The Eye of the Beholder Thread

[Fowyr]

EOB3 was not made by the same team that was on EOB1 or EOB2. I do believe they were working on Lands of Lore at the time. I just did a quick Wiki check, and SSI developed EOB3 with an internal team of their own.

Now such drop of series quality makes sense. I loved EOB, liked EOB2, but EOB3 is so mediocre.
And I always pitied what lich who supposedly knew only Mirror Image

 

[Unkillable Cat]

And I always pitied what lich who supposedly knew only Mirror Image

Oh man, how I laughed when I realised how pathetic that fight was. You can kill him with Disintegrate if you're lucky. The only interesting part about that fight (except for the mirror images) is that he can paralyze you, which almost nothing else in EOB3 does.

 

[pdesbois]

Oh, no - spoilers about end-boss fights, now you have ruined my EOB3 experience, everything was working dandy, and I was really immersed in the storyline, but now...

*sarcasm off*

 

[Calem Ravenna]

Not really a fan of the genre (real time crawlers that is) but I wonder, are there any notable real time grid based blob crawlers outside of SSI, Westwood, Silmarils, FTL and Interplay products? Preferably some with a decent interface or, failing that, a single player character.

Speaking of SSI, how is Dungeon Hack?

 

[Luzur]

its a Dungeon Hack.

think Anvil of Dawn.

 

[octavius]

Not really a fan of the genre (real time crawlers that is) but I wonder, are there any notable real time grid based blob crawlers outside of SSI, Westwood, Silmarils, FTL and Interplay products? Preferably some with a decent interface or, failing that, a single player character.

The Ultima Underworlds.

 

[Sceptic]

*sarcasm off*

That's not the end-boss fight they're talking about actually

Spoiler

But the end-boss fight is piss-easy anyway

The Ultima Underworlds.

They're not grid-based so I'm not sure they qualify (they do end up playing very differently from the grid ones). Anvil of Dawn is one of the better ones and worth a shot. There's also... what was it called, Black Crypt? IIRC a Raven game.

 

[pdesbois]

I'm about to make my EOB3 save-to-posterity backup (found Black Hammer, Underwater Helm and talked to Rex and, errr, freed him, as I always only keep my tradtional party of four).

People mentioned Lands of Lore, and I remember you chose one guy and then up to two dudes offered help - now, do they stay or do they go after some time? In other words, if I try to have something a good Mage (I rememeber I started with an old sort of Drowish strong mage), then I will surely want to have one strong Fighter and one good... Thief? Or whatever it is the other class is for (I do not think it is Healer or whatever....). So my question is, do characters like this come along the quest? All I remember was getting to that nightmarish tower ,the snakes - and there were some Cards / aces I guess... Well, for starters knowing how this sort of 'party make up' works is fine.

Thanx all for the good hints / suggestions / advice, etc :D

 

[Fowyr]

There's also... what was it called, Black Crypt? IIRC a Raven game.

Yes, first game of Raven.

People mentioned Lands of Lore, and I remember you chose one guy and then up to two dudes offered help - now, do they stay or do they go after some time?

They leave you, but new NPCs will join. Don't fear it.

Speaking of SSI, how is Dungeon Hack?

It's good for what it is. EOB roguelike. I liked it, it was one of my first CRPGs. Finished it three times

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Not really a fan of the genre (real time crawlers that is) but I wonder, are there any notable real time grid based blob crawlers outside of SSI, Westwood, Silmarils, FTL and Interplay products? Preferably some with a decent interface or, failing that, a single player character.

Bloodwych. The first (and only) game of the genre that had multiplayer in it. It's also quite old and simple compared to latter titles.

Captive. It's a Sci-Fi take on the crawler where you control a party of robots. You start with your bare fists and some crude melee weapons, but you'll be pew-pewing with machine guns and lasers before long. The interface is a little clumsy and the PC version is broken, so fire up an emulator. It's virtually endless.

Xenomorph. You're the only crewman on a space tug that's crash-landed at an asteroid outpost that's seemingly abandoned. You must explore the station to find spare parts for your ship. It's tough, slow and I found it a bit dull, but it's worth a look. (The guys who made Amnesia could propably remake it into something worthwhile if given the chance.)

 

[Fowyr]

Bloodwych have spiritual sequel Wizard! (or Hexx), with more eye candy.

 

[Calem Ravenna]

Thanks for all the responses.

The Ultima Underworlds.

I played Ultima Underworld I and it's a great game, dunno about the second. But as Sceptic noted, not exactly what I was asking about.

Anvil of Dawn is one of the better ones and worth a shot. There's also... what was it called, Black Crypt? IIRC a Raven game.

Anvil of Dawn is definately my favorite real time blobber. Has many flaws, but it's the only one I replay every couple of years. Always thought it was published by Westwood, not NWC

Black Crypt. I've seen it mentioned a couple of times here, looks like it's the best Amiga exclusive of this genre. Will definately try it if I ever properly setup WinUAE.

]Speaking of SSI, how is Dungeon Hack?

It's good for what it is. EOB roguelike. I liked it, it was one of my first CRPGs. Finished it three times

Sounds interesting. I gather the dungeon is randomly generated, how does it end up in terms of puzzles and combat difficulty?

The first (and only) game of the genre that had multiplayer in it. It's also quite old and simple compared to latter titles.

Captive. It's a Sci-Fi take on the crawler where you control a party of robots. You start with your bare fists and some crude melee weapons, but you'll be pew-pewing with machine guns and lasers before long. The interface is a little clumsy and the PC version is broken, so fire up an emulator. It's virtually endless.

Xenomorph. You're the only crewman on a space tug that's crash-landed at an asteroid outpost that's seemingly abandoned. You must explore the station to find spare parts for your ship. It's tough, slow and I found it a bit dull, but it's worth a look. (The guys who made Amnesia could propably remake it into something worthwhile if given the chance.)

Interesting stuff.

Bloodwych does look pretty simplistic and the interface horrible. The multiplayer mode sounds like fun though, even if only because of the uniqueness.

Captive is one of those games that I once saw a screenshot of in a magazine, remembered the visuals for my whole life (in this case the colourful interface) and then forgot completely about its existence. Looks decent and the character system sounds interesting. What do you mean by "virtually endless? It has randomly generated content?

Xenomorph - nice concept, but I just watched a video of it on youtube and yeah, doesn't look very appealing.

 

[Yeesh]

Bloodwych have spiritual sequel Wizard! (or Hexx), with more eye candy.

Also, don't forget the Broodwich. Mmmm, Broodwich.

 

[Fowyr]

Sounds interesting. I gather the dungeon is randomly generated, how does it end up in terms of puzzles and combat difficulty?

You have two kind of random monsters on the level. Sometimes they are hard.
Puzzles are almost non-existent (random levers and keys).

 

[pdesbois]

Hey, I am just curious, anybody tried (or knows s.o.) to solo EOB 1, 2 and then 3? Is it even possible?

I saw a video of s.o. soloing thru 1 on 'speed-run', pretty amazing some sort of Fighter / Mage.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Sounds interesting. I gather the dungeon is randomly generated, how does it end up in terms of puzzles and combat difficulty?

You have two kind of random monsters on the level. Sometimes they are hard.
Puzzles are almost non-existent (random levers and keys).

You are forgetting that many times there is a third, unique "boss monster" on each level, usually located near the exit.

Unless your character class is Cleric, about 8 out of 10 games will end with your character starving to death.

Captive's levels were created using a random generator. Each campaign consists of 10 dungeons + a final prison dungeon. Each dungeon can be several floors. So each campaign is equally large to a fully-fledged crawler. Except Captive has over 65 thousand campaigns.

Hey, there's a playthrough for Xenomorph on YouTube! Finally I can see how this game ends!

As for soloing EOB games - yeah it's possible, as long as your character is a Fighter/Cleric/Mage. It may be possible to skip the Cleric, but the Mage is definetely required for EOB3. It can't be done without lugging around the corpses of your companions though, but at least they serve as extra inventory slots.

 

[Fowyr]

You are forgetting that many times there is a third, unique "boss monster" on each level, usually located near the exit.

Maybe, it was ages ago. I remember only final boss, Elemental Lord or something.

Unless your character class is Cleric, about 8 out of 10 games will end with your character starving to death.

Indeed, I stating remember what two times I played as Cleric/Mage. Third time - pure mage.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

The final monster of Dungeon Hack varies. I've had the Elemental Lord and the Lich appear, and a friend of mine said he got a Blue Dragon. Depends on the settings you choose for the game.

 

[Carlos' Bitch1]

Bloodwych have spiritual sequel Wizard! (or Hexx), with more eye candy.

I much prefer Bloodwych. Hexx was very confusing, with a terrible UI. Bloodwych itself is very clean and easy to use.

Bloodwych has some nice spells in it, and it wasn't a bad game as far as this sub genre goes. It kept me going through both it and the data disk expansion.

 

[Fowyr]

BTW, anyone heard about strange Bloodwych bugs in the PC version (not about wall-where-it-should-not-be)?
Sometimes after some spells casted by monsters (Arc Bolt especially), game starts corrupt maps. Doors instead of walls, walls instead of items, staircases what doesn't worked and so on. I replayed Serpent tower two times because of this and finished Dragon tower with great difficulty.

 

[pdesbois]

errr.... i am giving EOB1 a shot with a pure Human Cleric! Lets see how far he goes....

 

[Fowyr]

He will be sliced and diced by kenku!
/doom and gloom mode

 

[pdesbois]

kenku are those who can paralyse, yesn't? I am far from it, well he does fine in the beginning, coz the main enemies are undead and he keeps turning them.

He killed some Flinds though. They appeared to be somewhat tough for beginners, IIRC... The cool thing is he's already level 6, and f he manages to get to 7.... With Cause Serious and Cure Poison He could have some chance x dreaded Spiders.

I am not serious, just curious.

 

[Fowyr]

Kenku is the stupid birds with magic missiles.
BTW, if you paralyzed by mind flayer, you may still move. Use it to your advantage.

And you have enough potions of Slow Poison to kill spiders even with one fighter. Because your first action after you poisoned must be casting of Slow Poison, not Cure Poison. And only after death of the all spiders you may cure yourself.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Cleric, eh? Have fun with the Stone Golems, as Magic Resistance is used against all the Cause X Wounds spells. (Stone Golem Magic Resistance is 100%)

For what it's worth, the first magical weapon a Cleric can find is a +3 Mace on the Kenku level.

BTW, the level cap for Clerics in EOB1 is lower than for all the other classes. It's set at 10. If you transfer the character over to EOB2 with enough XP to gain Level 11 he'll do so, but then the new level cap will be at 13.