Realms of Antiquity: The Shattered Crown - Ultima-like retro RPG

[rusty_shackleford]

why does steam say this released in 2020?

Because it did?

that post says 2021

 

[rikkles]

why does steam say this released in 2020?

Because it did?

that post says 2021

It released in the last week of 2020 IIRC. Splitting hairs

 

[rusty_shackleford]

why does steam say this released in 2020?

Because it did?

that post says 2021

It released in the last week of 2020 IIRC. Splitting hairs

That post says March 5, 2021
I'm confused

 

[rikkles]

http://www.adamantyr.com/blog/index.php/2020/12/29/release/

 

[Acrux]

Damnit, March must have been the Steam release only, then.

Now it's not eligible for the 2021 game of the year.

 

[Abu Antar]

why does steam say this released in 2020?

Because it did?

that post says 2021

It released in the last week of 2020 IIRC. Splitting hairs

That post says March 5, 2021
I'm confused

It released December 29, 2020.

 

[mediocrepoet]

Is this thing actually any good? I tried to play Nox Archaist and it was like being fucked in my eye sockets due to the font and colour scheme.

 

[Dadd]

Is this thing actually any good? I tried to play Nox Archaist and it was like being fucked in my eye sockets due to the font and colour scheme.

I played for a few hours. I didn't feel like I got fucked in my eye sockets. Without making a value judgment, the game feels archaic. I enjoyed it.

 

[Abu Antar]

Is this thing actually any good? I tried to play Nox Archaist and it was like being fucked in my eye sockets due to the font and colour scheme.

Nox needs to be tweaked to not completely blinding you.

I hope to play this in a year or two.

 

[Butter]

Realms of Antiquity looks like soup in some of the screenshots, but when you see it in motion it works. The text is much more readable than Nox Archaist (I think there's a way to change the font in the game, but it's not needed here), and the interface is easy to use.

 

[Rincewind]

Is this thing actually any good? I tried to play Nox Archaist and it was like being fucked in my eye sockets due to the font and colour scheme.

Yeah the artifact colour emulation in most Apple II emulators is not that great. It could be done a lot better—it doesn't look *that* bad on a real CRT.

The TI-99/4a RoA is written for has "proper" colours like most later home computers, so none of those weird artifacts.

I think RoA looks really great.

 

[adamantyr]

The developer here...

Yes, the TI-99/4a didn't use color artifacting. Plus I can use all 15 colors on the screen, mostly with just some horizontal limitations.

The emulator is set not to do any kind of filters by default (like SuperEagle, TV mode, etc) but you can enable them in the INI file.

 

[rikkles]

Is this thing actually any good? I tried to play Nox Archaist and it was like being fucked in my eye sockets due to the font and colour scheme.

You’re playing true retro games, ie games that run on original hardware with all their quirks, especially the Apple 2 bleed.

You can significantly mitigate those issues by either filtering in RoA as adamantyr says (which imho is not necessary, you just need a short period of acclimation) or running Nox under the “Nox Companion” app that has a text-optimized option removing the text bleed.

 

[mediocrepoet]

Is this thing actually any good? I tried to play Nox Archaist and it was like being fucked in my eye sockets due to the font and colour scheme.

You’re playing true retro games, ie games that run on original hardware with all their quirks, especially the Apple 2 bleed.

You can significantly mitigate those issues by either filtering in RoA as adamantyr says (which imho is not necessary, you just need a short period of acclimation) or running Nox under the “Nox Companion” app that has a text-optimized option removing the text bleed.

Yeah, I'll have to look into this Nox Companion. The look of RoA that I've seen in screens hasn't bothered me at all and I grew up with the look of early Ultimas at release. I just hate certain old colour designs or the way some pixellation shows up on modern screens. e.g. CGA colour schemes are awful, I'd rather have monochrome.

 

[adamantyr]

Yeah, I'll have to look into this Nox Companion. The look of RoA that I've seen in screens hasn't bothered me at all and I grew up with the look of early Ultimas at release. I just hate certain old colour designs or the way some pixellation shows up on modern screens. e.g. CGA colour schemes are awful, I'd rather have monochrome.

Yeah, even with more colors, I had to work hard to make sure contrast of light and dark was correct most of the time. And floors had to be less "busy" so walls were more prominent. My brother is red/green color-blind so I respect the fact you shouldn't use color as a factor in ANY game because it's otherwise being a dick to people who literally can't see differences. (We just encountered this on Roll20, which was doing crits and fumbles in green and red. Guess what? My brother literally couldn't see them. SO stupid.)

 

[Ladonna]

I tried to play Nox Archaist and it was like being fucked in my eye sockets due to the font and colour scheme.

That's Apple II for you

RoA is a lot better.

 

[mediocrepoet]

I tried to play Nox Archaist and it was like being fucked in my eye sockets due to the font and colour scheme.

That's Apple II for you

RoA is a lot better.

Not even kidding, that's giving me a headache. Makes sense now that every time I used an Apple II back in the day, it always had a monochrome monitor.

 

[Rincewind]

The developer here...

Yes, the TI-99/4a didn't use color artifacting. Plus I can use all 15 colors on the screen, mostly with just some horizontal limitations.

The emulator is set not to do any kind of filters by default (like SuperEagle, TV mode, etc) but you can enable them in the INI file.

The graphics are very nice, man, congrats. What would improve it even further is to use some proper CRT shader (not the SuperEagle upscaler and similar garbage).

 

[Ladonna]

Not even kidding, that's giving me a headache. Makes sense now that every time I used an Apple II back in the day, it always had a monochrome monitor.

Regarding Nox Archaist, I was hoping a C64/128 port would have been done as I hate the Apple II colour scheme/smudging as well. There was apparently some hotshot guy that was going to get involved in the port, but nothing has been heard of it again. Maybe adamantyr can organise a Nox port to the Ti instead lol.

 

[Ludwig von Eisenthal]

Is this thing actually any good? I tried to play Nox Archaist and it was like being fucked in my eye sockets due to the font and colour scheme.

If it is "any good" you ask? Hell, this game has been the best RPG-experience I had for years. I played it for weeks exclusively, never felt bored for a second as there is so much to discover and do and gameplay is very accessible. It's a pure marvel, this game. As for Nox Archaist I own the CE and was supremely hyped for the game but for some reason I never found it very appealing, neither gameplaywise nor aesthetically. I started it multiple times but never played it more than five hours or so. It's a fantastic game too, no doubt, but just not my cup of tea it seems.

 

[rikkles]

The developer here...

Yes, the TI-99/4a didn't use color artifacting. Plus I can use all 15 colors on the screen, mostly with just some horizontal limitations.

The emulator is set not to do any kind of filters by default (like SuperEagle, TV mode, etc) but you can enable them in the INI file.

The graphics are very nice, man, congrats. What would improve it even further is to use some proper CRT shader (not the SuperEagle upscaler and similar garbage).

It’s there, just hidden in the Classic99 emulator menus and ini file.
You can enable the menus in the ini file and do it in the menus, or using the “tv scan” filter and scanlines, also in the ini file.
Download the Classic99 docs here:
https://github.com/tursilion/classic99/raw/main/dist/Classic99 Manual.pdf
Pages 84-85.

 

[rikkles]

Not even kidding, that's giving me a headache. Makes sense now that every time I used an Apple II back in the day, it always had a monochrome monitor.

Regarding Nox Archaist, I was hoping a C64/128 port would have been done as I hate the Apple II colour scheme/smudging as well. There was apparently some hotshot guy that was going to get involved in the port, but nothing has been heard of it again. Maybe adamantyr can organise a Nox port to the Ti instead lol.

Go to both Discords (Nox and RoA) for up-to-date info. The Nox C64 port is happening.

 

[Ladonna]

Not even kidding, that's giving me a headache. Makes sense now that every time I used an Apple II back in the day, it always had a monochrome monitor.

Regarding Nox Archaist, I was hoping a C64/128 port would have been done as I hate the Apple II colour scheme/smudging as well. There was apparently some hotshot guy that was going to get involved in the port, but nothing has been heard of it again. Maybe adamantyr can organise a Nox port to the Ti instead lol.

Go to both Discords (Nox and RoA) for up-to-date info. The Nox C64 port is happening.

Thanks for that. I will take a look, even though I despise Discord and trying to find stuff on there.

 

[rikkles]

Not even kidding, that's giving me a headache. Makes sense now that every time I used an Apple II back in the day, it always had a monochrome monitor.

Regarding Nox Archaist, I was hoping a C64/128 port would have been done as I hate the Apple II colour scheme/smudging as well. There was apparently some hotshot guy that was going to get involved in the port, but nothing has been heard of it again. Maybe adamantyr can organise a Nox port to the Ti instead lol.

Go to both Discords (Nox and RoA) for up-to-date info. The Nox C64 port is happening.

Thanks for that. I will take a look, even though I despise Discord and trying to find stuff on there.

This is the current Nox Archaist thread. You’ll like the latest updates.

https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads/nox-archaist-ii-dragonsmere.147711/#post-8782027

Let’s go back to RoA here.

 

[Denim Destroyer]

Despite throwing out tons of praise towards the game I have never beaten it. Until now that is! What I believe has stopped me in the past was how the Hero class lowers the difficulty even further on what is an easy game. Now that is not to say this game is a cakewalk as I went into some encounters much earlier than I should have, but Realms of Antiquity impeccable world design easily lets you put off challenging areas to when you feel comfortable. If there is truly any thing that stands out about this game is its incredible world design. No two areas of Talanua look or play the same yet somehow they form a cohesive whole. From tropical islands to the polar ice caps nothing in this game feels out of place. Realms of Antiquity needs to be studied by prospective game devs solely for its cohesive and diverse world design. If you are on the fence about this game I can not recommend it enough.
(The indisputable ranking system developed by yours truly)