Gold Box SSI's Gold Box Series Thread

[Thrasher]

It's decent, if you don't mind lots of NWN2 combat. It has a few rather significant bugs scattered through it, but nothing totally gamebreaking (although I'd recommend holding on to at least one invisibility potion on your main character if you ever find one; oh, and the final boss has incorrectly specified damage reduction which makes him practically immune to physical damage, so you may not be able to win that fight straight up). It kept me entertained long enough to finish it, though.

The orginal has bugs too, and let me tell you, tedious scaled turned base combat agianst 60 goblins is very tiresome.

POR2 combat was a joy in comparison. No scaliing!

 

[Captain Rufus]

Luckily I've never played those two. I heard they were quite horrible.

I remember Ravenloft being pretty solid. I actually upgraded my 486 to play it properly. It wasn't perfect, but most of its flaws were things inherent to the AD&D ruleset.

 

[dolio]

The orginal has bugs too, and let me tell you, tedious scaled turned base combat agianst 60 goblins is very tiresome.

Well, that's one thing the NWN2 module gets right, I guess. There isn't too much combat against random mooks. There's a lot of combat, but most missions you'll be fighting one or two lead-in encounters (to sap your resources a bit), followed by the main encounter. No orc caves. And the main encounters are actually difficult enough to warrant some care (and item use, which I rarely find is the case in NWN(2)). So I suppose it's a good example for the filler thread: despite the module being mostly combat, the fact that you frequently complete challenging and plot-advancing encounters results in a fairly satisfying experience, even in a game with uninspiring combat.

The downside is that when you lose the occasional encounter (since they're designed to actually be dangerous, and the AI/combat control sucks), the NWN2 engine forces you to sit through 2 minutes of loading.

 

[Thrasher]

I'd play in puppet mode so you don't have to rely on the AI.

 

[dolio]

Yeah. I played in puppet mode. But you still have to deal with idiotic path finding. Or 'my target is running away from me, so I'll run past 8 guys, taking hits to follow him'. Or my favorite, 'I have a bow equipped, but the target you selected is out of range, so instead of running just into range, I'll run right next to him, through the line of orcs with greatswords.'

 

[Thrasher]

Ugh. can't you turn off pathing, and set way points? Maybe I'm confusing it with ToEE.

Also I know you can set someone to guard so he doesn't run past those enemies.

 

[Thrasher]

Finished PoR and am starting Curse.

Does anyone know of a crack to disable the annoying codewheel check at startup?

Found one for PoR but not curse.

 

[Luzur]

Finished PoR and am starting Curse.

Does anyone know of a crack to disable the annoying codewheel check at startup?

Found one for PoR but not curse.

Adding STING to the command line (first parameter) will: * Skip the Title screen * Allow toggling debug mode, press CTRL+D. Output is put in the DEBUG.txt file. While in debug mode: o Each executed Byte Code is logged to the debug file o Press CTRL+Z to dump the affects that each party member has o Press CTRL+C to exit the game straight away

Adding Wooden to the command line (second parameter) will allow you to: * Display the area map in all areas * Skip the copy protection, so you dont need the code wheel * Turn on Free Training when in a trainer, press J. This means: o You dont pay the 1000 gold pieces o You dont need to have the required EXP to train o Your character doesnt need to be conscious o Training centers will train all classes o You will be given the required EXP to be the level you have just trained for * Pressing Alt-x or - (minus) in combat will cause The Gods intervene! and kill all enemies

Thus you would type start.exe STING Wooden at the DOS prompt.

 

[mondblut]

Luckily I've never played those two. I heard they were quite horrible.

No, the two Ravenlofts were pretty grand, as far as realtime blob kind of a game can be. Great music and scary atmosphere.

 

[jaylittle]

If you want to crack the DOS versions, use NEVERLOCK. This is what we used to use to crack a variety of DOS games back in the day and it works well. I have used it's cracks for all of the SSI Forgotten Realms Games without issue.

 

[Thrasher]

Thanks guys, it's working now with the codewheel check skipped!

I couldn't get my DoSBox shortcut to take a command parameter, so I had to create a special config file that autoexecuted commands at the end to run curse with the STING and Wooden parameters.

No more long loading screens,too!

UPDATE: Note that these parameters ARE case-sensitive. They must be "STING" and "Wooden" exactly, otherwise they don't work.

 

[octavius]

Mulmaster, on the other hand - no, there's no conceivable way one could finish that battle, or even survive the first round, I think - without the Dust. What you're set against in that fight is simply insane, heh.

Heh, I beat the Mulmaster Corp without the Dust of Disappearance. I thought it was just regular Invisibility for the whole party. I didn't even have maxed characters, since I just roll one character for each possible class/gender/alignment combination and pick the best ones. So I get decent, but not über, characters.
Anyways the way I beat the Corp was to first buff and especially the fighter/thief. The oft undervalued backstab is the best tactic aginst the Drow Lords. The High Priests are easy prey for a few well placed Fireballs. Then its just a matter for the fighters to wait outside the room and lure the Drow Lords and Beholders out. The Fighter types chop up the Beholders while the Fighter/Thief (with 25 str, Haste and so forth) backstabs the Drow Lords.
Tedious, but doable if you exploit the poor AI.
EDIT: I did not use the disngage-from-melee-to-make-opponent-waste-their-turn-on-a-free-attack exploit.

 

[Zomg]

You might be able to do with a classic GB exploit (I think this worked in at least one of them, can't remember if that includes Curse). Make everyone invis and have a fighter/mage character also cast fire shield and haste on himself before the fight. Then just have that guy run back and forth out of melee to trigger the Goldbox pseudo- attacks of opportunity from the enemies (I believe they get it even against invisible enemies), who will fry themselves on flame shield damage. Keep the exploit guy healed up with an inventory full of potions or something.

 

[Jaesun]

I Played and (barely) finished the whole PoR to Pools of Darkness (JEBUS FUCKING CHRISTMAS!) years ago..... LOL if Pools of darkness was released today.... hahah!

I never did play any of the Savage Frontier series. I shall have to give them a try...?

 

[octavius]

I never did play any of the Savage Frontier series. I shall have to give them a try...?

Apart from the very tedious random encounters (too many, very little variation and no Parley option) they are worth playing. The first SF has a very nice ending.

 

[Thrasher]

So, here I am playing Curse. Caleared Hap and am now in the drow/salamander caves leading to the Wizard's Tower.

I've over 10,0000 platnum pieces, having to drop some to pick up the nagic items.

So what do I do with all this platinum? Haven't found a jewelry store yet.

I really like the minor improvements of PoR in the interface. The FIX command being one of my favorites. Mainly minor changes but with big impacts to playability.

 

[dragonbait]

So what do I do with all this platinum? Haven't found a jewelry store yet.

There's a nice magic shop in Zhentil Keep. Then after you complete Zhentil Keep there is another magic shop when you search the area near (either Voonlar or Dagger Falls) I forget which one.

 

[Thrasher]

Will going to Zhentil Keep break the game if I go there early?

 

[Luzur]

Will going to Zhentil Keep break the game if I go there early?

you will get your ass handed back to you/cant enter, cant remember.

 

[Thrasher]

No that's no solution then?

What do I do with all this platinum?

 

[Luzur]

try going there early, since i cant remember.

 

[Thrasher]

OK, Hillsfar wasn't very friendly to visit, Zhentil Keep should prove entertaining. If they are hostile then I guess I'll have to drop loads of platinum all over the Dalelands . Idiotic game design....

 

[GarfunkeL]

Don't worry, the game world is filled with gold, gems and platinum. Just drop it, you'll get more soon enough.

 

[Thrasher]

I don't mnid it if I don't need it. Encumbrance is just a hassle unless it really forces you to make some tactical choices with serious consequences. But why give chars all this platinum if they can't even carry it? Seems stupid to me....

 

[dragonbait]

You can go to Zhentil Keep at any time. There's a whole lotta scrolls at the magic shop & some other goodies. If your worried about getting your butt kicked then don't follow the halfling down to the lower level until your ready. Just enter the keep, go to the magic shop and then leave. The battles get tougher in this order
Tilverton/Thieves Guild <Dracandros' Tower/Hap < Moander's Pit/Yulash < Zhentil Keep/Dexam battle < Myth Drannor