Project History:

Please Note: This page is under construction and will be revised shortly... For now, you can click on either of the two links below:

How this Project Began : The Making of Sceptre of Shalimar
Version Log




The Making of Sceptre of Shalimar

- Way back in 1985 I got a game called Ultima III : Exodus. This was my first introduction to Fantasy Role Playing Games. It came on a double sided disk, one side for Atari 8bits and one side for Commodore 64. I was thrilled since I had both types of computers! I really loved the game! I was totally into it, played for hours on end until I finally solved it. Days after I started playing it, I was so impressed by it that I just knew that someday I would have to program a game like it. I had so many ideas. From that day on I played many other FRPGs and even made a couple of unsuccessful programming attempts. Unsuccessful, that is, until Sceptre of Shalimar.
- Sceptre of Shalimar was originally programmed in AmigaBASIC back in 1991. Some ask why I used Basic and did not originally start the project in C++. The answer is simply that I did not have any money... or the knowlege! AmigaBASIC came built-in with the Amiga 500 and since it was the first "modern" computer I had I decided to make the end-all-be-all killer RPG. I figured that with 512k of ram and 32 colors (from a possible of 4096), and 8-bit digital stereo sound, this would be no problem at all!
- AmigaBASIC looked really awesome at first but turned out to be a pain. Not only was it slow and klunky, but it was also buggy and had a really half-assed editor. The damn thing would crash all the time, sound worked about 50% of the time, and every now and then AmigaBASIC would go off and do its own thing completly. So after awhile I completely lost enthusiasm for the project.
- In 1993 I got an IBM Compatible, a 386sx-40. I got to play with QBasic. It looked promising, it was just like AmigaBASIC but without the bugs and problems. So I copied SHALIMAR from the Amiga to the IBM and... It did not work. Oh well, I thought, and it sat untouched for a few more seasons...
- Then in early 1995, after I had learned Pascal and C, I decided to take another look at it. I found the problem (AmigaBASIC's WINDOW statement was handled differently under QBasic) and fixed it. It worked great! Just like before but faster! At that point I was debating whether to continue programming in QBasic or to start over in C or Pascal. Since I was over halfway done with it in QBasic and starting over would be a whole lot of work and a whole lot of time, QBasic won out.
- So I began to program some more in QBasic. To make a long story short, right when I was going to add Dungeons, Towns, and Quests QBasic gave me an OUT OF MEMORY error. I was really upset!!! Here I had done several months worth of work, spanning over 4 years, and now it was all for nothing!!!
- This maxxed-out QBasic program became PRE-RELEASE #1. I said the hell with BASIC and started the project over in C++. The only problem is that my QBasic work is all for nothing since BASIC and C are such different languages. So I am pretty much starting over completely from scrach and using the QBasic program for reference. The good news is that since C is such a powerful language this new version of the game is going to be really great. Far far superior to the QBasic version. The only problem now is time. Its going to take several months to get everything going again.





Version Log: Info & Release dates for Sceptre of Shalimar.

Future: Sceptre of Shalimar will be converted from Dos to Windows (Win32/DirectX). There will be at least one more ALPHA version, followed by several BETA versions, then the final "gold" release.
Near Future: Sceptre of Shalimar Alpha #2 (SoSA2) will be released. This will be the last DOS version of the game. Click for details.
PRESENT: "Work In Progress" versions of SoSA2 are uploaded from time to time. Click for Details (history.txt)
May 1999: Sceptre of Shalimar version 0.69a released (Alpha #1). Click for details.
June 1996: Sceptre of Shalimar version 0.69 released (Alpha #1). Click for details.
May 1996: Sceptre of Shalimar version 0.68 released (Alpha #1). Click for details.
March 1996: Sceptre of Shalimar version 0.67 released (Alpha #0). Click for details.
February 1996: Sceptre of Shalimar version 0.67 for the Commodore Amiga computers was put up on our WEB page. Click for details.
January 1996:Alpha Omega System's WEB page created.





Sceptre of Shalimar Alpha 2 is currently being programmed. "Work in Progress" versions are uploaded from time to time. Currently, the game uses 256-color graphics shown on the ScreenShots page (except in the game many are animated). Sound is still PC speaker for now, much like SoSA1.
- SoSA2 is for DOS, but versions after SoSA2 will most likely be programmed using Win32/DirectX (in other words, Windows 95/98/NT/2000). There will possibly be a Linux version also, and maybe one for the Palm (new Palm Pilot). I'm switching from DOS to DirectX for many reasons. Here are a few:
- First, with windows I can use all the memory in the computer. With DOS, I'm stuck with a max of 640k, unless I use XMS or EMS memory (which are both impractical), or DPMI (it costs lots of money, upwards of $1000 to buy a good DPMI package).
- Second, sound is a complete hassle to program in DOS. With DirectX, its just as simple as PLAYSOUND() or PLAYMIDI()...
- Third, getting graphics above 320x200x256 in DOS is a complete hassle. With DirectX, I get a direct pointer to the 640x480 video buffer. No 64k paging, no funny stuff. Just a pointer linear video memory. Plus there is built in support for accelarated graphics cards, and many functions that make animation and tiles a breeze.
- And finally, its because of stupid users... People who don't know what an IRQ is and/or don't know how to run a SETUP or INSTALL program... People who Call/EMail/Fax you telling you that your program does not work, that it is trash and is poorly written, when the problem is that THEY forgot to turn their speakers on! Or did not bother to read the directions!
With DirectX, there is no setup program. DX relies on the Windows drivers. In other words, its 98% idiot proof. If sound or graphics does not work in a DirectX program, odds are it ain't working with most other Windows programs. There is no way us programmers can take the blame for it... Unlike a setup/install program in DOS where 10,000 things can go wrong and all of them are your fault!

Sceptre of Shalimar version 0.69a (Alpha/Pre-Release #1), posted May 1999:

Sceptre of Shalimar Pre-Release #1 was updated on May 23, 1999 to correct a few bugs many of you had mentioned previoulsy. Thanks all of you for bringing this to my attention.

This new update, version 0.69a, contains everything in previous versions plus the following new features:

- Added Sound ON/OFF toggle (many of you were requesting this).
- You can now use cursor arrows to move, and NumLock NO LONGER HAS TO BE ON for number pad to work.
- Ability to change player graphic (no longer stuck with "white stick-figure").
- Added more rumors in Terracon and Falcon's Summit.
- Added/modified a few batch files to make starting up the game more intuitive.
- Fixed the "Invalid Path" bug which caused you sometimes to be unable to load previously-saved games: Sceptre of Shalimar now auto-detects what directory (folder) the game is in and will always save/load games in the correct directory.
- Now supports directory names longer than 8 characters without problems.
- Made several changes to the program to conserve memory, but I still can't get the dungeon and graphical-town routines to work (the new C++ version will have both).
- Other minor bugfixes and changes.
Download it now.



Sceptre of Shalimar version 0.69 (Alpha/Pre-Release #1), posted June 1996:

Here is a list of the new features:

-- Sceptre of Shalimar GEM ISLANDS. Its brand new map! The map concists of a series of Islands and all new towns. There are no more of those annoying "not programmed" towns on the map! GEM ISLANDS adds a new twist to the game in that you need to buy Climbing Gear before you can get any Spells, and you need to buy a Boat before you can get Armor (unless you use the cheat keys, of course). All towns have rumors now, so make sure to listen to them or you will miss out on a lot! You have the option of using either the Gem Islands or the Original Map when you play the game.
-- CONSTRUCTION SETS. You can now make your own Monsters, Maps, Spells, Towns, and Tiles! The construction sets are kind of "rough around the edges" right now, but are still a lot of fun.
-- Added support for RUMORS in towns.
-- Adveturer Guild SEEK EMPLOYMENT works now, so you don't have to fight all the time to get gold!
-- Fixed bug that caused OverHead Map to appear sideways on Prayer spells.
-- Fixed the multiple "Hit any keys" after certain spells are cast.
-- Fixed the "Times Cast" bug in the spell list - the counter now correctly shows how many times character has cast the spell.
-- Fixed most map-text bugs (sometimes map name and/or map text would not show up after spellcasting).
-- Upped the maximum number of Spells and Monsters for ease of use with the construction sets.
-- No longer automatically starts in the town of Terracon when using construction set files.
-- New items available from the boatwright (more hidden keys).
-- Added a couple new spells and monsters.
-- Added an indicator for when space is held down to pass time.
-- More minor bugfixes and changes.



Sceptre of Shalimar Version 0.68, posted May 1996:


-- Slightly larger map. Map is now 60x22.
-- World is now Round. The map "wraps around" to the other side if you go off the edge. Previously you could not walk past the edge of the map (ie: the earth was "flat" and not "round").
-- Implemented map scrolling routine. The map scrolls with every step now instead of jumping from screen-to-screen.
-- More towns have been programmed, still no dungeons.
-- Spell system works completely now.
-- You can buy spells now.
-- Added many more monsters and spells.
-- Tiles are now 16 colors per tile (instead of 1 color per tile)
-- Terrains implemented. You now need a boat to cross water and climbing gear to cross mountains. You get fried if you step on lava. Character graphic becomes a boat if on water.
-- Tons of minor bug-fixes and changes
WAS REPLACED BY VERSION 0.69. If you still have version 0.68 you really should go to the MS DOS file section and download the new version 0.69. WHY? Because version 0.68 had several minor bugs in it (which were fixed in version 0.69), and construction set files will NOT work properly with version 0.68. Plus you will get a whole bunch of new monsters and spells, and a second map to play with!


Sceptre of Shalimar Version 0.67 (Alpha/Pre-Release #0), posted March 1996:

-- Initial public release. Ported from the Amiga (AmigaBASIC) to the PC (QBasic). Here are/were some of its features:
-- 16 color graphics, 1 color per tile.
-- 60x20 map
-- Four towns programmed
-- 17 monsters
-- 17 spells (but you can only use 4 of them)



Sceptre of Shalimar Versions below 0.67:

-- All versions below 0.67 were for the Commodore Amiga computer only, and were never released to the general public (only to a few friends). If you find one of these, hang onto it, for it is a rare find indeed!





This page was created by Seth Hopkinson.
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