128, then onto Atari ST and Amiga. There is supposedly a pc version too, but I've not found it despite numeroud trawls around the net. Nobody appears to have seen or own it. But then, this dates back to 1985-1988...

There are also MSX, Enterprise and Acorn Electron versions of Sorcery. None of which are as good as CPC, although Enterprise was very close.

It's an arcade adventure where your quest is to roam nearly 50 screens (in Sorcery) and rescue 8 wizards captured by an evil Necromancer. You must use the objects and spells laying around the landscapes to assist in your quest and to destroy the enemies that lurk. Once you rescue all 8 wizards you must go to Sanctuary and then begin the second quest (Sorcery PLUS) to destroy the Necromancer.

The game was very well received and loved by nearly everyone that played it (including myself). The full game consists of 75 levels, 196 doors!, 32 different objects and spells, nearly 150 monsters, 8 wizards and 1 evil Necromancer, waiting to be offed.

The game is near complete (code-wise), although enemy placement is not done yet. I've sorted some of the game's original bugs - one door leads to a literal dead end and the original game could be completed in manner not intended by the original coders. I've also added hints and tips in the game (you can turn these on/off in the options), variable Accessibility options and visibly locked doors. I plan to add further elements to the game too.

[kevin]

I suspect it's because Amstrad CPC wasn't popular in Oz. It was probably the Amstrad's most loved and well known games and helped to sell thousands of them. 

  A few of my friends had them back in the day.   Retail support was fairly active here.   

Sorcery spawned a sequel in the form of Sorcery Plus, which was basically a remixed version with nearly 30 extra new rooms. It came out as a disk only on Amstrad CPC 6128, then onto Atari ST and Amiga. There is supposedly a pc version too, but I've not found it despite numeroud trawls around the net. Nobody appears to have seen or own it. But then, this dates back to 1985-1988...

  There was nothing more frustrating in those days than waiting for port (well remake)  of game ABC to come out on your platform, to only find it sucked.. 
 

It's an arcade adventure where your quest is to roam nearly 50 screens (in Sorcery) and rescue 8 wizards captured by an evil Necromancer. You must use the objects and spells laying around the landscapes to assist in your quest and to destroy the enemies that lurk. Once you rescue all 8 wizards you must go to Sanctuary and then begin the second quest (Sorcery PLUS) to destroy the Necromancer.

  Sounds a little like Shamus.   Ironically the VIC-20 is the only bareble version.   

The game is near complete (code-wise), although enemy placement is not done yet. I've sorted some of the game's original bugs - one door leads to a literal dead end and the original game could be completed in manner not intended by the original coders. I've also added hints and tips in the game (you can turn these on/off in the options), variable Accessibility options and visibly locked doors. I plan to add further elements to the game too.

Cool, look forward to playing it

[Ian Price]

If anyone wants to take a sneak peak at the game, you can download the latest WIP from HERE (1.45Mb)

It's still a WIP, as I will be updating all of the original graphics to something a bit more modern, but still retaining the style of the original (I hope).

[stef]

Hi!

Really nice stuff!

[empty]

That plays very well, although I hardly remember the original game it was a bit hard to figure out what to do. But I like that game a lot :).

[Ian Price]

Cheers :)

I just realised that I've left out the waterfalls in this version - I took them out when doing optimising tests and forgot to out them back in. Oh well, expect them in the full release.

[kevin]

This one runs in the 50-60fps range. 

[Ian Price]

Your more powerful Duron is functioning less efficiently than my one, which is 700Mhz (which gives 60 FPS), but that 50-60 FPS is still much better than the initial 18-20 then the improved 35+ figure.

I can probably do a bit more still to improve this. :)

Kevin, as a matter of interest, can you go into the options screen and change the gamespeed value. This should increase the FPS - if your performance doesn't improve then I know your machine is maxed out, if it improves, then I'll be happy with that.

[Big C.]

Wow... Ian, I hope you get ready these nice game...  :) It's a little bit fast on my machine so I will use the gamespeed option to make it playable fo me  ;D

BTW please can you make a description page in the Mainmenu which tells the player the target of the game...

Big C.

P.S.: Are you writing a book "Gameprogramming with PB"...  :P

[Ian Price]

Cheers Big C :)

I haven't yet written a guide to the game, but it's a pretty simple affair. The aim of the game is to rescue 8 wizards (trapped by the evil Necromancer), by using items that are littered around the landscape. As you've noticed, enemies roam the world and you can use particular items to dispose of them.

Here are some hints

- Slimers are killed by using the axe
- Jawa/Witches are killed with swords
- Pigs and eyes are killed with ball and chains.
- Sacks of spells and shooting stars will destroy all enemies

Certain (padlocked) doors require certain items to open them (usually a key, bottle or fleur de lys)
Green doors may require other items...

Once you have rescued all 8 wizards, you must return to Santuary and take your place on the central pillar, ready to enter the PLUS section, where another 30 rooms await - with different monsters and the evil Necromancer.

The game contains -

75 different rooms
196 normal doors
63 "green" doors
63 "trap" doors
120 enemies
188 items (of 30 types)

... so, there is a fair bit to the game. :)

BTW The game is locked at 60FPS, which means it shouldn't be too fast, even on powerful pcs (your specs are the same as mine, more or less).

[Squiffy]

Absolutely loved this game all those years ago!