Editor, Expert player (2310)
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This is one of the few DOS games I want to see a TAS of. I might make a TAS myself depending on whether I can get JPC-rr to run fine in the future. Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Qadim https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Qadim:_The_Genie%27s_Curse Gamefaqs http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/564566-al-qadim-the-genies-curse/faqs I'm currently playing through this game and I plan on playing it once more after I'm done, then noting down details on where to find gold, where to heal, how much EXP each enemy gives, etc. etc. There are some nice things you can do in TAS, like always winning in the gambling game to get a lot of money very quickly - although it might not be worth doing that since buying expensive attack items isn't worth the detour. I like the atmosphere of the game and even though it's kind of a long game, much of it is backtracking or wandering around fighting enemies or collecting items. There aren't any useful glitches that I know of. There are apparently some gamebreaking bugs that seem to occur when saving your game in bad places but there can apparently also be bugs where plot-important characters or enemies vanish, but I'm not sure.
Editor, Expert player (2310)
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I finished the game successfully. Next playthrough I want to test some things: - For the djinni isle, can I get all the required items beforehand and bring them all at once? - Can things be done out of order e.g. can I go to the old dungeon in the capital city earlier than what the gamefaqs guide said? - is returning the dungeon key mandatory? - What is the best way to deal damage? Is buying or collecting attack items good or should I rely on sword damage? Sometimes you can attack enemies but they can't attack you, when you are in certain places e.g. behind bushes or in a corner and the enemy AI doesn't know what to do. Some quests seem optional for example releasing the cyclops from the dungeon might be optional. Next playthrough I want to see what is the minimum course of action, and I will also see what are the shortest dialogues to reach my goals.
Editor, Expert player (2310)
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I made route notes up until retrieving the Caliph. Playing on Very Easy because enemies and bosses will have less health thus battles won't take long.
The complete notes were put into a single post later in this thread.
Editor, Expert player (2310)
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I now remembered a gamebreaking bug that locked the game once when I was a kid playing the game. Your father is in prison and you visit him twice during a normal playthrough. But the game lets you advance the plot even if you don't visit him the first time - when you vist him the second time, he will say dialogue from the first visit and the game is unwinnable. Or so I remember. (edit: this is not true, more info about this here ) I'm going to find out because I will play through with both scenarios (talked to father and didn't talk to father). Here are the next notes that I took:
The complete notes are in a single post later in this thread.
Editor, Expert player (2310)
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More notes:
The complete notes were put in a single post later in this thread.
Map of Shibaz maze: I found a useful glitch in Shibaz maze. Normally you have to clear 6 runes that are spread throughout the maze, but by using a bug you can activate one of the runes as many times as you want which gains you 350exp every 1 sec and counts as 1 rune cleared each time. EDIT: Video Link to video
Active player (405)
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u gonna be able to level up really fast with that?
TAS i'm interested: megaman series: mmbn1 all chips, mmx3 any% psx glitched fighting games with speed goals in general
Editor, Expert player (2310)
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Yes, I can get from 14500 exp to 32000 exp in ~40 sec. I think when playing on very hard difficulty it will be very useful. I'd like to use very easy though, since enemies will have much less health. Most enemies die in 1~3 hits, some bosses take 5~15 hits but I don't think the time spent gaining the extra exp will shorten those fights enough to make it worthwhile, at least not on easy difficulty.
Editor, Expert player (2310)
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I continued taking notes and didn't find anything really interesting. Other than that I gained some interesting insights on how the game handles you doing your first visit to the prison or not doing the visit. Let me explain: Once you have your ship, there are two paths you can then take: 1) You sail to Bandaar, the capital city. You have an audience with the Caliph and then make your 1st visit in prison to see your father. Then you sail to Zaratan... 2) Or you can directly go to Zaratan, enter the sorcerer tower, learn about the isle Shibaz and sail there. Learn about the isle Jizar and sail there. Once you are done with Jizar you learn that your father is a "nameless one" and you are then to visit your father (a 2nd time). In option 2), if you didn't make the 1st visit at all, then the Caliph will not let you enter the prison. The only way to go there now is through the old dungeon (which is the path to take in option 1) anyway, so it's good). But once you are done with that visit, you can't get out through the normal exit. A glitch in the game would trigger the guard's text to guide you to your father (since you haven't triggered it yet) - but the copper machines will spot you during the cutscene and cause a gameover. The normal exit is blocked so you have to go through the old dungeon all the way back which takes 2 extra minutes. I timed the whole situation like this:
Leaving the dungeon, from father to main hall:
- through old dungeon 2:28 
- through normal exit: 0:28
So the "1st visit skip" costs 2 minutes at this point.

The 1st visit:
- a partial visit (father only) takes 3:57 + ca. 2 minutes to return to the ship
This is more than 2 minutes needed for it to be worthwhile.
---- Other than that, I have not talked about potential for skipping other things yet: On Isle Jizar (the genie lords' island), there are fists that emerge from the ground so you can't reach a chess board in the middle. You have to talk to the guard at the only entrance but she wants you to go and bring item after item, this part alone takes 15 minutes.. If there was a "walk freely through walls" kind of glitch, there would be much better uses though. In the Bandaar palace, the rooms behind the Caliph are some that you only visit very late in the game, so an early visit may trigger the endgame plot. The realm inside your ship may also contain the parts with the final boss, so that would be even faster. Sadly, no clipping whatsoever seems possible. Once you are inside a wall you can't move. So far, there seem only to be very minor bugs: - when pushing blocks, enemies can attack you and you are displaced - when saving/loading on moving platforms, game softlocks - when pulling a block into your boat and going to your ship, you can't move until you click ...as well as the gamebreaking thing I mentioned earlier. I will finish taking notes and post a version in the 1st post. Those notes can later be used to make a TAS. I will also make RTA of this game later.
Editor, Expert player (2310)
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I finished taking notes. I made a detailed version (which will help in making a TAS) and a trimmed version useful for RTA - this version has notes that are useful for me in particular for doing normal speedruns and they might be harder to understand. Basicly, something like "guy [1 2]" means you talk to the guy with dialogue options 1 and then 2. [mash] means I just click fast until the text is gone, even if there is more text than there could have been. Those cases need to be looked at when actually producing the TAS. The overall route is already pretty much set in stone though. detailed
### Maze

- 72 coins in deadend area. (6 second detour)

- greenfire gives 5exp each.
  possible to get (5+10+10) exp 

- pot riddle, best way to do it:
 -- top slashdown
 -- top slashright (get two), proceed very far right
 -- two more slashes to get out
 TODO: Test if middle switch is faster than breaking pots.

- Big Chest 
 -- 450exp
 -- Oil of Water Invulnerability
 -- Oil of Air Invulnerability
 -- 200 gold
 --> lv 3

- Sister welcome-home dialogue,
  both options are equally fast.

### Zaratan

- visit Babazar
  "3) Whats wrong Babazar" (3screens)
  "1) I will do it" (10 screens)
   - get Sunfire shard (1 use)

((  --> 360exp ))

   OR    "3) Whats wrong Babazar" (3 screens)
             "2) do it for 300 gold"
             - get Sunfire shard (1 use)   

           ((  --> get 300 gold, 360exp ))

             "1) or 2) did see mermaid, didnt see" (both 1 screen)

- visit mermaid
  "1) Yes"  (4screens)
  "1) I promise" 

- master visits you
  "2) I always have time for you" (? screens)
  "2) I have to go" (1 screen)

 1 small boar is 10exp

((  - NPC on street, white shirt red hat
     --  -5 gold, 90 exp (2 second detour)   ))

- Qadi
  "1) do your bidding" (2 screens)
 

   father:
   "2) I have treaty"
   "1) sign it" (8 screens total)

   wassab:
   "1) pile in the street that needs cleaning"
   "4) treaty"

    sister:
    "1) smiling face"
    "2) its hart for me to imagine" (3 screens total after previous option)

    Qadi:
    360 exp 
     
    mermaid:
    270 exp  

- go back to town, storm breaks, emergency
  
   "2) I will go" (1 screen)

   killing enemies that trap the Caliph = worth 160 exp

   Caliph:
   450 exp
   "1) how is your daughter" (3 screens)

   in town speech:
   "3) that's not fair" (1 screen)
   "1) I will clear my familys name" (0 screens)

   mermaid:
   "1) I bring grave news"
   "2) must find way to Bandar" (4screens)

   -go to southwest, climb on turtle
   -sandwhirlwind is 60exp
   - nearby golden chest 
          = big key, 60 gold inside
   -another nearby chest 
          = small key, 40 gold inside
    (have 367 gold now)
   -archer is 80exp, skeleton is 80exp, zombie is 40exp
    but you only kill top left skeleton(for a key) and 2 skeletons inside ship (240exp)

   -Mage in room gives 0exp.
    Shard of magic missile (12 uses, optional)
    healing potion (optional, mandatory if you want 600exp from father)
    air potion (optional)
    Chest has 250 gold, 5 gems

   -Activate green thing in realm, then go back outside.

   statue:
   "2) let us sail"
   "sail to Bandar OR to Zaratan" (those two can apparently be done interchangably)
   (sail without encounter!)

### Zaratan Sorcerer Tower:

     Sorcererplate:
     "1) I come..." (5 screens)
     "1) yes, I will prove" (1screen)

       80 gold in barrel (optional, 0.75 sec detour)
    
       64 gold, 4 healing potions (optional, 0.5 sec detour)

       solve both riddles beyond the green sea.

      Sorcerer plate before green sea:
      "1) I may not be worthy" (2 screens)      
      
      10 gems, 3 big healing (optional)

       (mandatory fights: 360exp)

       (when reaching little isle, no fights)

       east part sorcerer plate:
       "North"
       "South"
       "3) I dont know" (1 screen)

       west part sorcerer plate:
       skip diagogue (if it saves time)
       press switches from top: 1,2,4

      west part woman:
      "2) I shall" (1screen)
      "2) if he attacks" (1screen)
      "1) it is true" (2screen)

      green face:
      1000exp      

     ( 5 gems, 100 gold, 2 big healing (golden chest, optional) )

     moving plate riddle:
     press switch in middle

     sorcerer plate:
     "2) should be killed" (1screen)

     (glitch hunt note: cant move between fire tiles)

    ( 2 gems, 1 big heal in green pot (optional, 0.5sec detour))

    800exp

   ( 1 extra healing, 1 extra healing from both green chests - reachable over green soup (optional, 0.5sec detour))

   Sorcerer plate:
   "1) 2)" (3 screens)
   "1) 2) 3) 4)" (4 screens)

   Sorcerer plate:
   "1) Yes I promise" (1 screen)

  ( 350gold, sunscorch x15 in green chest (optional 0.25sec))

  green face:
  "1) who is guy who controlled muliban" (3 screens)
   1200exp

  Sorcerer human:
    "2) desperate need" (4 screens)
    "2) I just talk to him?" (3 screens)
    "3) must go" (2 screens)

### Shibaz

   when entering building, downwards is scroll "Heart of Stone". Take.
   ( 75 gold optional) 
   Book "Tribute". Memorize.
  When proceeding through building, scroll "enemies". Take.

   Statue left:
    "1) inspect" (1screen)
    "1) put gold" (1screen) x 34       (~ 8 sec longer than reciting oath from book)
    - 34 gold
    "2) leave alone" (0 screen)


    Statue right:
    "1) inspect" (1screen)
    "scroll Heart of Stone" 

    2100exp

    Purple chest:
    -7 gems (have 8 left)    (8sec walk + 6sec detour)
    get Moonstone shard    (stronger sword)

    Reach carpet guy bottomright on sand between 2 bushes.
    "2) seek knowledge" (1 screen)
    "4) isle of genies" (1 screen)

### Shibaz maze

    1 rune = 350exp.

    burning bridge has a rune glitch that gives 350exp every 1 sec
    and clears a rune each time
   
    Do rune glitch until 6 runes cleared, then proceed bottomleft

    Take right path, step on rune, go back take left path, step on all runes
    Go over skeleton bridge
    1750exp
    Ride carpet
 
    Carpet guy:
    "4) bye" (0 screens)

### Shibaz Library

    After putting mirror in chest:
    "3) inspect rudely "

    2800exp
    go to boat

### Jizar Island of Genie Lords

    Fire genie guard:
    "1) or 2)" (1 screens)
    "1) what are those routine matters / how may I" (1 screens)
    "1) I beg you" (3 screens) 
    > bring snake

    Reptilian seller:
    demands half of gems in possession (have 4)

    Fire genie guard:
    "1) yes" (1 screens)
    "1) as you want" (1 screens)
    1000exp

    "1) " (3screens)
    > bring coal
 
   (( guy wants 50 (bargain=40) gems but only have 4
      go to trade place, trade for ~35 gems = worth 385 gold)) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      Coal seller:
      "1) hottest coal"
      "1) too much" (bargain)
      "5 gems less" (bargain further)
      "fair price"
       -35 gem (have 0)

     fire genie guard:
     "1) yes" (1 screen)
     "1) as you want"
     1000exp

     "3) hear plea" (7 screens)
     > bring veil woven

     merchant woman:
     wants 80 gems (best bargain)
    
     ((have to trade more gold to gems.
       80 gems = worth 880)) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

     fire genie guard:
     "1) yes" (1 screen)
     "1) as you want" 
     1000exp

      "1) urgent" (1 screen)
      
      "1) urgent" (~3 screens)
      > bring bottle of emptiness

      Go to Bandaar and talk to Inn owner
     
### Senat

     Chest:
     Bottle of Emptiness
     Shard of Sunscorch
     big healing
     600 gold

### Jizar

     fire genie guard:
     ...
     "2) It is empty!"
     "1) nothing is inside" (1screen)"
     "1) by my honor it is so" (3 screen)
     1000exp

    800exp
     SISTERS:
    talk to them alternatedly and try to leave asap.

    WATER:
    "1) pray continue with your story" (4screens)
    keep saying "Pray continue with your story"
    say "NOW will you help against elfreet?" (1screen)
    "2) tell me about" (6 screen)

     CAVE:
     (~5 screens)
     "1) What is it you desire" (1screen)

     SISTERS:
     Talk to them alternatedly.
     "1) Swim to Zaratan and back" (1 screen)
     "1) will do what I claimed" (1 screen)
     "1) Yes" (6screen)
     1200exp

      CAVE:
      "2) Yes" (3screen)

      1200exp
       Touch storyteller
    
       WATER:
       "2) Yes" (2screen)
       1200exp
        "I go at once"

        FIRE:
        Use the elfreet potion. 
        "2) who is behind it" (1screen)
        "2) who are the nameless" (3screen)
        1600exp
        "gtg"
        -receive moonstone
        -now Lv6

       go to bandar palace

### Bandaar

   Bandar town guards:
   "3) stand aside" (2screens)
   "2) I shall take your words under advice" (1screen)
   "3) one day you will eat.." (1screen)

  palace entrance guards:
  "1) I want to enter" (1screen)

   Vizier:
   "1) thank you for hospitality" (5 screens)
   "2) im noble birth" (3screens)
   "1) i will resolve it (2screens)
   "I'm just passing by (1screen)

Go into first hallway and then try to leave.

     Man:
     "Perhaps another time" (1~2 screen)

     Yellow girl:
     "2) No" (2 screen)
     "2) correctly" (2screen)
     "1) I accept" (7screen)

     Trade officer:
      "3) trade business" (1screen)
      "2) Sumia sent me"

      Baker:
      "2)"
      1000exp
      "1) 2)"

      go directly into dungeon.

      Pick up old key from floor in 2nd room.
     Kill 3 spiders.
     Attack grass wall 8 times, press switch.
     Pull rock on plate in hallway, go into room and do same as above.

     Zyclop:
     "die"
      Go in his room and do same as above.
      Dont kill cyclop

     Kill 3 zombies in room with 1x sunfire.

     ~1500~2000exp?

     Kill all stone enemies with sunfire or similar weapon
     Place 2 weights on 2 plates in room
 
     silver switches:
     4th from above

     ring of protection +3 (optional)

     Father:
     "1) I must know" (2 screen)
      "2) nevermind that" (8screen)
      "1) what else" (1screen)
      "gtg" 
      1200exp

      Go back through the old dungeon.
      The normal exit is blocked by a glitch
      that happens if you skip the 1st visit.
      The glitch doesn't exist if you did the 
      complete 1st visit. 

      ((do not give back key))

      Go to palace entrance, read scroll

      Obdel (old man in banquet):
       1000exp
      "1) about time" (4 screens)
      "5) go on" (2 screen)
      "1) if clears family name" (4 screen)
      "1) how do you know this" (7 screen)
      "1) alas indeed" (1 screen)
      "1) gtg" (2 screen)
      "2) farewell" (0 screen)

      go to teleportation room and warp.
      push cart, go to bottom room.
      
      blue woman:
      "1) Catspaw"
      1000exp
      go behind door
      sneak outside into Caliph bedroom,
      right room has secret path.
      get 2000 gold (optional), book
      put key in bed.

      Teleport back.

      Go to southwest room, read scroll in drawer.
      1400exp

      Go to town entrance:
      "1) continue to watch"

      Obdel:
      "1) sorry" 
      "2) you're lying"
      1400exp

      ((ignore man next to boat))

      Sail to Katraz.

### Al-Katraz

[no more notes, please see the RTA trimmed version instead]
RTA trimmed, continuing from Al-Katraz
### Al-Katraz

Key from left fire.
Left side - guard [2 2]
Meditate Left.
---
Kill right guy.
Meditate right.
---
Passage entrance [2"bazan"]
---
Captain [mash]
rusty key in bed
unlock Tarik

Tarik [1 3 1]
kill wizard
leave
---
bring brother under deck.
sail to Aballat.

### Aballat

northern iron pot.
go under deck.

bro [mash]
muliban [4"act"  1]
sail to Al-Naqqil.

### Al-Naqqil

left room, kill enemies = 1 necklace
top right, kill wizard = 1 necklace
top left secret way, kill guy = 1 necklace
bottom left = teleporter
---
top right
top right
back
bottom left
top left, back
top right
MOONSTONE:
     bottom right 
     top left 
     top right
     bottom right
     top right
break orb.
top right.
---
statue [2 "destroy nameless"]
---
top right,top left
top left
bottom right, bottom left
{riddle} bottom left 
kill.

girlfriend [2 "gtg"]
---
bottom left, back
kill.

muliban [mash]
There are different strategies for Al-Katraz. On Al-Katraz, there are two fractions fighting each other. Each fraction's leader has a key for a nearby room where you have to go in and meditate. In order to get the two keys, you can bring peace to both fractions or side with one fraction and kill the other. Or you can kill both fractions. Instead of killing a leader to get the key, the key is alternatively hidden in a place where you can go and get it for a small detour. I think in TAS you would want to just kill everyone. In RTA it's better to get the left key from the top left fire and not cause harm on the left side, but kill the right side (because their hidden key poses a much longer detour). In the Al-Katraz dungeon, you can skip the pirate captain fight by just ignoring him. But when you bring your brother outside, those enemies might block your brother. Should be doable in TAS though. I finished two normal runs at the moment on "very easy". The latter one being the fastest time with 1h27m27s. I think I can bring the game down to 1h22m. TAS should get 1h05m, maybe even below 1h. --- edit: I made a game resouces page: http://tasvideos.org/GameResources/DOS/AlQadimTheGeniesCurse.html
Editor, Expert player (2310)
Joined: 5/15/2007
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Location: Germany
Running into troubles with JPC-rr. Whether I can start on an Al-Qadim TAS depends on whether I can get the emulator to work. Until it does, I can't work on this game and will be focusing on something else instead. http://tasvideos.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=402535#402535
Editor, Expert player (2310)
Joined: 5/15/2007
Posts: 3854
Location: Germany
Apparently this game has had a v1.1 patch. Back when I created this topic, I speedran and played on v1.0 v1.1, apparently. The patch notes:
                          Al-Qadim "The Genie's Curse"
                                 version 1.1
                                    Patch


 The following major bug fixes for the game are as follows:

 1. In the town, when the Caliph is rescued, the hero could get stuck on
    the lady in green if the qadi walked too fast. The Qad's speed is now
    regulated, and the hero will not get stuck.

 2. Some users experienced a crash during copy protection. The game will 
    not crash when copy protection is called for.

 3. The game would hang when potions have been drunk. This and bug two 
    occured due to a sound file being opened, but not closed. This 
    problem is now fixed.

 4. When fighting water elementals on the ship, during and after the fight,
    the hero could leave the ship via the row boat. This caused various
    problems. The hero can no longer leave the ship until combat is over
    and the captain has been spoken to.
I will probably investigate this at some point. "This caused various problems" sounds interesting. :) Also characters walking faster in 1.0 sounds interesting, but I think this is restricted to the game doing automated walking for you. EDIT: I investigated bug number 4. I haven't been able to leave the ship during or after a fight with water elementals. But I found that you can go under deck and come back on deck, which adds the trigger to the boat that asks if you want to row to shore. You can only go under deck -after- the fight, since that's the point where the invisible wall disappears on the stairs so you can go under deck. The invisible wall is always there in the other fights (pirates and zombies, and -during- the water elemental fight). Not sure why the notes say you could go to shore during the fight as well. If you sail from city A to city B and do this bug, it will make you go to city B. When you go back and talk to the captain, he will say the deck is clear and it finishes sailing where it left off, but will still only sail to city B again. If you do this while sailing to Bandar (capital city), and walk at least until the first fountain, when talking to the captain again you will dematerialize and rematerialize for seemingly no reason. When going under deck or using the boat, the ship trip resumes but you cannot ever talk to the captain again since it will just dematerialize and rematerialize you again. This only happens if you walk up far enough in Bandar, for some reason... Something weird going on in the game's memory... I tested from a savegame and from a new game in v1.1 and the bug is possible to do. I don't have access to v1.0 at the moment, so I can't test/compare. More little bugs I found: 1) When leaving your hometown Zaratan to clear your family name, despite the guards holding you off from entering the town again, you can actually make it in by walking at the right side of the entrance. Everyone else will still be there including your genie. You can walk through some people, and most of them will say the same text "go look in the western part of the desert for survivors" (the text that they would say when the Caliph was still missing). You can also walk up to the Qadi's empty desk and talk to nobody. Nothing more to this for now... 2) When fighting water elementals -> kill the last one and save the game right before the game tells "congrats, everyone is killed". Now the loading zone for going below deck may be missing and you may or may not be able to talk to the captain. Basicly, saving/loading at bad timing may screw up objects/triggers. But this is the only case I found where this happens.
Editor, Expert player (2310)
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Had a strange bug happen in my speedrun attempt today. I finished Bandar Palace and went to the town gate, talked to Obdel (dialogue options 1 and then 2), then touched the boat but accidentally hit "no". When I touched the boat again I got a gameover unexpectedly. I reloaded a save and hit "yes" and could proceed normally from then on.. If anyone knows what's the deal with this, please let me know. Now that I think about it, the dude on the beach walked up into the city instead of staying still. Not sure why. (My time ended up being 1 hour 30mins 10sec or so, btw. Just about 3 minutes off my personal best from a two years ago.)
Editor, Expert player (2310)
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Link to video First clip is new, second clip is what I described here. ---- Link to video
Editor, Expert player (2310)
Joined: 5/15/2007
Posts: 3854
Location: Germany
I did some glitch hunting stream sessions (amounting to about 10 hours of stream time). This is what I found. I might make a Youtube video of these later, maybe. Bypass dark mode At the beginning of the game, when you do the oath with your sister, the screen turns darker. It turns bright after talking to the mermaid and walking back to Zaratan. By doing some precise saving & reloading, you can bypass the trigger that turns the screen bright again. --> This will cause your mother not to spawn, which messes up a cutscene pathing, ending in a softlock. --> This bug is inevitable if you have left the left side of the desert while the screen remained dark. Shibaz Library Entry bug When the hermit enters the library, the entrance block will move to the left. If you stand to the left of the block, the block will start going around you in an attempt to reach its destination. Cave Djinn bug When starting to talk to the Djinn in the cave while enemies come onscreen, then finishing the conversation, the camera will remain frozen in place until no more enemies are nearby you. Sword Trainer bug Start fighting with the Sword trainer in Bandar, then go to the door. The Sword trainer will ask if you want to leave; say no. You will both go to a certain spot, then the sword trainer says "en guarde" and the fight commences again. In certain situations, you can reach your spot faster than the trainer, then walk to the trainer's spot so he cannot reach it. If you then attack the trainer, the fight commences but the "door check" is not active anymore. So you can now walk outside with the sword trainer all around the Bandar city. Go out of bounds in Bandar You can reach both the left and the right side of the city (which you can't access), by bringing the Sword trainer (see previous bug) and having him hit you repeatedly while trying to go past the guard who keeps telling you "you can't go here". Rock Pushing saving & reloading Saving and reloading while pushing a rock can cause you to become displaced, depending on your positioning towards solid walls. For example, if you use the (already known) rock pushing bug to position yourself inside a rock, then moving to the top-left corner of a solid wall, then saving and reloading, the game may eject you to the right (after loading the savegame). Pushing & Using projectiles You can use Moonshards while pushing rocks. Obdel bug This is known, but wasn't documented I think. I should include it in the video (if I work on one). It happens in the part where you need to hide and watch Obdel. If you spook him at a certain time while the other man is walking into the city, the game may start moving the camera slowly to the top left corner of the map, then starting the dialogue, then zipping back to the bottom immediately. Also, it seems you can trigger the Obdel dialogue twice by triggering it, then saving & reloading, then triggering it again. Possibly you can trigger it infinitely often. Door Clipping This is a big one! By placing rocks in a certain way next to a door, then starting to push the rock from the other side, you can clip through doors. This would be useful in the Old Dungeon if not for the fact that you (for some reason) can only use it going from left to right, but not right to left. The other door you could do it on, there is no rock you could use to clip back. So all in all, it is not a time saver, but highly interesting.
Editor, Expert player (2310)
Joined: 5/15/2007
Posts: 3854
Location: Germany
Object slot memory layout
-0x7D	x pos
0x00	HP
0x18	max HP
Somewhere near x pos is what seems to be the ID, I forgot to note it down. The ID is not universal, but instead depends on the map. For Alkatraz dungeon it is like this:
0x00 	Chest
0x01	Chest
0x02	Mummy
0x03	Fabric
0x04	Table
0x05	Table
0x06	Chair
0x07	Table
0x08	Barrel
0x09	Rice Sack
0x0A	Pot
0x0B	Pot
0x0C	Pot
0x0D	Chest
0x0E	Basket
0x0F	Brother
0x10	Man
0x11	Man
0x12	Man
0x13	Man
0x14	Man
0x15	Man
0x16	Man
0x17	Man
0x18	Man
0x19	Man
0x1A	Orb
0x1B	Beast
0x1C	Bat
0x1D	Pirate
0x1E	Ettin
0x1F	Pirate
0x20	Pirate
0x21	Cyclop
0x22	Magician
0x23	Spider
0x24	Rice Sack
0x25	Crate
0x26	Barrel
0x27	Chest
0x28 *crash*
When hitting an enemy, its HP will be adjusted to be less or equal to its max HP. Object/Enemy names can be conveniently found in the memory. Try looking for "mummy" and "spider", or whatever you named your character. Object memory and pretty much all the memory you would be interested in editing (money, stats, etc.) are dynamic. They need to be re-searched every time you change the map or restart the game. Money uses 2 bytes with a max of 65535 coins, after which it will roll over to 0. The money trader in Bandaar will not let you convert coins to gems if you have more than 32767 coins. I finished recording glitch videos and will upload them tomorrow or so. I found a few more bugs; if you use a Moonshard while mounting to your Carpet, you will be stuck forever. If you save & load while mounting your Carpet, a bug will cause you to go extremely slowly forever.
Editor, Expert player (2310)
Joined: 5/15/2007
Posts: 3854
Location: Germany
Editor, Expert player (2310)
Joined: 5/15/2007
Posts: 3854
Location: Germany
Some notes I put together today Manual Some information in the manual is good. But there is also a lot of information which is completely false, for example the enemy section (the exp given, health points etc. are all wrong). The manual mentions that "new enemies have been added" so I think there was a predecessor game where all those stats used to be accurate. Needs some investigation.. Stats These are the stats: - STR = Strength - DEX = Dexterity - CON = Condition? Constitution - INT = Intellect? Intelligence - WIS = Wisdom - CHR = Charisma - Maximum Health The Stat progression system in this game is strange. The stats never seem to change from their initial values, except for Max Health and STR which is 18(74) at default and changes to 22 when you drink a potion of Super Strength. I assume (74) is a critical hit? It is not explained anywhere... Although STR never changes from 18(74), enemies seem to take less hits to kill at higher levels. So I guess it is a glitch with the stat screen? I have no idea what Wisdom, Charisma, etc. are for, though. Max health depends on randomness what value it will be after levelling up. The table below only shows rough approximate values for Max Health.
Level	Exp Needed	MaxHP	
1	0
2	2,000		22	
3	4,000		32	
4	8,000		40	
5	16,000		48~52	
6	32,000		56~58	
7	64,000		67~70	
8	125,000
9	250,000
Enemies
Descriptive Name		Exp Given
Green Fire 				5
Hyena 					10 
Undead 	 				40
Bat  					60
Air Elemental 				60
Water Elemental (small) 			80
Water Elemental (big) 
Skeleton 					80
Rat 					80
Archer 					80
Pirate 					80
Green Slime  (small)				100
Green Slime (big) 				100
Boar					100
Female Sword Fighter			100
Spider 					120
Triggers The game uses "triggers" to cause stuff to happen in certain places. There are also some very subtle triggers that the unassuming player will never notice. These are interesting to document, for example: - In Zaratan Western Desert, there is a trigger that has about a 50% chance of spawning hyenas. (So in TAS just make sure it doesn't spawn anything) Such enemy triggers exist in many places in the game. - In Zaratan Tower, after crossing the very first body of acid, a green slime will jump out of the acid after crossing a trigger. You can repeatedly kill it and walk back and forth to trigger another one. Since the slime will give 100 exp, it is almost on par with the 350 exp rune bug (in terms of exp grinding). - In Bandar Palace, there is an interesting set of triggers. I will need pictures to explain properly sometime.. There is a trigger for when you reach into the first hallway, and then another trigger that will become activated just a few pixels lower that causes Sumia to start talking about the old dungeon. So basicly you walk up into the hallway, then one unit down, and then to Sumia. - In Shibaz, it is also interesting to know the trigger for when the hermit appears. I will need to take a picture of that too. - ...
Patashu
He/Him
Joined: 10/2/2005
Posts: 4000
The stat system seems to be based on old school (1st and 2nd edition) D&D. The stats are Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma, And normally vary in the range 3-18 (the result of rolling 3d6). However, Fighters have a mechanic called ‘exceptional strength’ where their strength can range from 18/01 to 18/99. This post explains it well: https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/59638/how-does-fighter-strength-work-in-advanced-dungeons-dragons-2nd-edition-and-ba Many old roguelikes and RPGs based their stat system on D&D, which is why this weird vestigal mechanic crops up in unexpected places, like Angband and Nethack.
My Chiptune music, made in Famitracker: http://soundcloud.com/patashu My twitch. I stream mostly shmups & rhythm games http://twitch.tv/patashu My youtube, again shmups and rhythm games and misc stuff: http://youtube.com/user/patashu
Editor, Expert player (2310)
Joined: 5/15/2007
Posts: 3854
Location: Germany
Thanks Patashu!
Manual Some information in the manual is good. But there is also a lot of information which is completely false, for example the enemy section (the exp given, health points etc. are all wrong). The manual mentions that "new enemies have been added" so I think there was a predecessor game where all those stats used to be accurate. Needs some investigation..
This is the section that I was refering to: I looked up previous games but could not find a clear predecessor game. Also I do not know what they mean by "campaigns".
Joined: 1/31/2018
Posts: 19
Location: Finland
I think it means that those monsters aren't from any AD&D source books and are created for this game. "Campaigns" as in pen&paper campaigns you play with friends around a table.