Homebrew [Release] Dungeons of Daggorath 3DS

[darkweb]

Hello all! I present to you a 3DS port of one of my all time favourite games - Dungeons of Daggorath! This was originally ported to the PC by Richard Hunerlach and years ago I ported it over to the PSP. It was originally created by DynaMicro for the TRS-80 and is hailed as one of the first 3D shooters. I've completed everything that I wanted to do with it at this point so I'm releasing this as a 1.0 and will now move onto something else.

The game itself is a 3D dungeon crawler where you are out to vanquish the evil wizard in the dungeon. Do you have what it takes?

Credits:
- I learned a fair bit by analyzing the OpenTyrian 3DS port. Thanks @nop90!
- fincs, MrHuu, oreo639, piepie62, MasterFeizz, and Badda for their help with tracking down bugs
- Richard Hunerlach for the original port to OpenGL and SDL. Source has been preserved here if you want to see the original: https://github.com/gondur/dungeons-of-daggorath

Installation
Download the 3DSX or CIA (QR code is available on github) and run with either the Homebrew Launcher or install with FBI. I have also only tested it on a New Nintendo 3DS as that is all I have. Please let me know if you run into any issues and I will take a look into it.

You can get the compiled game on github here:
https://github.com/pyroticinsanity/3dsdod/releases/tag/1.1

All of my source code is also available here: https://github.com/pyroticinsanity/3dsdod

Playing the Game
The original game is fully controlled by typing in commands so this port ties common commands to the 3DS buttons (e.g. pressing Up types MOVE UP). There is also a shortcut tied to Select which uses a torch and equips a sword that is useful only at the beginning.
The L button launches the command creator to quickly type out custom commands but you will also need to do incantations for rings so there is a custom keyboard that comes up for typing those in. Note that you need to go to the Enter key to confirm it.
I hope you have fun with this!

Change Log
1.1 (June 5, 2020)

Bugs Fixed:
- Fixed an issue where the 3DS would lock up if you closed via the Home button

1.0 (June 2, 2020)
Enhancements:
- Upgraded to ctrulib 1.8.0
- Added Button Layout Image
- Added the Game Manual

Bugs Fixed:
- Fixed an issue where the 3DS would lock up if you closed the lid
- Corrected the Vector Mode graphics mode

0.8 (April 21, 2020)
Enhancements:
- Support Stereoscopic View
- Create a CIA build
- Saving Takes a Long Time
- Buttons Should Be Changed to Be More Intuitive

Bugs Fixed:
- The Save File Date Isn't Showing Up
- Keyboard Characters Don't Show Up on Level 2

0.7 (March 27, 2020)
- Ported the PSP version to the 3DS

Screenshots

Extra Information
As part of this port I decided to document my journey. If you're interested, you can take a look at my progress on my blog. I've detailed the coding struggles I ran into as well as documented some of the decisions I made:

• Setting Up the Environment
• Baby Steps
• Graphical Prototype
• The Road to Alpha
• Heading to the Finish Line
• Seeing in Stereo
• Making the Release
• Image Rendering - Part 2
• It's Bug Squashing Time!

 

[MrHuu]

Thank you for sharing this and giving insight in the procces you went through.

I remember this game, had a lot of fun and tense moments with it.

Vector graphics are underappreciated nowadays. I love it!

Would love to replay this in actual 3d. Any chance?

 

[darkweb]

Thank you for sharing this and giving insight in the procces you went through.

I remember this game, had a lot of fun and tense moments with it.

Vector graphics are underappreciated nowadays. I love it!

Would love to replay this in actual 3d. Any chance?

That's totally the reason why I ported it to the 3DS . I first wanted to get it working and now that it's done I'm going to look into how to do the stereoscopic view.

 

[darkweb]

I have stereoscopic 3D working in the game now. Once I have a CIA build ready for it I'll release it but for now you can check out the blog post here: https://darkwebcrypt.blogspot.com/2020/04/dungeons-of-daggorath-seeing-in-stereo.html

 

[Matias3DSHbw]

Hope we get the CIA version soon! If you need any help testing, send me a message

 

[darkweb]

I've made a new release for this which you can find here: https://github.com/pyroticinsanity/3dsdod/releases/tag/0.8

It now includes stereoscopic 3D and a CIA build along with a few other bug fixes. Let me know if you have any problems with it!

I've also added a new page to my blog detailing how I went about building the CIA file. You can check it out here: https://darkwebcrypt.blogspot.com/2020/04/dungeons-of-daggorath-3ds-making-release.html

 

[Matias3DSHbw]

Thank you! I´ll be sure to test it on both a New 3DS and an Old 3DS and I'll be sure to send you back the results when i have time.

 

[darkweb]

One feature I always wanted to add was having the ability to view the original manual with this game. Now I've finally got it working! You can read all about it in my latest blog post here: https://darkwebcrypt.blogspot.com/2020/05/dungeons-of-daggorath-3ds-image.html

Now there are 2 issues remaining and then I'll make my final release.

 

[nulluser]

This looks great! I'm excited to check it out when I can.

I haven't got a console to test it on right now, but I'd like to let you know that it doesn't run on the Citra emulator due to an error at startup ("Unable to open audio: DSP init failed: dspfirm.cdc missing!!") causing a crash. Whilst I'm not versed on 3DS audio stuff, I think it's a problem on the emulator's end, not yours, which is a big shame. When I manage to get a console to test on, I'll be trying this out!

 

[darkweb]

Yeah that's a common problem when trying to run homebrew using Citra. You'll need to dump a dspfirm.cdc and copy it into the Citra directory structure. You'll also need to do this on the 3DS for any homebrew sound to work but if you follow the online guide they'll get you to do this as one of the steps.

 

[darkweb]

I've completed all of the outstanding bugs and added a few enhancements so I'm releasing version 1.0! I've also beaten the game on the 3DS so it is definitely doable. At this point I'm considering this done unless some other issues crop up.

You can get the release here: https://github.com/pyroticinsanity/3dsdod/releases/tag/1.0

I've also added a new blog post on tracking down some difficult bugs here: https://darkwebcrypt.blogspot.com/2020/05/dungeons-of-daggorath-3ds-its-bug.html

 

[darkweb]

This has been updated to version 1.1 to address an issue where it would lock up the 3DS if you closed via the Home button. Check it out here: https://github.com/pyroticinsanity/3dsdod/releases/tag/1.1

 

[Ihaveamo]

I just want to say THANK YOU SO MUCH for this emulation. DoD has an important place in my heart, and used to play this game a lot with my old man in the early 1980's. Still his favourite game of all time. Really a precursor to all first person action games. He's in his 70's now and having a rough time in hospital. I just got a 3ds for him , specifically for your emulation of this game, so he can play in hospital. (I also created a GBATEMP account - just to thank you for this!). The menu system you created to play the game is genius. Almost SCUMMVM like Please make sure you get this added to the big lists of emulated games for 3ds that are out there. I only found this as I saw your wizard icon!

 

[darkweb]

I just want to say THANK YOU SO MUCH for this emulation. DoD has an important place in my heart, and used to play this game a lot with my old man in the early 1980's. Still his favourite game of all time. Really a precursor to all first person action games. He's in his 70's now and having a rough time in hospital. I just got a 3ds for him , specifically for your emulation of this game, so he can play in hospital. (I also created a GBATEMP account - just to thank you for this!). The menu system you created to play the game is genius. Almost SCUMMVM like Please make sure you get this added to the big lists of emulated games for 3ds that are out there. I only found this as I saw your wizard icon!

You are very welcome! I appreciate the comments and I'm glad you and your dad are able to enjoy it again. I'll see about getting it into some of the lists so more people can be exposed to this classic game.

 

[haloopdy]

Hey, I wanted to mention that I stumbled across your blog detailing some of your struggles and solutions while making this, and it was super helpful! I just started tinkering with 3DS homebrew (really late to the party) and I learned quite a bit and dodged a few pitfalls from your blog, so thank you for writing those.

 

[darkweb]

Hey, I wanted to mention that I stumbled across your blog detailing some of your struggles and solutions while making this, and it was super helpful! I just started tinkering with 3DS homebrew (really late to the party) and I learned quite a bit and dodged a few pitfalls from your blog, so thank you for writing those.

I'm glad you found it useful! I couldn't find a lot of documentation on creating 3DS homebrew and had to talk to different people to solve my problems. The blog was made so I had a resource documenting my solutions as well as give guidance to anyone else starting out.