Gold Box SSI's Gold Box Series Thread

[Dorateen]

What was that high level death spell that clerics could get in Pools of Darkness... Destruction? I think I remember destroying a Pet of Kalistes or two.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

What was that high level death spell that clerics could get in Pools of Darkness... Destruction? I think I remember destroying a Pet of Kalistes or two.

It is Destruction. The target dies without a saving throw. I just had a lot of fun with my magic-users and throwing around Disintegration spells.

I beat The Secret of the Silver Blades last night and all I can say is ... meh. The game was a grind and felt too repetitive. This is for several reasons:

1. First, you keep fighting the Black Circle throughout the entire game. The composition of their forces rarely changes. Instead you find yourself battling more difficult versions of the same swordsmen and spellcasters as you reach the more difficult areas.

2. When the game does change up other enemies it does so by regions, so you'll face off against Umber Hulks in the mines and frost based giants and dragons in the ice caverns. The problem is that these maze-like dungeons are so large that you battle an endless horde of the same type of creatures interspersed with the occasional Black Circle thugs.

3. My spell variation decreased as the game progressed. Early on I might use spells like stinking cloud and hold person and confusion more often than damaging spells like fireball to try to shape the battlefield to my advantage. Because of the higher level enemies having awesome saving throws towards the middle of the game, I found myself using mostly fireballs. I love the cloudkill spell, but by the time my mages had it it was just about useless.

I think they made the bad guys too evil in a cartoonish way. Of the two brothers, the paladin was a bit of a dick. "Oh no, my brother sealed himself away and is trying to become a lich. I know, let me gather some companions and kill him." "Oh no, I can't kill my brother who wisely decided to defend himself with quickly assembled mercenary forces. Let me have my wizards seal them in ice forever and away from their families and loved ones. It is the only moral way."

I don't know why the Black Circle wasn't up front with everyone. "Hey miners and ice giants, I don't think you know this but your labors are cutting into an ancient castle encased in ice, therefore releasing a lot of monsters and warriors with a lot of pent up anger. We might be able to help you and diffuse the situation, but in the process we are going to try to acclimate our previously great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandfathers back to everyday life. Some asshole paladin sealed them up there centuries ago and they think they are still fighting a forgotten war. You get to go back to mining and we bring our family back. Everybody wins." Instead they and the lich decide to try to eradicate everyone, while mocking them with riddles and the attempted extermination of a civilian population along the way. The only thing missing was mustache twirling.

The game world also felt stale as the available locations were limited and dull, especially when compared to the two previous games with their outdoor travel and rival factions.

Vala was both hot and helpful on the front lines, but my paladin and ranger with +5 swords and girdles of giant strength outshown her in the end. My cleric was everyone's pin cushion and had trouble protecting himself and the flank. I'm worried about his staying power in Pools of Darkness, though having three magic-users in the back rocked with their Fireballs and later their Disintegration.

Here's a pic of Vala, from Pools of Darkness, which I gather she rejoins the party in:

The last encounter was a breeze, though my cleric almost went down (again) before I moved support in and he cast Heal on himself. There were a lot of iron golems, but even my spellcasters are pretty good swordsmen. I cast Prayer and Haste, then had them Fireball the medusas to death before joining the front line in hacking down the golems. My party composition looked like this:

Vala (NPC) the 15th Level Fighter
14th Level Paladin
15th Level Ranger
8th Level Ranger/15th level Cleric
8th Level Fighter/15th level Magic-User
8th Level Ranger/15th level Magic-User
9th level Cleric/14th level Magic-User

I just loaded them into Pools of Darkness, which I'm not planning to get into yet. I want to knock out some Ultima Underworld first. I will say that the graphics and animation of Pools of Darkness are a significant upgrade to Secret of the Silver Blades and I'm looking forward to getting into the game. At mid and higher levels, dual-class characters can outshine multi-class by hit points and level advancement. My party was quite ready for the end boss here in ways that my demi-human party of Curse of the Azure Bonds was not.

 

[octavius]

The main problem with Secret is that there's a humongous army of monsters, soldiers and mages in a very small, obscure place, something which makes it very hard to keep up the suspension of disbelief.

Still, I found it more enjoyable than Gateway to the Savage Frontier.
One spell I found good use for in Secret was the Death Spell - very effective against monsters with little HP and nasty attacks, like cockatrices.

Your party should do well in Pools of Darkness, and will be more powerful at the end than my own party was. I had a single class cleric that was all but useless in combat, and in the last half of PoR my Fighter/Thief didn't find many backs to stab.

 

[Sceptic]

The main problem with Secret is that there's a humongous army of monsters, soldiers and mages in a very small, obscure place, something which makes it very hard to keep up the suspension of disbelief.

The real problem with Secret is that mowing down this army is tedious.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

I just started with the first area, where Vala is fighting against some Vaasans and elementals. I had to reload a couple of times, but I was able to complete the cave in some quick time with her joining the party and helping the front line. Unfortunately she bailed soon after. I was hoping she'd stay through as she was pretty awesome in a fight.

The Gold Box engine has gotten a significant upgrade since Secret of the Silver Blades and the animation is quite awesome. I now have another reason to love the fireball spell. It's also nice to see the area of effect in visual terms, so I have a better idea where to center the area of effect spells. I know people say that the Gold Box engine was showing its age at this time, but to me this upgrade shows that the Gold Box engine could have been still viable for a few more years with just a few graphical tweaks. The only part looking archaic are the character icons, but the battles in Pools of Darkness still look better than some indie and iOS games being published decades years later.

 

[octavius]

I'm one of the few who love the high level AD&D stuff, at least in the GB game; not so much in BG2. Pools of Darkness is my favourite GB game after Dark Queen of Krynn.

In PoD I noticed the following differences from Secret of the Silver Blades:

Rings of Invisibility do not seem to work. In Secret a character wearing the ring could disengage from melee without the adjacent enemies getting a free attack, in PoD that doesn't work.

Ring of Electrical Immunity doesn't work either. I'm pretty sure it did work in the Amiga version and was a great help in the final battles.

Wands have different class restrictions.

On the bright side enemy AI was improved in this game. Now enemies are able to move into range and then cast spells. Targeting is also more intelligent; they usually avoid fighters on Guard and they don't blindly walk into Stinking Clouds. The latter is a double edged sword though, as it's too easy to block enemies' paths and calmly shoot them with missile weapons.

 

[Gozma]

Damn I have played through I think every Gold Box game at least once and the story, in any of them, never even registered to me aside from "So where is the next place I go?" Reading that SSB review I was like, "Huh, I guess they DID have stories..."

Shitty poorly plotted excuse stories like the one you descibed in SSB were made for people like me... sorry guys

I agree that SSB sucks, story aside, just from pure tedium and repetition. It's the worst GB on those terms as far as I can remember. Champions of Krynn I think gets pretty bad too, but I can't remember if it's near the same level.

 

[Jaesun]

The Gold Box Games were never known for exceptional story telling. Also the Pope is Catholic. And Bears shit in the woods.

Film at 11.

 

[octavius]

I agree that SSB sucks, story aside, just from pure tedium and repetition. It's the worst GB on those terms as far as I can remember. Champions of Krynn I think gets pretty bad too, but I can't remember if it's near the same level.

CoK was one of the weaker GB games. There was nothing interesting to find by exploring the overland map, and the encounter design was not as good as in the later Krynn games. I hate "Monsters Attack!", and I especially disliked all the evil elf enemies ("Elven Killer"? ), since that is very contradictory to the "lore" of the Dragonlance novels.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

This set of Gold Box games does have a re-occurring villain called Tyranthraxus, though he gets retconned after Curse of the Azure Bonds. Tyranthraxus is the entity that possessed a dragon in the first two games, then is supposedly destroyed in Curse. You have a new villain in Secret of the Silver Blades, but now in Pools of Darkness it is hinted that Tyranthraxus was actually an avatar of the evil god Bane, that Bane unsuccessfully orchestrated the events in Secret of the Silver Blades to have the party killed, and that he somehow wrecked havoc on the entire section of the Forgotten Realms you are in.

But don't worry. Ubermensch Eliminster shows up to help, otherwise you'd be screwed. : x

The overall plot is pretty weak. Comic books are better written. But there are some sparks of genius, and I like the touches with Phlan being saved and showing up in later games. And the tactical aspects of the game really shine.

 

[Sceptic]

But there are some sparks of genius.

Just wait until you get to Moander. Best part of the game, and my favourite in any of the GB games.

POD is great. I think POR was the best of the series, but POD is a close second, and it's the only high-level D&D game that I really like (other than MotB, though being high-level had nothing to do with that)

 

[Dorateen]

This set of Gold Box games does have a re-occurring villain called Tyranthraxus, though he gets retconned after Curse of the Azure Bonds. Tyranthraxus is the entity that possessed a dragon in the first two games, then is supposedly destroyed in Curse.

Did you ever find the Easter Egg about Tyranthraxus in Secret of the Silver Blades? It was mentioned in a journal entry. Might have been false, but you never know...

 

[Deuce Traveler]

This set of Gold Box games does have a re-occurring villain called Tyranthraxus, though he gets retconned after Curse of the Azure Bonds. Tyranthraxus is the entity that possessed a dragon in the first two games, then is supposedly destroyed in Curse.

Did you ever find the Easter Egg about Tyranthraxus in Secret of the Silver Blades? It was mentioned in a journal entry. Might have been false, but you never know...

I think I missed that. Can you share it?

 

[GarfunkeL]

Ah, Vala...

Vala, Kitiara, Laurana and Alias...

 

[Dorateen]

This set of Gold Box games does have a re-occurring villain called Tyranthraxus, though he gets retconned after Curse of the Azure Bonds. Tyranthraxus is the entity that possessed a dragon in the first two games, then is supposedly destroyed in Curse.

Did you ever find the Easter Egg about Tyranthraxus in Secret of the Silver Blades? It was mentioned in a journal entry. Might have been false, but you never know...

I think I missed that. Can you share it?

There was Journal Entry 34:

OLD MANS TALE OF THE FLAMING ONE
'The Flaming One is an accursed demon, destined to live as long as man walks
the earth. He can possess anything of flesh. Last time he was defeated was
in Myth Drannor and rumor held that he had died. If ya listen to travellers,
yah can trace his movements. He is trapped in some diminutive form and seeks
the power to release himself. I think he's skulking the ruins, seeking the
power of the Dreadlord.'

And then there was this nugget of Journal Entry, which if taken in context with the above, is an amusing reference to the fate of Tyranthraxus:

'I didn't drink that much. I'm sure that mouse in the corner was
glowing.'

Of course, the way it worked is that the true Journal Entries were mixed with those that were completely false or misleading. But they were always interesting to read through after the adventure. I like to think that anything that was not directly contradicted in game, could be a viable version of events that the party was not aware of.

 

[GarfunkeL]

I always loved the Tavern Tales best.

 

[elodman]

ave

in PoR, in Old Rope Guild (amiga ver.) just killed the 4 trolls and 2 ogres.
Reward: two-handed sword +3 !!!! (, short shword +1, ...)

Isn't this version buggy?
I think it could be the best weapon in all PoR ??!!!
On C-64 I dont remember gaining such a powerful weapon so soon.

( A real bug: in shops when appraising gems / jewels, the Keep option will lose the item)

 

[octavius]

ave

in PoR, in Old Rope Guild (amiga ver.) just killed the 4 trolls and 2 ogres.
Reward: two-handed sword +3 !!!! (, short shword +1, ...)

Isn't this version buggy?
I think it could be the best weapon in all PoR ??!!!
On C-64 I dont remember gaining such a powerful weapon so soon.

The loot is random. I once got one +3 weapon and one +2 weapon. But getting both +3 and 2H Sword is very lucky.

 

[elodman]

Eeeh, Thou art fast, Sage of all worthy games, never sleeping, rn't u?
thanx

 

[Deuce Traveler]

Sleep is what ages of decline are for.

 

[octavius]

I have too many Hit Dice to be affected by Sleep.

Hey, we have a poll now? Cool.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

I shan't vote until I play each one.

And where is FRUA?

 

[Jaesun]

Added FRUA.

 

[Sceptic]

POR is winning by a large margin

 

[eric__s]

A lot of the Gold Box games kind of fade together to me. I played them very young and I was never really into 2nd edition D&D combat, but I was crazy about Unlimited Adventures as a kid. I can't count the amount of hours I logged into making horrendous modules in them. They are long gone now, but it was the first experience I had making games and I guess I owe a lot to it.