remaking old goldbox games

sel · 11-03-2003, 09:41 PM

hi,

even though this dungeon craft tool is, of course, interesting for the purpose of creating new stories, there are many old goldbox games that i wish i could play again with reasonably good graphics and sound. especially the forgotten realms and krynn series. has anyone thought of remaking these? or would this lead to legal issues? there have been similar remakes, e.g. for neverwinter nights but they are too far from the original for me to feel that they are true remakes.

S.

LurchBrick · 11-03-2003, 10:47 PM

Great idea! This would obviously involve a lot of work and you're right about the possible legal issues. But I'm sure many of us here would love to see the old games being born again with DungeonCraft.

Steve McDonald · 11-03-2003, 11:33 PM

I started to do a remake of Champions of Krynn, which I personally found the most enjoyable of the gold box games, quite a while ago. But I have stopped after doing Throtl and part of the overland map, principally for two reasons:

1. It is very difficult to exactly replicate the original game (though I think I'm very close for the first module or so), and I am now just too busy to keep going.

2. I just don't have enough decent pictures of what is required. Dragons and Draconians small pics are fine, but as for combat icons, many of the character small pics, the map, and all big pictures, I am just using the old Champions art at this stage.

If anyone wants to make art for this project I'm sure it would be appreciated by not only for this project but for everyone who could do with more new art in their designs.

If anyone wants the module as it stands so far, I can send it to you and you can take over work on it. Email steve_mcdee@hotmail.com

sel · 11-03-2003, 11:36 PM

well the greatest work would be actually documenting how everything looks, everyone's lines etc etc. but i wasnt sure if one could extract that somehow from the original data files, or if one has to actually play through the game and take notes about how many dragons are in this room, what spells a certain npc casts etc etc. in that case it would be rather taxing work. also there are things that are very particular for some of those games, like the changing moons in the krynn series affecting the casting behaviour of certain mages.

legal issues could be a problem like i said, but (even though it is no valid argument) it seems everyone these days is doing similar things with all these mods based on famous games and the many remakes that are available. basically it's only the story that would be "stolen", since graphics, music etc would be reasonably original. if one single game were to be picked for a remake i would have a hard time choosing between pool of radiance, curse of the azure bonds and champions of krynn. since i dont know much about dungeon craft i'm not certain if it is more adapted to a forgotten realms or a krynn method of handling things.

S.

Steve McDonald · 11-03-2003, 11:45 PM

I just started by working through and doing all possible things in Champions. It is time consuming, certainly. I don't know of any other way as I'm not a programmer. If only we could open Champions straight into DC like you can with old FRUA designs... Cocoaspud? Is this possible?

LurchBrick · 11-04-2003, 12:32 AM

If you can get hold of a copy of the official solution handbook to Champions, as I have, it has all the locations mapped, exactly what encounters are located where, what equipment is used, where its found, what events chain to other events, etc. This would be an invaluable aid to such a remake project.

manikus · 11-04-2003, 10:58 PM

if you have the inclination, dan autery has viewers for the grafix from the goldbox games available at his website- http://members.aol.com/Autery/ [img]smile.gif[/img]

they are top quality programs that he wrote himself. if you are into frua at all, this is the website to check out. this guy is the reason i got interested in doing graphics for frua and subsequently dungeon craft.

-manikus

sel · 11-05-2003, 02:43 PM

Well I at least have the curse of the azure bonds official manual as pdf, but unfortunately not pool of radiance. my module skills are unfortunately not that great.

concerning music, as i understand it there is support for mp3. would it be possible to maybe make arrangements of the original music? because i thought that was really nice and i wouldnt want that changed, but it would be interesting to get versions that use better instruments etc. and i also know a composer who might be interested in doing something like that.

most of you seem interested in remaking champions of krynn first but i think that pool of radiance is one of the best candidates, partly because it's simpler due to lesser features (such as moons, knight classes etc) and partly because i was horribly disappointed at the new pool of radiance so it just made me want an updated version of the original even more.

[ 11-05-2003, 02:44 PM: Message edited by: sel ]

11-04-2003, 10:58 PM	#7
manikus Jack Burton Join Date: July 13, 2001 Location: Stumptown Age: 53 Posts: 5,444	if you have the inclination, dan autery has viewers for the grafix from the goldbox games available at his website- http://members.aol.com/Autery/ [img]smile.gif[/img] they are top quality programs that he wrote himself. if you are into frua at all, this is *the* website to check out. this guy is the reason i got interested in doing graphics for frua and subsequently dungeon craft. -manikus __________________ manikus Official Site \| DC Wiki \| DC Bug Tracker

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11-03-2003, 09:41 PM	#1
sel Welcomed New User Join Date: October 23, 2003 Location: Germany Age: 45 Posts: 3	hi, even though this dungeon craft tool is, of course, interesting for the purpose of creating new stories, there are many old goldbox games that i wish i could play again with reasonably good graphics and sound. especially the forgotten realms and krynn series. has anyone thought of remaking these? or would this lead to legal issues? there have been similar remakes, e.g. for neverwinter nights but they are too far from the original for me to feel that they are true remakes. S.

11-03-2003, 10:47 PM	#2
LurchBrick Dungeon Master Join Date: October 1, 2003 Location: NSW Australia Age: 49 Posts: 68	Great idea! This would obviously involve a lot of work and you're right about the possible legal issues. But I'm sure many of us here would love to see the old games being born again with DungeonCraft.

11-03-2003, 11:33 PM	#3
Steve McDonald The Magister Join Date: January 29, 2002 Location: Adelaide, South Australia Posts: 130	I started to do a remake of Champions of Krynn, which I personally found the most enjoyable of the gold box games, quite a while ago. But I have stopped after doing Throtl and part of the overland map, principally for two reasons: 1. It is very difficult to exactly replicate the original game (though I think I'm very close for the first module or so), and I am now just too busy to keep going. 2. I just don't have enough decent pictures of what is required. Dragons and Draconians small pics are fine, but as for combat icons, many of the character small pics, the map, and all big pictures, I am just using the old Champions art at this stage. If anyone wants to make art for this project I'm sure it would be appreciated by not only for this project but for everyone who could do with more new art in their designs. If anyone wants the module as it stands so far, I can send it to you and you can take over work on it. Email steve_mcdee@hotmail.com

11-03-2003, 11:36 PM	#4
sel Welcomed New User Join Date: October 23, 2003 Location: Germany Age: 45 Posts: 3	well the greatest work would be actually documenting how everything looks, everyone's lines etc etc. but i wasnt sure if one could extract that somehow from the original data files, or if one has to actually play through the game and take notes about how many dragons are in this room, what spells a certain npc casts etc etc. in that case it would be rather taxing work. also there are things that are very particular for some of those games, like the changing moons in the krynn series affecting the casting behaviour of certain mages. legal issues could be a problem like i said, but (even though it is no valid argument) it seems everyone these days is doing similar things with all these mods based on famous games and the many remakes that are available. basically it's only the story that would be "stolen", since graphics, music etc would be reasonably original. if one single game were to be picked for a remake i would have a hard time choosing between pool of radiance, curse of the azure bonds and champions of krynn. since i dont know much about dungeon craft i'm not certain if it is more adapted to a forgotten realms or a krynn method of handling things. S.

11-03-2003, 11:45 PM	#5
Steve McDonald The Magister Join Date: January 29, 2002 Location: Adelaide, South Australia Posts: 130	I just started by working through and doing all possible things in Champions. It is time consuming, certainly. I don't know of any other way as I'm not a programmer. If only we could open Champions straight into DC like you can with old FRUA designs... Cocoaspud? Is this possible?

11-04-2003, 12:32 AM	#6
LurchBrick Dungeon Master Join Date: October 1, 2003 Location: NSW Australia Age: 49 Posts: 68	If you can get hold of a copy of the official solution handbook to Champions, as I have, it has all the locations mapped, exactly what encounters are located where, what equipment is used, where its found, what events chain to other events, etc. This would be an invaluable aid to such a remake project.

11-05-2003, 02:43 PM	#8
sel Welcomed New User Join Date: October 23, 2003 Location: Germany Age: 45 Posts: 3	Well I at least have the curse of the azure bonds official manual as pdf, but unfortunately not pool of radiance. my module skills are unfortunately not that great. concerning music, as i understand it there is support for mp3. would it be possible to maybe make arrangements of the original music? because i thought that was really nice and i wouldnt want that changed, but it would be interesting to get versions that use better instruments etc. and i also know a composer who might be interested in doing something like that. most of you seem interested in remaking champions of krynn first but i think that pool of radiance is one of the best candidates, partly because it's simpler due to lesser features (such as moons, knight classes etc) and partly because i was horribly disappointed at the new pool of radiance so it just made me want an updated version of the original even more. [ 11-05-2003, 02:44 PM: Message edited by: sel ]

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