Fantasy World Dizzy: Classic Edition 2023

[TMD2003]

I'm rather surprised nobody's mentioned this yet. I was browsing yolkfolk.com on 8th May and what should draw my attention for being released that day...

Fantasy World Dizzy: Classic Edition 2023

It's been given a similar makeover to Treasure Island Dizzy, correcting any bugs that were known and needed correcting, restoring music and sound effects to the 48K version, introducing a Russian translation for those who speak the language of the Motherland with the backwards Rs, and making a few changes to the graphics, such as these:



There are thorns where there used to be spikes, the fire is now from Prince Of The Yolkfolk, and there have been colour changes with the railings in the treehouses to match Treasure Island's Classic/Extended Editions. Also...



...in this screenshot, the solid parts of the stairs have reverted to BRIGHT 0, resembling how the original Treasure Island Dizzy looked - though there's no requirement in the game code for it to be this way, so brightness is not necessarily an indicator of a solid platform (the Irritating Infuriating Illusion is as it always was, for instance).

Hence, where there are EASTER EGGS to be found, it's very likely that the brightness won't be an indicator of a hidden platform that accesses the Easter Egg, which is what tipped me off that something was afoot in Extended Treasure Island. I haven't found the Easter Eggs yet - or even how many there are - but I've got an idea, and it involves the one object that is the closest this game had to a genuine red herring. I will say no more for now...

[pavero]

✓ Processed

Improvements:

* Screens and texts are now packed.
* Added two levels of attribute brightness, like in the previous games. In addition, the game now allows for hidden solid surfaces, and hidden transparent ones.
* Fixed the graphic for the small clump of leaves, and redrawn many trees, with reduced colour clash and other artifacts.
* Improved coloring of the forest.
* The fire sprite is now taken from Dizzy 6 and looks nicer.
* Daggers have been replaced with thorns and redrawn, also the thick rug has been redrawn (partially taken from Dizzy-6).
* Music can be toggled on/off by pressing 'M'.
* Now, when the 30th coin is collected, a different, previously unused melody plays.
* The scene with spinning hearts can now be skipped by pressing a key.
* Added the sound of pouring water in the fireplace and the sound of the hawk swooping.
* Restored lost tunes for 48K mode with improved player.
* Added sound effects for the beeper.
* Russian translation made.
* Added Easter eggs.


Fixes:

* After the pickaxe and door knocker events, they are removed and cannot be used again.
* The apple can no longer be given to the empty spot that the troll has escaped from.
* The rat now reacts specifically to the presence of the bread in its path, and not to the trace of the previously dropped bread.
* Now the dragon egg cannot be taken from the nest until another egg has been given. If you pick it up, then after Dizzy dies, the egg returns to the nest.
* The broken bridge can no longer be crossed by throwing only two stones.
* Four of the lift roofs can no longer be exploited to go through screens or walls.
* The torch in "Denzil's Pad" has been moved lower to patch a sequence break.
* The sound of the dragon's fire and hawk swooping is no longer interrupted by Dizzy's footsteps and other effects.
* You cannot grow the bean without first planting it in the ground.
* Daisy's lift switch no longer flickers.
* Fixed getting stuck in the lift in "Daisy's Prison".
* Now the game music does not restart after collecting a coin or losing a life.
* Voice player no longer uses the I-register (previously this could lead to a 'snow' effect or other glitches on some models).
* Corrected some typos in English texts.
* The dragon fire flame does not disappear when exiting/entering the screen or opening inventory.
* The hawk can now fly up and cannot be tricked with the inventory menu.
* Fixed the life counter (previously showed one less life).

[TMD2003]

UPDATE (of sorts):

I've (re-)mapped the game in an attempt to find the Easter Eggs, and I've even resorted to examining a .Z80 snapshot in a text editor to see if there's any readable text (there isn't, so there must be some kind of text compression routine... otherwise, how would it all fit into the available memory?).

Note that it is very unlikely I'd ever have found the Easter Eggs in Treasure Island Classic, despite knowing that the tube of toothpaste was 99% likely to be involved. But anyway, here's what I've tried... MANY spoilers alert for what it isn't, so far.

Spoiler

The problem with this game is that there are no items at all that don't have some kind of "use", even if they're only there to hide coins. Two items with a use don't need to be used - the apple and the rope. I remember getting past the dragon in the original version without needing the sleeping potion, but short of the dragon breathing its fire absolutely at the top of its neck height, this is not possible in this version (it looks like there's an event trigger at the dragon's head even if there's a gap large enough to pass through). As for the whiskey, this is still only used to make Dizzy roll around drunk. It leaves a genuinely useless empty bottle afterwards.

I've tried giving the whiskey to every character in the game (Dozy, Denzil, Grand Dizzy, Dylan, Daisy, the Australian shopkeeper, the troll... and even Armorog), only for that character to ignore me as expected (e.g. "Dylan is in a trance") or, if I haven't talked to them to start with, Dizzy just necks it and rolls around as expected. I've tried giving every useless item to the shopkeeper - the apple, rope, window frame, all three railings, both leaves, and the whiskey bottle, both full and devoid of its contents, just to get the usual responses... not even a "Strewth cobber, I'd rather have a tinnie of XXXX than this Yankee muck", or a reference to Dizzy being a "pom" with the apple... nowt!

The shopkeeper said something I'd never seen before, but I checked the original and the line was there as well.

I've tried jumping around in all the places where the BRIGHT has been changed to signify that there is no entry here (mostly in the treehouse, but also in the warehouse). I've jumped further from the Longjump Cloud and the Crafty Cloud, finding nothing new, and found no new hidden platforms among the clouds leading to the castle. I've tried searching the walls in the Irritating Infuriating Illusion, to no avail; there doesn't look to be an extra screen around here, nor one in Australia.

I torpedoed my chances of finding the Easter Egg in Treasure Island Classic by giving the bucket to the shopkeeper, when it was needed to access the first secret area. There may be a repeat performance here...

[pavero]

Spoiler

How was said on Russia forum the green apple is the key how to find the Easter Eggs. It must be used somewhere else probably ....

They shouldn't be here any new locations or items ...

If you complete the game you can still continue with playing (I don't know how it was in the orginal game).

[pavero]

Spoiler

... despite knowing that the tube of toothpaste was 99% likely to be involved ...

The toothpaste must be used in a new dicovered location.

[TMD2003]

More attempts, some of which are getting ever more ludicrous...

Spoiler

Tried the Illusion and the warehouse again. There are no hidden wall panels hiding a piece of cloth like there was in Spellbound Dizzy.
Tried jumping on Dozy as he floats away into the ocean... passed right through him so he doesn't act as a raft.
Haven't found any hidden platforms in the trees around Armorog's den or the guard house with the hawk flying over it (which is just a regular hawk now, not a "Dizzy hawk").
There are no windows in the castle to jump out of, and no false walls.
There's no way through to anything right of the first screen, where the last coin is once the troll has moved.
There are no invisible platforms across the water immediately to the left of the prison - there's a boat here leading to a "smuggler's cave" in the 16-bit versions, so I thought this might have been a useful lead... it wasn't.
Checked Australia again. It's possible to take the two dragon eggs away from the dragon in the mines once the egg from the Cloud Castle has been delivered here and the dragon lets you past; it is completely incapacitated from this point. But taking the two eggs to the shopkeeper doesn't result in anything new, just him being chippy as usual.
Took the dragon eggs to Daisy, and also to Dizzy's parents' hut (why were they never mentioned ever again, I wonder...?)
Looked for further hidden platforms in the tree that allows access to the treehouse, the tree Dylan is meditating under, and the beanstalk.

At this point, I'm out of ideas.

[TMD2003]

Spoiler

How was said on Russia forum the green apple is the key how to find the Easter Eggs. It must be used somewhere else probably ....

Knowing this, I have tried, in addition to the above...

Spoiler

Giving the apple to the ravenous rat instead of the bread
Holding the apple when the troll appears at the end of the game
Holding the apple while rescuing Daisy, visiting her with not enough coins, and visiting her with all 30 coins
Putting the apple in Armorog's den instead of the bone (it just stays outside...)
Putting the apple on the alligator's jaws before tying them up with the rope
Putting the apple on the altar in the Australian church

There'll be more...

[pavero]

The easter egg revealed ...

[TMD2003]

Finally! Fair dinkum mate, I'd have given a XXXX to see that if I hadn't been on the right track, and I don't mean into the outback that's full of dingoes. Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda...

Wait, why am I suddenly 'Strayan in the middle of the Ashes? Strewth. I want to be a Pom again.