Pool of Radiance: Difference between revisions
→Reception: funny thing is, I'll admit I actually enjoyed ''Ultima V'' more, back in the day :) |
→Release: this article actually says more about the game, and is a preview of the SSI/TSR joint venture ... maybe I'll get into it more later :) |
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==Release== |
==Release== |
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''Pool of Radiance'' |
''Pool of Radiance'' was released in June 1988.<ref>{{cite journal |
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|title=The Game Wizards |
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|author=[[Jim Ward (game designer)|Ward, James M.]] |
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|journal=Dragon |
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|issue=133 |
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|date=May 1988 |
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|pages=42}}</ref> ''Pool of Radiance'' is the first in a four-part series of D&D adventures set in the [[Forgotten Realms]] campaign world.<ref>{{cite web |
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| first=Matt | last=Barton | date=2007-02-23 |
| first=Matt | last=Barton | date=2007-02-23 |
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| work=The History of Computer Role-Playing Games |
| work=The History of Computer Role-Playing Games |
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Revision as of 04:16, 8 July 2009
| Pool of Radiance | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Strategic Simulations, Inc. |
| Publisher(s) | Strategic Simulations, Inc. Pony Canyon (Japan) |
| Engine | Gold Box |
| Platform(s) | Amiga, Apple II, C64, MS-DOS, Apple Macintosh, NES, PC-9800 |
| Release | 1988 1992 (NES) |
| Genre(s) | Role-playing game, Tactical RPG |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
Pool of Radiance is a tactical role-playing video game, published by Strategic Simulations, Inc (SSI) in 1988. Pool of Radiance was the first computer adaptation of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game.
Pools of Radiance is based on the same game mechanics as Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. It uses the Gold Box engine to run a first person perspective, as well as an overhead perspective where characters are represented as icons. Player characters have race, class, and experience points.
The game takes place in the city of Phlan, in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting. The object of the game is to have the party clear the Phlan of its marauding inhabitants. Players can hire and interact with non-player character to further the storyline.
Gameplay
Pools of Radiance is based on the same game mechanics as the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rule set.[1][2] The "Gold Box" engine which runs the game features two different modes: first person perspective for NPC interactions and exploring and a more strategy-board based combat display, where characters and enemies are represented by small icons. Combat is turn-based and requires maneuvering close to your foe for close range attacks.
Each character in Pools of Radiance has a race and a class. There are six races (such as elves and halflings) and four classes (fighter, cleric, wizard, and thief) to choose from.[2] For character creation, a player tells the program whether or not you want a character created for you, and the player decides whether or not to keep the statistics that the computer generates.[1] After choosing a race and class and having ability scores assigned to each character, the player can customize the character's appearance and clothes.[2] As the player journeys through the game, the characters gain experience points. After gaining enough experience, the characters "train up a level" and become more powerful.[2] Characters must also have earned 1,000 gold pieces to purchase training to their next levels; they must visit the training areas, with characters of each class taking a different door into the area.[1] Just like in a regular AD&D game, successful combat earns your characters the right to search captives, the lame, and the dead for whatever they might possess; items such as weapons and armor can then be sold at stores.[1]
Players creates their own save-game disks, assuring character continuation no matter what might happen to the player characters during the game. On an MS-DOS machine, the game can be copied to the hard-disk drive, by selecting a storage area from Game A to Game J. If using a C64/128 computer, a player must have a separate save-game disk.[1]
Plot
Setting
The game takes place in the Forgotten Realms setting.[1] The main setting is the city of Phlan, located on the northern shore of the Moonsea, and situated between Zhentil Keep and Melvaunt.[1] Phlan has been overrun by forces of evil, and while the city had originally held off many attacks, the forces were marshalled by a bronze dragon which was believed to be possessed by a powerful spirit named Tyranthraxus. The object of the game is to have the party clear the old city of its marauding inhabitants, so the people of Phlan can rebuild and repopulate the areas.
The party begins in the civilized section of "New Phlan" that is governed by a council. This portion of the city hosts businesses including shopkeepers who might sell specific holy items for each temple's worshipers, a jewelry shop, and several retailers who can provide the most basic arms and armor to advanced weaponry.[1] The prices for equipment at the shops are constant from one shop to another within Phlan.[1] The civilized portion of the city contains a city park, and several taverns where characters may listen to rumors.[1] A party may also contract with the clerk of the city council for various commissions; the proclomations fastened to the halls within City Hall offer bits of information to aid the party, in the form of coded clues that can be deciphered by using the Adventurer's Journal which comes with the game.[1] There are three temples within Phlan, dedicated to a variety of gods, which can heal those who are wounded, poisoned, or afflicted in some manner, and can fully restore deceased comrades for a high price.[1] The party can also go to the hiring hall and hire an experienced non-player character adventurer at the dueling grounds to accompany the party.[1] Encounters with other NPCs offer valuable items of knowledge.[1]
Plot summary
The party's objective is to ultimately free Phlan from the monsters and the boss, Tyranthraxus. There are many missions from the Phlan city council the party can undertake, some optional, which will give rewards for successfully accomplishing the tasks. The only real mandatory task is for the party to clear the areas on the outskirts of Phlan so it can make its way to Valjevo Castle and defeat Tyranthraxus.
Beyond this region the party enters the area of the slums, which is one of two quests immediately available to new adventuring parties. This quest requires the clearing of this block, which lies beyond the city's civilized area, and is deisnged to allow a starting party to build up experience points.[1] The slums have been overrun with low-level monsters such as goblins and orcs that the party must clear out; further into the slums, the going gets tougher, with ogres and trolls for opponents.
The next commission is to clear out Sokol Keep, located on the island called Thorn Island, which is another quest immediately available for a new party much like the slums.[1] This fortified area is inhabited by gangs of undead, and characters require silver weapons to defeat these opponents.[1] Inside the keep is a specter who suffers under a curse. When you remove this curse, the keep is cleared and the shipping lanes to the city are finally opened.
There are a variety of other locations that are encountered as the party ventures further into the city, including Kuto's Well, catacombs filled with a bandit horde, a thieves' guild, Podol Plaza, and a buccaneer bar called the Pit. With the party making impressive progress, they are next contracted to go to the old Textile House, to recover the treasure of a council member. Pressing onward, the party can enter Mendor's Library, a temple of Bane in the wealthy section, Kovel Mansion, and the deadly Valhingen Graveyard.
Eventually the party ventures outside the city by boat, where they encounter a silver dragon. Various side treks and adventures occur, including visiting an encampment of the Zhentarim, as the party continues to build up experience and aid the city by defeating the plans of the mysterious "Boss".
The party reveals a traitor in the city council, and is commissioned to hunt him down. At some point the party will have to assault Stojanow Gate, a difficult task against bugbears and ettins. The party then enters Valjevo Castle and its inner sanctum, descends a stairwell to encounter some guards of the impostor Tyranthaxus (who assumes the form of a bronze dragon). After defeating his guards, the party refuses his offer to join his side and engages the dragon boss in a deadly battle, emerging victorious.
Development
Pool of Radiance was the first official game based on Advanced Dungeons & Dragons,[1][2][3] The scenario was written by TSR designers and coded by programmers from Strategic Simulations, Inc.[1] The game was developed on the Apple II and Commodore 64, taking one year with a team of thirty-five people.[2] This game utilized a game engine that would be used in future SSI D&D games – known as the "Gold Box" series. SSI project leader Chuck Kroegel stated that the main challenge with the development was interpreting the AD&D rules to an exact format, and balancing the graphics with the gameplay to provide a faithul AD&D feel to the game, given the restrictions of a home computer. In addition to the core AD&D manuals, the books Unearthed Arcana and Monster Manual II were also referred to during development.[2]
Versions of the game were developed for MS-DOS, Amiga and Macintosh.
The Macintosh version featured a typical Mac user interface and was intened to work on black and white Mac's like the Mac Plus and the Mac Classic. It was tiled into several windows such as the game screen, text console, and compass. The graphics were monochrome and the actual game window was relatively small compared to other versions. This version did feature sound, but no music.
The PC 9800 version 『プール・オブ・レイディアンス』 in Japan was fully translated (like the Japanese Famicom version) and featured rich coloured graphics.
Copy protection
The original Pool of Radiance game shipped with a decoder wheel. After the title screen, a copy protection screen was displayed consisting of two pictures and a line. The player was required to use the decoder wheel to line up these two pictures, and then enter the word revealed in the appropriate cutout in the decoder wheel. The player was given three tries to enter the correct word before the game exited.
Release
Pool of Radiance was released in June 1988.[4] Pool of Radiance is the first in a four-part series of D&D adventures set in the Forgotten Realms campaign world.[5]
The game's success spawned a D&D module, "Ruins of Adventure".
The game Hillsfar was not a sequel to Pool of Radiance like Curse of the Azure Bonds, which was subsquently released in the summer of 1989.[6] Hillsfar is described instead, by the reviewers of Dragon as "a value-added adventure for those who would like to take a side trip while awaiting the sequel."[6] A player can import characters from Pool of Radiance into Hillsfar, although the characters will be reduced to their basic levels and do not retain their weapons or magical items. Original Hillsfar characters, however, cannot be exported to Pool of Radiance, but they can be exported to Curse of the Azure Bonds.[6]
Novel
The novelization of Pool of Radiance, written by James M. Ward, was released in November 1989. The plot is described as follows, according to Dragon magazine: "Five companions find themselves in the unenviable position of defending the soon-to-be ghost town against a rival possessing incredible power."[7]
NES version
In 1992, the game was ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System under the full title of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Pool of Radiance.[8] This version was different from the other releases. It featured original music, different graphics, and a unique interface. It lacked many of the features of its computer counterparts, such as editing character icons. It also lacked several areas to explore, most notably the randomly generated creature lairs found on the wilderness map. Battles in the NES port were also considerally toned-down, partly because the NES had trouble with a large number of sprites and partly to lower the difficulty.
Sequel
Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor is the sequel to Pool of Radiance and was released in 2001 from Ubisoft. This game takes place in the Ruins of Myth Drannor. Myth Drannor was considered to be one of the biggest and most beautiful cities in the Forgotten Realms. But now, the once beautiful Elven city is in ruins.
This was a new game based on the same AD&D module, but with rules updated for the 3rd edition. Sales for the game were initially low as it received lackluster reviews and was plagued with bugs, especially in multiplayer. The situation was so bad that uninstalling the unpatched game could wipe the user's system files.[9] The main criticism was that Ruins was boring, as the AD&D module it was based on was intended for a large player group. Other problems, such as the infinite and confusing dungeons and only one style of gameplay - hack'n slash - contributed to make this title considered boring and repetitive. Later patches fixed some of the stability issues, but by this time stronger competition such as Bioware's Neverwinter Nights had been released.
Reception
Pool of Radiance was well received by the gaming press, and won the Origins Award for Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Computer Game of 1988.[10]
Pool of Radiance received positive reviews, with Tony Dillon from Commodore User scoring it 9/10. The only complaint was a slightly slow disk access. However the reviewer was impressed with the features, awarding the game a Commodore User superstar and claiming it was "the best RPG ever to grace the C64, or indeed any other computer."[11]
G.M. called the game's graphics "good" and praised its role-playing and combat aspects.[2] They felt that "roleplayers will find Pools is an essential purchase, but people who are solely computer games oriented may hesitate before buying it [...] it will be their loss".[2]
A review from Zzap was less positive only achieving 80%. It was noted the game felt too much "hacking, slicing and chopping" without enough emphasis on puzzle solving. The game was awarded on 49% for puzzle factor.[12]
Patricia Hartley and Kirk Lesser of Dragon magazine's "The Role of Computers" column gave Pool of Radiance a three-page review in Dragon #143 (March 1989).[1] The reviewers praised Pool of Radiance as "the first offering that truly follows AD&D game rules", calling it a "great fantasy role-playing game" that "falls into the must-buy category for avid AD&D game players." The reviewers advised readers to "rush out to your local dealer and buy Pool Of Radiance!" They considered the game Strategic Simulation's flagship product, speculating that it would "undoubtedly bring thousands of computer enthusiasts into the adventure-filled worlds of TSR."[1]
The Dragon reviewers criticized the installation program for the MS-DOS version, stating that "you must have the patience of Job"; so much code was packed onto the three floppy disks that the program had to be compressed, and uncompressing the code took nearly 30 minutes. However, the reviewers considered the final product to be more than worth the time spent waiting.[1]
The Dragon reviewers felt that the game "plays truer to the AD&D game rules than any software adventure we have yet experienced. Only a few minor differences exist in the creation of your characters, which is normally accomplished by using multisided dice." The reviewers wanted strong characters to begin with, in order to enter the game and quickly build up experience points and hit points, allowing the characters to investigate as many areas of the game as possible. They tested the random character creation system, noting that on the C64/128 version it took 207 "rolls" to create an acceptable human fighter with a strength score of 18 (out of a possible 18). To get acceptable attribute scores of 18 as a primary characteristic, 6 rolls were required for a dwarf fighter, 110 for a halfling thief, 50 for a magic-user, 73 for a cleric, and 350 rolls to get a multi-classed cleric/magic-user/fighter with acceptable attributes in all prime requisites. The reviewers found that it required roughly half the number of rolls to get the same results on the game's MS-DOS version. The reviewers noted that rolls for the initial number of gold pieces owned and languages known are missing during the character creation process; the computer automatically assigns a gold piece figure to each character, and the reviewers felt that language did not seem to be a problem to characters of above median intelligence.[1]
During gameplay, the Dragon reviewers noted that random encounters seemed to be based on the encounter tables found in the AD&D game manuals. They also observed that the depictions of monsters confronting the party "looked as though they had jumped from the pages of the Monster Manual."[1]
The Dragon reviewers criticized the "notoriously slow" technology of the C64/128 system. "Due to the large number of disk accesses required for the various scenes and activities throughout the game, and due to the agonizingly slow disk reads, the game tends to bog down, especially during lengthy combats where the computer must manage numerous enemies. Casting a spell can also lead one to prolonged yawning while waiting for various screens to appear; the screens allow you to decide who will cast what spell on whom." The reviewers added that the C64/128 version would become nearly unplayable without a software-based fastloader utility which Strategic Simulations integrated into the game. Conversely, the reviewers felt that the MS-DOS version is extremely fast, so much so that they had to slow the game operation down in order to read all the on-screen messages. They found that the MS-DOS version played at twice the speed of the C64/126 version when using the Enhanced Graphics Adapter (EGA) graphics mode.[1]
The Dragon reviewers compared Pool of Radiance to Hillsfar in Dragon #147 (July 1989), in their review of the latter game.[6] They felt that Hillsfar was not an in-depth adventure nor as absorbing as Pool of Radiance, but considered it "a nice adventure to while away the hours while waiting for SSI to release [Curse of the] Azure Bonds." The reviewers also concluded that "If you enjoyed Pool of Radiance, you’ll like Hillsfar, and we recommend this adventure’s purchase for those who enjoy diversionary quests."[6]
For the second annual "Beastie Awards", in 1989, Dragon readers voted Pool of Radiance as the most popular fantasy role-playing game of the year, with Ultima V as the runner-up. The Apple II version was the most popular format, with the PC/MS-DOS in a close second, and the Commodore 64/128 got the fewest votes. The primary factor cited for votes was the game's faithfulness to the AD&D system, as well as the game's graphics and easy-to-use user-interface to activate commands.[13] Pool of Radiance was also selected for the RPGA-sponsored Gamers' Choice Awards for the Best Computer Game of 1989.[14]
Game credits
- Scenario created by: TSR, Inc., Jim Ward, David Cook, Steve Winter, Mike Breault[15]
- Game created by: SSI Special Projects[15]
- Programming: Scot Bayless, Brad Myers, Russ Brown, Ted Greer
- Original Programming: Keith Brors, Brad Myers
- Graphic Arts: Tom Wahl, Fred Butts, Darla Marasco, Susan Halbleib
- Project Manager: Victor Penman
- Encounter Coding: Paul Murray, Russ Brown, Victor Penman, Dave Shelley
- Developer: George MacDonald
- Testing: Joel Billings, Steve Salyer, James Kucera, Robert Daly, Rick White
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser (March 1989). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (143): 76–78.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons". G.M. 1 (1). Croftward: 18–20. 1988.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons". GM. 1 (1). Croftward: p. 19. 1988.
{{cite journal}}:|page=has extra text (help); Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ Ward, James M. (May 1988). "The Game Wizards". Dragon (133): 42.
- ^ Barton, Matt (2007-02-23). "Part 2: The Golden Age (1985-1993)". The History of Computer Role-Playing Games. Gamasutra. Retrieved 2009-03-26.
- ^ a b c d e Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser (July 1989). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (147): 78–79.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Kirchoff, Mary (January 1989). "The Game Wizards". Dragon (141): 69.
- ^ "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Pool of Radiance". gamespot UK.
- ^ Salminen, Carl (11/24/2001). "Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2009-06-03.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "1988 List of Winners". Academy of Adventure Gaming, Arts & Design. Origins Games Fair. Retrieved 2009-06-03.
- ^ Dillon, Tony (1988). "Pool of Radiance". Commodore User: 34, 35.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ "Pool of Radiance". Zzap 44 (Dec 1988) p : 127. Retrieved 2008-02-21.
- ^ Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser (November 1989). "The Beastie Knows Best". Dragon (151): 36.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ The Dragon editors (November 1989). "The Gamers Have Chosen!". Dragon (151): 85.
{{cite journal}}:|author=has generic name (help) - ^ a b The Dragon editors. "The Envelope, Please!". Dragon (149
September 1989): 20–21.
{{cite journal}}:|author=has generic name (help); line feed character in|issue=at position 4 (help)
External links
- Dragonbait's Pool of Radiance page, screenshots, info and pics of the original Pool of Radiance (1988)
- Pool of Radiance at Game Banshee - Contains a walkthrough and many in-depth specifics about the game
- Pool of Radiance at MobyGames