Spell of Gold (Заклятие) Master Thread (Help, Patching and Modding)

[Poseidon]

Greetings all,

This is an edited post of all my findings, solutions and research done so far, to avoid any confusion for users finding this thread for the first time.

This thread is regarding a fairly obscure Russian title called Spells of Gold (or Заклятие in its native language) developed by Jonquil (now defunct) and published by Buka in 2002 (who still own the IP as far as I'm aware).

FAQ:

Q: How do I get the game?
A: Unless you have a physical copy from days old, obtaining the game via legal means nowadays would be troublesome at best. It used to be on Buka store, but I can longer find it. Some copies of the EN release exist on Amazon at somewhat high prices though. Several websites offer it for Download as Abandonware, I'll leave the legal/moral implications of that to you.

Q: What version of the game is available/do I have?
A: You can press V in game to show game version. As far as I'm aware the Cyrilic releases of the game (RU and BG) received Patch 1.04. Everyone else is stuck with Version 1.03

Q: How do I even run the game on modern systems?
A: The game usually runs fine, but given that it uses an outdated DX version, you'll most likely have FPS issues. You can fix those by using either DXWND (https://sourceforge.net/projects/dxwnd/) or dgVooDoo (http://www.dege.freeweb.hu/). After some testing I find different graphic cards work different with each software so you'll have to do some testing in regards to that. Personally I prefer DXWND and you can find more info about running the game using that software further down in the thread. It is also recommended to use command line arguments -hardcore and -noscroll (First one increases number of enemies and makes them stronger, second one removes the inertia of map scrolling)

Q: Is the game still actively developed?
A: No, as mentioned Jonquil has been defunct for a while. Several people have gotten in touch with the Lead Programmer of the game and he has expressed his opinion against any kind of Remaster of the game.

Q: How do I learn spells?
A: Go into a magic school and press TAB to switch between Skills and Spells.

Q: Do any mods or patches exist?
A: Yes, there are a few variations of a mod by Rokill that exist:
Version 1.12a ENGLISH ONLY
Version 1.12a RUSSIAN ONLY
Version 1.051 ANY LANGUAGE - Highest version to support any language, which is also includes increased shop stock, HOWEVER, it will crash your game every time you try to do the main quest. "Well, what's the point then" - The point is, main quest is very short, if you're looking to min-max and explore, this is what you want.
- The "Hardcore" setter (allows you to increase number of enemies. Only works with the modded game.) - https://www.moddb.com/mods/spells-of-gold-hd-mod/downloads/sog-hardcore-setter
- HQ Sounds and Music (Standalone) - https://www.moddb.com/mods/spells-of-gold-hd-mod/addons/sound-and-music-hd-mod

Q: How do I go about modding the game?
A: By being extremely stubborn. Luckily some of the work has already been done - Modder Tools

Q: Is there any active community - Updated July 2023!
A: That depends. Most people end up on this thread, and subsequently to my personal streaming Discord to find me and talk about the game and/or work. If you're interested or have any questions, feel free to join - https://discord.gg/CwtWyqM

Hopefully this would help some more people share their love of this flawed gem. Cheers!

EDIT: Adding original version of this post for consistency:

Spoiler

Greetings all,

Before I share my woes I'll just quickly mention that I tried searching the forums for the game but I only got an error 404 with the search function so here goes:

So there's this relatively old game Spells of Gold, developed by Jonquil and published by Buka. This was back in 2002. However, the game was licensed to other publishers to translate and sell in their respective countries (Oxygen Interactive for UK, Gramis for BG and whoever else for Hungary and Poland.)
Now, this limited western release and the fact that it is rather rough around the edges made it sink into obscurity. It is a RPG with trading elements which according to the few reviews you can find online don't work very well together. However, the game does hold a certain charm and nostalgic elements (at least for me). It is also one of those games that are a completionist's paradise (or hell, depending on your POV), since it has a plethora of skills and spells to be leveled dozens of times, but each level is learned from different trainer in a different town, and there are more than a 100 towns.

Using your Google-Fu, you can find reviews or even gameplay videos to judge it for yourself. (I don't want to link anything in particular myself as I've noticed some frowning upon towards certain website in other threads.)

Now, what does this have to do with the Workshop you ask? Well, I like this game a lot and want to play it again, but it certainly has a lot to be desired. I'd like to ask for help from some of the modders on here or at least people that are more experienced software engineers than I ever was.

Here's what I'd like to know or even accomplish (somehow):
1. Because of the aforementioned problems, there's very little information about the technical side of the game on the interwebz. Getting an English release was somewhat troublesome to begin with and I couldn't be bothered to play it (let alone learn to mod it) in Russian or my native language.
The issue - pressing V within the game displays the version and that always shows 1.0.2.2. Now I know the game was patched for the RU,BG, HU and PL releases and the latest patch is 1.04. Even after obtaining the BG release and installing the 1.04 patch, the game still displays 1.0.2.2 when started. The only hint about any changes that you might get is the game Icon, since the original release had the same Icon as the distributor logo (Buka). Later on (assuming it is 1.04) it switches to a golden crown on a teal background icon. There are no patches to be found anywhere for the ENG releases and the copy that I managed to get my hands on already had the Golden Crown icon. The game still displays 1.0.2.2 internally however.
Is there any way to verify the 1.04 version of the ENG copy?
2. The game uses DirectX 8.1b. If you use Windows 8 or above, well... tough s**t. Since Microsoft removed Directx <9.1 libraries from DirectX 11, the game is unplayable. It runs, but at 1fps or so. Now I know other games that share this "issue", but they can run using DirectPlay (Assume that I have no idea on what DirectPlay is or how it relates to DirectX or it's older libraries).
Is there any way to "fix" that? Somehow make the game recognize DirectX 9.1 libraries or use DirectPlay? Anything that would make it run on Windows 8 and up?
3. As mentioned in point 1. The game was patched several times. I did manage to find some patch notes and one of them says the following:
"Added ability to specify a command line switch «HARDCORE», which runs the game in the "hardcore" mode - a larger number of adversaries increase their level."
I assume they mean I have to write it up in the Shortcut executable. Similar to like you'd run some games with -windowed option or -nosound option? However, once again, there's no way to verify that simply. (Especially when I can't play the game and I can't just dish out a Win 7 partition or a PC right now. And no ty on the VM suggestion.). I'm not even sure that's the way to activate it. And trust me the game needs some difficulty setting. It's very easy otherwise, all you need to do is equip a bow and you're more or less untouchable.
Would it be possible to mod that function in, into the Options menu maybe?
4. As I said the game has merit (at least I think so) and can be turned into something rather decent with modding. However, short of decompiling it and modding it in an Assembly Win32 environment (which would be an enormous pain in the backside), I have no idea on how to go about modding the game. Many years ago, I tried changing the name of an item (it was mistranslated) and it just caused to game to crash whenever finding said item. So that's how far my modding experience goes...

Anyone willing to sacrifice some time and give it a go? Or a few tips on where to get started? I'd be very grateful. Thanks in advance.

 

[Bester]

Did some googling in vatnik. The HARDCORE parameter doesn't require a dash, so it's just "C:\spells of gold\sog.exe" HARDCORE

Regarding the directX issue, the specs say it's using DX7 and not DX8. If it was using DX8, you could give this wrapper a go http://adolfintel.com/?p=wined3d/index.frag but since the game is based on DX7, no luck there.
There's also the DXGL project https://www.dxgl.info/Main_Page that tries to do the same thing, but it doesn't work for most games.

And no ty on the VM suggestion.)

There's probably no other way.

 

[Poseidon]

Thanks Bester,
You're correct, the specs and official website do say DX7, I was misled by the fact that 8.1b was what was provided with the game.
The WineD3D wrapper suggests it can work with DX7, but requires hex editing a bunch of files which will probably just cause more trouble in the end.
The DXGL causes a black screen. Game still works cause sound comes through and you can hear clicking on the menus but fat lot of good that does...
I also tried dgVoodoo2 but that causes a DD_ERROR.
Not sure whether any of this is related to the fact I'm trying this on an Intel HD 3000 (I used to have a beast of a rig, but anyway...)

I only found out about the Hard Mode and such yesterday. I might just downgrade to try it. I don't mind Win 7 and this laptop could use a fresh install anyway.

I'll edit the main post to reflect all this and better explain what I'm trying to do since I don't want this to turn into a game discussion and the Workshop is not the place for that. (Or not, not sure that I can edit it. Forgive me, I'm new...)

P.S. LOL Vatnik (brofists)

 

[Desktop Commander]

Hey, Spells of Gold is one of my favourite flawed games that I come back to every other year or so.

I currently have it running on my Win8.1 machine fluidly, though I remember having the same slowness issues as you initially. I think I simply fixed it by assigning my GeForce instead of the integrated Intel Graphics to it (I'm using a laptop btw). DXwnd might also be worth a try if the Wrappers Bester suggested don't work for you.

Regarding versions, I seem to remember that the German version I used to play was 1.3, which bugged out for me once when I couldn't encounter any enemies above level 1 after reloading a game for some reason. I since then switched to the Italian release, which is the one I'm playing right now. Also bought the english version on Gamersgate when they still had it on sale, though I never tried that version nor do I know which version number it is.

Thanks for the tip regarding Hardcore mode btw - had no idea it existed.

 

[Poseidon]

Big thanks Desktop Commander, DXwnd worked like a charm. No need to tweak with settings or even force "Windowed" on it. Just made a profile for the game, started it and it's running great.
It even manages to run the HARDCORE command. I only played for about an hour, so not sure about monster stats, but at times you do run into 8-9 enemies instead of the regular 3-4. (Diablo people be like "9 enemies? ARE YOU KIDDING ME". No I'm not, and it's great )

For those of you that never tried the game or have doubts about it, GIVE IT A GO. If you can get your hands on a copy, it's definitely worth the few bucks. It has at least a dozen of hours of decent gameplay before it becomes monotonous. Yes, it is a flawed game, but did that ever stop anyone (HINT TROIKA HINT)? It's definitely one of a kind with all of its gameplay elements.
You can find a rather thorough (but by no means 100% complete) guide here: http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/561067-spells-of-gold/faqs/26558

So with all that sorted, I really need some advice on how to go about modding and improving it. Here's some more info:
Graphics seem to be held in .JSR files.
Dialogue and Scripts seem to be held in .CS files.
Most everything else (Quests for example) is held in .DAT files, which can't be properly read in a Text Editor (I tried Notepad++)

After playing for an hour or so, reminding myself about the game and what it could use, I came up with this list of things I'd like to implement:

1. Investigate the Version Mystery
- I found out the game was released in Europe in 2004 (2 years later than original release), which suggests it was already patched to 1.03
- I know for a fact 1.04 exists, even if the only changelog I found says "Multiple Game Fixes"
- By pressing V ingame, it always shows 1.022. Was it simply an oversight? Did they have an internal Version Number different to the patches?
- Thoroughly investigate 1.04 changes and apply them to ENG release (If ENG release ends up being 1.03)
2. Sort Inventory Button
3. Repair Equipment/ALL Button for Armorers
- Only equipped items, repairing random junk is pointless i.e. no sale price change
- Maybe implement Sale Price to depend on Durability
4. Identify All Button for Alchemists
5. Abandon All Quests Button in Journal (Currently it's Ctrl+Shift+F9)
6. Increase Side Quest Limit (Currently it's 5, maybe up to 10. Maybe even remove the limit altogether. Since you can abandon them all easily, who cares?)
7. Bring out the Spells Menu in the Magic Shool (instead of having to press "Tab")
8. Re-work the Save/Load Interface to show more than 2 save files at a time
9. Add the command line options (HARDCORE, NOSCROLL, NOSOUND) into the Options Menu
10. Add more difficulty options
- Even with HARDCORE option, having a Ranged Weapon still seems overpowered. But I need to do more testing.
11. Add a "Help" menu to better explain Stats/Skills/Key Bindings
- Maybe even Tooltips for Stats and Skills, if possible
12. Add/Change Key Bindings (there's no shortcut for Attributes atm)
13. Add "Improves Walking Speed" mechanic to boots.
- Nothing drastic, just enough reduce the overall walking time.
- Not talking about Geography or Portal Skills, I mean the actual animation speed of walking.
14. Change Loot Drop Mechanics:
- Currently everything drops a single item. No point having to run around to collect the 3 or 4 chests, when it can be combined into a single one.
- Maybe have the enemies guard it i.e. can't open the chest till they're all dead. Maybe they drop a key or something.
- Potions drop way too often and there's too many kinds (Do we really need a 5,10 and 15 HP varieties right from the start?)
15. Geography - Re-organize the world map (maybe sort worlds by climate, like deserts, snowy, etc.)
16. Politics - Alliances/Unions between worlds, Empires, Wars, etc.
17. Rework Temples and Guilds - They're both great concepts, but poorly executed. Right now, you can ignore them both and it won't affect you in any way.
18. Expand (or even change) the storyline - Even with 3 different "paths" and endings, it still utilizes a very small portion of all the world/characters
19. A larger variety of side quests

P.S. Can anyone advise me on how editing a post or even a thread (like changing the title for example, or even delete it to better present all the info in a new thread.) works around here. This forum is obviously very different than phpBB. And yes, I'm aware mods can do all of those things.

 

[Bester]

Best bet would be to port the game to Unity first. I don't see how you can rewrite SoG's original engine to such a degree.

And even when porting to Unity, good luck deserializing all that data in .cs files, ripping out assets, etc. But at least it's something that's doable.

Here's the guy who was the lead programmer on SoG, in case you want to ask him a couple of questions https://www.linkedin.com/in/sergey-videneev-74a11333?trk=pub-pbmap

 

[Bester]

Also, patch notes for 1.04 in russian:
1. Added 10 new towns. They can be found in the following worlds: Selendien, Kaastis, Kor-da-Darg, Torsen, Roegrill, Kryos

So that's an easy way to determine what version you're on if you also have 1.03 or prior to compare it with.

 

[Desktop Commander]

Best bet would be to port the game to Unity first.

While I do agree that over half of the items on Poseidon's list seem way too ambitious, this is still one of the odder recommendations I've read, especially as this "port" would most likely amount to ripping the assets and then rewriting the whole thing. Would be more feasible imo to stick to the simpler things for now (walking speed, loot tables, quests) and see if at least those can be altered by poking around the files.

In any case Poseidon the dat files are probably encrypted. I don't know why but Eastern European devs seem to absolutely love encrypting their game files. Best bet would indeed be to contact the lead programmer and see if he can hook you up with whatever program they used to pack and unpack the files back then. Other than that you could also try poking around the SoG.exe with a HEX-Editor - sometimes the exe contains a surprising amount of actual game content (Konung, for instance, was one such game that had most of its text contained within the exe itself)

 

[Poseidon]

I'm aware that many of the things are overly ambitious. After all there's a huge difference between "What I'd like to get done" and "What can be done".
Obviously I'll start with the simpler stuff. Let's take number 7 for example. Most buildings would have 3-4 or options. Talk/Quest/Trade/Etc. But the Mayors and the Temples have 5. So I can look at those particular models and take them as templates to have the Mage dwelling have an extra option. One button for Learn Skills and another for Learn Spells.
I'd assume the same can be done for Armorers and add a Repair All button. That will require some new code, unlike the Mage dwelling, but I think it'll be one of the easier things to do.
Not sure how adding a new difficulty setting would go, but for a start I can just edit the current two. I'd definitely add a base minimum amount of monsters to spawn, since even on Hardcore you still get 4 enemies more often that not.

I also encountered my first major bug - Enemies in the 3rd town in Vayon (Osgart I believe) just stopped spawning. Every time I go, there's chests, battle music is playing but not a soul in sight.

As far as Unity goes: putting how it might help or exactly the opposite aside, wouldn't porting the engine over, require me to then distribute the entire game to anyone who wants to play the mod, rather than just a few files? That seems like a no no. The game isn't abandonware yet and Buka doesn't seem to want to let go anytime soon. Or am I wrong about that if Jonquil (the developer) is now defunct (which i don't know that it is)?

I guess I'll try sending Mr. Videneev a message. Hopefully he holds at least some emotional attachment to his game :D
I also have this childhood friend who is now a pretty decent C programmer. I'll see if he has any suggestions.

I'm surprised you're the only two people that bothered to check this out or help out (at least so far). I find myself looking for "obscure rpgs" or generally RPGs that have slipped by me more often than not. I thought there'd be more people willing to try something they've never heard of before. But even so, I'm a lot more familiar with this game than I was a week ago. Thanks again guys! I'll keep this updated.

 

[ThisNameIsFree]

Russian version shows 1.04 properly. Scripts is compiled lua (4.0?), gl getting decompiler for it (prolly need write your own). Texts stored (obviously) in text directory jtr/jdr files.

 

[Jaesun]

wouldn't porting the engine over, require me to then distribute the entire game to anyone who wants to play the mod, rather than just a few files? That seems like a no no. The game isn't abandonware yet and Buka doesn't seem to want to let go anytime soon. Or am I wrong about that if Jonquil (the developer) is now defunct (which i don't know that it is)?

THAT is a gigantic no-no. DO NOT EVER DISTRIBUTE the original games assets, at all. What you need to do is build an engine similar to what they did for Ultima VII, the Exult engine.

That engine uses all of the original assets, but requires that the user has the original game installed.

Doing an engine that way is the safest bet, and you will never get any kind of cease and desist letter, and should be fine.

 

[Viata]

I'm surprised you're the only two people that bothered to check this out or help out (at least so far). I find myself looking for "obscure rpgs" or generally RPGs that have slipped by me more often than not. I thought there'd be more people willing to try something they've never heard of before. But even so, I'm a lot more familiar with this game than I was a week ago. Thanks again guys! I'll keep this updated.

Tbh, it's more that most people here have a giant backlog that keeps increasing. I have read your thread since day one, but when one has noting to say it's better to not post. And I believe the same goes for those that saw this thread and didn't post.

 

[Mustawd]

I'm surprised you're the only two people that bothered to check this out or help out (at least so far). I find myself looking for "obscure rpgs" or generally RPGs that have slipped by me more often than not. I thought there'd be more people willing to try something they've never heard of before. But even so, I'm a lot more familiar with this game than I was a week ago. Thanks again guys! I'll keep this updated.

Tbh, it's more that most people here have a giant backlog that keeps increasing. I have read your thread since day one, but when one has noting to say it's better to not post. And I believe the same goes for those that saw this thread and didn't post.

^ this.

I've been following along, and it seemed interesting. But I have little modding skills outside of creating 2D assets here and there.

 

[Desktop Commander]

So I just checked and my Italian version also says it's 1.022 when I press 'v' ingame. I guess the non-Eastern European versions simply never received their 1.04 patch.

While I'm not the most talented modder in the world (read: I'm really bad at it) and have little free time nowadays, I do love this game a lot and it would be cool if there were a way to do an unofficial 1.04 patch or something along those lines. I can't promise anything but will check this thread from time to time to see if I can assist in some way.

I also encountered my first major bug - Enemies in the 3rd town in Vayon (Osgart I believe) just stopped spawning. Every time I go, there's chests, battle music is playing but not a soul in sight.

Remember this one from when I still played the German version. Don't know if it was fixed upon restarting the game. I do remember, however, that the other bug I had mentioned (enemies staying at level 1) stuck to the save file, which is why I eventually stopped playing. Italian version is bugfree for me so far.

 

[Poseidon]

Here's the guy who was the lead programmer on SoG, in case you want to ask him a couple of questions https://www.linkedin.com/in/sergey-videneev-74a11333?trk=pub-pbmap

I don't like LinkedIn, it's one of those good ideas that are poorly executed. It's so much trouble just trying to get in touch with someone. In any case I did send Mr. Videneev a message. No reply yet.

Scripts is compiled lua (4.0?), gl getting decompiler for it (prolly need write your own). Texts stored (obviously) in text directory jtr/jdr files.

Actually getting a decompiler for that has been the easiest part so far. CFLuaDC does an excellent job. I can now modify all the .cs and .s files. However that still doesn't allow me to do a lot, most of those scripts call upon a dozen other functions which are buried who knows where else. The only thing I can fully modify right now are the Prayers. I guess I'll have to dig into some Lua then... Without your info on that however I wouldn't have managed to get even this far so thanks!

.jdr is apparently an archive of .jtr files. I found a plug-in for Total Commander, which can unpack them, but I still can't decompile the .jtr What's funny is that this plug-in actually mentioned Spells of Gold in it's Changelog, so maybe I can try and contact the guy who made it. Worst part is that even if I manage to find a way to edit the .jtr, the plugin wants $20 or so for it's PRO version, just to be able to add things into those archives.

.jsr seem to be archives holding graphic assets. Managed to unpack them with that same plugin, but it spits out .scf files. Now usually that's a File Explorer Command file. Obviously not this time, so I'm stumped.

Tbh, it's more that most people here have a giant backlog that keeps increasing. I have read your thread since day one, but when one has noting to say it's better to not post. And I believe the same goes for those that saw this thread and didn't post.

My apologies, I didn't mean to be presumptuous. It's just that I believe participating in the discussion is just as important as the coding itself when it comes to modding, even if it is a short as "This looks cool". Seeing interest from more people not only motivates me, but it might give a better reason for some of the people I'm trying to contact to reply.

I do love this game a lot and it would be cool if there were a way to do an unofficial 1.04 patch or something along those lines.

Hardmode is a 1.03 function. If that works for you, then you have at least that. Screw that in-game version display. Apparently it only works properly in the Russian release. I'm close to confirming that the ENG release is indeed 1.04. Hopefully my save will work just enough between releases to confirm that without crashing the game instantly.

 

[ThisNameIsFree]

scf graphics files indeed.
addr 3c:2bytes = image width
addr 3e:2bytes = image height
addr 43:3bytes = how bits packed (seems rgb 5,6,5 always)
addr 4c:image data start. Seems always 2 bytes per pixel with 5,6,5 bits encoding

Simplest way to convert them is to create with gimp image of needed size, export as bmp: 5,6,5 ; no color space, and just replace image data using hex editor. Or write program which can do it (with program you need generate proper bmp header).

 

[Poseidon]

Been a few days, I did some tinkering here's an update on how things are going:

ENG release is definitely 1.03. That's a shame.
However, I obtained the the 1.04 BG release patch and tinkered around with it with Resource Hacker. I didn't see any problem about applying it to the ENG release. It seems to add/adjust quite a few things. Some quests, some towns, adjust some skills. All good stuff. Some problems do arise though:
- It obviously starts looking for a BG release CD (or RU if you use that one). So you technically won't be able to play the game if you only have ENG.
- I would assume the towns and quests that are added would display in whatever language the patch was designed for. I can't confirm that though because:
- The patch adds a game.dll which becomes the main process when you run the game. Which of course completely busts my DXwnd and I'm back to square one. I tried tinkering with DXwnd settings, trying to point it to the fact that the new process is game.dll. Nada. I even tried using a DLL injector to manually add DXwnd.dll. No luck. I was so pissed.

So what do I do... Relent and install XP on a VM... sigh. After wasting an hour or two setting that up, I finally manage to get the game running, with 1.04. It still behaves somewhat odd, the walking animation is somehow choppier, but otherwise works fine. So I switch my VM to full screen at that point and... the whole VM crashes. The game engine is not very happy with resizing it's window apparently. So I either play it in 4:3 and have terrible black bars on the side or play 1.03. Which is what I did. F*** that VM and 4:3 man...
At least this otherwise garbage Intel HD3000 can stretch the game to 16:9, so I'm sticking with that.

There are some GOOD NEWS though.
I managed to get in touch with the lead programmer for the game (Mr. Videneev) and he is more than happy to help. As most of you guys pointed out - they wrote their own tools. Their UI might be in Russian, but I'm fine with that. He said he might still have them all, but is not sure. As one might expect he's quite busy so it might take some time, but things are definitely moving along.

I do love this game a lot and it would be cool if there were a way to do an unofficial 1.04 patch or something along those lines.

Well you're in luck Commander, that's what I'm focusing on. It should be relatively easy to dish out translations for the added stuff and adjust the CD protection to look for the ENG release. It's just a LABELCHECK so it should be a simple fix. I should be able to make it work for any release of the game, but in those cases you'll have to do the translations yourself.

That's it for now, hopefully more to come soon

 

[ThisNameIsFree]

- The patch adds a game.dll which becomes the main process when you run the game. Which of course completely busts my DXwnd and I'm back to square one. I tried tinkering with DXwnd settings, trying to point it to the fact that the new process is game.dll. Nada. I even tried using a DLL injector to manually add DXwnd.dll. No luck. I was so pissed.

It worked fine to me. Just add game.dll to the dxwnd list and after this run sog.exe normally (keeping dxwnd opened). Make sure you deleted sog.exe from dxwnd list (Dxwnd hooks to first loaded exe/dll from the list regardless how it started).

 

[Flit]

Hi,

Sorry about my english, I'm french...
I looked for a solution for my only 1 fps on SoG. I don't have 2 GPs like Desktop Commander, and I tried to run DxWnd but I don't find any configuration to fix my issue.
Does anyone could help me, please ?
(I'm on Windows 8)

 

[Poseidon]

And necroed!

So over the last 3 years since I started this thread, every couple of months I would get a random new message on Discord poking me about this thread. Which is pretty cool to be honest.
Mostly people asking if I ever got anywhere/achieved anything and sadly I had to disappoint them. But it's always nice to see people still interested.
A couple of weeks ago, however, someone new came in, who had already done some work!

I present to you the Spells of Gold HD Mod 1.05 by Rokill https://www.moddb.com/downloads/spells-of-gold-hd-mod-v105

All it does is remove the 640x480 option in the menus, replacing it with 1280x720. Additionally the music has been remastered to 16-bit, EQ-ed and compressed.

Will work with all languages/distributions of the game, however, it will still require either DxWND or dgVoodoo to correct FPS issues described earlier.

Rokill also had an interest in upscaling all the assets, but apparently compressing them back into the required archives turned out more complicated than it has to be.

This will probably the final version of this patch, since I can no longer seem to get in touch with Mr. Videneev (the lead programmer of the game) and additional changes will require a lot more effort.

Nevertheless I will keep this thread updated... even if once a year :D

 

[Skdursh]

Look up DXWND. It re-implements DX7 and other deprecated APIs/functions necessary to play a lot of older games from the period.

Nevermind, I only read the beginning of the thread at first, but it seems you already learned of DXWND.

 

[Poseidon]

Main post amended for clarity and findings.

Since the release of the 1.05 I've had two more modders get in touch with me and as stated in the main post, we have started a small group/discussion on Discord about modding and mapping the game and that is quite exciting!

Flit I know I'm nearly 2 years late, but read the main post now :D

 

[Poseidon]

"Business" has absolutely picked up!

I present to you TWO updates, both created by our good friend Rokill.

1. Spells of Gold HD Patch Version 1.051 - https://www.moddb.com/mods/spells-of-gold-hd-mod/downloads/spells-of-gold-hd-mod-v1051
Shop stock is now directly related to your Character Trade Level. The higher Trade level you are, the more stock shops have available. Makes those trading trips a lot more rewarding and a lot less tedious. Also increases the value of the Trade skill in general, as it was almost impossible to max out your bags previously.

2. The SoG Hardcore Setter:
If you're using the "HARDCORE" command line argument, to increase the number of enemies and their difficulty, you now have the option to manually adjust those settings, using a simple JAVA Patcher - https://www.moddb.com/downloads/sog-hardcore-setter
Requires the aforementioned HD patch to use.

Main post will be updated with these soon. Happy playing and hopefully, there'll be more news soon!

 

[Poseidon]

Greetings once again,

I hope 2020 hasn't been too rough on you. I bring you yet another Spells of Gold update. Main post has been updated with several links to patches and tools that have been created so far.

The biggest news being Rokill's patch 1.1 has been released and includes several changes:

- Trade Goods increase from Trade Level that was added in version 1.051 has been removed for now as it seems to crash the game. We need feedback on that if you're up for testing it. Link to 1.051 patch is in the main post.
- 31 new NPC portraits including females who were missing from the original game!
- Main menu, scrolls and credits were redrawn in HD.
- Dark Quests were slightly modified (removed some repetitiveness)
- 7 Legendary weapons and quests for obtaining them were added.
- A few wrappers that -might- remove the need for additional software to run the game were added into the patch.

Once again links are in the main post, including a link to my personal Discord where you can get involved and find modding tools designed by rokill himself or simply talk about the game and ask questions!
Have fun and I hope we can have some feedback soon!

 

[Numi]

I got a Czech version of Spells of Gold, do you think any of the patches could be supported by it?