Software Vault: The Games Collection 1

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ Software Vault: The Games Collection 1 / software vault.zip / software vault / CDR08 / RIFTWAR.ZIP / RIFTWAR.TXT

Wrap

Text File | 1993-08-08 | 121KB | 3,011 lines

************ Topic 35 Thu Dec 03, 1992 B.MEIER [Soulcutter] at 21:45 EST Sub: Riftwar: Betrayal at Krondor Betrayal at Krondor, the forthcoming Dynamix game based on Raymond E. Feist's Riftwar saga. 386 message(s) total. ************ ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 1 Thu Dec 03, 1992 B.MEIER [Soulcutter] at 21:47 EST I just read about Betrayal at Krondor which is based on Feist's Riftwar saga and which features rotoscoped animation, 3D motion, and even had Dynamix colaborate with Feist to write the plot. Sounds great. When can we expect to see this game? Spring '93?, Summer? ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 2 Fri Dec 04, 1992 P.OLIPHANT [Peteroid] at 01:57 EST Soulcutter, Where did you read about it? == PETEROID == ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 3 Fri Dec 04, 1992 B.MEIER [Soulcutter] at 23:59 EST The Winter '92 copy of InterAction. Since approximately 100% of the games reviewed in this magazine are made by Sierra or Dynamix, this magazine is probably promo magazine written by someone at Sierra. It gave a good review of this riftwar program, but didn't give a release date (or quarter, or year).. ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 4 Sat Dec 05, 1992 J.OKAMURA1 [Kami] at 05:02 EST Soulcutter, You didn't actually BUY a copy of Interaction, did you? Sierra gives it away for free if you send in a warranty card for one of its games. Interaction is written and published by and for the good folks at Sierra, so IMO, BUYING this mag is like buying the Origin (or any other game company's) product catalog. I've seen it on the magazine rack at Fry's, and still can't understand why anyone who knows the low-down on this mag (product literature?) would pay for it. Might as well read the backs of the game boxes - that's all you get anyway. My 2 cents worth, Kami ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 5 Sat Dec 05, 1992 TOMAS [Tom Zelinski] at 12:09 EST FYI, I wrote a note to Ray Feist (a GEnie user) that this topic exists. Knowing him and his obvious interest in the project, he'll probably be visiting here once things get going... -- Tom Z. ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 6 Sat Dec 05, 1992 R.ALLEN47 [R_Addison] at 20:25 EST There is also a blurb about this on the jacket of "The King's Buccaneer. We'll have to see how it comes out. As the origin of Midkemia involves a FRPG campaign, I'd say it has a good shot. RA ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 7 Sat Dec 05, 1992 TOMAS [Tom Zelinski] at 22:11 EST I heard from Ray Feist. He'll be stopping by in due time. FYI. -- Tom ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 8 Sat Dec 05, 1992 W.HARRIS4 [William] at 22:20 EST Message 1 of this topic has me drooling and wiping my chin at the very prospect of a game based on this realm. <grin> ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 9 Sun Dec 06, 1992 B.MEIER [Soulcutter] at 02:41 EST FYI, I just got it in the mail...don't remember ordering it so it must have been one of those many Sierra/Dynamix warranty cards I have sent in. Does anyone have an ordered list of all the Riftwar books? I read the first three or four up through "Darkness at Sethanon" but lost track after that since I only shop a few times a year... ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 10 Sun Dec 06, 1992 J.THOMAS69 [Jeff Thomas] at 13:13 EST Anyone knows what KIND of engine this game will use??? First-person, like Eye of the Beholder, or overhead view like Ultima 7 or what??? I'm reading King's Buccaneer now and also noticed that blurb for Betrayal... Jeff T. ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 11 Sun Dec 06, 1992 COREY [Corey Cole] at 17:02 EST I've played just a bit of a Beta test version of Betrayal at Krondor. It uses 3-space technology similar to a flight sim or Ultima Underworld, but is (at least the part I saw) in an outdoor wilderness setting. Krondor features a really interesting technique that I haven't seen in any other game, at least not quite in this way -- certain events trigger "story segments", in which some of the characters will converse and/or there will be a narrative segment developing the story. This really made me feel as though I were reading a new Raymond Feist book. -- Corey Cole ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 12 Sun Dec 06, 1992 R.ALLEN47 [R_Addison] at 20:03 EST Soulcutter, I believe the order is: Magician (in two volumes for the U.S. paper edition) Silverthorn Darkness at Sethanon Prince of the Blood The King's Buccaneer These are all mostly from the Midkemia side. Then from the other (Kelewan) side of the rift: Daughter of the Empire Servant of the Empire Mistress of the Empire (all with Janny Wurts) I'm looking forward to the game. I remember fondly many nights spent exploring the caves under Maharta (on Novindus), and a nasty little episode involving a journey to the City on the Serpent River. RA ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 13 Mon Dec 07, 1992 J.THOMAS69 [Jeff Thomas] at 18:32 EST Well, I just got the Interaction magazine myself, and this looks like a must-have game. I'm wondering though, as to the time-frame that the Riftwar story will take place in relation to the books. Furthermore, I wonder if we'll meet up with some of the characters from the books such as Pug or Tomas. Most of all, I'm wondering when the blazes this game is going to come out... Jeff T. ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 14 Wed Dec 09, 1992 C.YANG6 [Jason Yang] at 01:48 EST On page 16 of the InterAction magazine, it says: "all the tools and programming are done and the design team is just finishing data entry... It should be out in early 1993." I CAN'T WAIT! Jason ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 15 Wed Dec 09, 1992 MPGAMES-ASST at 17:33 EST The way my luck is going with game due dates lately, early in 1993, no doubt translates to fall of 1993, <sigh>. Taking into consideration that the article in InterAction Magazine is written by Sierra supporters and/or employees, it still looks darn good! One thing they seldom disappoint me in, are the high quality graphics and sound, now with the author himself involved, I'm expecting great things..:). Amber ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 16 Fri Feb 05, 1993 M.WYMAN1 [COMANCHE] at 20:54 EST The latest CGW has an article on Betrayal at Krondor. Pics look pretty good. I like the idea of wallking around the outdoors. Just finished the book Darkness at Sethanon so I am in the MOOD for this game. Too bad it won't be out for another 6 months due to the CGW previeing jinx :) Comanche ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 17 Tue Feb 09, 1993 L.SNOOTS at 19:46 EST HI, Gang. I was in my local software store today (Software, Etc.) in Hunt Valley, Maryland. They had a new sign on the wall saying that Betrayal at Krondor was due out this month (Feb. '93). They're USUALLY pretty good with their information. Has anyone else heard or seen anything? Larry ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 18 Thu Feb 11, 1993 J.VILLARREA1 [Youngbuck] at 00:23 EST If you shop through the GEnie mall, like a friend of mine did, you would know that it is slated to come out this month. No specific date, just a Feb. release. We wait by the mailbox in anticipation. ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 19 Thu Mar 11, 1993 W.HUMFLEET1 [Wayne] at 00:01 EST Called Sierra Today to find out the Status of my order for BAK. They said the Game would not be released till late April or mid May. It's not even complete yet. All I can say s you need 2 meg or more to play VGA graphics and HD drives. They didn;t have the size of the Hard Drive space required yet. Hope this comes out soon I can't wait from all the reviews, it looks great. Wayne ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 20 Mon Apr 12, 1993 C.SMITH29 [Greybeard] at 21:17 EDT Sheesh... I can see this one is really going to burn up the software wworld. No interest out there? ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 21 Mon Apr 12, 1993 T.WILSON39 at 23:08 EDT Greybeard, Well at least now I know I am not the only on looking for news in this topic. Anyone have any information about this game in regard to release date and hardware requirements? From everything I've seen and read it looks like this could be a good one even though it probably won't run very well on my 386-33. (Yes, I am getting a bad case of hardware envy.) Toad ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 22 Tue Apr 13, 1993 PAS.JPD at 18:26 EDT Me too, Toad. Hey Doug! Next time you're talking to the folks over at Dynamix, ask them if they have any intentions towards releasing this game on the Sega CD, SNES CD, or 3DO. Since my tired old 386/33 isn't a viable gaming platform anymore... -PAS PS Wish these damn machines would get paid off as quickly as they became obsolete! ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 23 Tue Apr 13, 1993 E.R.ANDERSON [Eric!] at 19:25 EDT Is this game out yet? Should I buy this instead of Space Quest? ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 24 Wed Apr 14, 1993 SIERRA.SUP [Doug] at 13:24 EDT All, Betrayal At Krondor should be one of the biggest CRPG releases of the year. I got to play it for a whole day last week and the only thing I wanted to know at the end of the day, was if I could take it home and continue playing. I didn't even complete Chapter 1! At this time, we have no plans to release BAK on anyhting other than IBM disk format. I was running it on a 386/40 and it was very playable. Almost anything is better on a 486 and this would be no exception, but it is not like a flight sim in that you almost HAVE to have a 486. BAK should be released in this second quarter. Doug Johnson Sierra/Dynamix Technical Support ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 25 Tue Apr 20, 1993 B.WILLIAMS44 [StarHawk] at 23:54 EDT HI, Doug, Can you tell us which sound cards will be supported? I cast a vote for Gravi Ultrasound! THANKS ***StarHawk*** ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 26 Wed Apr 21, 1993 SIERRA.SUP [Doug] at 13:58 EDT B.WILLIAMS44 StarHawk, At this time, to the best of my knowledge, Betrayal At Krondor will support the same sound cards we are currently supporting, specifically, Soundblaster, Adlib, General Midi, Roland MT-32, and the high-speed 32- bit internal PC speaker. Doug Johnson Sierra/Dynamix Technical Support ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 27 Tue Apr 27, 1993 D.ALVERSON2 [D. Alverson] at 22:30 EDT Is sierra going to support the PAS-16 since sierra is selling it iwth a CD-ROM package. Also it would be nice to be able to pick the software in the PAS-16, CD bundle. Give people 4 software points older software worth 1-point newer worth 2-points. That way people might get the software they don't already have. Also what about an idea on software companies getting together and selling CD-Rom Cheap and only put out CD Versions of games playable only from CD. This might solve Software companies problem with copied(Pirated) software. Of couse this would mean an effort between software companies, but it would be worth it for the fact of not being able to play a program unless one had an orignal. This is just an idea to get the CD Software going better. Also just thing of the money saved on diskettes since more recent games take 8-10 Disks each and 1 CD would replace them ,and you could make the boxes smaller(more copies could be kept in the same inventory space). ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 28 Wed Apr 28, 1993 B.WILLIAMS44 [StarHawk] at 01:17 EDT Doug, Well it doesn't hurt to hope, I for one say it is a great card if used in its native mode with wavetable digital sound (32 voices is noting to sneeze at) but I am begging, and beginning to think perhaps I bought a rock. I thought tthat gravis gave out development kits free to any company that wanted one and the list they posted included your people and all the other big companies, the only game I have foung with gravis ultrasound mode driver ids Star Control2 and it's great. Question if they use a common driver like say SBdig.adv and your product uses the sanme how much trouble id ti it.. to make it work with your product? Or can you? Thanks...Sad and forlorned... ***StarHawk*** ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 29 Wed Apr 28, 1993 P.OLIPHANT [Peteroid] at 01:39 EDT D. ALVERSON2, The number one problem (at least now) with putting out titles which are CD-ROM only is that not everybody HAS a CD-ROM drive! In fact, while 486 systems are currently selling at a rate of one every 3.6 seconds (that's about 24,000 a day), the total CD-ROM population is approaching 1 million. Which means that there as many 486 systems sold every 1.3 months as the total number of CD-ROM drives in homes! And note that this does NOT include already installed 486 sytems, or ANY 386 systems! Other problems also exist. A CD-ROM drive is currently slower than a hard drive when it comes to ACCESSING data. A hard drive is a LOT faster at FINDING the data, too. All this being said, a number of companies ARE producing CD-ROM only titles. Most notably (and released QUITE recently) is the 7TH GUEST. It was developed by TRILOBYTE and is distributed through VIRGIN. == PETEROID == ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 30 Sat May 01, 1993 D.BORUCK [DENNYB] at 08:43 EDT P.OLIPHANT Peteroid: I think that many people will go out and buy CDROMS due to 7th Guest. It truly shows what a CDROM can be used for. Maybe now game publishers will design games for the CDROM's capabilities and not just add voices to existing games (ala Sierra) or put out shovelware (ala Origin). This game is really a work of art. DennyB ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 31 Sat May 01, 1993 L.SNOOTS at 13:10 EDT I saw on Compuserve that Sierra/Dynamix has a PLAYABLE demo of Krondor in their library. Wouldn't it be great if it were on this service, also? I haven't downloaded it yet (too expensive). Larry ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 32 Sat May 01, 1993 AGNARI at 14:06 EDT Larry the Sierra rep has uploaded a demo of Betrayal at Krondor in Lib 18 and as soon as it's cleared by the SysOp who is checking it will be available. ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 33 Sat May 01, 1993 SIERRA.SUP [Doug] at 16:33 EDT Larry and All, The BAKDEMO I uploaded was improperly packaged. The file had to be extracted to a 1.44 disk and then installed to the HD. Additionally, the install program contained the improper parameters for making the boot disk. I have asked the Sysop here to delete the file and I will upload it as soon as we get the install script fixed. This will be early next week. Thank you for your patience. Doug Johnson Sierra/Dynamix Technical Support ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 34 Mon May 03, 1993 L.SNOOTS at 20:57 EDT Hey, thanks a lot. Wow, 'Ask and ye shall receive' really works. Larry ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 35 Tue May 04, 1993 D.FRANCIS3 [Warlock] at 20:04 EDT Hello All: Lets have the the demo :) I've been reading the 1st two books in the Riftwar saga and am curious as to how the game will play. The screen shot in the CGW ad showed promise. I have extra pennies to spend since I took Strike Commander back; I'd like to spend them on something that will run on my machine. 'til next time, Warlock, personally trained by Milamber :) ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 36 Tue May 04, 1993 AGNARI at 20:26 EDT Sorry there were problems with the first upload, so the Rep had to re-upload the file and I believe Dondo is currently working on getting the Demo released. ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 37 Wed May 05, 1993 AGNARI at 20:57 EDT The demo is now available in library 18, as file 6046. ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 38 Thu May 06, 1993 D.FRANCIS3 [Warlock] at 18:33 EDT Hello All: My thanks to Sierra/Dynamix for providing the demo; this game is one I think I will enjoy. I like the way comabt is handled and the stills of dungeons and outdoors were nicely done. I also like the puzzles, not too hard, not too easy. I did see some things that would be better if adjusted or perhaps just need explaining. For example: 1 - Does it cost the character a combat turn when he looks in inventory to switch weapons or give a weapon to another character? I would go into the inventory and when I exited the highlighted square was under another character. 2 - Do you have to select a magic spell to cast each time even if you are going to use the same spell? Is there a way to just cast without clicking on the magic icon and selecting a spell from the list. Also I like the way spell categories are split and how you select categories; simple but nice. 3 - The combat figures need to be preseented in a bit more clarity. I like the size of the characters but it seems you should be able to see the faces and clothing details a little better then you can now. 4 - The tumbler letters on the puzzle box are a bit hard to read. In particular the letter E was giving me a hard time. Maybe a brighter color or better drop shadow would help. 5 - Last and least the screen seemed a bit dark to me. On the positive side I loved the big guy throwing rocks at me and how one of his partners turned and ran after we ganged up on him. The weapons looked good; do we get to use flails? Flails would look nice flying through the air :) The annimations and scanned images fit in well with the rest of the game. I only wish you gave us more to test out in the demo as it would keep me content until the game comes out. :) 'til next time, Warlock ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 39 Thu May 06, 1993 D.ALVERSON2 [D. Alverson] at 22:37 EDT You may have missed my point. What i meant was if software CO's would sell Cd-Rom Software at the same price as Disk Versions, and would sell a decent CD-rom drive(faster type 300-350 speed) CHEAP, more people could afford to buy CD-rom software and drives. And if more people had CD-ROM equiped systems software Co's could sell more CD software thus lower the price of CD software. Then software co's could make a pgm run off cd-only(for copy protection purposes). ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 40 Sun May 09, 1993 J.THOMPSON75 [wyrkham] at 12:20 EDT just out of curiosity... Why do all your posts look like a Walt Whitman poem? ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 41 Sun May 09, 1993 SIERRA.SUP [Doug] at 15:23 EDT D.FRANCIS3 Warlock, Thanks so much for the comments on the Krondor demo! I passed them on to the Krondor design team via e-mail (actually, the entire message intact). As part of a new game familiarity routine, I spent an entire day "playing" an early dongle version of the game. I hardly explored anything. There was so much there to see and do. There are over 200,000 words of text to read in the game as certain parts of the story are explored. Although there is a fixed story with fixed characters, the player has an incredible amount of control over what is done. There are none of the "you should have done this way back at the beginning, so start over" puzzles, which is essential in a game of this size and scope. I was impressed to say the least. On to your questions: 1-Inventory movements have a cost in the demo, but not in the game. 2-The magic is layed out with a certain logic of spell groupings. Just presenting a text list would distract from the atmosphere created by using the symbols. There is no quicker way to use magic in the game. 3-Personally, I thought the figures were quite detailed for the resolu- tion being used, 320x200x256. I think that to get more detail it would require jumping a resolution, slowing the same detail level presented by a factor of 4. Increasing the detail (number of items calculated) would further slow down the game. 4-The difficulty in reading the characters may be due to either the font used or to #5. Is it something you could get used to? Remember, you will probably spend several hundred hours getting through this game. 200k of text is the equivalent of a 450 page novel. 5-Larry, the "not-so-famous journalist/technician" from our department, says, "The dark graphics are part of the mood. This is a game that should be played in the dark." (The journalist reference is to the articles he has written for INterAction magazine). 6-I know it wasn't numbered, but it WAS a question. No, sorry, flails will not be available in the game. I agree, they would look cool. As I understand it, and I could very well be wrong, Betrayal At Krondor, is a work BASED on Raymond E. Feist's RiftWar Saga, not a recreation of one of his existing novels. Because of that, the game is in essence his latest novel, albeit an electronic one. Much more than just another fantasy game. Doug Johnson Sierra/Dynamix Technical Support ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 42 Sun May 09, 1993 L.SNOOTS at 22:22 EDT I downloaded the demo yesterday (Saturday). It was DEFINITELY worth downloading! I've really been curious how it would look and play. At least now I have a good idea. Combat was a real thrill! It took me about 5 tries before I defeated the enemies with my guys still intact! I definitely think the right decision was made to make combat turn based---rather than real time. Providing it's relatively serious bug-free, I think this will be THE RPG standard for a long time!! Now, the obvious question------WHEN WILL IT BE AVAILABLE!!! I've heard rumors that it will be out later this month (around 5/24). Is that a realistic timeframe; or has it been pushed back? Larry ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 43 Mon May 10, 1993 T.MASSIMI [Dino/Johnny] at 00:54 EDT Can anyone tell me what the expected system requirements will be. Also how long did it take to download the demo. Thanks. Dino ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 44 Mon May 10, 1993 B.GATOT [Gatot] at 02:48 EDT T.Massimi: It took me 1 hour and 38 minutes to download the demo! But if a demo is worth that kind of download time, this is it! But then again I live in California, so the phone charges shouldn't be that big. If you live in East Coast, that's another matter! Doug, This one seems great too! I don't pay too much attention to this Betrayal of Krondor game because I usually am not really interested in that kind of game (I am more of a flight sim type), but the demo sold me! Great combat!!! I think the great effort that produces this demo would pay off. It really makes me (and I am sure many other) wants to buy the game. When it's going to be out anyway?? I hope it isn't going to be around the same time as the AOE. -B.Gatot- ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 45 Mon May 10, 1993 SIERRA.SUP [Doug] at 13:04 EDT All, My current release schedule shows that Betrayal At Krondor will be released at the end of this month (May) or the beginning of June. Yes, that is the expected time frame for the release of Aces Over Europe as well, at least within a couple of weeks. Doug Johnson Sierra/Dynamix Technical Support ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 46 Mon May 10, 1993 D.FRANCIS3 [Warlock] at 19:40 EDT Hello Doug: Thanks for the comments about the game. Providing a quality demo is one way to insure I'll be at the computer store to purchase it on day one. :) After using the demo this weekend I have become used to the magic system and feel it will work well since the combat is turn based. I was happy to hear that inventory access would not cost a turn and the character detail/game speed is a match I can live with. Dark graphics; well dungeons are dark and combat is darker so no problem. I would like to see the font changed or adjusted if there will be a lot to read in the game. Perhaps the font is hard to read on the chests only? Everywhere else the font seems to do fine. Too bad about the flails maybe they can be worked into the sequel as I'm sure there will be demand for one. I have returned two flight sim games in the last two months and have put EOB III on hold to wait for this one as I think I will get much satisfaction out of it. I'll have space on my drive as soon as I remove Darklands. It was good when it came out but too many bugs and too much time to fix it; took the fun out of it. I'd like to have Krondor soon but don't send it out buggy. :) 'til next time, Warlock, reading Silverthorn now, good stuff by Raymond Feist. P.S. Any comments from Mr. Feist on the game? Warlock ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 47 Tue May 11, 1993 SIERRA.SUP [Doug] at 12:43 EDT D.FRANCIS3 Warlock, I was told that the manual for the game contains a write-up by Mr. Feist about the Feist/Dynamix collaboration. Other than that, I have no comments of his to pass on. The font in the text screens is much easier to read than the chests. The chests are, after all, a puzzle, so they are supposed to be difficult. So much of the way this game is portrayed is to create the mood for the story. The dark screens, the magic system, the movement routines, the text fonts, all coptribute to creating the "feeling" that makes this game so unique. > I have returned two flight sims... That's what we like to hear, at least so long as they are not Dynamix flight sims...<big grin>! I have been itchy to play Krondor since I first looked at it, but like you, it is more desireable to have a problem free program than an on-time one (within reason). Doug Johnson Sierra/Dynamix Technical Support ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 48 Tue May 11, 1993 B.MELANCON1 [Andorian] at 18:23 EDT Doug, For someone who has never read any previous novels from that saga, will it be difficult to "get into" the game? Will the manual be..shall I say...heavy? <g> ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 49 Tue May 11, 1993 M.STORTZ1 [Torville] at 18:30 EDT Doug, Great demo! Effective, too... now BAK is on my "must" list. I take it that the terrain scrolls by in real-time, ala Wolfenstein and Ultima Underworld, and not step-generate/step- generate, ala Links? Please have the developers compress or encrypt the data files... you can read the answers to the riddles in it, and more. I realize that this was just the demo and that the game may well be different; just checking. /// Torville /// ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 50 Wed May 12, 1993 SIERRA.SUP [Doug] at 14:45 EDT B.MELANCON1 Andorian, The manual will give background history on all the characters you will encounter in the game. It will also contain an overview of the Riftwar Saga as a whole. The manual is of the size that if it were any larger it would have to be spiral bound rather than stapled. Doug Johnson Sierra/Dynamix Technical Support ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 51 Wed May 12, 1993 SIERRA.SUP [Doug] at 14:47 EDT M.STORTZ1 Torville, BAK is written in 3-space, the same language used for our flight simulators. Movement through the world is continous (ala Wolf3D) as opposed to being in discreet steps (ala Yserbius). Thanks for the comments about the data files. I'm sure that they will be different, but I'm passing your message to the design team anyways. Doug Johnson Sierra/Dynamix Technical Support ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 52 Wed May 12, 1993 J.THOMPSON75 [wyrkham] at 22:13 EDT How does the character generation system work? ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 53 Wed May 12, 1993 D.HOLMES14 [David] at 22:32 EDT The demo of BAK was pretty good, although there are a few aspects of the game which could be improved upon. I don't really like the concept of the "animated novel." I know that this game is based on novels, so this would be a logical transition to the computer, but the sequences would be so much better if they were movie clips instead. It seems like a waste to have all of the actors dress up only to perform a couple simple movements. But, perhaps in a future game, right? :) (The text _is_ a little hard to read, and its distance from the picture is distracting.) I'm disappointed to see no CD-ROM version is planned. Oh, and I don't know if I can stand 100 of those word puzzles. I'm not too good at them, and I wish there were a greater variety of puzzles to solve. But, I suppose I shouldn't complain. This looks like it will be a fantasic game. It's been quite a while since I've been into a RPG, but this looks like this might be "the one." David ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 54 Thu May 13, 1993 SIERRA.SUP [Doug] at 12:20 EDT J.THOMPSON75 Wyrkham, There is no character generation in BAK. You take the persona of different characters throughout the game and can influence their development. Doug Johnson Sierra/Dynamix Technical Support ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 55 Thu May 13, 1993 J.THOMPSON75 [wyrkham] at 20:25 EDT Well, that makes this really a 3d King's quest... It's not really a Role playing game... Unless you have a chance to improve the preset characters stats? ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 56 Fri May 14, 1993 P.OLIPHANT [Peteroid] at 01:03 EDT Wyrkham, I have always been a little reserved about the importance of character stats, and the concept of improving them within the play of a game. I find this VERY artificial. I mean, just because your character has done battle a number of times before, WHY is HE now better at fighting by just doing the same actions? I PREFER a game where fighting improves MY skills (in contrast to my character's), and >I< carry those skills on. This is a subtle point, but an important one. The best way to think about this is a typical arcade/puzzle game, ala Super Mario Bros., Miner 2049, etc. Your character doesn't get any better at solving puzzles and performing effective action skills, YOU DO! YOU learn what the objects do, how your controls work, what kills what monsters, etc. In this sense I consider it compensation for bad game design that, at some point, your character is now capable of killing a stronger opponent just because you've played the game a lot. You should be able to kill a stronger opponent because YOU are more experienced, NOT your character... Another problem with character stats is that people feel cheated if they cannot carry their improved ego <grin> to the sequel. I then ask you, what is the guy who never played the first game suppose to do, just die? And, as shocking as this may seem, those of us who do games for a living prefer to havr as LARGE an audience as possible! And, if only people who finished the first game can play the sequel, then this means an ever decreasing size of audience for each sequel. Not good... Sorry for the rant. I'm working on STONEKEEP, and these questions are foremost in my mind... == PETEROID == ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 57 Fri May 14, 1993 SIERRA.SUP [Doug] at 14:15 EDT J.THOMPSON75 Wyrkham, If you conclude that BAK will be a 3-D King's Quest, I have obviously misrepresented the product. In my gaming experience, I have never seen anything quite like this one. It doesn't really fit into the adventure category, nor is it a true CRPG. It has some elements that make it like a simulation, but it's obviously not one of those. It just defies comparison to any existing product. All I can offer is "Try It, You'll Like It". We even have some Pepto in the form of our 30-day money back guarantee. If you have even a remote interest in computer fantasy games and fantasy novels, you will not be returning this one. Doug Johnson Sierra/Dynamix Technical Support ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 58 Fri May 14, 1993 L.SNOOTS at 22:38 EDT So, Doug. How's the release date for this one shaping up? Is next week (5/21 or so) a realistic hope? I haven't looked forward to a game as much as this one since DARKLANDS. I stopped at the software store every day or so and checked the NEW RELEASES shelves. I'm sure this one will be ready to play when it's purchased, rather than after numerous maintenance upgrages. When's it coming? Larry ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 59 Sat May 15, 1993 J.THOMPSON75 [wyrkham] at 02:04 EDT I think that learning how to operate a gaming system is just as artificial a way to improve your combat or skill or magic system as skill points or combat improvements in a character. I don't think that character improvement is any way at all a coverup for poor programming. I personally think that Wizardy VII is the best Role-playing game ever made on the computer and it is loaded with experience point gains and such. I person does not come onto the world loaded with experience and know how, and neither should your character.. Also about forcing a player to have all the games to finish a series.. I don't think that allowing players to port characters from other games is unfair to players who just want to buy one of the later games. SSI has been doing that with ALL of their AD&D games for sometime, and I have played the series starting from the 2 or 3 game with no problems starting off because they allow you to start off with a character equal to the task of the game. Part of the enjoyment in any RPG is creating a character and nurturing through the steps of gaining power, while developing a personality for him as well... (admittedly, a little difficult in a CRPG)... Actually I think that setting up a (supposedly) Roleplaying game to be so linear that using anything other than a pregenerated character completely ruins the story, is poor programming... ok enough ranting... ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 60 Sat May 15, 1993 D.KURNIAWAN2 [Djuara] at 04:16 EDT RPG is a game where we're playing a role or several roles. So I think most computer games are RPG.:) Most pen and paper RPG use stats and allow character creating, but that doesn't mean a game that doesn't allow character creating and have no stats can't be RPG. A game where the player make decision as the character and the story unfold base on the decision is RPG. A choose your adventure books where you choose a path and turn to a page to read the a few lines then choose another path are RPGs. Children that play Cowboys and Indians are playing original RPG before the stats and rules books complicated the game. With a good GM you can play without any rule books, each of you can tell about your character and the GM will decide what will happen if your character do something. The rule books and stats were created to resolve any disagreement. With computer as a referee to decide what'll happen, you don't need any stats to play. Djuara Kurniawan ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 61 Sat May 15, 1993 SIERRA.SUP [Doug] at 12:03 EDT L.SNOOTS Larry, If I could give you an exact date I would. There are still a few things to be cleaned up and we are shooting for the end of the month. I will inform you all as soon as I know that it is shipping. Doug Johnson Sierra/Dynamix Technical Support ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 62 Sat May 15, 1993 W.HARRIS4 [William] at 20:53 EDT It sounds like I'm going to have to get another hard drive. <g> Only 3 meg free on a stacked 125/200+(whatever) drive. ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 63 Sat May 15, 1993 P.OLIPHANT [Peteroid] at 20:53 EDT Wyrkham, Just a brief rebuttal: A pre-generated character does NOT imply a linear experience. And, while it may be true that many people who play Roleplaying games (RPG's) enjoy nurturing a characters stat's, this particular feature tends to alienate the beginner (and can be a nuisance to some advanced players). I believe the USER should be interacting with the game/program environment, and NOT his character. This is evidences by the strong trend toward first- person perspective RPG's... The ideal RPG, IMHO, would be one where you actually feel YOU are IN the environment (ala Virtual Reality)! Such a (future) game would lose believability (or suspension of dis-belief) if doing the same action did not result in the same effect. Character stats violate this principle... == PETEROID == ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 64 Sun May 16, 1993 J.THOMPSON75 [wyrkham] at 01:52 EDT Like Castle Wolfenstein? You think THAT is the ultimate RPG? ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 65 Sun May 16, 1993 B.WILLIAMS44 [StarHawk] at 20:37 EDT So.... No GUS support right? ***StarHawk*** Still waiting patiantly......HO HUM ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 66 Tue May 18, 1993 SIERRA.SUP [Doug] at 23:04 EDT B.WILLIAMS44 StarHawk, Sorry, no GUS support yet for any Sierra family products. When (if) we do, it will be pretty much across the board on all of our new releases, but of course, there will be no backward compatible drivers. To my knowledge, there is no GUS support from any of the major entertainment software manufacturers other than through Windows. The market is being flooded with a glut of new soundcards right now. Because of the instability of the marketplace, this is not the time to start writing new drivers. Doug Johnson Sierra/Dynamix Technical Support ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 67 Thu May 20, 1993 B.WILLIAMS44 [StarHawk] at 02:30 EDT Doug, Star Control2 supports the GUS, the company is accolade. but how they did it is a mystery, because the drivers are not seperate from the geame. They have a sound card seensing program built into the main game file, it can autodetect which card you have. The only card it had trouble with was the PAS. How they did it when everyone else grumbles about not recievinglow level codes from Gravis is beyond me. Well it can't hurt to hope, since Star Control 2 sounded awsome compared to using SBOS driver. Thanks anyway, P.S. Maybe yall should call Accolade maybe they'll tell you how they di it. ***StarHawk*** ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 68 Thu May 27, 1993 C.HODGES8 [Ranger] at 08:24 EDT What about the SB16? Hope new games start supporting it and taking advantage of its feature. Any idea on when this game will be on the store shelves? I really enjoyed the books, hope the game is as good. Some of the recent releases based on books have been a bit disappointing in how easy they were. Plus I need a break from Ultima games<G>. ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 69 Thu May 27, 1993 D.HAN [Asst. Sysop] at 21:27 EDT Doesn't look like the game will be supporting the SB16, as far as I can tell. Only boards supported are the Soundblaster/Adlib, Roland, and PC Internal Speaker, while the Soundblaster has the added benefit of playing the many digitized sounds/speech cuts. (BTW, no dual board setups, meaning no Soundblaster/Roland combos allowed) Danny ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 70 Fri May 28, 1993 M.STORTZ1 [Torville] at 01:46 EDT Doug, This should be available soon, yes? Like within a week or two? /// Torville /// ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 71 Fri May 28, 1993 SIERRA.SUP [Doug] at 22:39 EDT M.STORTZ1 Torville, BAK is on schedule to be released this quarter, but it is much better to hold off a week or so to make sure there are no problems. I am as anxious to play it as you all are, but I know it will be worth the wait. Doug Johnson Sierra/Dynamix Technical Support ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 72 Mon May 31, 1993 M.STORTZ1 [Torville] at 11:17 EDT Doug, Hokay. Say no more, wink, wink, nudge, nudge. But... =aren't= you playing this already? /// Torville /// ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 73 Mon May 31, 1993 SIERRA.SUP [Doug] at 14:03 EDT M.STORTZ1 Torville, Actually, no, I am not playing it yet other than an 8 hr familiarization period I had about a month or two ago on a VERY unstable dongled version. I am waiting for the full release version before I commence serious play. Doug Johnson Sierra/Dynamix Technical Support ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 74 Mon May 31, 1993 C.HODGES8 [Ranger] at 20:24 EDT So where is it? When is this supposed to be out? ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 75 Tue Jun 01, 1993 J.THOMAS69 [Jeff Thomas] at 18:32 EDT John Cutter has been speaking to Raymond Feist about this game over on the SFRT, and according to John, it looks like we'll see this approx mid-June at the earliest, more than likely though, release will be at the end of June. Jeff T. ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 76 Tue Jun 01, 1993 C.HODGES8 [Ranger] at 20:18 EDT figures. ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 77 Wed Jun 02, 1993 PAS.JPD [Jaded Gamer] at 18:09 EDT Yeah, I finally checked out the demo. Glad I hadn't looked at it before this, since its that much less time I have to wait for it <grin>. I'd pretty much written off PC games, but BAK looks to be a winner. -The Jaded Gamer ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 78 Sun Jun 13, 1993 R.FEIST2 [Raymond E.] at 21:50 EDT Well, as I told Dan & the others, I'd get around in a little while . . . what's six months? The holidays and buying a house contributed to my laxity in finding this topic. To answer some questions: there has been no other game I'm aware of that comes close to BAK in concept. Think of it not as an Adventure Game or a CRPG, but rather as an "interactive novel." Neal Hallford (AKA The Maniac) wrote a story based in part on what happend in the Riftwar Saga, hence the "Riftwar Legacy" rubric. Basically he and John Cutter said, "This would look really neat in the game . . ." Things like, "Here we should have a giant leap out and bite someone . . ." And then I had to get on the phone and say, "You can't have a giant there, you dummies! It's the jockey's dressing room! He'd be noticed!" Stuff like that. So what we ended up with was a collaboration of concepts, how to make a good game and have it carry along the feel of good solid story telling. So, you're not going to roll characters, rather the writers (Neal and I) gave you the characters, but you will be able to decide what they do, and those choices will improve their abilities to do certain things. As far as the objection PETEROID made re: who gets the skills, the obverse of the argument is that it's unfair to penalize kids who have eye-hand coordination problems by making them play 10 times longer than kids with really swift thumbs. In other words, whatever you bias, this isn't a perfect world, so there are no perfect solutions. But a system that says, "Here's Siegure James (after he was Squire, and before he became Baronette) and while we're doing this little adventure, you can decide if he improves in his fighting skill, his problem solving, his craftiness, etc. or some combination. Sure it's artificial in many ways; it's a game. But it gives you the ability to say, "Well, Feist sure had those characters acting stupid in the last book--had I been in charge of that evacuation of the City of Armengar, this is how I would have done it." So, had Darkness at Sethanon been a game like BAK, you probably would have been able to run Guy du Bas-Tyra and decide how to handle the evacuation. John and I are already talking about what we might do next. Many of the problems in the first game are behind, so they don't have to re-invent the wheel up in Eugene. The texture-mapping is done, so is the 3-D perspective engine, so is the bit-mapping, so are the conventions of the magic system, combat, etc. And most of the Kingdom of the Isles is mapped already, so we only have to drop other stuff in there. (This is all subject to Betryal at Krondor being a smash hit, with people storming the offices of Dynamix with torches and pitchforks demanding a sequel, price is no object, etc.) I got to play the game for the first time in Chicago, at CES, last weekend. It's super! I tried not to be biased, and I HATED the actor they used for Arutha! (If you've read the books, once you see him, you'll understand why. <G>) But I got sucked in. It's such an incredible experience I 1) went on for 48 hours badgering . . . er, explaining in reasoned and rational terms to John Cutter why it is absolutely imperative Dynamix port the game over to the Mac 2) then went out and bought a Compaq 486/66i Deskpro/SVGA system so I could play the bloody thing until they do the port. This game should be on the color Mac, as well as on 3DO, Sega, etc. BTW, for those who've been dying, unless something happened at the last minute, the game should be shipping this week! Start bugging Egghead about the 1st of July. On balance, I was really pleased with the end result. It was so weird playing a game in "my" world where I had no idea what was going to happen next. It was wonderful, too. And remember, this game will make wonderful Christmas presents, and birthdays, and weddings, and graduation, and confirmation, and Bar Mitzvah, and . . . funerals? Best, R.E.F. ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 79 Mon Jun 14, 1993 C.SEVERN [Chadwick] at 19:38 EDT Great to see you here, Raymond! I'll be picking up this game the instant it hits the shelves. Chadwick ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 80 Mon Jun 14, 1993 C.HODGES8 [Ranger] at 20:27 EDT Hello Mr. Feist. Glad to see you here. I've read all the Riftwar books (guess I'll need to break them out and reread them<G>). I am really looking forward to this game. BTW, some of us aren't kids and have hand-eye coordination problems<G>. ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 81 Tue Jun 15, 1993 R.FEIST2 [Raymond E.] at 11:03 EDT Chadwick, glad to be here. Mostly laziness and a few minor distractions, having a baby, moving, writing a book, ect. that have keep me too busy. But now that it's time to shill . . .er discuss the game dispassionately, I thought I'd better get over here. <g> Ranger, it's not just the eye-hand coordination problem, either. It's the ancient curse of the game master/game designer, what do you do when the character is significantly smarter or more gifted than the player? That's the entire rational behind having a player improve in stats. In most combat intensive RPG, that means the ability to kill more and bigger ugly-buglies. This really shows in a game like Might & Magic where if you are patient, you can hang at low levels for a long time, building up stats, then basically stay ahead of the curve, frying everything that gets in your way. M&M doesn't give you improved problem solving, however, with the exception of a robber's ability to open locks and foil traps. Other than that, it's your brain and the character's brawn and magic. In BAK, I think we've come to a happy medium. YOU have to piece together the pieces of the problem and find the nine solutions, but the characters can improve in their abilities to do various things. So this game has a little of both. I think most people will like it. Those who won't are those who want a more arcade like "shoot 'em up" at one end and those who want something more "book- like" at the other. A game can't be a book, nor a book a game, but we can certainly build a game with certain literary qualities to it. Best, R.E.F ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 82 Tue Jun 15, 1993 W.HARRIS4 [William] at 20:45 EDT -=-=-=- To: R.FEIST2 [Raymond E.] -=-=-=- Ray, I am thrilled to hear that the author of the book is excited about the game. The first game-based-on-book I played was the '85 (I think, hard to remember) botch of Zelazny's Amber series. (blech) I am willing to buy this thing sight unseen (assuming Hard Drives International delivers my 200- meg hard drive tomorrow, as they say they will.) ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 83 Wed Jun 16, 1993 E.R.ANDERSON at 01:12 EDT I think this was a good project to do. It got me to go out and buy the Riftwar books once I heard about the game coming out (I wanted to be familiar with the game. and I'm always on the lookout for a new series to read). I enjoyed the books very much. I had read FairyTale by you years ago but I didn't know you wrote these books as well. The combat system has my excited for the game, too. Please, bug The sierra network to get this game online! It would be great if we could do such things. ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 84 Wed Jun 16, 1993 R.FEIST2 [Raymond E.] at 11:15 EDT John Cutter and I have talked about the potential for a Riftwar Legacy area of the Sierra Network. It's possible. It would require a special front end for the graphic's drivers I think, and some not so trivial programming. If the game is a smash success, we'll see. Remember, the game makes a wonderful gift! <G> William, I bit back my enthusiasm until I actually sat down to play it. I didn't want to be disappointed and had my cynical rejoinders ready: "I write books, not games," "Hey, they're money's green," "What did you expect, it's only a game," etc. Instead I was gone the first three minutes after I saw down to start the game. Played for hours and didn't finish the 1st Chapter. Nine chapters in the game. It should take weeks. <g> And while there are things I don't like (and things John Cutter doesn't like) I'll live with them because they're relatively trivial and they won't impact future game design. With the first one, you learn. And, who knows, if the game is wildly successful and we do a series of Riftwar Legacy games, maybe in 10 years we can rewrite it to do the "author's preferred edition." <G> Worked with MAGICIAN. No, as far as FRP style computer games go, this is, from what I've seen, the best out yet; I'm pleased to be associated with it. Best, R.E.F. ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 85 Wed Jun 16, 1993 C.HODGES8 [Ranger] at 19:16 EDT roger that Mr. Feist. I've dug out my copies of the five Riftwar books and will have them reread by the time I get the game (next week maybe<G>?). After playing Ringworld and Gateway, I'm looking for something a bit more challenging and interesting. later. ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 86 Thu Jun 17, 1993 LIBRARIAN [R_Addison] at 20:06 EDT Five? How are you counting? RA ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 87 Thu Jun 17, 1993 C.HODGES8 [Ranger] at 21:00 EDT 1, 2, 3, 4, 5<G>. Like anyone else. List Follows: Magician Apprentice Magician Master Silverthorn A Darkness at Sethanon Prince of the Blood (oops, this is actually after the Riftwar is over, but it does say a continuation of the Riftwar Saga on the back cover, so I counted it as 5). Also, Daughter of the Empire enjoys the setting of the other side of the Rift, if memory serves me correctly. ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 88 Fri Jun 18, 1993 R.FEIST2 [Raymond E.] at 12:31 EDT Officially, it goes like this: MAGICIAN (split into two books in paperback only Apprentice/Magician) SILVERHTORN A DARKNESS AT SETHANON Those are the three novels in THE RIFTWAR SAGA. DAUGHTER OF THE EMPIRE, SERVANT OF THE EMPIRE, MISTRESS OF THE EMPIRE, comprise THE EMPIRE TRILOGY. PRINCE OF THE BLOOD, which is a stand alone book in MIDKEMIA THE KING'S BUCCANNER, which is the transition novel between the RIFTWAR SAGA and the new series, (working title) THE SERPENTWAR SAGA. The new book will be called SHADOW OF A DARK QUEEN. Anyway, got news that the game is golden! It's at duplicating even as we speak and will be shipping to the stores on Monday! Break out the bubbly! It's a game! Best, R.E.F. ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 89 Fri Jun 18, 1993 C.HODGES8 [Ranger] at 18:32 EDT Looks like I need to raid Waldenbooks again<G>. ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 90 Fri Jun 18, 1993 W.HARRIS4 [William] at 21:46 EDT -=-=-=- To: R.FEIST2 [Raymond E.] -=-=-=- > and the new series, (working title) THE SERPENTWAR SAGA. > The new book will be called SHADOW OF A DARK QUEEN. <drool, drool> -=-=-=- To: C.HODGES8 [Ranger] -=-=-=- > Also, Daughter of the Empire enjoys the setting of the other side of the > Rift, if memory serves me correctly. Don't forget SERVANT OF THE EMPIRE, MISTRESS OF THE EMPIRE, and (for that matter) THE KING'S BUCCANNEER. (Though that one takes place in Midkemia.) -=-=-=- To: R.FEIST2 [Raymond E.] -=-=-=- > And while there are things I don't like (and things John Cutter > doesn't like) I'll live with them because they're relatively trivial Hell, I'm a programmer as well as a gamer. I know more about those kinds of things than I want to know. > No, as far as FRP style computer games go, this is, from what I've > seen, the best out yet; I'm pleased to be associated with it. We'll see. <g> I do have a new 210-meg hard drive that is just yearning to have Krondor. ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 91 Fri Jun 18, 1993 LIBRARIAN [R_Addison] at 23:20 EDT The SerpentWar Saga!? Just when you thought it was safe to visit Novindus... Don't suppose you need beta testers for those, do you? You'd hate to ship all those books out, only to find they lock up the reader's brain if he jumps from page 101 to page 103, now wouldn't you? I definitely volunteer for the Beta test team. <g,d,r> RA ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 92 Sat Jun 19, 1993 J.BRANCH3 at 11:56 EDT Mr Feist, Serpentwar Saga?!?! I've enjoyed all the previous Riftwar Saga related books. If this series is anything like the quality stories, t5hen count me in as a "contributer." Now for something more important---Can you give us a projected, tenative timeframe we can begin pestering our local bookstores about copies. Or in other words, do you have an idea oabout the publication date? <Waiting with baited breath.> Jerry ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 93 Sat Jun 19, 1993 R.FEIST2 [Raymond E.] at 12:58 EDT Jerry, you can begin pestering your local bookstores for SHADOW OF A DARK QUEEN in May. Until then, you can play Betrayal at Krondor. <g> Best, R.E.F. ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 94 Sun Jun 20, 1993 R.ELA [Ale'r] at 10:58 EDT Now that this one is on its way for IBM, how about the Amiga version? Ale'r ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 95 Sun Jun 20, 1993 R.FEIST2 [Raymond E.] at 13:28 EDT Ale'r, don't hold your breath. I'm having a difficult time convincing them to go to other platforms, and the color Mac is the fastest growing segment of the computer market right now. With all the Amigas in Europe, however, that's a logical choice, too. We'll see . . . I got the game yesterday! Shipped down to me Fed Ex by Jerry Luttrell. Without a box, unfortunately, but what the heck; I saw the box at Chicago. I knew there was a reason I HATED DOS. Too me 20 minutes to get the right sort of "boot disk" so I could run it. From my innocent (read Mac-head) point of view it's pretty dumb when I've got 210 megs of hard drive and 12 megs of RAM that I have to boot from a floppy so the game will have enough "room" to load. Talk about brain dead system designs. Macs and Amigas (I'm pretty sure) have had dynamic memory for eight years now. Geesh. Anyway, the game plays great! So far I've only been wipped out twice and I've finished Chapter 1! It may put a serious crimp in my writing time. <g> Best, R.E.F. ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 96 Sun Jun 20, 1993 C.HODGES8 [Ranger] at 14:23 EDT Maybe one of the designers will be kind enough to post just what the system requirements are going to be for this. What about the game and DOS 6.0 with dblspace? ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 97 Sun Jun 20, 1993 SIERRA.SUP [Doug] at 19:22 EDT C.HODGES8 Ranger, I'm not a designer, but the requirements for the game are: 604,160 bytes (590k) free conventional memory 18 mb hard drive space to install (15mb+ to store game) The game will run on a compressed drive, but you will only get an overall compression ratio of 1.3:1. The save game files are approximately 375k in size and compress at about 2.8:1. The major problem with using Doublespace is getting enough conventional memory to run the game. Some machines use the Upper Memory Areas for shadow ram/rom and in some case, a front-end menu system. In cases where your configuration is not already set up to provide enough memory, you can use the automatic boot disk maker to make a boot disk which may solve the problem. The automatic boot disk maker can create boot disks for most standard MS-DOS installations. It is even often time successful with non-MS-DOS configurations such as DR-DOS, Stacker or Superstor. You can also call Sierra Technical Support at 209-683-8989 for assistance, or contact me here in public or via private email. I will be glad to help. Even though it may take you a bit "work" to get the game up and running (re: enough memory), it is well worth it as this game is the most engaging and entertaining fantasy game I've ever played. At a minimum of 100 hours of gameplay, it is also one of the best values in entertainment software available. Doug Johnson Sierra/Dynamix Technical Support ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 98 Sun Jun 20, 1993 C.HODGES8 [Ranger] at 20:53 EDT As long as it doesn't do anything funny with memory, like VOODOO<G>, then I'm okay. I have a harddrive card that's not compressed that I load most stuff onto, I use dblspace for my old 40meg drive<G>. But I have discovered that once you use it, MS-DOS 6 always puts the driver for dblspace into memory when you start. As long as I can use Emm386 and load everything high, I get plenty of memory. Thx for the info Doug. ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 99 Sun Jun 20, 1993 J.BRANCH3 at 21:52 EDT Hmmmmmmm....... Maybe someone should take Raymond's copy of BAK from him if its going to delay his Serpentwar Saga. I mean, I'm disappointed that it'll be almost a year away before they reach print. If BAK will delay that futher.....? <G> :D Jerry ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 100 Mon Jun 21, 1993 J.THOMPSON75 [wyrkham] at 02:38 EDT Actually, if you make a boot disk and use dosshell to delete the hidden file called dblspace.bin off of the Bootdisk it won't load dblspace But you won't have access to the compressed drive... R.E.F, Thank you for explaining that the characters do actually increase in skills I had gotten the impression that they are static.. I actually did enjoy the demo and like the Idea behind it... I was just curious about what you think this new genre (interactive fiction) will be able to do in the next 20-30 years. Will we be playing games in our English classes in the near future? And, do you think that as computer games become more popular, traditional pen-and-paper games will be replaced? If this game were a novel, how long would it be? ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 101 Mon Jun 21, 1993 R.FEIST2 [Raymond E.] at 13:08 EDT Wyrkham, in the next 20-30 years? Hell, we'll be having sex with 3-D virtual hookers, for all I know? I can't begin to guess where it's going to be in 2-3 years, let alone ten times that much. As far as playing games in our English classes, I doubt it. Because what it isn't is a novel. It's something else, and we can call it an interactive novel, but that doesn't mean it displaces the function of a good novel. Kids in the 8th Grade will still be reading Silas Marner or David Copperfield in the 21st Century, I'm certain. Which is good. Pen and paper games have ONE advantage over computer games. They are cheap. Sure, you can go bugf**K as Harlan Ellison says and buy ever damn AD&D book and supplement out there to the tune of $25,000, but you really don't need to. You can do FRP paper and pencil stuff at home with paper, pencil, conventional dice and coins to toss. The rest is simply making things easier. And paper & pencil stuff is usually far more portable, though with laptops, that's less of an issue. But the biggie is that paper and pencil games are social. You rarely get friends gathered around the computer having a good time the way you do around the kitchen table. What's happend in the FRP market since I was in college is that it's fragmented into the RPG market, with fantasy only one segement. Super heros, detectives, Indian Jones knock-offs, etc. have made it tough to get a major segment of gamers any more. The same thing is happening in computers. DOS means AT's & XT's and 286's through 486's (and soon the Plentium). You can't write for an AT and take advantage of the 286-486. If you write for the 286-486, you're probably stuck at VGA, if you go SVGA, you lose a lot of 286's. And the Color Mac is the fastest selling computer in the world. And in two to three years, both Macs and DOS machines as we know them will be old technology as the PowerPC's hit the market. What's a game company to do? I think the company that sticks to "DOS only" is going to die on the vine. It's one of the reasons I'm on Dynamix's case to get this game ported over to the Mac and the Amiga, 'cause I want PowerPC users looking for Feist's games on their machines. <g> Purely self-serving, of course, but you're either on the front edge of things or you're playing catch-up. Microprose was one of the first companies to learn that you just can't port something over for the Mac and have it sell, because the Mac owners expect better graphics than the average DOS owners. So now they're cleaning up their products. Look at the graphics on Civilization on the DOS machine and on the color Mac to see the dramatic difference. PowerPC users will want even more. No, this business is going to change so fast no one will know what's next. Remember, that of all the things SF writers predicted about the future back in the 1950's and 1960's, personal computers weren't one of them. <g> Best, R.E.F. ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 102 Mon Jun 21, 1993 C.SMITH29 [Greybeard] at 22:12 EDT So when will this one be in the stores/mail order houses? ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 103 Tue Jun 22, 1993 R.GRIDLEY [Rick] at 06:25 EDT re DOS/Mac/Amiga's and games.... a little thing called 3DO may be the best bet to pull all computer gamers under one superior graphics engine. At least I hope. ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 104 Tue Jun 22, 1993 R.ELA [Ale'r] at 07:29 EDT Scorpia Games RT >R.FEIST2 [Raymond E.] at 13:28 EDT >Ale'r, don't hold your breath. I'm having a difficult time >convincing them to go to other platforms, and the color Mac is the >fastest growing segment of the computer market right now. With all the >Amigas in Europe, however, that's a logical choice, too. > >We'll see . . . Please keep trying. It's sort of a chicken and egg situation. People buy a clone because it has so much software, even though other platforms (Amigas and Macs) are superior platforms. What the Amiga needs most is good software of ALL types, and your game looks like on of the best to come around in a long time. >I knew there was a reason I HATED DOS. Too me 20 minutes to get >the right sort of "boot disk" so I could run it. From my innocent >(read Mac-head) point of view it's pretty dumb when I've got 210 >megs of hard drive and 12 megs of RAM that I have to boot from a >floppy so the game will have enough "room" to load. Talk about brain >dead system designs. I think even the cloners would agree that there is very little to like about DOS. I use one at work, and it is a constant source of frustration. It is about time to dump some of the backwards compatibility in favor of improved capability. > Macs and Amigas (I'm pretty sure) have had dynamic memory for eight >years now. Geesh. You are correct. In the Amiga, memory is memory. If you run out, you just add more. ;^) Ale'r ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 105 Tue Jun 22, 1993 SIERRA.SUP [Doug] at 14:15 EDT All, Betrayal At Krondor (MSDOS) is shipping today to all locations. Doug Johnson Sierra/Dynamix Technical Support ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 106 Tue Jun 22, 1993 R.FEIST2 [Raymond E.] at 16:37 EDT Greybeard, your local store should have the game by Thursday to Monday, depending on where it is, etc. The mail order houses should have the game today or tomorrow, and be able to ship ASAP, assuming they don't fart around updating their computer data bases. Rick, from a game intensive POV, I think 3DO will be great. What I saw at CES looked impressive, but those demos were being driven by Mac Quadras, as the hardware for 3DO still isn't ready to go. The BIG problem will be the price. If they insist on keeping that $700 per machin price tag, they're dead. I don't care how good the games look. Problem 1) VCRs, CDs, and Laser Disc Machines, all of which were expensive when they first came out, and had the prices fall dramatically in the first three years, were machines that tweekers lusted after (Read: males, 25-34 with money). That's not the game machine market. While dad might buy a $695 machine for himself if it was a great disc player or tape machine, he's going to insist on junior settling for a $79.95 Gameboy. 2) And there won't even be a demand from junior unless those games are killers. If they just port over existing VGA graphics from DOS games, or port over Nintendo quality stuff, nada. They've got to push hard the tweeker aspect to get dad to buy the things, and put out KILLER software to make the kids want it. But I agree that somewhere down the road a great interactive CD-ROM format will be the answer in the game industry. Best, R.E.F. ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 107 Wed Jun 23, 1993 J.THOMPSON75 [wyrkham] at 00:42 EDT I have an amiga and an ibm and I actually like dos a little better than the amiga because the ibm has better software. Plus, dos programs for some reason are a little bit more standardized than amiga programs and for file management dos is much better.... But the Amiga is a far, far better game machine... Problem is, there aren't any games out for it... If I have a choice, I would by the ibm version if it came out for the ibm first (rather than by a port, I've never seen a good port) but if it was designed around the amiga, I would by it for that..) ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 108 Wed Jun 23, 1993 R.FEIST2 [Raymond E.] at 12:15 EDT Wyrkham, I had heard the Amiga was eccentric in some ways, but DOS has better file management? The DOS shell makes getting around a little easier, but I find straight DOS a royal pain; I can't remember half the time what sub- directory I'm in, and the CD command is usually the thing that proves how lousy a typists I am. My biggest problem on the Mac is a very cluttered looking desk top, but a control-F and type in the name of the file I'm looking for and it takes me straight there, no matter which volume or drive--I have two hard drivers a 105 and a 300, a Syquest removable, and a floppy drive, so it gets busy out there. Thinking of adding a CD-ROM later this year. Anyway, enough of this DOS bashing! <g> Once the Mac OS for DR DOS is out, everyone can switch! <g> I will be so glad when some of you are playing this game and someone can tell me how the heck to finish Chapter 3! Let me tell you, it's embarrasing for the author of the books to get stuck in a game based on his own world. So far, one is a good chapter to move around a lot and learn how the mechanics of the game work, while two is a pretty straightfoward quest sort of task, but 3. There are six more after this one, too. Best, R.E.F. ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 109 Wed Jun 23, 1993 DENNYA [Space Spud] at 19:18 EDT Raymond, Got the game. WOW. Most impressive. As for Wyrkham's comment, how anyone can think a computer that has 8 character file names and doesn't allow nested drawers in its GUI is better at file management than one with 32-character file names and uses a Mac- folder like GUI concept is just mindboggling. :-) ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 110 Wed Jun 23, 1993 J.THOMPSON75 [wyrkham] at 19:26 EDT I actually like the amiga's gui but it doesn't do enough. YOu still have to use amiga dos for a lot of things and I HATE Amigados... anyway... REF, I thought you WROTE the GAME... how could you be stuck? ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 111 Thu Jun 24, 1993 B.WILLIAMS44 [StarHawk] at 00:22 EDT Hello Mr. Fiest Sorry about the name I tried yto spell it right, OH..Well Just dropping a line to say I love your Books and if the game is as good as them I will buy it. Thanks And bug Dynamix to add a patch for Native Ultrasound Card. ***StarHawk*** ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 112 Thu Jun 24, 1993 DENNYA [Space Spud] at 10:55 EDT Raymond, Ack. Not only do I have this game, but also this extremely large hardback book with your name on it that's grabbed my attention hard. So much for sleep and a social life -- I hope you're happy. <grin> wykham, I don't want to draw the Amiga debate out (I'll make this my last message), but might I suggest you update your Amiga to Workbench 2.1? You won't need to use AmigaDOS -- the Workbench is much more capable. Running Workbench 1.3 is sort of like running Windows 2.0... Ugh. ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 113 Thu Jun 24, 1993 R.FEIST2 [Raymond E.] at 12:52 EDT Space Spud, glad you're enjoying it. Wyrkham, I didn't write the game, I wrote some dialogue for it, but 90% of the work on the text goes to Neil Hallford, and the game design was by Neil and John Cutter. And it's been long enough since I read the text, I forgot some of it. <g> StarHawk, bug them yourself. They're a very responsive company, but I'm on their case all the time (mostly about porting this over to the Mac. <g>). Seriously, they do want to hear from you. If you call their tech support line or if you post a message on-line here, they can tell you what they're doing about various sound drivers. I know they're making a sound patch as part of the general upgrade patch because my Media Vision board isn't getting digitized speech. Seems they have a problem with Ad Lib board emulation. Anyway, whatever they're going to do with patches will be uploaded here as well as available directly from Dynamix. So, let me know what you think of this game. Pretty nifty, huh? Best, R.E.F. ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 114 Thu Jun 24, 1993 OLORIN at 21:20 EDT Psst, Ale'r. Even on the Amiga, memory isn't memory. Remember the difference between Chip Memory and Fast Memory? --Dave ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 115 Thu Jun 24, 1993 PAS.JPD [Jaded Gamer] at 21:46 EDT So has this been spotted at any stores yet? I asked my brother to get it for me for my birthday, which is today, but I won't see him until Saturday, which means, if I know him, he'll be shopping for it on Friday (the 25th). -The Jaded Gamer ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 116 Thu Jun 24, 1993 D.SODEN1 at 22:05 EDT I've had this game on order for 4 months now. I'd better get it in the next day or two or they'll probably take me away in a strait jacket :) I don't understand why games arrive on store shelves before direct orders are shipped. GIVE ME MY GAME, SIERRA!!! ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 117 Thu Jun 24, 1993 PAS.JPD [Jaded Gamer] at 22:13 EDT Ooops, belay that last message. I just read Mr. Feist's message re: problems with MediaVision sound cards. <sigh> Another potential gem is swept out of the sluice. Since this is apparently going to be an "Amiga's are far superior to those dreadful MS-DOS machines" topic, I'd appreciate it if the Sierra/Dynamix rep could make a sort of general announcement when there is a fix for this game to make it work with MediaVision sound cards. Thus those of us who aren't into personal computer politics can safely IGN PERM this topic 'till the gist of the topic is the game in question. -The Exceptionally Jaded Gamer ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 118 Fri Jun 25, 1993 L.SNOOTS at 08:08 EDT WOW!!!!!! What a Game!! This is more than a Game---it's an experience. I've played it for about an hour and a half; and so far, I think it's the best RPG that I've ever played. Congratulations to the design team!! Also, no bugs, yet!!! I have a couple of questions. When you bring up the Characters' stat screen, and select the skills to concentrate on improving; is the skill emphasized when the pommel is RED or BLUE? Also, will these characters be with me throughout the game? The reason I ask is that I'd hate to improve a skill that only 1 guy is proficient in, and have him go off. Should I make each character proficient in every skill to prepare for this contingency? Again, congratulations to the DYNAMIX team on a job WELL DONE!! Larry ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 119 Fri Jun 25, 1993 R.FEIST2 [Raymond E.] at 11:40 EDT Jaded, the "problem" with the Media Vision card is trivial. You'll get all the music and sound efects; the digitize speech is lost and there should be a fix uploaded here "RSN" <g>. Larry, red is the emphasized stat. Blue means "normal" learning curve. I'm not sure what happens if you emphasis, if that slows down the others, but I'm sure we'll all find out. <g> Anyway, Larry, wish you could work up a bit more enthusiasm. <g> And on behalf of the design team, who I know will be getting copies of this, and for myself as well, we're gratified you're having so much fun. Now, wait until you hit Chapter 3 and the "I've been everywhere there is to go and I'm still not finished . . ." messages start coming in. <g> Best, R.E.F. ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 120 Fri Jun 25, 1993 B.WILLIAMS44 [StarHawk] at 21:54 EDT I can't believe this, I live in Macon (well close to Macon) and Babbagges, Only got in 2 copies and they were gone before they reached the shelf, because of people calling and reserving the game, I have to wait the hole weekend for it to come in. RATS!!!!!1 ***StarHawk*** ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 121 Sat Jun 26, 1993 R.FEIST2 [Raymond E.] at 10:33 EDT "Let your fingers do the walking." The way this game is blowing off the shelves, I'd call the stores first, as you're not the first person I've talked to whose said the same thing, StarHawk. And the mail order houses should have it by now, so you could probably get Monday or Tuesday delivery from PC Warehouse or a firm like them. Best, R.E.F. ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 122 Sat Jun 26, 1993 L.SNOOTS at 10:44 EDT I'm still in Chapter 1. I've gone into the Dwarf Mine near LeMut. I'm having a blast exploring and building up the guys in combat. They've got all the stuff they can hold; and a decent supply of UNPOISONED rations. (hint). I've done a lot of the mine, even found where the rock-like monster that the dwarves want slain is hanging out. I was planning on leaving the mine, and cashing in some of the loot I've gotten by stopping in LeMut. Unfortunately, my automap seems to be rather incomplete. Many of the places I've explored in the Mine have disappeared. Using the automap and rotating around, I can only see about a screen's worth of the map. The rest has disappeared. Is this normal? Larry ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 123 Sat Jun 26, 1993 D.KURNIAWAN2 [Djuara] at 13:12 EDT I bought BAK at local EGGHEAD at Pasadena, CA. They had at least 10 copies last Thursday. I played BAK in OS/2 2.1 DOS Full screen session with Roland music/sound and it works perfectly. I also tried DOS Window and BAK display was corrupted. Amiga's OS is maybe superior than MSDOS, but I think many MSDOS machine can also use OS/2. Then Amiga will have nothing superior than IBM compatible.:) If you have a lot of RAM and HD space, upgrade to OS/2. You'll no longer need to bother with boot disk to play newer games. Then after you upgrade, we'll have to start to terrorize Dynamix until they write OS/2 32-bit games. I really glad I bought the game, I had all Mr. Feist's books and this game feel almost like a Riftwar book. I finished chapter one and in the beginning of chapter two now. Had a lot of fun in the Dwarf mine, but I skipped to solve the grey warrior part. Larry, I think you play different set of characters in each chapter. Some characters will leave and others will join. Those that left maybe will also join back in later chapters. I'm going to play each chapter as a separate game and improve the characters to solve the goal in each chapter instead of planning for later chapter. Djuara Kurniawan ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 124 Sat Jun 26, 1993 B.MEIER [Soulcutter] at 14:25 EDT Raymond, I picked up the game when it arrived at Comp-USA in Arlington on thursday and just wanted to compliment you on your work in this great adventure. I finished book 1 late late late thursday night (the 9 books should give me more playing time/value than most other RPG type games). The interface is really well done and the only minor item I didn't like was the fact that the overhead map of the sewers rotates when I rotate (I would rather have map fixed and pointer rotate like on the overland map). I do have two questions: 1> (Strategy) - Does anyone have a good strategy for bringing magic into play with Olym when faced with 3 or more enemies of equal speed? One of enemy always attaches theirself to olym so that he is unable to use magic, so he spends most of conflict blocking. 2> I must have some poison rations. How can you detect them? Should I toss everything and only use rations purchased from Inns? Thanks. ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 125 Sat Jun 26, 1993 L.SNOOTS at 17:06 EDT Soulcutter, Regarding rations, whenever you find any (either from defeated enemies in the mine, or along the road), just examine them with the right mouse button. That will let you know if the rations are OK, or spoiled. In combat, I've never had the MAGIC icon pop up when Olwyn's turn comes up. The only spells I've had him cast are the LIGHT spell and the detect trapped box spell. When I check his stats screen, and click on SPELLS, it shows a few; I wonder why they don't seem to come up during combat. Larry ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 126 Sat Jun 26, 1993 C.HODGES8 [Ranger] at 17:40 EDT I just got the last copy from the Babbages here in Austin (actually, I think the only reason it was still there was that someone stuck it in the wrong section). Reasonably priced at 49.99, and the store folks were quite estatic over the way it had sold. They only got it yesterday<G>. ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 127 Sat Jun 26, 1993 SIERRA.SUP [Doug] at 19:56 EDT R.FEIST2 R.E.F., I wasn't aware of any problems with the MediaVision ProAudio Spectrum 16 getting digitized sound. If the environment is set up correctly there should be no problem. Have you been in contact with our Technical Support department here at Sierra, or have you been dealing with Dynamix directly? In any case, I'd be glad to help sort this out. We have several PAS-16's in Tech Support on a variety of machines and they seem to work quite well. First of all, there is no specific PAS-16 driver in the INSTALL so we use the original SoundBlaster driver. Second, your MVSOUND.SYS driver must be installed in the CONFIG.SYS file on your boot disk. Third, the PAS-16 should be at certain settings. We reccommend the stock settings, i.e., leave the SoundBlaster portion of the card using address 220, DMA 1, and IRQ 5 (set manually with jumpers on the card) and set the PAS side of the card to use DMA 3 and IRQ 7 (set by the "switches" on the MVSOUND.SYS line). The line should look like: DEVICEHIGH=C:\PROAUDIO\MVSOUND.SYS D:3 Q:7 J:0 I know, coming from the Mac world, this all looks unneccessarily complicated. You're right, but it's what we have to work with. If you need any help with this, our Tech Support staff (myself included) would be glad to help you, as well as any of our customers who need assistance. Doug Johnson Sierra/Dynamix Technical Support ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 128 Sat Jun 26, 1993 M.WYMAN1 [COMANCHE] at 22:38 EDT Ahhh..... I'm going crazy. My parents are over all weekend and I haven't had time to get this!!!!! I had to sneak in here to write this :) Comanche ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 129 Sun Jun 27, 1993 B.WILLIAMS44 [StarHawk] at 00:42 EDT Dynamix. Does this game use the Miles drivers? A loyal GUS users wants to knoew since I have to wait on the game. ***StarHawk*** ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 130 Sun Jun 27, 1993 W.LASKOWSKI [Grizz] at 02:00 EDT I ordered this from Computability on Thursday, and am eagerly awaiting what looks to be--finally--an actually _original_ game. (I'm getting so tired of MOTSOS--and that last "s" doesn't stand for "stuff.") Doug, I'm sure that you folks at Sierra/Dynamix realize this, but let me be explicit: your impressive level of technical support here on GEnie makes me all the more likely to buy your games. With the quality of computer games deteriorating so alarmingly lately on every level, prompt, intelligent, and courteous customer service becomes a critical factor when I decide what games to buy. Regards, Grizz ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 131 Sun Jun 27, 1993 P.CHIU [Samurai Cat] at 04:08 EDT I'm having serious problems loading riftwar. Anyone else having a bad read disk? I did manage to the game running but I am somewhat irritated that I can't role up characters. Everything seems to be preset. Too bad as the game is somewhat interesting before it crashed. Is the rest of the game interesting? Meow! SC ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 132 Sun Jun 27, 1993 R.ELA [Ale'r] at 09:40 EDT >OLORIN > >Psst, Ale'r. Even on the Amiga, memory isn't memory. Remember the >difference between Chip Memory and Fast Memory? Yeah. But unless you are doing heavy graphic development/processing, one meg of Chip RAM is enough. All I meant is; if you need more memory, just add more memory. Let AutoConfig take care of the details. ---------- >PAS.JPD [Jaded Gamer] >Since this is apparently going to be an "Amiga's are far superior to >those dreadful MS-DOS machines" topic, ... That isn't the point. All we Amiga users want is the same opportunity to play this game. By all accounts, it appears to be one of the best CRPGs to appear in a long time. ---------- Reguards, Ale'r ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 133 Sun Jun 27, 1993 SIERRA.SUP [Doug] at 15:14 EDT M.LASKOWSKI Grizz, Thanks! I think that after you have had BAK up and running for a while you will find that quality is still an integral part of our software. Doug Johnson Sierra/Dynamix Technical Support ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 134 Sun Jun 27, 1993 SIERRA.SUP [Doug] at 15:14 EDT P.CHIU Samurai Cat, If you had a disk read error on your disks, you should check your drive for proper operation and cleanliness and/or get replacement disks. You should delete the game and reinstall from good diskettes. Betrayal At Krondor is not the type of CFRPG that you roll up characters for. BAK is more of an "Interactive Computer Novel", written to be part of The Riftwar Saga created by Raymond E. Feist. Doug Johnson Sierra/Dynamix Technical Support ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 135 Sun Jun 27, 1993 C.SMITH29 [Greybeard] at 15:23 EDT Can someone tell me how this puppy runs on a 386-25 machine. Graphics choppy? I had to put away Ultima Underworld II because it did not run well on my machine. Help! I want to purchase this but hesitate before determining if it will run ok on my Zeos. Thanks. Chuck ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 136 Sun Jun 27, 1993 C.HODGES8 [Ranger] at 16:24 EDT Just out of curiousity, but since this is a NEW game, why doesn't it support the SB PRO and SB 16? Why just the old Soundblaster? So far I like it, but I do have one question on playing. I'm just in Chapter 1, and at the beginning it says I have to get this guy to Krondor. If I just walk down the road to Krondor, will I get attacked and stuff, or do I have to go looking for trouble?<EG> ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 137 Sun Jun 27, 1993 C.HODGES8 [Ranger] at 16:32 EDT I'm running it on my 386-25 with DOS 6 and it works very good. I turned up the detail to max and no choppiness. ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 138 Sun Jun 27, 1993 P.CHIU [Samurai Cat] at 23:24 EDT Whoa major bug report....several times during combat.. the combat screen goes blank yet magic and HP damage gets recorded on the screen. This has happened more than once..ANy clues as to what is causing this? I can't see the grid or any of the characters good or bad moving around. I have been using auto combat a lot. Thanks Meow! SC ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 139 Mon Jun 28, 1993 D.SODEN1 at 01:04 EDT Well Doug, They don't have to take me to the loony bin, the game has arrived! (whew!) I only have one complaint so far. The program redefines the mouse movement profile.(sensitivity is too low for me) If you do a patch please make it so it leaves the mouse driver alone or allow the player to adjust the sensitivity. So do I understand correctly that this game is totally non linear in the sense that I can go anywhere and do anything without messing up a latter chapter or worrying about a time limit? This will be a fabulous exploration. ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 140 Mon Jun 28, 1993 B.MEIER [Soulcutter] at 01:40 EDT To whoever said Owen never has magic icon in combat, is there enemy standing next to him? Can only cast of no enemy in any of 8 adjacent squares. This makes combat tough when have lots of enemies since one or two will always cover owen. I'm up to Chapter 4 with no bugs yet. I did find one thing that I would like to occur differently...after some chapters, you get different characters, but not knowing which ones may leave, I had a most of the goodies on the one who left. I realize that this is more realistic and I could restore & swap inventory if really had to, but I'm already into chapter 4 quite a bit. I also dont know if I will join up with that player again or not. I also find that I have to save/restore a lot when out in the boondocks if player gets near-death since only a temple or a lot of healing liquid will save them, but temples aren't on map till you find them.... One other item, in case there is a sequel, I thought Ultima Underworlds had good map system that even allowed you to write down comments on the map itself. That's good for me since I don't take good paper notes and usually lose those I do take. Thanks. ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 141 Mon Jun 28, 1993 SIERRA.SUP [Doug] at 12:09 EDT P.CHIU Samurai Cat, Belay that "major bug report". Half a dozen messages ago you were describing installation problems and "disk read errors". The obvious conclusion is that any problems you have running the game would be attributed to this cause. Let's get you a replacement set of disks and an error free install before we jump to the conclusion that there is a problem with the game. Doug Johnson Sierra/Dynamix Technical Support ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 142 Mon Jun 28, 1993 C.HODGES8 [Ranger] at 19:26 EDT Ok, I found a bug! Actually, it's a mistake in the map on the reference card<G>. You have Tanneurs and Eggley switched around. Eggley is to the north, and Tanneurs is south of Eggley, not the other way around. The full map in the game is right (and fortunately, so is the game itself). Why is the name of the gods is food so expensive? And not available everywhere? One other thing I really don't like, why don't you ever see the shopkeepers when you are buying stuff? Walking into a deserted shop and buying stuff from some unseen person is really unrealistic. If this is supposed to duplicate a novel, any good storyteller would surely take the time to tell you what the shopkeepers look like, right Raymond? Other than that one flaw, I am really enjoying this. I'm doing chapter 1 very slowly, taking the time to see the sights. It's a lot of fun. Ranger the Wanderer<G> ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 143 Mon Jun 28, 1993 D.SPEZZANO1 [Dan] at 20:27 EDT marking! Great game BTW. ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 144 Mon Jun 28, 1993 W.HARRIS4 [William] at 21:57 EDT Break out the bubbly, Riftwar has reached Cincinnati and I have it in my grasping paws even as we speak. (Figure of speak, I can't stand champaign or wine. Suds. Yeah, that's it. Break out the suds.) ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 145 Mon Jun 28, 1993 B.MEIER [Soulcutter] at 22:52 EDT Well, I'm having fun playing this (now that power is back on. Lost power for 19 hours after electrical storm). Has anyone else had a hard time with the puzzles? So far, I have solved all the puzzle boxes I found except for two. Those two are in the vacinity of silden (I think) and and two very long puzzles (something like 8 and 10). The longer wante wanted name of some island of some leader, but none of the islands on map fit in description. If anyone knows answer, let me know via E-MAIL (I dont see a BAK-Spoilers topic yet....). ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 146 Mon Jun 28, 1993 P.CHIU [Samurai Cat] at 22:54 EDT Thanks Doug but I returned the game and got another and then the installation went fine after that. The glitch occurs every so often during combat during the first chapter that the game freezes or the figures and/or map dissappears from the main screen. Weird.. Now I'm running into problems in Chapt Two by the river with the ghost maidens. The screen just blanks out. I'm still playing it but it is annoying having to restart and reload every time the game freezes on my machine. Then again it could just be my machine. Meow! SC PS - why is most food taken from dead guys usually poisoned? YUCK ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 147 Tue Jun 29, 1993 C.HODGES8 [Ranger] at 03:01 EDT I've discovered something else that has become rather frustrating. The sword icon used for the mouse pointer has a hard time figuring out where it is. You point it in the middle of this large house, and it acts like its on the one next to it. I think the game isn't sensing it's position on the screen correctly. Makes it very hard when you have two or three bodies all close together. You have to jockey around to be able to check them all out. Just finished Chapter 1 - Outstanding! I'm on my way to Romney for Chapter 2, but I just had to take a break (even the people need sleep<G>). ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 148 Tue Jun 29, 1993 J.OKAMURA1 [Kami] at 04:31 EDT Soulcutter, I can't say that the wordlocks are hard...it's just a matter of rearranging the available letters into a word. Some take a bit longer, but so far, none has taken more than 15 minutes. Just start with one letter, then see what CAN come after it - there are a lot fewer combinations than you think! What I need is the FINAL REST spell - before I run into too many of these darn Nighthawks. Kami ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 149 Tue Jun 29, 1993 R.FEIST2 [Raymond E.] at 10:57 EDT Ranger, shopkeepers mean more overhead. There are a lot of things Dynamix could have done if you'd wanted a 12 disk game for $129.95 <g>. Having a different one for each shop would mean lots of additional graphics files. Or if we had just one for every shop who looked like every other shopkeeper, why, we'd be doing Might & Magic. <g> The boundary problem is known, Ranger. The problem is that with 3 space, you have some limited ability to overlay one area to click on over another. I discovered this myself. The only answer is to move away turn slightly and come back from a different angle. Being head on to houses helps. It's a real bitch when you're searching bodies, too, and you have three or four bunched together; you're advised to take the time to move around and make sure you're not searching the same one three times. It can be a real pain in a narrow confine, such as a canyon or dungeon hall. I think the guys at Dynamix are going to try to improve that logic for the next game. Best, R.E.F. ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 150 Tue Jun 29, 1993 SIERRA.SUP [Doug] at 11:33 EDT P.CHIU Samurai Cat, Use the INSTALL program to create the boot disk. There may be something in your software load that is interfering with the game. If you continue to experience the problem, I will want to know some things about your machine, such as DOS version, Video Card, Sound Card (with settings), and anything else that might help me determine the cause of your problems. You might also want to check your machine for the presence of viruses. Doug Johnson Sierra/Dynamix Technical Support ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 151 Tue Jun 29, 1993 D.SPEZZANO1 [Dan] at 19:50 EDT I get lock ups too during combat occasionally it has happened about a dozen times. Anyway, anyone else having problems with combat, I'm in chapter 2, and I keep getting my butt kicked. 5 Nighthawks against my lone 3 wimpy guys. I mean these Nighthawks move at like speed 7, so I never get any spells off. Very frustrating. Dan ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 152 Tue Jun 29, 1993 W.HARRIS4 [William] at 19:57 EDT -=-=-=- To: C.HODGES8 [Ranger] -=-=-=- > If I just walk down the road to Krondor, will I get attacked and > stuff, or do I have to go looking for trouble?<EG> You'll get attacked at least once. (I haven't reached Krondor yet, and have also let myself be sidetracked along two paths.) (Later) - You'll probably get attacked a number of times! They don't want you to get to Krondor! (That's why it's an entire chapter, after all!) The installation was fairly good. It took maybe ten minutes of floppy- swapping, then (as it "processed" its various files) I went away to gorge on pizza and read the manual. REF's introduction was masterful. Brought goosebumps to my arms. "Yes", I thought. "This is how it really was and is!" Not sure how long it took to install. It was finished by the time I came back from the pizza. This is the first game I've seen that even mentions Stacker or Smartdrv. <g> Most other games I've seen go into a tizzy of "you run any of this stuff and you're in trouble." Combat is interesting. Combat will be a joy to those who don't like the real- time combat systems of Ultima Underworlds, Eye of the Beholder, and the Quest for Glory series. Controlling several characters in real-time combat would be a royal pain in this combat system. The only flaw I can see is that each individual movement is essentially made uninterrupted. For instance, you're trying to protect your magician, right? So your characters would do what they could to prevent opposing players from moving in and clubbing him. This combat system doesn't allow for what I've seen elsewhere called "opportunity fire". I still wish the outdoors were in video-quality pictures. <g> Okay, okay, I'll wait for CD-ROM II. Seriously, if you think this is a killer game now, imagine its tenth-year anniversary remake. 65,000 colors, digitized movement ala the state-of-the-art 7th Guest today, ... <g> ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 153 Tue Jun 29, 1993 C.HODGES8 [Ranger] at 20:32 EDT To Dynamix & Ray: I thought of something else that would have been very nice for this game. An automapping feature for the mines, caves, sewers, and whatever else remains to be discovered underground. At the end of Chapter 1, I attempted to map the sewers, but, alas, a professional mapmaker I'll never be<G>. I did manage to get most of it mapped, now I wish I had done the same for the Mac Mordain Cadal. Oh well, I'm sure I'll get the opportunity.<G> I like the way it lets you get the stuff from the characters not being used from one chapter to another. Is there a main character? Just curious.<G> ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 154 Tue Jun 29, 1993 M.WYMAN1 [COMANCHE] at 20:41 EDT I like the game so far. However, it isn't as open ended as I would like. But then again, no one in the CRPG field has come close to a really open ended system......yet :) There sure are alot of mountains and hills that are not passable. It would have been really neat to climb up the mountains and have a look around. Movement is still 2 dimensional even though this game is done in 3 space. Mark ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 155 Tue Jun 29, 1993 C.HODGES8 [Ranger] at 21:02 EDT Well, I hate to say this Ray, but Strike Commander from Origin was 40megs, was only on 8 diskettes (1 more than BAK), and was still only 49.99 in most of the places here in Austin. BAK is only 15 megs, and on 7 diskettes. I'd say Dynamix needs to look into better compression routines. I'm getting real frustrated with this Lord Lyton. He asked for 6 suits of armor, I got him six suits of stanard armor and he still won't take it. Does he want swords too? sheesh I've discovered you can't just walk straight down to Krondor (at least until you get a Hochoo's Haven spell<G>. ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 156 Tue Jun 29, 1993 W.HARRIS4 [William] at 22:19 EDT -=-=-=- To: D.SPEZZANO1 [Dan] -=-=-=- > I get lock ups too during combat occasionally it has happened about a I don't get (well, not yet) lockups during combat, and I have a fairly weird system: Gateway system with replacement no-name 486SX 25Mhz motherboard with 20 megabytes of memory... ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 157 Tue Jun 29, 1993 B.WILLIAMS44 [StarHawk] at 22:20 EDT Excuse me, I haven't bought the game yet but would like to know if it uses MILEs ADV drivers for sound and music ,or not. Thanks ***StarHawk*** ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 158 Tue Jun 29, 1993 W.HARRIS4 [William] at 22:55 EDT -=-=-=- To: C.HODGES8 [Ranger] -=-=-=- > only on 8 diskettes (1 more than BAK), and was still only 49.99 in most > of the places here in Austin. BAK is only 15 megs, and on 7 diskettes. Price is rarely based on number of diskettes required to produce the game. It has some impact, of course, but it isn't the ultimate determing factor. Dynamix has no need to fear opposing installation compression algorithms. I very much appreciate what they did with Krondor (compared to other games I've recently installed.) I'd very much rather install a 15-minute 7-disk Krondor to a 45-minute 3-disk Rules of Engagement 2. ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 159 Wed Jun 30, 1993 E.R.ANDERSON [ - Ergo -] at 01:25 EDT Um.. am I the only one that has the program Automap? Hit the map icon and it will show you the map of the sewer or dungeon or whatever. Are we playing different games or did I not understand your question? Re: Openendedness. Well.. it IS a novel. You have to follow the plot ;) Ugh.. Nightslayers! Am I missing a lot of magic items or opportunitys to get good skills? These combats in Chapter II are REALLY tough! I only have 3 guys against 5 and six people. E'gads! Also.. what is the best way to make money? What does having a red dot on a skill do? ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 160 Wed Jun 30, 1993 C.HODGES8 [Ranger] at 01:50 EDT Well William, you missed the important part of the post, SC had 40 MEGS in those 8 diskettes<G>. Including some awesome scenery and voice. ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 161 Wed Jun 30, 1993 C.HODGES8 [Ranger] at 02:03 EDT It doesn't ever show the whole cave or sewer system, once you have explored it, does it? Mine doesn't. It shows about what my light source would show if I were looking in all four directions. It doesn't keep track of where I have been, only where I am. Not real helpful. It's not an automap, anyway, that is just the overhead view of what you are seeing thru the vision window. The red dots lets you increase the rate at which the skill level that the sword represents increases. Sort of directs the characters attention to it, I guess. Its in the manual on page 24. I did a lot of fighting in Chapter I to beef my guys up. Fortunately, Chapter II let me keep two of them<G>. ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 162 Wed Jun 30, 1993 D.SPEZZANO1 [Dan] at 02:43 EDT Ranger- We must have different games, mine shows a lot of the map you have to zoom in out but you can get almost the whole thing. Also it does keep track of everything, I went into the sewers, came out and went back in and the map was intact. I think i went through chapter 1 too quick as i made no side trips and now in chapter 2 I'm getting my butt kicked. Where do you get more spells? Also can someone post what they did in chapter1? Dan ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 163 Wed Jun 30, 1993 J.OKAMURA1 [Kami] at 05:20 EDT Ranger, I'm having the same trouble with Lord Lyton. I brought him his 6 suits of standard armor, but James still says he doesn't have all six. Now, you can't load one character with 6 suits - it just won't fit! Swords didn't seem to make a difference either. I finally gave up, and went on to Chapter 3. What's going on in Sethanon? I can't even get near the place with all the shades popping up. Raymond's right - Chapter 3 is definitely a "what do I do next" chapter! It's not like the previous chapters. I like that spyglass - does it ever run out? Works just like the Eyes of Ishap spell on full power. One last thing - the manual says that you should use Final Rest on Nighthawks and Black Slayers, but after I kill the last Nighthawk, there doesn't seem to be a way to cast Final Rest. Is it supposed to be cast during battle? Sometimes (well, actually, most of the times) those guys surround poor Owyn, so he can't cast spells. I have to rely on Gorath to chop them up with his Griefmaker. Kami ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 164 Wed Jun 30, 1993 R.FEIST2 [Raymond E.] at 09:47 EDT One thing about the armor . . . he doesn't want it below a certain quality. Those numbers in the corner tell you about the condition of everything when you look at inventory. If a Sword of The Most Incredible Thingie Ever To Be Made By Anyone (+100 points of damage) is only 15%, you're only getting 15 points of damage a hit until you get the sword fixed. Lytton doesn't one old beat up armor. Kami, I had the same problem with Final Rest, and I consider this a design flaw: if you fry them quickly enough, you don't need it. But if combat takes over a certain number of rounds, they rise again to fight, and then boy do you need it. As far as the compression vs. disc number vs. price, all I can say is that many products are done in different fashion. I know that the files containing the graphics (in the cut scenes) are already compressed so they are decompressed on the fly during the game and they couldn't be compressed any more for installation. Things like that. If you've every tried to compress GIF files, you'll know what I mean, or JPEG. They're already as tight as they're going to get and you can't get them any tighter. The 3-space logic stuff didn't add the extra disks, it was the pictures of the characters during the cut scenes. If we were doing full motion video . . .whew! You'd have a 50 disk game needing 200 megs of hard driver. <g> As you said, CD-ROM time. It looks VERY likely we'll be doing another one of these, so we'll keep as much as we can in mind of your comments to make the next one even better. Best, R.E.F. ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 165 Wed Jun 30, 1993 SIERRA.SUP [Doug] at 11:57 EDT D.SPEZZANO1 Dan, DS> I get lock ups too during combat occasionally Have you tried the troubleshooting procedures found in the manual and on the Quick Reference Card? What was the result? Doug Johnson Sierra/Dynamix Technical Support ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 166 Wed Jun 30, 1993 E.R.ANDERSON [ - Ergo -] at 17:29 EDT Where can I find the hand of the dead guy? Sorry I forget when the town's name is. Well, the woman has a shop in chapter 2 that's haunted and I have to return the man's hand to his corpse. Where can I find it? I've moved all over the place but I havn't found it. Any help would be appreciated! (If there is another way to get past this puzzle w/o the hand you can tell me that, too ;) ) ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 167 Wed Jun 30, 1993 T.HAGEN1 [Orion Star] at 19:37 EDT Hello all, I have been playing this game for two days now and I LOVE IT!!!! I even try to find the puzzle chests and write down the clues and letters so that I can at least do something when I'm on break at work. ;-) Anyway I do have a question. In the mines south of La Mut, I have killed off everyone and I found a book that mentions a secret area in the mines, but I can't find it and I can't get by the digging area. Anyone know what I'm talking about and how to get past these two areas? Yes I'm still in chapter one building up my stats. Having a blast with the new spells just whis I had found the spells before I bought them at the store. AHHHHHHH. Orion Star The Mapper ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 168 Wed Jun 30, 1993 B.MEIER [Soulcutter] at 19:39 EDT Someone in prior append said "I really like the way they let you access equipment from other players between chapters". Was that quote missing a "NOT" or is someone doing something I haven't figured out how to do yet, to access all the goodies that are left in different inventories between chapters. For example, after Northwarden chapter magician had dog horn and rusalki ruby. Now I have differnt party for the Betrayal chapter and would really like to get those items if possible. Is there a way? It sure is hard to win in later chapters when there are only two players in party vs six enemies. Sometimes I dont even get a turn... ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 169 Wed Jun 30, 1993 D.SPEZZANO1 [Dan] at 20:03 EDT Hey where do you get the damm seal to cross the bridge? I'm near Silden and can't find squat. Also anyone found an effective way of fighting the river spirts? Dan P.S.- Check around Sloop there is a load of treasure, I ended up buying 5 spelss in Silden with the loot! ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 170 Wed Jun 30, 1993 C.HODGES8 [Ranger] at 20:13 EDT Your right about the armor Ray, its has to be better than 54% (I had one less than 70 and had to repair it, it went up to 71 and he took it). Felt a bit embarrassed when it finally worked<G>. The hand is in Lyton, last house to the east. You have to talk to a few folks and find some other things before the guy in the house will finally talk to you. Oh, you have to buy it back, but I won't spoil it and tell you how much<G>. hmmm, I'll have to recheck this dungeon automap thingy out. I have a save game for "in sewers", maybe I have to zoom it out. Thanks for the info. Ok, I'll give the designers an A+ for the innovative design for the way it plays, but to be very frank with you, the graphics are of moderate quality. The grass all looks like a golf green, the mountains are all one solid green wall (except for the occasional grey spot), and the trees all look like the same. Most VGA cards will support at least 256 colors - why weren't more than green, brown, and yellow used for the scenery? The weather never changes, there are no animals, or people other than the bad guys, and basically the world looks like a disastor of biblical proportions has hit. I understand the reasons for using polygons, they zoom in better than bitmaps, but after a couple of hours, the scenery gets very dull. If it weren't for the occassional battle, going from town to town to solve the puzzles would be boring. Also, the transitions between Chapters could have been all voice, rather then a few spoken words thrown in hear and there. Matter of fact, a lot of the repetitous things that pop up could have been voice. I guess the graphics in games like Strike Commander and Commanche have me spoiled in that department. One other question came to me as I was reading Magician: Apprentice again last night. Why don't these guys have horses? They (in Chapter 1 and 2) are all nobles, and yet they are walking all over. If I were a noble, I wouldn't walk farther than I had too. There are better graphics compression schemes than GIF and JPEG. I believe an English company has developed one that will take a 1meg GIF file and shrink the same picture to 10K. I understand many of the game companies are considering going to CD-ROM only games in the near future, some as soon as next summer. Maybe that's the way to go. ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 171 Wed Jun 30, 1993 C.HODGES8 [Ranger] at 20:29 EDT hmm, the seals are in a barn to the west of Lyton. When I went from Chapter 1 to 2, once it got thru the plotlines, it left me just outside the gym where I talked to Princess anita. go to the gym and on the ground lies Locklears stuff. Take your pick. I'm assuming that the other chapter where the characters get changed have someplace on the screen where you can do the same thing. If it's the palace, its probably the gym. ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 172 Wed Jun 30, 1993 M.WYMAN1 [COMANCHE] at 20:47 EDT About SC compression, they used fractal compression for the terrain if I remember correctly. Thats why there are so few disks and so many megs. Fractal compression is still relatively new and the results are somewhat varied depending on what you try to compress. I do have another suggestion for Dynamix, this has the Ultima VII feel of a huge map but there hasn't been that much to do. You mostly click on buildings, hear what they have to say, leave, fight, go to next town, etc until you reach your chapter destination. In between you find treasures. What would really be nice is to isolate the game to Krondor itself. For example, no one can leave because of an order from above (sound familiar?). The time scale for movement could then be one to one with reality. If it took you an hour to walk across Krondor then it would take you an hour to walk in real time. An hour may be to excess but you get my meaning. The city could be broken into organizations such as temples, guilds, militia, etc. The individuals in the city may be members of various orgs or they could be loners. Each NPC would have attitudes towards other NPCs and orgs as well as an attitude towards the player. Attitudes would change throughout the game based on character actions and maybe even some random events. For example, the thiefs guild wouldn't think too highly of your character if you were seen with the city militia. Attitudes would also change based on various plot twists. There could be an ultimate goal but the means of that goal would vary based on what type of character you became. As a thief you would view the events differently then a temple acolyte would. Sorry about the rambling :) Its just that my hopes for CRPGs seem like years away from reality. Still, I like this game but it isn't revolutionary as I had hoped. Good for a first attempt in the CRPG world though :) Mark By the way, I have been working on an above system for awhile now but a full time job keeps getting in the way! ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 173 Wed Jun 30, 1993 G.B.SMITH at 23:18 EDT I had trouble with the game hanging until I went to a boot disk. The real culprit, however, was the "share" program which the game did not like. No major problems now-----with bugs... DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW TO GET MORE GOLD...I can't get started and afford to stay healthy long enough to get into this. Also it is impossible to find temples when I need one bad. I also haven't found out how to handle the groups with a "strong" magic user. There has got to be a strategy here that I am missing. How about some of you sharing your various strategies. I'll show you mine if you'll show me yours! ------------ Category 22, Topic 35 Message 174 Wed Jun 30, 1993 W.HARRIS4 [William] at 23:56 EDT -=-=-=- To: D.SPEZZANO1 [Dan] -=-=-=- > Where do you get more spells? Chapter 1, you can gain one spell by talking to Marc (?) near the Abbey of Ishap. You do have to be alert; if you're in "road" mode, you may very well miss it. I haven't yet finished Chapter 1. I'm having some difficulty getting to Krondor past (what I presume is) the final assassin squad. There can't be very many other hostile groups between me and Krondor! Anyway, with respect to the tale of Chapter 1, I have generally taken most of the side-trips available. I took a trip into the dwarven mines, and destroyed their creature for them, and was rewarded. Didn't explore everything. Maybe that waits for Chapter 2. -=-=-=- To: C.HODGES8 [Ranger] -=-=-=- > Well William, you missed the important part of the post, SC had 40 MEGS > in those 8 diskettes<G>. Including some awesome scenery and voice. Didn't disregard it, just shifted the thrust. <g> Compression algorithms can be fine-tuned. Given that SC was installable from 8 diskettes, I find myself rather disappointed they need 40 megabytes of hard disk space. But of course this isn't the topic for it. ------------