Your thoughts regarding TOEE?

[UniversalWolf]

That's a pretty good evil ending, actually.

You know, ToEE gets criticized for lacking a story, but I think some of that is unfair. It's just not a story-oriented cRPG in the mold of Torment or Bladur's Gate. Instead it has a general goal, and a fairly broad path to reach that goal, and the goal isn't even the same from one playthrough to the next. That's a different approach from most cRPGs, and I appreciate it for what it is.

 

[Cimmerian Nights]

Well, I think the general public is going to lose sight of what this game is and what they were trying to recreate, if they were ever aware of it at all.

And while Troika had plenty of shortcomings, not being compromising trend-whores at the expense of their games' inaccessibility to the mainstream is something I would never fault them for.

 

[UniversalWolf]

Well, I think the general public is going to lose sight of what this game is and what they were trying to recreate, if they were ever aware of it at all.

It's definitely under the radar. That said, it's really a damn good game. The last, best attempt to emulate a PnP RPG on a computer. I can only imagine what a new Fallout sequel based on this type of design would be like. Or Arcanum...

Even though Jagged Alliance 2 still has my favorite turn-based combat, I have to say ToEE's combat, while not as complex, is really slick. The radial menus are super fast and intuitive once you get used to them.

 

[Cimmerian Nights]

Let's hope that we'll soon be using Age of Decadence as a cRPG combat basis of comparison. If VD ever gets his shit together that is.

 

[Mad Max RW]

I really enjoyed TOEE with the CO8 mod/patch thing. It took me back to those pen and paper d&d games I played as a kid. The story was shallow, but it was all about combat and atmosphere. We desperately needed a fully functioning and well documented SDK. Such a missed opportunity. I can only imagine a remake of Darksun: Shattered Lands or Baldur's Gate with TOEE's combat. They created the perfect engine with all the best mechanics and it all went to waste.

 

[.Pixote.]

Does anyone remember this…the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Players Handbook…well this was how I discovered The Temple of Elemental Evil.

You see my big brother played Advanced Dungeons and Dragons when I was a little kid, and he collected/stole all of the original modules, books, figurines, dice, etc. I use to watch him and his friends play and enjoyed looking through the books, well eventually he grew up and I inherited the lot, but I actually never played the game…by this time computer RPG’s where out and you need a very special sort of person to play D&D with – my friends weren’t that special.

So packed in a box out back in the shed I have all of the books, modules, etc – including the original The Temple of Elemental Evil module, so when the game came out I checked the module and compared the two, the developers did a pretty good job of reproducing the location…I just wish the game could have involved the local lands better. But still I love the game.

As for my brother…well he also loved Squad Leader, and “collected” everything related to the game…mind you it was the most expensive and complex board game ever made (Think of Close Combat – but a board game), and one day I asked him if he still had it…err no, he burnt the entire collection…he wanted to move on with his life.

 

[Lexx]

I would have sold it, instead of burning.

 

[aenemic]

this thread has made me want to re-install TOEE. I never finished it, but this time I will dammit.

 

[alec]

this time I will dammit.

I once embarked on that same quest, young man, yet the myriad of bugs in the game prevented me from reaching my goal. I never ever got it to work well for me, not even all patched up, it would always fail on me somewhere, some time. I gave up eventually and don't even own the game nowadays. It's a shame, really, 'cause I was really excited about it when it came out.

 

[UniversalWolf]

...one day I asked him if he still had it…err no, he burnt the entire collection…he wanted to move on with his life.

That's like murdering your girlfriend instead of just breaking up with her.

There are still two or three really annoying glitches in ToEE. I think they're beyond the ability of the modding community to fix. They're only present at particular places in the game, however, and they don't stop you from finishing it.

The story parts of ToEE are the opposite of Torment, I would say. Torment is one tale that unfolds to the same conclusion no matter how you play. ToEE unfolds in very different ways depending on how you play, which means it can never be as deep as Torment, but it's much broader.