Twin Kingdom Valley
Encyclopedia
Twin Kingdom Valley was a text adventure game with animated pictures (on most formats) for the BBC Micro
, Acorn Electron
, Commodore 64
, Commodore 16
and ZX Spectrum
. It was released in 1983 by Bug-Byte Software
.
The game was inspired by the original Adventure
by Will Crowther
, and was one of the first games to have active non-player character
s.
The characters are interactive, and have their own personalities: some are friendly, and will follow and defend the player, whilst others are hostile. Witches and kings are complex characters, whereas gorillas and trolls are simpler. Battle sequences have additional features including weapons which can be dropped, broken, thrown or taken away by enemies.
The game has "micro databases" of information, representing the locations, objects which can be used, various creatures, and other data. The game engine runs a simulated world for these items. A small AI module allows the non-player characters to make decisions.
assembly language
. The game was then ported to Z80
for the Spectrum. The newer versions (for Commodore 64 and Spectrum) have an extended game.
The game was in active development again in 2006, due to the availability of new platforms. The game engine has been ported, from the original 6502, into Java
, with some game design tools in C#.
BBC Micro
The BBC Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, was a series of microcomputers and associated peripherals designed and built by Acorn Computers for the BBC Computer Literacy Project, operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation...
, Acorn Electron
Acorn Electron
The Acorn Electron is a budget version of the BBC Micro educational/home computer made by Acorn Computers Ltd. It has 32 kilobytes of RAM, and its ROM includes BBC BASIC along with its operating system....
, Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
, Commodore 16
Commodore 16
The Commodore 16 was a home computer made by Commodore with a 6502-compatible 8501 CPU, released in 1984. It was intended to be an entry-level computer to replace the VIC-20 and it often sold for 99 USD...
and ZX Spectrum
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
. It was released in 1983 by Bug-Byte Software
Bug-Byte
Bug-Byte Software Ltd. was a company founded in 1980 by Tony Baden and Tony Milner, two Oxford chemistry graduates. It was one of the first to develop a range of 8-bit computer games during the early 1980s, for Sinclair, Commodore and other home computer brands, particularly for the Spectrum...
.
The game was inspired by the original Adventure
Colossal Cave Adventure
Colossal Cave Adventure gave its name to the computer adventure game genre . It was originally designed by Will Crowther, a programmer and caving enthusiast who based the layout on part of the Mammoth Cave system in Kentucky...
by Will Crowther
William Crowther
William Crowther is a computer programmer and caver. He is best known as the co-creator of Colossal Cave Adventure, a seminal computer game that influenced the first decade of game design and created a new game genre, text adventures.-Biography:During the early 1970s Crowther worked at defense...
, and was one of the first games to have active non-player character
Non-player character
A non-player character , sometimes known as a non-person character or non-playable character, in a game is any fictional character not controlled by a player. In electronic games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer through artificial intelligence...
s.
The characters are interactive, and have their own personalities: some are friendly, and will follow and defend the player, whilst others are hostile. Witches and kings are complex characters, whereas gorillas and trolls are simpler. Battle sequences have additional features including weapons which can be dropped, broken, thrown or taken away by enemies.
Architecture
A major section of the software is a custom graphics language, which was a very early "scalable vector graphics" format. Hundreds of images are drawn (of objects and locations) using this custom tool.The game has "micro databases" of information, representing the locations, objects which can be used, various creatures, and other data. The game engine runs a simulated world for these items. A small AI module allows the non-player characters to make decisions.
History
The original game engine was written in 6502MOS Technology 6502
The MOS Technology 6502 is an 8-bit microprocessor that was designed by Chuck Peddle and Bill Mensch for MOS Technology in 1975. When it was introduced, it was the least expensive full-featured microprocessor on the market by a considerable margin, costing less than one-sixth the price of...
assembly language
Assembly language
An assembly language is a low-level programming language for computers, microprocessors, microcontrollers, and other programmable devices. It implements a symbolic representation of the machine codes and other constants needed to program a given CPU architecture...
. The game was then ported to Z80
Zilog Z80
The Zilog Z80 is an 8-bit microprocessor designed by Zilog and sold from July 1976 onwards. It was widely used both in desktop and embedded computer designs as well as for military purposes...
for the Spectrum. The newer versions (for Commodore 64 and Spectrum) have an extended game.
The game was in active development again in 2006, due to the availability of new platforms. The game engine has been ported, from the original 6502, into Java
Java (programming language)
Java is a programming language originally developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities...
, with some game design tools in C#.