beat 'm up game Myths and Dragons - pre-order

A new MSX beat 'm up game called Myths and Dragons is being release next month by Kai Magazine. It's action-packed and unique to the MSX game catalogue. The game makes use of hardware extensions like the V9990 display chip and OPL4 compatible sound chips. It comes as both a physical game cartridge and digital downloadable version. Myths and Dragons is to be released by the end of July 2017 and the pre-order period has begun.

Myths and Dragons is a beat ’em up two players co-op game with roll playing (RPG) elements where the characters will gain experience and money. They will level up and and can purchase equipment and other items. The game will advance in a similar way to Kai Magazine's game Sector 88, mission based, each mission being re-playable in order to earn more experience and gold. there's also a map where to select your missions and see what to do in them. This offers re-playability, so be ready for hours and hours of gameplay. Technically the game advances with excellent graphics and tunes using hardware extensions.

Hardware compatibility:
- MSX2 with 64k of RAM
- V9990 required (gfx9000, video9000, powergraph, Krakengraph, VroBit)
- MSX-Music (FM-PAC or compatible) and/or MSX-AUDIO (Philips Music Music Module or compatible) or OPL4 compatible (Moonsound, Shockwave, Wozblaster). OPL4 needs an MSX with at least 128k of RAM.

The game is optimized for use on MSX2+ and Turbo R machines.

Kai Magazine has opened up a pre-order period for this new game. The funds raised through this pre-order is used for all the material related to the development of the physical format of the game. All early birds who order the pre-purchase editions, will have an extra playable character in the game.

Order the physical cartridge now for 39 Euro + Shipping. After pre-order period the price is 42 Euro. Shipping costs are: Spain 4,90 Euro, Europe 9,80 Euro and the rest of the world 12,80 Euro.
Order the digital version now for 9 Euro. After pre-order period the price is 12 Euro.

Anyone interested can contact Oscar Albero from Kai Magazine

relevant link: Kai Magazine web-site
relevant link: In game video
relevant link: Talk about this release on the MRC forum

Comments (14)

By Kai Magazine

Paragon (1428)

24-05-2017, 19:20

Thank you, Ro, for posting the news so quickly, as usual

Just to clarify:
The v9990 is not optional, it is mandatory.
The game does not work without v9990.
I am saying this because it is missing on the title here (for example: Myths and Dragons for v9990 as I published on my posts).

By black hawk

Expert (124)

24-05-2017, 22:55

Nice work Oscar. One question: Can I play the digital copy with open msx?

By Lazzeri

Champion (280)

25-05-2017, 17:05

Looks great! Congrats, once again.

25-05-2017, 21:28

black hawk wrote:

At the moment the game is buggy on openmsx, but I know how to bypass those bugs, so there will be an exclusive version for openmsx which works correctly.
In the other hand, openmsx team will try to fix the bugs on v9990 emulation as well, so the regular version might work as well.

25-05-2017, 21:31

Lazzeri wrote:

Thank you Marco!
and thank you for the pre-purchase as well

By enribar

Paragon (1214)

27-05-2017, 23:35

Hey Kay! I pre-ordered too, this is the game I've been dreamin' of!
Make a perfect game, take as much time as you need, we keep supporting you!

28-05-2017, 13:01

Thank you very much, enribar!
It is thanks to people like you that we can keep making games for the MSX

By msd

Paragon (1515)

29-05-2017, 11:31

Cool, can you tell some background about the development? How the graphics where made, how many stages?

By JohnHassink

Ambassador (5672)

31-05-2017, 06:29

If you guys would like to hear beforehand, here's an almost finished concept for the first stage (Forest) music on MB-Stereo:
https://youtu.be/KzLgftJve-M
The rest of the soundtrack is to be some more 'medieval', even if this one came out less so.
Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy it, but I am mostly open for suggestions and interested in your opinion. Because at this point, I can still change things. :)

31-05-2017, 09:38

msd wrote:

At this moment it is made with compiled basic, as usual.
Instead of using the v9938 graphic commands I use out commands. I have a subroutine to do the blitter, another to change page, another to detect the vsync, etc. I just define the coordinates with variables and I do a gosub to the v9990 subroutine (or you could call it function, if you will) and the graphic command is done.
The game logic is created as usual. The only thing that changes are the graphic commands.
If I get my hands on the moonblaster wave replayer, I might recode it all in C.
I started creating this engine WITH KOD graphics (I have a working version of the game with KOD graphics, which looks spectacular, the beta testers have seen it).
I felt tempted to call it King of dragons and make it a port, but then everyone would expect a 1:1 version like Ghouls and Ghosts, but it is not our wish to make a 1:1 version, because I want to make it more RPG/mission based (like sector 88) so:
Once the engine was finished and the playability was almost the same, I started changing the graphics.
Some are worked over the original sprites, others are made from scratch, but trying to imitate as much as possible the original, without being a rip (like the dragon).
As you will see in the final result, comparing the original/kai sprites side by side, they will remind you of KOD inmediatelly without a doubt, but they will not have a single pixel in common. (exept that crosbow, which is still the same, indeed, but I might change it to a bow if this bothers someone).
The game will inmediatelly remind anyone of KOD, and the playability will be almost identical, since it is a clone, but it will be completelly different when you compare it side by side.
It will keep the same essence, but all the sprites, backgrounds and music will be different.
Regarding the stages, it depends on the amount of pre-orders we get. It will have a minimum of 10 different stages, but many more missions will happen on those stages/backgrounds.