Editorial Golden Age SSI AD&D CRPG Retrospectives by Reggie Carolipio

[Infinitron]

Tags: Dungeons & Dragons; Gold Box; Reggie Carolipio; Strategic Simulations, Inc.

Upon hearing the phrase "Golden Age of RPGs", many gamers might immediately think of Origin's Ultima series or Sir-Tech's Wizardry series. Some might also remember New World Computing's Might & Magic or even Interplay's Bard's Tale or Wasteland. However, the company that perhaps embodied the Golden Age most of all was Strategic Simulations, Inc., commonly known as SSI.

Over a decade before Baldur's Gate and the Infinity Engine games, SSI published a whole slew of licensed AD&D CRPGs, starting from 1988's legendary Pool of Radiance. The most famous among these were the "Gold Box" titles, named for the distinctive gold-colored boxes in which they were sold, but there were many others. Sadly, these classics remain inexplicably absent from modern digital distribution portals, and their memories may eventually be lost in time...like tears in rain.

To help remedy that, Reggie Carolipio, a chronicler of gaming history whose work we've featured before, has spent the last month finishing up his retrospectives of SSI's Golden Age AD&D titles. Here's the list of them all, organized by series:

• Pool of Radiance
• Curse of the Azure Bonds
• Secret of the Silver Blades
• Pools of Darkness

• Gateway to the Savage Frontier
• Treasures of the Savage Frontier

• Eye of the Beholder
• Eye of the Beholder II – The Legend of Darkmoon
• Eye of the Beholder III – Assault on Myth Drannor

• Hillsfar

• Champions of Krynn
• Death Knights of Krynn
• The Dark Queen of Krynn

• Heroes of the Lance
• Dragons of Flame
• Shadow Sorcerer

• DragonStrike

• Spelljammer – Pirates of Realmspace

• Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday
• Buck Rogers: Matrix Cubed

You can read all of these and more over at Reggie's excellent blog, World 1-1. And FFS Hasbro, rerelease these games on GOG already!

 

[SuicideBunny]

SSI's less successful Dark Sun and Ravenloft titles from the mid-90s.

that's like saying bethesda's fallout: new vegas. ssi was just the publisher while the dev on the ravenlofts, menzoberranzan, dungeon hack and a bunch of other somewhat notable (both for good and bad reasons) golden age rpgs was event horizon aka dreamforge.

 

[oldmanpaco]

What's considered the best Gold Box SSI series. The one I remember the most fondly is Dark Sun.

 

[Cyberarmy]

My dear Dark Sun's getting ignored on everywhere.

 

[Infinitron]

SSI's less successful Dark Sun and Ravenloft titles from the mid-90s.

that's like saying bethesda's fallout: new vegas. ssi was just the publisher while the dev on the ravenlofts, menzoberranzan, dungeon hack and a bunch of other somewhat notable (both for good and bad reasons) golden age rpgs was event horizon aka dreamforge.

Yes, well, they didn't develop EoB or any of those popamole non-Goldbox Dragonlance titles, either.

What's considered the best Gold Box series. The one I remember the most fondly is Dark Sun.

Dark Sun isn't Gold Box, it used a newer engine.

 

[oldmanpaco]

Yeah after I typed it I remembered. I was thinking more about the SSI games in general.

 

[SuicideBunny]

Yes, well, they didn't develop EoB or any of those popamole non-Goldbox Dragonlance titles, either.

yeah, but i don't give a fuck about those and event horizon made veil of darkness

 

[Monty]

Just reading those is enough to make me want to play the goldbox games again...

 

[Lerk]

Loving the price sticker on the EoB III box; 99 cents.

Still overpriced.

 

[Erebus]

Hillsfar would be overpriced even if it were free.

 

[MurkyShadow]

I've been playing champions of krynn again not that long ago, it aged quiet well, I thought I would have a
harder time getting into it again. I did forget about the never-ending random encounters. Although this time
I booted it up in an emulator, I don't know how well my C-64 loading time resistance is these days.
http://dict.leo.org/#/search=resistance&searchLoc=0&resultOrder=basic&multiwordShowSingle=on
As for Hillsfar, I can only slightly remember that it did not make sense to me back then. I thought I was
missing something, or didn't understand it but as I see now, that was just all there was, that was the game.

 

[Dorateen]

Hillsfar was like training wheels for the Gold Box games.

 

[Country_Gravy]

Wizard's Crown was the best gold box game.

 

[Infinitron]

Heheh: http://extralives.wordpress.com/201...esteryear-add-gateway-to-the-savage-frontier/

Maybe I should have waited.

 

[Mantic]

Wizard's Crown was the best gold box game.

If only I could figure out how to get the Atari ST version working in an emulator for those pretty graphics, the DOS version just is plain ugly

 

[mondblut]

SSI's less successful Dark Sun and Ravenloft titles from the mid-90s.

that's like saying bethesda's fallout: new vegas. ssi was just the publisher while the dev on the ravenlofts, menzoberranzan, dungeon hack and a bunch of other somewhat notable (both for good and bad reasons) golden age rpgs was event horizon aka dreamforge.

Dark Queen of Krynn was also done by an external developer, same as FRUA. Micromagic or something. And wasn't EOB3, too, done by Dreamforge? It does share engine with Dung Hack, anyway.

And duh, Westwood with EOB1-2.

Either way, in 5 years only autists like ourselves will be remembering that someone other than Bethesda also had a hand in FNV.

 

[Infinitron]

Heheh: http://extralives.wordpress.com/201...esteryear-add-gateway-to-the-savage-frontier/

Maybe I should have waited.

Boy, that was quick: http://extralives.wordpress.com/201...teryear-add-treasures-of-the-savage-frontier/

Guess I'll update OP.

 

[octavius]

I've been playing champions of krynn again not that long ago, it aged quiet well, I thought I would have a
harder time getting into it again. I did forget about the never-ending random encounters.

Only never-ending if you keep exiting and re-entering the same areas.

 

[Humanity has risen!]

Why would Hasbro and Ubisoft engage in arduous, cutthroat negociations, with maybe God knows what other third party and hefty legal costs involved, just to satisfy the 2000 grognards who would buy them in bundles of many? There's your answer.

 

[Sceptic]

And wasn't EOB3, too, done by Dreamforge? It does share engine with Dung Hack, anyway.

Actually it was done internally at SSI. The only one of the EOB games done by SSI themselves, and also by far the shittiest. Then they gave the engine to Dreamforge to do Dungeon Hack (fuck you).

 

[tuluse]

Why would Hasbro and Ubisoft engage in arduous, cutthroat negociations, with maybe God knows what other third party and hefty legal costs involved, just to satisfy the 2000 grognards who would buy them in bundles of many? There's your answer.

Why do the negotiations have to be arduous and cutthroat? Why can't two people get together and decide company 1 gets X percentage and company gets Y percentage, and they both make more money than 0 percentage?

 

[Junmarko]

The Ultima games always had the most overly epic box art. Ultima II is a personal favorite.
Hilarious looking back, how they never represented what the games were actually like.

 

[Infinitron]

Spelljamma! http://extralives.wordpress.com/201...eryear-add-spelljammer-pirates-of-realmspace/

 

[Crooked Bee]

Nice. In one of our retrospective interviews, Al Escudero actually explains why Spelljammer was a rushed project and ultimately not as good as it was originally supposed to be, and talks about how Dark Sun was that which drained all resources from SSI at the time* -- so there wasn't really any chance of a sequel to Spelljammer happening: http://www.rpgcodex.net/content.php?id=8596

* I also recall Joel Billings saying the same thing in the last part of his Matt Chat interview.

 

[Grauken]

I tried Spelljammer a few years ago and found the mix of the various gameplay elements didn't work all that well. Wish Escudero's original vision that seemed more classical RPG would have been, instead of the odd strategy/action-thing it became