Realms of Antiquity: The Shattered Crown

Produced by: King Lysandus
Website: Tilting at Windmills

Realms of Antiquity is an RPG being developed for the Texas Instruments TI-99/4a series of computers; it is currently undergoing a limited-access beta test. It draws inspiration from the Ultima series, as well as sundry other classic titles including Tunnels of Doom, Avernum, and Legends, and the Ultima influence is particularly felt in the numerous screenshots that have been released via the developer’s Twitter account.

The game features a party of up to four characters, either created at the start or recruited as one progresses through the story; there are nine different classes which characters can be; characters can progress through sixteen experience levels. Eight schools of magic and sixty different magic spells, over 250 items, tactical combat, scrolling maps, “high colour” graphics, over 200 kinds of monsters, and copious quantities of treasure to unearth await players who either have the requisite hardware (a long-discontinued platform that first debuted in 1981), or who have an emulator set up on their PC.

The game’s developer is particularly active on Twitter, and King Lysandus — one of the game’s beta testers — posts regular updates to his YouTube channel which showcase gameplay; follow either or both of those for regular, up to the moment updates about the development of Realms of Antiquity.