Gold Box SSI's Gold Box Series Thread

[Luzur]

Garfunkel is right though, loading big RPG's on C64 always was a hazzle, if you didnt have two 1541's hooked in.

 

[ProphetSword]

Never disagreed with that. I just said you get used to it because that's how technology was at the time. That's what started it.

When I played Pool of Radiance back in 1988, I played it so much that I pretty much knew when it was going to ask for disk swap, which disk it would want, and I just did it without thought. If someone's experience was different, it doesn't invalidate mine. As he said: "Your recollection of past things does not overwrite my recollection of past things." The claim works in both directions.

 

[felipepepe]

ProphetSword , Edward_R_Murrow, Sceptic , mondblut , Luzur , Fowyr , Unkillable Cat, Dorateen , ForkTong , octavius , GarfunkeL , Jaesun , Deuce Traveler and other antediluvianfags I forgot, I have an interesting question for you guys.

David Klein from TSI contacted me, said that he admired my book's intent to shed some light on CRPG history and was willing to help getting in contact with SSI guys to get some questions replied. I don't know exactly who is going to reply the questions, apparently he'll pass them around various ex-SSI contacts he has and see who wants to reply to what, but we can include questions from other SSI games like EoTB and Wizard's Crown, besides the Gold Box games. I have some questions in mind, but I'm sure that you guys know much more about those games and have questions haunting you for over 20 years...

So, what you guys would like to ask SSI developers about?

 

[TigerKnee]

"What's up with your weird auto-map system in Gold Box where you either disable it completely or are able to see the entire area in one go rather than have it be revealed piece by piece."

 

[Luzur]

ProphetSword , Edward_R_Murrow, Sceptic , mondblut , Luzur , Fowyr , Unkillable Cat, Dorateen , ForkTong , octavius , GarfunkeL , Jaesun , Deuce Traveler and other antediluvianfags I forgot, I have an interesting question for you guys.

David Klein from TSI contacted me, said that he admired my book's intent to shed some light on CRPG history and was willing to help getting in contact with SSI guys to get some questions replied. I don't know exactly who is going to reply the questions, apparently he'll pass them around various ex-SSI contacts he has and see who wants to reply to what, but we can include questions from other SSI games like EoTB and Wizard's Crown, besides the Gold Box games. I have some questions in mind, but I'm sure that you guys know much more about those games and have questions haunting you for over 20 years...

So, what you guys would like to ask SSI developers about?

Hmmm, i kinda hate it when these kind of things show up, i never remember any good questions i might have had...

EDIT:

"Why was Phantasie VI Japan-exclusive and not released in the West?"

"And me and alot of others would like to know more about Dark Sun: Crimson Sands game, and why you didnt go for more AD&D Online Gaming/MMORPG after that."

"All those other..well i dunno, "one-hit-wonders" i guess i can call them, SSI RPG's like Demons Winter, Shard of Spring, Realms of Darkness and Rings of Zilfin etc, where those just SSI testing around different styles of RPG's or where there any real plans for whole series like Phantasie or Gold Box series?"

"Legends of Valour, whats the story behind that game? Since it had the "Volume 1: The Dawning" i guess it was planned as a series, but how many volumes where planned?"

"Was the engine for Wizard's Crown used in any other game after that?"

"Any plans to get all the old bros together again and blow away the all the poser modern RPG's like Mass Effect with a brand new Gold Box series?"

 

[felipepepe]

It doesn't have to be ultra-specific stuff, like "why the behoder army on level 5 of the baron's castle features a vampire as well, if they are racial enemies?" or similar 'sperging.

It's best if it's just something for them to rant on, like "Where the idea of incluiding a romance in Treasures of the Savage Frontier came from?" ARE YOU PROUD OF WHAT YOU UNLEASHED?

 

[mondblut]

Ask them whether they played any FRUA mods and what do they think about their top of the crop.

Also ask what do they think about the turn RPGs made after 1994. And no, "awsum" is not accepted

Also ask what did they smoke when it occured to them to make the fucking Hillsfar.

 

[Sceptic]

Also ask what did they smoke when it occured to them to make the fucking Hillsfar.

Hillsfar was made by Westwood, SSI only published it. Though I guess the question still holds in some way.

Ask Russ Brown whether he'll ever release the Dark Sun source code.

 

[Zetor]

One thing I've been curious about, GB-wise: what was the intended tone of the content? In the later games (DKK, DQK, but also POD to an extent) you'd have these super-serious epic plots to save the world, dramatic showdowns between great powers, heroic sacrifices... and a whole lot of some really 'out there' goofy shit that belongs in a saturday morning cartoon, sometimes even breaking the fourth wall.

I just replayed DKK and about half of the side content was like this: the dwarf's contest near gargath keep, the entire hill dwarf village with the "Ambush Made Easy" book, the crazy lich who decided to create a dupe of another city with zombies, the gnome village (OK, minoi are actually intended to be the comic relief race in Dragonlance), Dave's Challenge (admittedly this was an intentional trollfest for expert players). I also remember being all "WTF is this shit" while playing through Hawkbluff in DQK as well as everything involving the gnomes near the end.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

My question(s) would concern the Eye of the Beholder series, and the first one I can think of it would be along the lines of whether it was SSI or Westwood that decided to make the game a "lite" D&D title. I ask this considering that half of the 6 primary stats have no effect upon the game, and that the only stat check in all three games is a "Is Strength maxed out? If not lever cannot be used" thing in one dungeon in EOB3.

Another one would be where the idea came from to use the characters and setting from one storyarc of the AD&D comics as antagonists in the first EOB game.

 

[Fowyr]

Also why Stone Gem, unused passages to surface and so on were cut from the game and Dwarven King portrait was never used.
Was EoB development rushed?

Also why PoR have rations, Druid class and Ring of Free Falling in its code. How ambitious was original project? Could we get even more awesome game than PoR if someone somewhere in SSI HQ gave more time or resources to developers?

 

[GarfunkeL]

"And me and alot of others would like to know more about Dark Sun: Crimson Sands game, and why you didnt go for more AD&D Online Gaming/MMORPG after that."

Oh man, I remember being super-hyped about that game!

Did TSR require or suggest some amount of famous cameos in the D&D games or were those all inserted by SSI developers?

 

[Dorateen]

I already asked on the TSI forums about the use of Kalistes instead of Lolth in what was an obvious Queen of the Demonweb Pits inspired questline in Pools of Darkness. And Dave Shelley confirmed that TSR didn't want any of their iconic monsters being slaughtered.

Encouraging that Klein reached out about the book. I hope that means they are taking their new project seriously.

 

[Gozma]

Why is everything in EoB3 so vile argh I'm still mad

 

[mondblut]

Also ask what did they smoke when it occured to them to make the fucking Hillsfar.

Hillsfar was made by Westwood, SSI only published it. Though I guess the question still holds in some way.

Ask Russ Brown whether he'll ever release the Dark Sun source code.

Speaking of which, the world could seriously use Crimson Sands source code and assets. Maybe somebody would slap together a singleplayer version out of it.

 

[ProphetSword]

Here's my question:
Even though "Neverwinter Nights" is technically considered to be the sequel to "Treasures of the Savage Frontier," I want to know if there were really ever any plans to do a legitimate sequel to the game to make that series a real trilogy, what it would have been called, and what the plot would have been.

 

[mondblut]

I already asked on the TSI forums about the use of Kalistes instead of Lolth in what was an obvious Queen of the Demonweb Pits inspired questline in Pools of Darkness.

Lolth is a goddess. Slaughtering her sounds totally unlikely. She is also CE, and her having anything to do with LE Bane makes little sense (then again, I was always puzzled why would CE demons be Bane's henchmen in POD... but run of the mill balors and mariliths he could simply stomp into submission).

I think you shouldn't seek any deeper reasons than "drow bitches are hawt kinky sluts, how do we justify plugging them in? Ah, there are hawt demonbitch kinky sluts, one of them could be their master!".

 

[felipepepe]

Here's my question:
Even though "Neverwinter Nights" is technically considered to be the sequel to "Treasures of the Savage Frontier," I want to know if there were really ever any plans to do a legitimate sequel to the game to make that series a real trilogy, what it would have been called, and what the plot would have been.

That's a very good question.

 

[Luzur]

Here's my question:
Even though "Neverwinter Nights" is technically considered to be the sequel to "Treasures of the Savage Frontier," I want to know if there were really ever any plans to do a legitimate sequel to the game to make that series a real trilogy, what it would have been called, and what the plot would have been.

Which Neverwinter Nights? the MMO or the new one?

 

[Zorba the Hutt]

Here's my question:
Even though "Neverwinter Nights" is technically considered to be the sequel to "Treasures of the Savage Frontier," I want to know if there were really ever any plans to do a legitimate sequel to the game to make that series a real trilogy, what it would have been called, and what the plot would have been.

That's a very good question.

Yes, good question. And given that the Savage Frontiers (and the AOL NWN) were developed by Stormfront while SSI moved on to working on the Dark Sun engine it could shed some light on the working relationship with them.

 

[ProphetSword]

Here's my question:
Even though "Neverwinter Nights" is technically considered to be the sequel to "Treasures of the Savage Frontier," I want to know if there were really ever any plans to do a legitimate sequel to the game to make that series a real trilogy, what it would have been called, and what the plot would have been.

Which Neverwinter Nights? the MMO or the new one?

The original AOL MMO, not the Bioware game or the recent MMO.

Most people don't even know that "Neverwinter Nights" is considered to be a sequel to both "Gateway to the Savage Frontier" and "Treasures of the Savage Frontier." Perhaps if they had named it "Neverwinter Nights of the Savage Frontier," it would have been more clear.

I doubt that the original plan was to turn the series into an online game. I'd like to hear what the original plan was.

 

[Luzur]

Here's my question:
Even though "Neverwinter Nights" is technically considered to be the sequel to "Treasures of the Savage Frontier," I want to know if there were really ever any plans to do a legitimate sequel to the game to make that series a real trilogy, what it would have been called, and what the plot would have been.

Which Neverwinter Nights? the MMO or the new one?

The original AOL MMO, not the Bioware game or the recent MMO.

Most people don't even know that "Neverwinter Nights" is considered to be a sequel to both "Gateway to the Savage Frontier" and "Treasures of the Savage Frontier." Perhaps if they had named it "Neverwinter Nights of the Savage Frontier," it would have been more clear.

I doubt that the original plan was to turn the series into an online game. I'd like to hear what the original plan was.

Yeah i know, i own a copy of it (cost me 1000 SEK though, but is complete) and i have played a offline version for awhile, it has alot of plot ties to both Savage Frontier games.

Also: http://bladekeep.com/nwn/

 

[GarfunkeL]

I already asked on the TSI forums about the use of Kalistes instead of Lolth in what was an obvious Queen of the Demonweb Pits inspired questline in Pools of Darkness.

Lolth is a goddess. Slaughtering her sounds totally unlikely. She is also CE, and her having anything to do with LE Bane makes little sense (then again, I was always puzzled why would CE demons be Bane's henchmen in POD... but run of the mill balors and mariliths he could simply stomp into submission).

I think you shouldn't seek any deeper reasons than "drow bitches are hawt kinky sluts, how do we justify plugging them in? Ah, there are hawt demonbitch kinky sluts, one of them could be their master!".

Yeah, before Time of Troubles, gods and goddesses were immortal and unkillable in Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance. Still doesn't explain why not have Lloth just cooperating temporarily with Bane - happens often enough in the shitty novels that LE/NE/CE work temporarily together and the players end up killing one of her handmaidens.

 

[Monstrous Bat]

Ask them how they came up with the fake journal entries. I know they're just red herrings put in to punish people who read the journal when they aren't supposed to, but some of these look like they might have actually come from scrapped ideas.

 

[octavius]

Ask why was there always small differences in how some items (notably Wands) and spells (like Dispel Magic) worked from game to game. Design choice (it was wrong in game A, so let's fix it in game B), oversights, or programming errors?

Why didn't the character creation follow the p&p rules of rolling stats first and then choose class?

Does the computer cheat in FRUA? I can't hekp but feeling that monster have a +2 or +3 global bonus to their initiative rolls, and possibly other rolls as well. I never got that feeling in the regular GB games, except in the Tilverton Sewers in Curse of the Azure Bonds, where it turned out monsters did indeed get bonuses to some of their rolls (at least to THAC0).