figure1.pcx
Welcome, fellow game-designers, to the tenth issue of the UANL! It seems that it takes us longer and longer to put out an issue, but again, the wait has been worth it. We took the extra time to add new staffers, plan new sections, and tighten up the script. I, for one, am proud of this issue, however much pain it has caused me. :>
But enough excuses and/or hype. You're here to read about the latest news and happenings in the UA realm. So kick back, open your eyes wide to the wonders of Role-playing, and enjoy yourself! The world of UA is in your hands, it is in your destiny. Open them wide and prepare to be immersed...
NOTE: take a look at the 'Editors Notes' section for an inside look at the future of the NL - and learn more about the NEW editorial positions (that I have, for various reasons, not yet filled)!
************************************************************************ * * * MORIA 2 DEMO * * * * INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS * * * ************************************************************************The Moria 2 Demo is a "slide show" designed to give you an idea of what to expect in the up-coming release of Moria 2. Enjoy!
md frua\moria2de.dsn <ENTER> md frua\moria2de.dsn\save <ENTER>Then copy all of the files that came with this demo into the frua\moria2de.dsn subdirectory. You're ready to go!
Author: Bryan SM@aol.com Full Title: Heart of Darkness Imported Graphics: Yes For: IBM Additional Documentation: Yes # Of Dungeons: 1 (well, actually 2)This design (first place winner in the UA 1994 Halloween design contest) is a sample or teaser for a series of adventures staring Heart's hero Rascyc the Vampire.
First I must say, "Wow!" This thing is cool. For a short design the story is about as detailed as you can get. Rascyc is an Ex-Solamnic Knight (Krynn seems to have more of these than horseflies) who has been cursed with a life in eternal darkness as a predator of the human race. However, unlike Lord Soth, Rascyc is repentant of his sins and desires to atone for them, thus his PC status. You must guide the penitent vampire through a small monastery located on the Plains of Dust in an attempt to free the lost souls there from the thrall of Forceas, a monk turned...well, shall we say, turned from the gods of light. As Rascyc you have many powers, abilities, and items to help you along the way.
Primary among these, and without which this adventure would be impossible, is the ability to withstand the searing orb of Krynn's sun. Beyond that Rascyc has many of the standard vampire abilities, such as the power to drain his victims of life energy, strong immunities to magic, disease and poison, and the ability to fly into an unreasoning rage which often destroys all those around him. He also has in his possession many powerful artifacts such as his Ruby ring to summon his pets to fight by his side, and his boots which allow him to move all over a battle field instantaneously. Rascyc will need to use these items frequently in his quest in order to say alive.
The story in Heart of Darkness is detailed and rich. The mood is dark in spite of the Wasteland Graphics used (bright sun and sand). The author gets across a feeling of eerie isolation and abandonment, not only for the physical structure of the monastery and surrounding village, but for Rascyc himself, who is alone and abandoned by the gods. By exploring the ruins of the monastery Rascyc uncovers the unfourtunate fate of its inhabitants and the villagers.
Encounters are pretty well balanced, but for those who distain the use of magical items...BEWARE! The items and abilities that Rascyc has been given are there for good reason. Without judicious use of those items you will find yourself restoring from a saved game frequently. One particular encounter is chained directly after a long text string and a combat. This difficult combat was annoying because it was impossible to save anywhere in the long chain of events. After restoring several times I was able to come through the chain alive and then saved. Also, survival during this same chain is dictated by random roll of the "virtual" dice. Not a very good idea considering the length of the chain and the difficulty of both combats.
I couldn't find any bugs within this design, but the low score in that category is due solely to that chain discussed in the previous paragraph. It is annoying enough to be considered a bug.
This design is very innovative. Bryan combined efforts with Kaviyd (UANL's resident hack and InterNet editor) to come up with Rascyc's special abilities and magic items. The story is not new, but is well thought out and the title actually works well whether applied to Rascyc, Forceas, or the adventure in general.
I recommend this design whole-heartedly. I felt that it was fantastic, and I can hardly wait until Bryan finishes up with his current projects and continues to spin the tale of Rascyc the Vampire in his quest to regain his purity. This design is balanced well for adults or children. Adults will get a lot out of the story without the use of profanity, gore or nudity. Children will find they are able to follow the plot and understand the characters' motivations.
Story Execution: A
Encounters: B-
Bug Control: A-
Innovativity: A+
Overall: A-
Alex D. Karaczun <adkaraczun@aol.com>
<76243,2167@compuserve.com>
<alexk@smginc.com>
All I can say is, after all the hype, I should have been disappointed. But I wasn't. That's the miraculous thing. My only complaint about this game was - it's too short! Maybe it had to be to win the UA contest.
In Heart of Darkness (HEART11.ZIP), you play Rascyc, whose story begins like every other standard doom-and-gloom antihero, condemned to walk the earth eternally to repent for his sins. This guy was evil in the fantasy story book way, the sort of guy who comes across as just plain mean. He does the killing women and children thing. He does the slaughtering of the men thing. He rapes the horses. You know the kind of guy I'm talking about. And then, along comes Paladine, the ultimate good guy (UGG?) of the world of Krynn, and makes him realize the horror of what he has done. And makes him a vampire, stuck on Krynn until he has atoned for his sins, the eternal wanderer. And now he becomes a real person - the kind who has to make decisions about good and evil, and is haunted by his own failures.
The combat is not quite as challenging as promised. I found most of the fights pretty easy, once you get used to the idea of being able to dimension door around the map at will. As a hint, Haste is a very good 3rd level spell for Rascyc to memorize. So is Fire Shield. On the other hand, it's pretty neat to have to think about what you're going to do in combat instead of pushing the fighters to the front and having the mages shoot off their spells in the back. The only other game I know of that does anything like that is Knight of the Living Dead (shameless plug), my own gorefest extravaganza. I have a feeling the author of Heart had as much fun as I did watching playtesters' hands shake while they fought.
Anyway, the background story is great, the main plot is a passable take on the Kill the Foozle theme, and there are some interesting battles along the way. But, let's face it, this game is really a showcase for the character they've created. In that regard, it's really successful.
Have fun hunting werecreatures.
Peter "Blackclove" Delaney * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * Peter F. Delaney . . . Cognitive
and Expertise Laboratories Department of Psychology . . . Florida
State University
The biggest flaw in Highlords is probably the fact that you can't actually reach the final dungeon, due to a bug. Unless this is a clever kewl feature, which I doubt. It's more likely just something that got missed in playtesting (the rest of the module works pretty well, so I suspect it was tested at least once). I edited the module to fix the problem, and was able to make it to the grand finale. I haven't actually fought the last battle yet, but it's pretty clear I'm right outside the door.
What else is wrong with Highlords? (a) Well, the plot is incredibly linear. And when I say linear, I mean it. You spend a lot of time going down long paths or long hallways, fighting relatively random- looking opponents. You don't actually get any choices in the module. (b) Why are the drow a major enemy in the DragonLance world? I just don't understand. (c) The Drizzt Do'Urden rip-off character is more than a little annoying.
So, what works in the game? Well, there are a few things. There is, sort of, a consistent if silly take on the Kill the Foozle plot, the mainstay of FRUA games involving the Dark Queen of Krynn herself, in the guise of the Chromatic Dragon. The opening scenes in the castle are pretty interesting, if grammatically poor, and there's a very nice dark mages' fortress in the wilderness which makes the game worth playing. And the force users may give you a laugh - it's an interesting justification for giving the entire party +5 everything with girdles of giant strength and, of course, vorpal lightsabr-, er, *swords*. And if you don't like the "evil force user" icon you're obviously a very serious type of person, destined for misery in this world.
Overall, it's better than the oldest, junkiest FRUA fare, and maybe worth playing through on a night when you want to toss around 6 delayed blast fireballs per combat and behead all of your opponents. And there are some interesting parts which distinguish it from other, far worse FRUA games. But it won't make my top ten.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * Peter F. Delaney . . . Cognitive and Expertise Laboratories Department of Psychology . . . Florida State University
Our "Christmas present" to the UA world has been uploaded as of this morning to ftp.csua.berkeley.edu and ccosun.caltech.edu. UATools is a system developed by Brett Ladd, Peter Delaney, and Dan Durgin, with help from many, many others on several computer systems. We would like in particular to name Kaviyd@AOL.COM for his invaluable help with the file formats throughout this little adventure. What's really wonderful about this is that it involves three people who have never met each other in "real life", on three different systems (I'm an internet person in an expertise lab, Brett is on AOL, and Dan Durgin started out on Compuserve). And yet, somehow, here it is, only six months behind schedule. Pretty good for software. Heh.
This version is not guaranteed to be free of bugs. In fact, there is a chance that it might not even install right. I've tested it on my machine, but you never know what ghosts might be lurking around and making it work, or where an error in the install instructions might creep in that I never would have run across. Which is why this is version 0.9, and not version 1.0! I guess what I'm saying is, don't get your hopes up to have them dashed. Instead, be pleasantly surprised if it works!
To run UATools, you're going to need a text editor, FRUA version 1.2 (no other version will work with it right now), and a copy of Dan Durgin's excellent icon editor. A revised icon editor is supposed to be part of UATools, too, but we've been having difficulties transmitting files across systems and so for now they're separate. Maybe in version 1.0 we'll put them together.
UATools serves two great needs. First, it includes Brett "Shadowmaster" Ladd's item editor, and an editor by yours truly that lets you change the item name strings in the CKIT.EXE file in a user- friendly way (including protecting against common problems). The second thing it does is provide a unified format for the various hacks and an economical method for transmitting hacked files without reproducing SSI's program publically. While it is primarily geared towards doing item editing and handling icon files, there is no reason why it cannot be used for other kinds of hacks, and in fact the sample module included with this is an "oriental adventures" module featuring all-new races, classes, equipment, and (my personal favorite change) gender equality. A method is provided for using hacks created with a bit editor in conjunction with the UATools, making it easy to distribute them without shipping a cumbersome binary. This, plus the "technical notes" section of the UA Newsletter, ought to put hacked programs firmly within reach of the "common designer". Yay!
The technology is basically only slightly more advanced that what was used for Knight of the Living Dead, but the user friendliness is much higher.
The program should work well with all those "almost finished" mega-modules I keep hearing about, once again, assuming it works. Right now there is an urgent need for testing. Problems with the item editor itself are unlikely to be fixed, but all other aspects are mutable. If you find serious bugs, or inconsistencies between the documentation and the programs, please let me know so I can correct this for version 1.0! I'd also like to hear about bugs in the module, if you come across any. And if you like it, we're always glad to hear praise, too!
If the zip file seems to be working in a few days (i.e. no install problems, no really major bugs), and someone uploads this to AOL, I would be very pleased. Volunteers?
I will be on vacation for a few weeks, but will check my email periodically. Here's hoping this letter is coherent - I decided to stay up all night in the grand old student tradition to finish UATools and get it out to all of you before Christmas.
I think we all agree this kind of thing is long overdue, and I'm glad to finally have found the time between my graduate work and all that "real world" stuff to get it done. Now to finish that 36- dungeon mega-module...
Peter Delaney
delaney@psy.fsu.edu
Not part of this letter, but part of the design team:
Brett Ladd
shdwmstr03@aol.com
Dan Durgin
caramundi@aol.com
(ED: This story's a bit dated -- a much newer version of the program has already been uploaded to the FRUA sites, and should soon be available on AOL)
I know people have reviewed this before, but it never hurts to have a second opinion. Hunted begins much like the commercial Ravenloft game - you're hanging around the FR and suddenly mists overtake you and you find yourself in a closed off pocket of air somewhere in the Ravenloft world (I hope all you junkies out there will forgive my ignorance of Ravenloft lore and terms). I only played the game through once, but there are supposedly multiple ways to complete it. You soon find that the people here are getting close to escape from their 'prison', and the "main guy in charge of escape" hires the party to find the last ingredient he is missing for his spell. The whole module overall is very short, but the story is well done and interesting. Of course, the unique thing about "Hunted!" is the art, most all of it original from the author, Dennis Constantino (and his relatives). At every turn you're hit with never seen before art, and many of the characters have more than one 'pose' which definitely adds to their realism. The random combats, especially where you are wandering around in the caves, got a little annoying after a while. I found the combats in the game to be way too easy, but with all the other entertaining things in the game, the lack of challenge in the combats didn't matter. In fact, I played through the game with a single classed cleric, and the money I gained was enough to outfit him to survivable armor class and good hitting power. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough experience in the game to advance him more than a couple levels. I don't know how faithful this game is to real Ravenloft setting or rules, but I didn't really care! Too bad there aren't more Dennis Constantinos out there with more time on their hands... :)
Save the Gnolls is short and sweet. You start in a Gnoll Village under attack by bandits, and you are hired to get rid of them. Since so many other modules had conditioned me to identify the 'Gnoll Pic' with 'Random Combat', it was a strange sensation to feel at ease while repeatedly seeing it. And you sure do feel at ease in this module, but it isn't a bad thing really. There are no random combats, and you can rest safely ANYWHERE. The game itself is constantly cracking jokes, most of which are in good taste and entertaining. I also thought the NPCs added a lot to the game, because they have equipment that makes them bodyguards for the PCs early on. The combats were well balanced from what I saw, but you may have a little more trouble if you refuse to drag along the NPCs. So overall it was a short module but the jokes were the best part. That, combined with non- frustration combat resulted in an entertaining module that I kept at till the end.
BTW- I read this in the AOL newsletter, and I didn't see it addressed here on the mailing list. Potions of Giant Strength NEVER WEAR OFF! It seems every game I play has a shop selling these, and considering that it gives players extremely high carrying capacity and +9 to dam, you might want to make it a bit more scarce or expensive! :)
Dungeons of Despair Review (3.5) --------------------------
I finally got around to playing Ish's Dungeon (Dungeon of Despair) which he asked me to look at sometime earlier this year. I guess I've been spoiled by modules like "Hunted!" which have some new art every time you turn the corner, or ones like "Paladin" which have other characters in the story helping you develop the plot, but I wasn't impressed with this module. It took me about three hours, trying to give it a chance, before I realised every dungeon was just rooms with a combat at the entrance, and some thing you had to do to 'finish' the dungeon. You might say "Hey, aren't all modules like that when you strip away everything else?" well yes, but this one didn't have much else to strip away. It's obvious a lot of work was put into the module.... there are some twenty odd dungeons in the whole design. But skimming through them with the editor, I found they were all pretty much hack 'n' slash. I don't know, maybe the module wasn't supposed to be realistic, but I enter the 'start home town', and there are a bunch of stores everywhere like you'd expect in a normal city. However, half of the houses are occupied by huge numbers of monsters, all pretty random. There is no explanation why a party of drow amazons /champions /priestesses are living next door to a huge army of thieves, who are neighbors to a warehouse of spiders and rats. On the positive side, there were a lot of areas that had overheard map view, which helped when you were trying to 'clear' an area of 'once only no escape combats'. Also, there didn't seem to be any random encounters unless you turned search on (however, this becomes a little unrealistic in some places). The combats were well balanced, but tended to sway more towards the harder side of balanced. Some combats were impossible (such as the drow family in town) so I assumed you were supposed to wait till later with them). Also, the old "buy low sell high" shop fiasco was effectively avoided in this module, except for the fact that all the shops were pretty high, and I was able to earn money by selling swords and shields of my enemies at 10 pp each.
So basically, unless you like the satisfaction of 'clearing' areas through pure hack 'n' slash, Dungeons of Despair is probably not for you. Personally, I need at least some variety (choice to run away, making moral decisions, something happening that doesn't have to do with combat) to keep me interested in the game. I think if Ish had sacrificed half the dungeons in the game in favor of more of a plot or some interesting reacurring characters, the game would've been far better. Being a frua designer is a thankless job, isn't it. :)
Evan Malsbury
malsbury@play.psych.mun.ca
Hackem -> 5.5 --------------
I'm going to give this one a passing grade, because I do believe it is worth playing. Like you've probably noticed, I'm not a big fan of pure hack'n'slash, so my review of this might be a bit biased. Hackem has a plot, and though it is pretty mindless, I don't think the author was going for coherence here. Like the Mycroft list description says, you clear out the long road for the Duke. Basically the long road is a straight line which branches off along the way to large rooms with huge combats. Most of them are possible to survive on the first or second try, but there were a few that really annoyed me. One such place was the cavern of Drow... ok, maybe a big challenge, but I just ended up going to a training hall, removing all my characters except my magic resistant dwarf, and having him go there alone and flee instantly. The other thing that was supposed to be funny but ended up being frustrating was a branch-off called 'patience' valley. Here you must fight twelve consecutive combats of 48 kobolds each. Maybe this is entertaining to some people, but I was cursing the author by the time this one was over. Another annoyance (but not a huge problem) was that there seemed to be a lot of quizzes that maimed you if you gave the wrong answer. There is a 'quiz of death' that has questions about modern day trivia, and since you need to put in the EXACT word the author was thinking of, I ended up just editing the module and looking at the answers. The same goes for a quiz where you had to name how many monsters there were in some specific combats that you did on the road.... I mean, who writes down that kind of stuff?? Being a big fan of new art, and there being only one NEW pic and a couple OTHER GOLDBOX pics difference, I was a little dissapointed. However, the humor in the game salvaged it from being a complete dissapointment in my eyes. Still, like I said before, I think the game is worth a try. It is ok - for a hack'n'slash module.
Dimensions of the Strange -> 6.0
Although I thought overall that Hackem was more entertaining than Strange, I gave it a higher mark because it was a little more interesting. This is because unlike Hackem, Strange has a lot of new monsters (stats and art). Many of them were pretty funny, such as the 'Napalm Blasters' and the 'Head Slicers'. One thing bothered me though... several of the combat pics were imported facing the wrong direction. I mean, how does that slip by people?? :) The plot continues in the tradition of simplicity here... rescue Sir Roderick from the underworld so he can manufacture deadly weapons for the DUKE instead of the ruler of Gehenna. Once you actually have Roderick with you (which is more difficult than one would think) you have to 'find the exit' on each level. This was pretty simple and didn't frustrate me except for a couple of places, where you couldn't rest and the combats were the type where you definetly needed to go in fresh. Basically another hack'n'slash fest, which was bearable to me only because of the new and intriguing monsters. So overall, another game worth playing. Less witty dialogue than Hackem, but still made the grade. Since so many combats are just 'a fireball here and a fireball there, here a fireball, there a fireball, everywhere a fireball' I would recommend having three mages or more in your party for both games. However, you do need a fighter type or two to kill the couple of magic resistant foes.
Evan Malsbury
malsbury@play.psych.mun.ca
Crypt of The Corpse Lord -> 6.5 -------------------------------
In "Crypt of The Corpse Lord" you play a premade Paladin named 'Sir Jarrath'. I am very protective of my characters, heck, I don't even like to let NPCs into the party cause they hog all the xp.... so I wasn't really that comfortable playing another person's created char. (You're probably asking, what DOES this guy enjoy??). But anyway, this game had a decent story, even if it was a standard fare mission - Go in and destroy the bad guy, because hey, he is PRETTY baaad. On your way to his lair, you meet some velociraptors from Jurrasic park. I don't know if this was supposed to be funny because of its incongruity, but all it succeeded in doing to me was thinking of the setting as less 'fantasy' type. There is new and imported art, but it is not too exciting - 2d zombies and assorted zombie parts. The strong part of this game was definitely the plot development. There were several spelling mistakes, and one bug that really alters the game. I don't know why, but SSI put the 'gain experience' event to be repeatable by default. The author forgot to put once only on one of them halfway through the game, and so you can pump your chars up pretty high by walking over it and running back to the camp to train. One thing I couldn't understand was the "Journal Entries". In my opinion, having to print out (or exit the game each time you need to look at) the entries is a hassle I could do without. However, if the game has a really rich story and these are needed, by all means go ahead. In this game though, there are about eight 'journal entries' which are a sentence or two each. It baffles me why the author decided to include these outside the game rather than just in the game itself. [it is not like all the dungeons were filled to the brim with text, either]. In this module, the item list was edited so that the paladin could get a 'holy avenger' and could use potions that were like maltov cocktails. This was a nice touch, and added to the game's appeal. Right near the end it's almost required that you join forces with a party of NPCs, because the final Baaaad battle is too tough without them. The final verdict therefore, is that it is worth playing because of the new items and decent storyline. There is not an overexcess of combat, which is good in my opinion, but there is not a lot of new art either, which counts against it in my opinion. (But don't get me wrong, a game could use all supplied art, and if the story was fantastic, I'd be praising it).
One thing I have to gripe about. Unless the game is comedy and is not taking itself seriously, I think it's a drawback to use the ^ sign to make the party's characters say things. Such as in 'Crypt of the Corpse Lord', when you get really near the corpse lord, it says '^ takes a dump in their pants'. I mean, come on, the game wasn't that scary to begin with, and now you're saying that MY characters are %&%#ing their pants? Ah well, I guess we can't have everything... :) But from now on, my characters will decide for themselves whether or not they want to excrete.
Moria/Khalad -> 6.5 -------------------
I have to say I had pretty high hopes for this one, but in the end, I didn't even finish it. Why am I giving it a good rating then? Because I do have respect for it. While playing, I thought technically the dungeons were well written, and the combats were well balanced. Also, I actually had the feel that I was in a huge underground complex, with tons of monsters around me. Unfortunately, that's all I ever encountered - tons of monsters in a huge underground complex. I have never read anything of Tolkien's, so I had no recognition whether the game was faithful to the books or not. Everywhere I went, the dwarf king NPC would simply tell me whether I was in the northern area or the southeast area, and what level I was on. I probably didn't play it long enough to get to the juicy parts, but I sure triggered a LOT of once only combats. This is very probably a well done hack 'n' slash game. Still, it seemed to be just that - the object being to clear the area of once onlys. With the limits on text in the game, I know the following is difficult to do. But in a game like this, try to add some brief descriptions. When I play, I don't even think about what wall art set I'm looking at because I've seen it a thousand times before. I would never know whether I was in a low ceilinged room or a huge 100 foot high cavern unless a text event told me so. What I'm saying is, if it's possible, describe the area a bit more... the words tell a thousand pictures of supplied wall art. So if you enjoy clearing a huge, well laid-out underground complex, or if you enjoyed the middle-earth books and have that 'feel' for moria, this might be a good game for you. Otherwise, there are probably better cheap thrills to be had elsewhere.
Evan Malsbury
malsbury@play.psych.mun.ca
BTW-> My wish list for '95 would be to be able to import midi or mus files into the compressed file in the disk1 directory to replace the old music. Also, being able to change the walls and backdrop art, as well as the battlefield art, would be a godsend. I know some of you have said that the latter looks quite possible. So, just a little extra nudge to get anyone of you with free time on their hands to make an editor. Thanks ;)
Tass Times in Troll Town -> 2.0 -------------------------------
No offense, but this is one of the worst modules I've played in a long time. Maybe I was in a bad mood or something when I played it, but even most of the humor in the module didn't amuse me. This module didn't have any random encounters... great... but, it didn't have much of ANY encounters for that matter. Your goal is to save the town from trolls, but there isn't much indication that they pose any threat to the town, save that they are holed up in a fortress in a forest outside town. The game makes it clear that you are supposed to find four artifacts in order to complete it. However, you're not given much clue as to what to do most of the time, so you have to wander around alot hoping that you'll bump into the one or two step events in each dungeon. In the end, I found two of the artifacts, one of which permitted me into the troll fortress. Presumably, the final fight was impossible without doing something with the other two artifacts, but I was able to win it on the first try without the help. One thing was worth mentioning.... correct me if I'm mistaken, but isn't trying to sell modules made with UA illegal? In the readme file, it describes the module as 'shareware', and we should send him any amount of money to register the game. Of course, maybe the suggestion that anyone would send him money was part of the humor in the game. There were a few jokes that were funny, but overall the module is not worth looking at.
Ghost of Greyhawk Manor -> 8.5 -------------------------------
This is the module that won the '93 AOL Halloween Contest. I haven't played the other contenders (except John Kochmar's 'Haunt') but I guess this one deserved it. Basically, Greyhawk Manor is a dark scary place where big bosses are raising an undead army (sound familiar?). However, the family that owned the manor were killed by the big boss, and their spirits are running around, which makes exploring the manor a little more interesting. You first venture to the manor with the heir to the family fortune, as well as Usurp Toe, who happens to be the author of Hackem and Strange. When you go to pick up Blaine (the heir's) portable army though, you find them being attacked by wolves. Usurp Toe doesn't like this and runs off... he later gets killed. [Possible rivalry between designers? :) ] Anyway, this game has a much richer storyline development than your standard frua module. The ghosts all float around to help you accomplish things, and eventually you gain access to the big boss' lair. The combat seemed well balanced, but the constant undead got on my nerves, since they drain your experience and I couldn't find anywhere to rest unless I faced a gauntlet of undead to return to town. Plus, you'd get done with a draining fight with undead, get a huge reward of experience, and then have the xp taken away when you cast restoration. Despite these drawbacks, I believe the game is definitely worth playing. Heck, all you who are reading this probably already played this module, it having won the contest in '93.
BTW - I rate the one to ten thing based on 5-up being worth playing, and below-4.9 not being worth playing. BTW - If Mycroft is still kicking around, these ratings I give with the reviews should be considered ratings for the list, unless I accidentally rated it twice. (One of these modules I played last year, and never finished, and well, I don't remember if I sent in a rating). BTW - Does anybody read these reviews or find them useful? I'd like to get a response or two just to know I'm not totally wasting my time...
Evan Malsbury
malsbury@play.psych.mun.ca
Island of Baron Hoffman -> 3.0 ------------------------------
This module consists of only one dungeon, and I don't think it made the most of its resources. Basically, the goal is to assasinate a Golem named "Tin Man" who was created by a wizard who later lost control of it and was killed. The outside and inside of the castle have one random encounter each, the fabled "monsters attack!", and they are pretty difficult for the party you're given. Overall, the module didn't make much sense. You enter the lair of the golem, and there is a long corridor of rooms. In one of the rooms is whole load of +5 items, and at the end of the corridor is a note. The note is from a party who died because they knew about the fabled room of plus five items, but they weren't able to get to it before they were killed by random encounters. This is unfortunately because the monsters can't be hit by your normal starting equipment. Boy, the Tin Man must be pretty cocky to keep a bunch of weapons that can kill him right near the entrance to his fortress. I'll admit I liked the layout of the castle, but it didn't have much description otherwise. When I finally reached the Tin Man, I found the combat totally impossible... and was consequently slaughtered. For some odd reason, however, the final combat (and only the final combat) is set to 'party never dies'.
Once you visit Tin Man, you're able to escape the castle. So overall, not terribly exciting compared to some of the other modules out there. One thing I got a chuckle out of was the text at the ending, which reads: "Stay tuned for the next exciting installment in this award winning (or at least it should win an award) module." Why is there going to be another installment in a one dungeon module? Why not USE the other dungeons?? :) Oh well.....
Trial of Champions -> 4.5 -------------------------
Here's a treat for you, a TWO dungeon module! A couple people said to me that I was too hard on Tasstimes considering it was released only a couple months after frua came out. Maybe I was, but I'm only comparing it to current standards of quality. But anyway, Trial of Champions is another early bloomer. Your party starts by leaving a ship that has docked at a city which houses Malhavok's (the author) Trial of Champions. You have to pay to enter it, and it's not too clear what reward you get if you complete it, or why people even sign up for it. You sign up, and on your way to the Trial you are led by a shady character to an old house. Unfortunately, the author made the mistake (even I made this mistake in my module) of putting further events chained to a guided tour INSTEAD of having the guided tour execute event on destination and have the event placed at the destination. It's not too important, except for the fact that you don't find out why you should even go into the house in the first place. Once into the Trial, things are pretty chaotic, but it is a nice little puzzle dungeon. Plus, there are no annoying random encounters! The ending is ok, but not as satisfying as I might have liked. So if you're looking for something to play in under an hour, one of the 'pioneering' modules... then this might be worth your time. It is not frustrating, but it is not too interesting either.
Evan Malsbury
malsbury@play.psych.mun.ca
Restoration of Gundahab (Rhys Hess) [March '94] ----> 8.5 ---------
This module, the first of two parts, takes a paladin, and any other party members, through an adventure in the ruined city of Gundahab. I played it (and its sequel) through with a Paladin and a Cleric, and was able to complete it. This is what really surprised me. Most modules rely on the party having at least two mages, otherwise the sheer lack of firepower would doom it. However, the battles are structured in such a way that my party of two did quite well, since it was usually a level or two ahead of a six person party in the same situation. As you explore the ruined city, you gradually find out more about the history of it, and why it is in ruins. This sets the stage for the sequel, but I'll talk about that later. For now, the remaining population lives outside the city, hidden in the woods. They are not powerful enough to reclaim their home, but you eventually combine forces to conquer the most powerful of the forces in the city.
The 'paladin' aspect of the game is very unique, as modules go. Your paladin receives more experience than the other characters, because he/she gets to perform specific goody-goody tasks, such as tearing down evil altars and protecting the other party members from evil forces. This puts the paladin at about equivalent 'level' with the other party members, even if he/she has far more experience. Near the last part of the game, your Paladin even gets his/her own patron deity, which I thought made things a lot more interesting. My characters then had even more purpose! So overall, the game was very colorful and always had my attention. There was not too much new art, but the existing art was used effectively. Sometimes the random encounters were a bit much, but not too bad compared to some modules I've played. I highly recommend it!
The League (Rhys Hess) [April '94] ---> 10.0 --------------------
I was debating whether I should really give this a ten. No module, is of course, perfect. But this one was so well done (in my opinion), that I thought it should stand out. The story carries on presumably a few weeks after the first left off. Your characters are heroes of the town, and you feel that you must find out why the city was sacked in the first place. This leads you around the area, visiting different cities, until you find the source of everybody's problems and eliminate it. I'm being vague here, because I don't want to spoil the ending. Both games have journal entries, which help your understanding of the plot, but 'The League' can be played without it, which is an added feature. The journal entries simply make things clearer and more colorful. Along with the journal entries is a walkthrough, and admittedly, I did get stuck twice, when I had forgotten some advice given by certain characters. Another bonus is a two setting monster difficulty switch that you can turn on and off in the town of Gundahab, for those of you who just want to enjoy the story without so much of the combat. All the dungeon layouts are fairly simple - in other words, you don't need to map! Also, all the cities allow area view, which is fantastic! Random encounters are tastefully placed, except in one part of the game, where they would ALWAYS happen on a certain step. Still, in this case you had to accomplish a certain goal that would eliminate the encounters. The dungeons and cities were always interesting. For those of you who leave no stone unturned, there are hardly any simply 'empty' rooms. If a room is just storage, it will say so, like "this room looks fairly dull, there are some casks lying around". It gave me the feeling I was aiming at in one of my earlier reviews - I didn't have to look at the wall art to know where I was... I would recommend this module to anyone. It seems to be flexible to any type of gamer, combat lover or plot tourist. If you liked City of Gold (as I understand many of you do, and I did play that module, BTW) you'll LOVE this series.
Evan Malsbury
malsbury@play.psych.mun.ca
UA provides a most impressive variety of art formats along with the means to import additional artwork in most of these formats. The next fantasy construction set would too well to start with the same basic art formats but make the "import" feature universal; in other words, allow the formats that are not currently importable in UA (walls, backdrops, combat terrain, and player character combat icons) to be imported as well. Also, as I mentioned before, it would be highly desirable to make the artwork platform independent, so that an adventure designer could import artwork into his or her design on an IBM or MAC, transfer that adventure to a friend with the other platform, and then allow that friend to run the adventure and see something resembling the imported artwork.
Another useful feature would be a scanner utility (similar to UA256.exe) that would allow the user to call up any graphics file compatible with that user's platform and convert it to a form usable by UA. Would it not, for example, be a great feature if somebody could take his own drawings or even photographs, scan them into GIF or another format, and then import them into an adventure game? While there is considerable room for mischief here, an honest and creative adventure designer could do great things with such a capability.
A major innovation of UA over BTCS was the establishment of combat graphics in the fantasy construction set. It is a most impressive trick that UA creates the illusion of movement by the use of two combat icons and their reflections per combatant. Also, by using the current module map as the basis for indoor combat terrain, the adventure designer can create any sort of indoor arena desired. UA's combat graphics are probably one of the major reasons that UA is more popular than BTCS.
Of course, even though UA's combat graphics were remarkable innovations, there is still room for improvement. The ability to import the terrain graphics has already been mentioned. The ability to edit the outdoor combat maps would also be desirable. At present, all outdoor combat takes place on the same map, with only the graphics differing. It would be much better if the adventure designer could edit this map, allowing combat to take place on a field with no cover or perhaps with denser cover than the standard map.
Although this has nothing to do with artwork, I should mention as a sidenote that the artificial intelligence of computer controlled combatants in UA could use considerable improvement. The major problem at present boils down to a simple inability to comprehend the concept of "wall". Nearly every undesirable thing that computer controlled combatants do can be traced to a problem in dealing with walls.
Sound is another area where improvement would be desirable. It has been my experience that the only way to listen to UA sounds is on an IBM PC equipped with Soundblaster. The sounds coming through a PC speaker are terrible, while a version of the MAC more advanced than the one for which UA was designed produces no sound at all. This is another area where some degree of compatibility would be desirable; it should be possible to store the sounds in a format that would permit each platform to produce approximately the same sounds, albeit within the limitations of each sound system.
The ability to import sounds is also highly desirable; most of us have by now heard every sound that the game can make, but we would certainly wake up and take notice if we heard some new and unexpected sound coming from one of these games. Finally, the ability to cut off sounds at any point would also be good. At present, UA will play many of its sounds to completion, even if the player has taken several steps beyond the point where the sound would be appropriate.
While the specific game system used for character creation and development affects what is possible, flexibility and expandability should be built in from the beginning. It should always be possible to add new races, new classes or skills, and even new spells. If you are making use of an existing game system for this purpose, it is essential to secure a broad, long-term license that will allow the fantasy construction set to grow with the game that it is based on. Failing that, it is better to devise your own game system, which you can then expand as you see fit.
In order to ensure that every aspect of character development is subject to change, all character data should be kept in separate files from the main program and not buried within it. That way, all one needs to do to change the character creation and development rules is edit some tables. It is interesting that UA so strictly enforced the 1st edition AD&D level limits, despite the fact that TSR was already coming out with rules sets such as "Unearthed Arcana" and "Dragonlance Adventures" that altered the standard level limits.
Another important consideration is that there should ultimately be no distinction as to what is possible for a player character, a non- player character, or an intelligent monster. While your first few adventures may have ogres or drow only as opponents, it is a short step from there to having them as NPCs and finally as PCs. The range of intelligent monsters possible in the game should be looked at as a sign of what to allow for in future development.
Both BTCS and UA have good approaches to the user interface for character creation and development. In each case, the player creates or advances a character after making a few quick and simple decisions. A player who wants to get started quickly can create an entire party in a minute or two, while a player who wants to design his characters carefully can fine tune them as desired. Of course, even here improvement is possible -- some players may prefer to have more of a choice in spell and skill selection than the present games allow, for example.
In regard to the artwork associated with player characters, it is possible to expand the options without going into the unnecessary detail of the old gold box games or Neverwinter Nights. BTCS uses standard pictures for sex, race, and class, while UA has no PC pictures. On the other hand, UA does provide a standard set of 49 PC combat icons, while BTCS does not because it lacks graphical combat.
The best approach would be for the game to provide a basic set of combat icons and standard pictures for newly created characters. The adventure designer could import replacements for any or all of these pictures to suit the tone of his adventure. Players, in turn, could import replacement images for favorite characters and carry those images with their characters from one adventure to another. Adventure designers could reference these pictures for encounters where it is appropriate to show the image of a party member.
Party size and composition should be modifiable by the adventure designer. The standard UA rules allow a maximum party size of eight, with a maximum of six PCs. No more than three Rangers may join a party. At present there is no way to alter or remove these restrictions or to add new ones. It should not be too difficult, however, to allow a party of eight PCs in an adventure where no NPCs will join the party or to permit only a single PC in a solo adventure. Similarly, the designer of an adventure may want to prohibit spellcasters or non-humans in a particular adventure. Whatever restrictions the adventure designer selects could be incorporated into the character creation sequence, while the program could review imported PCs and evaluate whether they are too weak, too strong, or about right for a particular adventure.
--To be continued
Kaviyd@aol.com
Okay, this may seem redunndant (c s dunn's the name), but here goes anyways...
I think it is in the best interest of all of us out here who, despite it's very frustrating and sometimes near impossible shortcomings, LOVE FRUA to form an Official FRUA User's Group.
As a charter, here's what I would push for...
Pardon me, that is not a verbatim quote and I haven't learned how to port portions of other things into new posts, but that is the general gist.
IMNSHO, this is near to an official statement of abandonment by the SSI people and thus I see no reason why they would not allow us to obtain the source code and hack away as long as we don't sell any copies of FRUA itself, and as long as we don't use the source code to hack out the copyright protection for sale or free distribution (counter productive to the idea of FUG anyway).
I would welcome any and all others who read this to make comments, add what they think would be important elements of FUG, and how we might go about distributing this information to any and all online capable FRUA owner's (it goes without saying that all owners have a computer).
Finally, I send this out as a DIRECT CHALLENGE TO THOSE WHO HAVE LICENSING AGREEMENTS: Wizard Works, Micro Magic, SSI and TSR: Hear this: If you cannot allow us to have the freedom we require and you will not support it in an official manner, then you yourselves are not any better than misers, hoarding information and talent that is wasting away in the "basements" of your citadels at the expense of the true ideal behind creating the game in the first place: To give us all the ability to, and I quote at this point: "Besides modifying adventures someone else has designed with Unlimited Adventures, you can also design completely new Gold Box adventures yourself. You can create your own maps and events, fill them with characters and custom monsters of your own specification, and -- if you wish -- draw your own art.
"What's more, you can share adventure designs with other licensed owners of Unlimited Adventures (see the appendix entitled "Sharing Adventures"). Any complete adventure design can be played just like one of the previous Gold Box Adventure games you purchased. The number of Gold Box Adventures you can play really could be unlimited!"
I call you to uphold the wording of your own promises. Let us truly be able to incorporate ANY and ALL the possibilities in ANY and ALL of the Gold Box Series from the Pool series, the Krynn series, Savage Frontiers, Dragonlance, and yes, even the Buck Rogers and Spelljammer series. If it's got a Gold Box engine, then we, by your own words have the ability to make an adventure of our own from those things as long as we own a licensed copy of FRUA.
Currently, it just isn't so. Also, Strat Sim Kevin is wrong about your engine. As an example, the Dodge 318 V8 is similar, as is the 226 Straight 6. They are the greatest engines that the Dodge Chrysler Plymouth company ever made and they are still used, over 30 years later. Your Gold Box engine has the same staying power and the proof is in the amount of people that post in your SSI column and in here. Support us with true upgrades and fixes (which most, if not all of us would be willing to pay for) or set us free to do as we will according to the promise you made us in writing in your FRUA manual which I quoted from page 59, last block, right column. I want to be able to make a Knight, a Kender, a Draconian, a true set of wall art of imported or of my own creation (or borrowed from a fellow licensee). Let me truly have Unlimited Adventures in the spirit and Letter of your own words.
Again, all those that support this set of posts, please take up the mantle and let's create the FUG to allow us all the ability to push this sucker to the edge of it's envelope--- and beyond.
sincerely,
DaNightOwl@aol.com
Christopher S. Dunn
When I first started drawing for UA, I didn't consider myself an artist. And I still don't. There are real artists out there struggling to make there work known, and my skills do not in the least compare to their's. Though, due in large part to my work with UA, I now have sold two commercially used art pieces - the first was a promotional for a bay area newspaper, and the other a logo for an expanding company (which my days have been pretty much taken up with their requests of letterheads and other forms). So, to all those who think that UA is just a game, you are wrong. Your work in UA can certainly be used in other fields, and as with everything you do - if you give it your all, there's nothing you can't accomplish. But enough about me: I'm here to teach you tricks to improve your own artwork!
As I did back in UANL2, I'm going to recommend some old and new drawing tools you can use to help you bring out that budding artist in all of you.
*Deluxe Paint II Enhanced by Electronic Arts (Commercial): I recommend this again, as this is still the best art program in existence to use with Unlimited Adventures. The tools it contains give you complete control over the color palette, the editing features are still the most complete I've ever seen any commercial art program, and better yet, it's still the only art program out there that handles color cycling - a must have for UA users. So to those who can get their hands on this great program, get it!!!.
*Aldus PhotoStyler 2.0 or Adobe PhotoShop 3.0+ (Commercial): These are two superb programs for any person wanting to get the best utilities for producing professional quality artwork (in fact, PhotoShop and Deluxe Paint IIe are what the professionals are using!). They contain special effects that make your art look like it was done on a canvas - in watercolors, oils, airbrush, etc. These programs contain airbrush utilities that even Deluxe Paint IIe cannot aspire too. If you get add-ons like Kai's Power Utilities (Commercial), you'll be able to create objects like crystal balls, folded maps, speed lines for your Quicklings, and more. Though it mostly handles 24 bit images (much to high for UA), it has a great re-sampling routine (better than most image processors) and an adequate color reduction system (though I wish they'd allowed users to choose exactly how many colors they want the final pic to be in.) It even coverts pics from one format to another, which you'll find is essential for handling other peoples art works.
Tip: The standard sizes for UA pics is 88x88 pixels and 304x120 pixels. Always remember these numbers when resizing.
JASC, Incorporated's Paint Shop Pro (Shareware available through AOL): Though both PhotoStyler and PhotoShop contain utilities that make them both image processors and paint programs, Paint Shop Pro fills in the gaps that both programs contain. It contains a greater color reduction routine, which allows you to choose exactly the amount of colors you wish the artwork to contain (which is a must considering UA's color restrictions), as well as finer sharpening and softening effects (though it lacks the individual pixel manipulations that the other's contain). If, for any other reason, get this as it is a lot cheaper than the above programs and makes a great companion for any of the above.
Tip: As I stated before, remember the number 224, for this is the amount of colors UA uses for its big pic and pic palette.
Virtus WalkThru (Commercial): Virtus is a CAD-like utility that allows you to create objects in 3-D. For UA it will allow you to create perfect perspective angles on your creations as well as allow you to get that unusual angled shot you always wanted for your backgrounds. The ease of use as well as the flexibility of utilities have made it number one in 3-dimensional rendering programs.
Tip: When using Virtus make sure you turn off its auto-shading and dithering routines before you sample the rendering, as it will help you when you take the snapshot through other paint programs to color it. Especially when working with masks.
Vistapro (Commercial): If you find it hard to create outdoor backgrounds, get Vistapro. It allows you to create mountains, forests, valleys, you name it - in complete 3-dimensions. Also, with its camera utilities, you can get the perfect angles to match up with your pictures. You have to see for yourself to believe what this program can do...
-DIKA WOLF
This is actually a tougher assignment than it seems. There are a host of resources containing juicy tips on how to create an adventure in UA -- the UFAQ (answers to frequently asked questions), the UAHelp text file that comes with the Unlimited Adventures' upgrade, the tutorial in UA itself (ok, this one might be pushing it;), the UANL, a long list of Demo's/Tutorials (found in the Events, Samples, and Tutorials section of AOL's UA board), and scores of games. Yup, you can learn something from all of 'em, especially the games. From these, you'll discover how to create an interesting plot, how to use the events found in the program, what works, what doesn't, what you like in a game, and what you could do better.
Sounds too good to be true, doesn't it? Well, there is a tad more to it. :P
Much of learning how to design adventures involves actually working with the various events, quests, utilities, etc., that make up Unlimited Adventures. While it's possible to put together an entire game on paper, eventually, you're going to have to crack open the program and code it all in. That's where the fun begins (and, coincidentally, where all those articles and tips come in handy).
Designing a game also requires an understanding of how the games are played -- and where's the best place to find that? Read on, Grasshopper. :P
When it comes down to it, Unlimited Adventures is more than just a design tool -- it also allows you to play other people's games. These games often emulate the playing strategy found in the Gold Box games by SSI. In this, I mean the player needs to create a well- balanced party, use at least a modicum of strategy in encounters, employ a tiny margin of luck, and keep the game's plot in mind while playing.
Play through some of these adventures (something most UA buffs like doing anyway). The advantage here is that you can actually see how the events were set up (provided the module isn't locked) after seeing them in action. If something is especially impressive, or poorly executed, exit the game, open the editor, and see how it was done.
Inspiration can be found in these games as well. To be perfectly honest, playing (or play-testing) your own adventure isn't always inspiring. Where's the challenge? How difficult can it be to answers riddles, acquire henchmen (and turn down the one's who'll double- cross the party), sneak around traps, or find the one course of action that'll lead to victory, if you're the designer of the mod? And how easy is it to expand on your game's plot when the only thing you have to work with is that adventure?
Perhaps in another game, someone has come up with a way to do something you've been attempting for months. Or, better yet, maybe there's something they tried to do -- a plot twist, side adventure, or chain of events -- that didn't come off very well, or that you could improve or expand upon in your own design.
Games, for many of us, are where the ideas were (and still are) born.
May your adventures be no less inspiring. :)
Autery
12) Self-Corrupting Dungeons -- At times, one event chain will copy over another, making two of one chain and removing the other one. Worse, the lost events (and text) still count against the total of that module. If you attempt to delete one of the duplicated sets, both are deleted at the same time. This glitch can cause serious problems in your games if (for example) the missing chain of events is vital to continuing the adventure. Unfortunately, the problem isn't limited to any specific module in FRUA -- I've seen it in overland 4 and dungeons 4, 12, and 14. The only way to "repair" the faulty module is to clear it and start over, so the best course for designers is to save often and watch out for the glitch. If it happens, revert to your saved module and avoid using the location on the map where the problem occurred.
Game/event options:
13) Auto Approach -- Choosing auto approach in the combat event has no effect on the final range of the monsters. In fact, unless a sprite is chosen for art, and the monsters are set for nearby or far away, this choice will have no effect at all.
14) Execute event at destination -- You may want to test this option if using it (with a transfer module) to send characters to an overland map. In most cases, the event at the destination won't fire until the party leaves the space and then returns.
15) Graphics -- If a big picture is used for combat graphics, and a treasure event happens afterwards, the character names will not appear on the latter screen. The treasure can still be given out, but the player won't know who's getting the items without a bit of experimenting. The problem (missing character names) will happen on almost any event following one where a big pic is used. While it's not much problem before a "treasure event," it can be frustrating if followed by a "Who Tries" event (to disarm a trap, for example...).
16) Module Art -- Choosing "River" art seems to have no effect. In some of the older gold-box games, characters would actually be faced with a river, among the other obstacles on the map. I've been unable to duplicate this. Since the art currently appears much the same as "Forest," it's possible the pointer has been misplaced.
17) Party Never Dies -- This option (in the combat event) is to prevent the entire party from being lost. If they lose the battle, all previously unconscious characters (even those who were that way before the battle began ;) will be restored to 1 hit point. The option doesn't prevent characters from being disintegrated, though, so it IS still possible for a party to lose.
18) Set Level -- The "Alter" menu allows players to change the level of the game, making it easier or more difficult by changing the hit points of the monsters. However, the experience points for the encounters "don't" change, no matter what the level. The pointer for this has probably been misplaced as well.
Events:
19) Combat Treasure -- This event doesn't have to be placed immediately before a combat to work. It could be placed anywhere on the map or any time before the actual combat. If placed on the map, the treasure will be given after the party's first battle (provided the party has passed over that area of the dungeon). Avoid removing the "do only once" option if you do this, though -- multiple "combat treasure" events are cumulative, so a party which passes over the event 5 times will receive 5 times the treasure after the next combat.
20) Encounter Event -- The "advance" option has no effect on the monster range in combat. This contradicts the "help" file. Virtually the only way to set different ranges is to use different combats on each chain of this event (one for combat, the other for talk, etc.).
21) Pass Time -- This event has no effect on character age. Aside from visual effects, its only purpose is to make spells on party members wear off.
22) Quests -- Contrary to the help text, quests CAN be set to failed or completed with another event -- Utilities. If 128 is stored in the quest, the quest is "failed." To give "quest complete," use the utilities event to store 255 in the quest. Another error in help file is that text will only be displayed if a yes or no question is used with the quest. In reality, all text placed here will be shown no matter which option is chosen.
23) Who Tries event -- If using this event to perform "ability checks" (i.e., comparing strength, etc., to a dice roll), it doesn't seem to matter what type of die is chosen. A character apparently has the same chance of succeeding whether a d20 or a d100 is used.
Monster effects:
24) Monster Items -- Another contradiction in the help text, monsters won't use special magic items (scrolls, wands, etc.) in combat. At least, none will that I've found...
25) Owl Bear Hug -- This monster effect will keep a character from moving (if it succeeds), but it seemingly has no other effect. The crushing damage is ignored, and normal attacks continue.
Items:
26) Armor glitch -- Leather armor can't be worn by Rangers or Paladins. This can be easily fixed by using the item editor (the current "class info" is wrong).
27) Scroll of Protection from Dragon Breath -- A glitch sometimes occurs in the game when a character attempts to ready this item -- the program states that "^ is already wearing armor!" A more serious glitch sometimes happens if a mage is carrying the item and already has it equipped. When he uses it, he loses the ability to cast spells (permanently).
28) Weapon glitch -- Slings can be used by mages (and not by thieves). Though I take shameless advantage of this as a player, the item is set wrong in the .dat files. The item editor will fix this as well. I haven't checked all slings, but +1 slings are currently usable by mages, while +5 slings are not...
Misc:
29) Art Gallery -- Although you can put as many pics in your art directory as you'd like, FRUA will only list a limited number. I've been told the exact amount varies according to how much RAM your computer has. With 4 Meg, my list tops out at just over 24 pics. (ed. - memory may have nothing to do with this - my 1 meg system displays all 400-odd pics in my directory :)
30) Constitution 19 -- According to the help text, a character with a 19 constitution should regenerate 1 hit point per hour. Although this worked in SSI's earlier games (and perhaps in UA version 1.0), it doesn't in FRUA version 1.2.
31) Dispelling Disease -- Casting "dispel magic" on a diseased character has drastic effects...the disease remains, but the character loses 4 points of charisma! This might be a nasty effect if a dungeon designer were to have his gamers encounter a group of priests alongside a mummy or two... ;)
Autery
I do not know if I can distribute MIDIFORM.EXE, so what I will do is convert MIDs that you have for you. I may do some minor editing (to make sure it will play properly on all devices, you know.) I can only test on Adlib mode, which is also the Soundblaster music mode. Here's an explanation that (I hope) will suffice. If it doesn't, there is an actual tutorial that walks you through every step right afterward.
There are four sets of files in your \FRUA\DISK1 (or equivalent) directory. They are ADDQ?.XMI, PCDQ?.XMI, RODQ?.XMI, and TYDQ?.XMI. You may have already guessed this, but ADDQ stands for ADlib Dark Queen, PCDQ stands for PC speaker Dark Queen, RODQ stands for ROland Dark Queen, and TYDQ stands for TandY Dark Queen. Dark Queen means that, yes, these files originated in the Dark Queen of Krynn game. I checked 'em out: IDENTICAL!! (Lazy SSI programmers and design folks, like they couldn't afford to hire Fat Man to do some more original music!) The "?" stands for a number, which is between 1 and 3. The first file for each type (AD, PC, RO, and TY) will be the overture, and is tweaked for that device. (This means that, theoretically, the Roland version sounds better than the Adlib version--only marginally, though--, and the Adlib sounds better than the Tandy, which sounds barely better than the PC speaker.) This poses some problems to folks who want to distribute their mods with new music. (I am currently beginning work on a Call of Cthulhu-style mod, and hacking music is a pain!) Because no one would possibly have all four devices, you can't tweak for all of them. This is where cheating comes into play.
I assume, for the rest of this article, that you have either a MIDI editor or some MIDI files you will use. This will be a prerequisite, as will a MIDI player. (You can't righteously assume that music will sound good because the author said it would, can you?) Now, you send me the file via E-Mail (my address is at the bottom), and I will convert it for you. (If you are fortunate enough to own the book, "Tricks of the Game Programming Gurus," or own a copy of the "DIGPAK/ MIDPAK" kit, you can skip that step--you already have MIDIFORM.EXE. Therefore, you can convert the file. yourself, and the details described later are for you.) I will also, if necessary, edit it somewhat to fit UA's moronic criteria. It must be at least the size of the original, otherwise it won't work. (That's the hardest part-- I couldn't figure out why my copy of the Tales From the Crypt Theme wasn't working!) Second, you can only have a maximum of two files to any mod, until I figure out if we can safely mess with the others. Third, if it is any bigger than the original, it will cut at the end. This will usually be fine, as (in most cases) music is not heard all the way through. (However, with new music this close to our grasp....) Now that those moronic criteria are met, we must determine if UA will accept the file. We stick it in the \FRUA\DISK1 directory, and rename it to whatever file we wish to replace. (Start with the overture. It will truly turn some heads if folks start UA and hear something different right from the get-go! It's also quicker to tell if it will work or not!) If it does not work, you will know. UA will tell you that you have a bad disk, and will continue telling you so for a few presses of the ENTER key. It will then start reading the drive you installed from (usually A:, but you never know!) and will say to put Disk 1 in the drive. DON'T!! Reboot!! Trust me. It may be safe to put your Disk 1 in the drive, but don't take any chances!! You never know if SSI (in their obvious benevolence) will even have replacement disks, and you know that (in their kind spirit of giving) they'll charge you out of orifices you know about to get them if they do!! just reboot, replace the edited file with the original, and start over. Make the original, non-converted MIDI file larger by (if your editor supports it) adding many blank events (whole rests for those who, like me, are fortunate enough to have a MIDI editor with a musical interface) and then some whole notes. The larger note should come so far after your music has stopped (perhaps waiting at least fifteen to twenty seconds) that it increases the size and will not affect UA. (Remember: It cuts the music after its time is up!)
Because of the inherent difficulty involved, this is not for the meek. If you can't make you own music, there are still some options. What you can do is what I generally do: Find and transpose some sheet music. Take the parts you like, take out what you don't. I was fortunate enough to come upon the sheet music to Saint-Saens' Danse Macabre (featured in Alone in the Dark I), and I transposed only portions of it, and it sounds GREAT!! Or find someone else's MIDI. If you use AOL, you can find MIDIs for any purpose! Say you want to do a Christmas mod, the files are available! A modern, hard-core crime mod? You can find something. If you want to base your mod on TV or the movies, the music is available for everything from The Naked Gun to Tales From the Crypt, Terminator to Back to the Future. And everything in-between. If you need any MIDIs, you can always request them. Who knows, if you E-Mail me I might have something you can use!
Here's the tutorial:
Let's say you have a file called NEWMUSIC.MID. It sounds AWESOME!! So you want to use it in your next mod. Here's how you do it (if you have MIDIFORM.EXE.)
We will assume that MIDIFORM.EXE is on the PATH. So, we type:
MIDIFORM NEWMUSIC.XMI NEWMUSIC.MID
This converts the MID file NEWMUSIC into the XMI file NEWMUSIC.
Next, you find out the size (in bytes) of the file. If you are going to replace the overture, you need a file that is at 8520 bytes for the Roland, at least 5816 bytes for the Adlib, 1124 for the PC speaker, and 2782 for the Tandy. Yes, you need four files. (You can cheat, and only use one repeatedly, but the results on the low-end equipment may be horrible.) Those sizes are mandatory. We will assume that NEWMUSIC is 8600 bytes--just a bit bigger than UA wants, but you can't win them all. (Note: this size is for the XMI file.)
Now, we must copy the file into the FRUA\DISK1 directory. We type:
COPY NEWMUSIC.XMI \FRUA\DISK1
So far, so good. However, UA can't use it--yet! We will assume that
it is a fairly simple file, and that we don't have the time to create
different versions. Here's what we type:
CD \FRUA\DISK1
COPY NEWMUSIC.XMI ADDQ1.XMI
COPY NEWMUSIC.XMI PCDQ1.XMI
COPY NEWMUSIC.XMI RODQ1.XMI
COPY NEWMUSIC.XMI TYDQ1.XMI
This makes it so UA will recognize the files' existence. Now, we type:
CD ..
START
You should hear the file. Listen through all the way. This is where
you will find out if the file works or not. If it doesn't, you will
have to edit the original MIDI. If it does, great! There's just a few
more steps you need to take.
You need to make a couple batch files for the end users of the game. After all, they may not want to keep your music for all of the games, which is what will happen. So, basically, here's the framework of the batch files:
REM This is INSTALL.BAT. This will copy the design to its own
REM directory, and install the music. Naturally, it will back
REM the original files up.
MD \FRUA\YOURMOD.DSN
PKUNZIP YOURMOD.ZIP \FRUA\YOURMOD.DSN
CD \FRUA\DISK1
COPY *.XMI *.TMP
CD ..\YOURMOD.DSN
COPY *.XMI ..\DISK1
ECHO Installation complete! Type Restore to bring back the
ECHO original files.
That isn't so hard. If you (like me) are good at writing batch files,
you may want to make it so that the user can specify his/her FRUA
directory. Because of space confines, I did not do that here.
The next batch file will restore the original files.
REM This is RESTORE.BAT. This will restore the original XMI
REM files of FRUA, so that life may continue as normal. :)
CD \FRUA\DISK1
COPY *.XMI ..\YOURMOD.DSN\*.XMI
COPY *.TMP *.XMI
ECHO Restoration complete!
That's all there is to it. Simple 'nuff? I hope so. If not, E-Mail
and I'll try to explain better.
C-YA sometime between now and when we colonize Mars!!
John Rudy
EKSTRA@AOL.COM
For anyone working on a program to modify character files, I would recommend the following:
*****
Special Ability/Effect Codes
compiled by David Knott (Kaviyd@aol.com):
In this version of the list I have begun to assemble the applicability of each effect. The key to this list is as follows:
Y Yes - Effect works.
N No - Effect does not appear to work.
X Setting this code causes problems (anything from strange graphics
to crashing the computer).
? I am not sure about this one.
As near as I can tell, NPCs are subject to the same effects as player
characters ("Char"), not monsters ("Monster"), as they join the party and
are saved in the same format in the saved game files. Also, since monsters
appear only in combat, effects that are not discernible at that time are
listed as "N".
Applicability
Code Char Item Monster Effect
0 Y Y Y No Effect
1 Y Y Y Blessed
2 Y Y Y Cursed
3 Y ? ? (Harrassed by Snakes)
4 N N N Dispelling Evil
5 Y Y N Detecting Magic
6 Y Y Y Immune to Electricity
7 Y ? Y Gnome THAC0
8 Y ? Y Protected from Evil
9 Y ? Y Protected from Good
10 Y Y Y Resistant to Cold
11 N N N (Charmed)
12 Y ? ? Enlarged
13 Y ? ? Barkskin
14 Y ? N Friendly
15 Y ? ? Slowed Poison
16 Y ? N Reading Magic
17 Y ? ? Shielded
18 Y ? Y Half-Elf MR
19 Y Y N Finding Traps
20 Y Y Y Resistant to Fire
21 Y ? ? Silenced
22 ? ? ? ???
23 Y N ? Has Spiritual Hammer
24 Y ? Y See Invisible
25 Y Y Y Invisible
26 Y ? Y Dwarf THAC0
27 N X Y (Befuddled)
28 Y ? ? Duplicated
29 Y ? ? Weakened
30 Y ? ? (Nauseated)
31 N Y Y (Helpless)
32 Y Y ? (Dispelling Evil)
33 Y ? ? Blind
34 Y ? N Diseased
35 Y ? ? Confused
36 Y ? ? Accursed (by Ring of Vulnerability)
37 Y Y Y Blinking
38 Y N ? Strengthened
39 Y Y ? Hasted
40 Y ? Y Rakshasa MR
41 Y ? ? Protected from Normal Missiles
42 Y ? ? Slowed
43 N Y N Weakened when Unreadying
44 N X N Takes 1 hp of damage when Unreadying
45 Y ? Y Protection vs. Evil 10'
46 Y ? Y Protection vs. Good 10'
47 Y ? Y Dwarf AC Bonus
48 Y ? Y Gnome AC Bonus
49 Y ? ? Affected by Prayer
50 Y Y Y Fire Shield, Hot Flames
51 Y ? ? (Held)
52 Y ? ? (Asleep)
53 ? Y ? Readying item renders wielder helpless
54 Y Y Y Fire Shield, Cold Flames
55 Y ? ? Poisoned
56 Y Y ? Invisible (Ring)
57 Y Y ? Globe of Invulnerability
58 Y ? Y Petrifying Gaze
59 Y ? Y Reflectable Gaze
60 Y ? Y +3 or better weapon to hit
61 Y Y ? Resistant to Fire (Ring)
62 N X N PC Constitution 19 (?)
63 Y ? ? Minor Globe of Invulnerability
64 Y N Y Lethal Poison
65 Y ? Y Petrify Attack
66 Y ? Y Half Damage from Cutting Weapons
67 Y ? Y Half Damage from Blunt Weapons
68 Y ? ? Mentally Enfeebled
69 Y ? ? Invisible to Animals
70 Y ? Y Umber Hulk Gaze
71 Y ? ? Magically Highlighted
72 Y Y Y Mirror Readied
73 Y Y Y Immune to Dragon Breath
74 Y Y ? Wearing Boots of Speed
75 Y Y ? Giant Slaying Sword
76 Y Y Y Immune to Disease
77 ? ? ? ???
78 Y Y ? Wearing Stone of Good Luck
79 Y ? Y Iron Golem MR
80 Y ? Y Half Damage from Weapon of +2 or less
81 Y ? Y Half Damage from Weapon of +3 or less
82 Y ? Y Slain by Blessed Bolts
83 N X Y Super Fire Breath
(as 84 but greater damage)
84 N N Y Dragon Fire Breath
85 N N Y Dragon Cold Breath
86 Y ? Y Phase Spider Poison
87 ? ? ? ???
88 Y ? Y Paralyzing Attack
89 Y Y Y Wearing Cloak of Displacement
90 N N Y Dragon Poison Breath
91 N N Y Dragon Lightning Breath
92 Y ? Y Immune to Fear
93 Y Y Y Immune to Fire
94 ? ? ? ???
95 Y ? Y Elf MR
96 N N Y Dragon Acid Breath
97 Y ? Y Short Guy MR
98 Y Y Y Immune to Cold
99 ? ? Y Random Bonus Attacks
100 ? ? Y Dragon Fear Attack
101 Y Y Y Drain 1 Level
102 Y Y Y Drain 2 Levels
103 Y ? Y +1 or better weapon to hit
104 Y N Y +4d6 fire damage
105 Y N Y Ranger Damage Bonus
106 N X Y Stunned
107 N X N Aura of Hostility
108 Y N Y +2d6 fire damage
109 ? ? ? ???
110 Y N N (Paladin Cure Disease ability used up)
111 ? ? ? ???
112 Y Y Y Protected by Fire Shield (either kind)
113 ? ? ? (Strengthened by Potion of Giant
Strength)
114 Y ? Y Paralyzing Gaze
115 Y Y Y Vorpal Weapon
116 N N Y Marilith Attack
117 Y N Y Beholder Attack
118 ? ? ? ???
119 Y ? ? Resist Fire (Druid)
120 ? ? ? ???
121 Y N ? Fire Touch
122 Y ? ? Iron Skin
123 Y ? ? Shielded by Mind Blank
124 Y ? Y Charm Gaze
125 Y ? Y +2 or better weapon to hit
126 Y ? Y Protected vs. Gaze Attack
127-131 ? ? ? ???
132 Y ? Y Paralyze on Hit
133-136 ? ? ? ???
137 Y ? Y Carrion Stench
138-139 ? ? ? ???
140 Y N N (Paladin Lay Hands ability used up)
141 Y ? Y Immune to Sleep/Charm
142 ? ? ? ???
143 Y ? Y Immune to Poison/Paralysis
144-157 ? ? ? ???
158 Y ? Y Immune to Paralysis
159 ? ? ? Damaged by Holy Water
160-167 ? ? ? ???
168 Y ? Y Vulnerable to Fire
169 Y ? Y Half Damage from Magic Weapons
170 ? ? Y Inflicts Mummy Disease
171 ? ? Y Mummy Fear Aura
172 Y Y N Afflicted with Mummy Rot
173 ? ? Y Grows from Electricity
174 Y ? Y Resistant to Fire/Cold
175 Y ? Y Half Damage from All Weapons
176 ? ? Y Shambling Mound Engulf
177-185 ? ? ? ???
186 Y ? Y Black Pudding Attack
187-192 ? ? ? ???
193 Y ? Y Immune to All Weapons
194 ? ? ? ???
195 ? ? Y Gorgon Attack
196-200 ? ? ? ???
201 N X N ???
202-214 ? ? ? ???
215 Y X Y Cannot Heal
216 N N Y Troll Get Up
217 Y N Y Troll Regeneration
218 N Y N Fully Healed on Unready
219 Y ? Y Efreet Fire Resistance
220 ? ? Y Owl Bear Hug
221 Y Y Y Guarding - No Movement
222 ? ? ? ???
223 Y ? Y Hell Hound Breath
224 Y ? Y Ghoul Paralysis Attack
225 ? ? ? ???
226 Y Y N Troll Regeneration
225-229 ? ? ? ???
230-255 X X X Crash Computer or Program
Notes:
Effect 4 gives the "dispelling evil" text but has no effect in practice.
Effect 62 has no readily apparent effect.
Effect 112 gives the "zap" from the Fire Shield spell. Effects 50 and 54 are simply the modifiers for hot and cold flames, respectively.
Effect 172 as applied to item takes effect when item is unreadied.
Note effects 216, 217, and 226. An item with effect 216 will not work. An item with effect 217 will permanently grant the character the ability to regenerate once it "kicks in" after three rounds.
Effect 221 forces a character or monster into a "Guarding" mode. The character cannot move for the remainder of the turn (if readying an item with this effect). A character or monster under this effect (whether as a personal ability or as an item effect) will not move at all if turned over to computer control.
Credits: Peter Delaney, Autery, Fet Selonn, Shdwmstr03, and Slashem provided much of the data for this table.
I am looking for someone who enjoys working on UA artwork and is good at what they do. I have recently begun work on a project that I hope to develop along three lines: UA module, AD&D module, and fantasy/sci-fi novel. In short, copyrights have already been obtained and work has already begun on the hard module and the novel, the novel nearing completion.
With my job as a tech writer and writing fantasy/sci fi as well, I have neither the time, (nor the skill, for that matter) to create mind blowing UA artwork. However, many of you out there do. If you are interested in assisting me in this project, please E-mail me at MjcVyper.
Payment, such that it may be, is as follows: Full illustrative credits in the UA module when it releases on AOL. I will also attempt to use the same artwork in the AD&D hard module as well. If that gets published (we are talking to editors as we speak), full illustrative credits will appear in that also. If this endeavor begins to produce an income (so far, so good), business arrangements can be made for future projects.
I want somebody good at what they do. I will not release details of the module or what we are looking for in the newsletter just yet, but any that are seriously interested, please E-mail me. Once I decide on a particular artist, that individual will be given first consideration for work on future projects. There are three of us collaborating on this project, but we are in need of a good artist.
I look forward to all responses and will reply to all. As a last thought, I use Neopaint program for my artwork. But, since it has been nearly a year since I have done anything on AOL, I would appreciate input on better and faster programs.
Finally, if you wonder about my own UA credentials, I have put one module out so far, the Rod of Ulran'ka, which debuted last April or May.
Thank you kindly,
MjcVyper@aol.com
I think creating a module based on The Crystal Shard would be very neat indeed, but I need icons of Drizzt, Wulfgar, Bruenor, Regis, Catti-Brie, Akar Kessel, and Errtu. I already have an icon for Drizzt, but it's not very good in my opinion. Come to think of it, I'd need to read the book again, it's been awhile.
Anyone willing to help me out here would be the first ones to receive the module, I'll E-Mail it to y'all! Thanks folks!
-DeltarB@aol.com
In response to Dane's question on what makes a module better, I recall that the internet FAQ did have a section 'Razer Red's 10 commandments of module writing' or something like that. It was pretty well written, as I recall. Here are my two cents from what I've seen lately:
Finally I figured out how to do it, and in the interest of wandering monsters everywhere I thought I'd share the wealth.... ;-)
Assigning percentages can be tricky. Assuming that the party triggers the CHAIN or dummy PASS TIME event that indicates a wandering monster, the chain of possible encounters would be built *backwards*, so:
(17%) ENCOUNTER 6 (20%) ENCOUNTER 5 (25%) ENCOUNTER 4 (33%) ENCOUNTER 3 (50%) ENCOUNTER 2 ENCOUNTER 1...and so on, with additional encounters being added to the *beginning* of the list, with a 1/n chance (e.g. encounter 7 would have a 1/7 chance, or 14%, encounter 8 would have a 1/8, or 12%, etc.). Each event would only chain to the next "if event doesn't happen", to prevent multiple wandering monsters on a single step.
This scheme creates a list where each encounter has an *equal* chance of occurring. Often you would want some encounters to be more frequent than others: for example, a patrol might be twice as likely as a gang of thieves. In this case you would need to write out your table and assign 'weights' to your encounters, like so:
1 escaped slave 5 patrol 2 gang of thievesTo implement something like this you would again work backwards, with the last encounter 'always happening'. To calculate the percentage for the others, you use this formula:
chance = (weight of encounter) / (weight of this + subsequent encounters)
So in the example, the patrol would have a 5/(5+2) chance, or 71%, and the escaped slave would have a 1/(1+5+2) chance, or 12%.
Note that this system allows tremendous flexibility for your encounters - they need not always be combat events: they can be text statements or even CHAIN events, which allow for additional conditions!
We'll call the quest variable QV; to test for it, use the 'party has special item' test and specify the quest variable as the item to test for. In the diagram below, event conditions are given in parentheses (), chaining occurs *downward* and CHAIN events branch to the *right*. This diagram is for a step event that occurs on *each step*.
CHAIN (if not QV) --> CHAIN (if searching) --> UTILITIES (15%): QV = 1 | | | UTILITIES (5%): QV = 1 | UTILITIES (if QV): QV = 0 (if event happens) | ***begin wandering monster chain here***The 15% value is actually whatever percentage you want wandering monsters to appear on a step taken while searching, and the 5% is whatever you want for a normal step.
CHAIN (if not QV) --> CHAIN (if searching) --> UTILITIES (20%): QV = 1 | | | UTILITIES (5%): QV = 1 | UTILITIES (if QV): QV = 0 (if event happens) | PICK ONE COMBAT (25%): giant rats, mobats (if event doesn't happen) | CHAIN (33%) --> PICK ONE COMBAT (ghoul king not dealt with): 2-4 ghouls (if event doesn't happen) | CHAIN (50%) --> PICK ONE COMBAT (spider queen not dealt with): 1-2 spiders (if event doesn't happen) | PICK ONE COMBAT (skeleton/zombie creator not dealt with): skeletons, zombiesTotal cost: 11 events, for quite a complex scheme. Not too bad, as far as I'm concerned, and it could be made even more complex without any trouble.
Have fun,
Chris.
------------------------------------------ Chris Harwood-Jones chj@noif.ncp.bc.ca 3508 17th St. h: (604) 558-1821 Vernon BC o: (604) 542-3179 Canada V1T 3Z1 f: (604) 542-5139
-The UANL staff:-)
*Editorial staff:
Editor-in-chief: Coric <PCC Bryan@Aol.Com>
Assistant Editor: Kaviyd <Kaviyd@aol.com>
Assistant Editor: Shdwmstr03 <Shdwmstr03@aol.com>
*Columnists:
Reviews & Previews: Nyx Night, Nyx N1ghts <same :>
Art: Dika Wolf <Dika Wolf@aol.com>
Beginner's Corner: Autery <Autery@aol.com>
'The Dungeon': Kent Conrad <KentConrad@aol.com>
The Writing Workshop: Alex Karaczun <ADKaraczun@aol.com>
Contributors: EKSTRA@aol.com, delaney@psy.fsu.edu
The UANL address: <UANL@aol.com>
The enthusiasm that new users have showered upon UA is truly
astounding. With the re-release of the disks and the CD-ROM version,
UA is expanding like the good old days (that is, slowly when compared to
other products, but very fast for us :). Moreover, we've fielded more
questions like "Where can I find UA?" in the UA area than ever before,
as any old-timer can attest to.
So what does all this mean? Well, on the most obvious level, we've got more people to write, design, and play mods. Believe me: We're going to see more art and designs posted in the next few months than in a LONG time. But on another level, we'll get an infusion of new ideas and concepts. While the vets. work to hone their skills, these newbies are developing completely new scenarios and styles. Perhaps someone will create the much-awaited wall art importer.
Submissions are a key part of any hobbyist newsletter; ours is no exception. As I've said time and time again, this is YOUR NL! If you want it to be the best that it possibly can, you need to submit. We, the editors, cannot do it all by ourselves; we need your help (esp. you Internet users!)
(NOTE: all submitted material is subject to editing for clarity, brevity, and/or vulgarity. The UANL staff accepts no responsibility for anything said or implied in the free-lance articles; if you have a gripe, see its author. ;)
I'm sitting on a pile of fantasy stories (the biggest addition to the UANL) that never made it in, for one reason or another. That's not to say that the stories are bad -- quite the contrary. I wanted to get settled back into the UANL pattern before churning out a new product.
Once our new staff members are feeling comfortable we'll hammer out a new plan of action. Until then, please bear with us. Sit tight, enjoy the same mix of UANL stories that have entertained you thus far, and look to the horizon. For the change really is coming, however distant it may be (remember how long it took SSI to put out Dark Sun? We'll be quicker than that, I promise!).
Now that the excuses are down -- for the last time -- and dead, I can get to the *real* news.
UA Tools has not yet revolutionized the area, but rest assured, it will. Most of the designers have already played with the kit in one way or another, and more will in the months to come, especially after it's uploaded to AOL. The first games to be produced with UA Tools will have their share of problems, much like the original batch of UA mods did. It takes all designers time to get used to a new engine, and UAer's are no exception. We're currently in a period of transition from the old system to the UA Tool's new environment.
The first batch of 'Tooled' modules should be out soon -- if they haven't begun to trickle in already. No, most won't be as impressive as the more conservative mods. that rely on the old bag of tricks, but as the Toolers gain in experience and knowledge, the mods will eventually overshadow more traditional pieces. Much like the 386 was phased out, UA Tools will take over the area -- and will continue to be built upon.
Who knows what UA Tools '96 will contain? Perhaps the fabled wall editor... maybe a way to fully animate pics.... maybe something that we haven't thought up yet.
So, my fellow UAer's, keep plugging at those keyboards. Don't lose heart if your first mod. is slammed. Don't give up. Keep the UA tradition going strong into its (gasp) third year.
-Coric-
PCCBryan@aol.com
UA was used to create the commercial 'Gold Box' games by SSI. These include such classics like: 'Dark Queen of Krynn' and 'Pools of Darkness'. However, this version of the gold box engine requires no programming skill or technical ability. With it, many would-be game designers, artists, and budding writers have been able to produce the game of their dreams that would not have been possible otherwise. I owe a lot to UA; its given me many hours of design - and playing - enjoyment.
Even if you are not a designer, I would reccomend getting UA. It is one of the most versitile RPG systems on the market: there are hundreds of games to play, games that cost nothing! If you tire of one module or finish it, just download one of the many others available. There are games of all sorts on AOL, Compuserve, and the Internet: traditional dungeon-crawls, epics, hack-and-slashes, and interactive novels. Like the pen and paper AD&D, this system can be enjoyed over and over. There is never an end to the fun; the options truly are Unlimited.
TO ORDER:
**UA is now available on a special CD-ROM bundle! For a low price, you get UA, D&D Stronghold, Fantasy Empires, and Dungeon Hack! Other users have reported that the disk-based UA is available in most computer stores, at a ROCK-BOTTOM price (under $20).**
If you cannot find one of the above-mentioned products, call SSI direct at 1-800-245-4525 or (408) 737-6800 OR visit your local software retailer. The number of copies of UA are limited; you may have to hunt to find one. You may also check with the mail-order software companies (who usually have a large number of any title and can get you the most obscure of disks with relative ease). The SSI mailing address is as follows:
Electronic Arts/CODE SSI 53 P.O. Box 7530 San Mateo, CA 94403or:
SSI Direct Sales 675 Almanor Ave., Suite 201 Sunnyvale, CA 94086-2901
To view the actual NewsLetter, simply type 'UANL10' from your dos prompt. The file is self-executing. Navigate the various menus with the arrow keys or a mouse. Hit the 'F10' key to initiate a hyper-text search. Enjoy!
The files ending with the .PCX extension are art files; copy them into your Art directory to import them into your mods. The excellent combat icons were done by Autery (except for the Eagle Lord, which was edited from a TV Guide pic.). The Figure1.PCX was drawn by Dika Wolf and refers to his column.
And all those .DAT and .TLB files? They go to BrettE1@aol.com's 'Moria 2' demo. See the UANL for installation details, if necessary.
Until next time,
-PCC Bryan@aol.com-
c_dark1s.pcx
c_wrgrdr.pcx
c_eagle2.pcx
c_eaglrd.pcx