Stonekeep - Matt Chat Retrospective

skavenhorde

skavenhorde

Little BRO Rat
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Ha, I used to own a shirt like the one Mike is wearing. Never really listened to the music though but the covers were cool.
 
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Stonekeep was a great deal of fun. The setting was almost unique for the time, and the play of the game itself was very immersing. This is another game that games today could take lessons from, the sheer mood of the dungeons was something that just kept me playing well past when I planned to stop.


-Carn
 
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The Wahooka Song is still the best music piece I have heard in any game, imho ! :D ;)
 
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I played Stonekeep and still even have my copy of it on one of my shelves in my garage. It was a good game but also a bit strange. I did finish it to completion though.
 
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I still love the small novel / novella of "Thera Awakening" to this day.
I'm sure you won't understand this, but it is a book I - in a figurative sense - keep close to my heart. :)
I believe you won't be able to understand it, but I just loved the story despite its simple plot. I really can't exactly put into words why I like this novella, but I think it is the romance between the two people in it - and the theme of healing floating over anything else. This novella describes the very first attempt to restore Thera's temples again - a thing which will lead through time into her bringing her champion against the Shadowking - and besides : This Champion is a decendant of the young couple of the end of the story … As an easter egg, you can find the remains of the (novella's) protagonist's mother and father very, very late in the game, in one of the last levels.
 
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I enjoyed this game, not great but it had a lot of charm and was different from the run of the mill without losing the sense of immersion.
 
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I have disks for DOS, Win95 and now GOG version. Loved atmosphere, sense of humor, story and novella as Alrik Fassbauer mentions.

Not sure if Matt was just rushing through but missed a big secret right at the beggining before you ever meet the Shadowking the first time. Iirc you don't really need to Mouseover all the walls, just look for two specific textures.

Iirc, the Sharga was running to the Secret panel to get the Healing Roots. It's early in the game and you need as many as possible, if you don't kill him quick he uses them.
 
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"Can I fall on my axe now?" - Karzak, not enjoying his time within the fairy realm at all.

I didn't really get into PC gaming until 1996 and so I have a sentimental spot for Stonekeep, as it was one of those games that I managed to finish twice on my first PC - a humble little dx2-66. I really enjoyed the exploration and classic dungeon crawling, item foraging the humour as others have mentioned, and combat. The interface was unusual but effective and the journal was fantastic; quite detailed with a map that allowed you to take notes, a feature I really miss in modern RPGs.

"Now...this is the place for dwarfly dwarves!" - Karzak finding himself more at home.
 
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IIRC, it was the last true dungeon crawler I played - and I think it had a sort of magical classic atmosphere. So, it will always hold a special place in my heart.

Funny thing is that I considered the game somewhat dumbed down and mainstream back then, but today it almost seems like a semi-hardcore cRPG. Hehe, how things change. But I clearly remember being pissed at Interplay for going in the direction they did, as the original promises were about something much more impressive in terms of gameplay.

But Black Crypt remains the peak of the genre :)
 
I'm replaying it again. I had to after seeing Matt play and seeing how he was missing all the good stuff (except for Wahooka!). BTW, magic is not that far into the game. Matt must have not done something yet because he could have gotten a magic….wand? Staff?…it's a magic stick! :p He was at the area where you get it, he just hadn't done something yet.

For magic you place spells(runes) on the magic staff. The first one you get only has one or two slots on it, but later on they increase.

Also get flasks. Lots and lots of flasks and use them on the healing fountain. That saves a TON of backtracking.

Secrets are everywhere. It's a bit of a pain to move forward once then turn, but worth it in the end. There are a lot of hidden compartments in the walls.

I love how the AI could take stuff from the surrounding environment. The AI was dumb as a doorknob at times, but it did some things I hadn't seen in other dungeon crawlers. When I figured out just what the goblin(shargas) were doing I thought to myself, "Hey! That's cheating!" :D
 
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skavenhorde, I assume you're playing the GOG version?

I just purchased it, along with Outcast. I think I'm finally satisfied with my GOG collection. At least for a while. :)

*Edit* Hmm.. sort of lame that the GOG version doesn't include any extras other than the manual. I was hoping to check out that novella.
 
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Yea, I bought the GoG version a long time ago. It runs a little slow in fullscreen mode so I play it in a window. A very small window, but I'll take that over waiting a few minutes when I push the "esc" key.

Here's a request for the novella at GoG's forums. I bought the dang game when it was originally released, but never got around to reading the book that came with it. I was having too much fun with the game to care about the book :)
 
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Alrik Fassbauer said:
I still love the small novel / novella of "Thera Awakening" to this day.
I'm sure you won't understand this, but it is a book I - in a figurative sense - keep close to my heart. :)
I believe you won't be able to understand it, but I just loved the story despite its simple plot. I really can't exactly put into words why I like this novella, but I think it is the romance between the two people in it - and the theme of healing floating over anything else. This novella describes the very first attempt to restore Thera's temples again - a thing which will lead through time into her bringing her champion against the Shadowking - and besides : This Champion is a decendant of the young couple of the end of the story … As an easter egg, you can find the remains of the (novella's) protagonist's mother and father very, very late in the game, in one of the last levels.
Click to expand...

Ha! Finally, someone with taste. The novella is a piece of art, made with a lot of love and a unique tone. The only thing that comes close may be the Earthsea novels. Everybody who likes meaningful fantasy should read it. Really.
 
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I recall trying this game back on release and being shocked at the lack of strafing, how on earth could they have missed that out?! (did they not bother playing Dungeon Master or Eye of the Beholder?) After finding that lack I never bothered playing it...

Daniel.
 
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