Pool of Radiance
Pool of Radiance, released in 1988, was the first of a long series of computer role playing games that shared a common engine that came to be known as the "Gold Box Engine" after the gold boxes in which most games of the series were sold. After the success of the original game, a book and a D&D module based on the Pool of Radiance plot were also published. It is the first in a four-part series of Forgotten Realms Dungeons & Dragons adventure computer games published by Strategic Simulations, Inc (SSI). In 1992, the game was ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System under the name of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons: Pool of Radiance.
Story
Template:Spoiler The game takes place in the Forgotten Realms setting, in and around the Moonsea region and the City of Phlan, which has been overrun by forces of evil. The city had originally held off many attacks, but the forces were marshalled by a bronze dragon which was believed to be possessed by a powerful spirit named Tyranthraxus. The object of the game is to have the party clear the old city of its marauding inhabitants, so the people of Phlan can rebuild and repopulate the areas.
The party begins in the civilized section of "New Phlan" that is governed by a council. This portion of the city is a place for the party to buy equipment at the shops, rest up in the inns, listen to rumors in the pub, and contract with the clerk of the city council for various commissions. The party can also go to the hiring hall and hire an experienced adventurer to accompany the party.
Beyond this region the party enters the area of the slums, which have been overrun with low-level monsters such as goblins and orcs that the party must clear out (gaining experience in the process). Further into the slums, the going gets tougher, with ogre and trolls for opponents.
The next commission is to clear out Sokol Keep, a fortified area located on an island. This is filled with undead, among other opponents. Inside the keep is a specter who suffers under a curse. By removing this curse, the keep is cleared and the shipping lanes to the city are finally opened.
There are a variety of other locations that are encountered as the party ventures further into the city, including Kuto's Well, catacombs filled with a bandit horde, a thieves' guild, Podol Plaza, and a buccaneer bar called the Pit. With the party making impressive progress, they are next contracted to go to the old Textile House, to recover the treasure of a council member. Pressing onward, the party can enter Mendor's Library, a temple of Bane in the wealthy section, Kovel Mansion, and the deadly Valhingen Graveyard.
Eventually the party ventures outside the city by boat, where they encounter a silver dragon. Various side treks and adventures occur, including visiting an encampment of the Zhentarim, as the party continues to build up experience and aid the city by defeating the plans of the mysterious "Boss".
Now the more difficult endgame begins. The party reveals a traitor in the city council, and is commissioned to hunt him down. At some point the party will have to assault Stojanow Gate, a difficult task against bugbears and ettins. The party then enters Valjevo Castle and its inner sanctum, descends a stairwell to encounter some guards of the imposter Tyranthaxus (who assumes the form of a bronze dragon). After defeating his guards, the party refuses his offer to join his side and engages the dragon boss in a deadly battle, emerging victorious.
Plot overview
The game is fairly straightforward. The party's objective is to ultimately free Phlan from the monsters and the boss, Tyranthraxus. There are many missions from the Phlan city council the party can undertake, some optional, which will give rewards for successfully accomplishing the tasks.
The only real mandatory task is for the party to clear the areas on the outskirts of Phlan so it can make its way to Valjevo Castle and defeat Tyranthraxus. It is highly recommended, however, to gain enough experience to undertake this task.
Trivia
As the first game in the series, Pool of Radiance was to be surpassed in terms of features by later Gold Box games. Party characters could only be selected from among the classes of fighter, cleric, wizard, or thief, and the maximum class level was restricted to level 6(9 for thieves, 8 for fighters).
Pool of Radiance won the Origins Award for Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Computer Game of 1988.
Copy Protection
The original Pool Of Radiance game shipped with a decoder wheel. After the title screen, a copy protection screen was displayed consisting of two pictures and a line. The player was required to use the decoder wheel to line up these two pictures, and then enter the word revealed in the appropriate cutout in the decoder wheel. The player was given three tries to enter the correct word before the game exited.
Differences between versions of Pool Of Radiance
Pool Of Radiance was released for several computers/game consoles, so there are differences between the versions.
The Commodore 64 has music which plays over the title screen. The DOS version doesn't have any music.
The C64 version is also known for its slow load times. The game was distributed on four double-sided floppy disks which required a lot of disk swapping, possibly the biggest issue users have with this version.
A player can have up to 8 characters in a party, namely 6 player characters & 2 NPC's (Non-player characters) in the computer versions. In the NES version, however, a party consists of fewer characters.
The Apple 2 version has poorer graphics.
Difficulty
Pool of Radiance is considered to be a very difficult game. Even characters who are at their highest levels and have the best equipment can have trouble with battles, especially the later battles. The game also contains many random encounters. It is common to experience a random battle, finish it, and then immediately trigger another one.
Game credits
- Scenario created by: TSR, Inc., Jim Ward, David Cook, Steve Winter, Mike Breault
- Game created by: SSI Special Projects
- Programming: Scot Bayless, Brad Myers, Russ Brown, Ted Greer
- Original Programming: Keith Brors, Brad Myers
- Graphic Arts: Tom Wahl, Fred Butts, Darla Marasco, Susan Halbleib
- Project Manager: Victor Penman
- Encounter Coding: Paul Murray, Russ Brown, Victor Penman, Dave Shelley
- Developer: George MacDonald
- Testing: Joel Billings, Steve Salyer, James Kucera, Robert Daly, Rick White
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. But now, the once beautiful Elven city is in ruins.
This was a new game based on the same AD&D module, but with rules updated for the 3rd edition. Sales for the game were initially low as it received lackluster reviews and was plagued with bugs, especially in multiplayer. The situation was so bad that uninstalling the unpatched game could wipe the user's system files [1]. The main complaint about the game was that it was boring, as the AD&D module it was based on was intended for a large player group. Other problems, such as the infinite and confusing dungeons and only one style of gameplay - hack'n slash - contributed to make this title considered boring and repetitive. Later patches fixed some of the stability issues, but by this time stronger competition such as Bioware's Neverwinter Nights had been released.
See also
- Curse of the Azure Bonds
- Secret of the Silver Blades
- Pools of Darkness
- Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor
- Gold Box
- Strategic Simulations, Inc.
External links
- Pool of Radiance at Game Banshee - Contains a walkthrough and many in-depth specifics about the game
- Pool of Radiance at MobyGames