Tun Shi Tian Di III

Tun Shi Tian Di III
Title screen.
Publisher	SKOB, Huang Jia Technology Co., Ltd? (traditional Chinese versions) Li Cheng (mainland Chinese versions, as Winsen)
Developer	Chuanpu(?)
Console	Sega Mega Drive
Date	1997(?)
Engine	Chuanpu RPG engine
Sound engine	High Seas Havoc
Alternate names/hacks	Conquering the World III Destiny of an Emperor III

Tun Shi Tian Di III (吞食天地III) is an unlicensed Chinese-language RPG for the Sega Mega Drive. While exact details on its releases are unclear, one of its releases in Taiwan was published by SKOB, and releases of the game in mainland China were handled by Li Cheng, at the time operating under the name Winsen. Development of the game was most likely done by Chuanpu or ex-Chuanpu members. It was later ported to the Game Boy Color by Vast Fame as San Guo Zhi: Lie Zhuan.

Overview

Screenshot of the game.

The game's story is based on "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and the "Tenchi o Kurau" series (but unrelated of story). The game evidently is based on the same engine as that of Ya-Se Chuan Shuo and Barver Battle Saga: Tai Kong Zhan Shi, with the exceptions of a different battle view.

Releases

Four unique releases of Tun Shi Tian Di III are known to exist, with two presumably being Taiwanese versions and two being releases for mainland China. Both types of releases are known to contain differences in game content, although which specific releases have them is unclear.

Taiwanese releases

One of the two known Taiwanese releases features a stylized logo of the Chinese name "吞食天地III" and a version of the art from the game's title screen on the front of the plastic case. The instruction manual cover and cartridge label use the aforementioned art as well. The instruction manual cover in particular uses a logo that more directly mirrors the one used in the game's title screen. The back of the instruction manual features four other unlicensed Mega Drive games, presumably from the same publisher. Two of the games, Feng Shen Ying Jie Zhuan and Shui Hu Zhuan, were developed by Chuanpu and are only known to have been published in Taiwan by Huang Jia Technology Co., Ltd. (皇家科技股份有限公司), and one of the other games featured is the bootleg Mega Drive port of Rockman X3, which is believed to have been developed by Gamtec. Whether Huang Jia Technology was involved in publishing this game or the other games shown on the back of the manual is unclear.

The second known Taiwanese release uses the same "吞食天地III" logo from the other Taiwanese release, but uses different art for the covers of the plastic case and instruction manual that feature photorealistic depictions of Chinese generals. The spine of the case uses the name "吞食天地3", substituting the Roman numeral "III" for an Arabic equivalent, and features the name "SKOB", which is the name of a video game company originating from Taiwan that released unlicensed video games for multiple platforms. The back cover of this release is near identical to the other known Taiwanese release, although the text at the bottom is different. The cart label is also different for this release, using the art and the "吞食天地III" logo from the front cover. The instruction manual, outside of its cover using the new cover art from the case, is identical to the other Taiwanese release, game advertisements on the back included. What this implies as to the extent of SKOB's connection with this game is unclear.

Mainland releases

This game would be released two times in mainland China by Winsen, who now currently operate under the name Li Cheng. The cartridge label of one of these releases uses the title screen art, similar to one of the Taiwanese releases, while the other release uses similar art to what is present in SKOB's release on the cart label.

Emulation

Two versions of this game are dumped on the Internet: one version has the text "SKOB" at the bottom right of the title screen and uses traditional Chinese font for text, while the other version replaces the SKOB text with small Chinese writing and uses simplified Chinese font for text. The origins of these specific dumps or what cartridges they were dumped from are unknown, although the latter dump was most likely sourced from a Winsen/Li Cheng release. Both versions are likely patched as the code in the ROMs reference unused memory areas, but do not utilize them in any meaningful manner. Redumps of these versions of the game or confirmation on any of the known original releases differing from the dumped versions have yet to be documented.

Gallery

Taiwanese title screen with SKOB logo. Screenshot by Black Squirrel

Front of the original box, cart and instruction manual.

Back of the original box, cart and instruction manual.

Front of the instruction manual.

Inside the instruction manual.

Inside the instruction manual.

Back of the instruction manual.

Shot of Tun Shi Tian Di III running on real hardware.

Front of the cartridge, another version. (Winsen version)

Back of the cartridge, another version. (Winsen version)

Cartridge, another version. (Winsen version)

Cartridge, another version. (Winsen version)

Trivia

• This game has three easter eggs, all of which are confirmed to work on the known dumped traditional and simplified Chinese ROMs (these have not been tested on original copies):
  • Holding the B, C, and Start buttons before pressing A on the main menu will bring up a full screen graphic of the logo for an unknown company. It is unknown if this company had any involvement with this game's development.
  • Holding the directional right, start, and C buttons before pressing A on the main menu will bring up a full screen graphic of the logo for Winsen (Li Cheng), the publisher for Tun Shi Tian Di III in mainland China. It is unknown if this company had any involvement with this game's development.
  • Pressing Up, Down, Left, and Right on the title screen before going to the main menu and starting a new game will give your player character maximum stats for HP, MP, and experience.
• The game ROM contains a hidden credit for the battle system to Tsui-ChienHua of Never Ending Soft Team with a 1997 copyright date. This is one year after Chuanpu was said to have closed.

       *BATTLE SYSTEM*  Written by TSUI-ChienHua         (C)1997 NeverEnding-SoftStudio  IN TAIWAN,TAICHUNG