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View topic - [Coding Competition 2022] Skazka by SteveProXNA

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[Coding Competition 2022] Skazka by SteveProXNA
Post Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2022 9:37 pm
https://www.smspower.org/Homebrew/Skazka-SMS

Quote
Skazka game for the SMS Power! 2022 Competition.

###### RELEASE
Sunday, 27th March 2022

###### INTRO
Skazka is a Slavic RGP Adventure game originally written by Kirils Skrabe in BASIC for the Sega SC-3000 and posted to the SC-3000 Survivors [Facebook](https://bit.ly/3De1P4E) group on March 3rd 2022. Original source code can be found [here](https://bit.ly/3tGV9J3).

###### PORTS
Saverio Russo [ported](https://bit.ly/3IKJg9x) the game to the SG-1000 using a custom "SC3K DevKit" which I believed is based on "Dear imGUI".
<br />
Here is the Sega Master System port using the [devkitSMS](https://github.com/sverx/devkitSMS).

###### TOOLS
- Programming: devkitSMS
- Compiler sdcc 3.6.9
- Languages: C / Z80
- Visual Studio 2015
- Graphics: BMP2Tile 0.43 / GIMP2 / paint.net
- Music: pcmenc / VGM2PSG
- Assembler: WLA-DX
- Emulators: Emulicious / Fusion / Meka
- Debuggers: VS Code Emulicious Debugger

###### SOURCE CODE
http://github.com/SteveProXNA/SkazkaSMS

###### ROM HACKING
You can hack this ROM!
Download and dump Skazka.sms into Hex Editor, e.g. HxD, and modify the bytes:
- 0x004E Delay Used to speed through any game delay.
- 0x004F Invincible Non-zero value enables invincibility.
- 0x0050 Current XP Non-zero sets current experience pts.
- 0x0051 Current HP Non-zero sets default healthy points.
- 0x0052 Set Gold Non-zero sets current gold available.
- 0x0053 Set Weapon Set value to 1 or 2 for stock else 0.
- 0x0054 Set Armor Set value to 1 or 2 for armor else 0.
- 0x0055 Add Life Set value to 1=Life otherwise 0=None.
- 0x0056 Village Talk Set value to 1=repeat villagers talk.
- 0x0057 Music Off Set 0=Music to play otherwise silent.
- 0x0058 Sound Off Set 0=Sound to play otherwise silent.

###### ENEMIES
- There are 5x different enemies in order of increasing difficulty: Razboynik, Hungry Wolf, Kikimora, Leshy, Baby Yaga
- Defeat final boss Koschey to beat the game!

###### LEVELS
- There are 3x levels: 1, 2, 3. Maximum player HP = 30 and maximum player XP = 99

###### HINTS
- Try to buy the weapon "Sword" or armor "Tegilay" with your initial gold before entering any forest fights
- After completing each forest fight, ensure you "Rest" at the main screen to replenish all HP
- In the shop, if you buy an item you already have then the gold will be deducted unconditionally so be aware - there is no validation!
- Try to get "+1 Life" just in case you lose a fight or the final boss battle so you do not have to restart game
- Maximize player HP + XP and get the best weapon "Axe" and the best armor "Kolchuga" before attempting to beat the boss.
- Once you fight the boss you cannot "Run away". Try to fight boss once you have > 60 XP because your weapon and armor may be slightly more powerful!

###### CHEATS
- On splash screen, hold joystick down and press button 2 to change default background color.
- On stats screen, move joystick left or right to skip over the flashing arrows indication.
- On title screen, hold fire2 to skip intro music. Same applies on boss and over screens.
- In forest screen, press fire2 to "Run away" without risking losing any HPs [Easy mode].

###### DEBUGGING
- On Windows you should be able to debug the source code directly from Visual Studio Code after pressing F5
- On Linux you can the source code directly from Visual Studio Code also but launch Emulicious first

###### CREDITS
Extra special thanks to: sverx for [devkitSMS](https://github.com/sverx/devkitSMS) and Calindro for their 24/7 Tech Support!
<br />
Plus shout out to Mojon Twins in which I found lots of some cool sound effects [here](https://github.com/mojontwins/loves_the_sg1000)!
<br />
Finally, thanks goes to: Maxim, Martin, Ville Helin, Steve Snake, Bock + Kusfo

###### CONTACT
- Blog: http://steveproxna.blogspot.com
- Email: steven_boland@hotmail.com
- Twitter: [@SteveProXNA](http://twitter.com/SteveProXNA)


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Post Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2022 9:44 pm
This game is weirdly addictive!
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Post Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2022 8:45 pm
Steve, I think you managed to more or less boil down the old school RPG-experience into its essence with this port: Kill monsters -> level up -> upgrade gear -> repeat. I know Koschey, Baba Yaga etc. from the Hellboy comics, so I imagined them drawn in Mignola's style as they kicked my butt (admitted, I did not have the superb gear the first time around).

Congrats on a nice entry!
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Post Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2022 10:23 pm
For me the experience is the opposite of most of players, I was a player first and learned about smspower forums through it.

Beautiful game, I love how succinct the mechanics are and the sense of discovery. Villager chat feature is the best!
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Post Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2022 11:59 am
A strangely compelling game I found myself spending an unexpected amount of time with, and having a lot of fun.

As has been mentioned, this captures the core mechanics of RPGs without the fluff that usually surrounds them. Nice work!

Have you considered doing a version with proper graphics instead of ascii art?
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Post Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2022 9:25 pm
Thanks everybody for your feedback and esp. kind words RE: game play, mechanics, sense of discovery etc. but this should all be directed to the original developer Kirils Skrabe - I simply ported his source code from BASIC on the Sega SC-3000 to C/devkitSMS for our favorite 8-bit console.

TBH I did notice that once you "got" the game play a bit it did feel easier to progress so I added the Hard difficulty and tweaked some of the numbers there [that isn't in the original game] - weird thing is I find on Easy getting the Sword first helps a lot but on Hard getting the armor "Tegilay" first helps to have a better chance to progress...

@Kagesan - again this is a direct port of the org. game which is text based adventure but if you are offering to contribute some art work / re-design etc. then definitely would be appreciated and would consider doing a version with proper graphics for sure :)
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Post Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2022 8:10 am
Great port mate!

If you are interested (ex. for music tracks), my version is now available at:

https://github.com/siriokds/SKAZKA_SC3000
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Post Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2022 7:49 pm
Overall I found the game fun but pretty basic (haha, get it, because BASIC). It really made me think of games on old text based systems. As the SMS does not have text rendering by default, I appreciate the effort that went into making the UI a reality :)

Now to my playthrough...

At first I went straight into the forest to get some XP and money. but half of the time I did not understand the damage calculation and the HP changes while I was in battle. So I often died on the first few battles (if not the first), even in easy mode...

Because of that, I used a different strategy to beat the game. I first kept talking to villagers until I found enough money for an axe and the first armour upgrade. Then I felt pretty much safe by going resting each fight until I could buy the entire shop and go kick Koschey's butt :D
All in all, this was fun, if a bit short!
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Post Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2022 9:01 pm
armixer24 wrote
Then I felt pretty much safe by going resting each fight until I could buy the entire shop and go kick Koschey's butt :D
All in all, this was fun, if a bit short!

Thanks armixer24 - yeah that's pretty much it. If you start on easy then buy the sword first win some fights then get the first armor = easier to level up. If you are losing a fight then you can cheat and fire2 to run away w/o damage. As for hard mode it seems better to get the armor first... As for the HP damage calculation I just ported the RNG code from the BASIC impl - the logic is here if you are really bored =P
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Post Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2022 12:19 pm
I'm loving this trend of adventure games.

This one in particular takes me back to the Apple IIe days of classic adventure gaming.

Game.. O.. ver!

It needs a more passive leveling option than fighting and risking it all, some of us are lovers, not fighters!

I think of classic BBS games like L.O.R.D, a bit of g*mbling to earn money, fighting a non-lethal tournament to level up, things like that add a bit of character and diversity.
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Post Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2022 6:41 pm
thatawesomeguy wrote
It needs a more passive leveling option than fighting and risking it all, some of us are lovers, not fighters!

I think of classic BBS games like L.O.R.D, a bit of g*mbling to earn money, fighting a non-lethal tournament to level up, things like that add a bit of character and diversity.

Thanks thatawesomeguy for the post - I am fwd'ing all feedback back to the original developer on the Sega SC-3000 Facebook group as this entry here was a literal 1-2-1 port of his Skazka source code in BASIC - cheers!
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Skazka V2.0 Available
Post Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2022 4:29 pm
Skazka V1.0 was initially a text-based RPG adventure game. However, after collaboration with Kagesan, graphics were added for all screens in Skazka V2.0 which is now the most up-to-date version of the game. Thanks!
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Post Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2023 6:28 am
Looks awesome, I can't wait to try it...unfortunately, the Saverio Russo's port for SG-1000 is no longer available, but I can conform with the SMS version.
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