Which classic cRPG should I play?
 

Hi everyone!

I need some advice. I'm looking for a good classic cRPG. It should be available on Abandonware sites (I know some of them are illegal, so no links please). I don't care about graphics from a technical perspective, as long the design is coherent and artistically well done. A good example for such a game is Wizzards & Warriors, imho. Unfortunately it has other flaws… I just finished Betrayal at Krondor and totally loved it. What i didn't like about it, though, was the fact that everything looked the same in 3D view and the level design was too simple. This is probably due to technical reasons, so if you're suggesting a 3D game, it should be more technically advanced than Krondor. That's why I didn't play the Ultima Underworlds yet. Most important to me are story and gameplay. I heard Albion might be a good choice? What do you think? Any suggestions very much appreciated!

Play Albion ! - an epic adventure / interesting plot (with surprising twists) / challenging combat / much good dialog / unique setting / some puzzles / NPCs with a schedule.

This game uses 2 graphic engines: 3d view and isometric view.

Albion is a close to perfect blend between Wizardry 7 and Ultima 7.

The problem with Albion was that it was looking for a CD, and I don't know how to set this up in DOS-box. I have Daemontools though. Help would be apresiated ;).

Übereil

Abandonware is never illegal; abandonware means abandoned software, games that noone has rights to anymore. These games are free and can be used/downloaded anywhere without any legal issues.

However, many mix abandonware with warez/gamez. Warez is most definetly illegal, and most sites including warez also have tons of spyware, viruses and so on and so forth. These sites should be avoided, not only because of legal issues, but because they contain so much junk you can get on your computer.

Here is a list of abandonware sites, feel free to use it and search through these sites for abandoned games.
http://www.abandonwarering.com/?Page=Listing

Oh, and welcome to the forum. :)

There is almost never a case in which "noone has rights" … it is a matter of enforcement and likelihood of problems whether legal or moral. In other words, can you commercially obtain the software? If so, then it cannot be deemed abandoned. However, as we have seen many times in recent years, copyright holders can be silent for a while and then decide to take action.

That said, I try to use eBay and now Goozex (not an option outside of North America I know) to fill in the blanks of my gaming history.

The most serious abandonware sites actually do check to see if the rights are still held by anyone before releasing games.

http://www.abandonia.com is one of the best abandonware sites out there, and they always check if a game is protected by ESA or not. They still list the games that are protected, but the games are not available for download.

They have Albion, by the way. :)

…and it requires you to set up some kind of CD-rom setup in order to play it. I've no idea how to do this *hint hint*. ;)

Übereil

Play the original Magic Candle. It is truly old, and will take some patience, but it is an excellent game. I'm pretty sure you can get it on www.the-underdogs.info

Ubereil, here is a topic on abandonia where they discuss Albion, including both a walkthrough and various workarounds for the CD issue.

http://www.abandonia.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=3478

Remember to play system shock after ultima underworlds. It uses the same engine. Abandonia and underdogs have metric ton of good oldies rpgs. Just dig in.

OK, thanks! :)

Übereil

Albion can be found at Ebay, too - ca. 10$ to 25$

I have headr that Ultima 4 or Ultima 7 should be abselutely amazing :) A more modern take on a crpg with good gameplay and story might be Planescape: Torment.

Thank you all!

I'm downloading Albion from underdogs right now. Unfortunately their server is terribly slow. But it seems this is the only source for the full CD version, including the intro movie and possibly some other cutscenes. I just hope my 700 Mhz laptop will run it smoothly in dosbox…

Btw I just revisited Jagged Alliance I. This game is so awesome! I even prefer it over JAII. The gameplay is much simpler, but also more focussed on the fun parts of the game. Inventory management could get tedious in JAII imho. And Ivan speaking Russian only is just cool. When you turn on subtitles, Ivan's are cyrillic! I just wished the weapons would feel more different like in JAII…

I'd just throw the Realms of Arcania series in, just for completion. ;)

Hi, I also vote for Albion, especially if you like Betrayal at Krondor. Albion has these similarities: Predefinded characters, turn-based combat, deep story. And in dungeons and cities Albion has much better 3D graphics.

Imho the dungeons in albion are inferior to the ones in Betrayal at Krondor. The game was fun until the first dungeon.

realms of arkania 2:shadows over riva
eye of the beholder trilogy

I would nevertheless suggest the ultima underworlds. Yes they are horribly pixelated by todays standards, but I think they have aged better than Krondor, e.g. due to great and atmospheric level design, and being limited to "dungeon" environments.

Magic Candle was a great game in its day, but it is probably too old to enjoy nowadays. It's graphics are even worse than Spiderweb's!!!

Janus if you haven't played all the Spiderweb games, then I'd suggest one of them. They have a huge free area to play and if you like it, you can register the game for about $25. I think each series ends up to be repetitive, but if you play one game in each series, they are wonderful.