Galdregon's Domain (part one)

Update The second part is now published which you can read all about here

Hello ST world, it's been a while!

Let me begin by thanking my ST buddies, from all over the world, who sent messages the last few months. And cheers to those who bought me a beer!! It's been rough but I'm glad to begin my journey back into the glorious lands of Atari ST. Actually, my computer is looking quite sad and in need of a good clean, the poor thing.

Okay, dragging me back - kicking and screaming for luscious ST pleasure - is something that I bought years ago. For months it's been on my ST shelf whispering subliminal messages like, "Psst, check me out!", "Hey you, come over here and play", "Stevie, I'm here and ready for action", "Boot me up, baby". Erm, anyhow you get the picture!

Galdregon's Domain is the temptress and first appears as something of a Dungeon Master, which is never a bad thing. It's the product of Pandora and coded by Steve Briggs, who I've not heard of so perhaps this was his one and only ST venture? The graphics are stunning. Gorgeous and scenic with beautifully-drawn monsters and characters by Robin Chapman, Martin Severn and Martin Godbeer. Mike Brown provided the samples for the sound effects - used for creeky doors to frightening screams emitting distant places. A lot of love went into the aesthetics of this adventure game.

Weirdly, the box art is rather - suspect - but I've covered this before and it's always worth a laugh at Pandora's take on Conan. Inside the box, are three disks, (why would I wanna use those when the Automation boys have a belting one-disk version!), a rather flimsy manual, and a few sheets of A4 paper.

Hang on, did I say A4 paper? Yep, to my fascination, the original owner has fully mapped the opening stage along with some of the forest areas. I absolutely love finding snippets of ST history like this!!! I wonder who he was? Did he stay up each night carefully crawling and drawing the dungeon with each and every step? Did he complete the game? Are you sitting there right now and thinking to yourself, "Hey, I did that". If so - please, get in touch using the comments below.

Okay, I bet that you're all dying to see these maps? All you need to do is scroll down a little...

This part is an overall view of the area. Let's go to that pub!!

Drilling deeper into specific areas now. I can scan these if anyone is interested?

So what's the plan?

I love getting enthralled in a new world where I can enjoy adventure, lore, and exploration. There's nothing better than discovering places, solving quests and fighting hideous monsters with a giant sword. Heck, I might even make a few friends in the local tavern? Who knows, this little-known game by Pandora might actually be something special?

So, I shall take a stab at conquering Galdregon's Doman. It appears what I'm longing for; a mix of RPG, adventure, and action. It should quench my cravings for a decent return to the Atari ST? Yes, I know I could have booted up Dungeon Master, Shadowlands, The Temple of Apshai Trilogy, The Curse of Rabenstein, etc... but I crave something new (to me).

Let's take a gander through a few screenshots taken from my first play. Check out these visuals...

Okay, here's the starting screen and the King is asking for our help.
His loyal subjects appear for a chinwag. I wonder what pearls of wisdom they possess?
The user interface is good to use for interaction and easy movements.
The only thing that's a little weird is the use of a scroller for chat and messages...

Anyhow, I went for a wander and came upon this little filly! I think she's hungry?

I've no time to eat so onwards I go and meet up with a guard. He seems nice!

I'm lost but it isn't long until two dolly birds help me out. I think they're twins!!

At last, the exit!! But the doorway is locked... how can I open it? Hmm...

Outside, I'm free to wander the lands. The weather is lovely and the king has a grand castle.

Oh great, the first place I found and it's haunted!! But wait, this ghost needs our help for a quest.

First impressions?

Galdregon's Domain looks very promising. Its world is incredibly diverse and takes place over a ginormous region. Plus the freedom to openly explore is daunting and compelling to an old adventurer like me.

So far, I've been attacked by soldiers, bitten by wolves, sent on a fruitless mission by a ghost, and chased out of a temple by a gang of cultists. Of course, I didn't last long, but it was only my first attempt(s). Perhaps I should look to clothe myself in armour and yield better weapons?

Yes, folks, exciting times are afoot and I will enjoy slaying monsters and pillaging their rotting corpses. I wonder what other monsters and dark secrets are waiting to be discovered? I'm sure this will be exciting. So, have you played it? What did you think? I'll be interested to hear your thoughts. Watch this space for the second part of this review coming "soon".

Merry Christmas everyone and all the best for 2022. STay Atari.

Xenomorph

Dungeon Master in Space?

Xenomorph by Pandora is an RPG I wanted to map and share with the world. Sadly, that will ever happen with my skills at the keyboard. It's a brilliant RPG and something that everyone should take a stab at because it's far more than simply "Dungeon Master in space". It's an exciting and unique adventure in its own right - plus the visuals are literally outstanding and probably the best of any 3D RPG available for the Atari ST.

Many moons ago, I found a map of this game on the internet which I hope you will find as helpful as I currently am (all credit for the mapping goes to Thiima). I've zipped it up along with the manual and hints (ripped from the net). I wanted to share what I had found, so get that downloaded and play this superb game.

Here are thumbnails from the PDF within the download. Tempted to play? I hope so...

SuPer eXcellent graphics demo

I made a thing

I've been enjoying another doodle on my Atari ST, if you wanna see more of my work click here. Okay, this time I've been experimenting with SPX, a technology created by Electronic Images in the early 90s. This magically stitches several Spectrum 512 pics into one ginormous image displayed in scrollable overscan.

I've always loved the idea of the SPX format and remember buying several PD disks. Most pictures were titillating girls or something of a fantasy theme (no complaints from me). The potential of huge Spectrum 512 images, in overscan, was quite mind-blowing at the time. (ignore my capture, the scrolling is silky smooth).

SuPer eXcellent Graphics Demo can be downloaded from my Dropbox. Be warned, it's big. Too big for a real floppy (I got carried away and made lots of SPX images). So installation is intended for a hard drive or Ultrasatan. However, I have made a huge ".ST" image that should work as an alternative for emulation.

Perhaps you feel inspired to make your own SPX images? I would love to see whatever you guys create - let me know in the comments. Scroll down for more information and I hope you enjoy my graphics demo.

Go, create!

Now, reading these instructions might appear longwinded? Far too much hassle if you're as lazy as me? Well, don't worry because it's actually easy to make your own SPX images. Dead easy, so have a bash:

• Those without any artistic skills, ahem, should download images off the internet!! Look for something large, possibly with a clean background and try to select something that uses a portrait ratio. There's loads out there, google is your friend.
• Crop that large image into 320x199 segments. (a line is lost due to a limitation of Spectrum 512). This cropping can be done on the ST or a PC/Mac (I used 'Preview' on my Mac).
• Once you have your image split into several segments, it's best to convert them into GIFs. Again, this can be done on the ST but is probably much quicker on the Mac/PC if I'm honest. Yowzers!
• Now copy all your new GIF files over to the Atari ST.
• Each GIF will need converting into Spectrum 512 format (.SPC) and the best program for that is 'GIF to Atari Spectrum 512 Picture Converter' by Steve Belczyk. A brilliant program!
• Each SPC file can now easily be imported into SPX Creator for both previewing and creating. All your SPX pictures can be displayed using the dedicated viewer, 'SPX_V18D.PRG'

An example...

Check out this portrait image of Jason Voorhees that I split into three segments on my Mac (above!). As you can see, I carved it into the relevant sections, which are converted to GIFs and imported into SPX Creator.

A standard ST might take a few minutes to save this fantastic image but it's well worth it.

Credits

Idea and creation were mine - Steve, Crypt Keeper, Strider, AtariCrypt, whatever you call me ;o)  

The real credits

Spectrum 512 - Boris Tsikanovsky.
SPX Creator/Viewer - Electronic Images (Gizmo + The Phantom).
Original images - Everything was freely sourced off the internet with appropriate credit.
AtariMania & Demozoo - two super Atari resources that I used for my dabble. 

Programs used

Preview - a freebie Mac program to resize and clip each image into 320x199 segments.
GIF2SPC - a wonderful Atari ST program by Steve Belczyk.
SPX Creator - the program that stitches together each of the GIF pictures into SPX images. 

Links

SuPer eXcellent Graphics Demo is the latest AtariCrypt production. Yes, there's more O_o
Electronic Images released loads of disks so check 'em out on Demozoo.
There are many SPX Slideshows although I remember more? I should research...