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Universal game editor pool of radiance. This resource pack will help turn your RPG ideas into reality. 4-Direction Sprite Sheet with 3 & 8 Frames of Animation. This page contains a list of cheats, codes, Easter eggs, tips, and other secrets for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Pool of Radiance for Macintosh.If you've discovered a cheat you'd like to add to. Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor. Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor is the sequel to 'Pool of Radiance' and was released in 2001 from Ubisoft. This game takes place in the Ruins Of Myth Drannor. Myth Drannor was considered to be one of the biggest and most beautiful cities in the Forgotten Realms.

Pool of Radiance is a series of role-playing video games set in the Forgotten Realms campaign settings of Dungeons & Dragons; it was the first Dungeons & Dragons video game series to be based on the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rules.

The series reached combined global sales above 800,000 units by 1996.^[1]

Series[edit]

Pool of Radiance[edit]

Development[edit]

The section of the Forgotten Realms world in which Pool of Radiance takes place was intended to be developed only by SSI.^[2] The game was created on Apple II and Commodore 64 computers, taking one year with a team of thirty-five people.^[3] This game was the first to use the game engine later used in other SSI D&D games known as the 'Gold Box' series.^[4][5][6] The SSI team developing the game was led by Chuck Kroegel.^[7] Kroegel stated that the main challenge with the development was interpreting the AD&D rules to an exact format. Developers also worked to balance the graphics with gameplay to provide a faithful AD&D feel, given the restrictions of a home computer. In addition to the core AD&D manuals, the books Unearthed Arcana and Monster Manual II were also used during development.^[3] The game was originally programmed by Keith Brors and Brad Myers, and it was developed by George MacDonald.^[8] The game's graphic arts were by Tom Wahl, Fred Butts, Darla Marasco, and Susan Halbleib.^[8]

Pool of Radiance was released in June 1988;^[2] it was initially available on the Commodore 64, Apple II series and IBM PC compatible computers.^[5] A version for the Atari ST was also announced.^[9] The Macintosh version was released in 1989.^[5] The Macintosh version featured a slightly different interface and was intended to work on black-and-white Macs like the Mac Plus and the Mac Classic. The screen was tiled into separate windows including the game screen, text console, and compass. Graphics were monochrome and the display window was relatively small compared to other versions. The Macintosh version featured sound, but no music. The game's Amiga version was released two years later.^[10] The PC 9800 version 『プール・オブ・レイディアンス』 in Japan was fully translated (like the Japanese Famicom version) and featured full-color graphics. The game was ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System under the title Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Pool of Radiance, released in April 1992.^[11]

The original Pool of Radiance game shipped with a 28-page introductory booklet, which describes secrets relating to the game and the concepts behind it. The booklet guides players through the character creation process, explaining how to create a party. The game also included the 38-page Adventurer's Journal, which provides the game's background. The booklet features depictions of fliers, maps, and information that characters see in the game.^[7] The package also included a translation decoder wheel.^[7] After the title screen, a copy protection screen was displayed consisting of two pictures and a line. The player was required to use the decoder wheel to line up the pictures, then enter the word revealed on the decoder wheel. After three unsuccessful attempts, the game automatically shut down.

Reception[edit]

Generally well received by the gaming press, Pool of Radiance won the Origins Award for 'Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Computer Game of 1988'. Some reviewers criticized the game's similarities to other contemporary games and its slowness in places, but praised the game's graphics and its role-playing adventure and combat aspects. Also well-regarded was the ability to export player characters from Pool of Radiance to subsequent SSI games in the series.

Curse of the Azure Bonds[edit]

The game comes with a manual explaining game play, and an Adventurer's Journal which contains little paragraphs to read at designated points in the game. The game also includes a rune code-wheel for piracy protection; from time to time during play, the player will be asked to enter a letter from the wheel before the characters can journey on.^[12]

The game was distributed in the UK by U.S. Gold.^[13][14]

Curse of the Azure Bonds (1989) was the first of three sequels to Pool of Radiance (1988), and was followed by Secret of the Silver Blades (1990) and Pools of Darkness (1991).^[15] New adventures for Secret of the Silver Blades may be started by using characters generated in Curse of the Azure Bonds.^[16]

This game is closely tied to an AD&D game module and a Forgotten Realms novel by the same name.^[2] The adventure module Curse of the Azure Bonds is based on the computer game.^[17]Curse of the Azure Bonds was released on the Apple II, Commodore 64, and DOS in 1989, the Amiga and Macintosh in 1990, and the Atari ST in 1991.^[18]

Reception[edit]

Tony Dillon reviewed the game for CU Amiga-64, scoring it with an overall score of 89%. He commented on the game, stating 'The graphics are more or less the same as PoR, which is no bad thing, and thankfully the game is still as entertaining and involving as the original.'^[14] He noted that the game's first-person perspective is similar to that of Bard's Tale, and also features an overhead view similar to that of Gauntlet. He concluded the review by stating, 'I've said it before [...] but this is brilliant.'^[14]

Secret of the Silver Blades[edit]

Secret of the Silver Blades directly continues the story of Curse of the Azure Bonds. Secret of the Silver Blades does bear similarities to its two predecessors in gameplay and graphics. There is no overworld in this game, however. It takes place entirely in the first person maps.Graphics did improve slightly, though everything was still drawn in 16 colors.Mages have the ability to get up to level 7 spells. In particular, the Delayed Blast Fireball is a very useful spell to have in this game. This game also allows mages to actually delay the fireball, unlike Pools of Darkness where it is targeted and immediately cast.Clerics have the ability to get up to level 6 spells. Raise Dead is still the only option for dead characters, and it drains 1 Constitution point for using it. Heal and Blade Barrier are two popular choices for level 6 spells.The arrow keys are conveniently usable to select menu options as opposed to using hotkeys, which was the only way in earlier titles, though the hotkey option is still available.The game received four out of five stars.

Pools of Darkness[edit]

Pools of Darkness directly continues the story of Secret of the Silver Blades. Pools of Darkness differed from its predecessors in a number of ways. Unlike the other Forgotten Realms gold box games where the party always stayed in Faerûn, the quests that the party have to endure traversed many dimensions to do battle with Bane's lieutenants. These include Thorne's Cave, Kalistes' Land, a visit to then sleeping Moander's colossus body in Astral Plane, and finally Bane's Land itself in Acheron.Mages have the ability to get up to level 9 spells (the maximum). A popular spell available in this game is the Delayed Blast Fireball, which can cause damage to many targets at once. Unlike Secret of the Silver Blades, the fireball cannot be delayed and is cast immediately.Pools of Darkness followed its predecessors closely in terms of structure. The party could have a maximum of six adventurers (with two extra slots for NPCs). Characters had the ability to advance to the lofty heights of level 40, giving them access to tenth-level spells.[2]Combat in Pools of Darkness, especially late in the story, differed greatly from the encounters of the previous games. The player's characters faced some of the toughest creatures in the AD&D universe, in addition to a number of new and formidable critters created specifically for the game, such as the Pets of Kalistes (intelligent magic spiders that could see invisible enemies and whose venomous bite had a -2 save) and the terrifying Minions of Bane (which had the magic resistances of demons and the breath weapons of dragons).[3][4][5]The game was by far the most extensive of any of the gold box series, in storyline depth and possibilities of advancement and equipment. The game also featured better graphics at the time as it supported VGA 256 colors instead of 16.Another minor difference is the font used in the game is less stylish, but easier to read.

Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor[edit]

Using the SSI License which restricted Ubisoft's development to D&D games, the company released Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor. The game is not a sequel to any Pool of Radiance game, as per Ubisoft's license, and is only part of the series in name and location.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Pool Of Radiance Remastered

1. ^'SSI Corporate Background'. Strategic Simulations, Inc. Archived from the original on November 19, 1996.
2. ^ ^abcWard, James M. (May 1988). 'The Game Wizards'. Dragon (133): 42–44.
3. ^ ^ab'Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'. G.M. Croftward. 1 (1): 18–20. September 1988.
4. ^DeMaria, Rusel; Johnny L. Wilson (2003). 'The Wizardry of Sir-Tech'. High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games. McGraw-Hill Osborne Media. p. 161. ISBN0-07-222428-2. Retrieved 14 July 2009.
5. ^ ^abcDeci, T.J. 'Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Pool of Radiance'. Allgame. Retrieved 15 July 2009.
6. ^Buchanan, Levi (March 6, 2008). 'Dungeons & Dragons Classic Videogame Retrospective'. IGN. Retrieved 2009-10-08.
7. ^ ^abcWayne (October 1988). 'Reviews'. Computer + Video Games (84): 18–19, 21.
8. ^ ^ab'Pool of Radiance'. MobyGames. Retrieved 15 July 2009.
9. ^'Pool Your Resources'. The Games Machine (12): 69. November 1988.
10. ^Simmons, Alex; Johns, Doug; Mitchell, Andy (November 1990). 'Pool of Radiance'. Amiga Action (14): 72–73.
11. ^'Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Pool of Radiance'. gamespot UK. Archived from the original on 2008-10-13.
12. ^Scorpia (September 1989). 'Curse of The Azure Bonds'. Computer Gaming World (63): 8–9, 46. Archived from the original on 2011-07-23.
13. ^Rigby, Paul (September 1989). 'The Adventure Strategy Roleplay Column'. The Games Machine (22): 80.
14. ^ ^abcDillon, Tony (August 1989). 'Curse of the Azure Bonds'. CU Amiga-64: 33.
15. ^Barton, Matt (2007-02-23). 'Part 2: The Golden Age (1985-1993)'. The History of Computer Role-Playing Games. Gamasutra. Archived from the original on 2009-02-27. Retrieved 2009-03-26.
16. ^Lesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia; Lesser, Kirk (October 1990). 'The Role of Computers'. Dragon (162): 47–51.
17. ^Schick, Lawrence (1991). Heroic Worlds: A History and Guide to Role-Playing Games. Prometheus Books. p. 97. ISBN0-87975-653-5.
18. ^'Curse of the Azure Bonds'. MobyGames. Retrieved 2009-09-11.

As a conventional isometric dungeon crawl, Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor is not a terrible game. But as a computer translation of role-playing's most important and familiar system, which also brazenly claims the heritage of the original 'Gold Box' Pool of Radiance, this release fails soundly. While Ruins of Myth Drannor arguably follows the official 3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons rules, it tends to bring out the weaknesses of pen-and-paper play instead of enhancing or simplifying the experience for a single computer gamer. Most significantly, Ruins of Myth Drannor does not accomplish the depth of story, the detail of character customization, or the engulfing campaign world that made the original Pool of Radiance such a memorable adventure.

When the game is running smoothly, it does have some appeal. The graphical technique is oddly reminiscent of The Sims, featuring 3D-modeled characters and objects against an essentially 2D backdrop. The characters look quite good, fluidly animated and delicately shaded, and their appearances change according to the armor and weapons equipped. Ruins of Myth Drannor also features several impressive visual spell effects, with colorful bursts of light and tumbling, wispy fogs. The quality of the backdrops is mixed, as some of the overland locations show careful craftsmanship while many of the underground areas are inorganically angular and feel very computer-generated. The audio is decent, with some excellent monster noises and good ambient sounds. Unfortunately, like other aspects of this game, the various graphical and audio styles don't always mesh and the overall presentation often feels disjointed.

By its very title, this game demands comparison to the Gold Box original. Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor is not blatantly irreverent in its renovation, but it never approaches the unified experience of the late-'80s classic. This newer game is set about ten years after the events of the original adventure, in which the soul-stealing evil of the first Pool of Radiance was silenced and the city of New Phlan set free from its power. A new Pool of Radiance has appeared now, far away in the deserted ruins of Myth Drannor. Most of the adventure takes place in these ruins, removed from the city and any sense of cultural depth it might provide. Though the story has a few bright spots, plot development is linear, sparse, and often awkward. Gamers may find themselves paying attention to the text simply to figure out where to go next, instead of truly playing the roles of their characters in the adventure.

It is also appropriate to compare this official Dungeons & Dragons game to contemporary releases, in terms of its mechanics if not its narrative elements. Baldur's Gate (1998) and other D&D-based games fashioned on the Infinity engine use a computer-enhanced yet ultimately more accurate method of translating the Dungeons & Dragons combat system to video gaming. Though diligent in its adherence to the twisting arithmetic that drives the D&D rules, Baldur's Gate allows the player to break down party combat into the smallest possible time units and it simultaneously applies the actions of all characters and monsters in a real-time stream. Baldur's Gate can be paused to give the player an opportunity to think through each character's actions, allowing for coordinated group attacks and thoroughly believable defensive strategies. Of course, most tabletop D&D gamers don't play through their battles instant by instant. Such an approach would require so much time and effort that it would distract from the reality of the experience instead of enhancing it.

Ruins of Myth Drannor features a more traditional application of the D&D combat rules than Baldur's Gate does, offering a style of play complete with all of the unfortunate compromise found in the battles of many pen-and-paper D&D sessions. Combat actions in Ruins of Myth Drannor are discrete and sequential. Each character and monster takes his or her turn, one at a time. While this is indeed very similar to the way that groups of friends play at kitchen tables with dice and miniatures, it looses a crucial sense of immediacy and drama when translated to the single player's computer monitor. Done well, turn-based combat can be extremely rich and involving but this particular system is shallow, flawed, and inferior to that of the original Pool of Radiance. The combat design in Ruins of Myth Drannor occasionally produces some interesting situations, but it also encourages tactics that would seem impractical or impossible in a 'realistic' fantasy combat situation. Characters can cast spells with no real threat of a ranged attack interruption. Monsters approach one at a time, making it easier to take strong positions and concentrate on the greatest threats.

Universal Game Editor Pool Of Radiance Download

There are additional factors that may push one to play this game 'by the numbers' instead of 'by the story.' Wounded or spell-spent characters face no penalty in resting for a complete recovery after each and every encounter. A distractingly handy color-changing icon even indicates the many areas in which a few hours of sleep or meditation will be completely safe and, no matter how badly they are wounded, characters seem to heal to their full hit points after each rest period. Other elements of movement and party management are more frustratingly unrealistic. When not engaged in combat, all of the characters in the party are forced to remain relatively close to one another. This prevents the rogue from scouting ahead down a dark hallway or the sorceress from positioning herself at a comfortable distance when a possibly trapped treasure chest is examined. The field of view is unnaturally determined by how far the player can scroll around the backdrop while the characters remain visible on screen.

Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor boasts that it is the first computer game to use the 3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons rules. If there is an overall theme to the 3rd Edition's amendments, it is of customization. The core rulebooks feature many alternate statistics systems, disparate variations of possible character types, and insightful advice for balancing play in non-traditional games. Instead of listing immutable details such as which races can be of which classes and which of those are available to players (as earlier D&D editions do), the 3rd Edition lays out a more theoretical foundation and then offers suggestions as to how to build upon it. Balance and purpose are emphasized over statistical or topical specifics. The books preach that while no single campaign is suitable for every variation of play, a good game can be built around any variation of the rules as long as it's done in the proper spirit.

It is in abuse of this authorization that Ruins of Myth Drannor haphazardly interprets the D&D system, making substantial allowances in some regards while completely forbidding other, more established options. The half-orc race is available for play but gnome characters are not a choice. Certain race and class combinations offer character models of only one gender. The game allows for no traditional mage characters at all, squelching any chance for arcane study or spell book development. Just one relatively conservative method of attribute generation is supported in spite of the aggressively paced campaign. Most importantly however, little or no explanation is given in the context of the game world as to why these particular limitations and allowances are made.

Theoretically, any combination of the basic Dungeons & Dragons rules could be applied with success, but only when done with an honest, encompassing rationale. The interpretation of D&D offered by Ruins of Myth Drannor is a mishmash, seemingly governed more by what would and wouldn't work within the game's programming limitations as opposed to any consideration of theme or setting. Good or bad, the elements of play that emulate the tabletop experience are held forth with pride, while aspects that do not live up to the game's lofty aspirations are clumsily hidden or ignored altogether. It is true that this release uses the 3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons rules, but it uses them poorly. The result is a game that focuses almost entirely on combat with no truly compelling elements of history, story, or character development. Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor is most disappointing not for what it is, but for what it could have and should have been.

Graphics: Character animations are quite good and some of the aboveground backdrops show a lot of artistic attention, but the style has been better done by earlier games and the graphics here demonstrate nothing worthy of the required 3D acceleration.

Sound: Sound effects are directional and believable. Some background noises are subtle and moody. In the initial unpatched version of the game, music and sound effects seem to contribute to occasional slow-down or other technical difficulties on some systems.

Enjoyment: Very little is done to encourage the gamer to actually role-play his or her characters. The game is best enjoyed through some abstract appreciation of the traditional combat system. Numerous battles lack variety and urgency.

Replay Value: Though multiplayer games can be randomly generated, there is not enough diversity to inspire continued play. The game is monotonous enough the first time through.

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