Space Crusade PC (Gremlin) Improved homebrew version

[theruler76]

Like my other project: Hero Quest PC: Improved homebrew version
Me and Rhaul wanted to enhance the gameplay experience for this old title also. The goal was to fix all the bugs and glitches and adapt all the rules and mechanics of the original boardgame. While executing some QOL improvements.
The improved versions language are english and italian (spanish is on the way, by Rhaul).

link to the project (italian forum): https://www.oldgamesitalia.net/forum/in ... =27618&hl=
Link to the English full package for betatesters: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-1aMJL ... drive_link


List of the fixes so far in no particular order:

01- New font including accented characters and special symbols. FEATURE
02- Reworked the startup screen into a more user-friendly information panel. FEATURE
03- Replaced digital dice numbers with images of the actual board game dice. FEATURE
04- Replaced the "CANCEL" graphic with a translatable text string in the .bin file. FEATURE
05- Translated graphical buttons. FEATURE
06- Increased alien event display time from 1 to approximately 4 seconds to allow proper reading. BUG
07- Increased display time and improved text clarity explaining that Marines left in the claw will not participate in the mission. FEATURE
08- Redesigned the Dreadnought “front hull” (original design). FEATURE
09- General text optimizations within [LANGUAGE].BIN. FEATURE
10- Thanks to newly available space in [LANGUAGE].BIN, added descriptive text for event card effects. FEATURE
11- Special events previously had a 2-in-6 chance of not triggering. This initial restriction has now been removed. FEATURE
12- Added monster data cards to the Alien Scanner. FEATURE
13- Added informational weapon effect summaries during equipment selection. FEATURE
14- Increased monster movement animation speed during the Alien turn. FEATURE
15- Reduced waiting times during 3D animations and dice rolls. Turns now have less idle time. FEATURE
16- Restored the orphaned Assault Cannon text “choose another target”; its absence made the weapon mechanics unclear. FEATURE
17- Optimized on-screen Captain rank text to reduce redundancy in [LANGUAGE].BIN. FEATURE
18- Improved Bio-Scanner description text for clarity. BUG
19- Fixed overlapping text bug affecting the “Report In” and “Communications Jammed” events. BUG
20- Adjusted monster kill reward points to match the board game values. FEATURE
21- Added real-time updated points and kill count information to the squad summary screen. FEATURE
22- Rewritten Marine death calculation to match board game mechanics. FEATURE
23- Standardized monster kill rewards across all missions. FEATURE
24- Removed the first font (used only twice) to free memory space for new code. FEATURE
25- Added a briefing table showing points required for medal awards and optimized the campaign victory message. FEATURE
26- Deaths and kills now use the active squad color. FEATURE
27- Added secondary mission status information to the squad summary list. FEATURE
28- Fixed “Heavy Weapons” order resetting its effect when switching Marines. BUG
29- Reorganized images to prevent overlap in the squad summary screen. BUG
30- Removed unnecessary spaces from the language file and adjusted in-game text positioning. FEATURE
31- Fixed Plasma Rifle duplication glitch with combi-weapon equipment. BUG
32- Fixed ranged combat icon click speed issue. BUG
33- Clicking the Orders icon during the "Communications Jammed" event caused text flickering. BUG
34- If the Commander died or medals were removed, it was still possible to use previously unlocked commands and equipped gear. BUG
35- Movement is no longer restricted to a single full action and is no longer interrupted upon revealing a blip or an alien. BUG
36- Moved the Command and Equipment titles to accommodate a short description below them. FEATURE
37- Movement now ends as soon as an attack is performed. BUG
38- Fixed a bug on fast systems that deselected the Commander’s weapon when entering the Armory. BUG
39- In the equipment selection screen, the Targeter now shows which weapon it is assigned to. FEATURE
40- Alien events are now paused to allow the player to read the text. QOL
41- "Digital Weapons" and "Bionic Arm" now allow the die to be re-rolled only when attacking. BUG
42- Redesigned the invisible walls in the isometric view. QOL
43- Clicking on a Marine and moving the mouse while holding the left button could cause unintended movement. FEATURE
44- Double-clicking on a Marine selects the movement action. QOL
45- Aligned some of the heads and weapons that differentiate Marines from Commanders in 3D view. GLITCH
46- It is now possible to drag the mouse on the minimap to scroll the 3D view, just like in the 2D view. FEATURE
47- The "Bolt Pistol" equipment added one die only in attack and not in defense. BUG
48- Differentiated the graphics of the Bolter with close combat blades. FEATURE
49- Adopted lowercase text for Command and Equipment descriptions in the Armory. QOL
50- Restored the four unused wall variations across the five environments. FEATURE
51- Rewrote the RNG, which had an incorrect statistical distribution for doubles. On a single roll, it was impossible to get 2-2 with white dice and 2-2 or 3-3 with red dice. BUG

Image Gallery:

[Onan]

This looks great! How to run under Windows 10? It says it can't execute your EXE.

[theruler76]

Hi onan!
The game was designed for DOS, and thus a dos emulator is needed on windows. I rercommend DOSBOX Staging: https://www.dosbox-staging.org/
What I provide are only the changed files, you have to get the origianl game by yourself.
EDIT. For the sake of semplicity I've prepeared a convenient package ready to play:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-1aMJL ... sp=sharing


Let me know of any bugs or suggestions!

[Kurgan]

Wow, this is amazing! Keep up the great work...

[Onan]

Ah, for DOS. True retro! Very cool game. Thanks!

One suggestion I have is to automatically select the next marine when the current one has finsihed his turn, and also automatically go into "move" mode. This is the normal flow of the game, and it would be good to get it flowing without much clicking. If you want someone else than the automatically selected marine, you can click on another one.

[theruler76]

Wow, this is amazing! Keep up the great work...

Thanks Kurgan! I didn't forget about porting my heroquest version to english eh! just a little stop waiting for a friend to prepare the conversion tool. You know make all the changes by hand would require a huge effort. finger crossed.
Is the youtube/twitch playtrough plan still in place?

[theruler76]

Ah, for DOS. True retro! Very cool game. Thanks!

One suggestion I have is to automatically select the next marine when the current one has finsihed his turn, and also automatically go into "move" mode. This is the normal flow of the game, and it would be good to get it flowing without much clicking. If you want someone else than the automatically selected marine, you can click on another one.

This is a great idea Onan!
But I am not sure how to implement it. There is no "end marine turn" button or phase, only a "squad end turn". And in a marine's turn you can first move and then shoot or hth attack, or open doors, scan, whatever. There are so many actions you can make with a single marin that is hard to determine the right moment you would want the switch to the next marine.
by the way is it a thing that the original programmer should have already thought about. you can use F1 to F5 to quickly select each marine of the current squad.

I'll think about a method, let me now if you come up with any ideas.

[theruler76]

made a change but it requires some testing, to understand if conflicts with other instructions (it reads= if I broke something else ^-^ ).
Now when a marine is selected it autoselects the movement action if available (you can still click the icon again to cancel movement and perform other actions)
Let me know if it is an improvement or better rollback.

[lestodante]

Can the green team be featured too?

[theruler76]

Can the green team be featured too?

would be nice to add the Eldars too, but is out of the scope of the project. It's an old DOS game without source code, all I do is by reverse engineering th code and change it in assembly. Second and most important, the memory of the game has been strucured to have three teams in play. So it would be tecnically possible to swap a team with another new, but that'd require a lot of work and drawing skill that I don't have.