Sorcery+

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toot_toot
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Sorcery+

Post by toot_toot »

So I was doing a bit of reading on Sorcery on here https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 96&id=4650 and the entry says
The compilation Now Games 3 contains an updated version of Sorcery ('Sorcery +'), with improved graphics and extra rooms.
Now I know that Sorcery+ is heralded as a great Amstrad CPC game, but I only every played Sorcery on my copy of Soft Aid. So I thought I'd play Sorcery+, but unfortunately there seems to be no file available to download.

I downloaded the TZX for Now Games 3 and sure enough, Sorcery on that compilation is very much different!

The original loading screen and in-game screen


Image



Image

But check out Sorcery+ (screenshots I've taken)!!!



Image



Image

So yes, it's a very much different game to Sorcery. It's got more rooms and it's got significantly better graphics.

Playing Sorcery+, I still have no idea what I'm doing but the graphics make a real difference. Did anyone else know about this version? Seems strange that it has no coverage at all (and surely there needs to be a new entry for Sorcery+)!!
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Alessandro
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Re: Sorcery+

Post by Alessandro »

toot_toot wrote: Tue May 07, 2019 10:00 pm Did anyone else know about this version? Seems strange that it has no coverage at all (and surely there needs to be a new entry for Sorcery+)!!
I did. It was not granted a separate entry being an updated version only found in the Now Games 3 compilation, never released on its own in fact.
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StooB
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Re: Sorcery+

Post by StooB »

Alessandro wrote: Tue May 07, 2019 10:18 pm It was not granted a separate entry being an updated version only found in the Now Games 3 compilation, never released on its own in fact.
Uridium Plus was never released on its own either but that didn't stop it getting a separate entry.
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Re: Sorcery+

Post by Ralf »

I didn't know this case but it feel like a separate game for me.

See a similar case - Crystal Kingdom Dizzy and a recent remake of it:

https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 96&id=9339
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=30381

By the way, this remake for me is simply called Crystal Kingdom Dizzy, not Crystal Kingdom Dizzy 2017 as database says.
And I would say there is not such thing as Sorcery+ too, just two different games called Sorcery.
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Juan F. Ramirez
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Re: Sorcery+

Post by Juan F. Ramirez »

I didn't know it.

Inexplicably I'm a huge fan of the original game and the new one seems cool.

Time to try it! :mrgreen:
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spider
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Re: Sorcery+

Post by spider »

I recall the original variant of this being on the Soft-Aid tape ( yes I did buy it "back then" :) ) although I did not really rate this game that much.

Could be well wrong here but memory serves correctly, can't go check now I have a very vague suspicion this was actually compiled Basic. As I say I can't check this now. :)

Was not really aware of the + version of it either, as I say it was on the S-A tape and that's as far as I can remember.
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Re: Sorcery+

Post by Daren »

Is it still as rock hard as the original? Tried RZXing it the other week and had to throw in the towel, even with using rollback.
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Alessandro
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Re: Sorcery+

Post by Alessandro »

StooB wrote: Sat Jul 27, 2019 1:18 pm
Alessandro wrote: Tue May 07, 2019 10:18 pm It was not granted a separate entry being an updated version only found in the Now Games 3 compilation, never released on its own in fact.
Uridium Plus was never released on its own either but that didn't stop it getting a separate entry.
Well, what can I say? Another inconsistency in the old database has been found.
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Einar Saukas
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Re: Sorcery+

Post by Einar Saukas »

I agree it makes sense to create a separate entry for Sorcery+.

The criteria originally adopted by Martijn was to keep "cosmetic" changes under the same ID (different title, new loading screen, etc). But to create a new ID if the game itself had noticeable differences, even if they didn't change a lot.

Here are a few examples I found at a quick glance (there are probably many others):

3D Bat Attack
Adventure Builder
Adventure Builder System
Automonopoli
Blood 'n' Guts
Bomberman
Booklist for ZX Spectrum
Bubble Buster
Cannon Ball
Chess
Chopper X-1
Christmas Collection
Complete Machine Code Package
Crashout
Dracman
Driller Tanks
Dustman
Enlarger+
Eric & the Floaters
Fantastic Voyage
Frankenstein Jnr.
Frogger + Specman
Go to Jail
Headstart
Hunter-Killer
Hyperlane
Hyperlane +
Hypertron
Itasundorious
Joystick Thunder
Masterchess
New Frogger + Specman
Operation Caretaker
Professional Snooker Simulator
Rays
Schizofrenia
Skate Wars
Skateball
Smashout!!
Soccer Star
Soccer Supremo
Spec-List
Spinads
Split Personalities
Super Brat
The Yellow Door
Tournament Snooker
Treble Champions
Treble Chance
Uridium
Uridium Plus
Valley of the Dead
Wild West Hero
Wimbledon

About the fact that Sorcery+ was only released in a compilation, that's fine. We already have more than 2,600 titles that were only released as part of a compilation, never released separately. And another 500 titles that were never released at all.
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patters
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Re: Sorcery+

Post by patters »

I decided to try this out since I actually completed Sorcery+ on a friend's CPC back in the day. I cannot figure out the controls though. I can only move left and right with Q and A but I cannot go up. I'm using Fuse emulator.
There are no instructions in the inlay for this version. The original Sorcery was apparently QA and O to move up. That doesn't work here. Is this game doing something strange with its keyboard routines?
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Pobulous
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Re: Sorcery+

Post by Pobulous »

spider wrote: Sat Jul 27, 2019 7:23 pm I recall the original variant of this being on the Soft-Aid tape ( yes I did buy it "back then" :) ) although I did not really rate this game that much.

Could be well wrong here but memory serves correctly, can't go check now I have a very vague suspicion this was actually compiled Basic. As I say I can't check this now. :)
I just checked and It was compiled with MCoder II
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Re: Sorcery+

Post by Ralf »

I decided to try this out since I actually completed Sorcery+ on a friend's CPC back in the day. I cannot figure out the controls though. I can only move left and right with Q and A but I cannot go up.
The controls are :

Q -left
A - right
0 (zero) - up

Weird, aren't them?
I'm checking this game now, maybe I'll succeed in recording it.
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patters
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Re: Sorcery+

Post by patters »

I think it must be polling the keyboard in a very odd way. Because I had pressed every key on the keyboard of my MacBook to no avail. Now I notice that the zero key stops the wizard from falling if I press it immediately the game begins (at least in Fuse 1.5.6, the latest for macOS), but it does not make him go up. So in a sense, the key press is being registered, but it has not had the intended result. Most bizarre.
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Re: Sorcery+

Post by Ralf »

I'm using Spectaculator and it works.

But the game seems bugged to me. At one location with a castle and a moat you simply cannot go further.
That would explain it that after all these years we still don't have a map or walkthrough for it.
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patters
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Re: Sorcery+

Post by patters »

It does seem broken in another regard: the time limit. On the Amstrad there's a kind of big spell book in the bottom corner that gets eaten away pixel by pixel - and that's your hourglass. I seem to recall it took a good while. Not 90 seconds. How would you finish the game in 90 seconds?!



I had enjoyed the Amstrad version. You had to spend a long time exploring all the areas and how to get between them, then spend ages to work out what the various inventory items actually did. By and large it was logical, but some of them were completely incongruous - a bottle to open a locked passage? But it was well made. This Spectrum version seems utter rubbish in comparison. It's odd - you'd expect the two to bear at least some resemblance given the similarities of the two computers.
Last edited by patters on Sun Nov 27, 2022 3:35 pm, edited 3 times in total.
Ralf
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Re: Sorcery+

Post by Ralf »

Looking at this walkthrough I would say it's a different game on Amstrad. The basic ideas are the same but the code is 100% different, locations are differnt, gameplay is different etc. It's certainly not a port so comparing these two versions may be interesting but doesn't help with bugs.
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Jbizzel
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Re: Sorcery+

Post by Jbizzel »

I don't know this game but it looks really cool. Time to check it out I think
Ralf
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Re: Sorcery+

Post by Ralf »

Okay, game completed :)

Image

Check here for the rzx walkthrough, you must be logged in:
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/zxdb/ad ... ry_rzx.php

I had to use some pokes to correct bugs. As I said, at one location with a castle and a moat you simply cannot go further because to enter the door you need to stand left of it and you cannot stand left of it because there is water/swamp.

I used pokes to alter the location a little bit and add a bit of ground:

POKE 29716,13
POKE 29856,4


The game actually is bad ;) It looks nice but the gameplay sucks and it is practically impossible to complete. Enemies are constantly going at you and you cannot avoid them in many cases. They often flicker or disappear. The time limit is crazy. The game is written in compiled Basic and from time to time it crashes into Basic. And the actual content is quite limited. So I'm not surprised now that they released it only on a compilation.

Anyway I did it with one thousand rollbacks and cheating by looking into the memory. Now I'm never going to play it again :)
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