Topics

1

General Discussion / Old School Computer Game Update 18: A New Sound

« on: October 06, 2019, 08:55:59 AM »

I am posting this on a few forums; I am trying to reach the 50% of people who purchased my game but have chosen not to receive email updates from DriveThruRPG.

I purchased some sound effect packages, and have added improved sound effects and some music to the game.  Sound is off by default - press 'e' to turn it on during a game.  I have not yet added sounds for everything I want to, so you will probably notice spots where there should be a sound but is not yet.  I have learned once you start adding good sounds to a game, the gaps become more obvious.  However, I have finally found and fixed the "disappearing dead party members" bug, so I am shipping this release now instead of waiting months until I get the sounds all sorted out.

There is one more tweak I think improves the game - when a creature moves past another in combat and triggers an attack of opportunity, the graphics now properly display when and where the creature was hit while moving.  This has been annoying me for a long time, so I am glad I was able to fix it too.

Your existing saved games will probably work with this new release, but to be safe, before you download and play the new version, please load up any games with characters you want to keep and export them to disk in the manage party view.

I am leaving both last year's release and the new 2019 one available for download, in case anyone finds the new release to be problematic.

Have fun, and please keep posting about defects and desired enhancements in the discussion section.  My thanks to everyone who has suggested an improvement, or patiently describe a bug I needed to fix.

The updated game can be found here:  https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/149082/Old-School-Computer-Game .

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General Discussion / Looking for a clone

« on: March 11, 2018, 02:36:19 PM »

Hello.

Are there any 3E clones that are clean and minimal, similar ti BECMI, but retain skills and feats?

3

General Discussion / Control undead?

« on: January 30, 2018, 04:40:34 PM »

I could have sworn that evil clerics get a "control undead" version of "turn undead", but I cannot find it in my Rules Cyclopedia.  Does anyone know if that is a BECMI rule at all?  Or, if it is found in a 1E or 2E book?

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General Discussion / Thorkhammer

« on: January 15, 2018, 09:29:12 PM »

Has anyone seen or heard of the mighty Thorkie lately?

As for the rest of you ... are you still posting?  If so, where?

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General Discussion / Problem with high-level spells

« on: December 15, 2017, 02:41:38 PM »

Hi folks.

Since I was a young fellow, high level spells (7-9) have always given me a love/hate relationship with D&D.

Demihuman level limits block them from getting the cool spells, even the supposedly magical elves.

Humans can get there, but by the time they do, the game is somewhat broken - the risk of low-level gaming is mostly gone, and boredom sets in.  Many people espouse retiring characters somewhere between levels 9 and 14, nowhere close to level 8 and 9 spells!

This drives me crazy sometimes.

Have you folks ever seen a game or house rule that would fix this for me?  Some way of giving lower-level characters access to the highest-level spells, so that whatever level they bump their heads on doesn't deny them the cool end-game toys?

Does 3E fix this?

6

General Discussion / Everyone okay?

« on: August 31, 2017, 11:46:14 AM »

I know there are a lot of Texans on this board.  I hope you are all safe and doing well in this stormy season.

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Other Games / I am fed up with the limited availability of 5E

« on: May 17, 2017, 10:23:48 AM »

More and more product is coming out for 5E.  I only buy PDFs, and am very annoyed that the core books are print-only.  I'm not going to spend $105 to buy the three core books from Amazon in a format I don't like, thanks.  If there were $10 DTRPG PDFs, I'd already be playing them, and buying the accessories they DO publish on DTRPG.

Anyone know why 5E is not being published digitally?  Anyone know when it might be in the future?

cheers,
Andrew

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General Discussion / An interesting series of articles on the history of SSI and Gold Box games

« on: April 22, 2017, 02:51:58 PM »

http://www.filfre.net/2016/03/joel-billings-and-ssi/

http://www.filfre.net/2016/03/ten-odd-years-at-tsr/

http://www.filfre.net/2016/03/opening-the-gold-box-part-3-from-tabletop-to-desktop/

http://www.filfre.net/2016/03/opening-the-gold-box-part-4-pool-of-radiance/

http://www.filfre.net/2017/03/opening-the-gold-box-part-5-all-that-glitters-is-not-gold/

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Other Games / Advanced Fighting Fantasy (2E) for sale on bundle of holding!

« on: March 27, 2017, 01:15:37 PM »

Great deal.  Just paid $18.50 for the whole set.  I wanted to buy them for a while now, but held off because of the prices.  Looking forward to reading them now!

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Save for Half Podcast / New site, new lease on life for the podcast?

« on: March 15, 2017, 09:08:59 PM »

I miss you folks on Save Or Die dearly.  Thanks again for all you did putting that show out.  The new crew is nice, but I miss the originals.

Does this new site for save for half mean we can look forward to the occasional podcast from you going forward?

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Classic D&D / Old School Computer Game Update 12: Happy New Year!

« on: January 06, 2017, 06:51:56 AM »

Hi folks.

I have updated Old School Computer Game (link in my signature). Your existing saved games will not work with this new release - before you download and play this version, please load up any games with characters you want to keep and export them to disk in the manage party view.

The main improvement for this release, and the reason I am publishing it without waiting to develop more new content, is the improved speed with which you can save and load games.  If you play the way I do, you probably save and re-load frequently, and will find the enhancement a very nice change.

New Items: 
 - 70 new magic shields
 
Misc:
 - added a new cheat (debugging option) to give all party members good magical weapons, CTRL+ALT+SHIFT to access
 - 10% of laboratory tables now contain magic items instead of potions (perhaps the owner was working on a wand, a ring or a nice pair of boots ...)
 - added more random castle names
 - kobolds no longer have an initiative bonus
 - NPC equipment now matches standard treasure distribution ratios (e.g. you will far find more fighters wielding long swords than tridents)
 - once you know a given pool is a healing pool, simply walking through it automatically heals all living party members
 - performance improvement:  added buffering to the save and load game processes
 - performance improvement:  added multithreading to random quest creation; computers with multiple cores will create new games more quickly
 
If you find any problems with the game, or want to propose improvements, please post them here or on the game's webpage.

Thank you for playing!

12

Classic D&D / Considering giving crossbows to magic-users

« on: December 15, 2016, 07:52:09 PM »

I have the usual five missile weapons in my game:  long and short bows, heavy and light crossbows, and slings.  Some recent posts about balancing crossbows got me thinking about who can use what, and why.

Thus far, I have given bows two attacks per round and tried to balance crossbows by giving them a +2 attack and damage bonus.  The problem is, it is almost always better to have two attacks than a +2 bonus to a single attack.  I have magic crossbows that given an extra attack, but that isn't addressing the basic weapons' differences.

So, I started thinking about who can use each weapon.  Not necessarily how good they are with it, but just who can use it.

Bows require a great deal of training.  Crossbows do not (that is their strength).  Slings, despite being the weakest option, are not as easy to use as the point-and-shoot crossbows.

Fighters are skilled with all weapons, so they can use all five types.

Clerics spend some time training how to fight with weapons, and as they are stuck with only slings, it makes sense they would practice with them.

Thieves also train with weapons (they must to use swords and bows), so I don't see a need to fiddle with their allowed weapons.

This leaves magic-users.  They have no combat training, and seem to have been given the sling for game balance reasons alone.

I am thinking of taking away light crossbow's +2 bonus in my game, but letting everyone except clerics use them, and taking slings away from magic-users.

Anyone try this?  Anyone run into trouble with giving crossbows to magic-users?

13

General Discussion / Old School Computer Game Update 11: Merry Christmas!

« on: December 08, 2016, 09:33:16 AM »

Hi folks.

I have updated Old School Computer Game (link). Your existing saved games will not work with this new release - before you download and play this version, please load up any games with characters you want to keep and export them to disk in the manage party view.

I hope you enjoy this update, packed with new toys to play with (some of which require assembly).

New Hand-Crafted Quests:
 - The Flail of Ages (find the components, assemble the mighty weapon)
 - The House Of Stewart's Last Castle (three maps, intended for characters of at least ninth level)

New Quest Type:  Some Assembly Required.  Keep an eye out for components.  These are items that, when assembled using magical forges, form powerful magic items.  Each component's description explains what is required to make an item.  Components are generally all located in a single "dungeon" or set of maps.  Magical forges look like a combination of a camp fire and an anvil ... my lack of artistic talent shines through again.  In this release, there is only one instance of this quest, found in "The House Of Stewart's Last Castle".  I plan to add more in future releases.

New Randomly Generated Map Type:  Mine.  A series of 3x3 rooms connected by long, winding corridors, all tied to a central room ... intended for mines, but it turned out to be a good general-purpose random map algorithm.

New Classes:  Dwarf Arbalist, Elf Archer, Half-Elf Longbowman, Halfling Artillerist, Sniper (all five are essentially a kit applied to existing classes; the kit gives extra damage when using bows and an attack-roll penalty when fighting hand-to-hand)

New Monsters:  Blast Skeleton, Dragons (more challenging age levels for all five colours), Gargantuan Gargoyle, Gargantuan Troll, Gargoyle Golem, Giant Troll, Ice Troll, Hill Giant & King (12HD variant of the classic 8HD), Hulk, Kobold Bomber, Neo-Otyugh, Otyugh, Shambling Mound, Snake Man Mage, Snake Man Priest, Spectral Troll

New Cleric Spells:  Sorry, clerics are getting stiffed in this release.  Bah, humbug!

New Druid Spells:  I tried to add new druid spells, but they complained about affecting "nature's balance" and I had to back off.

New Magic-User Spells:  Confusion, Chaos (Confusion is one of my favourite spells - I am very happy to finally get it into the game.)

New Psionic Powers:  Id Insinuation, Unsettled Minds

New Items:
 - Bastard Sword (and magical variants)
 - Flail of Ages (some assembly required)
 - Headgear (magical helmets, circlets, masks etc)
 - 541 new magical weapons
 - 168 new kinds of magical armour
 - 75 new types of magical ammunition for bows, crossbows and slings
 - 75 new magical rings
 - 32 new staves
 - 5 new shields

Misc:
 - being 'afraid' (e.g. afflicted by mummy's fear) now gives PC's a -5 penalty instead of paralyzation
 - dragons are significantly upgraded, with improved attacks and defenses
 - maximum natural ability scores are limited to 18 (except dwarves who can have 19 constitution, and elves who can have 19 dexterity)
 - removed smash (fighter ability to add their strength to damage inflicted); this was far too generous, will revisit later
 - new weapon on-hit effects:  sleep, stun
 - rings, weapons and armour that let characters cast spells now have a limited number of uses per day instead of a chance of failing and crumbling
 
Bug Fixes:
 - when a weapon does extra damage (e.g. extra fire damage), the damage is properly divided between the two types; this means that if, for example, you use an 'icy' long sword against a frost giant, the non-cold part of the damage still affects the giant
 - when using an item (e.g. a wand) to cast spells in or out of combat, only appropriate spells are displayed (e.g. you cannot cast a fireball outside of combat) 

If you find any problems with the game, or want to propose improvements, please post them here or on the game's webpage.

Thank you for playing!

14

General Discussion / Old School Computer Game Update 9: Psionics

« on: September 09, 2016, 08:57:29 PM »

Hi folks.

I have updated Old School Computer Game (link in my signature). Your existing saved games will not work with this new release - before you download and play this version, please load up any games with characters you want to keep and export them to disk in the manage party view.

I have added psionics to the game.  Please read 'psionic_powers_list_and_instructions.html' in the documentation.zip file for more information.

New Class:  Psionicist

New Cleric Spells:  Spiritual Hammer

New Druid Spells:  Flame Blade

New Magic-User Spells:  Augmentation I-III

New Items:  18 ability-boosting rings

UI Changes:
 - combat and map panels:  press 'p' to use a psionic power
 - view character panel:  press 'p' to see a list of a character's available psionic disciplines and powers

Misc:
 - added the option to start new characters at level 3 (not everyone enjoys the challenge of keeping a 1st level character alive long enough to get to 3rd or 4th level)
 - AI-controlled characters who can turn undead in combat now do so
 
Bug Fixes
 - added check for problem where some rooms do not have access to all other rooms in randomly generated maps, leading to orphaned rooms
 - ghoul touch spell's applicable immunity was 'cold'
 - silencing spells (e.g. silencd 15' radius) now work properly
 
If you find any problems with the game, or want to propose improvements, please post them here or on the game's webpage.

Thank you for playing!

15

General Discussion / Old School Computer Game Update 8: New Quests & General Improvements

« on: August 13, 2016, 09:10:24 AM »

Hi folks.

I have updated Old School Computer Game (link in my signature). Your existing saved games will not work with this new release - before you download and play this version, please load up any games with characters you want to keep and export them to disk in the manage party view.

My thanks to the people at ua.reonis.com for the suggestions and bug-finding they contributed to this release.

I have added some public domain images of my favourite classic paintings to the game - predominantly the work of Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven.  If you view (walk onto) paintings in the game, you will see them.  There are 46 paintings in all, randomly selected for each new game.  One of the new hand-crafted quests, The Cult Of Reason, features a gallery of sorts in its lower levels.

New Hand-Crafted Quest:  The Cult Of Reason (Level Four Quest, features a ten-level pyramid to explore)

New Hand-Crafted Quest:  The Riven Palace (Level Two Quest)

New Monsters:  Boxer, Prize Fighter, Shadow Elf, Snake Man, Water Weird, Witch

Repetitive Task Improvements:
 - when a character needs ammunition (arrows, bolts or bullets) and finds some in post-combat loot, they pick it up automatically; 'requiring ammunition' is defined as having a missile weapon and less than 200 shots for it
 - when a stackable item (e.g. coins or arrows) is given to a PC who already has some of that item type, the items are automatically stacked
 - when transferring scrolls between party members, you have the option to transfer all scrolls at once (I do this frequently when passing scrolls between magic-users)
 
UI Improvements: (added by request - please keep the suggestions coming)
 - when a character has an item readied, if you try to sell it or put it in a container you will be asked an 'are you sure?' question
 - when a computer-controlled character moves in combat, a green line is drawn to show there start and finish locations; they no longer appear to 'teleport' when moving (the line does not show the steps they took, just where the moved from and to - I will improve this further in a later release)
 - 'view character' panel now highlights items that are equipped, and 'r' toggles if an item is equipped (prior to this, 'r' equipped but did not unequip an item)

Balance Tweaks
 - corrected saving throw starting points and progressions to more accurately replicate Dark Dungeons (once a human's saving throws reach 5, they improves from there by 1s instead of 2s)
 - slowed additional spells per level from 1 every 2 levels to 1 every 2.5 levels, again to more accurately replicate Dark Dungeons (also eliminates the rare situation where a spell caster gains a new level without gaining any new spell slots)

Bugs Fixed:
 - code to add cleric and/or wizard rooms to towers has two less potential 'null pointer' exceptions
 - Gnomes can only wear leather armour; I based the class on a magic-user/thief, but then let them wear all kinds of armour - my apologies!
 - results of a combat action are now more consistently displayed on the screen (view is centred on the result, not the next character to act)
 - spell limits were being ignored (e.g. bards could get up to nine 9th level spells, when the limit is really four 6th level spells)
 - the Ruined Monastery quest no longer has an unavoidable, impossibly hard fight buried in its dungeon (the encounter is still there, it just isn't unavoidable anymore)
 - when AI-controlled combatants do not see a target, they move towards the sound of battle to try and find one (as opposed to standing around waiting for you to engage)

If you find any problems with the game, or want to propose improvements, please post them here.

Thank you for playing!