ROM Builder: Atari ST Dungeon Master (FTL, 1987) to Atari Lynx ============================================================== Version Pre-Alpha 0.2 This program builds a Lynx cartridge image (.lnx) of Dungeon Master from your own copy of the Atari ST game. It contains the Lynx port and the tools to build it, but no data from the original game: graphics, levels, texts and sounds are read from your disk image when you run it. On Windows, Python or other software does not need to be installed. This is a Pre-Alpha, an early test version: you can play the intro, the Hall of Champions on level 1 and the first part of level 2. The gate behind the first mummy is still locked; it opens in a later version. Cartridges without a save chip (EEPROM): SAVE GAME then shows the saved game as a few code pictures. Take a photo of each one and keep them - a page that puts the saved game back into your .lnx file follows soon. Made by a human and an AI ------------------------- The author had the idea and decided step by step what the port should become: one to one with the original data, smooth movement in real 3D, a mouse mode, stereo sound, the colours and grey tones of the Atari ST. The author played every build, looked at every frame and said what was wrong, what to try and what to leave out. Claude, the AI, analysed the original program and wrote all the code: the Lynx game in 6502 assembler, the data converter, this builder, the tests and these texts. It proposed the technical solutions and made every change the author asked for. Using AI is no secret here. The AI did most of the work, and fast - but the ideas, the taste and the patience to look at every frame once more came from a human, and the heart of the game is still FTL's Dungeon Master from 1987. The project summary (DM_Lynx_Project_Summary.pdf on the download page) tells in detail who did what. What you need ------------- An Atari ST disk image of Dungeon Master version 1.2, English (1987). Supported files: .stx (Pasti), .st, .msa, or a .zip archive that contains one of them. The builder checks all game files and only accepts this version. How to use it (Windows) ----------------------- 1. Start ROM Builder - Atari ST Dungeon Master (FTL, 1987) to Atari Lynx v0.2.exe (or drag your disk image onto it). 2. Click "Select disk image and build ..." and choose your disk image. 3. Wait about one minute. The builder converts the game data and compiles the Lynx version. 4. The file Dungeon_Master_V0_2.lnx is saved next to your disk image. "Open folder" shows it. Play it in a Lynx emulator (for example Felix or Handy) or on a real Lynx with a flash cartridge. The builder checks the result: the message "identical to the reference build" means the ROM is exactly the same as the one the port was tested with. Windows may show "Windows protected your PC" the first time, because the program is not signed. Click "More info" and then "Run anyway". Linux (command line) -------------------- dm-lynx-builder-0.2.pyz is the same builder for Linux on x86-64 and ARM64 (for example a Raspberry Pi with a 64-bit system). It needs Python 3.8 or newer and nothing else. python3 dm-lynx-builder-0.2.pyz IMAGE [OUTPUT_DIR] build the Lynx version (default: next to IMAGE) python3 dm-lynx-builder-0.2.pyz --info IMAGE only check which version IMAGE contains python3 dm-lynx-builder-0.2.pyz help After "chmod +x dm-lynx-builder-0.2.pyz" it also runs directly as ./dm-lynx-builder-0.2.pyz. Exit status: 0 = built and identical to the reference build, 1 = error, 3 = built, but different. Controls -------- Gate (title): D-pad moves the pointer to ENTER, RESUME or the credits, A or B clicks. Walk mode (WALK): D-pad up/down step forward/back D-pad left/right turn hold B + left/right step sideways tap B touch the wall in front (mirrors, buttons, levers, door buttons) hold A + direction weapon hand of champion 1 (up), 2 (right), 3 (down), 4 (left); same direction again = next action, release A while holding the direction = do it Option 1: mouse mode (MOUSE). The D-pad moves the pointer, hold B + direction jumps to the next click spot, A = left mouse button, B = right mouse button. Clicks work as in the original. Option 2: big rune panel (left/right rune, A set/cast, B remove last rune, up/down caster), again: inventory, again: back to the previous mode. Mirror candidate: D-pad selects, A confirms. Name entry: D-pad selects a character, A takes it, B deletes, OK finishes the name, then the title. Pause: pause menu. Up/down selects, left/right or A changes, Pause or B resumes. MOVEMENT: STEPS (as in the original) or smooth in-between frames (SMOOTH FAST, SMOOTH, SMOOTH FINE). SOUND: OFF, LOW, MEDIUM, HIGH. SAVE GAME (A): saves into the cartridge EEPROM. LOAD GAME (A) or RESUME on the title gate loads it. Pause + Option 1 (or Option 1 in the pause menu): restart the game. On a Lynx II the sound is in stereo: sounds come from the side where they happen. Status ------ Version Pre-Alpha 0.2 of a fan port, work in progress. The saved game uses the 2 KB EEPROM (93C86) that the .lnx header asks for; the emulator or flash cartridge has to provide it (Felix keeps it in a file next to the .lnx). Late in the game the state may no longer fit: then the pause menu shows GAME TOO BIG TO SAVE and the previous save is kept. Legal ----- Dungeon Master (c) 1987 FTL Games / Software Heaven Inc. This is an unofficial, non-commercial fan project, not affiliated with or endorsed by the rights holders. Use it only with your own copy of the game and do not share the built .lnx file. The builder contains the cc65 compiler suite (zlib license), the Python runtime (PSF license) and Tcl/Tk (BSD-style license); see LICENSES.txt next to this file.