In Progress Let's Play Spirit of Excalibur.

[Cool name]

I should write an introduction to the game here but I do not see the point. I do prefer to explain things as we do come across them. I will instead do steal a paragraph or two from Wikipedia's article on the game and be done with it.

Spirit of Excalibur is a 1990 computer game developed by Synergistic Software for PC, Amiga, Atari ST, Apple IIGS and Apple Macintosh, and distributed by Virgin Mastertronic, Inc..

As the title hints, the game takes Arthurian legend, using both fictional and historical works used as sources to recreate the atmosphere of the age of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, and to draw out characters' names, history and relationships. The game's sources include medieval works such as Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, modern ones such as Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon, and a number of historical treatises on Arthur of the late 1980s. Spirit of Excalibur is a role-playing game in which the player is in control of a host of characters, rather than a single one, and as such he has to explore with them Arthurian England in an attempt to solve quests the game is made of and reach the final goal of uniting Britain under a single king.

The game was followed by a sequel, Vengeance of Excalibur, in 1991.

The game is very pretty as well. This is the main reason I did always want to play it through. On my previous tries I did play the game on DosBox. Yet the speed is too fast and the mouse too sensible for it to be naught but barely playable. This once I will play the Amiga 500 version. This is the first time I do try to actually play something on WinUAE so it is quite possible this Let's Play will crash and burn when something beyond my comprehension does not work as I did intend. And if you do enjoy the Let's Play do remember to thank Spekkio as he is the one who did send me a WinUAE whatchamacallit already set up to run Shadoworlds. I did only need to fiddle a bit with the options to run this one as well.

And if this introductory update is any indication you will see me lose the game quite a bit.

That's enough of an introduction.

I. The king is dead.​

Spoiler

The credits do begin to roll. I do skip them. The game proper does begin without further delay.

Constantine is in York, concluding negotiations with Clariance, King of Northumberland. Word has been sent to York that Constantine must return to Camelot to answer challenges to his sovereignty.
The realm cannot long endure without a King. Constantine must demonstrate that he possesses the qualities required to unite the land and restore the round table to its former glory.

Soon-to-be-King Constantine does leave York. With him do travel a few soldiers and fewer still knights as well as his beautiful, charming, adorable, stylish, elegant, and most classy sorcerous advisor. Constantine plan is to travel to the south and the east to the village of Brough-On-Humber. From here he will travel south to the city of Lincoln to meet with his friend Sir Villars.

The journey from York to Camelot does play as a tutorial of sorts as it does introduce us to the basics of scenes, the world map, knightly duels, and army battles. The game will itself take us from location to location without much input on our part. Once we do arrive to Camelot the game does begin in earnest. My original intention was to cover the entire journey on this first update yet I did find the very weird way in which things did play out to be most amusing and the plan did change.

But let us go back to the game. When on the world map time does pass in real time. The first thing I do is to click on the hourglass to be found among the icons to the right. This does summon a small window that does let me pick among three speed settings. I do pick the slowest option more out of tradition than out of need. All previous times I did play the game on DosBox and the speed is ridiculous even on the slowest setting. I am presently on WinUAE and the speed is far more reasonable.

I will describe the function of the other icons as well. The Crystal Ball does reveal the status of the party we did previously select. The scroll does allow us to both save and load the game. The magnifying glass does allow us to check a location at the scene level. The knight we will use to give movement orders to parties.

Darest thou hight of Englande the monarch rightful? On thy knees fall, O froward swine! For thy life do beg, O contumelious fool!

Alack! My doom is near!

Yet the rudesby I shall forgive. Vertuos his advice. Sely his intention.

Gramercy, O Lord most kind.

Aroint. Bethink aefre this benefaction.

As it was his plan do Constantine and his entourage travel south from the village. At first there is little for us to do but to wait for him to get there. Then the party does encounter a wandering monk with a story that does capture the interest of the King as it does refer to the dire danger on which his friend Sir Villars does find himself presently.

Lincoln is already our destination so there is little for us to do but to wait. Before long we do arrive and face the first of the little challenges that the tutorial does put in our way to let us familiarize with the game and its controls. This challenge is but the first of many duels in which Constantine and his knights will find themselves involved. It is an easy duel as well. The point is just to introduce the system to us. To click options at random is more than enough to defeat the villain.

To thy knees fall, O ruffian, and for salvation pray! Soothly 'tis time for thee to thole the judgement of our Lord!

Many options do we have to lead Constantine to victory.

Yet improper it is for a lady most fair to involve herself in the business of knightly honor.

If we do not want to involve ourselves in the battle we can leave Constantine to fight on his own. As I did use to play the PC version I do usually leave the knights to do battle on their own as the high speed was not particularly conductive to being involved in the real time combat. Do keep in mind I did never get too far in the game yet from what I did see they are more than able to defend themselves.

Uhm... Oops? I-I do mean... Wellaway!

This is the first time this does happen to me. Constantine did not manage to even once strike at Lupinus. The skulls next to a character's name do represent their wounds. This battle does confuse me a little bit as in the PC version named knights did usually have five hit points yet both Constantine and Lupinus do instead have three each in this one. Villars does seem to have the full amount as being badly hurt he does already begin with three wounds.

With Constantine's defeat Sir Villars does join the battle. With two quick strikes he does slay the foe.

An espectacle most wondrous, O damsel. Englande didst thou doom in the tutorial most early.

Do shut up. I am but a little bit rusty. It will come back to me.

Eventually.

So does the first episode of our adventure come to an end. Will Constantine manage to finish the tutorial and reach Camelot alive? Will he find knights of courage and honor to join him after this most shameful display? Will the chronicler most charming abandon the olde englishe before madness does come to claim us all? This and more you will discover in the next chapter.

In the meantime I should read the manual again.

 

[Ulminati]

This is very relevant to my interests!

 

[abnaxus]

Looks uncannily like a certain BioWare NPC.

 

[lightbane]

Yay, another not-Black Cat LP

*Main character is killed during the first tutorial combat*

Hardcore difficulty, or terrible luck?? Time will tell...

 

[Mrowak]

Already done recuperating after Hard Nova?

The game looks gorgeous, although the battle system looks simplistic and it appears it is based on chance - it's something I don't really fancy. But do carry on!

Looks uncannily like a certain BioWare NPC.

Who do you mean?

 

[Cool name]

@ Ulminati: I am glad you do find the game to your taste.

@ abnaxus: Which character would that be? I do not know much about Bioware characters.

Though the similitude may be a result of the small size I did need to edit it into.

Spoiler

I do love that image.

@ lightbane: We will discover how hardcore it is together. I did not manage to play the game for long on PC because of the speed problem.

@ Mrowak: The combat system is indeed a bit random. I should try to become better at manual control but I do truly suck at it. The sequel, which I do intend to do once I do finish with this one, does have a more detailed and interesting combat system yet it does not have the option to assume direct control of the knights.

II. Choose your own Cop-Out.​

Spoiler

A new day does dawn. Constantine and his most enchanting advisor are in York. The soon-to-be-king does meet with King Clariance and then does leave for Lincoln. Along the way they do make a stop at Brough-On-Humber. Lord Constantine does once again stop his counselor most radiant from executing the helpful yet impolite peasant. As I do play around with the options to get a feel for the game I do notice a previous mistake I did make. Neither soldiers nor knights do accompany their Lord.

I will take this chance to use the Crystal Ball and explain what does every ability mean.

HP does indicate the maximum hit points the character may have.

HTH does indicate the remaining hit points. There are several different ways to recover these, and I do believe they do replenish in full when an episode does end. Or was it a quest? Anyway, let us move on.

MAG does indicate the character's magical power. According to the manual the maximum MAG score is a hundred. Every time a character does use magic this does go down. There are few ways to restore this score while in a quest or adventure. The score does fully recover at the end of an episode. Or a quest, maybe, as I did say earlier. I do not remember. The manual does say the maximum amount of magical power does raise the more a character does use magic.

COM does indicate the martial skill of a character. It does increase when the character does fight.

ARM does indicate how much does the armor he or she does wear does protect the character. The chance to be hit does result from subtracting the ARM value from a hundred. All knights do start the game with plate armor. It does have an ARM value of 40.

NOB does indicate the Nobility of a character, which does represent concepts such as Leadership and Honor. It does go from zero to twenty. Good and heroic actions do raise it. Evil or cowardly actions do lower it. The manual does say that if it does become too low the character may turn to the dark side and betray Constantine. I do asume the game does end if Constantine's own Nobility does reach such a point.

FTH does indicate the depth of the character's faith in God and the cause. It does go from zero to twenty. To be victorious in battle and to meditate on a holy place does raise it. To suffer a wound, to retreat from battle, or to face evil supernatural powers does lower it. A high faith may give the character the ability to use holy magic and influence how strong the effect of sacred item such as Holy Water is. The manual does say that if a character's faith does fall too much he may become evil as well.

This does cover the basics. As I did never get too far in the game I do not know how important each of these is. That we will have to discover along the way.

Constantine does reach Lincoln and does face Lupinus. I do start to mash keys in a way most desperate. It does nothing as I did forget to switch to manual control.

Yet with ease does Constantine defeat the evil knight and save the honor of his friend. He does gain a combat point for this feat.

I will take the chance to copy Sir Villars' biography from the manual.

An older knight of the Orkney clans, not in the best of health, Sir Villars rules the city of Lincoln and the surrounding lands and maintains a small army to defend the northern reaches of the kingdom. Long a friend of Lord Constantine, Sir Villars should be one of his most stalwart supporters. Due to the long standing feud involving his kinsmen, Sir Villars hates Sir Lancelot.

Constantine does leave Lincoln.

He does follow the path that does cut through the forest to the southwest of the city. His objective is to reach Leicester and meet with his friend Sir Gahalantine.

A knight of the Orkney clan, Sir Gahalantine is a loyal supporter of Constantine. Sir Gahalantine leads the force charged with the defense of the fortress at Leicester. Due to a longstanding feud involving his kinsmen, Sir Gahalantine hates Sir Lancelot.

Sir Gahalantine does command a force of ten knights and twenty five soldiers at Leicester. The shield that does wait at the middle point of the journey from Lincoln to Leicester does belong to Sir Bellengerus le Beuse.

A loyal, but average, knight of the Round Table. He was once a lord of Northern Wales, but was evicted in a rebellion and is still hated there, and by the lords who now rule that area.

As he is one of Constantine's own we do have little to fear either from him or from the fifty soldiers he does command. What does bother the King is instead the round shield with an axe on it, a group of ten knights and thirty soldiers lead by a saxon by the name of Andulf. Constantine does carefully observe their movements even when several days of travel do probably separate them, nevermind the dense forest that does soon stand between them.

'tis a thing most useful, darke witchery.

In this way he does soon come to the conclusion they do advance to attack Leicester. Once they do reach the edge of the forest they do come across a traveler that does confirm his fears.

Constantine does have no forces. His only hope to assist Sir Gahalantine against the saxons does lie with the forces led by Sir Bellengerus. And by the time they do meet in the forest it is obvious Constantine will not arrive to Leicester until after Andulf and Sir Gahalantine have met in battle.

As his little biography did warn us Sir Bellengerus is simply average. He has 5 HP, 5 HTH, 0 MAG, 10 COM, 40 ARM, 10 NOB, and 10 FTH. Each of his fifty soldiers does have 1 HP, 1 HTH, 0 MAG, 5 COM, 40 ARM, 10 NOB, and 10 FTH. That generic footsoldiers do wear armor as good as that of a knight, let alone a knight of the Round Table, does come across as somewhat ridiculous.

Andulf does attack Leicester long before Constantine does reach the city.

Sir Gahallantine does retreat back into the city for no reason other than that this is the tutorial and thus Constantine does have to defeat the Saxons himself.

Presently neither Constantine nor Bellengerus have available commands. The footsoldiers can charge, engage, and retreat. Charge does make a group do greater damage through a round. The pay off is that they will suffer greater damage the round after. Engage is the generic combat mode. Retreat should be self explanatory.

When you do engage an enemy force outside of a friendly city the battle will stop when you do lose about an eight of your total forces to ask you whether or not do you want to retreat into the city. In other conditions the game will do so when you do lose about half of your forces. The manual does say that if the enemy does outnumber you greatly retreat may be impossible.

Constantine forces do retreat into Leicester.

Back in the world map I do use the magnifying glass icon to switch to Leicester's scene level.

On the left you do have both Constantine and Bellengerus. On the right you do have both Andulf and Gahalantine. The crystal ball does the same as it does on the world map. The map below it does take us back to the world map. The hand does open the interaction menu. The gate does allow us to enter the place outside of which we do find ourselves.

I do click on the hand. The game does prompt me to choose which member of the party will take action. Constantine will.

I do not remember what some of the options do. I will have to experiment with them as we do progress. Yet presently I do only want to have Constantine speak with Sir Gahalantine. I do pick Talk and the game does prompt me to pick a target from a menu. I do pick Gahalantine.

Parfay equipollent the hosts were wheneas recreant did you abjur-

Ahem. Fain I am that to succour my friend our Lord did swith hither bring me. Yet to prevail we do still have.

Fie.

It is not possible to parlay with Andulf. Constantine is ready to lead his army against the saxons. Yet as the previous battle did rage Andulf did suffer a wound. In a single duel Constantine will have the advantage. In this way he may be able to defeat his foe without the sacrifice of more of his already meager forces.

From Andulf he does demand a duel.

Yet even when hurt is the saxon a worthy adversary. Several bouts do pass. Neither does obtain an advantage. Neither does manage to surpass his foe and strike true. Constantine does however have an ace up his sleeve. A plan most wicked he did prepare along his most enchanting counselor.

By Fey tongues and odd little dolls, and by blood and hair and... more, does she assume direct control of the King. With her sagacity and his prowess combined the Saxon does have no hope to prevai-

At this... thou... dost suck...

Alack! My best I did!

The King is dead. Without him the Round Table will not survive. Without him England will remain a divided land ripe for Saxon conquest. An age of darkness and horror does come.

Yoicks! Fain I am 'tis naught but...

A. A mushroom-induced prophetic dream!

B. A vision on my crystal ball!

C. A vision revealed by the dark presence trapped in my black mirror!

D. A vision revealed by totemic spirits met during dream-walking!

E. A peek into a parallel universe!

F. A mushroom-induced vision of a parallel universe the dark totemic spirits inside the black mirror did reveal through the reflection of my crystal ball!

A new day does dawn. Outside Leicester the small force Constantine does lead does meet the saxon forces led by Andulf. With the knowledge she did gain the most charming advisor and her King do manage to come up with a much better battle plan. Andulf does not survive the battle. None of his men does.

The King does continue his journey to the southwest until the party does come to a crossroad. From here he does travel to the southeast. After a long journey they do arrive to St. Albans. The friar does receive them.

From St.Albans they do continue to London. From here they do continue southwest. The plan is to reach Silchester after a short visit to Windsor. From there it will be a short distance to Camelot.

Both the knight at Windsor and the damsel at Silchester do entreat the King with populist madness.

And then does the party finally reach Camelot.

We do use the gate icon to the right to enter the castle.

Acclaimed by the remaining knights of the Round Table, Constantine now rules at Camelot. His reign, however, is not an easy one. Many of those who broke away have failed to rally to the new king. Having no Champion, Constantine lacks the power to unite the land.

Constantine calls his loyal knights to Camelot to discuss a disturbing report. Only seven respond.

"There is great unrest in the northern regions of the land. Forces are gathering in Scotland. We know not if they quarrel among themselves or plan to move against the realm. Someone must seek the truth of these tidings and determine their intent."

Such is the current state of the Round Table. I will take this opportunity to introduce them to you.

Lord Constantine we do already know. He does currently have 5 HP, 5 HTH, 0 MAG, 14 COM, 40 ARM, 15 NOB, and 12 FTH.

King Arthur's regent has extremely high nobility, and is liked by almost everyone. His faith if also high, and he may be able to use some clerical magic. Arthur intended Constantine to be his successor.

Sir Bedivere is presently the best fighter of the Round Table. He does have 5 HP, 5 HTH, 0 MAG, 15 COM, 40 ARM, 10 NOB, and 10 FTH.

One of Arthur's first knights, Sir Bedivere was always the king's staunchest supporter. Fights with Arthur at all of the great battles. Consistently subordinates his own interests to those of his sovereign. One of the few survivors of Arthur's last battle at Camlann, Sir Bedivere witnesses Arthur's death. At Arthur's dying command, he attempts three times to return the sword Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake, and is reproved by Arthur until he finally succeeds. Leader of the current Knights of the Round Table, Sir Bedivere's love of Arthur makes him an enemy of Arthur's betrayer, Lancelot.

Sir Ector de Maris does have 5 HP, 5 HTH, 0 MAG, 12 COM, 40 ARM, 10 NOB, and 10 FTH.

Lancelot's English born half brother, Ector is a strong knight, loyal to Constantine, Lancelot, and the Round Table. Not to be confused with the older Sir Ector who was Arthur's foster father.

Sir Dinas is the only knight we do presently have who does have a (very small) measure of magical talent. He does have 5 HP, 5 HTH, 3 MAG, 10 COM, 40 ARM, 11 NOB, and 10 FTH.

Former seneschal of Cornwall, Sir Dinas renounced his allegiance to King Mark over his treatment of Tristram and later became a knight of the Round Table. Sir Dinas has an unsuspected aptitude for Druidic Magic.

Sir Bellengerus you did previously meet.

Sir Lavain is identical to Sir Ector de Maris in attributes.

Knight of the Round Table. Lavain is inordinately proud of his speed and endurance. He is the fastest of the knights under Constantine's command, though average in fighting ability. Excellent for pursuits of fleeing quarry.

I did forget to previously explain this. Not all characters do move at the same speed in the world map. A party does move at the speed of its leader.

Sir Melias de Lile is the Round Table's resident tank as well as its resident anti-hero. He does have 5 HP, 5 HTH, 0 MAG, 12 COM, 50 ARM, 7 NOB, and 8 FTH.

Son of the King of Denmark, Sir Melias became a knight of the Round Table due to his interest in the Grail Quest. A strong fighter, with unusually good armor. A prideful knight, Sir Melias is the least noble and faithful of Constantine's knights.

Sir Hebes le Renoumes is pious and noble as well as the worst fighter we do presently have. He does have 5 HP, 5 HTH, 0 MAG, 9 COM, 40 ARM, 11 NOB, and 13 FTH.

Former squire to Sir Tristram, Sir Hebes became a good knight, but not the best fighter. Sir Hebes' strong faith makes him a good candidate to train as a clerical magic user.

I do try to reload only when I do lose the game or do face a true catastrophe. If Constantine does die the game does end. I do plan to leave him on reserve for missions that do need his presence or desperate battles where his high attributes may be all that does separate victory from defeat. I will also keep Sir Lavain in reserve for when a quest does come on which time and speed are of the essence.

The northern Lords and their subjects do despise Sir Bellengerus so I will not send him on this particular mission.

I do not remember if this is possible at this point to have several different parties at the same time. I will try to do so. If it is I will send everyone I do not need on this mission to a nearby monastery or abbey so that they may use the time the quest will take to grow in faith. The ones for whom this is the important I do believe to be Constantine, Hebes, and Melias so I will try to at least get them to do it.

This does not leave me with much of a choice. Sir Bedivere will receive the quest. Sir Ector and Sir Dinas will accompany him.

 

[Gondolin]

Yay for 5th century knights in 15th century full plate armor.

 

[abnaxus]

Looks uncannily like a certain BioWare NPC.

Who do you mean?

http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Merrill

 

[Crooked Bee]

Yess, it's on!

 

[eklektyk]

Yess, it's on!

deff gonna read and enjoy another QUALITY LP

 

[Azira]

Son of the Danish king?

Bringing viking blood to the british isles.

 

[abnaxus]

Bringing viking blood to the british isles.

Spoiler

 

[spekkio]

Heh. So, somebody will finally LP all these Amiga-exclusives?

 

[Cool name]

@ spekkio: What Amiga exclusive games do you recommend me to check?

@ Azira: Sir Melias de Lile will probably become one of my main knights from the update after the next. I do hope I do find a good image of a hot black knight by then.

@ Gondolin: What did knights wear in the fifth century?

@ eklektyk: Thank you for the kind words. :3

III. The beast doth snack.​

Spoiler

King Constantine and his most trusthworthy advisor do decide Sir Bedivere will lead the main party. Sir Ector and Sir Dinas will accompany him.

They are in the main hall of Camelot. The staircase does lead to Nineve's laboratory. The gate with a golden cross atop of it does lead to the chapel. The door to the left does lead to the Round Table. The door to the right does leave back outside. They do take the staircase.

Lady Nineve is the royal enchantress of King Constantine's court. She does offer Sir Bedivere two items to choose from a list of seven. It is however pointless. The items we do not take do remain in Nineve's chamber and are free to take. The knight does take the healing balm and the potion of prowess. The former is a curative elixir while the later does raise the martial skill by five points in a most permanent manner. Then she does offer to join them in their quest. Sir Bedivere does accept the offer.

Lady Nineve is a powerful sorceress. She does have 5 HP, 5 HTH, 30 MAG, 4 COM, 50 ARM, 13 NOB, and 0 FTH. Her available spells are Charm, Healing, Defend, Shield. She can also use the rite of Repletion and does know how to summon an undine.

The court enchantress to the Round Table, the Lady Nineve is far more powerful than she appears to the uninformed. At the start of Constantine's adventures, Nineve is the only powerful Druidic magic user loyal to the crown.

Before they do leave Sir Bedivere does take the potion of vitality as well. It does give the one who does consume one more HP and HTH. Lady Nineve does take the bat's wing, the belladona, the dragonsbane, and the elixir of loftus. The last one is a potion that does work akin to a charm spell with a single use. The others are components that she may need to cast certain spells.

The party does ascend the next flight of stairs. There is a small room with naught but a table and a door under lock and key. In the table there is a knife as well as the key to the door. They do unlock the door and find themselves in the treasury of Camelot.

The runic blade is a sword that does add five points of martial skill to the character that does wield it. It does go to Sir Bedivere. The shield, the helm, and the broadsword are the standard equipment of a knight. To equip any of them would waste them as the characters do simply discard generic equipment when you do tell them to use different piece. Sir Ector will keep these three items on his bags as I do believe they are of importance on a quest that you will see come from miles away if you did pay any attention to the biographies of the knights.

The three remaining items are magical artifacts. Magical artifacts do only work if the character's current magic power is above a certain threshold unique to every item. Because of this Lady Nineve will take them. The fyrd's stone does damage to the target. Either the Fascinum Laxus or the Fascium Terrere does reduce the nobility of the target. I do not know what does the other do.

I do not take the money. The amount of gold each character does carry is reset when an act does reach its end. Only the gold in the treasury does remain. It is better to just take what we need and deposit what we do not.

The gate to the treasury does lock itself once they do leave. Sir Bedivere does leave the key in the table. They do return downstairs and visit the chapel.

Brother Baudwin does tell them to pick an item out of a list of three. This does work in the same way it did Nineve. Then he does offer to join the party. Sir Bedivere does accept his offer. The knight does also take the Healing Balm. The holy water and the blessed cross do go to Baudwin.

Holy water is a very useful as it can both heal and hurt. It does depend on the character who does become the target. I do believe the amount of damage it does cause and heath it does restore does depend on the faith of the user but I am not completely sure. I do not know what purpose does the blessed cross have.

Back to Brother Baudwin now. He does have 5 HP, 5 HTH, 10 MAG, 5 COM, 50 ARM, 15 NOB, and 15 FTH.

Court cleric to the knights of the Round Table. Clerical magic user. Very high faith, which increases with long retreats to a monastery.

Our exploration of Camelot is complete. Sir Bedivere does drink both the potion of vitality and the potion of prowess. He does also use the runic blade. In this way he does now have 6 HP, 6 HTH, and 25 COM.

Then they do leave Camelot for Salesbury. I do not pick the destination. The game does.

There they do meet a guard that does have no information to offer. Meanwhile, back in Camelot, King Constantine and two of his knights, Sir Melias and Sir Hebes, do leave with Almesbury, the church north of Salisbury, as a destination. My intention is to leave them there while the others do pursue leads so that their faith does raise.

The two knights who do remain on Camelot, Sir Bellengerus and Sir Lavain, I do send out individually. The former one does travel to Silchester, the city north of Camelot. Sir Lavain does travel to the northwest. His destination is a small hut in the forest there.

The main party does leave Salisbury for Arundel, a fortress east Camelot and south from London. The escutcheon there does indicate the presence a noble, Sil Baldric, there. He is friendly to Camelot even if he does still have to accept to become King Constantine's vassal.

Of them all is Bellengerus the first to reach his destination. A guard in Silchester does claim he does have information on the army from the far north. Yet he does want the knight to pay him for it.

Sir Bellengerous does ignore the lowborn swine and does leave for London, with a short stop on Windsor along the way. King Constantine and his two companion do arrive at Almesbury. They will remain there to learn about Him, contemplate His works, and meditate on His teachings. The friar of Almesbury does also have an important piece of information to give his King.

We can now be sure of two things: The realm is in dire danger and to find Sir Lancelot's fate is the true objective of the present act. Where, however, do we begin our search for him? As we ponder this Sir Bedivere and his companions do pass through Chichester on his way to Arundel. A damsel there does have a most interesting tale to tell on why did Sir Baldric do not answer the call of King Constantine.

The knight does make haste to Arundel for a damsel is in distress and a friend of Camelot in need. Or maybe just because we do need allies if we are to stop whichever darkness will befall the realm from the north. In the meantine does Sir Lavain arrive to the hut he did set to visit. An old crone does receive him.

Character who are not knights we do have but two, Nineve and Baudwin. I do decide eventually I will send the both of them as well as Sir Ector, Sir Lancelots Half-Brother, to meet with Sir Bors at Glastonbury.

Sir Lavain does decide to continue northwest, to the city of Cirenchester. As he does leave the hut the main party does reach Arundel. Sir Baldric does receive them.

By dwimmer and witchery does the King's most adorable advisor locate the evil Saxon as he does travel north through forest on which's southwestern edge does Arundel stand. Sir Bedivere and his companions do pursue him.

Around that time is it that Sir Bellengerus does reach Windsor.

For a moment I do ponder whether or not to take his life for the insult his lack of proper hospitality does imply. I do decide not to and Sir Bellengerus does continue to London. The scutcheon there does indicate the presence of Sir Lionel, another knight who is friendly to Constantine's rule yet not one of his vassals.

A short time does pass before Sir Lavain does reach Cirenchester. A guard there does tell him about a group of bandits who do threaten the region.

Oxford is close by but there is a river that does impede a direct approach. I will have to manually guide Sir Lavain to the point in which the river does end to the north of Oxford and from there south to the city itself. Time does pass.

Sir Bedivere is about to catch Cynewulf. Sir Bellengerus is about to reach London. As I do observe their progress I do find there is something out of place to the northeast. The saxon Arcaus does advance towards the capital of Essex. I do try to find more about them. I do despair.

I do seek more information on Sir Lionel's forces. My despair does naught but grow.

The Round Table must ride out to help its friend. Yet Camelot does currently have no army. To save London we will to obtain the fealty of several lords and unite their meager armies in a respectable force. Once the main party does save Sir Baldric's daughter it is my intention to send a few knights to Leicester and Lincoln to recruit the aid of Gahalantine and Villers as well as a knight southwest to Dover to win Sir Palomides to the cause.

Sir Lionel himself does receive Sir Bellengerus shortly thereafter.

A single knight will be of little help against the saxon army. I do decide to set the plan into motion and send Sir Bellengerus east and south. He will travel through Rochester, Canterbury, and Sandwich before he does arrive at Dover and does meet with Sir Palomides.

A time most short does pass before Sir Bedivere does finally corner Cynewulf east of Rochester.

Yonside thy wayworn life naught but Hell dost wait, villain!

The saxon is no match for the knight.

To rescue the damsel most distressed does raise Sir Bedivere's nobility by a single point. To defeat the saxon villain does raise his martial skill by another. From his foe's earthly remains the knight does recover a dozen gold pieces.

It is now my intention to split the party to have Sir Ector, Lady Nineve, and Brother Baudwin meet with Sir Bors while Sir Bedivere and Sir Dinas do journey north to meet with Gahalantine and Villars. However the party will accept no command until the lady is safely returned to her father. I will have to wait for them to arrive to Arundel.

Some time does pass before Sir Bellengerus does arrive at Rochester.

A peasant there does claim to have information for the Round Table yet does want money for it. I will not stand this defiance of the divine order. From Camelot a voice does come. It does explode inside the knight's mind.

The witless waif do slay, Sir Bellengerus.

Soothly dost thou wist the darkness afoot. Yonside this path there is naught but wanion an bedlam.

Yet the knight does not move. Suddenly does the King's most charming advisor begin to miss her knights from King Arthur: The Role-Playing Wargame. And from this point onwards I do officially hate populist Sir Bellengerus the most. He does not care. Before long he does reach Canterbury. The friar there does tell him of the advance of Arcaus towards London. Old news are these. He does continue to Sandwich. A damsel he does meet there does tell him a tale of great interest.

As Bellengerus did travel from Canterbury to Sandwich did Sir Lavain reach Oxford.

Back to Bellengerus only a short time does pass before he does find himself before Sir Palomides, who does challenge him to a friendly contest. This is a type of duel in which the first knight to suffer a wound does lose. Sir Bellengerus does leave in defeat.

Yet he does soon return and defeat Palomides. In this way he does obtain both a point of nobility and a point of martial skill. With the tetosteronic imperative out of the way they are finally able to sit down and have a chat on the topic of the beast that does haunt the roads of Kent.

Before Sir Bellengerus does have the opportunity to start the hunt for the monster does the main party arrive at Arundel. Sir Baldric is joyous his daughter is safely back and does become King Constantine's vassal!

From Dover does Sir Bellengerus depart to face the fell beast. It does not take long for the creature to find him. He does put all he does have on the fight yet powerful is the monster. With magical fire does it pummel the knight. Sir Bellengerus did not ever manage to reach the beast before he did fall.

'tis proper fate for the arch-traitor.

With Sir Bellengerus' death does this chapter come to an end. In the next episode Arcaus will besiege London as these forces loyal to King Constantine do try to reach the city before it is too late. Brother Baudwin will by himself journey to face the evil at Kent as Sir Ector and Lady Nineve do begin the search for Lancelot. Many good knights will fall, and the true enemy of Camelot will reveal himself far in the north. Will King Constantine be able to save Camelot from the army that does descend from Scotland, razing all in its path? Will Sir Lancelot and those who do still look up to him return to the Round Table in time to save Arthur's legacy? This and more you will discover in the next part of the adventure.

 

[Azira]

He sure did eat fiery death. Possibly some sort of sorcery is needed to defend against the beast's attacks?

 

[Ulminati]

Against the cruel whims of a lady scorned there can be no saving throw.

 

[spekkio]

@ spekkio: What Amiga exclusive games do you recommend me to check?

I'm not a specialist in this area (I did not own Amiga back in the day).
Either check this thread or this site - you can use filters to find only RPGs, etc.
Knowing You, you should check this list first.

 

[Gondolin]

@ Gondolin: What did knights wear in the fifth century?

Depends on the location. In Britain, it would've been late Roman armor: breastplate or lorica segmentata (if you could afford it), maybe scale mail or regular mail for the arms and thighs, leg guards. Probably regular chain mail for those who didn't follow the Roman style.

 

[lightbane]

Poor Bellengerus, he did what he believed to be correct, too bad he wasn't bloodthirsty enough. At least the beast is "only" a dragon-like monster, it could be much, much worse...

 

[Crooked Bee]

One Amiga exclusive I'd kill for to see LPed is Captive II: Liberation.

But only after you do Shadoworlds first.

 

[Mrowak]

Hmm, I played this game a little bit (surprisingly enough DosBox version runs like a charm for me but the one for Amiga is sluggish like hell). Combat appears to be based entirely around QTEs.

Still, it has immense amount of charm. It got me in the mood of the era. Once I finish it, I think I will finally buy that King Arthur wargame, RK47 let's played a while ago...

 

[Cool name]

@ Mrowak: It does run well for me with the Amiga 500 with 1mb RAM and turbo mode on the floppy drives. The Amiga version is slightly prettier and where the PC music is terrible the Amiga version's music is just grating instead. The loading times are kind of bothersome but at least I am able to move move the map around without it going from a side of England to the other in the time I do blink. And for me the slowest global speed on DosBox is as fast as the fastest one on Amiga. This is quite bad as several acts do have time limits.
On the other topic the combat is just like that if you do play it on manual mode. If you do use the automatic mode it does pretty much depend on the characters' stats and what options they do have. Just remember to never use anyone but one of your main knights (COM > 20 or COM > 25) in a fight to the death and try to train up your other knights by means of friendly duels. And do not send anyone other than Brother Baudwin or Lady Nineve to face supernatural foes until you do have a few epic knights.

Spoiler

And do not get too dependant on manual mode as the sequel is party based and does not have one.

@ lightbane, Ulminati: It is not my fault he did die. I just did not care he did. But do not worry...

Spoiler

... for another choose-your-own-cop-out is soon to happen.

@ Azira: Lady Nineve does have a spell that does raise a character's magical defense. Lady Nineve, Brother Baudwin, and Sir Melias de Lile do have enchanted armor as well. I do not know whether Magic or Faith does raise the resistance to magic even further yet one of those must do so from what I did see when Brother Baudwin did fight the beast.

@ spekkio: I am grateful for the links. I will check them right away.

@ Gondolin: I do thank you for the detailed answer. I did never actually stop to think how early in time did Arthurian legend take place. The drawings in the books do seem to always have the knights of the round table in full plate and I did just take it for granted. Yet the picture your description does draw does seem more interesting and closer to the few paintings and pictures from feudal times I did see. I do have to wonder why does no one ever use that style instead.

@ Crooked Bee: Is that one the fabled science fiction dungeon crawler said to be almost impossible to win?

 

[Gondolin]

@ Gondolin: I do thank you for the detailed answer. I did never actually stop to think how early in time did Arthurian legend take place. The drawings in the books do seem to always have the knights of the round table in full plate and I did just take it for granted. Yet the picture your description does draw does seem more interesting and closer to the few paintings and pictures from feudal times I did see. I do have to wonder why does no one ever use that style instead.

Most likely a lack of interest in military history and a fondness for the myth that links the word "knight" automatically with cavalry shock troops wearing a certain type of heavy armor and belonging to a certain age.

Not to mention that for reasons of national pride you cannot have a British hero wear Roman armor.

 

[Crooked Bee]

@ Crooked Bee: Is that one the fabled science fiction dungeon crawler said to be almost impossible to win?

It isn't just a dungeon crawler, really - more of a really complex mission-based "open world dungeon crawler" (if that makes sense) set in a huge sprawling city, very atmospheric, convoluted and revolutionary in many ways - but yes, it is famously impossible to win. No walkthrough has ever been written for it as far as I know, which is quite a rare thing these days. I almost won it myself - almost; unfortunately I couldn't figure out a few things and gave up. I'd like to give it another try one day. It's probably the most underappreciated RPG of all time.

Here are some quotes from two different reviews of the game:

There are big games. There are bigger games. And then there is Liberation. The development team have, apparently, struggled long and hard to keep the size down so that it fits on one CD, a mere 660 Mb worth! Liberation has over 50 Mb of graphics, six hours of digitised speech, 30 minutes of full orchestral music, animated characters with individual personalities, and over 4000 levels. It is, Mindscape say, unfinishable because it would take more than a lifetime to play it. Liberation is a first-person-perspective, real-time 3D adventure set in the 29th Century. In the 29th Century everything has been privatised, even the police force (a stunningly original concept) and all is corruption and violence. You play the part of Trill. Trill is not budgie seed, as you might imagine, but a freedom fighter and all round hero. Information falls into your hands that androids used by the police mega-corporation Securi-Co for interrogating suspects are malfunctioning during freak electro magnetic storms and killing the suspects they are interrogating. In true mega-corporation style Securi_co decide to cover up these malfunctions by framing innocent people. It is up to you and your trusty band of droids to liberate the wrongly accused and present evidence of Securi-Co’s misdemeanours to the Emperor himself.

The playfield of the game is a massive city on three levels. You control four heavily armoured and well equipped ‘droids who you move around the city by means of an ultra hi-tec remote automation device otherwise known as your CD32 joypad. In familiar adventure style, you see through the droids’ eyes as they meet the huge variety of characters who inhabit the city and explore the hundreds of buildings.

When you first play the game you are staggered by the size, it is literally mind boggling. You spend the first few minutes wandering around the city in a kind of daze, trying to make sense of the mass of information that is being presented to you. The graphics appear initially disappointing, there is a kind of freakish 60s, psychedelic look to the game, but as you become more involved you begin to appreciate that the graphics do the job well enough and, indeed, add an oppressive atmosphere to the game.

In your task to liberate the wrongly accused prisoner you must interrogate many characters you meet, from the kind lady in the City Records Office to the lowlife pimps and muggers who inhabit the lowest level of the city. All of the characters will speak to you and you choose from a multiple choice of questions. Their anwers depend on their character and modd, so that you may ask somebody a question on different occasions and get different answers. The characters in the game will also remember your previous behavious so you must be sure not to accidentally shoot at any of your prime witnesses (it can happen!) and also be careful to be polite and say goodbye, just like your mother taught you.

After you have played the game for a while, you start to notice the depth of options. You never seem to run out of new things to do and new things to try. You can configure the screen to almost any combination of control windows. You can configure your ‘droids down to the level of swapping around the transistors in their limbs, changing their skill and power levels. You have tiny little cameras called bugs that you can attach to any object in the game and, having done so, then view the city from that perspective, so police helicopters can be carrying your cameras and giving you an overhead view of the action. You pick up scraps of paper that are adverts for cabs, you can find the cabs and direct them to take you to any address you know in the city. And so on and so on... This game is massive, and more to the point does not make you feel like you are being inevitably forced down a one way street to the solution.

Trill, the hero of the original Captive, is now free. At least, free enough to discover a police conspiracy and gets completely caught up in it. The police interrogation robots have some major flaws, and somehow always seem to end up killing the people they are meant to be interrogating. To cover this up, the fuzz are hiding the evidence and planting the blame on many innocent people. As is usual with these games, you are the only person outside the police force who knows this, and as a result they are after you in a big way. Which leaves you with a couple of simple aims: free all the innocent captives, and expose the police for the treacherous bunch they are. It won’t be easy, but then no-one ever said it would be.

Like so many Tony Crowther products, this is a real step away from the norm when it comes to sleuth-style adventure games. Probably the closest thing I can compare it to is Legends Of Valour, in which you start with a basic aim and a couple of addresses, then you are let loose in the city, without any idea of where you are going. In Liberation you start outside the City Records office in the middle of town and from there have to find your way around, and it is surprisingly daunting.

Imagine being dropped in the middle of a strange land without a map or a guide to the local laws and told to find one specific brick in a wall. That should give you some idea of the sheer size of the challenge that faces you. Still, in true ‘I know a man who can’ tradition, the first thing you need to do is to start questioning people. Unfortunately, the natives look anything but happy or friendly, so even knowing whether to smile or open fire is a challenge in itself. That said, most are willing to engage in conversation with you, if only to tell you to get lost. But, with your meagre bundle of facts and a shortlist of addresses, you have got to start the questions rolling somehow. And hope for some answers.

Before too long though you have contacts, keys and more information than you know what to do with. You arrange meetings with people, walk into traps, take the wrong turning into dark alleyways and do all sorts of other things only found in truly great detective movies. That in itself makes Liberation a great game, but there is so much more to it than that.

tl;dr God, this game must be LPed.

 

[spekkio]

^

Agassi
Your best choice would be the CD32 version. ~300 MB, but has CD-audio and works like a charm in Winuae.