Bandit Kings of Ancient China

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  • #8445
    SongJiang
    Participant

    cover

    GAME INFORMATIONS
    Bandit Kings… on Wikipedia
    Bandit Kings… on Koei.fandom.com (little guide)
    There’s a link to the original user guide at the end of the download section of this topic.

    One of my favourite game of the Koei strategy series. Even maybe my favourite. A very deep game, quite different from the ROTK series, based upon Water Margin’ wonderful novel (read it now !)
    I had a simple layout for this game that I will upload here too but here I wanted to thoroughly test the new “Pixel Trap” function of magicDosbox. The result is a game completely redesigned so that it can be played in portrait mode. It took a lot of work for me but luckily I’m unemployed at this moment XD. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I enjoyed creating this layout. Created on and for my Samsung S7 edge (16/9 aspect ratio I guess).

    WARNING: because of Pixel Trap use, if you want to use my portrait mode layout you need to play the english colored version of the game and not the black & white one, or the japanese one. This is done by launching the game with KOEI.COM (already set like that into the .mgc). If you want to play with japanese version, or B&W (but… why ?), please use my landscape layout instead.

    GESTURES
    Swipe from up to down: open options menu
    Swipe from down to up: enables/disables layout
    Swipe from left to right: switch to left hand keypad
    Swipe from right to left: switch to right hand keypad

    Tap up right of the screen: enables/disables layout
    Tap up left of the screen: open/close options menu

    LAYOUT COMPARISONS

    === MAIN SCREEN ===

    [Vanilla] main screen :
    main vanilla

    [My layout] main screen :
    main edited
    The “SPACE” key can be triggered by taping on the white part, with the portraits.
    Note that the “N” key is triggered by the “ENTER” key.
    When selecting a prefecture, you can enter it with the keypad but also by taping the prefecture on the map.

    [My layout] main screen (left hand option) :
    main edited left hand

    [My layout] main screen (alternative) :
    Called by the bottom left button of the classic keypad (looks like a reload icon). This disposition has bigger key, if you find those of the classic too small.
    Note this disposition exists in left hand mode too.
    main edited alternative right hand

    === BATTLE SCREEN ===

    [Vanilla] battle screen :
    battle vanilla

    [My layout] battle screen :
    Note this one is available in left hand mode too.
    battle edited
    Cross swords button : shortcut for Attack – Melee command
    Arrows button : shortcut for Attack – Archery command
    VS button : shortcut for Attack – Duel command
    Staff button : shortcut for Attack – Magic command
    > button : shortcut for Move – Normal command
    >> button : shortcut for Move – Charge command
    C button : cancel current and go back to the main battle commands menu
    Tap the map : open help menu

    [Vanilla] battle result screen :
    after battle vanilla

    [My layout] battle result screen :
    after battle edited

    === MORE SCREEN ===

    Option Menu:
    options menu
    You want sound and music option available ? Please harass the creator of magic DB 🙂
    Tap on “DOUBLE TAP” to open help and indication for this function
    You can link an html guide by taping on the funny picture on top.

    Battle Help (tap on the battle map to open it) :
    battle help

    List People Help (tap on the screen when using List Heroes/People command) :
    list people help

    Almost all the screen has been redone. I won’t screenshot them all.

    Thanks to the Pixel Trap function, the layout will adapt itself depending of your current screen.
    But, endgame screens won’t. Because I didn’t manage to win the game XD. Please, if somebody can provide me a savestate just before winning the game (or loosing ?) I will be happy to create new Pixels Traps and adapt the layout. For now, if you manage to win the game and get a black screen, tap on the top right of the screen (or swipe from down to up) to disable my layout and be able to see endgame dialogs and credits.

    DOWNLOAD
    Download .mgc (portrait layout) (only compatible with english color version of the game)

    Download .mgc (default landscape) (should be compatible with any version of the game)
    This layout is the vanilla game with just key pad. You can swipe left/right to put the keypad on right/left of the screen and up/dow to show/hide it. This is the old layout I always use for this game. Not as good as the portrait one but still 100% playable.
    layout landscape

    English User Guide

    CREDITS
    Some icons are made with Magic Icons Designer app by bruenor (yes the creator magic DB :D) on Google Play
    Some are from Lorc, Delapouite & contributors (http://game-icons.net/)
    Some others are made by me, but based on previous.

    Enjoy !

    #8446
    Aaron_Blain
    Participant

    Wowwww!!

    I have recently been getting into ROTK III for Megadrive. I tried the DOS version but at first glance it actually seemed somewhat inferior. I’ve been looking for other ways to get into the series.

    What do you like about this game, in comparison to R3K?

    I’ll try this layout right away!

    #8447
    SongJiang
    Participant

    > What do you like about this game, in comparison to R3K?

    The game isn’t a world conquest : to win, you have to beat the bad guy. Seems to be a very little change, but it change a lot the gameplay. This can be done by making allies, recruiting heroes etc. The game is a little more difficult than ROTK (there’s no “easy” scenario). And, top of that, “Water Margin'” is one of my all time favourite novel. So far better than “Three Kingdoms” ! It’s more focus on adventures than wars and this old DOS game reflect this difference.

    but I like a lot the ROTK series too 🙂

    #8448
    admin
    Keymaster

    I dont understand how something like this can be make in mdosbox:) It is far behind my imagination:)

    #8449
    SongJiang
    Participant

    The good news is that I found a scenario editor so I can create an easy-to-win scenario to reach end and credits screens and make missing pixel traps !!!

    >I dont understand how something like this can be make in mdosbox:) It is far behind my imagination:)
    Passion, admin, passion XD

    #8451
    Al ex
    Keymaster

    This is hands down the most amazing layout I’ve ever seen. What I like most about your style is how you seamlessly implement those neat options menus, like also in Prince of Persia. Kudos to you! ?

    #8452
    Aaron_Blain
    Participant

    Very cool game! Thanks for turning me on to it.

    With the advent of pixel traps, MDB is able to produce something that really looks like a polished Android port of a DOS game. This is exciting!

    I’m reading the manual and a FAQ and figuring out the game’s mechanics. Do you have any tips for someone starting their first campaign?

    The MDB profile works beautifully for me so far.

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