Gold Box SSI's Gold Box Series Thread

[mondblut]

We must have different versions... when I go to the savegame menu, when camped, hit esc, and click no, I just go back to the save game menu. No option to load a game.

Hm, yes, POR dumps you to dos when you hit esc. Some later games exited to main menu instead.

 

[mondblut]

At the very bottom of the main window click on "Extras...", in the pop-up double click on WHDLoad and point it to where you dumped the zip (should be named PoolOfRadiance_v1.1_0555.zip). No need to unpack or install, it runs straight out of the zip. Then start the game with the Extras button next to the greyed out Play Game button. If it doesn't work you likely haven't copied your kickstart roms properly.

After much annoyances and trials and errors I finally managed to run POR successfully, and it crashes exactly like it does under pure WinUAE =(

 

[made]

Weird, can't help you there I'm afraid. On the plus side, I got COTAB to run on the emulator thingy. :D Now if I just could bring myself to actually play one of them...

 

[GarfunkeL]

Curses to you guys! :evil:

Instead of writing my paper, I've wasted the last 48 hours with PoR. It works perfectly with DosBox and has glued me to the seat. Haven't even managed to play TFTD. I've cleared Phlan, except Vallejove Castle (or whatever it was) and I'm looking now for the nomads and kobolds in the wilderness. And I inted to go all the way up to PoD, though with my sub-optimal party that might be fantasy:

2 Human fighters
2 Human clerics
1 Human thief
1 Human magic-user

I intend to start dualclassing them in CotAB (maybe clerics into MU's? Fighters into clerics? Thief into MU for sure). Any pointers for that would be appreciated (and yes, I don't want to drop any of them).

I did encounter two bugs - one of my clerics lost her mace +1 somehow (might not be a bug but I have no idea how it disappeared) and then when I was in store pooling, sharing and appraising jewellry, something glitched and suddenly I had 65555 jewels. Luckily, money wasn't really an issue at that point anyway.

EDIT: Oh the levelcap is just retardedly low here. I'm pretty sure I have plenty of main quest left and I've done only one of the "random" encounters in wilderness, have not grinded at all, run from some fights and parlayed my way through others and yet my casters are all level 6, fighters are lvl 6&5 and rogue is level 7. Oh well, shooting a fireball into a bunch of gnolls is as rewarding as it is in BG or NWN.

 

[Jaesun]

I was trying the Amiga version of SotSB and continuing my DOS version of SotSB and I like the DOS one better, in that you can use the Arrow Keys to quickly navigate, unlike the Amiga where you have to constantly hit keys. ugh.

something glitched and suddenly I had 65555 jewels.

When playing in Curse, I had a glitch where (I think) wearing one of the ioun stones on one of my clerics, changed their Charisma to 60!

 

[PorkaMorka]

How critical is a strong understanding of the D&D rules to completing the game? Is everything pretty self-explanatory, or is it necessary to memorize all the rules? I'd rather not have to resort to a reading a walkthrough (on my first playthrough at least), as it ruins a lot of the fun.

There isn't much in game explanation, but there is some in the manual.

But you don't really need to customize your characters with feats and stuff, so mostly, not knowing D&D would just mean you need to think a lot harder about what spells to memorize, and to look up weapons in the manual, so you know which is better.

Also you'd need to know that lower armor class and THAC0 are better.

I dunno, I think if you've played at least one other D&D game before and are willing to read manuals you'd be ok.

But D&D mechanics are so ingrained into my thinking that I am probably not fully capable of looking at it from the POV of someone who doesn't know D&D.

 

[GarfunkeL]

Worst thing is that 1ed, 2ed, 3ed and now 4ed are pretty different rulesets. But yeah, long sord > short sword, smaller AC, saving throws and THAC0 = better, more hitpoints and levels = better, guess that's the basics.

 

[santino27]

We must have different versions... when I go to the savegame menu, when camped, hit esc, and click no, I just go back to the save game menu. No option to load a game.

Hm, yes, POR dumps you to dos when you hit esc. Some later games exited to main menu instead.

Curse and Secret behave the exact same way. Maybe PoD is different.

One question for the general public... is there any reason to have a high level thief in the game? I was thinking of taking a thief to secret of the silver blades, and then dual classing them over to ranger, (which the game allows), around L8 or L10. I can't remember the table for backstab multipliers though. (I'm thinking of doing it that way, rather than taking a ranger to 15 (for 2/1 attacks) and then dual classing them, because I would prefer to keep advancing in the ranger class, of the two).

While I took my party through PoR, I swapped in some new classes for curse, and am now potentially switching it up again for SoSB and PoD. My eventual goal, (I think), is the following party for SoSB:

Human Paladin
Human Ranger
Human Fighter -> To be dual-classed to Cleric in PoD, once I get 2/1 attacks
Human Thief -> Dual-classed to Ranger (at some point in SoSB)
Human Cleric -> To be dual-classed to Mage in PoD, but I need a cleric for SoSB
Human Fighter -> Dual-classed to Mage immediately in SoSB

 

[Jaesun]

You don't *really* need a Thief. But my Dwarf Fighter/Thief was fucking lethal in combat!

Having a Thief in the last 3 games is more *neat* but not really needed.

 

[Zomg]

Good luck memorizing the useful information about 1st/2nd edi. saving throws without growing up as a D&D nerd, bro.

 

[MisterStone]

One thing that playing old Gold Box games has made me realize is that keyboard user interface has really improved- just look at any modern-day roguelike, and it will have a better keyboard-only interface than these games for managing a character, inventory, equipped stuff, etc.

 

[Severian Silk]

Good luck memorizing the useful information about 1st/2nd edi. saving throws without growing up as a D&D nerd, bro.

That's what I was afraid of. I bought and played ToEE, but quit about half-way through because I had no idea what was going on.

 

[Qwinn]

There is no comparison between ToEE (3rd edition) and the goldbox games (1st edition). 1st edition rules are -much much- less complex. You don't even really need to know about THACO and AC if you can figure out that Plate +2 is better than Splint +1 and that a Long Sword +3 is better than +2, heh.

Finishing up POR now, I went through with:

2 human fighters
2 human clerics
1 human mage
1 elven fighter/mage/thief.

When I get to Curse, I'm going to dump 3 and maybe 4 of them. All I plan to keep for sure is the F/M/T and one cleric. -Maybe- keep the pure mage. I'll be replacing them with one pure paladin, and either 2 or 3 rangers that will all eventually dual to mage (since dual class ranger/mages can cast spells in armor). That party, I will take all the way through to PoD. I played these all ages ago, but I don't -remember- if I ever finished the final PoD fight. I -think- I did, but I can't be sure. So now I have to prove it to myself, damnit. Heh.

Qwinn

 

[Flux_Capacitor]

Good luck memorizing the useful information about 1st/2nd edi. saving throws without growing up as a D&D nerd, bro.

That's what I was afraid of. I bought and played ToEE, but quit about half-way through because I had no idea what was going on.

Here's a pretty decent overview of a lot of the rules for 2nd edition D&D CRPGs - <a href="http://www.gamefaqs.com/computer/doswin/file/564785/8566">D&D Overview</a>. The Gold Box games use the 1st edition rule set, but based on a quick glance, they look to be pretty much the same.

 

[PorkaMorka]

There is no comparison between ToEE (3rd edition) and the goldbox games (1st edition). 1st edition rules are -much much- less complex. You don't even really need to know about THACO and AC if you can figure out that Plate +2 is better than Splint +1 and that a Long Sword +3 is better than +2, heh.

yah that's the thing. You don't really need to know about saving throws at all, it's not like TOEE where you're taking feats to boost them.

Each of your units have saving throws that differ based on level and class, and they go up when you cast prayer or bless, and that's good. Saving throws determine if you resist spells or take half damage from AOEs or not.

That's all I knew when I first played these games, and it wasn't an issue, since you really can't change your saving throws much.

 

[Zomg]

Third edition markedly un-shitfucked the saving throw system.

 

[GarfunkeL]

What are the viable dual-classes in Curse of the Azure Bonds? Can I switch my thief into mage and then my mage into ranger? And can I dual-class more than once?

Also, when transporting the characters, do they keep the exact amount of XP that they have or just the minimum for that level? Because if they keep the XP, I'll get two (near)instant levelups for my casters as soon as I move over to Curse from PoR.

EDIT: I'm spending the night as 'diplomatic envoys' in an outpost of the Zhentarim and after a nice meal of discussing Phlan, magic and politics, the party is preparing to spend the night. Aaaaand the game gives you some REAL choices and consequences...



Hmm, I wonder what to do here...

 

[Jaesun]

Also, when transporting the characters, do they keep the exact amount of XP that they have or just the minimum for that level? Because if they keep the XP, I'll get two (near)instant levelups for my casters as soon as I move over to Curse from PoR.

Yes they keep their levels and xp when you transfer to the next game. ONLY in Pools of Darkness does it also carry over your items.

 

[Severian Silk]

Here's a pretty decent overview of a lot of the rules for 2nd edition D&D CRPGs - <a href="http://www.gamefaqs.com/computer/doswin/file/564785/8566">D&D Overview</a>. The Gold Box games use the 1st edition rule set, but based on a quick glance, they look to be pretty much the same.

Thanks! I've only read the first couple of paragraphs, but it already has explained several of the terms used so far in this thread.

 

[Luzur]

EDIT: I'm spending the night as 'diplomatic envoys' in an outpost of the Zhentarim and after a nice meal of discussing Phlan, magic and politics, the party is preparing to spend the night. Aaaaand the game gives you some REAL choices and consequences...



Hmm, I wonder what to do here...

Zhentarim cant be trusted, surely you know that?

 

[Flux_Capacitor]

What are the viable dual-classes in Curse of the Azure Bonds? Can I switch my thief into mage and then my mage into ranger? And can I dual-class more than once?

I think there's just alignment restrictions (Paladins must be Lawful Good, Thieves can't be Lawful Good, and Rangers must be Lawful Good, Neutral Good, or Chaotic Good), and they can't switch in the same class 'group' (ie. Paladins, Rangers and Fighters are all in the same group, so you can't switch between them). There's also pretty high attribute requirements - 15+ in the primary attributes of the first class, and 17+ in the primary attributes of the second class. I believe the manual lists what the primary attributes for each class are.

You can only dual class once. You also can't use the abilities of the first class until the level of the second class is higher than the level of the first class. You need to pay attention to this to make sure you can reach a higher level in the second class (since there's level limits in the game), and you'll always want to have a decent level Cleric in the group.

Also, when transporting the characters, do they keep the exact amount of XP that they have or just the minimum for that level? Because if they keep the XP, I'll get two (near)instant levelups for my casters as soon as I move over to Curse from PoR.

You keep all the experience. However, I'm pretty sure you can't gain two levels at the same time. If you have enough experience to gain two levels, your experience is reduced to 1 point less than it would take to reach the second level.

 

[GarfunkeL]

Thanks Jaesun and Flux, I know the basic rules but was wondering if there were any special rules in the Gold Box series since I haven't played them before. And yes, I get one instant level-up and then need to kill a rat or something to get the 2nd one - still, very nice :D

Too bad there's only one dual-classing per character, I have to plan ahead then.

 

[Jaesun]

Fuck. Pools of Darkness is fucking brutal.

Had I not imported a party from SotSB, I have no idea how you could even play this (unless it level scales) heh

Man all that PHAT LEWT from SotSB is basically the one thing keeping us from certain death!

Some interesting observations, say you come across an outpost, but do not enter (And do the quest there), if you come back later, it is wiped out and just full of monsters. Not sure if that has any consequences or not.

My one and only regret is not making my pure Human mage (Mage from PoR then Curse) a Rangerage. The extra HP would be fucking awesome.

 

[Carlos' Bitch1]

Also, when transporting the characters, do they keep the exact amount of XP that they have or just the minimum for that level? Because if they keep the XP, I'll get two (near)instant levelups for my casters as soon as I move over to Curse from PoR.

Yes they keep their levels and xp when you transfer to the next game. ONLY in Pools of Darkness does it also carry over your items.

In the Krynn series, you get to keep your loot throughout the games.

And as for keeping your loot from SoTSB...Don't become too fond of it now, will you? I won't spoil it too much.

MisterStone: Buck Rogers games become better as you go on. It is like fighting orcs in POR, it starts off pedestrian and gets better, with more tactics needed, as the game progresses.

 

[Jaesun]

In the Krynn series, you get to keep your loot throughout the games.

I did not know that. That the next series I plan on playing. Will keep that in mind.

And as for keeping your loot from SoTSB...Don't become too fond of it now, will you? I won't spoil it too much.

FUCK! Really? heh Well I guess I can keep it long enough to clear all the areas until I get to the MAIN Quest.