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Filename
Illusiat series
Summary
RPG
Authors
Kevin Ouellet
Ticalc.org URL
https://www.ticalc.org/archives/files/fileinfo/453/45380.html
Release Date
2001-2019
Compatibility
TI-83 Plus and TI-84 Plus
Language
TI-BASIC
Illusiat is a series of Japanese-inspired turn-based role-playing games and one point-and-click adventure game, developed by Kevin Ouellet. There are 13 games in the main series, although the last one's final dungeon and ending were never completed. The first 12 games came out from September 22nd 2001 to December 27th 2002 and the 13th game was released as-is in January 2010. ASCII-art remakes of Illusiat 1 through 4 were released in late 2003, a TI-81 version of the first game was made in 2008 and a TI-84 Plus CE version of Illusiat 11, featuring no color, was released in 2019. Versions of the previous games with altered difficulty were sometimes released over time as well and other authors have worked on various remakes of Illusiat 11, although none of them ever got finished.
Product Screenshots
Significance of Product
Although the early games in the series are somewhat simple, the amount of content in later games compared to other calculator RPG's caused many late Illusiat games to be split into chapters, with unused chapter files remaining in the calculator archive memory in order to allow one game to fit in RAM. Since most of the games remained in pure TI-BASIC, chapter files must be archived and unarchived manually by the player when the game prompts him to do so. This caused some issues when loading a different save file, which didn't inform the player which file must be unarchived and archived, so the player had to write the file names down on paper or elsewhere to remember. Illusiat 7 and 9 corrected this issue with an ASM library that automated the entire process and Illusiat 13, via the use of another similar library, eliminated the chapter system entirely.
The last four games in the series, especially the unfinished Illusiat 13, are some of the most complex calculator RPG's in terms of hours of gameplay, although in Illusiat 12 there is a lot of grinding contributing to its gameplay length. Illusiat 12 and 13 also featured some advanced ASCII-art-based magic animations and cutscenes per TI-BASIC standards.
Illusiat is also one of the longest calculator game series of all time.
Development History
Main series
September 22nd 2001: Illusiat (originally called Labyrinthe des Illusions)
October 2001: Illusiat II
October 2001: Illusiat 3
January 1st 2002: Illusiat 4 (lost in memory clear)
June 2002: Illusiat 5 (PC version) - This one is not a JRPG but rather a point-and-click game.
June 2002: Illusiat VI
July 2002: Illusiat VII: The Legend of Gwaf
July 2002: Illusiat VIII
August 2002: Illusiat IX: Shadow
September 2002: Illusiat X
October 2002: Illusiat Eleven
December 27th 2002: Illusiat XII
January 2010 (unfinished): Illusiat XIII: The Final Chapter
Remakes
January 2003: Illusiat 5 (calculator remake)
November 2003: Illusiat 2004 (remakes of Illusiat 1 to 4, the only version of 4 that still exists today)
Late 2008: Illusiat TI-81 Remake
August 2019: Illusiat Eleven CE Monochrome
Other games
November 2003: Nemesiat (first English and TI-83 or OS 1.15+ compatible version of Illusiat VI)
August 2006: Illusiat Eleven: Kin Master Quest (harder version of Illusiat Eleven)
December 2016: Illusiat VII Easytype (easier version of Illusiat VII: The Legend of Gwaf)
Miscellaneous
In January and February 2002, an Illusiat game featuring very basic and sometimes pre-rendered pseudo-3D maps on which movement was like Final Fantasy VII, VIII and IX, was in development. Unlike the rest of the series, you controlled three party members in battles against one enemy at a time. It was gonna be the first Illusiat game to be split into chapters, but it was lost in a memory clear in late February 2002, along with Illusiat 4.
The first 12 games and the ASCII remakes of the first four were originally only released in French. Most were translated to English in early 2003 and early 2005 (including a second translation of Illusiat VI). An English version of the ASCII remakes was to be released in 2010, but TI-Connect corrupted both the calculator and PC copies of the game collection simultaneously during a failed backup attempt.
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