emulator: Hydra Castle Labyrinth
type: standalone
core_classification: game_engine
source: "https://github.com/ptitSeb/hydracastlelabyrinth"
upstream: "https://github.com/ptitSeb/hydracastlelabyrinth"
profiled_date: "2026-10-04"
source_commit: "e31648688434a789e3056e52cdf1b9a842eeed48"
core_version: ~
display_name: "Hydra Castle Labyrinth (hcl)"
cores: [hcl]
systems: []
verification: existence

notes: |
  Open-source port of E. Hashimoto's 2008 Japanese freeware Metroidvania Hydra
  Castle Labyrinth. ptitSeb's SDL/SDL2/SDL3 fork is used by batocera (the
  package batocera/ports/hcl pins HCL_VERSION to this commit).

  The engine opens every data file from a relative "data/" prefix hard-coded
  in the sources:
    - qda.c:19, strcpy(fullPath, "data/") before appending qda chunk names
    - hero.c:202, fopen("data/save.tmp", "rb")
    - sdl2/audio.c:30, strcpy(buff, "data/") before midi/wav loads
    - sdl2/graphics.c, sdl3/graphics.c: fopen("data/bmp.qda", "rb")
    - game.h:184, savename macro = "data/save.tmp"
  Save files are rewritten in that same relative data/ tree, so the game must
  be launched from a working directory that contains data/ (batocera copies
  the shipped data/ beside the binary).

  The 31 MB data/ tree is shipped in the source repository and is open content.
  Nothing else is required.

files:
  - name: "bmp.qda"
    path: "data/bmp.qda"
    category: game_data
    description: "Packed graphics (QDA archive of all bitmaps)"
    required: true
    bundled: true
    source_ref: "src/sdl2/graphics.c:229 (fopen \"data/bmp.qda\" rb)"

  - name: "en.dat"
    path: "data/en.dat"
    category: game_data
    description: "English localization"
    required: true
    bundled: true
    source_ref: "src/text.c (loaded via data/ prefix)"

  - name: "jp.dat"
    path: "data/jp.dat"
    category: game_data
    description: "Japanese localization"
    required: true
    bundled: true
    source_ref: "src/text.c"

  - name: "map"
    path: "data/map"
    category: game_data
    description: "Level maps directory (060 .map files)"
    required: true
    bundled: true
    source_ref: "src/stagedata.c (loads data/map/<nnn>.map)"

  - name: "obj"
    path: "data/obj"
    category: game_data
    description: "Per-stage object definitions directory"
    required: true
    bundled: true
    source_ref: "src/stagedata.c (loads data/obj/<nnn>.dat)"

  - name: "midi"
    path: "data/midi"
    category: game_data
    description: "Music files (.mid + .ogg companions)"
    required: false
    bundled: true
    source_ref: "src/sdl2/audio.c:30 (data/ prefix for midi loads)"

  - name: "wav"
    path: "data/wav"
    category: game_data
    description: "Sound effect samples"
    required: false
    bundled: true
    source_ref: "src/sdl2/audio.c (data/wav/<name>.wav)"