xpanded VIC, did you have to
employ any programming "tricks" to fit the software into: 1. the limited
amount of space on the unexpanded vic, 2. the amount of line space.

1. I use almost all of the VIC-20's free space for THEATER OF WAR, most
notably memory locations 673-767, 828-1023 and even the unused colour RAM
space at 37888-38399.

2. The VIC-20 has 88 character line space. But I use BASIC tokens (like ? for PRINT) to fit even more commands on a single BASIC line. Modern tools like BASEDIT let you surpass the 88 character limit if you want to.

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Q. So What is your fascination with War inspired strategy gaming to create
this series.

A. I like board games like RISK and AXIS & ALLIES, though I did try those hex and counter games made by AVALON HILL. While the more simple war games (like Risk and A&A) are fairly easy to attract casual players, it is quite another thing to get a bunch of people to commit to a long term hex and counter war game. Who wants to explain the rules of a 50 page manual? I even designed my own Axis & Allies variant in 1997 which was subsequently called Theatre of War with 2000 counters designed by hand but I only play tested it once with a friend.

So the genesis of the computer version of THEATER OF WAR (for the VIC-20, though maybe I should program a smartphone app version for it someday) was to be able to find a computer opponent, albeit with a hilariously bad AI considering the limits of the Unexpanded VIC's memory. In the game's documentation, I blame the enemy's inferior strategy on Stalin's purge of his competent military officers that was done in a fit of paranoia. But the game is
still challenging VS the computer, as it is given overwhelming resources to
try to crush you as you progress further and further towards Moscow. Sort of like what happened historically after the German army had poured all of its strength into Stalingrad in 1942 and Kursk in 1943 where they faced impossible odds after that. And even then, they were still expected to mount counter-offensives even while they were outnumbered.

Theatre of War II lets you play Japan against the United States. What if Japan's navy won the battle of Midway and then proceeded to chase the "Yankee Imperialists" (as described by the Japanese commander) across the Pacific
Ocean and attacked San Francisco? And considering the massive industrial production of the US VS Japan, the player also faces insurmountable odds. Theatre III goes back to the game's roots, but adds more units.

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Q. How did you come out with a package of your games via Psytronik software
who contacted who and of course whose idea was it to do a bundled version?

A. First, when Realms of Quest III was published by Psytronik in 2009, I included most of my VIC-20 games I had created prior to that on side two of that disk. After 8 months of gruelling ML programming, I had sworn off ever making another VIC-20 game ever again! However in 2010, I made Theatre of War and subsequently after that a series of VIC-20 games, a lot of which I had almost finished but had abandoned in the past (like SPACE WARZ, STREET BATTLE, etc.).

When I started working on Realms of Quest IV, I took note of those VIC-20 projects I had worked on or revived since 2010 with the intention of placing them on side two of that release. But then I noticed that these, along with
the Anniversary Editions of REALMS OF QUEST I & II (made in 2011 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of very first Realms of Quest game) could not all possibly
fit on there. And since I actually quite like Theatre of War, I thought it would be pretty cool if it was in its own release, along with a small collection of games.

I then emailed Kenz (of Psytronik) back in April to release a compilation
under the Theatre of War title and I would later submit Realms of Quest IV sometime after that.

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Q. the games mix seems a little odd we have strategy, turn based games and
just plain arcade

* THEATER OF WAR I (WW2 Eastern Front)
* THEATER OF WAR II (WW2 Pacific Theatre)
* THEATER OF WAR III (WW1 Western Front)
* BREAK FAST II
* FACE VERSUS HEEL
* MAGITOOL
* OLYMPIC DASH
* SPACE WARZ
* STREET BATTLE
* VICROLEAGUE WRESTLING I
* VICROLEAGUE WRESTLING II
* WORM OUT

A. Psytronik puts out a lot of impressive titles where programmers seem to chase the raster beam like it was second nature to them. I figure that in
order to compete with those, I should give people their money's worth. I think where I might lack in terms of technical ability; my greatest strength comes with game design. There's not too many strategy games being made for the
VIC-20 and in the retro computing scene nowadays, and I am there to fill a void. I did appreciate Commodore Free's previous review of OLYMPIC DASH (in issue #68), and I acknowledge that it can be a bit disappointing that there is only one event featured in the game.

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Q. We have already mentioned the released "Realms of Quest" can you tell our readers about these series of games and are they still available to purchase?

A. You can buy Realms of Quest III from www.binaryzone.org/retrostore . That release also includes every iteration of Realms I & II up to 2009 along with
my other games that were made up to that point. I had made Realms I in the summer of 1991, two years after me and a friend's attempt at making our own CRPG for the Commodore 64 (Ultimate Quest, which is actually currently being finished right now and will be featured on side two of Realms of Quest IV when it gets released by Psytronik, hopefully next year.

Realms of Quest I (1991, 2011) is a very basic dungeon crawler in the mould of DND and Telengard. I was very satisfied that I was finally able to complete a CRPG, albeit a limited one. But it fits on an unexpanded VIC-20.

Realms of Quest II (1993, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2011) expands on the dungeon crawler concept from the first, but adds a land map on which to explore. It finished 11th place as an entrant in the 2004 mini game compo and an improved version was resubmitted in 2006 where it finished in 2nd place. And in 2011 (for the Anniversary Editions), I finally added the monster portrait graphics
I created back in 1993, which were intended to be part of Realms II. The
sequel was technically (fully) finished two years after the third game in the series. And it still fits on an unexpanded VIC-20!

Realms of Quest III (2009) is the game I had basically always wanted to do, where all my previous CRPGs were leading up to. I fully dedicated myself to creating a game that was worthy of competing with the likes of Ultima and Wizardry. I put in a lot of time and effort to make it in 100% machine
language and adding several music scores. But I couldn't do that all by
myself, I think that the manual artwork created by Bry Henry along with
saehn's graphics really pushed the game over the top as a modern retro title that took notice. Hearing that some people compare it to a late 1980s
Commodore 64 CRPG was quite good to hear. The full game runs on 32K while the dungeon-only version runs on 16K.

Realms of Quest IV (2013-14?) is admittedly not as ambitious as its
predecessor in terms of graphics and music. I deliberately scaled back as time was a limiting factor and also to give it more of an old school retro
feel--but it does include 100 digitized monster portrait graphics. It gives
the player the impression they're looking at those 1970s RPG monster manuals while they play. But it features a lot more magic, items and strategy than the previous. You also have encounters and interactions with other characters
along the way. 16K is the minimum requirement, but 24K is recommended for improvements in terms of less disk loading and a wider 3D graphical perspective. You can also download a 4-level demo version of Realms of Quest
IV from my website: realmsofquest.blogspot.com

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Q. Do you have any comments you would like to add?

A. When the full release for Realms IV comes out it will most like

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* Origin: Dragon's Lair (39:901/280)