Excalibur Remake on ZX Spectrum

I recently released a ZX Spectrum +3 disk version of Excalibur. This is a port of the adventuron remake, and contains zero lines of code, from the original game.

It is not based on any existing source code of the original game (which I believe to be lost), and it running in a completely different engine (more on that later).

To run the game requires an emulator, and note that these screenshots show Spectaculator, but that Spectaculator is a commercial emulator. There are several free emulators such as Fuse, and Klive, and it is out of scope to instruct players how to play the game in an emulator.

NOTE: I do not take responsibility for content or the safety of downloads in URLS.

The majority of players should play the web based version for its convenience, but there is undeniable charm to playing the game on 8-bit hardware, so this is a proof of concept, and a novelty for 8-bit text adventure enthusiasts.

ZX Spectrum Screenshots (Running in Spectaculator)

I recently made quite a large update to Adventuron 2 DAAD, so that it is now possible to export simple Adventuron games with Compliant ZX Spectrum Graphics via the DRC (DAAD Reborn Compiler) format

Graphic requirements:

• Graphics must be 256 pixels across
• Graphics must be multiples of 8 pixels down, up to a maximum of 176 pixels.
• Each 8x8 tile in the pixels must contain just 2 colours.
• Each colour must be one of the 15 spectrum colours.

A program such as multipaintwill let you create images in such a compliant format. Please check out the work of Andy Green and Shaun McClure for great examples of how it's possible to create great looking ZX Spectrum pixel art within these constraints.

How To Load

To play the game, download the .zip file containing a .dsk file at the bottom of the page, and then load into a modern spectrum emulator.

Issues

Playing this remake on original +3 hardware will result in noticable pauses when moving between locations, as the graphics stream from disk. When running on an emulator with fast (non accurate) disk IO, then graphic loads should appear near instant. There is very little that can be done to speed up this approach on original hardware, and it is not at all the fault of the graphic library used, but rather a quirk of ancient disk drive technology.

Copyright Information

All versions of Excalibur:Sword of Kings are copyright of Adventuron Software Limited.

This software is for personal use only, and not to be redistributed.

Tools Used

• Adventuron Classroom, by Adventuron Software Limited, Non Commercial Use License.
• Adventuron 2 DAAD, by Adventuron Software Limited, Non Commercial Use License.
• DRC - DAAD Reborn Compiler, by Uto, GPL-3.0.

Libraries Embedded

• Maluva - Graphical Streaming Library for DAAD, by Uto, LGPL-3.0 (license in zipfile) .
• DAAD, by Tim Gilberts, Public Domain.

Thank Yous

• Thank you very much to Stefan, for bringing the English Language version of DAAD into the world.
• Thanks to Uto for DRC/Maluva which were both instrumental in making this port possible on DAAD & for his assistance in setting up Maluva, and troubleshooting teething issues.
• Thanks to Tim for co-authoring QUILL and for creating ILLUSTRATOR, PAW, DAAD, SWAN, and for being central to the entire European 8 bit home grown text adventure cottage industry.
• Thanks to Shaun & Ian for creating the original game.
• Thanks to Mark Hardisty, Gareth Pitchford, and Richard Pettigrew for their support and encouragement, with additional thanks to Gareth for being a fountain of knowledge on all things Gilsoft.

More Information On The Port

For more information on the port, either wait for a new detailed post, or mail info@adventuron.io

Please enjoy,

Chris