Karoshi MSX Community

Title: Fort Apocalypse
ROM size: 16/32K ROM (not sure yet ...  ;D)
RAM needed: 16K RAM
Game genre: Action / Shooter / Rescue
Developer: SoCal Studio

The game is an MSX port of the famous Atari 800XL / Commodore 64 game developed by Steve Hales in 1982. You pilot an helicopter in dangerous caves, which are guarded by a enemy who stops at nothing to shoot you down ! Your mission is to rescue hostages and take them back to safety ...

Grrrreat! :D, good luck with your project!

Thanks Jon !  :laugh:

There will probably be 2 versions : one will be a replica of the original Atari XL/C64 version (with original graphics and sounds), the other will be a newer version (with new graphics and sounds). I do have the written permission of Steve Hales.

Here Atari XL screenshots, resized to get the blueMSX format (including the borders)

(http://msxdev.msxblue.com/wp-content/uploads/msxdev14/fortapocalypse1.png)

(http://msxdev.msxblue.com/wp-content/uploads/msxdev14/fortapocalypse2.png)

Yes, that's the one  ;D
I already have screenshots, but I was not able to upload them ... The forum would not let me do so  ???

Looks promising. Keep rocking !!!

Aww... sorry SCS, but you must find a place to host your images and then link them in this post (same will apply for the final .ROM image).

I remember playing that game the C64 of a friend back in the days, this would actually be great to see it on the MSX!

Best of luck with that project.

Thanks Maggoo !
 ;)

THIS IS THE GAME I WISHED SO MUCH THAT IT HAD BEEN CONVERTED TO MSX TOO!!!

It´s only thirty years late, thank you!!!!  ;D

Really, I was so happy to read what you just have said!! :) That two versions thing sounds really exciting for me!! Do you plan to make both versions into one game? I hope so... :)

Did Steve Hales give you the permission to also publish the game on physical media too? I mean on a cartridge or cassette? Cassette version would be really interesting, as original games were on cassette and disk. Waiting the game to load from the cassette would give a nice old time feeling and make the game feel old like it shoud. :) I mean feel like it was originally published in around 1983, being a real MSX MegaGame!

Now I will ask you one thing, before anybody else will ask this very same thing...  :D Do you plan to use smooth scrolling like the original Atari and Commodore versions? I hope so.  Though this game is probably as playable even with blocky eight pixel scrolling, but it would be much nicer to look at with smooth scrolling and the feeling would be right too that way. :)

Thank you so much SCS!!  ;D

Thanks mäsäxi !


Well, that depends on the size of the first version, which is the one I'm working on at the moment. So far, the game is a just under 24K, the maps being by far the most heavy part of the game (one level is over 8K). Things missing at the moment : enemy AI, music and sounds, score keeping and "Navatron" radar window.

But as soon as the game engine is fully developped and stable, I'm planning to use some compression on the maps and some other gfx data. I'm guessing that with compression, the finished game should fit on a 16K rom (if I'm lucky). That should leave 16K or 32K for a newer version of the game.


Steve Hales gave me the permission to go ahead on an MSX adaptation of its game, under this Creative Commons license : http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/. It states that I'm "free to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format". However, I just noticed the "NoDerivatives" clause, which could be a problem for the newer version of the game ...  :-[


I feel the same way as you do, but unfortunately, "Fort Apocalypse" requires a multi-directional scrolling, which an MSX1 cannot perform in a smooth way (maybe with a simpler background, and fewer tiles it could be possible, but in the case of this game, it's not). So for the time being, I've build a game engine based on a 8 pixels scrolling. It's not smooth, but I can guarantee you that it's nice :)

About problems with permission:  Sure it would be nice to see the improved version too, but I think the most important part is to get "the original version" working. :) Does anybody has some lawyer friend to ask about this "NoDerivatives" clause? I hope this thing could be solved somehow.

May I ask, about the improved version, are you planning to make "old time" improved graphics, I mean giving more colour and graphic detail while loyally preserving the original look and style of Fort Apocalypse? I hope so!!

If you decide to/can make improved version too, you may not have to worry about the size of rom. The price of manufacturing a 64K or 128K cartridge is not a too big problem nowadays. :) But sure I can understand if you want to keep "old style" rom size, in that point of view 16K or 24K (32K) game is a nice idea!

I was always hoping that this game could be converted to MSX using smooth scrolling, even there would be some colour clash "problems" here and there. The first colour clash would happen in first fuel depot, and shoot-able flashing bricks are the second ones, but maybe that would not be too big problem. You can ask help for smooth scrolling problems, there are many MSX gurus who can help you, but I do understand that you probably know what you are talking about. :) No problem! On the other hand, blocky scrolling Fort Apocalypse probably would be the most authentic "1983 MSX conversion". If the japanese could had made MSX two years earlier, it would have been possible that some european software house had made cassette version of Fort Apocalypse would have been THE 1983 MSX HIT in Europe! :) Or 1984 or 1985 hit... :)

Just for curiousity, are you from the U.S.A.? I am just asking because of "SoCal Studio" name.

Please send some screenshot when it becomes possible, unless you want to keep this in secrecy until it´s published. ;)

I think it can be solved just asking the permission to Steve Hales, before putting a lawyer on the subject.
I'll see about that when the time comes.

The idea behind the "improved" version is to have more detailed graphics while retaining the "old school" style. For example, the current version is based on the Atari XL/C64 version, which used a multi color graphic mode with 4x8 pixel chars (1 horizontal "block" pixel is always made of 2 pixel of the same color). Of course the MSX does not have that limitation (it has other ones), so I plan to create new graphics that take advantage of that.[/quote]

I don't know about that yet.
The first step is to have the original version working.

The problem of a smooth pixel scrolling in this game is that the scrolling is multi-directional. The game background is made of about 30 different tiles. For a smooth multi-directional scrolling it means you would have to build charsets of 30^4=810.000 different tiles !! Even if you optimize the charset by removing impossible combinations it would still require thousands of different tiles, which is impossible to handle. So for the time being, I built a 1 char multi-directional scrolling.

However, I have not completely discarded the idea. When the game is completed, I'll make some researches about a 2px or 4px scrolling, to see if it's possible.

No, I'm from Belgium  :D

The "SoCal Studio" name comes from my early days in MSX. At the time I fantasized about cracking games (but never did) and made up a fancy name : "Southern California Cracker" (I had a big case of the American Dream - I still have 8) ). I kept the idea but changed one word ...  ;)

I will.
I'll try to post some screenshots and a video as soon as possible.

I hope too, that improved version permission can be solved without too much problems.  :) I am very happy to hear that you like to use old skool style graphics. :) I am eagerly waiting to see your results! :) And thank you for the information about SoCal Studio´s history. ;)
 Let´s hope we can get more old classics converted to MSX from you and from the others too! :) Thank you so far! :)

..............any news or screenshots to send..............?

Hi guys,

Sorry, but this game will not make it for this year :'(
I got sidetracked by a lot of other things, and the project halted at around 40% of the development.

Aww... anyway np, keep the project up and see you at next edition!  ;)

Sorry to hear this, I was eager to see this game on msx
The original looks awesome   :(

I am sorry to hear it could not be completed for this edition, this is one of the entries I was very much looking forward to. I hope you still plan to complete the game in the future!

I hope you can continue in the future, when your life/work/health/whatever problem allows. I wish all the best for you, Fort Apocalypse conversion maker.

Hello SCS! :) is there any hope to hear again, that you are continuing this Fort Apocalypse project? :) I am still hoping I could play my old favourite game on MSX some day. :)