MSX Solutions - update

Cartographer only_69 has truly found a niche in the MSX scene with his maps. Not only are his maps a valuable resource for gamers, the maps also give a great insight in the design of a game, which often turns out to be practical information for game developers.

The last update of MSX Solutions dates back to August of 2007. In the reactions of that newspost, a new game was suggested to make a map for: Bastard, by Xain. Bastard, a one-disk game released in 1988, is a maze game that hasn't exactly gained much praise over the years. The biggest obstacle is the sheer size of the maps, this in combination with the rather monotone design of the maps makes it a game that isn't very motivating to play. Still, the game can be intriguing as well, as very few people -if any- have seen the whole game yet, thus a map would be more than welcome. All this made Bastard the perfect candidate to suggest a map for. To have only_69 make a map for this game wouldn't be much to ask for anyway. After all, how big can a game on only one single disk ever be?

Things turned out quite differently. People would assume that the game would have a reasonably large map. This assumption is literarily dwarfed however by the complete map that Bastard turns out to actually have. To get an impression of the magnitude of the maze, let's assume a traditional MSX monitor with one room of Bastard. The five worlds of Bastard placed next to each other would create a wall of MSX monitors roughly 6 meters high and roughly 60 meters wide. It's evident that no-one will be playing this game just by heart. If there's ever been a game which would require a map then it's Bastard, as it's likely to be the MSX game with the biggest game area ever. Unfortunately, the game seems to be full of bugs, and only_69 wasn't able to find any end demo. Was this Xain's intention? Is the game this big so that no sane person would ever find out there's no end demo at all? Who knows, if you have a version of the game which you have finished and which does have an end demo, contact only_69.

But there's more! Bastard alone would've made a nice mega-update already -considering its size- but only_69 decided to offer even more maps!

A whole new map has been made for Falcom's game Dragon Slayer IV - Drasle Family, a platform RPG for MSX2 made in 1987. Also new is a map for Parallax' platform game Blade Lords, released in 1994 by Sunrise. And finally, the map of the MSX1 game Bestial Warrior has been updated. This game by Dinamic is an arcade game converted from the ZX Spectrum.

Of course, map making doesn't end here. If you feel a map is required for a certain MSX game, then feel free to suggest the game to only_69. So shortly after Bastard, a smaller game might perhaps be preferred. After all, how big can a small game be?

Relevant link: MSX Solutions