Xanadu (1985)

[lpdata]

Finally got MSX up and running in my living room.

Does anyone have an english translation for the original Xanadu's instruction manual? I'm not looking for a walk-through or beastiary, just basic controls & mechanics (other than what I've figured out from pressing every button).

And yes, I realize that absurd confusion is part of the "adventure".

[Ascended Mermaid]

Hmmm... *twitches* is there an... english... Xanadu? I love fanatical puzzle games with karma systems and "oh crap, I screwed myself over and have to restart" gameplay -- that includes Falcom's Romancia (I LOVE IT -- but definately play the Famicom version! I can't really say whether or not the Windows version is good, but I look forward to it one day.) and Sierra's King's Quest V.

[Ascended Mermaid]

Which version is recommended? My mind's made up and I won't play anything older than an NES. XD

[Ascended Mermaid]

Now normally, I wouldn't ask this kind of question, but when you say Scenario II, are you talking about another revival, or (wait for it) basically like inputting "ZELDA" or "APPLE" as your name in the first Zelda? Is it more of a second quest, or is it the awesome definitive recommendation to end all recommendations?!

[Ascended Mermaid]

Would I be able to play Scenario II and not miss anything important?

Or: Does the original have monsters/bosses/misc. things I would miss if I didn't give it a go?

[Ascended Mermaid]

I'll du it eventually. The search is pretty difficult, I'm checking many common, popular sites, and searching with various engines, but it doesn't show. Tis' a scarce one, methinks.

[Ascended Mermaid]

Totally awesome! Thanks man! *hopefully nabbing the right pack, haha*

[Ascended Mermaid]

I couldn't get Scenario II to work, but wow. I love the old Xanadu chiptunes! The song I was greeted with, the Xanadu theme featured on Xanadu Next... that's sweet!

Good lord, I'm in a pit. So confusing. It's like the Labyrinth zone puzzle in the first Sonic... except I don't see a switch. It's an endless abyss!!

Edit: I don't know what I just did, but I made a ladder appear!

[Ascended Mermaid]

I enter the Cave, and... urk... "Disk Write Protected"

Presses a key...

"Please insert Disk C on Drive No.2
Hit any key"

Disk C is in Drive No.2...

"Please insert Disk C on Drive No.2
Hit any key"

Etc...

Edit: Perhaps I'll have more luck if I play it on my PSP. I'll let you know how that goes.

Also: You really seem to like this game too, I recommend checking out Romancia; I have the link in my signature, along with a complete FAQ for the game -- from start to finish!

[michaelchaoslord]

I got really far in this game and got stuck, along the time I found a website that shows were everything was(guide) but lost the bookmark! I'm thinking of playing it again sometime in the future.

[Justin]

I have the Saturn version, and I am waiting for a decent guide before I start playing.

[michaelchaoslord]

I personally love the music from the msx(if version varies), is there like a remake of any of the music? I always get stuck in the game, is their any useful hints like secret areas or anything out of the ordinary?

[lpdata]

Sept 5, 2008 12:03:53 GMT -5 @adoru said:

That's all I got for know. I'll post more later.

Cool, I was wondering about some of that stuff. Xanadu is awesome and definitely worth the time it takes to sort out, especially playing it console-style. I can't imagine working through this on a PC-88!

I wonder about attributes - does the instruction manual describe exactly how these affect what you're capable of doing? I know for example that without certain stats you literally won't be able to hit an enemy.

[Ascended Mermaid]

In my absence, I finally figured out that I needed to load up the User Disk in drive A, and copy it to drive B as "Disk C". I'm at Level 2 in the game now. Heh, I once started a file and completely overlooked the more important stats; I spent many minutes trying to figure out why my character couldn't ignite a Lamp! Eventually, I started a new file, boosted each stat once, and then made my primary stats STR, AGI, and DEX. This, of course, means that I'm focusing on a berserker type character.

Now if only I could figure out how to spend my EXP. I know I can "level up", but I want to go back to town and raise my other stats like I did in the beginning.

Also: Xanadu Scenario II keeps saying "read error" and "please insert disk C" (Just after I press a key at the title screen) even after I copy disk B to a new disk and make sure that it's inserted. Any thoughts?!

[Ascended Mermaid]

I knew Charisma was good for that. I didn't think of maxing it, though, but I did get a lot of it. I got just enough so that, there was maybe a 5 or a 10 in the minor magician stats. Everything else is balanced at 45 or 90.

I'm so glad they have spectacles; I HATE the ogres/trolls/goblin/barbarian things (in level 1) and flames (also in level 1) with a nasty defense (10,000!!!) and strength (1,000!!!) stat.

[macroidtoe]

Sept 5, 2008 12:53:37 GMT -5 @adoru said:

Xanadu is 100% in English already. Just the manual is Japanese.

I always thought that was kind of weird, how the game is all in English.

I mean, I've heard that there was an early phase in Japanese game development where they went with all kana rather than kanji due to space limitations.

So was there an even earlier phase where they went with the English alphabet rather than kana to save even more space?

Although I don't think that would really work, since it takes more letters than kana to write out a word or sentence. I probably don't completely know what I'm talking about, but I would think that any gains from using the smaller English character set would quickly be wiped out when all of your strings double in length due to the less "densely packed" nature of the English writing system...

Or was it just one of those classic "English is cool" situations?

[macroidtoe]

Ah, thanks for the explanation!

Yeah, now that you mention it, I'd read somewhere about the difference in byte size, but I'd forgotten about that. So I guess while your text would roughly double in length, the byte size per character is halved, so you break even...

Haha, sorry for the random tangent, but I'm currently in the process of trying to become more than just a total noob at programming, so this kind of stuff interests me -- learning more about the limitations early game programmers had to deal with and how they got around them. Add in my interest in linguistics/orthography, and it's a recipe for off-topic disaster!!!

[Justin]

Sept 5, 2008 12:53:37 GMT -5 @adoru said:

Xanadu is 100% in English already. Just the manual is Japanese.

WTF really?? Even the Saturn one???

[Ascended Mermaid]

Alright, so I've attempted to start Xanadu Scenario II; I load the Xanacopy v1.2 (XSII Disk B) in drive 1, and a User Disk (XSII Disk C) in drive 2. I format it and then load Xanadu (Disk A) in drive 1, create a character and enter the cave... I get this funky japanese message, and bit of an easter egg when I scan the message below Cybil:


I load up Xanadu Scenario II (Disk A) in drive 1, and I get this message:


Does anyone know how to start a game of Xanadu Scenario II?

[Ascended Mermaid]

D disk, hm?

Disk A = Xanadu / Xanadu Scenario II
Disk B = Xanacopy v1.0 (Xanadu) / Xanacopy v1.2 (XSII)
Disk C = User Disk (game saves, formatted to XSII)
Disk D =

Wow. There's a Disk D I'm supposed to make, hm? Unfortunately, this confuses me a little more. adoru should update his Xanadu wiki to explain fully how this is all done... or I should look it up. I'll do the latter for now.

Edit: I'm guessing that Disk D is Xanadu Scenario II Disk A -- it was clear to me that inserting XSII (screen 2) was the next step after creating a character with the original Xanadu (screen 1). The labels are all quite misleading. In the end though, it tells me that Disk C is invalid.