Games we're Working on

[intric8]

I played and finished Gateway last year and really liked it. I have Treasures in-bound, which has always intrigued me because of it's "A.I." that supposedly can let some of the characters fall in love, or something like that.

Plus that cover image is epic.

I've read some pretty mixed reviews on Silver Blades. IIRC Scorpia trashed it for being too hack-n-slash-y, too, and really linear.

I mean, I've got the game. I probably should at least go through the motions since I've never played it. But, you're probably right. I wanted something less of a soul crusher than Ultima or Wizardry. Something more familiar. And you can't get more familiar than a series of games that are all nearly identical to one another engine-wise. I did like the water-focus of Gateway, too. I think out of all of them Curse of the Azure Bonds is probably my favorite so far, but I'm rather attached to that story and those characters so I'm biased I know. I wish the stories were more tightly integrated with these games.

[BloodyCactus]

Yeah its totally linear with Silverblades, there is no hub, you basically start and go along a singular path. each dungeon leads to the next.

Curse is my favourite too!

What about Buck Rogers? Its an interesting Gold Box? or any of the Krynn goldbox games...

Still I understanding checking it off the list and playing at least once.

It is an epic cover, I have the original D&D modules (FRC1 Ruins of Adventure, FRC2 Azure Bonds and the module with the silverblades cover, but they never made an FRC3 module equivalent. Whats funny is the artwork for Silverblades is the cover to the D&D Module Savage Frontier)

[Zippy Zapp]

Buck Rogers is a good one. Bummer that they only released the sequel on PC. You can still find new copies of Buck for 64 and Amiga. Matrix Cubed is still sitting on my shelf waiting for a play through.

[intric8]

I have Buck Rogers for Amiga and C64, and plan on playing it on Amiga this year. I even got the novel - which came with my C64 version (mint) in a free pile I picked up last year saving it from the dump.

I read somewhere that the lady who owned TSR somehow forced the team to create the Buck Rogers games because she (somehow?) owned the IP for the character, too. I think they made the game based off of 2nd Edition D&D, but I've never read the book(s) or played the games. But a Gold Box sci-fi? Definitely on my list.

I always thought it was kinda weird.

I mean, Buck Rogers is this character that would have appealed to my grandparents but it was packaged up and marketed to folks like us back in the early 90s. Say wha...? Maybe they thought some of us had watched the old TV show ten years earlier or something and were ready to relive that.

Then again, a John Carter movie came out not that long ago and I thought it was pretty good. And I LOVE Flash Gordon. But to be honest, I never really knew much about ol' Buck (still don't). All I know is he's sort of a clone - or maybe the original - of those kinds of comic strip sci-fi characters.

[Zippy Zapp]

Yeah it was pretty popular in the late 80's. The Buck Rogers TV show was in syndication and reruns shown most afternoons, although not the same universe, really, as TSR's Buck Rogers XXVC. TSR created a bunch of role playing games and modules, as you noted, similar to D&D rules. IIRC they also released graphic novels comic books and I seem to remember a board game or two.

I still have my original Countdown to Doomsday with the Book. I think I read a few chapters when I bought it in 1990. Still sitting on my shelf. After I got Matrix Cubed I ended up buying the second book as it is a trilogy. Matrix Cubed is actually the third book in the trilogy, Prime Squared is the second book. Not sure if the sequel covers events of the second book or not because even after owning it for 28 years I still haven't actually played through the entire game or the sequel. (Yeah my backlog of games spans a few decades. LOL)

[Shot97]

Secret of the Silver Blades is "more linear" than other installments, that does not make it "linear". Linear is an absolute, it is left to right, one thing gets done and then it's on to the next, areas previously gone to are no longer accessible, there is no wiggle room, period. It's a side scroller. That's linear. Anything else, is degrees of non-linear. Anybody that says Secret of the Silver Blades is linear has never played a typical JRPG, that's for sure.

Wouldn't be the first time Scorpia took a crap on a good game. There's nobody else I love taking their very own words in order to review the reviewer quite like Scorpia.

It's still a much more massive game than it's previous installment, Curse of the Azure Bonds, the shortest of the entire series. I would have some negatives to say on Secret, in that it's easily the most boring due to one long and very repetitive area. However, it's extremely memorable of a game.

The 2nd Buck Rogers game would be the only Gold Box game not to grace the Amiga, and that was due to the overall disappointing sales of the first. Not just on the Amiga, but period, it did not sell what they were hoping it to, and thus they decided it was not worth porting to the Amiga. I believe I read that SSI's original offer to TSR included branching off into other franchises. This is partly why TSR chose SSI when other companies, including EA, offered much more money to them for the rights to the D&D rules.

[Zippy Zapp]

The 2nd Buck Rogers game would be the only Gold Box game not to grace the Amiga, and that was due to the overall disappointing sales of the first. Not just on the Amiga, but period, it did not sell what they were hoping it to, and thus they decided it was not worth porting to the Amiga. I believe I read that SSI's original offer to TSR included branching off into other franchises. This is partly why TSR chose SSI when other companies, including EA, offered much more money to them for the rights to the D&D rules.

They apparently developed it for Amiga just didn't finish it or release it. Only MS-DOS got a release. According to a couple of articles I read there was even a magazine or two that reviewed it giving it a slightly lower score than the MS-DOS version probably since it supported 256 color VGA and Sound Blaster and looked a bit better. An early game to support both. That makes me wonder if there isn't a pre-release version floating around someplace. I mean the magazine that reviewed it must have had an advanced copy, which they usually do.

[Shot97]

That would be a holy grail item. I also believe I've at least seen mentions of the 2nd game coming to the Amiga, from SSI's very own advertisements of the time,

There were quite a few ports from DOS that you heard about coming to the Amiga in one way or another but just never showed up. Games that even in a not fully finished state would probably be much better games than some of the stuff the console peeps are drooling over after finally being put out to the public.

[McTrinsic]

By the way, kudos for finishing Ultima IV. I just left a comment at your review.

It did have an impact on me an still has. Maybe it’s the reason why I want to have my Amiga fully working - to play UIV once again.

I played almost all the GoldBox games - but none left an impression as UIV - UVII.

[intric8]

@McTrinsic thanks for the kind words. I was definitely channeling you as I played that massive game.

I have u5 for my C128, and I JUST picked up U6 for c64/128 mint. I have the Amiga version, too, but only the PAL version. If I never find the NTSC Amiga version I’ll play it on my Phoenix.

But I can’t jump from one to the next. Like the Gold Box games I need to break them up.