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CRPGAddict

HiddenX

The Elder Spy
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He is, in fact, writing a book.
Yeah, I found a blog post about that, but it was in early 2013... no updates since then?

It's been tough to prioritize this project, especially given how much time I spend on the blog already. I'll get something out eventually, but I'm not going to post any more about it until I have it at least 3/4 finished.

As reader of your blog for 3 years, can i ask of something?

I wait for one particular game - called Arcaterra the dark brotherhood - can you try to finish it in your blog?

This game is non-static, i.e. NPC lead their own life not depending on you, events happens at time they supposed to happen not depending on you and a lot things are randomized from start. Also NPC dont talk with your forever, you can ask some questions but talking a lot will bother them (some faster, some can talk longer) so you need come another day.
So all in all its very close to reality game. And there is no walkthru for it, except 1 and no lets plays. I knowu have ability to finish hard (not combat, but intellectual) games.

Arcatera is by by far the worst, buggiest game ever made. A disgrace to the famous German narrator Hans Paetsch who does a cool job of voice acting in the german version of the game.
 

octavius

Arcane
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I used to own a ZX Spectrum, but can't remember ever hearing about Ring of Darkness. I hope CRPG Addict will try some other Spectrum games, though, like Out of the Shadows and Heavy on the Magick.
 

:Flash:

Arcane
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http://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/2014/07/game-155-ring-of-darkness-1982.html

When I say "breathtakingly obvious ripoff," I couldn't be more serious. The product would be indistinguishable from Ultima except for the couple of features it steals from Akalabeth and Ultima II. These include:

  • Overland, iconographic surface navigation is contrasted with first-person wireframe dungeon movement.
  • The game has the same attributes, races, and character classes as Ultima, plus modifications to attributes based on race and class choices.
  • The same enemies pop up in the wilderness, including "evil rangers" (Ultima)
  • The command list is copied almost directly from Ultima, including (K)limb, (Z)stats, and (I)nform and Search.
  • A king gives you random quests to visit signs and slay enemies (Akalabeth and Ultima) and takes your gold for hit-point increases (Ultima and Ultima II)
  • Oh, but you also get hit points when you leave dungeons, based on the number of enemies you killed! (Akalabeth, Ultima)
  • Quests offered by kings alter between visiting signs and killing specific enemies in dungeons (Ultima)
  • Towns feature little counters selling weapons, armor, spells, and food. You engage them by walking up and hitting (T)ransact.
  • Bartenders give hints when you buy drinks (Ultima).
  • Spells appear as inventory items that deplete as cast (all three games)
  • You need to constantly watch dwindling food supplies (all three games)
  • Magic only works in dungeons (Ultima II)
  • A king's castle features a princess in jail and a jester wandering around who steals from you. And guess what the jester has to say?

If you don't have to fight Tie Fighters to become a Space Ace it's not a real Ultima ripoff.
 

octavius

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It's interesting to see how much more skilled he is now than when he started, both as a gamer and as a "historian".
Now he finishes all his games, and manage to dig up lots of interesting trivia. In the beginning he gave up too many games too easily (ha made Wizardry 1-3 and Wizard's Crown sound more difficult than they really are), and seemed to have little idea about the historical context of the games he played.
 

octavius

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He has commented on that, too, going back and replaying a couple of games that he thought were too difficult in order to finish them, all the while saying how embarrassed he was for quitting early. It was Wizardry II that I think completed his transition:

http://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/2014/03/wizardry-ii-won.html

Ironically Wiz 2 is the easiest one of Wiz 1-3, as long as you have decent characters to transfer from Wiz 1. Main problem is of course if you lose characters and have no experienced ones to replace them. But overall Wiz 2 was rather quick and easy compared to 1 and 3.
I hope he gives Wiz 3 another chance, as it is in many ways the best of the very early Wizardries, the only problem being that of balance and the fact (?) that it was supposed to have a sequel, so the last level doesn't feel dangerous enough compared to Wiz 1.

I hope he also goes back to Wizard's Crown and Bard's Tale 3, two other games I myself added to my chronological play list after my long summer break. With the unoffical patch that fixes the bugs in the DOS version of BT3 it should be playable, and after playing too many popamole games from the mid 90's (like Anvil of Dawn) I noticed that a hard core blobber like Wiz 1 was just what I needed.
 

octavius

Arcane
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He just started playing a Wizardry clone called Dragon Sword (no, not Ninja Gaiden).
I've never heard about it before, and I can't even find any mention of it here on the Codex.
Anyone tried it? Crooked Bee?
 

DaveO

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May 30, 2007
Messages
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Why should the Addict go back to Wizard's Crown? He quit the game just like Octavius did and I don't see any remotely logical reason to return to it.
 

octavius

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Why should the Addict go back to Wizard's Crown? He quit the game just like Octavius did and I don't see any remotely logical reason to return to it.

Who are you replying to?
I agree about Wizard's Crown, but I really think he should give Wizardry 2-4 another go. 2-3 aren't that difficult, and Wiz 2 can be completed in a couple of days. But of course he'll need experienced characters...
 

iZerw

Arcane
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Apr 18, 2012
Messages
895
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Russia
Why should the Addict go back to Wizard's Crown? He quit the game just like Octavius did and I don't see any remotely logical reason to return to it.

Who are you replying to?
I agree about Wizard's Crown, but I really think he should give Wizardry 2-4 another go. 2-3 aren't that difficult, and Wiz 2 can be completed in a couple of days. But of course he'll need experienced characters...
He finished Wiz2.
 

octavius

Arcane
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Why should the Addict go back to Wizard's Crown? He quit the game just like Octavius did and I don't see any remotely logical reason to return to it.

Who are you replying to?
I agree about Wizard's Crown, but I really think he should give Wizardry 2-4 another go. 2-3 aren't that difficult, and Wiz 2 can be completed in a couple of days. But of course he'll need experienced characters...
He finished Wiz2.

Right. I had forgotten about that.
 

groke

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SAVE THIS CHARACTER? NO.
Codex 2013 Codex 2014 PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015 Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Serpent in the Staglands Divinity: Original Sin Torment: Tides of Numenera BattleTech I'm very into cock and ball torture
Did you guys know CRPGAddict wrote in to CGW in 1992? He did!

S4rI0Q5.png


:troll:
 

TigerKnee

Arcane
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
Messages
1,920
Damn, you got my hopes up, I thought it was the actual CRPGAddict who wrote that letter so we could go rass him about Wiz6 some more.
 

PhantasmaNL

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PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015 Grab the Codex by the pussy Codex USB, 2014 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 BattleTech Bubbles In Memoria
I also recommend his writings about Wiz4 (articles from a few years back), maybe the most punishing game ever created? Releasing something like that today will lead to lawsuits and probably prison.
 

DaveO

Erudite
Joined
May 30, 2007
Messages
1,239
Sure, he has finished more of the games he plays. In my opinion, he should stop at the year 2000 as a cutoff. Once he gets into more familiar territory, I'm sure he'd attract all sorts of unwanted attention.
 

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