Might & Magic 7: Locked Throne Room in Castle Gloaming

[seclists]

As per suggestions earlier (a *lot* earlier) on this forum, I (as a person who is suffering withdrawal symptoms from Wizardy 8) bought the Sold-Out bargain-price re-release of M&M VII (For Blood & Honour) and decided to give it a try. My party is Paladin (Villain) - Archer (Sniper) - Cleric (Priest of the Dark) - Sorcerer (Lich). As you can see, I am allied with the naughty Dark side.

Spoilers... (if it matters for a game this old)

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The problem is, I am stuck. The door to the Throne Room in Castle Gloaming became locked when I stole a tapestry from the castle. Now I've killed Robert the Wise (or whatever his name was) - luckily only one of my characters got eradicated and there was a Scroll of Resurrection around - and Tolberti tells me to go to see Kastore in Castle Gloaming. I can't. The door is STILL Locked. Tolberti has nothing more to say. I don't think I can complete the game if I cannot talk to Kastore.

Could this be a bug? I have already come across a few apparent quest bugs elsewhere.
1) I was told to steal the tapestry, which I did, and got the reward for it when I returned to the Mercenary guild. Some time later, the "Go to Tatalia within two weeks (etc.)" reappeared on my Quests list. But if I now go to the Mercenary Guild, there is no-one to speak to, I just enter the guild. Looks pretty much the same as the "reappearing quests" bug in M&M VI. (Incidentally, I had to complete the Breeding Zone twice - after the first time, the game somehow forgot that I had already completed it, and Archibald Ironfist's advisors refused to speak to me until I completed it a second time... it's a very frustrating quest.)
2) I was unable to complete the "raid the Elven treasury" quest. I could find the secret floor tiles (I have a character with a high Perception, and the floor tiles were flashing red). However, when I stepped on them, NOTHING happened. After several hours (real time) of wandering around in the castle looking for secret switches I was very frustrated and cheated a little (i.e. looked this up in a walkthrough). According to the walkthrough, the floor tiles should have opened a stairway. They did not.

Or is this just the game's way of telling me that I've played enough and should move on? [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 05-10-2005, 01:30 AM: Message edited by: seclists ]

[Kakero]

The problem is, I am stuck. The door to the Throne Room in Castle Gloaming became locked when I stole a tapestry from the castle. Now I've killed Robert the Wise (or whatever his name was) - luckily only one of my characters got eradicated and there was a Scroll of Resurrection around - and Tolberti tells me to go to see Kastore in Castle Gloaming. I can't. The door is STILL Locked. Tolberti has nothing more to say. I don't think I can complete the game if I cannot talk to Kastore.

Wait for 1 month ( sometimes even more ) game time. The door should be unlocked.

1) I was told to steal the tapestry, which I did, and got the reward for it when I returned to the Mercenary guild. Some time later, the "Go to Tatalia within two weeks (etc.)" reappeared on my Quests list. But if I now go to the Mercenary Guild, there is no-one to speak to, I just enter the guild. Looks pretty much the same as the "reappearing quests" bug in M&M VI. (Incidentally, I had to complete the Breeding Zone twice - after the first time, the game somehow forgot that I had already completed it, and Archibald Ironfist's advisors refused to speak to me until I completed it a second time... it's a very frustrating quest.)

Yes, that's a reappearing bug some people encounter. Nothing can be done with that bug though. Just hope that the bug don't effect your major quest.

2) I was unable to complete the "raid the Elven treasury" quest. I could find the secret floor tiles (I have a character with a high Perception, and the floor tiles were flashing red). However, when I stepped on them, NOTHING happened. After several hours (real time) of wandering around in the castle looking for secret switches I was very frustrated and cheated a little (i.e. looked this up in a walkthrough). According to the walkthrough, the floor tiles should have opened a stairway. They did not.

Can't really remember. Did you click on it?

[ElfBane]

If you stole from your allies, then you must wait a year for the respawn. Get thrown in jail for something, that will make a year go by quickly.

[CerebroDragon]

Its been so long since I've played this game, can't really recall enough details to assist you, unfortunately.

However, I can direct you to the ever friendly bunch at the TELP MM7 Tavern who should be able to assist you! http://telp.org/mm7/tavern/mm7tavern.html

I'm actually playing Might and Magic IX for the first time at the moment but aren't really enjoying it as much as 6-8. I'd estimate that I'm just past half way, with a Level 30 or so party.

I'll repeat MM7 one of these days as the light side next time I play...I chose dark also. Didn't get a particularly good score, but I did rush a little, having spent about two months alone on MM6!

Anyhow, best of luck in your Might and Magic endeavours,
Cheers,
Cerebrodragon

[pritchke]

Yah!! It seems you have been pretty naughty. Do you expect everyone to leave there doors unlocked while you are around? That is one of the nice features of this game. I imagine your fine is quite hefty so send yourself to jail. I believe I once speant 5 years in jail for playing the game with evil characters. Ouch!!! It does sound like you are approaching the end of the game so I would not give up as both endings are worth it.

CerebroDragon, I have been thinking about picking up Might and Magic IX for some time as it is around $10. I am definitly not expecting it to be nearly as good as any of the other games. I am just wondering if the game is full of bugs, or is it worth picking up.


[ 05-10-2005, 10:56 AM: Message edited by: pritchke ]

[Griefmaker]

I have played MMIX for a little while a few years ago (I dropped it when I was able to find a copy of Wiz 8) and I did not notice TOO many bugs--though there were a few. I have to admit, it just did not seem like Might and Magic without battles that included neverending HOARDS of enemies... From what I played of it, though, it was not that bad. However, I did prefer MM6 and MM7.

[CerebroDragon]

I haven't had any problems really yet bug-wise to be honest, which is quite a relief! The only oddity I've experienced now and again is that the dates on the save game description can be incorrect/mixed up, which means I just have to remember what saves are my latest ones after the quicksave. [img]smile.gif[/img]

From what I can gather, the fan-made TELP patch for the game (to 1.3) has done a reasonably good job of getting rid of most of the bugs, although more are being reported. I'm not sure what subtle differences it would make, but I'm still using Win98 SE as opposed to XP.

The game has copped fairly severe criticism review-wise and rightfully so in some places.
The class system is horribly simplified for instance and the promotional quests are a bit of a mess. Exploration isn't as open as previous games and there's no fly spell. But the game's soundtrack is quite nice in parts and it still retains some of the gameplay addictiveness that made the earlier games such great fun. I'm definitely going to see it through. [img]smile.gif[/img]

So I can't really reccomend Might and Magic IX as heartily as I would 3-8, Pritchke, but if you're a fan of the series generally, $10 US isn't too bad. I'd ask Bungleau what he thought of that price actually, as I remember reading some of his posts about MM9 - he's had far more experience with the game than I have, IIRC he's finished it a few times! [img]smile.gif[/img]

Sorry to hijack your thread Seclists. Perhaps you've played MM9 and can give us your opinion also.
Cheers,
CerebroDragon

[seclists]

Originally posted by CerebroDragon: Sorry to hijack your thread Seclists.

Hey, no problem! I'm not jealous about this thread.

I've already got a lot of useful information here, and I also tried posting on the M&M specific board as suggested above. I believe I now understand a bit better what is going on in the game. Oh well, my party needed a "little" rest anyway.

As for M&M9, funny that you should ask - I also have that game as a budget-price reissue (I think I got it in the same purchase with M&M7). I have already installed it and tried it, briefly, but I decided that I should try to complete M&M7 first. From what I saw, I can tell that M&M9 looks pretty, *very* pretty. I cannot comment on the game content yet, but I think I'll try to complete it in any case once I'm done with M&M7. (To enjoy the scenery, if for no other reason...)

[ 05-11-2005, 08:05 AM: Message edited by: seclists ]

[Bungleau]

*seeing his name mentioned*

As a long-time MM player, MM9 was worth it to me. It is not as good as MM6 or MM7, but it's still a worthwhile game. A number of folks disliked it because of the new engine, and while I can say that I had issues, they were primarily design issues (boy, did I have to run a LOT from place to place!). Oh, and there was one minor glitch: the directional arrow on the automap was off by 90 degrees. So if you were looking north, it showed you looking east. Or something like that. Annoying, but not game-stopping.

Definitely get the user community patch. I don't know if I've got mine patched to 1.3, but it's definitely useful and needed. It fixes one minor quest bug that I recall, and it shows the love the user community had (and still has) for this long-time classic gaming series.

One thing on the bad rep... you might try donating to a temple to see if it raises your reputation enough. Sometimes that might get you out of that hole...

Have fun!

[seclists]

Thanks again for the help.

In the end, "resting" long enough became a non-issue. I spent some time killing hydras in Nighon and Titans & Dragons in the Land of Giants. When I was finished, my characters advanced several levels at once in the Pit - and by the time they got out from the training hall, it was the next year already. I immediately headed for Castle Gloaming, and sure enough, everyone had already forgotten all about my past misdeed. Kastore was eager to see my characters, teach them blaster grandmaster and give them their next assignment.

Xenofex died in very short order. I made only one slight fumble in this quest: my Beacon caster (the Lich) was drained of all mana, and I was forced to use the teleporter shrine (outside) to get back to Harmondale. Ooops, I had forgotten that I hadn't actually killed all those devils outside, I had just sneaked past them invisible. I was unable to cast fly or invisibility, but I spent precious seconds trying to do so before I realized that. Resulting in a very swift and ugly death for my party. In retrospect, I should have switched to turn-based mode when I ran into the devil mob. (I almost never use it in the M&M games, since they play much better like a fantasy-RPG version of Doom than a turn-based game -- even though I normally definitely prefer turn-based games to real-time games). Reload time, success on the second attempt.

On to the next quest. The green oceanwater looked pretty cool, but otherwise the underwater part was pretty uneventful (boring). Until I found the... sunken miniature of Battlestar Galactica! Now that was a really surprising easter egg, I do say. I found the place where the left hangar would be in Galactica and entered... and got my party absolutely wiped out in practically no time. I made the error of trying to secure the first room (with my blasters) so I could re-equip... big mistake! Even worse, I got greedy and tried to leave a beacon there so I could get back easily - leaving my Town Portal caster unable to act until he was knocked out... then I tried to cast healing, but it was too late already. Pretty tough combat, I think it was worse than the Titans & Dragons. But then, I was fully equipped back then.

This is where I'm now. Going back to the saved game (in Avlee, before entering the sea).

[ 05-19-2005, 07:42 AM: Message edited by: seclists ]