---
name: sangokushi-2
description: "Sangokushi II (Koei 1990, Japanese, 3-disk set) on the shared MSX: media set and verified origin slot, starting a new game, the province command menu, going to war, placing units (digits move, 0 places), battle commands and retreat, in-game save flow, media-change pitfalls, an all-AI run to the game's end, and one-call macros for the two verified key sequences. Apply a fact only when the visible prompt matches it."
---

# Sangokushi II

A turn-based strategy game played from three floppy images. Everything below
is an observation from a real campaign state, not a rule of the game: apply it
only when the visible prompt matches, and re-verify from the actual screen.

## Media

A = `sangokushi-2.dsk`, B = `sangokushi-2-b.dsk`, user data disk =
`sangokushi-2-data.dsk`. Catalog names only; no host paths. Verified origin
slot `sangokushi2-cao-pi-ready`: scenario 6, beginner, historical, 1 human
player as Cao Pi, province 10 awaiting its first command, frame 26865. It is a
test origin — after restoring it, save under your own slot prefix instead of
keeping the original.

## Province command prompt `(0-19)?`

Return with an empty entry reveals the command list; Space and F1 did not. A
numeric entry followed by Return selects that command instead.

| Number | Visible command | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 0 | 待機 | Wait / finish province commands |
| 1 | 移動 | Move |
| 2 | 輸送 | Transport |
| 3 | 戦争 | War |
| 4 | 軍事 | Military |
| 5 | 人事 | Personnel |
| 6 | 外交 | Diplomacy |
| 7 | 計略 | Plots |
| 8 | 情報 | Information |
| 9 | 開発 | Development |
| 10 | 治水 | Flood control |
| 11 | 褒美 | Rewards |
| 12 | 施し | Relief |
| 13 | 商人 | Merchant |
| 14 | 徴収 | Levy |
| 15 | 地図 | Map |
| 16 | 委任 | Delegate |
| 17 | 放浪 | Wander |
| 18 | 特別 | Special |
| 19 | 機能 | Functions |

Observed transitions: `1`, Return asks for a destination numbered 1-41; `9`,
Return asks which officer should develop the province. Neither alone proves
movement or improved land. `0`, Return, `y`, Return advanced the observed
campaign from province 10 to 18.

Development is a sequence of decisions: `9`, Return; read the officer list
and select an officer; capture the resulting amount prompt before entering a
cost. One observed province 13 action (officer 5, cost 50) changed gold from
500 to 450 and a displayed province statistic from 20 to 27, returning to the
command prompt with the month unchanged. That demonstrates a completed action
in that state, not a fixed exchange rate or a universally best officer.
Compare the actual before/after resources, then preserve the result before
planning another action.

Functions submenu cancellation: in one observed province 11 state, the
functions submenu `(1-6)?` remained visible after `0`, Return and after Esc.
A subsequent Return by itself returned to the same province's main `(0-19)?`
prompt with resources and month unchanged. Verify that prompt before sending
province commands; do not assume Esc universally cancels.

## Starting a new game

Observed 2026-09-29 from a fresh boot of disk A.

1. `何をしますか(1-3)?`: `1`, Return. `何番のシナリオですか(1-6)?`: the number,
   Return.
2. `第1ドライブにBディスクを入れ リターンキーを押して下さい`: change the disk
   to B (`masc_msx_change_disk`), then Return.
3. `何人でプレイしますか`, `プレイヤー 1 は誰を選びますか`, the level, other
   wars, the mode: number, Return each. `すべてよろしいですか(Y/N)?`: `y`.
4. An event screen can come first; Return goes on to the first
   `<君主>様、第N国に御命令を(0-19)?`.

## Going to war

Observed 220年1月 as 曹丕, from 20 against 31 (劉備).

1. `3`, Return: `どこへ攻め込みますか(1-41)?`; the province number, Return.
2. `誰を出撃させますか(1-N)?`: one officer per answer, the number and Return;
   a sent officer gets a `*`. Several can go. An empty Return ends the list.
3. `軍資金をいくらもっていきますか`, then `兵糧をいくらもっていきますか`: the
   amount, Return. `攻め込みますか(Y/N)?`: `y`.
4. When the governor left, `第N国の太守を決めて下さい(1-N)?` picks the new one.

## Placing units

`<武将>を配置して下さい(0:配置)` asks for one unit at a time. The battle map is
made of hexes and its cursor moves on the digit keys; arrow keys, `4` and `6`
did nothing. `0` places the unit on the cursor's hex.

The cursor stays where the last unit went, so `0` alone for the second unit
lands on a taken hex: the game refuses it and the same prompt stays. That is
what a stuck "second unit" prompt was. Move first — `1` (down-left) placed
the second unit, and `7` (up-left) the third — then `0`. A hex off the map or
outside the side's area also keeps the prompt.

## Battle commands

- A challenge such as `我が名は関索 いざ勝負せよ` asks
  `申し込みを受けますか(Y/N)?`. Return there went on to the battle menu.
- `1.移動 2.攻撃 3.待機 4.情報 5.工作 6.退却` and
  `<君主>様、<武将>にご命令を(1-6)?`: the digit alone opens the command, with
  no Return. A Return after it backs out of the menu the digit opened.
- `1` gives `1.通常移動 2.誘導移動`; `1` again asks `どの方向ですか?` with
  `機動力 N`. `2` moved the unit one hex down and spent the rest of its
  mobility, and the next unit's menu came up.
- `6` asks `全軍退却しますか(Y/N)?`; after `y` each unit asks
  `<退却>:20 <武将>はどこに退却しますか?`. Type the province number shown and
  Return; an empty Return is not an answer. After the last unit the map comes
  back with the next province's command prompt.

## In-game save

`1`, `9`, Return, then `5`, Return (command 19 機能, option 5) opens the save
flow. Swap to the data disk only when the game requests D; follow the slot
and name prompts; swap back to B when requested. Emulator checkpoints and the
game's own save/load are distinct behaviors to verify separately.

## Media-change pitfall

A controlled replay found that switching from B to A during an active
campaign cleared the open file state while the game still needed
`PACKDATA.DAT`, which was present on B. Replaying the same accepted inputs
from the same earlier checkpoint while retaining B reached a readable
diplomacy prompt. That is a failure of one media-change sequence, not a rule
to keep B inserted at all times: follow the currently visible D or B request
when the game asks.

## Reading the screen

Bitmap modes (GRAPHIC6 openings and scenes) leave name-table residue:
`screen_text` there is not OCR of the visible scene. Read the PNG image returned by the attached `masc_msx_screen` tool. The
Add-on’s `msx-observe` Skill explains how to preserve the captured frame
and report uncertain text.

## Watching an all-AI game

`0` at `何人でプレイしますか` starts with no human ruler and goes straight to the
AI turns. Pressed with Return every 300 frames, one scenario 6 run went from
220年 to 301年, when the last ruler died without an heir
(`曹爽の一族は滅亡しました`) and the KOEI copyright screen came up. That is
the game ending with no winner, not a victory; no full winning campaign is
established.

## Repeated sequences

- Ending the current province's commands (`0`, Return, `y` at the province
  `(0-19)?` prompt) is one call: the `sangokushi-2-end-command` composition
  Skill presses the verified sequence, waits for the settled screen and
  returns the observation. This is the verified province 10 to 18 transition.
- The save-flow entry is `1`, `9`, Return, `5`, Return at the province
  prompt: one `masc_msx_press` call with `sequence=true`. The disk prompts
  that follow are interactive: read the screen and swap media per the visible
  request; nothing pre-swaps disks.