HOMEBREW HEROES
Kai Magazine – Kikstart.eu/kai-magazine - has an impressive catalogue of MSX2 games. We spoke to developer Oscar Kenneth Albero Ingles about writing for multiple sound systems and stereoscopic 3D
First of all, how many people are involved with Kai Magazine?
Two people, Xavi Sorinas and me, but sometimes we have help from other people for the music, such as John Hassink or to add extra features, such as Arturo Ragozinni.
What was it that originally drew your team to the MSX2 as a platform?
The MSX was the first computer we ever had, and when the MSX2 came out we were amazed by the quality of the Japanese games and we fell in love for ever with it.
And what is it like to program for compared to the original MSX?
The MSX2 has a lot more graphical resources and capabilities, so the games require a lot more graphical work in order to produce a good MSX2 game with the expected quality.
You support expansions, such as OPL4 sound, does this make development harder?
Indeed! We support three sound chips for the music – OPLL, OPL1 and OPL4 – and two chips for the sound effects, PSG and OPL4, but sometimes even Konami’s SCC. This means a lot more of work in order to compose the music for all those sound chips and to add support within the code while optimising the very little memory and CPU resources the MSX2 has. Sometimes it is a nightmare.
And where did the idea for the 3D graphics in Dim X come from?
I’ve always been a fan of stereoscopic 3D. One day I came across a PC program which mixed two images in order to make anaglyphic 3D. I converted it to MSX and it looked pretty good. I studied how to produce the anaglyphic effect with a design program, optimised the colour palette to make it look good with just 16 colours, and eventually I managed to get some very good results, so I decided to make a 3D game.
Can you tell us about any of your upcoming projects?
With pleasure. We are currently working on a MSX2 game called Myths And Dragons which supports the V9990 expansion cartridge (AKA GFX9000, Powergraph, Krakengraph) and OPL4.
This game intends to make use full usage of the V9990 capabilities, and we are doing it by attempting to make a clone of the Capcom game called King Of Dragons. It is looking really good so far.
We have another project, which started a year ago but is in standby for now: a Cabal-style game for plain MSX2 but also supporting the V9990 chip where available. This game is set in the Life On Mars universe and it is intended as a prequel. We are also polishing the PC remake of Life On Mars on Steam – Kikstart.eu/life-mars-steam – and we are planning on a MSX2 and V9990 compatible sequel of Life On Mars for next year, which will look very similar to the PC remake.