DOS CRPGs & Introducing myself

At this point and because this is the thread with my first post, I'd like to thank you guys for making me feel welcome. Pretty early on - reading the posts in this and the other threads I've been posting in - I got a feeling that I may one day be a part of this community whether my opinions match with yours or not.

So, Thanks!

We're glad to have you here Zakhary.

Trying to run World of Xeen on Dosbox 0.70, but I can't quite figure out how to get it started. I can get it to mount my C drive but I'm lost after that.

Originally Posted by JDR13
Trying to run World of Xeen on Dosbox 0.70, but I can't quite figure out how to get it started. I can get it to mount my C drive but I'm lost after that.

Can you show us the command lines you wrote in the dosbox.conf file, after the mount c c:\ command ?

This is the only thing I've added.

[autoexec]
# Lines in this section will be run at startup.
mount C C:\DOS\CDrive
mount D D:\ -t cdrom (or any other letter of your CD drive)
C:
CLS



I have World of Xeen in a folder called Xeen in C:
I need to run a file called Go.Bat according to Abandonia.

I remember using DosBox successfully in the past, but it's been at least 2-3 years since the last time and I've forgotten how to get it started. Thanks for any help you can give me.

Originally Posted by JDR13
This is the only thing I've added.

[autoexec]
# Lines in this section will be run at startup.
mount C C:\DOS\CDrive
mount D D:\ -t cdrom (or any other letter of your CD drive)
C:
CLS

I have World of Xeen in a folder called Xeen in C:
I need to run a file called Go.Bat according to Abandonia.

Here are the lines I have to run Star Trail, which I have in a subfolder named arkania2, in my D: drive:

mount d d:\
d:
cd trail
cd arkania2
crack
star

'd:' is simply to change drive, since WinXp is in my c: drive. The 'crack' line is for a patch, I think, and 'star' is the .exe file.

Another example, Darklands, which is in a folder named Dark in my D: drive:
mount d d:\
d:
cd dark
darkland

If your game is in C:\Xeen, all you should need to mount the drive is this:

mount c c:\

Then write:

cd xeen

And finally you should give the command for the executable, either a .exe file or, in your case, a batch file, the go.bat file you mentioned. Therefore you'd have:

go

From the start:

mount c c:\
cd xeen
go

Try these, maybe it'll work.

For some reason I get the message "unable to change to xeen".

Originally Posted by JDR13
For some reason I get the message "unable to change to xeen".

Not sure why you're getting that message. Maybe the 'xeen' folder is in another folder ? I just tried it but the game freezes at the New World Computing splash screen. These are my commands:

mount d d:\
cd xeen
cd xeen
go

The go.bat file and all the other files are in a subfolder named 'xeen' which is in another folder named… 'xeen'. I'll try fiddling with it a bit more.

Yeah, probably a folder or exe isue. Could the exe be "world." or "WoX"? Sometimes the exes are a little of, for instance, roa: blade of destiny is bladem. If I change it to blade, it won't run since the folder name is blade. So i;d have to change the folder name or the exe command.

Success ! I added one line to my config file so that it reads like this:



mount d d:\
d:
cd xeen
cd xeen
install
go

Then I just doubleclick on the dosbox.exe shortcut on my desktop to run the game. The install command is for the sound selection. I went with soundblaster, which is the default. If you succeed in running the game, quickly press escape at the New World Computing screen (the one with the dragon), to prevent the game from perhaps freezing (I sort of remember that the game had the same problem when I played it all those years ago). Let us know if it works for you too.

Originally Posted by roqua
Yeah, probably a folder or exe isue. Could the exe be "world." or "WoX"? Sometimes the exes are a little of, for instance, roa: blade of destiny is bladem. If I change it to blade, it won't run since the folder name is blade. So i;d have to change the folder name or the exe command.

In this case the exec is the batch file go.bat, which contains commands for 2 executables: mm5crack and xeen.

Thanks Cormac, I got it running.

Wow, this game did not age well. I could see how it could be fun though. It's weird how you can't see npc's in taverns and such, instead you have to click on a table or shop counter etc, to make them appear. It makes the town feel very empty.

Is there no way to create your own characters? I didn't see an option for that.

Originally Posted by JDR13
Thanks Cormac, I got it running.

Wow, this game did not age well. I could see how it could be fun though. It's weird how you can't see npc's in taverns and such, instead you have to click on a table or shop counter etc, to make them appear. It makes the town feel very empty.

Is there no way to create your own characters? I didn't see an option for that.

Glad you got it running. To create your own characters you need to speak to the innkeeper, I think, and replace one by one the pregenerated characters in the party with your own. Something like that. Perhaps someone with better memory than I can confirm this.
You should definitely give the games a try, though, even if the whole looks quite old.

You should play something Like wizard's Crown before saying Xeen didn't age well.

At any rate, you go to the inn, and sign in. Then you can create new characters. Remember to swap out all your items from the pre-gen party to the new guys, otherwise you'll be at a slight disadvantage.

Originally Posted by azraelck
Remember to swap out all your items from the pre-gen party to the new guys, otherwise you'll be at a slight disadvantage.

Thanks, didn't even think of doing that.:

Question about Xeen.

I've explored the first town and finished the first quest, but there are still some basic things I don't understand.

I can see each character has an AC rating that is affected by what armor they're wearing, but how can you tell how much damage they're doing with their weapon?

What's the deal with ranged weapons, do they have unlimited ammo?

*edit*
Couple more questions….

Can you scroll the automap? It shows such a small area around your party that it seems kind of useless.

Is there an in-game world map?

Hi, Glad you got it running. I don't agree with the not aging well though
Your questions:
-You cant see the damage a character does, you can see the specs of the weapon at the blacksmiths however.
-Ranged weapons are a must, really. Unlimited ammo, yes.
- I dont think you can scrolls the automap, but I've never really tried as I haven't had the need to do it.
-No ingame map.

The Automap handles the world map fine, but for the beginning party, head south! There's an easy dungeon there. If you're lost… You could also try typing "Mine 1" in at the mirror portal.

Hit 'M' to go to your map; you may be looking at the mini-map. It is pretty much useless without the spell Wizard's Eye.

Originally Posted by Zakhary
Installed Realms of Arkania 1 to see how/if it works. Worked great. It even had nice sounds & music Looks/Feels nice. Can it be played without a mouse in a way that would make any sense? I hate using a mouse with these kinda games. I'm not using one with m&m games and it's much easier that way. The keyboard commands in RoA seemed to be kinda weird (page up?! CTRL + E ?!?!) definately needs some getting used to…

Looks really nice tho. Very likely something I'm gonna enjoy in the long run.
Oh how I miss the 90's…

Movement inside towns & dungeons can be done with the keyboard, no problem.

I don't know whether you are capable of the German langusge or not, but in the forums at Larian Studios there are still many old German ROA fans (like me).

For further information I highly recommend this thread :
Die Nordlandtrilogie
It's in German language, though. It even deals to a technical level with the game, because the two main researchers have even found out a few old bugs …

Quite a nice site for that is the one of Crystal :
http://nlt-hilfe.crystals-dsa-foren.de/index.php
If you need maps, look out for the word "Karten".

This is the site of Arhu, some might already know him from the Dot :
http://arhiel.blautann.de/nlt/dsa1/dsa1_inhalt.html
It's about ROA I.

This is Kunar's site for that, also very detailed :
http://www.muenster.de/~kunar/dsa2/schweif.htm
It's about ROA II.

These are the best ones, I believe.

Dont's speak german, sorry
But thanks for the links anyway, some of those contain stuff
that will be usefull even if its german!

For me, this thread has become more interesting than the rpgwatch news themselves Keep it up people, please!

Is there a time limit on any of the quest in World of Xeen? I just received some kind of Orb that I'm supposed to take to a wizard on the Dark side of Xeen. I wasn't planning on going there until I had explored most of the other side first.