ToEE - Keep on the Borderlands Demo Released
 

Just a couple of days after the anticipated release, the Circle of Eight forums has news of the Keep on the Borderlands conversion for ToEE demo release.
There are some important installation instructions, you'll need Microsoft's .Net 2.0 installed and a patch has already been released, so head over for the full details and download links (~300Mb).
If you want to jump straight in, the mod is being hosted at ModDB and Filefront.
More information.

Thanks very much for that update - this is one of those cool things that we just hope will happen to a game that deserves better treatment than it got …

Excellent news, definitely looking forward to this one. However, I'll not play the demo so that I can play the full release totally fresh :)

Still, might be worth a quick run through ToEE just to remember how good the turn-based system was…

I think it's soon time to re-install TOEE again …

I fear this module is no better choice than the original. Keep on the Borderlands was not a dynamic module with much non-combat interaction.

Bill, one day you'll stop sucking lemons and actually say something positive about a game or mod.

Corwin, I say plenty of good things about games. Unfortunately a lot (but not all) recent games have been close to great but ultimately disappointing (like Gothic 3).

I loved the ToEE game system but was unimpressed by the game story they built around it. I actually played Keep on the Borderlands way back when it came out and it will suffer from the same unimpressive story unless they fill it out a lot.

ToEE is simply the best fantasy turn-based combat game in existence. If you go into it looking for a deep RPG experience (even though it's better than alot of crap claiming to be an RPG…Hellgate London, etc) you will of course be disappointed.

But it more than delivers on what EVERYBODY by now knows it to be. Keep on the Borderlands is the perfect module choice for this engine. It's pretty much all combat all the time…what story? I don't even remember a story for Keep on the Borderlands (and it was the first PnP D&D module I ever played).

If you played the original ToEE and are STILL expecting it to miraculously become Fallout or Planescape: Torment…then I guess you're a hammerhead. A fantasy based Jagged Alliance 2? Yep (although less story, not that there was much in JA2 anyway).

Oh, also, I sure wish they'd put this thing up on something other than Filefront (moddb just links to filefront). It won't let me use my download manager (getright) and since I'm on dial-up (shut up, I have no choice) that means I won't be playing this unless I find a solution. If anyone has a download manager that filefront plays nice with please let me know.

Why don't you just ask a fellow to burn the Mod on CD and send it to you via snail-mail ?

I'm not judging until I play it, because I'm under the impression they've fleshed out the original "story" - but I get where Bill is coming from. KotB has no story - that's exactly what he is saying.

We know the combat system is fantastic but why can't the content include a solid story? Clearly, noone is going to create a new Fallout or PS:T but - hypothetically - why couldn't you put PS:T's content (or similar) into ToEE and end up with great combat and a great story? I'm pretty sure the engine is quite capable of supporting complex quest flags and dialogue trees so I can't for the life of me understand why choosing a deeper module to recreate seems silly.

I used to wonder why they chose to make ToEE in the first place; it's a poor excuse for a mod and there were far better choices they could have made. Now to use another story LIGHT campaign for the same engine seems pointless; especially when the mod is available for NWN 1 & 2!!

I, for one, like the choice. It plays to ToEE's strengths and away from its weaknesses. While, technically, you could put a whole lot of dialogue trees and quests in there, why? Why weigh down a first rate combat experience with a mediocre story engine? Plus, I'd guess that most of the fans still keeping an eye on this mod have a warm place in their heart for ToEE primarily because of it's combat engine. Give the people more of what they like, I say! Lastly, if you're going to pour a crapload of your time into this for free, why not take a shot with a module that has a great chance to pay off the most given the engine they are working with? Why struggle to mod in some deep and touching story and spend lots of time making sure complex quest-lines don't break when you've got tons of great combat lying around begging to be included? Sounds like they made a smart choice, to me…

Again, not having seen the results, I'm generalising…but why? To go beyond just a great combat experience. Last time we discussed readers' favourite RPG element, combat was well down the list.

Where can I find some info about new features included in this total conversion? Can`t find anything on the Co8 forums.

Understood. And, point taken. However, I was trying to make the point that I think that would be a poor use of resources. Let me try a lame analogy: suppose you have an old, beat-up sports car. You've decided to restore and modify it some on your free time. There is a limit to how long you're going to work on it and how much time you're going to put into it. You will eventually want to move on to something else as a hobby. Given that, would you spend a good chunk of your time trying to convert it to a half-pickup truck (think El Camino) so that you could end up with a semi-fast car that can carry a light load as well? Or would you focus your limited resources on restoring the sports car to it's former, fast and furious glory while improving on it a bit? So that you end up with a really bitchin', classic car with a few cool sports car oriented mods?

@Dark: I'm not aware of any new features list. They've mentioned and show screen shots of such things as new spells, skills, feats, monsters and items. Don't know that they'll be adding anything you could strictly call a "feature".

I don't know why anyone is generalizing, speculating or whatever, full stop.

Go play the game already! It's free for anyone who has ToEE, it has a story not just combat. It's fleshed out. It's new, it's fun, etc.

Show the teeny little bit of support for indy/volunteer developments it takes to give it a chance.

I think that screeg is right.

One can also put a thing's value down through sheer talking.

If you don't like it you just can delete it.