Destiny of an Emperor

This page details pre-release information and/or media for Destiny of an Emperor.

Early screenshots from gaming magazines, several months before release in Japan (May 19, 1989).

Famimaga #61, July 15 1988#

There was no release date yet, but the game plot and gameplay seemed mostly decided. The article mentions forming a party from over 200 warlords (in the final game, you can use 138 out of 179 who fight) and using "all-out" in battle.

Many of the character sprites weren't finalized yet (but look similar enough to be recognizable), and the kana font was different.

Pre-release	Mockup from Final	Final

Outside a castle (with a party led by Zhang Fei, Song Yong, Song Ren), most likely Xu Zhou but none of them is surrounded entirely by plain ground in the final.

Pre-release	Mockup from Final	Final

East side of Lou Sang village.

• The green trees and house walls had different graphics
• Various minor changes in the map layout: the path in the red trees, the house was larger and used the other door type, there was a well next to the house, and the top-left trees moved a bit
• Song Ren and Song Yong were in different spots or walked around. In the final, they both stand next to the red tree path before they join (Song Ren on the tile Liu Bei was on, and Song Yong one tile to the right)
• The other NPC (who says Cui Zhou Ping is never home) was behind the house, which is a closed unreachable area in the final

Pre-release	Final

The food shop had a table and seats.

Pre-release	Mockup from Final	Final

A battle against Bandit Forces.

• This party is impossible in the final, since Liu Bei leaves (replaced by Liu Feng) before you can get Huo Hu and Wang Gui. The Bandit Forces also had more soldiers than is possible to encounter while Liu Bei is in the party
• Liu Bei and Huo Hu had more than their final maximum soldiers (444/314, 288/236)
• Bandit Forces used Zhang Fei's sprite
• Life bars used the same scale but seem to round down instead of up, so there would have been empty bars for 1 digit soldiers. They also seem to be blue instead of pink, while the final uses other colors (and eventually blue) for higher scales

Pre-release	Mockup from Final	Final

General status screen.

• The portrait was flipped horizontally (a feature still used in the final, but not here), and Zhang Fei's portrait was slightly different
• Stats had blue bars and didn't show attack power, S.P (TP) or maximum soldiers
• The name was only shown in Chinese spelling, no katakana
• The "tactics" box was on the left, and a larger "inventory" box was on the right instead of equipment

Famimaga #65, October 7 1988#

By then, it was planned for a January release but clearly took longer to finish than expected.

Pre-release	Mockup from Final	Final

• The title screen had a Start/Continue menu and text speed selection, which were moved to a separate menu screen in the final. Maybe inspired by Dragon Quest II to III doing the same change previously?
• There was no "TM" on the title, no "®" on "Capcom", and the copyright year was 1988

Pre-release	Mockup from Final	Final

Xu Zhou was missing a row of trees around the palace, and the palette may have used a darker grey.

Pre-release	Final

Qing Zhou cave.

• Cave walls used a different style that doesn't exist in the final, and wall shadows were one tile to the right
• The top-left hall was larger

Famimaga #70, December 16 1988#

Now delayed to March, but everything shown looks identical to final.

One interesting detail is that it shows the first Zhang Jao fight's intro text leading to the second Zhang Jao fight (back side), but this exact screen is still possible.