The Eye of the Beholder Thread

[Unkillable Cat]

talking about crawlers, you might also like ravenloft 1/2 (you can import the 2 main characters into the sequel). don't bother with menzoberranzan.

Err... yeah. The Ravenloft games are like EOB/LOL, but in my opinion they're nowhere near as good. At least the first game was a disappointment to me. It's at least on par with EOB3, so give it a try if you want.

Other similar games that haven't been mentioned are Stonekeep and Anvil of Dawn. Both of them are at least worth one playthrough.

 

[Luzur]

so you grade Stonekeep higher then Ravenloft or Stone Prophet?

Err...okay.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

I haven't played Stone Prophet, so I can't comment on that. But... yeah. I do.

Stonekeep is not as shit as people think. It's not a great game, but it's not a shit one either.

 

[circ]

There's also Menzoberranzan. Never got it to work myself with any system for any longer periods of time. But it reminded me of the EoB series and Arena. Don't recall how good it is.

 

[pdesbois]

a quick question regarding that Return to Chaos compilation, I noticed you can edit some of the characters (change name and portrait).

I tried to do that by opening the file DM.txt, then Create New Character and I just simply editted some of them in Mirror (different names and pix). Anyone knows why the changes are not showing up?

thx - pdesbois

 

[Crooked Bee]

There's also Menzoberranzan.

Menzo was my first RPG. It's probably not very good -- at least that's what almost everybody says -- but I got addicted to the genre thanks to it, so maybe it's not that bad either. I haven't replayed it in a long, long time, really.

 

[Calem Ravenna]

a quick question regarding that Return to Chaos compilation, I noticed you can edit some of the characters (change name and portrait).

I tried to do that by opening the file DM.txt, then Create New Character and I just simply editted some of them in Mirror (different names and pix). Anyone knows why the changes are not showing up?

thx - pdesbois

You can change the name in-game by using reincarnation instead of resurrection. As for other changes, Return to Chaos was, like many other DM 'remakes', built in mind with support of user-made dungeons, so there is probably a readme somewhere describing what to do. Or on the project's website. If the module/scenario/whatever files are in .txt format it probably needs to be compiled or something.

Writing about this reminds me how many 'remakes' of DM are out there, many with custom dungeons, while turn-based blobs get nothing like it. Almost makes me rage.

 

[Sceptic]

Stonekeep is not as shit as people think. It's not a great game, but it's not a shit one either.

Dunno, I remember raging quite a bit at it and hating it, though that may have to do with waiting YEARS for it then being given something very underwhelming and totally not worth the wait. But I think it just wasn't a good game. Combat was unbalanced, NPC's IIRC left at specific points in the story with no advance warning, there was a lot of slooooooooooow backtracking through miles of corridors, and there wasn't really anything good to compensate for the flaws. By comparison the Ravenloft games, while not earth-shattering, are fun and well-rounded.

There's also Menzoberranzan. Never got it to work myself with any system for any longer periods of time. But it reminded me of the EoB series and Arena. Don't recall how good it is.

Pretty mediocre actually, it's probably the weakest Dreamforge game and definitely the weakest of the trio (counting the Ravenlofts). You get a brief time on the surface, then most of the game is spent going through samey-looking and endless caverns, then when you reach Menzo you hop on rails through what could've been a great exploration of drow politics but ends up being a series of fetch quests culminating in the usual Kill Foozle ending. It's not a horrible abomination of a game, but it's not worth playing either, unless you're a Drizzt fan.

 

[Fowyr]

Stonekeep has its moments (chained dragon, silly songs and so on), but it's very bland. Plus developers tried to hide all the interface and numbers to enhance IMMMERSHUN. Yes, backtracking was present but not really horrible.

 

[Fowyr]

I'm replaying M&M3 right now and it so fun, I'm glad my memories was right. I'm in the Swamp Town dungeon now and seems like NWC made not very nice thing to Scorpia. She bashed M&M2, right?

 

[octavius]

I'm replaying M&M3 right now and it so fun, I'm glad my memories was right. I'm in the Swamp Town dungeon now and seems like NWC made not very nice thing to Scorpia. She bashed M&M2, right?

Be careful about things that make your characters age.
It meant an end to the game for me when finally (since I could never get it to work on my Amiga 20 years ago) got to play itabout 5 years ago. Unlike the Gold Box game age really makes a difference in MM3...

MM3 was fun, but I missed the insane power levels from MM2 where you could find items up to 99+ and the higher level (and very rare) items were also alignment restricted.

 

[Fowyr]

Be careful about things that make your characters age.

Do you have method to lost unnatural aging? I remember M&M2 have rejuvenation spell and SPA island, but forgot almost all details about M&M3.

MM3 was fun, but I missed the insane power levels from MM2 where you could find items up to 99+ and the higher level (and very rare) items were also alignment restricted.

Oh! Pluses to item increased item's stat bonus, right? I vaguely remember things like Amber Skull +8 what have +23 int.

 

[octavius]

Be careful about things that make your characters age.

Do you have method to lost unnatural aging? I remember M&M2 have rejuvenation spell and SPA island, but forgot almost all details about M&M3.

MM3 was fun, but I missed the insane power levels from MM2 where you could find items up to 99+ and the higher level (and very rare) items were also alignment restricted.

Oh! Pluses to item increased item's stat bonus, right? I vaguely remember things like Amber Skull +8 what have +23 int.

I don't remember any way to rejuvenate characters in MM3 or else I didn't find it. But the aging happened when exploring radioactive parts of a spaceship or a spaceship that looked like a pyramid (don't remember the details).

In MM2 I remember my best item was a Spear +79. I don't recall if armour and misc items had the same kind of plusses.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

In which M&M game was the Fountain of Youth again?

 

[pdesbois]

I have a silly questio nregarding EOB3 savegame files.... Err... Where are they stored? Really, I cannot find them anywhere!

I go to my Darkmoon folder and the eob2 savegame files are all there, nice and quiet...

BTW, just finished t hat HORRIBLE Mausoleum... Wanna give EOB3 a break, and I always backup my savegames....

 

[Fowyr]

In which M&M game was the Fountain of Youth again?

Looks like in the M&M3, one NPC talked about it.

I have a silly questio nregarding EOB3 savegame files.... Err... Where are they stored? Really, I cannot find them anywhere!
I go to my Darkmoon folder and the eob2 savegame files are all there, nice and quiet...

ITEMS_01.BIN
LVL01_01.BIN
LVL02_01.BIN
LVL03_01.BIN
LVL04_01.BIN
LVL05_01.BIN
LVL06_01.BIN
LVL07_01.BIN
LVL08_01.BIN
LVL09_01.BIN
LVL10_01.BIN
LVL11_01.BIN
LVL12_01.BIN
LVL13_01.BIN
LVL14_01.BIN
SAVEGAME.DIR

Just sort files by date.

 

[Sceptic]

seems like NWC made not very nice thing to Scorpia. She bashed M&M2, right?

Yes, quite hard, and deservedly so IMO. To her credit that jab at her didn't affect her review of MM3, which was quite glowing (and deservedly so).

Do you have method to lost unnatural aging? I remember M&M2 have rejuvenation spell and SPA island, but forgot almost all details about M&M3.

Fountain of Youth will remove all unnatural (gray) aging, but you need to raise it first (in one of the pyramids, needs a password IIRC)

But the aging happened when exploring radioactive parts of a spaceship or a spaceship that looked like a pyramid (don't remember the details).

That's different. This one works like natural aging, only it happens instantly, so there is NO way to reverse it. It doesn't add to the age in fact, but just instantly advances the date. Nasty, but thankfully avoidable. Just be careful which crystals you touch in the pyramid (it's worth touching some though, as they give you some great stuff)

 

[pdesbois]

ARGH - LVL!!!! Never thought of it...

Still on EOB3, I gater that I will never need that Rod of Restoration nor that stupid Captain Nametag again right? So I can just toss them away?

 

[Luzur]

In which M&M game was the Fountain of Youth again?

Looks like in the M&M3, one NPC talked about it.

you raise that island outside Baywatch, how i cant remember.

 

[pdesbois]

Lords fo the Abyss, people who actually finished EBO3 are Heroes... And those who spent time mapping it Arch-Heroes - I had no idea t he game was that awful.

That Forest Maze, what were they t hinking? Absolutely no imagination at all. I was considering at least covering the Forest Maze, getting that Level Up event and finding the entry to Myth Drannor before backing up my saves and send it to my pen-drive (a veritable museum for my old, old saves....) but this is all too irritating.

 

[Sceptic]

Lords fo the Abyss, people who actually finished EBO3 are Heroes... And those who spent time mapping it Arch-Heroes

Thanks

I was considering at least covering the Forest Maze, getting that Level Up event and finding the entry to Myth Drannor before backing up my saves

The game does improve a bit after the forest. MD itself is fun, then you've just got two (large) dungeons to go through and you're done. There's one annoying area in the Mage Guild (the underwater level), but aside from this the rest of the game is pretty straightforward.

 

[pdesbois]

since we're a tit... i thought the Amulet of Friend you just had to wear it; them I tried putting it on my hand, before those ugly tree hole stupid things... nothign. Is it what for?

EDIT: Unbelievable... got it now: that f*** thing is to be used on NORMAL looking trees! Not those different hole things.

What is the special form of Hell for game designers with a winning franchise that destroy it completely?

 

[DaveO]

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.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Since you've cleared the Mausoleum, you can throw the Rod of Restoration away. You can drop both the Amulet of Friendship and the Everburning Torch once you enter Myth Drannor.

If it helps with the Bramble thorn mazes, here's how they work.

The thorn maze occupies a whole square. The paths in the middle always send you directly forward two squares ahead, while the side passages send you one square forward and to the side, so that you'll end up on a square diagonally from where you started.

Most of the time they're just annoying blockades, but there is one place in that forest area where there's a whole horde of these things together. The level-up event (and the exit to Myth Drannor) is in the South-eastern section of this huge thorn maze.

One helpful tip: The compass is ALWAYS right. It will never betray you.

 

[pdesbois]

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.

I know that, thats why they had to rush with some slow engine...

I'm giving it a try after I learned to uncover hidden passages with that amulet. Found some cool gauntletss of giant strenght!