crystalis-randomizer

Crystalis Randomizer

Crystalis (or "God Slayer" in Japan) is a classic post-apocalyptic action RPG/adventure game for the NES released by SNK in 1990. It is widely praised as an underrated gem of a video game.

Randomizers are tools that take an existing ROM dump and rearrange bits of it to produce a fresh, new experience and challenge. Note, in particular, that these tools are unusable without bringing your own legally-obtained ROM dump of the original game.

Please visit our discord for more information and discussion.

Try it out at https://crystalisrandomizer.com

Features

Randomization

• Shuffle monster locations
• Shuffle all item locations, including Alarm Flute which is now a key item
• Shuffle shop items and prices, with normalization
• TODO - Randomize the location of some item-giving NPCs (particularly Akahana)

Monster Adjustments

• Monster stats grow over time to ensure that monsters in every location remain relevant throughout the game (this is important when players are traversing the game in an arbitrary order); each key item that is gained increases the difficulty level (which is currently visible in the status bar to the right of the player level)
• Monsters are no longer completely immune to anything: when the "ping" sound happens, the monster will take a minimum (nonzero) amount of damage

Sword Adjustments

• Sword damage is normalized: all swords have the same base damage, which increases by getting upgrades (ball and bracelet) rather than by switching to a better sword
• Stab damage is decreased slightly relative to charge shots (a fixed amount of damage is added for stabs, rather than doubling the sword's base level)
• TODO - Charge shot damage needs to be normalized across swords (sword of wind shots are still significantly weaker than other swords)

Item Adjustments

• Power Ring doubles the sword's base damage, rather than the player's level, making it slightly less game-breaking
• Deo's Pendant increases MP even when moving, making it more relevant in a game with constant movement
• Leather Boots are now Speed Boots: movement speed is noticeably faster, in addition to the normal effect of preventing terrain damage
• Rabbit Boots allow sword charging while moving

Armor Adjustments

• Armors are rebalanced to be less game-breaking if a powerful armor is found early in the game

Enhancements

• Orbs and bracelets are automatically equipped when switching swords, significantly reducing the need for menuing (note that this makes it impossible to intentionally select a lower level)
• Balls and bracelets are true upgrades, rather than individual items: the first found item will give the ball and the second will give the bracelet, regardless of which chest is opened first (the message will be inaccurate if items are acquired in reverse, and this is relevant for e.g. triggering Tornel to teach Teleport dependent on finding Tornado Bracelet, which is based on opening the particular chest, rather than what's in inventory)
• Some NPCs no longer despawn in response to story progression: * Zebu remains in his cave all game, ensuring access to Windmill Key * Asina remains in her room all game, ensuring access to Recover * Akahana remains in the waterfall cave all game, ensuring access to Shield Ring * The first Flute of Lime will be found in the room behind Rage if it was not given by the Queen (i.e. if the statues were glitched past)
• Warping/teleporting out of the tower is allowed; enemies do not give EXP in the tower, so if you enter under-leveled it is now possible to leave, grind, and return at a higher level (or with more items) to try again
• Barrier can only be learned by actually calming the sea: so-called "ghetto flight" will allow access to Swan, but will not provide the magic

Bug Fixes

• Fix the screen shaking issue that happens when the message box appears
• Fix the visible "seams" that show up on (vertically) large maps on certain emulators
• Allow blank spaces in the "Sword" and "Power" row of the inventory, which prevents swords acquired out-of-order from clobbering each other

Known Issues

• Projectiles are sometimes rendered incorrectly.
• Monster shuffling fails to populate levels as fully as it should be able to

The Team

• steve_hacks: programming, design
• Mattrick_: development, playtesting
• Dragondarch: playtesting
• crossproduct: playtesting, tracker graphics

Changelog

1.2.4

• Prevents randomized wild-warp into Mesia Shrine and Rage to avoid possible softlock from the Queen going away without any way to reach her.
• Fix Sword of Thunder level 1 shot normalization to do the same damage as all other level 1 shots.