Interview Matt Chat 451: Winston Douglas Wood on Starfire

[Infinitron]

Tags: Matt Barton; StarCraft Inc.; Starfire; Winston Douglas Wood

After almost a month, Matt Barton has finally published the fourth and final episode of his interview with Phantasie creator Winston Douglas Wood. As we know, after Phantasie IV Winston designed another game for Japanese publisher StarCraft Inc, a sci-fi space RPG with mechs called Starfire. It turns out that over the course of its development he gradually lost touch with StarCraft, who shut down a few years later, and in fact he only realized last year(!) that the game had ever been released. Winston also designed a SimCity-inspired medieval castle builder for another Japanese company, which they were unable to create because it was too complex. When he tried shopping it to a different publisher, they eventually stopped communicating with him and then released a suspiciously similar game a few months later.

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Winston's game development career ended long ago and today he develops pipe network analysis software. Back in 2013 he began working on a Phantasie V but soon realized that it was too much work. If he were to revisit Phantasie today, he would probably remake the original game with the mechanics of Phantasie III & IV and release it on Android platforms. Thus ends another Matt Chat interview. Coming up next week, an interview with Obsidian's Brian Heins.

 

[Grauken]

You forgot to mention the juicy bit, which was the fan who contacted him about Starfire (not me)

 

[Morkar Left]

If he were to revisit Phantasie today, he would probably remake the original game with the mechanics of Phantasie III & IV and release it on Android platforms.

I would buy it.

 

[mondblut]

I didn't even know there was Phantasie IV. Only in Japan and looking 1:1 as Tunnels & Trolls, whoa.

MrRichard999 , the Hivemind needs help.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

MrRichard999 , the Hivemind needs help.

IIRC he's already working on it.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

There was a site with full walkthrough of Phantasie IV and Rogue Alliance (Realms of Darkness in the states) along with some MSX versions of the Phantasie trilogy. You could translate most of it.

Yeah a reimagining/make of the games would be great. In a way I sort of follow the old SSI motto of just using the same engine/gfx and pump out modules.

only vid i've ever seen of IV
Without that I wondered about combat based on pic

It baffles me the number of japanese games with mixed english/japanese. Just have an option to switch between either yeesh.

Combat is ok but thats still terrible tactical tile combat. Its like you hit your command aka 1-3 style and the icon just rushes over and attacks. I doubt there are fleeing attacks of opportunity like goldbox, wizards crown, or shard of spring series. The body injury is still there.

music sounds a little annoying. Sound needs fixing.

Oh hah I found this vid:

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

I was testing out a site for the manual.

Yandex Translator

So Take this picture of the manual:

Using the picture translator you can read the text in English:
Top of page 38:
The action in the dungeon is almost the same as the journey of the outdoor.
However, the icon on the right side of the screen will be "e-check" instead of "M-map."

E. Examine the circumference of Bertie with all the staff, especially in the room. The result will come out to find a good trap and to find a treasure.

Now, when the trap is found, it is necessary to soot this trap, a special skill. If you have any questions, please let us know and we'll get back to you as soon as possible. When the lower member is soot, all members bear scratches. There are a lot of key doors in the dungeon. A member of the staff who is skilled in sipping the keys will go find the key, but if you hit the door without being able to open it, you will have to find the key somewhere else. The dungeon also contains a secret door and a secret passage.


page 39
Chapter 6
It's a great game, but I don't know how to play it. There are also cases in which a person with good eyes or ears can find out such a thing, or when he is asleep at night. The first one will appear only weak monsters, but the second one will come with a strong enemy. When a monster appears, even if it appears in one, it may appear in more than ten. When you encounter a monster, it can not be said that the SUK war fight is a clever war. Please act after grasping the power. From the Old Days "War" It is said that "only when you are sure that you can win, do it." Of course, it is not always possible for a parent to behave this way.

When you encounter a monster, the screen changes as shown in Figure 14.


Figure 14

1 Alex
2. Billy
3 Candy
4. Dick
5 Emmy
6 Fleeman
(and their HP and Mp I'm not going to write.)
Options on the screen left of the combat arena:
Q. Auto Fight
R Auto Round
G ???? mash of gibberish
B Forgive Me
A I recommend Ryujin
F Fight
L Run

Q Automatic Warfare
Each character's brofilm fighting strategy is set to have data. The battle will unfold automatically until the end of the war.

R Only automatic Round 1 Round, the 14th figure right side command will appear again, and you will hear the next action. Note) in the question of the turn, it is called 1 round that all enemy fighters conduct a one-by one combat action.



Uh... yeah that needs some work good god!

Anyway you can see that that system also did the other phantasies:

Just check the see also to the side and they'll pop up or try mobygames.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

A different translator came up with this:

Behavior in the dungeon is almost the same as traveling outdoors. However, the icon on the right side of the screen will be "E check" instead of "M map".
Chapter 6 Encounter
E check
Everyone looks around the party, especially in the room. As a result, you will be able to find traps and treasures efficiently.
Now, when you find a trap, you need special skill to remove it. When asked who will remove the trap, select the best member of the party. If bad members remove it, everyone will be hurt. Then there are many locked doors in the dungeon. A member with excellent key removal skills will remove the key, but if you hit a door that can not be opened by any means, you will have to find the key there somewhere else. There are secret doors and secret passages in the dungeon.
Monsters are wandering everywhere in the outdoors and dungeons. Of the members, those with good eyes and ears may find these enemies, or they may be attacked while sleeping at night. At the beginning, only weak monsters will appear, but gradually strong enemies will also attack. When a monster appears, it may appear with one or more than ten. When encountering a monster, Soku combat is not a smart operation. Please act after fully understanding the status of your teammates and the strength of your opponent. It has been said for a long time that "a war is carried out only when we are convinced that we can win. Of course, the other person does not always behave according to our convenience.
When you encounter a monster, the screen changes as shown in Fig. 14.
Fig. 14
In Alex
Hp 10 Mp in
2 Billy HP Mp 3 Candy
3 Candy
4 Dick Hp Gỗ
Q Auto Battle 8 Auto Round
Greet B beg forgiveness
Recommend surrender, fight, run away
Mp 5
5 Emmy
6 Fleeman
6 Fleeman
en
0 automatic battle
According to the data set in the battle strategy of each character's profile
Then, the battle will be deployed automatically until the end of the battle. R automatic round
After performing automatic battle for one round, the command on the right side of Fig. 14 appears again and asks for the next action. Note) All the enemies and allies performing battle action once during that turn is called one round.
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