Hydlide 3visitor From The Dark

Hydlide's basic philosophy is like that of Dragon Warrior 1, in that you spend most of the game just leveling up. Level-building is not something I am overly fond of, and I'm even less tolerant of it in a game that is so badly put together as Hydlide. The ending to Hydlide 3 for the MSX2. The original game has an option for english, but this is the re-translated version by Woomb. Too bad Woomb.net is down because I was thinking about purchasing.

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1. Hydlide 3: The Space Memories was released in 1987 for the MSX in Japan; a Family Computer version (with the subtitle 闇からの訪問者 = yami kara no hōmonsha = visitor from.
2. Hydlide 3: The Space Memories was released in 1987 for the MSX in Japan; a Family Computer version (with the subtitle 闇からの訪問者 = yami kara no hōmonsha = visitor from darkness) was released in Japan in 1989.
3. Hydlide 3 walkthrough, published 1991 by MSX Club Mottaart, author unknown. General hints. Make sure you always have enough FOOD, HEAL and ANTIDOTE. The higher your MINDFORCE, the easier you get things, also when you raise a level. When your MINDFORCE is lower than 65 slay some enemies first to raise it. Never buy too heavy items, watch.

Hydlide, NES

Foreword

Hydlide is an early graphical action RPG. It was released on various platforms back in 1984 - 1986. There were a few sequels, but I won't be bringing those up here. It's quite possible that Hydlide was innovative when it came out, but it was quickly surpassed by other games. It has also aged rather badly.

Zelda 1 came out in 1986. After a long Hydlide session, jumping into Zelda 1 almost give you a 'next-gen' vibe. Still, Hydlide has a few interesting features. Most people never give the game a chance though, because it's rather easy to die, even on the very first screen. Anyways, I wanted to draw stuff!

Character design

The color placements and general masses are based on the sprites, but I'm toying around with some extrapolations too. The knights are just the same sprite with palette swaps, so I tried to come up with some different designs there. The Kobolds are inspired by these Japanese.. meme cats, I'm not sure what they're called.

The Slime and Kobold turns into a different creature later in the game, but I was thinking that creature is just like a Pokémon 'evolution'.

I've worked with the NES version as reference. The MSX version look slightly different, and has scorpions instead of worms in the desert, etc.

(+) Good things about Hydlide

This game could very well had been one of my favourite ones.

• Hydlide doesn't reuse screens like for example Metroid and Simon's Quest did. It could do this because the map is rather small and doesn't require a lot of memory. The density of unique and interesting locations to visit is quite high.
• The secrets are revealed through different methods. It's not like Zelda 1 where you can brute-force bomb or burn every tile on every screen.
• The environments and fauna will change over the course of the game. For example, dark dungeons can be lit up, changing their appearance. The water can be drained, making new areas accessible, and also making it easier to get around. The enemy fauna will change at some point, substituting weaker enemies with stronger ones as the player defats them. There's also a tree which can be burned down.
• Hydlide doesn't repeat enemies a lot, like say Final Fantasy does. Some enemies only appear on one or two screens and only come in one color. This makes the locations more memorable.
• However, the weak enemies (like the slime and 'long cat' (supposedly a kobold)) are quite common even in late game areas. I don't think this is bad, it makes the game seem less artificially tailored for the player. I don't like having the enemies level up in parallel to me, because that's like not leveling at all. I like to be able to show off my might every now and then. Low level enemies can also provide a static reference point.
• There's some depth to the enemy encounters. Since combat is collision based, you can dodge low level enemies. This way low level encounters are not a problem like they are in some other RPGs. Enemies roam the map and can turn in 4 different directions. So can the player. Stabbing enemies in the back seems to be very efficient, but it's deadly to be caught off guard oneself. This means that there's a Player Skill element as well as a Character Skill element to the combat.
• On top of that you can be in Attack and Defend mode. If you're in attack mode you are vulnerable, but can inflict a lot of damage too. Perhaps your shield is tucked away as you go berserk. In defensive mode you can't deal much damage, but you're also pretty safe against enemy attacks. At higher levels, you can still kill many enemies while in Defend mode. Maybe you brutalize them with your shield or something.
• Player Skill can play quite a big role in how far you're able to push ahead. If you are careful and stay in Defend mode, you can run ahead and snag some nice treasures. However, for the endgame you need certain keys to progress, akin to the triforce fragments which you need to enter Ganon's dungeon in Zelda. Other than that, the world map is quite open and allows the player to explore (at his/her own peril).
• Hydlide also has a Speed up option (the whole game speeds up). This is great for parts of the game which you're confident you can speed through. No more creeping through low level areas.
• I'm not sure whether this is a good point or not, but it seems to be possible to save at any time.

(-) Bad things about Hydlide

Some people say that Hydlide is one of the worst NES games. Perhaps they're right. The reasons are few, but great in magnitude.

• Annoying music. There's practically only one looping theme and it's short and not very fitting. I believe it's different in the MSX version of the game though.
• Inaccessible. Until you understand the game, it'll be a confusing and frustrating mess. A good paper manual could solve this though. I don't like when games compromise with depth to be more accessible, but maybe that is a false choice. Game complexity could be scalable, opening up as the player starts to understand the game.
• Grind. Horrible, monotonous grind. It's especially bad the first level, I think.
• Lack of feedback. You can't tell when your guy is hit for a lot of damage. This means you have to eyeball the life bar all the time, but mostly you forget and die a lot. You also can't tell from the avatar (sprite) whether you're in Attack or Defend mode. Druaga and Zelda both has special animation frames.
• Maybe I just suck at the game, but I often mess up and get stabbed for massive damage because the movement is kinda jittery and boolean. Any depth in the combat mechanics is hurt by this.
• There's no loot, so later in the game when you no longer get XP from certain enemies it feels pointless to battle the forces of evil. In Zelda, I pick up the Rupees even when I have maxed out with 255, but in Hydlide I don't even get Rupies..

Precursor and Successor

It's interesting to look at Xanadu, Tower of Druaga, Hydlide and Zelda 1 side by side. The similarities are not just graphical. The battle mechanics of the games are similar with the sword and shield, and tile locked movement. Many enemies also behave similarly. I suppose Valkyrie No Bouken and Zelda might be related as well. Here's a comparison using a few of the sprites from the NES versions of Xanadu, Tower of Druaga, Hydlide and Zelda. To be fair I should really use the NEX MSX Hydlide sprites here, since NES Hydlide came out about the same time as Zelda 1. The Arcade version of Druaga is the oldest, but I don't have any sprites from that either. Xanadu has a lot of enemy sprites and probably inspired some designs in Kid Icarus and other games as well.

Hydlide is an early graphical action RPG. It was released on various platforms back in 1984 - 1986. There were a few sequels, but I won't be bringing those up here. It's quite possible that Hydlide was innovative when it came out, but it was quickly surpassed by other games. It has also aged rather badly.

Zelda 1 came out in 1986. After a long Hydlide session, jumping into Zelda 1 almost give you a 'next-gen' vibe. Still, Hydlide has a few interesting features. Most people never give the game a chance though, because it's rather easy to die, even on the very first screen. Anyways, I wanted to draw stuff!

Character design

The color placements and general masses are based on the sprites, but I'm toying around with some extrapolations too. The knights are just the same sprite with palette swaps, so I tried to come up with some different designs there. The Kobolds are inspired by these Japanese.. meme cats, I'm not sure what they're called.

The Slime and Kobold turns into a different creature later in the game, but I was thinking that creature is just like a Pokémon 'evolution'.

I've worked with the NES version as reference. The MSX version look slightly different, and has scorpions instead of worms in the desert, etc.

(+) Good things about Hydlide

This game could very well had been one of my favourite ones.

• Hydlide doesn't reuse screens like for example Metroid and Simon's Quest did. It could do this because the map is rather small and doesn't require a lot of memory. The density of unique and interesting locations to visit is quite high.
• The secrets are revealed through different methods. It's not like Zelda 1 where you can brute-force bomb or burn every tile on every screen.
• The environments and fauna will change over the course of the game. For example, dark dungeons can be lit up, changing their appearance. The water can be drained, making new areas accessible, and also making it easier to get around. The enemy fauna will change at some point, substituting weaker enemies with stronger ones as the player defats them. There's also a tree which can be burned down.
• Hydlide doesn't repeat enemies a lot, like say Final Fantasy does. Some enemies only appear on one or two screens and only come in one color. This makes the locations more memorable.
• However, the weak enemies (like the slime and 'long cat' (supposedly a kobold)) are quite common even in late game areas. I don't think this is bad, it makes the game seem less artificially tailored for the player. I don't like having the enemies level up in parallel to me, because that's like not leveling at all. I like to be able to show off my might every now and then. Low level enemies can also provide a static reference point.
• There's some depth to the enemy encounters. Since combat is collision based, you can dodge low level enemies. This way low level encounters are not a problem like they are in some other RPGs. Enemies roam the map and can turn in 4 different directions. So can the player. Stabbing enemies in the back seems to be very efficient, but it's deadly to be caught off guard oneself. This means that there's a Player Skill element as well as a Character Skill element to the combat.
• On top of that you can be in Attack and Defend mode. If you're in attack mode you are vulnerable, but can inflict a lot of damage too. Perhaps your shield is tucked away as you go berserk. In defensive mode you can't deal much damage, but you're also pretty safe against enemy attacks. At higher levels, you can still kill many enemies while in Defend mode. Maybe you brutalize them with your shield or something.
• Player Skill can play quite a big role in how far you're able to push ahead. If you are careful and stay in Defend mode, you can run ahead and snag some nice treasures. However, for the endgame you need certain keys to progress, akin to the triforce fragments which you need to enter Ganon's dungeon in Zelda. Other than that, the world map is quite open and allows the player to explore (at his/her own peril).
• Hydlide also has a Speed up option (the whole game speeds up). This is great for parts of the game which you're confident you can speed through. No more creeping through low level areas.
• I'm not sure whether this is a good point or not, but it seems to be possible to save at any time.

(-) Bad things about Hydlide

Some people say that Hydlide is one of the worst NES games. Perhaps they're right. The reasons are few, but great in magnitude.

• Annoying music. There's practically only one looping theme and it's short and not very fitting. I believe it's different in the MSX version of the game though.
• Inaccessible. Until you understand the game, it'll be a confusing and frustrating mess. A good paper manual could solve this though. I don't like when games compromise with depth to be more accessible, but maybe that is a false choice. Game complexity could be scalable, opening up as the player starts to understand the game.
• Grind. Horrible, monotonous grind. It's especially bad the first level, I think.
• Lack of feedback. You can't tell when your guy is hit for a lot of damage. This means you have to eyeball the life bar all the time, but mostly you forget and die a lot. You also can't tell from the avatar (sprite) whether you're in Attack or Defend mode. Druaga and Zelda both has special animation frames.
• Maybe I just suck at the game, but I often mess up and get stabbed for massive damage because the movement is kinda jittery and boolean. Any depth in the combat mechanics is hurt by this.
• There's no loot, so later in the game when you no longer get XP from certain enemies it feels pointless to battle the forces of evil. In Zelda, I pick up the Rupees even when I have maxed out with 255, but in Hydlide I don't even get Rupies..

Precursor and Successor

It's interesting to look at Xanadu, Tower of Druaga, Hydlide and Zelda 1 side by side. The similarities are not just graphical. The battle mechanics of the games are similar with the sword and shield, and tile locked movement. Many enemies also behave similarly. I suppose Valkyrie No Bouken and Zelda might be related as well. Here's a comparison using a few of the sprites from the NES versions of Xanadu, Tower of Druaga, Hydlide and Zelda. To be fair I should really use the NEX MSX Hydlide sprites here, since NES Hydlide came out about the same time as Zelda 1. The Arcade version of Druaga is the oldest, but I don't have any sprites from that either. Xanadu has a lot of enemy sprites and probably inspired some designs in Kid Icarus and other games as well.

Reference

Redesign

Size

Hydlide doesn't feel like an epic game. It's rather compact, and if it wasn't for the terrible grind and obscure secrets Hydlide would almost be like a little casual RPG. I think it could be interesting to simply tweak the original a bit. If I were to make the game world huge, that would violate the original concept. So would changing the step based movement and combat (and thus also the tile based world design). There's not a lot of things for me to play with here, other than increasing replay value by adding depth to the items, character evolution and world interaction. It's not enough to make the game feel like it could be a big title. What I have in mind is probably more suited as a budget game or downloadable.

Components of the original game

There are some differences between the computer and console ('special') version of this game. I've only played the NES version. Apparently the magic is not in the older versions. This section is just for my reference.

• Stats
  • LIFE - Health. Regenerates automatically.
  • STR - The damage you deal to enemies when bumping them.
  • EXP - Experience points. Gained slowly by killing enemies.
  • MAGIC - Used for spells. Regenerates automatically.
• Items
  • Cross - Needed to kill the vampire. I'm thinking it could be a stake weapon instead.
  • Lamp - Lights up the dark underworld mazes.
  • Sword - Increases STRso you'll deal more damage.
  • Magic Pot (lamp) - Needed to reveal the cave entry inside the maze. A little non-sequiteur.
  • Key - Opens the chest on the graveyard.
  • Jewel - One of the gemstones which are needed to reveal the last boss.
  • Shield - More defense. (Health?)
  • Ring - Faster healing. Maybe it makes you immune to damaging floors too. Is also a gemstone?
  • Medicine - One use HP refill.
  • Ruby - One of the gemstones which are needed to reveal the last boss.
  • Fairies - The evil guy split the princess into three of these. Catch 'em all and they'll bring you to and otherwise inaccessible island.
• Magic
  • Turn - Enemies will turn around, which is useful in tight mazes if you're boxed in.
  • Fire - Ranged attack.
  • Ice - Ranged attack which can pass though obstacles, but not enemies.
  • Wave - Ranged attack which will pass through anything.
  • Flash - Damage everything on screen.

Plot: Reasons and methods

What's the motive of evil forces? What do they have to gain? Why does the good guys want to get rid of the evil forces? What kind of logistics are needed to produce and spread troops out over an entire fantasy land? What kind of resistance would they meet?

One thing I can use here is the healing and damaging terrain types. Perhaps the evil forces came from another realm to feed on the life force of the land. Their roaming produces the type of terrain which damages the good guys, so naturally the good guys wants to get rid of the evil forces. This takes care of the reasons, and ties it in nicely with the gameplay.

But how do the enemy forces appear and maintain their numbers? In the original game they just respawn at the edges of the screen, and at level 6 or something a few of the enemies change into tougher versions. One idea that I have is to use some kind of towers scattered about. On top of each of these a pair of twin witches stands and teleports creatures onto the surrounding terrain.

But can they be permanently defeated? One problem with having enemies which can be permanently defeated is that the player might actually want to have evil enemies to level up on. Also, in a game where you can roam freely around, well, it's gonna get desolate real soon.

Just like the wizards in the original, the witches could be impossible to kill unless you take them out both at once. This could be made possible late game when the player don't need the low level overground enemies anymore.

Another idea is to have resources which both the good guys and evil forces can use to produce troops. Then it would be desirable to get rid of the evil forces because the player gains something tangible from doing so. Perhaps the towers gather the force of the surrounding land, a bit like resource nodes in dumbed down RTS games.

To counter the effect of their diminishing resources the evil forces could become more aggressive when they have lost enough towers. Perhaps they decide to wake up some scary demon as a last resort. Even the evil forces fear this demon, giving the evil forces some political dimension. This demon is powerful enough to make strong enemies appear everywhere (this reflects the enemy power-up found in the original game). The land turns into a battlefield. It's all about creating a feeling of conflict. It doesn't have to be more complex than some NPCs running around bumping into each other. Very few RPGs create a feeling that other good guys are actually interested in defending their land.

AI movements

Enemies can move around using different deterministic patterns, such as homing in on the player, following walls and taking left or right turns. Some might only turn when bumping into things, including other enemies. Really smart enemies might use manhattan pathfinding or something.

Player Healing / Resting / Camping

Using Resting as a healing mechanic could be an interesting alternative to potions. In Hydlide you just have to be on a certain terrain type to heal, such as friendly grass. I think this could be made more interesting if coupled with the game's speed-up function. To regain Health, you need to take a chance and sleep in a defenceless state for a while. The player could either set a timer, or the screen goes black while the clock is ticking (and the world is simulating in the background). Naturally, it would be ideal to rest behind city walls and in a nice bed.

Hydlide 3visitor From The Darkness

Monsters could heal slowly over time, if they heal at all.

Grind

I guess it's kind of hard to make grind fun. Variation is more fun, so how can that be encouraged?

Usually when we learn stuff, we don't understand much at first, then after a few studies we get a little 'Eureka' and eventually we feel that we've mastered the subject. However, just like cooks benefit from knowing chemistry, a warrior would benefit from fighting different enemies. That subject which we felt we had mastered earlier can be tackled with new insights gained from a different subject.

Maybe each enemy type could use a lookup table for a percentage of experience points gained after each new encounter. Each time a monster of a certain type is defeated, a pointer moves in the lookup table.

However, as time passes, the pointer also moves back in the Grind table, up to 100%. This would reflect the character having taken a break to come back with new insights. It'll force the player to move to new areas in order to optimize the XP intake (discouraging monotonous grind at the same location at least).

Another, simpler solution is found in Zelda 1, where the enemies on a screen could be temporarily depleted. They didn't return until the player had walked around a few screens.

Grind rewards

The player could learn more (get more XP) from more difficult enemies. With an open game world it would be possible for someone to defeat a difficult enemy and get tons of XP, but this would be difficult. Also, a fluke victory against a new difficult enemy won't give much XP due to the first encounters table.

Raising stats manually by spending points (like in Diablo) always made me feel creative and participative. In Hydlide we got Att, Def, HP and Mag to play with. I'd like to see apples and oranges choices for the character development. You can go for magic, or high attack, or high defense and hit points, or maybe a balance. You can't max out everything, so you're either an apple or an orange, or a bit of both.

Collecting money for Armour, Sword, Shield and magic books (or scrolls) could be fun too. It would make grinding a bit more rewarding if random loot turned up from time to time.

Classes

I generally dislike classes in RPGs and much prefer a system with limited resources which forces the player to specialize. However, I sometimes play games with self imposed restrictions to make the game more difficult, or just different. It greatly adds to the replay value. It could be interesting to design a system where the player can set up a number of restrictions and difficulty settings, then have those compiled into a short code (like a password) or a file. This file can then be shared and posted on the net as a challenge for other players.

One game which handed classes a bit differently was Valkyrie no Bouken. Basically you had two difficulty dimensions: Zodiac sign and Blood type. Zodiac sign dictates which stats are prioritized when leveling up. Blood type is more interesting because it dictates how the character levels up. Some level up fast early, and slow later on, or vice versa.

I think a similar system could work for this project. Perhaps if I label the classes 'character personalities' the player will have an easier time accepting the class restrictions. I think this appreach is a bit fun and different from the normal 'Barbarian, Mage, Paladin' stuff.

• Adventurer - Likes variation and gains XP using the curve detailed above. Each level-up grants the character a few points which the player can spend on stats.
• Normal Guy - Not cut out for adventure. Unlike the Adventurer, the Normal Guy will stop learning new things pretty quickly, and he can't use much magic, if at all. This class is here to show the player that the Adventurer really is a hero. Hard mode.
• Explorer - An explorer doesn't earn XP from enemies at all, instead he levels up by visiting certain key locations and by finding artifacts (e.g. reading a book in a library, or finding an ancient stone tablet). Combat is not a priority for this type of character.
• Thug - A simple minded, bruteforcing grind lover. Always earns 75% XP, but has a difficulty learning magic.
• Insane - The insane character will hold onto the first item which he equips (obsessive compulsive), and levels up in an unpredictable manner. The level-up points will be distributed randomly (the player has little or no choice). The character might also be difficult to control (e.g. hallucinations (enemies and/or terrain), temporarily mirrored controls, panic attacks).

Stats

(To be written.)

Items

(To be written.)

Magic

(To be written.)

Music

8-bit. The locations with the most grind and traffic deserves a longer tune. If I had the resources, I'd go for a set like this:

Hydlide 3visitor From The Dark Ages

• Overworld - Main grassland - This is the tune you'll hear the most. Adventurous.
• Overworld - Desert continent - Empty monotonous wavy texture.
• Overworld - Final continent - Even more adventurous.
• Town - Business - Elevator music.
• Dungeon - Vampire cave - Windy?
• Dungeon - Pathways - Something a bit like Zelda 1 dungeon, perhaps, or Hydlide Arrange.
• Dungeon - Last castle - Heavy doom.
• Dungeon - Boss - Short and hectic.
• End - Princess and credits - Victory.
• Title screen - short simple ambient loop.

Hydlide 3visitor From The Dark Web