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The Ravenloft: Strahd's Possession/Stone Prophet thread
- Thread starter Unkillable Cat
- Start date
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Did you guys play in free-roam or grid-movement mode, or switched between both? What did you think worked better in terms of gameplay and whether it makes sense to have this kind of hybrid-system at all?
also, how did you like the map-design in general. I remember they had lots of empty feeling maps
also, how did you like the map-design in general. I remember they had lots of empty feeling maps
Last edited:
rezaf
Cipher
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- Jan 26, 2015
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I only briefly tried grid-step mode in both games and otherwise played in standard / free-roam mode. Spinner traps were easy enough, just move in sideways so they spin you so you can walk out straight. Sometimes I had to try two or three times, but no biggie.
As for map design ... it depends what you mean by "empty". It's just scenery and a couple of items to pick up here and there. The maps in RL1 are fairly small for the most part, whilst RL2 has the fairly huge, free roam desert of Hara'Kir - the rest of it is dungeon romps of varying size (generally a bit bigger than in RL1). RL2 generally placed a few more "props", little non-interactive items just there for ornamental reasons.
Like I wrote in my takeaway post, I thought the dungeons had a strong tendency to overstay their welcomes, but I'm guessing this is because we're used to better things these days. The RL games are really only real-time free-movement blobbers, otherwise quite reminescent of the classics of that genre. Thus you get the staples of that genre and the games expect you to revel in blobber conventions.
I'm guessing the games might have worked a little better as traditional blobbers, with 90 degree turning and step based movement, but after Ultima Underworld, I guess games were trying to offer more granularity, despite not being able to fully back that up with 3D engines powerful enough to do the job. I'm sure I appreciated that as a young gamer back in the day, but it's hard to do give the game a pass today.
As for map design ... it depends what you mean by "empty". It's just scenery and a couple of items to pick up here and there. The maps in RL1 are fairly small for the most part, whilst RL2 has the fairly huge, free roam desert of Hara'Kir - the rest of it is dungeon romps of varying size (generally a bit bigger than in RL1). RL2 generally placed a few more "props", little non-interactive items just there for ornamental reasons.
Like I wrote in my takeaway post, I thought the dungeons had a strong tendency to overstay their welcomes, but I'm guessing this is because we're used to better things these days. The RL games are really only real-time free-movement blobbers, otherwise quite reminescent of the classics of that genre. Thus you get the staples of that genre and the games expect you to revel in blobber conventions.
I'm guessing the games might have worked a little better as traditional blobbers, with 90 degree turning and step based movement, but after Ultima Underworld, I guess games were trying to offer more granularity, despite not being able to fully back that up with 3D engines powerful enough to do the job. I'm sure I appreciated that as a young gamer back in the day, but it's hard to do give the game a pass today.
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- May 13, 2009
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Exactly what rezaf said, these games have aged TERRIBLY. They were passable and acceptable back then (Disclaimer: Not verified by user data) but compared to nowadays they look REALLY long in the tooth.
As for Veil of Darkness - I played it recently and can say that it has NOT aged as badly as the Ravenloft games. It's an isometric adventure game with a few moments of bashing on monsters and a couple of boring mazes thrown in, but otherwise a really solid game. I'll go so far as to say that it's well worth trying out today... UNLIKE the Ravenloft games.
As for Veil of Darkness - I played it recently and can say that it has NOT aged as badly as the Ravenloft games. It's an isometric adventure game with a few moments of bashing on monsters and a couple of boring mazes thrown in, but otherwise a really solid game. I'll go so far as to say that it's well worth trying out today... UNLIKE the Ravenloft games.
Except that DirDam spell like Nuclear Blast or Mind Flay will still do a much better job than Asphyxiation. It will actually kill everybody rather than 30-60% of them.
rezaf
Cipher
- Joined
- Jan 26, 2015
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- 652
Took a brief glimpse at Menzoberranzan, and I'm not sure I can tolerate playing it now. It's recognizably the midpoint between RL1 and RL2, with some things already like in the latter game (the interface, for example), but other things still firmly like in the former (most prominently the grainy, hard on your eyes graphics). Anyone for whatever reason deciding to play all three should definately stick to the chronological order of release, imo.
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A quick run-through of the last three dungeons of Ravenloft 2.
The Sacred Burial Hall:
# This dungeon is so much filler it ain't even funny. Starting with the Sphinx dungeon and onwards there are talking mouths dotted about, and they provide you with badly needed exposition and clues for completing each dungeon.
# One mouth gives you a sequence of directions: North, South, East, West. Coincidentally the first chamber has four teleporters on each wall. Go through the teleporters in this order and eventually you'll cover the whole dungeon and find the keys you need in the proper order.
# Make sure you grab the third Hierophant Seal piece while you're at it.
# The goal of this entire dungeon is to reach the Guardian of the Dead who will then Judge you. If you're found worthy (more on that later) you'll be shown a long cutscene where the only member of Gloriantha's party to escape alive from Senmet tells of his fate... and of the Scroll of Return that he had. A guaranteed ticket home, except it's located past the Wall of Ra, the "border" of the desert map and a wall of searing heat that seems to only cook flesh and not a simple parchment lying out in the open.
# There's nothing more to do here, so next stop is the Buried Temple of Ra.
The Temple of Ra:
# Reaching here requires following the map found in the Sphinx that provides instructions on finding the invisible entrance.
# The Temple of Ra is easily the worst dungeon in the game, it's 99% filler and purposefully made to take the maximum possible time to complete.
# The goal is to find the 8 Tears of Ra and place them in their proper sockets, to gain access to a game-vital item.
# Of course the 8 tears are scattered all over the temple (5 on the upper floor, 3 on the lower floor) and you'll be dealing with monsters, traps, secret buttons, illusionary walls and every conceivable speed bump imaginable along the way.
# Once you finally find the 8 Tears of Ra, a cutscene plays (sigh) where they somehow form a laser beam that bounces between each tear and melts down a piece of wall at the end of the room. Behind that wall is the last piece of the Hierophant's seal.
# The only noteworthy thing in the Temple is the Hierophant's chamber, where the Hierophant himself just stands there and doesn't even say anything.
# But on the wall next to a pair of suspicious-looking pillars is a round socket. If you've been paying attention to the mountain of readables and army of blabbering mouths in this game, you'll know that this is where you place the Seal of the Hierophant.
# Once that is done there's nothing more to do here... for now. Now on to the final dungeon of the game: Pharaoh's Rest.
Pharaoh's Rest:
# Compared to the previous 3 dungeons I enjoyed this one somewhat... at first, at least. This is the lair of the Big Bad, so obviously all the stops have been pulled out for this one.
# In an odd break of tradition, the final dungeon can be reached right from the start: Just head North from the Temple of Harvest and follow the cliffs until a new map loads, then follow the chasm up to the building. It isn't even locked, just go right on in! Just don't act surprised when the bouncers turn your party into squishy smears on the floor, though.
# This chasm leading to Pharaoh's Rest is clearly intended to be visited by low-level parties, as the only enemies are the same puny monsters you meet all over the desert. There's also lots of nice gear here for a inexperienced party, so I'd recommend that any starting band of adventurers visit Pharaoh's Rest early on. (Though giving that advice at the end of the game seems a little silly.)
# Naturally the hardest fight in the entire game takes place here, but it's not against Antique Potty, but against 6 Stone Golems that come at you all at once in the basement.
# That creepy woman from the Temple of Set is also here for some reason, and she'll be all butthurt if you have destroyed Senmet when you talk to her. (I wonder what she'll say if Senmet is still up and about?)
# The final dungeon mostly consists of 3 puzzles, each more annoying than the last. Filler is provided by fights with Stone Golems, which are a welcome change from fighting Doom Guards and Pyre Elementals.
# First up is the pressure plate puzzle, where a series of pressure plates much be stepped on in the right order for the passage onward to reveal itself. I don't remember the game giving me any hints or clues about this one, but it's not a hard one as long as you remember to start by going left and go clockwise.
# Then there's the Hero's Heart puzzle. First you need to find the key, then find the series of 4 doors that all require that one key (the guy that handled tower security for Strahd clearly also got a gig securing this place) until you reach a mural of a Falcon. Some people may recall reading something about a hero and his falcon guarding the Pharaoh on the night he died, and this ties into that. For the second time in the entire game the "Speak With Animals" skill is required, but what I found even stranger is that the Golden Whistle must also be used three times. Did any readable mention that fact? I honestly can't remember.
# Finally there's clearing the path for the boss fight. Between you and Antique Potty are six paths. Five of them are hazardous in one way or another, but the sixth one is just a series of doors that need to be opened, and the buttons to open them are hidden in the other five paths. In short, you need to go through every single path to open that series of doors.
# Or you can memorize a lot of Knock spells and plow through the doors with magic. Saves a lot of time and effort.
# To start the boss fight you must ring a gong with a special mallet. But before doing that the final piece of the Pharaoh seal must be found, which is conveniently lying on a table right next to the big boss.
# The fully assembled seal of the Pharaoh (you do have all the seal parts, right?) must be taken to another pair of suspicious pillars with a round socket next to them, to activate a teleporter that links to the Hierophant's chamber in the Temple of Ra. Only once this is done are you ready for the final boss fight.
# Ring the gong and watch the cutscene. You're now facing one very annoyed-looking mummy. You can charge forward and try to kill him, but when even the manual tells you that's a Bad Idea you should know better. Antique Potty loves to spam Dispel Magic and Fireball at you, so not even your precious magic items will help you.
# On top of that his melee attack is Instadeath. If he hits, he kills. No exceptions.
# There's no Holy Symbol of Ravenkind to use here, so what to do? Once again, you should know the answer if you've been paying attention to all the plot exposition.
# The goal here is to lure Antique Potty to that teleporter leading to the Hierophant. That means walking backwards really slowly while he spams fireballs at you, making sure you never go too far ahead or he'll stop following.
# Once the mummy is close enough to the teleporter, step through to go back to the Temple of Ra and Antique Potty will follow through. If a cutscene was supposed to be played here, I certainly didn't get to see it, so instead the screen starts shaking a lot and I'm told to GTFO.
# Once up on the surface I head East into the Red Zone to look for stuff. Oddly enough I find a Short Sword of Quickness here before finding my Golden Ticket back home.
# Considering how much the screen is shaking by this point, I think it's just best to use the scroll and get this over with.
# Cue cutscene that I don't get to see, crash to desktop I'm not even told about, and my immense relief that this is all over.
There are a few questions about Ravenloft 2 I'd like answered, so I'm thinking about replaying the game partially once I have free time again, but that's weeks away.
The Sacred Burial Hall:
# This dungeon is so much filler it ain't even funny. Starting with the Sphinx dungeon and onwards there are talking mouths dotted about, and they provide you with badly needed exposition and clues for completing each dungeon.
# One mouth gives you a sequence of directions: North, South, East, West. Coincidentally the first chamber has four teleporters on each wall. Go through the teleporters in this order and eventually you'll cover the whole dungeon and find the keys you need in the proper order.
# Make sure you grab the third Hierophant Seal piece while you're at it.
# The goal of this entire dungeon is to reach the Guardian of the Dead who will then Judge you. If you're found worthy (more on that later) you'll be shown a long cutscene where the only member of Gloriantha's party to escape alive from Senmet tells of his fate... and of the Scroll of Return that he had. A guaranteed ticket home, except it's located past the Wall of Ra, the "border" of the desert map and a wall of searing heat that seems to only cook flesh and not a simple parchment lying out in the open.
# There's nothing more to do here, so next stop is the Buried Temple of Ra.
The Temple of Ra:
# Reaching here requires following the map found in the Sphinx that provides instructions on finding the invisible entrance.
# The Temple of Ra is easily the worst dungeon in the game, it's 99% filler and purposefully made to take the maximum possible time to complete.
# The goal is to find the 8 Tears of Ra and place them in their proper sockets, to gain access to a game-vital item.
# Of course the 8 tears are scattered all over the temple (5 on the upper floor, 3 on the lower floor) and you'll be dealing with monsters, traps, secret buttons, illusionary walls and every conceivable speed bump imaginable along the way.
# Once you finally find the 8 Tears of Ra, a cutscene plays (sigh) where they somehow form a laser beam that bounces between each tear and melts down a piece of wall at the end of the room. Behind that wall is the last piece of the Hierophant's seal.
# The only noteworthy thing in the Temple is the Hierophant's chamber, where the Hierophant himself just stands there and doesn't even say anything.
# But on the wall next to a pair of suspicious-looking pillars is a round socket. If you've been paying attention to the mountain of readables and army of blabbering mouths in this game, you'll know that this is where you place the Seal of the Hierophant.
# Once that is done there's nothing more to do here... for now. Now on to the final dungeon of the game: Pharaoh's Rest.
Pharaoh's Rest:
# Compared to the previous 3 dungeons I enjoyed this one somewhat... at first, at least. This is the lair of the Big Bad, so obviously all the stops have been pulled out for this one.
# In an odd break of tradition, the final dungeon can be reached right from the start: Just head North from the Temple of Harvest and follow the cliffs until a new map loads, then follow the chasm up to the building. It isn't even locked, just go right on in! Just don't act surprised when the bouncers turn your party into squishy smears on the floor, though.
# This chasm leading to Pharaoh's Rest is clearly intended to be visited by low-level parties, as the only enemies are the same puny monsters you meet all over the desert. There's also lots of nice gear here for a inexperienced party, so I'd recommend that any starting band of adventurers visit Pharaoh's Rest early on. (Though giving that advice at the end of the game seems a little silly.)
# Naturally the hardest fight in the entire game takes place here, but it's not against Antique Potty, but against 6 Stone Golems that come at you all at once in the basement.
# That creepy woman from the Temple of Set is also here for some reason, and she'll be all butthurt if you have destroyed Senmet when you talk to her. (I wonder what she'll say if Senmet is still up and about?)
# The final dungeon mostly consists of 3 puzzles, each more annoying than the last. Filler is provided by fights with Stone Golems, which are a welcome change from fighting Doom Guards and Pyre Elementals.
# First up is the pressure plate puzzle, where a series of pressure plates much be stepped on in the right order for the passage onward to reveal itself. I don't remember the game giving me any hints or clues about this one, but it's not a hard one as long as you remember to start by going left and go clockwise.
# Then there's the Hero's Heart puzzle. First you need to find the key, then find the series of 4 doors that all require that one key (the guy that handled tower security for Strahd clearly also got a gig securing this place) until you reach a mural of a Falcon. Some people may recall reading something about a hero and his falcon guarding the Pharaoh on the night he died, and this ties into that. For the second time in the entire game the "Speak With Animals" skill is required, but what I found even stranger is that the Golden Whistle must also be used three times. Did any readable mention that fact? I honestly can't remember.
# Finally there's clearing the path for the boss fight. Between you and Antique Potty are six paths. Five of them are hazardous in one way or another, but the sixth one is just a series of doors that need to be opened, and the buttons to open them are hidden in the other five paths. In short, you need to go through every single path to open that series of doors.
# Or you can memorize a lot of Knock spells and plow through the doors with magic. Saves a lot of time and effort.
# To start the boss fight you must ring a gong with a special mallet. But before doing that the final piece of the Pharaoh seal must be found, which is conveniently lying on a table right next to the big boss.
# The fully assembled seal of the Pharaoh (you do have all the seal parts, right?) must be taken to another pair of suspicious pillars with a round socket next to them, to activate a teleporter that links to the Hierophant's chamber in the Temple of Ra. Only once this is done are you ready for the final boss fight.
# Ring the gong and watch the cutscene. You're now facing one very annoyed-looking mummy. You can charge forward and try to kill him, but when even the manual tells you that's a Bad Idea you should know better. Antique Potty loves to spam Dispel Magic and Fireball at you, so not even your precious magic items will help you.
# On top of that his melee attack is Instadeath. If he hits, he kills. No exceptions.
# There's no Holy Symbol of Ravenkind to use here, so what to do? Once again, you should know the answer if you've been paying attention to all the plot exposition.
# The goal here is to lure Antique Potty to that teleporter leading to the Hierophant. That means walking backwards really slowly while he spams fireballs at you, making sure you never go too far ahead or he'll stop following.
# Once the mummy is close enough to the teleporter, step through to go back to the Temple of Ra and Antique Potty will follow through. If a cutscene was supposed to be played here, I certainly didn't get to see it, so instead the screen starts shaking a lot and I'm told to GTFO.
# Once up on the surface I head East into the Red Zone to look for stuff. Oddly enough I find a Short Sword of Quickness here before finding my Golden Ticket back home.
# Considering how much the screen is shaking by this point, I think it's just best to use the scroll and get this over with.
# Cue cutscene that I don't get to see, crash to desktop I'm not even told about, and my immense relief that this is all over.
There are a few questions about Ravenloft 2 I'd like answered, so I'm thinking about replaying the game partially once I have free time again, but that's weeks away.
V_K
Arcane
Isn't Mbz considered the worst of the bunch? Or at least the buggiest?
Given how much better every non-DnD EH/Dreamforge game is, I'm starting to suspect pubished meddling.
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rezaf
Cipher
- Joined
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You mean the one where the narrator says "In the presence of Ankhtepot...."? Didn't see that one either, no, but at least it didn't crash my game.
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OK, maybe we should tell GOG that their version is börked.
JudasIscariot
We're playing Ravenloft: The Stone Prophet from the latest GOG installer, and we noticed that none of the movie cutscenes during the end stages of the game play in-game. The game continues without playing them so that isn't a problem, but when it comes to the outro it's like the game crashes and goes straight to the desktop, and players don't get to enjoy their just reward for completing the game.
Also the game's performance stutters fairly often, so I'd say that you need to take a second look at the emulation settings for the game.
Hope this helps.
JudasIscariot
We're playing Ravenloft: The Stone Prophet from the latest GOG installer, and we noticed that none of the movie cutscenes during the end stages of the game play in-game. The game continues without playing them so that isn't a problem, but when it comes to the outro it's like the game crashes and goes straight to the desktop, and players don't get to enjoy their just reward for completing the game.
Also the game's performance stutters fairly often, so I'd say that you need to take a second look at the emulation settings for the game.
Hope this helps.
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- May 13, 2009
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I quickly did some tests, and the Knock spell totally and completely breaks Ravenloft 2.
At first I thought it only worked on doors that didn't need a key. I was wrong. The only doors I've found that it doesn't work on are the doors leading to Ankhtepot, and the door leading back into the Hierophant's chamber after Ankhtepot has been lured into his chamber. Meaning, plot-vital/game-breaking doors.
This can literally shave hours off the game, as there should no longer any need to hunt for keys or animals figurines.
Also, once the two mummies start duking it out there's PLENTY of time to do things. I even took a stroll back into Pharaoh's Retreat to take a look around, and ended up going back through the teleporter into the Hierophant's chamber. The scene where Ankhtepot pops out of the portal repeats itself, with seemingly no ill effects.
At first I thought it only worked on doors that didn't need a key. I was wrong. The only doors I've found that it doesn't work on are the doors leading to Ankhtepot, and the door leading back into the Hierophant's chamber after Ankhtepot has been lured into his chamber. Meaning, plot-vital/game-breaking doors.
This can literally shave hours off the game, as there should no longer any need to hunt for keys or animals figurines.
Also, once the two mummies start duking it out there's PLENTY of time to do things. I even took a stroll back into Pharaoh's Retreat to take a look around, and ended up going back through the teleporter into the Hierophant's chamber. The scene where Ankhtepot pops out of the portal repeats itself, with seemingly no ill effects.
Jack Of Owls
Arcane
The guy who does the opening narration for Strahd's Possession sounds exactly like Mads Mikkelson. If fact, I had to go on IMDB and check if it was him but it's not listed in his filmography.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i89J30BVLBY
In other news, I tried to get these two games working on my Asus ZenPad tablet using Magic Dosbox (HIGHLY recommended by the way if you game on the go and have android) but the aspect ratio is elongated, as if they were suppose to be in portrait mode.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i89J30BVLBY
In other news, I tried to get these two games working on my Asus ZenPad tablet using Magic Dosbox (HIGHLY recommended by the way if you game on the go and have android) but the aspect ratio is elongated, as if they were suppose to be in portrait mode.
It runs in a weird resolution of 320x400, with every pixel being displayed as horizontal 2-pixel-wide stick (hence that weird grainy look of everything). Whatever "magic dosbox" is, set aspect ratio accordingly.
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Can't have a thread about dark and gothic themes without Necromancy Mouse making an apperance.
I briefly revisited Ravenloft 1 to test my "Mischa" theory. I have memories of finding a way to restore drained levels in Ravenloft 1 at a late point in the game when I played it at least 10+ years ago, but I can't find any info on how I could have done that. The last theory I had left was that Mischa would unlock more than just Castle Ravenloft, but sadly that proved to be false.
As for posting some reviews? To be honest I can't be arsed to do it. Me and rezaf did a pretty good running commentary and hopefully it'll help anyone else that wants to play these games, but I'm officially Done with Ravenloft. Time to move on to other games.
RPK
Scholar
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- 340
i remember them marketing it as "svga quality without the cost of an svga video card!" zOMG!!
Saxon1974
Prophet
I am playing Ravenloft(1) and having a great time. Can't argue with many of your points but I like the atmosphere and music. It hits the Halloween feel just right. Not sure why you guys think it is so terrible but then again everyone has an opinion. It's interesting because it does stink in the ways already mentioned (leveling with no notification, non-combat skills are useless, no shop, clicky combat etc...) But I think atmosphere in games in very underrated.
Seems well liked on GOG as well looking at the reviews.
Seems well liked on GOG as well looking at the reviews.
RPK
Scholar
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- 340
it was great for its time, some of the parts of it just haven't aged well, and the rose colored glasses that a lot of had for it... i dunno, I guess for me the the memories of playing it as a kid are loftier than the experience of revisiting it as an adult.
Saxon1974
Prophet
RPK
Scholar
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- Apr 25, 2017
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- 340
i still love going back and playing baldur's gate 2 and might and magic 6, for instance.
the things that I think haven't aged well are things like the spinner traps in the castle.
I dunno what is it, but the game just doesn't hold my attention like it did. I've tried to play through it multiple times and i just don't get much past the dungeon below the ivlis river every time.
RPK
Scholar
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lol, I didn't read the last little bit of your message as I'm dealing with a migraine today. that's funny :D
Saxon1974
Prophet
Ha, I also have migraines. Not recommended to use the family jewels while or after a migraine but I have done it! 50/50 whether it's worth it in this case!
Yea I hear ya about the games. Some that I used to love I just can't play anymore. The gold box game champions of krynn. Loved it as a kid but now I can't get very far due to all the trash combat. Same thing with Ultima 7 I have started it like 10 times and never get far and move onto something else. As you get older and have less time harder to play games that aren't absolutely great.
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