RPGDX > RPG Makers and Engines > Quest Kit, (pure QB, pixel X pixel scrolling engine).

Contributors:

Nemesis... (programming and misc.)
Kyper... (scripts and misc.)

Description:

This is the First *BETA* release of ElectroSoft's,
new RPG maker... QuestKit
(Sorry, currently no documentation is included, I will however include a .txt tutorial, and other documentation in later non-beta versions.)
You can modify the engine by changing variables in the .BAS file, in the main sub at... ::: User-Defined Variables :::
Also, modify the Map, Tiles, Sprites, Fonts, and Palette,
using a sprite editor that supports the standard QB,
GET/PUT format,(like Pixel Plus 256).

As it stands now, the engine
uses the standard 320X200X256,
(SCREEN 13) resolution.
Naturally you would do sprites and tiles with your gfx editor, and maps with a seperate editor. But now using QuestKit,
you can simply edit your maps just like your sprites and tiles!
Each pixel(byte) on a map tile represents the coordinates and frame of the associated tile set. And maps can have a number of different frames, (which are used to display various special effects like walking underneath tiles,
tile cycling, tile alph-blending, etc... so making
maps are a breeze!)
Anyways, this is QuestKits first beta release, so please give feed back, via e-mail.

Nemesis

Review by Ninkazu on 26-11-2002

This looks really great, Nem! It'd be really nice if you released p*p and p*t versions of it though. I like the system, graphics, and camera switching, but I like to look at smooth movement, so if you're planning on doing that, tell us! :)

Good work.

Review by Barok on 22-09-2004

I was intrigued by the release of qb tilextile scrolling engine back when it was first released, and the release of the Quest kit has intrigued me as well.

Upon downloading it, i was slightly disappointed that it was nothing more than a walkaround rpg engine with pixel scrolling (which, like ninkazu said, smooth movement would be nice, as although the engine maintained a 60 fps at vsync and approximately 110 fps without it, it would sink to 48 and 90 fps at times. Not that 110 fps isn't bad... It is quite good considering it is pure qbasic. However, adding things such as npc's and their collision detection will probably bring the fps down quite abit: maybe down to 80 fps. However, the engine does not use the full screen, more about 9/10ths of it.)

The engine shows off more than pixel scrolling though... When you hit the escape button, a small menu that uses alpha blending (translucency) is shown and you are given several choices: turn on/off alpha blending, turn on/off collision detection, turn on/off cycles (not quite sure what this does), turn on/off vsync, and finally, quite the program. The ability to turn on/off these functions proves that the engine seems fairly flexible for now. The engine is also noticeably flickerless, which is always good. The multikey routine was indeed odd... Though the numpad keys worked perfectly (they falsely detect a pressed key once, which is better than any multikey routine i've seen) but the arrow key performance was subpar. The arrow keys would detect the keys for a second or two, then would only detect one key, and the player would move more choppily, which most multikey routines fix. It is recommended that the pure qbasic multikey routine be dropped and an assembly multikey routine be implemented instead. It is also recommended that Nemesis adds the DS4QB++ lib or the BWSB lib for music and sound effects.

A good start, but it's still nothing more than a simple rpg scrolling engine. The release disappointed me, as i was hoping for more goodies that would feed me for more than 30 seconds, but including the source code makes up for it. However, what was seen WAS impressive considering it was done in pure qb. When completed, hopefully it will satisfy the pure qbasic junky for something to create a fast pure qbasic game in with pixel scrolling.