The Forgotten Realms Archive - now on GOG!

[Edmond Dantes]

Hey guys, I checked GOG just now and whaddya know.... they finally have some of the classic AD&D Gold Box games!

Specifically, they have The Forgotten Realms Archive, though they split it into three sets: Set one contains the Eye of the Beholder trilogy, Set three contains Menzoberranzan and Dungeon Hack. Set two is the bulk of the collection--it contains Pool of Radiance and its sequels, both the Savage Frontier games, Hillsfar, and one game that wasn't on the physical Forgotten Realms Archive--Unlimited Adventures.

Each game, of course, has manuals and cluebooks, and there's code wheels, plus some other extras.

Now if only they could somehow get the Krynn trilogy and the Buck Rogers games...

[Damaramu]

This is great news! I'm still waiting patiently for the Dark Sun games to make it to GOG.

[Jorpho]

It's a little surprising that it took them this long to get it sorted out. These games still seem to be pretty popular – and not entirely straightforward to get running in DOSBox either.

I still have my sealed copy of The Forgotten Realms Archives Silver Edition tucked away.

[Jorpho]

Ooh, the details have been revealed.
http://www.pcgamer.com/how-gog-rescued-13-forgotten-realms-games-from-licensing-hell/

[Edmond Dantes]

Even tho I have a physical Forgotten Realms Archive, I sometimes consider buying the Silver Edition for two reasons, one because my manual has water damage on it and two because Silver has the full version of Blood and Magic, which I remember I found surprisingly fun when I played the demo.

But I'm not sure it'd be worth it.

And now this GOG thing also has a game I don't have, Unlimited Adventures. I'm happy for the UA community getting a chance to expand, but personally I'm debating between this and holding out for a physical copy.

[Wraith Storm]

Ooh, the details have been revealed.
http://www.pcgamer.com/how-gog-rescued-13-forgotten-realms-games-from-licensing-hell/

Wow. That was a great read. Thanks for the link Jorpho.

I assumed the rights had been lost somewhere, but it was cool to read about the process they went through to tracking them down.

[Edmond Dantes]

Honestly, it's bothering me to no end that when we see the Gold Box and other old AD&D games re-released at all, its specifically the Forgotten Realms games.

Lest we forget, the "Gold Box" line also included three games based on Krynn and two games based on Buck freaking Rogers, and other AD&D games from before Baldur's Gate included ones based on Ravenloft, Dark Sun, possibly Mystara, and even Spelljammer. Those two Ravenloft games, by the way, used exactly the same 3D engine that powers the Menzoberranzan game, and yet that one is constantly reprinted and the Ravenlofts are not.

How much sense does it make, having this extensive back catalog and yet only selling parts of it? I know Forgotten Realms is profitable, considering digital distribution is basically cost-free publishing then really there's no reason NOT to host these. And I refuse to believe that they were able to clear the rights for the FR games without also clearing the rights for every other AD&D game SSI created/published. That simply makes no sense.

[Trebuken]

Honestly, it's bothering me to no end that when we see the Gold Box and other old AD&D games re-released at all, its specifically the Forgotten Realms games.

Lest we forget, the "Gold Box" line also included three games based on Krynn and two games based on Buck freaking Rogers, and other AD&D games from before Baldur's Gate included ones based on Ravenloft, Dark Sun, possibly Mystara, and even Spelljammer. Those two Ravenloft games, by the way, used exactly the same 3D engine that powers the Menzoberranzan game, and yet that one is constantly reprinted and the Ravenlofts are not.

How much sense does it make, having this extensive back catalog and yet only selling parts of it? I know Forgotten Realms is profitable, considering digital distribution is basically cost-free publishing then really there's no reason NOT to host these. And I refuse to believe that they were able to clear the rights for the FR games without also clearing the rights for every other AD&D game SSI created/published. That simply makes no sense.

I had this thought as well. Why would they not have had the rights to those games as well? We must badger GOG to hunt those down as well. I remember enjoying those just as much. Buck Rogers and Dark Sun were underrated IMO.

[Gameguy]

I had this thought as well. Why would they not have had the rights to those games as well? We must badger GOG to hunt those down as well. I remember enjoying those just as much. Buck Rogers and Dark Sun were underrated IMO.
You know you can buy used original copies of the game as well if you wanted to play them, they're still pretty common and they're really not that expensive if you just want loose copies.

[Edmond Dantes]

With Buck Rogers you need to look up "Journal Entries" in the Log Books, so you need those at least. Still, I managed to get both for like $20-$30 apiece, complete and in good condition. The real headache there is making sure you get them on a format you actually own (usually when I see the Buck Rogers games I see them on those five-inch floppies when my baby only has either a 3-inch or a CD-ROM drive).

Dark Sun tho is easy. I managed to find loose discs of the AD&D Masterpiece collection, which had digital copies of the manuals--which here, IIRC you _do not_ have to refer to entries, so it being digital is fine. That same collection also includes the two Ravenloft games, and Menzoberranzan (which I now own twice thanks to the FR Archives).

[JSoup]

Lest we forget, the "Gold Box" line also included three games based on Krynn and two games based on Buck freaking Rogers, and other AD&D games from before Baldur's Gate included ones based on Ravenloft, Dark Sun, possibly Mystara, and even Spelljammer.

What? Someone understood the brilliance of Spelljammers and made a video game out of it? Tell me more.

[Edmond Dantes]

Yeah. Spelljammer: Pirates of Realmspace. I actually never got to play it but its on my "to get" list. Descriptions seem inconsistent--some say it uses the gold box engine, some say it uses a new engine but a similar combat engine for man-to-man combat.

Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spelljammer:_Pirates_of_Realmspace) has a surprisingly lengthy section on the game's development.

Most of the other sites I find don't say nice things about it, but I'd rather play it for myself and decide. After all, nobody understands classic RPGs like I do. This is the same internet, after all, where people whine and bitch that the original Dragon Warrior has "no direction" and gives you "no objectives" (it actually does, just these idiots never thought to try talking to people because modern RPGs have trained them out of that), so I'm not willing to trust any oldschool RPG is bad until I see for myself.

EDIT: Also, perhaps unsurprisingly, there are some Spelljammer modules in existence for Unlimited Adventures. See here (http://ua.reonis.com/index.php?topic=321.0) (though that list conflates Spelljammer with Planescape, which I find problematic). Because UA is just awesome like that, and I probably just made GOG's FRA volume 2 a must-buy for somebody.

[Trebuken]

You know you can buy used original copies of the game as well if you wanted to play them, they're still pretty common and they're really not that expensive if you just want loose copies.

Actually I believe I have them. Commodore 64 versions. I would just like the convenience of GOG, and possibly the removal of the copy protection.

[Edmond Dantes]

Well it looks like there may be hope for the other D&D games after all--today GOG added Stronghold and Al-Qadim: the Genie's Curse.

[JSoup]

Well it looks like there may be hope for the other D&D games after all--today GOG added Stronghold and Al-Qadim: the Genie's Curse.

They also just released Ravenloft, Dark Sun and Krynn.
http://www.gog.com/news/release_dungeons_dragons_ravenloft_dark_sun_krynn_ series

[Edmond Dantes]

Now if only they would get the two Buck Rogers games and Spelljammer: Pirates of Realmspace, that would be the entire Gold Box series covered.

Ideally I would also like to see the "lesser" AD&D games included, just for completionists if nothing else. You know, games like Birthright: The Gorgon's Alliance and Descent to Undermountain.

[Daria]

You know, games like Birthright: The Gorgon's Alliance

I had that one growing up, was trying to think of the name while reading this thread and then you posted it. Thanks!

Anyway, I liked it.

[Edmond Dantes]

I'd like to own it one day. It's some sort of kingdom management sim, isn't it?

[Ozzy_98]

Now if only they would get the two Buck Rogers games and Spelljammer: Pirates of Realmspace, that would be the entire Gold Box series covered.

Ideally I would also like to see the "lesser" AD&D games included, just for completionists if nothing else. You know, games like Birthright: The Gorgon's Alliance and Descent to Undermountain.
And they would need an offline version of Neverwinter Nights. I played one for a while, but never really put too much time into it.

[Edmond Dantes]

A dude by the name of GoldBoxFan actually made an offline Neverwinter Nights using Unlimited Adventures, so that's covered.

I've always been curious how that game was supposed to play online to begin with. From what I understand, you only create a single character, so in battle every party member is a separate player?