Qi Tian Da Sheng

[Norbert]

Another game inspired by PoP.
Taiwanese, apparently, with Journey to the West themes.
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/361980947

By the way, gameplay on the stream is preceded by footage from the recently mentioned Commando; another 'coincidence'.

[Norbert]

Its name is: 齐天大圣 (Qí Tiān Dà Shèng)
I've attached the game to this post.
Playable version here:
https://archive.org/details/great_sage_heaven_equal_dos
Numpad 0 can be used to hold ledges.

[David]

Another game inspired by PoP.
Taiwanese, apparently, with Journey to the West themes.
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/361980947

Nice find!

It's specifically based on PoP2.
Even the copy protection is like in PoP2 (at 21:20). Apparently it's enough to press enter twice.
And the player says that Alt+G is save (at 27:00). Again, as in PoP2.
In fact, many key combinations match PoP2: Esc, Alt+Q, Alt+A, Alt+S, Alt+M, Alt+R, Alt+L, Alt+G, Alt+H all do the same as in PoP2.

Numpad 0 can be used to hold ledges.

It's also good do know that Space is for attack.
It works like Ctrl in PoP2: Press it to draw your stick (the player calls it "Q-tip" at 24:40), and press it again to attack.
You can put it away with the down arrow.

You can turn around with or without Shift. Without Shift the character does a backflip, with Shift he just immediately turns around.
However, if you're holding your stick, then you need to hold Shift to turn around (again like in PoP2).

Home and Page Up do a standing jump as in PoP2.
For a running jump, you have to press Home (left) or Page Up (right) while running. The up arrow won't work: it stops the running and the character just jumps up.

It seems that you can't step off ledges with Shift+Left/Right.

As the player says (at 24:24), you'd better use DOSBox Daum.
In regular DOSBox, if you hold the down arrow (crouch) for example, the character crouches (it looks somewhat like bowing) then immediately stands up, then crouches again, and this time he stays so.

[David]

In fact, many key combinations match PoP2: Esc, Alt+Q, Alt+A, Alt+S, Alt+M, Alt+R, Alt+L, Alt+G, Alt+H all do the same as in PoP2.

I think Alt+J switches to joystick mode, but the game thinks that the joystick is always in the upper-left position and the character will keep jumping left.
This happens even if I configure DOSBox to emulate a joystick using the keyboard.
Alt+K restores keyboard mode.

Interestingly, in keyboard mode you can control with the WERSDF and UIOJKL keys as in PoP2.

Numpad 0 can be used to hold ledges.

You can use Insert instead, in fact all the numpad keys are interchangeable with the cursor keys.

By the way, you can climb down with Shift+Down.


I started to play this game from the beginning to the end, and I am making maps while doing do.

Level 1:

Spoiler: show

Let's see, I have 3 hit points, I start by falling, I'm attacked immediately, I have to jump over two bottomless pits, climb up, jump to a lower platform, climb down to another screen...
Why does this sound familiar?
Oh yeah, I had to do the same in the first level of PoP2.
Except that at the end you will enter a cave instead of a ship.

Usually a second guard will come if you enter the left half of the screen.

There is a potion with blue bubbles, it will give you an extra HP like a PoP big potion. Drink it with the down arrow.
By the way, the Twitch video says (at 23:47) that the hit points are peaches, but to me they look more like turnips or radishes, or maybe the bud of some flower.

The button stops the waterfall but only while you're pressing it. To enter the cave you need to keep it held down with a guard.
You can enter the cave with the up arrow.
Entering doors seems to require precise positioning.

Finished with 4 HP.

End of level 1.

Level 2:

Spoiler: show

In the cave we have some loose floors, stone doors, and buttons that open the doors.
Buttons are hidden until you step on them.
Unlike in PoP, loose floors don't fall if you run over them quickly.

There are two kinds of potions, some give an extra HP, some just restore a lost one.
There is no visible difference so you don't know what kind of potion you found until you drink it.
The two extra HP potions on this level are: row 2 column 1, row 4 column 5 (left side).

There are places where water drips from the ceiling, and it *hurts* you!
Somehow the guards are immune to this.

There is a place at the right side of the map where it seems you could go right, but you can't.
Why didn't they just put a wall there?

Finished with 6 HP.

End of level 2.

Level 3:

Spoiler: show

Someone attacks me from behind just as I start the level!

I thought I found 3 "big" potions (that give extra HP) the first time, but on replay I could find only 2.
The two extra HP potions on this level are: row 2 column 2, row 4 column 3.

There is now a third type of potion, it takes one HP. It's in the room with the two guards.
Again, it looks like the other potions.

Now both the left and the right sides of the map have a place where it seems you could leave the room but you can't.

I have found the exit, but I don't know how to open it.
Maybe there is a button somewhere that I missed. It's hard to tell since buttons are invisible until I step on them.

I could not finish level 3 yet.

[Norbert]

Spoiler: show

I have found the exit, but I don't know how to open it.
Maybe there is a button somewhere that I missed. It's hard to tell since buttons are invisible until I step on them.

This is the solution:

Spoiler: show

You need to push a guard over the edge near the level exit door.
See 00:40:44 (19.28 his timer) in the Twitch video.
It's where the Twitch player also got stuck in the past, before one of his buddies had found the solution.
This other player was also in the Twitch chat, and throughout the stream the Twitch player talked about this part.

On Wednesday I also played the game for a while, managed to reach level 4, but then decided to quit.
I quit because it's apparently possible to softlock the game in many ways, and I wasn't persistent enough to create level maps.

[David]

I've continued playing the game.

As the player says (at 24:24), you'd better use DOSBox Daum.

And not just because of the controls, but also because it lets you use savestates.
That makes the game much less frustrating.

This is the solution:

Spoiler: show

You need to push a guard over the edge near the level exit door.
See 00:40:44 (19.28 his timer) in the Twitch video.

Thank you!

My thoughts about the solution:

Spoiler: show

I first thought you meant the pit that is found two rooms right from the exit door, because I haven't climbed down there before I read your post, and thus an invisible button could very well have been hidden there.
But this didn't work, so I watched the part of the video you mentioned.
So the guard has to be pushed into the pit on the left side of the exit door (in the same room), even though, as Macaw says, "there's no switch underneath there".
This is quite illogical, I don't know how was the player supposed to find it out.

Since the game apparently came with a manual (the copy protection is based on it), maybe the manual mentions this.
But good luck finding the manual (I haven't found it), and then good luck reading it (since it's probably in Chinese like the game itself).

Level 3 continued:

Spoiler: show

This is where you end up after you enter the exit door:

outside.png (8.91 KiB) Viewed 2840 times

You need to jump onto the cloud to finish the level.
The cloud then takes you to level 4 (flying to the left).

Finished with 8 HP.

End of level 3.

Glitches on level 3:

Spoiler: show

You can jump over the cloud, fall into the pit and die.
Since this is not level 4 yet, the game will then restart from the beginning of level 3.

If you manage to jump beyond the left edge of the room (with a run-jump), you'll end up here:

weird.png (25.02 KiB) Viewed 2840 times

This is just the bottom right room of level 3 with the wrong palette.
It seems that the "outside" room was placed in the bottom right corner of level 3, which is grey on my map.
And apparently the wall on the right side of this room doesn't prevent *entering* it from the right.

If you go further to the left, you'll reach the room where you started.
The door will open when you enter the room, but I couldn't enter it.

weird2.png (24.66 KiB) Viewed 2840 times

Level 4:

Spoiler: show

This level has a new type of enemies.

The two extra HP potions on this level are: row 2 column 8 (under the starting room), row 4 column 6 (between the two gates).
There is a button next to the latter potion, it will close both gates, trapping you!

There is a big fire in one room, but it just kills you.
Specifically it takes away your hitpoints one by one.

In another room, there is a statue (Buddha?). You'll see that it's not just for decoration...

Opening the exit is quite similar to the previous level.
In the top left room, you need to push *all three* guards down into the pit.
At least the button is visible in this case, but the solution was still nontrivial for me.

Then you need to go back to the room with the statue, because the exit opens there.

In the room at row 3 column 3, there is an unusual-looking gate, namely there is no floor under it.
I think I've seen such a gate in a PoP1 SNES mod...
It's quite easy to accidentally close this gate, because the close button is in the next room.

Finished with 10 HP.

End of level 4.

By the way, in this game, gates play their open/close animations only when you enter their room, not when you press the button.
This is different from PoP.

Level 5:

Spoiler: show

Most of this level is made of wood, which reminded me of the first two levels of Zorro.

On this level, gates are replaced by wooden doors. They open to the side.

The two extra HP potions on this level are: in the bottom right room; and in the room with the two potions, the left one.

The level ends with the cloud once again. This time it takes you upwards.

Finished with 12 HP.

End of level 5.

I haven't started level 6 yet.

[Norbert]

I didn't expect you to get back to this.

My thoughts about the solution: [....]

Yeah, it's one of those things where you think: how could anyone ever guess this. Trial and error...

Glitches on level 3:

Spoiler: show

[...] Since this is not level 4 yet, the game will then restart from the beginning of level 3. [...]

That (I trimmed your spoiler) is scary, especially if one would be playing without save states.

[David]

Level 6:

Spoiler: show

This level has new a kind of guard.
It seems they are holding something in one hand while fencing with the other hand.

There is a new type of trap in the first part of level.
It's a button, and if you step on it, some kind of light goes up at the left edge of the button, and you lose 1 HP.
At least these buttons are slightly noticeable, because the separator line on their left side is slightly thicker than elsewhere.

trap_light.png (5.75 KiB) Viewed 2821 times

There is a button in the bottom left corner of the room with the first golden dragon.
If you press it then the dragon will spit fireballs at you. Ouch.

fireball.png (12.25 KiB) Viewed 2821 times

The second part of the level is filled with buttons.
These will turn a door in the back wall, which will reveal either a guard or a (small) potion.

turning_door.png (3.77 KiB) Viewed 2821 times

There is only one big potion, behind the gate.
There are two buttons on the two sides of this potion.
The left one closes the gate and traps you, the right one replaces the second golden dragon with the flying cloud.
Of course the flying cloud will take you to the next level.

It's possible to jump past the second golden dragon; the sky in the next room seems to be glitched.
You don't die when you get there, interestingly. If you press up then you can see the character at the bottom of the screen.

The block under the second golden dragon has two pictures of a dragon.
The same picture appeared on the wall near the beginning of level 5.

Finished with 13 HP.

End of level 6.

Level 7:

Spoiler: show

In the first room with double columns, it seems I could go right, but I can't. This game just loves invisible walls...
But somehow guards can still appear from the right side.

There are some pits that are too wide to jump over.
As you can see on the map, you need to grab a bird's feet to go over them.
In each case, the bird can be called by pressing a floor button.

In the next two pits, water is splashing up. If you touch the splash then you lose a HP.

There is only one potion on this level, and it's a big potion.
In the same room is a golden... something. You need to break it to open a hidden door.

At the end of the level is a boss, a flying golden something.
It doesn't actually hurt you: when it touches you, it just pushes you around.

When the boss dies, it explodes together with the building in the background.
After this, the flying cloud takes you up and the game ends.

Finished with 14 HP.

End of level 7 and the game.

Ending:

Spoiler: show

The ending consists of a credits list, followed by a message (I can't read them...).

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Then you can enter your name to the Hall of Fame.
After that, the game quits.

Miscellaneous notes:

I noticed only after completing the game that the Hall of Fame screen (Alt+H) shows the remaining time (at the bottom).
It doesn't seem to elapse on the first two levels.

Another thing I noticed only now: When you press Esc on the Load Game screen (Alt+L), the screen returns to the game without any transition.
It's a bit odd considering that the game otherwise just loves transitions.

Speaking of transitions, they are always chosen in the same order:
vertical blinds, horizontal blinds, diamond blinds, circle in, circle out.
The exception is when restarting the level: In that case a transition is played, the next one is skipped, and the next-next one is used next time.