Gold Box SSI's Gold Box Series Thread

[octavius]

The Red Wizard Dracandros should be number two. He's to the south of the central Standing Stone. Look for him in the village of Hap.

All right, thanks ! I went to Hap already, but when I kept encountering drows, I thought it was the wrong place.

Well, it is one of the relatively toughest areas in all the Gold Box games.

 

[Erebus]

Well, it is one of the relatively toughest areas in all the Gold Box games.

The efreet's spellcasters have kicked my butt at least 7 or 8 times so far. Their good AC and magic resistance make it hard to prevent them from casting their Lightning Bolt and Hold Person spells, which can destroy my party pretty quickly. Alias's wizard friend is completely useless.
(Amusingly, the efreet himself is completely harmless and not even immune to fire.)

Last time, I finally resorted to casting Haste before the fight and things went better, though I still lost.

EDIT : It took me a while, even with maximum buffing, but I finally managed to kill them.

 

[octavius]

Well, it is one of the relatively toughest areas in all the Gold Box games.

The efreet's spellcasters have kicked my butt at least 7 or 8 times so far. Their good AC and magic resistance make it hard to prevent them from casting their Lightning Bolt and Hold Person spells, which can destroy my party pretty quickly. Alias's wizard friend is completely useless.

Actually, he's the key to be able to liberate Hap without having to buff before facing the Efreet. His provoking the Drow patrols means you'll have to fight less Drow in the showdown in the barn. If you kill all the patrols I think there will be only the Efreet left to fight.

 

[Erebus]

If you kill all the patrols I think there will be only the Efreet left to fight.

Dammit ! And here I was acting all Meek every time I encountered a patrol ! How was I to know that killing plenty of drows in random encounters would have the logical effect of decreasing their global number ?

 

[octavius]

How was I to know that killing plenty of drows in random encounters would have the logical effect of decreasing their global number ?

If you are used to the lazy design of most games, I guess it came as a pleasant surprise. I have mentioned it a few times in the past, though.
Didn't Ackbar provoke any of the patrols when you played?

 

[Erebus]

Didn't Ackbar provoke any of the patrols when you played?

Actually, no. His presence didn't seem to change anything : I was always able to pick "Parlay", then "Meek", and the patrol would simply go away.

(Before he joined me, I once picked a fight with a patrol simply by selecting "Combat" when given a choice of action.)


On an unrelated subject, the magical items that can increase your stats seem kinda bugged. During the first part of the game, I found a girdle that increases Constitution, but when I gave it to one of my PCs, it ended up lowering her HP a lot. I also found a ioun stone increasing charisma, but the PC who equipped it saw his charisma rise to 100 (it stayed that way even after I removed the stone).

 

[octavius]

Hitler agrees with me that high level Gold Box gaming is more fun:

 

[elodman]

Greets.

-a non-official DosBox Save state feature related question:

Trying to grab the finest items from random loots with save states, in order to avoid refighting tough fights and/or reloads.
But by loading a save state (created before initiating interaction with NPC), loot is always the same (in PoR, at wizard Ohlo in the slums), not as with normal reloading a saved game.

thanx for any enlightment.

(couldnt search the net extensively as using a slow mobile net for a few days (more))

(Using DOSBox SVN-Daum with special features Nov. 17. 2013
ykhwong's SVN-Daum builds can be obtained from http://ykhwong.x-y.net. (DOSBox Daum Cafe build) )

 

[mondblut]

Hitler agrees with me that high level Gold Box gaming is more fun:

Damn you )) That brings memories.

 

[Invictus]

Yo Octavious they should give you your avatar back man that vampire just doesn't fit...
I hope some publisher takes upon himself to add the missing text from the Journal to the Goldbox games and release them as one big DosBox emulated pack, I would buy that in a heartbeat

 

[octavius]

Yo Octavious they should give you your avatar back man that vampire just doesn't fit...

Well, I once walked past a playground and a little snotling pointed at me and exclaimed "Look, mommy! A vampire!".

I hope some publisher takes upon himself to add the missing text from the Journal to the Goldbox games and release them as one big DosBox emulated pack, I would buy that in a heartbeat

I'd like to see a remake with all the games in same series using the same rules and with improved AI. I can dream...

 

[Invictus]

I wonder if that could be done by some knowleable moder or programer, or would the "master" files be required for something like that...
I would love an excuse to replay them all, especially the Krynn trilogy has such a special place for me

 

[elodman]

Greets.

Loot questions at Pool of Radiance.

Exploiting a random loot at the old rope guild trolls, and after about 3 hours of quits & reloads (for which macro programs are handy) + autofight, I found these quite worthy items, but cannot decide which set to choose:

a- 2-handed sword +3,
b- broad sword +2, long sword +2,
c- cloak of displacement,
d- ring of invisibility
e- 2x ring of fire resistance
f- bag of holding,

----concerns:-----

a & b:
-will such powerful weapons abundant?

c:
- seems to be the most worthy, coz of cumulative effect with other AC enhancers

d:
-is invisibility effective only till the 1st attack or attacking spell casting of wearer?
-Or casting buff spells doesn’t interrupt its effect?
-Also, will invisibility not return after a (few)passive round?

e:
- for later stages of game against spellcasters / breathers seems quite important.

f:
-it decreases encumbrance, but really handy?
-will not items disappear if “bag” overloaded, as wiki states it in general about this ad&d item?

---- rumored item: Cloak of Elvenkind ----

some dude said it exists in PoR (though no FAQ mentions it) and found it right after this troll battle.
-False rumour?

Thanx for info.

 

[octavius]

In the long run the 2-handed sword +3 is probably the best, but so early in the game I'd rather have two +2 one handed weapons.

Of the other items I'd rate the Cloak of Displacement as most valuable, since there are very few non-armour items than improve AC IIRC.

Ring of Invisibility is rather useless in PoR. In other GB games I used them so that my Fighter/Thief can move freely for backstabbing purposes without provoking opportunity attacks. It may have some small use on your mage to avoid being targeted by missiles or spells, though.

Rings of Fire Resistance: I don't think you'll ever need them in PoR.

Bag of Holding and Cloak of Elvenkind I've never seen; obviously they have have very small chances of dropping, and not very many opportunities for it to happen in the first place.

 

[elodman]

thanx,
though, IMO rings of fire res. can be useful against eg. driders' fireballs for a non-Conan body shaped mage-thingy later.

But now,
as thou hast thy Boots of Speed always on when wanderers are in need, some goodies for thy eyes and maybe even for adventuring enjoyment (PoR, PC ver.):

- The unnerving case of drunken shopkeepers of Phlan:

Spoiler

- another ad&d rarity: "keoghtum's ointment"
(effects: a'la viagra for about 5 occasions.
In case of women: automatic qualification for hard athletics events)

Spoiler

- the mystical, invaluable item: "of", highly sought after by brave adventurers of all eras

Spoiler

- and the ultimate badass item (?): "cloak of elvenkind"

Spoiler

(usage & effect still unknown)

If in an experimenting mood, Save Slot G has that unknown behaving cloak (PoR, PC) in this Savegame file, containing NO executables, just the SAVE dir's files.

 

[octavius]

thanx,
though, IMO rings of fire res. can be useful against eg. driders' fireballs for a non-Conan body shaped mage-thingy later.

Driders cast Fireball in PoR? Been a long time since I played it so I don't remember that, but in FRUA they definitely only cast Magic Missiles.

 

[Lady_Error]

Question: Are there any mods that improve the Goldbox games' user interface? Or at least some sort of auto-memorize mod for spells?

 

[mondblut]

Question: Are there any mods that improve the Goldbox games' user interface? Or at least some sort of auto-memorize mod for spells?

They are all auto-memorize, with the exception of POR.

Search up the thread for a windows resident program that should solve most of POR's early inefficiencies while playing POR.

 

[Luzur]

thanx,
though, IMO rings of fire res. can be useful against eg. driders' fireballs for a non-Conan body shaped mage-thingy later.

But now,
as thou hast thy Boots of Speed always on when wanderers are in need, some goodies for thy eyes and maybe even for adventuring enjoyment (PoR, PC ver.):

- The unnerving case of drunken shopkeepers of Phlan:

Spoiler

- another ad&d rarity: "keoghtum's ointment"
(effects: a'la viagra for about 5 occasions.
In case of women: automatic qualification for hard athletics events)

Spoiler

- the mystical, invaluable item: "of", highly sought after by brave adventurers of all eras

Spoiler

- and the ultimate badass item (?): "cloak of elvenkind"

Spoiler

(usage & effect still unknown)

If in an experimenting mood, Save Slot G has that unknown behaving cloak (PoR, PC) in this Savegame file, containing NO executables, just the SAVE dir's files.

well they exists, but has such a small chance to spawn in a loot cache that you can almost say they dont exist.

i had Keoghtums ointment once in a game after a battle in the graveyard, but never seen it since.

 

[octavius]

i had Keoghtums ointment once in a game after a battle in the graveyard, but never seen it since.

Never even heard of that one. What did it do?

 

[Luzur]

i had Keoghtums ointment once in a game after a battle in the graveyard, but never seen it since.

Never even heard of that one. What did it do?

it heals HP, removes posion and cures diseases at the same time, can be used 3 times or so.

Super Heal, if you like.

 

[Infinitron]

One of the Savage Frontier dudes died: http://www.gamebanshee.com/news/112959-stormfront-studios-co-founder-david-bunnett-passes-away.html

 

[octavius]

One of the Savage Frontier dudes died: http://www.gamebanshee.com/news/112959-stormfront-studios-co-founder-david-bunnett-passes-away.html

Too bad.
The best part of the first Savage Frontier game compared to the other Gold Box games, was the artwork.

 

[muds_animal_friend]

May he be in heaven five minutes before the devil knows he's dead or has even managed to load the combat encounter screen from his Commodore 1541 drive. Although I believe the devil insists on real-time with pause when fighting for souls. He's just that fucking evil.

 

[mondblut]

It's about time to start our very own martyrologue thread, like every metal forum has. Oldschool RPG devs have been dropping like flies in recent years. Mike Singleton, the Fate: Gates of Dawn guy, one of the Attic guys, now this... We witness a passing of generation, and this is not going to stop