Betrayal at Krondor
 

Feel free to comment and discuss this game here. Also, if you have any useful tips or tricks don't hesitate to share them with the others! Thanks!

Review & Download

Wow. This game looks great! :w00t:

I am going to download it right now.

Well I might reinstall it because it was so much fun, especially choosing spells for mage, and I could send it to you if it's quite a bit different.

WAHOO!
i remember trying to find this game before i got here.. Never got it :P

BASED ON MY FAVOURITE AUTHOR!!! COME ON! HOW GOOD CAN IT GET?! Now just to play it :P

Yes, I sudgest this game. I enjoyed many hours of great fun with it and the puzzles were challenging.

I've tried to play this game a few times in the past
but I always die en route to Krondor at the start of the game.
I'm about halway there using the inland pass (the shorter way along the coast was said to have traps in it and such, so i took the logner route)
anyway.
somebody always dies (mortally wounded) and I don't have enough money to get him cured.
and thats when it all goes wrong.
I just can't seem to get past that

Don't know how much I can help you since I haven't played it for years, but I think I had some good strategies.

If you are at a hard part you can always walk real slowly until you can see the enemy in the distance and then get a surprise attack on them, or avoid them.

And I can't think of anything else right now, except that the mage is very good later on. =)

You click with the left button on them and then approaching them you MIGHT surprise them if your skills are good there. Btw., also visit the dwarf cave near LaMut, there're some minor treasures in first chapter in it and some enemies, that leave armors and weapons for you to sell. Fighting them also will increase your stats. Also you can in the course of exploring the chapter collect Moredhel Lamprey by chance, so you'll deal more damage. But don't buy one if you don't find it, you'll get them after fights around the second chapter.
Speaking about the traps, they're always from left to right or inversed. Just walk past the first one, then past the second one - that's it. It's very simple, actually.

Hello world, Spike here and I am totally new to this site. I’ve been playing krondor for months now and I have to thank abandonia for giving me a hope of finishing it. I didn’t know you could speed up dos box!! I feel like such a moron! Thanks for the help. My only difficulty in the game now is I can’t find the Guarda Revanche. I am in chapter 6 and am running all over the Elvandar forest and all I’ve found is the shell. I got the walkthrough but find anything more than the shell even with its help. Some directions would be nice.

Wow my favorite author actually made a game to this btw does ne1 know the 4th book to this seiries or did he never write it cheers :cheers:

There were only three books in that sub-series. Krondor: The Betrayal, Krondor: The Assassins and Krondor: Tear of the Gods. Betrayal at Krondor matches up with Krondor: The Betrayal, and Return to Krondor matches up with Krondor: Tear of the Gods.

There's a lot more than 4 books dealing with Riftwar as a whole though. :D

I had exactly the same problem.

There's a file called DRIVE.CFG in the game directory, which contain two drive letters. Try to change them both to point to the drive you have the game installed on. For example, if you have the game installed on drive D, change them both to D. By default they are C and E.

wow.... this game... i rememebr i was in junior high school when this game first released... and now i am a marketing executive for a IT company... such a memory haha..... i played this game all the time after teh school.. and due to the language problem.. i always died without knwoing why... but i know.... because... my characters were STARVED TO DEATH. i forgot to buy the food suppy hahahaha.. LOL

Well, actually you can gather enough of the food packages off the bodies of the enemies. You meet more then enough of them along the ways in the game...

Ooh... this might just be the game I spent the most time on in my life... played it through at least three times. And the second time I played it through I tried (and managed to) solve every solvable quest (including the grain quest and the chess quest), and discover every chest and unlock it. Some were extremely hard.... I think I had the answers written down somewhere, but doubt that paper still exists.

Anyway, that time Owyn became a stronger fighter with his staff than Locky and James with their Swords of Lims Kragma. Gorath was a class on his own, able to kill almost every opponent with one blow (the exception being Makala and those wind-things with him).

I don't remember right where Guarda is, but I don't think that it's worth getting. There was some drawback I didn't like so I never used it (forgot why). There are far better swords...

Some general tips (I tried not to include any spoilers, sorry if there are any):

Always keep an eye on the rations, and keep a lot of them and restoratives. You'll need them before some chapters (I won't write when cos it'd be a spoiler). If you can't hurt some opponents (and can't get around them), maybe a poisoned or "iced" or naphtha laced weapon can. Rusalki are some of those if I remeber correctly. Save those things (especially those bandage looking things), for the fights where you really need them. Don't be suprised if a Nighthawk rises from the dead, but try to prevent that from happening by killing them all quickly, or using fire, or a spell that buries them.If you're in a dungeon, and there is a hole, go as close to the edge as possible. You should see if there's a dead end behind it or a proper corridor. That'll keep you from wasting rope (which is precious in some chapters). Oh, and if the chapter says "go to somewhere", it doesn't mean that you must go directly there. Wander around. There is no time limit on such things that I remember in the entire game.

I would give you more tips (especially about char development), but I really don't remember much of the game anymore.

If I recall correctly, you'll need Guarda Revanche to be able to fight Makala in the last fight. Also the demons he'll summon. Also it's a much more powerful weapon than sword of Lims Kragma is. And it's indestructible. And yes, it has a drawback. It's not made for enchanting it in the temples, but you still can. It's a bug in the game. And if you enchant it, it becomes too powerful for the game, so sometimes you'll deal negative damage to the opponents, probably healing them in the process. Just give it not to Gorath but to another one and it should be relatively fine.
Btw., all the answers to the Moredhel Lock Chests are contained in the large data file of the game. Just search there with a hex-editor for the asking sentence of the chest and you'll find the answer near it. ;)

If I recall correctly, you'll need Guarda Revanche to be able to fight Makala in the last fight. Also the demons he'll summon. Also it's a much more powerful weapon than sword of Lims Kragma is. And it's indestructible. And yes, it has a drawback. It's not made for enchanting it in the temples, but you still can. It's a bug in the game. And if you enchant it, it becomes too powerful for the game, so sometimes you'll deal negative damage to the opponents, probably healing them in the process. Just give it not to Gorath but to another one and it should be relatively fine.
Btw., all the answers to the Moredhel Lock Chests are contained in the large data file of the game. Just search there with a hex-editor for the asking sentence of the chest and you'll find the answer near it. ;) [/b][/quote]
I don't remember right where Guarda is, but I don't think that it's worth getting. There was some drawback I didn't like so I never used it (forgot why).

One section was in the Elven woods, the other down in a cavern--I think, the large one under the waterfall on the eastern side of the map.

There are far better swords...

It gives a great boost to damage, and I think it may be the best thing in the game of its kind.

If I recall correctly, you'll need Guarda Revanche to be able to fight Makala in the last fight. Also the demons he'll summon.

I've played through 3 times, and Makala never summoned demons; but then my strategy was to always keep one of my two controlled NPCs next to him. If you do that, Makala can't get off any spells. The other NPC can either fire arrows, or spells, depending upon who's on point.

Wonderful game. Saw an alpha of it, reviwed the final release in a publication at the time. Raved about it. One of the few games to provide truly challenging puzzles. First "true" implementation of 3D. Excellent music score. Varying challenges in each chapter--not always "kill this" or "fedx quests." First (and thus far, only) game to adjust prices according to economic conditions. Complex plot. Great variety of items, nice descriptions. Good dialog. Involving combat. Reasonable challenges. The producer and his team at Dynamix (which was fired soon after the game appeared) deserve a great deal of the credit, though it's often given to Ray Feist--who ironically enough, sold the rights to the first title and wanted nothing more to do with it. (He only got involved heavily in Return to Krondor.)

One of my top 5 RPGs of all time.

I remember when this game first came out, I was 4, I beat it a couple years later when I started gaming, and finally read every feist book up to his newer, post-serpentwar ones a few years back. Its sad looking back at how long its been since then, but I think I'm going to try it again because it is IMO one of the greatest games of all time, of any genre.

First time poster here, great site by the way.

This is the first computer game I really ever got into. I had just had my wisdom teeth pulled and I was not feeling so hot so in front of the computer I sat with this game I got from the local computer store owner to keep me occupied.

It was a full retail CD of the game. Since it's been "abandoned" I am posting a link to the whole full CD. This includes a 47 MB AVI file that is an interview with Mr. Feist, and a complete game walkthrough included with the CD in case you can't find that one elusive place.

www.jtbates.net/krondor

-Jaytee

Return To Krondor is the sequel in terms of story. Betrayal At Antara is a similar game made by Sierra, but there's no plot connection -- they're completely different worlds.

This is great game. But i liked return to krondor more.

LOL both books I'm reading atm are Fiest Books(A Darkness at Sethanon and Prince of the Blood) for the second time round aswell for both of them. and how could you dismiss Locky as a noble? he is Jimmy's friend!! DUDE! (must get rid of that habit) Locky is soo important. sorta.

This game is ABSOLUTELY GREAT :kosta: :kosta: :kosta:

Robert E. Feist is a great author, and all those who have read his books can verify to this!

However about compatibility, i am running it on WinXP with VDM and it works perfectly and with sound!

So try it this way! :ok:

Have fun! and prepare :Titan:

:kosta: :Brain: :Brain: :cheers:
This is one of the best RPG's ever made, in my humble opinion,
very complex and deep, lots of spells, different aspects, the
purchasing aspect is fun, as is the energy levels, and the tests,
and the landscape you have to move around in is huge, and
very interesting. It is an interesting variation on the books,
which I have loved and re read many times, as the author
and I am contemporaries and grew up in the same town
(San Diego)....there is the main story line, and then parallel ones
the second game in the series, Betrayal at Antara, was not set
in the Krondor world, but a similar one, but the designer tried
hard to get the same feeling. There are alos neat bardings (songs)
and other parts of the game which are quite unusual. There
are good sites on the net with info on the game and aspects of
the history. Great game to have on the site. :ok: :cheers:

:ok:
Tuttle and Viro340 were talking about Feist's books several
pages of the topic posts back................and what
was what in the series that inspired the games, Betrayal at Krondor,
Betrayal at Ankara, and Return to Krondor (the last one was the main
one that Feist actually worked on directly, though he enjoyd working
with the design of the first one a lot according to a post from the designer
I found in research)....Feist's books are:

Magician 1982
Silverthorn 1985
A Darkness at Sethanon 1986
Daughter of the Empire 1987
Faerie Tale 1988
Prince of the Blood 1989
Servant of the Empire 1990
Mistress of the Empire May 1992
The Kings Buccaneer Nov 1992
Shadow of a Dark Queen 1994
Rise of a Merchant Prince 1995
Rage of a Demon King 1997
Shards of a Broken Crown Apr 1998
Krondor: The Betrayal Nov 1998
Krondor: The Assassins Nov 1999
Krondor: Tear of the Gods Feb 2001
Honoured Enemy Aug 2001
Murder in LaMut June 2002
Talon of the Silver Hawk Sept 2002
Jimmy the Hand July 2003
King of Foxes Nov 2003
Exiles Return Aug 2004

Sub Series

Riftwar Saga Empire Trilogy Krondor's Sons

Magician Daughter of the Empire Prince of the Blood
Silverthorn Servant of the Empite The Kings Buccaneer
A Darkness at Sethanon Mistress of the Empire

Serpent War Riftwar Legacy Legends of the Riftwar
Shadow of a Dark Queen Krondor the Betrayal Honoured Enemy
Rise of a Merchant Prince Krondor The Assassins Murder in LaMut
Rage of a Demon King Krondor tear of the Gods Jimmy the Hand
Shards of a Broken Crown Krondor: The Crawler*
Krondor: The Dark Mage*

Conclave of the Shadows Darkwar Saga
Talon of the Silver Hawk Flight Of The Nighthawks*
King of Foxes Into a Dark Realm*
Exile's Return * Wrath of a Mad God*
(*not released yet, or planned)

Loosly the stories are an extended saga with multiple stories that involve
a central group of characters that have spins offs in both time and
sequels, starts with Pug a young apprentice Magician in a Kindgon sort of
a combo of Tolkein's Middle Earth, Lewis" Narnia, and a small Baltic
Kingdom of the 13th Century, he then gets sent across the edge of the story
universe into a parallel world which is a lot like 14th century Japan,
Krondor is one of the principal cities in the stories, and is woven in and
out of the long world line.

The game uses much of the "mythology" of the stories, which Feist is
continuing to develop, great combo of very good literature and computer
(IT) graphics and game tech.

:cheers: :cheers:
:king:

Best RPG I ever played. Graphics are quite out of date however....

The music is great, though there was a CD Version.. not sure where to download that...

Hello Jimmy the Hand, have you seen the Upright Man recently?

Nice to see someone else likes the game and the stories.
I did notice the graphics are sadly out of date, and somewhat
limited, but what a game and concept. :ok: :ok: the whole
game with all the related files is simply huge, but worth it.

http://www.jtbates.net/krondor/

was one set of files that I found which may be helpful.

cheers and long live the Kingdom!

:king:

Just finished the last of the Recluse saga (L E Modesitt Jr) and real all of Feists books up till and including Krondor:the betrayal... I didn't know there was a game and I've been playing games like this on my C64 and other systems since I was a wee one...

(i had ALL the SSI games) and I can't believe I totally missed this.... so I am glad to get this! got dosbox working, you guys have to type in "c:" at the Z prompt after you get the folder mounted, then hit DIR to check if it worked....

I haven't gotten any Arena to work for poop though, keeps telling me "must install from disk" but this is the game I was really after anyway

thanks guys!!!

as a fan of the book series, finding this game a few years ago was fantastic. i was suprised how rich and engrossing a game this old could be. in fact, i would play this game over it's sequal, return to krondor, any day... hands down the winner.

thanks for spreading the good word of bak :)

I'm in love with this game, and am soon to start reading Fiest's books because dad has them all!

I finally got it working on a newer computer, and now know how to play it... I always used to get one character killed, Owyn in particular by those stupid pirates. Then they got the plague from some Errr... Nighthawks (?) throwing disease mulch near the place I have to go in chapter 2. Then I forgot where they hid the temple. DAMNIT.

When I FIRST played it, I didn't realise Owyn was a magical dude, so I was making him staff fight for most of the game >_< I always got killed near Rowe's 'barn'.

I think it's a good effort for a 14 year old female thought! :} So geeky. This game is GREAT and I want Antara... even if the graphics suck! This game sorta reminds me of Might and Magic 7...

Well, Antara isn't any story-continuing to this game, and I didn't play it except the beginning, so I'm not really in the position to advise not to play it, but I still wouldn't recommend playing Betrayal at Antara, as I read people saying this game is indeed piece of muck. If at all, then you might be interested in Return to Krondor, though this first game is the best one of them three, too. :)

Wouldn't it be great if they traded the graphics of krondor with antara? put the crap with the crap and make the better even more wonderful? :sneaky:

BAK is definetly one of the best RPG games I have ever played. The one and only game that can compete with it in terms of playabilty is the recent Knights of the Old Republic. Thanx a lot to whoever added BAK to this great site.

Just a couple of interesting things I've found:

1. Hope everybody knows there is a very cool blessed(#3!) rapier in the wordlock chest behind the illusionary house just south-west of Romney. To my great distress, I haven't managed to find any place where u can get bless #3 for your weapons.

2. U actually CAN get past dozens of ghosts in the centre of Midkemia in the early chapters. This doesn't lead you anywhere or give you any advantage, but once you do so you may return to Oracle of Aal and enjoy the "praise to your stupidity" :D

Thnx

Actually, you can bless your weapons with bless +3 in the temples of the more powerful gods, don't remember the names anymore, but it's the temple of the death goddess, the war god and some few more yet. ;)

Despite of Locklear (a very hateable character, I must say) BAK is one of the best RPGs I've played. The story is by all means breath taking and the stat system is amazing. Most of the characters, specially James, are really cool and the dialogues are amazing. How to ignore this beauty?

I just adore the name of Kingdom's master magician. Pug. Simply Pug. Sounds so cute LOL

oh, i also managed to find a huge keshian ale store. There are like 20 barrels hid deep behind miles of illusionary hills extreme east of Kenting Rush. Anybody knows what to do with them? :cheers:

Why doesn't resting restore stamina? Do your characters need to drink alcohol simply because its a beverage? I know about food, and I examine every rations package. But apparently, if you rest in inns, your stamina will not go up, and if it continues to go down, your hps will go down. I don't get it.

They call it stamina, but a better name would be immediate health; while health should be called overall health. First, your stamina goes down, not through use, but injury. When it reaches zero, you start affecting your health. To regain complete health, you first improve your health, until it's up to its maximum potential. Then, you start healing your stamina, from zero up to its maximum potential.

If resting doesn't restore you at all, chances are you're suffering from some negative condition. Poisoning and disease will affect you in this way, and there should be some notification of this on the stats screen for each character in your party. Note, you can't heal up to maximum out in the wilderness, though you can get close. For that little extra bit, you need to use an inn, or healing potions.

I know about poisons and stuff, but do you actually have to have beverages as well as the rations? This would explain my question to the point I wanted it to. The stamina perspective is understandable, as I have played the demo of betrayal in antara. I liked it's thing where you don't lose food as you rest :sneaky:

I've never drunk anything in the game, and I've played it through from start to finish three times. Just eat those packets, and make sure they're not spoiled or poisoned.

Thanks, man. Will try to be even MORE observant LOL

Pug is a funny name like the little doggies.
The ale (As I found out after using most of it) is for an optional quest in chapter... 6 I think? You need to give it to one of the taverns coz their tap is run dry.

I have finally gotten bored with this game, but I am in chapter 8, which is... uh... strange... :crazy:

This game gets to the point where you can put it down for a long time, yes.

Betrayal in Antara is even worse at this :not_ok:

Antara was so bad, I cried. Er, is the party even SUPPOSED to be able to walk on water? The graphics messed up sooo bad.

I FINISHED BaK! At the end it went back to main menu after the countless pages of boredom. I was like 'Uh, was that it? No groundbreaking movie?' Now I shall wait a month then start again.

How do you mean, boredom? I don't understand. BaK has one of the most compelling plots in gaming, with a wrap up that ties together all the questions in a great case of triple-crossing, and the revelation of a master plot. The loss of someone important at the conclusion whom you've come to respect also comes out of left field. Boring? I don't get it.

Many people were dismayed by the difficulty when they played it, but this game was simply amazing.
I played this one a long long time ago, and it is hard to convey just how rewarding this game can be if you are prepared for a challenge. There is a TREMENDOUS amount of fun and reward to be found by exploring and going off the beaten track, and also a great deal of danger. Following clues that were dropped very lightly can end up getting you into very interesting trouble, but most importantly, not something you can't get away from.
Your enemies will track you, and you will be tracked yourselves. Don't be afraid to, for example, follow a road east for many many miles around a mountain range when there is a direct route to your destination; I guarantee you will not be bored. The developers seem to have thought of everything and prepared for it.
I Highly recommend restarting the game after you've learned the basics, as it may help. And since there is a great deal of the Survival aspect to this game, Never pass up an opportunity to acquire fresh food. If you don't keep your mind on provisions, starvation Will be an issue.
The game makes you think, so they won't throw hints at your face; If you think your group will be ambushed in the night by friends of the all too suspicious stranger, take a light nap and check for danger. Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance.
A+ if you can play it.

How do you mean, boredom? I don't understand. BaK has one of the most compelling plots in gaming, with a wrap up that ties together all the questions in a great case of triple-crossing, and the revelation of a master plot. The loss of someone important at the conclusion whom you've come to respect also comes out of left field. Boring? I don't get it. [/b][/quote]
Perhaps he/she is in the age of new games where they always have some graphical ending. People who are like this never read anything unless they believe it is important to the gameplay.

Perhaps he/she is in the age of new games where they always have some graphical ending. People who are like this never read anything unless they believe it is important to the gameplay. [/b][/quote]
You think the Diablo mentality is hard at work, eh?

I've got a question regarding the CD-version of BAK.

I've heard that this version includes a video of an interview with Raymond Feist and digital music from CD. I own the german CD version and it includes the video but to me the music sounds exactly as in the english disk version that I've already played (sounds like MIDI).

Can somebody confirm if there is digital music ? I don't see any reason why it should not be included in the german version.

I also have the CD version, though the game there and the interview are in English, and the music on CD that's played in the game automatically when the CD is in the drive, it's much better than the MIDI music that's played otherwise.
Yours should have digital music too, but maybe you de-activated the CD music in the options of the game and that's why it plays MIDI music now?

Could be an age difference on the CD's, or perhaps the size of translation changed the ability to play music.

Well, in my options screen there is no option regarding the CD music, it's simply called "music". If the switch is on then I listen to the MIDI music, otherwise there is no music. It makes no difference if the CD is in the drive or not. So it seems to me that the german version does not contain any CD music. Very strange.

Thinking of the age and size of the game itself I can not see that the CD could not hold the storage for the CD music. There must be another reason why they did not include it. Interesting enough, my the booklet of my version has an ad in english for the english CD version (including CD music).

Does anybody know where to get the english CD version (either shipped inexpensively within Europe or a download) ? The above link does not work anymore.

Thanks a lot.

Try your luck at Ebay, they could have the English version of Betrayal at Krondor. Btw., I bought my game in Germany, too, though it's in English. Is your game in German language, the game's texts and spoken parts?
That with music, it seems you have a floppy version on a CD, strangely. The floppy version had only MIDI music available, no CD music, logically. You didn't get your game burned on a CD by chance?

It's a complete german version. It's in the original box, printed manual, reference card, cd case with printed booklet and pressed CD. And the CD contains actually the video interview and the game hints. It's just missing the music obviously.

Well, you can download everytime the English version here on this site. It is the CD version, and can be configured in the settings to play CD music instead of the MIDI one. Btw., did you try to play the music on your CD with some player? Maybe there isn't music on it at all.

WOW. I had actually forgotten about this game. This brings back GOOD memories. I love this site.

Yep. one of the best... so sad many people don't even try it because they are concerned about bad graphics... this game doesn't need the polished look:)

Too bad the Return to Krondor wasn't nearly as good as Betrayal.

To me BaK is the best RPG of all time - it really feels like a story. I just love the various descriptions the game gives for even mudane things (try using a door while you are standing in the doorway :D )

The skill system is awesome, and the characters are extremely well-developed. Also, I like the idea that you can loot all the stuff your opponents were carrying and the fact that perhaps until very late in the game your characters aren't all-powerful killing machines (remember the fight with the six Moredhel mages?).
Also, even the most insignificant enemies are given some character in the pre-battle texts.
Theres many, many nice little details in the game that help bring it alive, make it into a living, changing world - like the drunken mercenaries at the taverns, the various ancient, rusted weapons lying forgotted in piles of dirt, the atmospheric music, the ability to play your Lute in the inn (and hear the music you're playing) and of course the wonderful dialogue and descriptions.

All in all, this game shows something most modern RPGs lack - a good plot and good storytelling. It has substance, gameplay, feeling - not just graphics and the ability to make a demigod character and massacre hordes of bland, stupid enemies.

And yeah, the sequel is crap. In a good part this is due to the fact that Feist didn't write the text for it.

:sick: This is a great game. The battle section could be better... :sick:

Indeed it is one of the great legends from our beloved RPG world. :kosta:

I loved the part of the story where you get to know about the mysterious evil Valheru. Sounds intriguing, a mighty race of ancient elven dragon riders that hated every other nation and conquered worlds...

I could never get it to work in my old computer, hope I can manage it with a newer one and DosBox. It seems to be a brilliant game.

I agree with everything you write, except this last part. I was involved towards the end of beta-testing the original BoK, and reviewed it, then reviewed both its successors, after interview/previews with the designers. Feist was heavily involved with Return to Krondor. He'd just simply written his approval for BoK, and accepted a check in exchange for use of characters, etc: supposedly didn't even know how really use a computer very well, at the time. But he took a strong interest in Technix's development of RtK for Sierra, demanded the implementation of a more-or-less standard magic system, and an almost Bard's Tale kind of attack system in the city. In other words, where BoK had plausible violence based on plot, RtK was a step backwards in which you just went door to door, for no particular reason, and got attacked in select locations. Feist *did* have a hand in the dialog and plotting, which I think was far superior in the original title. That said, RtK wasn't a terrible game. It was--nondescript. I actually liked the tweaks to mechanics of battle better, but it was far too linear, less well written and plotted, and felt very rigid. Technix's staff was absorbed into Sierra when the game went belly-up.

Betrayal at Antares, on the other hand, was crap, from start to finish. The VP at Dynamix who had fired the BoK team shortly after the game's release noted its popularity, and immediately gave responsibility for a successor to a competent programmer with no creative or game designing experience. It was the VP's belief that this way, he could simply turn out a game that was "more of everything" in BoK, everybody would love it, and the thing would come in on time, without hassles. Instead, it had the worst writing and plotting conceivable, and the balance was atrocious. It was universally panned, and with reason.

Return to Krondor wasn't bad at all.
I'd more likely say it was around "fair".
Saying it's crap is over-exaggerating and just insulting with poor judgement and hasty conclusions.
I doubt many of you played it past the first chapter, where it really starts getting good.
As for Betrayal, I always thought the combat was a bit glitchy and poor, I really enjoyed exploring the world, except for those bizarre random encounters, and I really wished there had been some visual que when you found someone or something in the wilderness.
The story was good, but a bit slow, and the game left too much in your hands when it came to your next goal, but otherwise the pacing and balance was perfect.

Who's saying RtK was bad, or crap? If you're referring to my remarks above, you might want to read them, again. As I wrote: "That said, RtK wasn't a terrible game. It was--nondescript. I actually liked the tweaks to mechanics of battle better, but it was far too linear, less well written and plotted, and felt very rigid. Technix's staff was absorbed into Sierra when the game went belly-up." I played through from start to finish before I did my actual review of the title. How otherwise could I seriously review it?

I said Betrayal at Antares was crap. I meant it, and I stand by it.

I wasn't speaking to anyone, I'm just annoyed by the general public's hate towards RtK, and this was the best place to post it.

Fair enough. I think it's definitely a decent game, and frankly better than some of the hotly promoted stuff that's selling, lately despite far less gameplay.

Ok, I guess saying it's crap is under-rating RtK. It's not THAT bad, but it really left a bitter taste after finishing the original - it just doesn't do justice to it.

Sequels are almost always worse than the first part that started them. I read enough negative reviews of Return to Krondor, so I didn't get it earlier where I intended to. It's just too bad that there wasn't a worthy successor for Betrayal at Krondor, everytime I finished it I wished it would continue in another game...

I agree completely.

Also, it's terrible how most RPGs from the year 2000 onwards really lack plot and inspired writing. I'm hard pressed to find even a "spiritual" successor to BaK.

[quote]Originally posted by *Happy*@Nov 2 2005, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Also, it's terrible how most RPGs from the year 2000 onwards really lack plot and inspired writing. I'm hard pressed to find even a "spiritual" successor to BaK.

When a new form of entertainment media develops, first you have the pioneers. They do crazy, stupid, sometimes brilliant things. Then, you have the consolidators, with businesses that still allow for entrepeneurs. Finally, the industry moves in, and creativity moves out. The aim is simply to make the most money possible. The people running out don't care about the entertainment form or content. It's all Rule by Accountants.

This has happened repeatedly through history. Research jazz on records, rock on records, the history of film. And now, of course, computer games: I've heard so many horror stories from developers who can't make the titles they want, because corporate VPs won't shell out the money for anything save the latest gimmicks and the lowest common denominator.

Oh, well.

Fortunately, there are good people that preserve the real gems of creativity and generously make them available for the public. Like the people who run this great site! :kosta:

Some one HELP ..... i been tried a total of 50 times but i cant get out of the dungoens at chapt 4.... i just keep getin killed.... the charaters dont hav food to rest n heal up.... wht shud i do????????????? HELP plz

Go back to your last save when your party was healthy and had food.

:help: I used Sebatianos's directions (thanks for that by the way) and i got Dosbox, but whenever i try to run the game it shows me a black screen and takes me back to where i was. Any ideas why this is happening?

Betrayal At Krondor is the best RPG ever made. Like others I'm also waiting for another CRPG at least as good as BaK since the release in 1993. I liked Planscape Torment, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Gothic, Elder Scrolls, etc, but none of them were able to provid the amazing adventure and depth which made BaK the No. 1.

I still have some hope though:

http://www.midkemia.com/

I agree completely.

Also, it's terrible how most RPGs from the year 2000 onwards really lack plot and inspired writing. I'm hard pressed to find even a "spiritual" successor to BaK. [/b][/quote]
Semi-:ot: There is some very strange tendency going on in modern game world. In my point of view, modern RPGs are all getting dumber and they lack substance. On the other hand, surprisingly enough, FPS are getting more elaborate and... well... atmospheric with a lot of good RPG traits. Anybody played F.E.A.R? Although it's a completely different genre, the strength and impresiveness of plotline are nearly the same as in BaK.

Back on topic (the brainlessness of most current games is so blatant it requires no argument), has anyone figured how much is the racial modifier for armor?

E.g.: the Elf armor shows 25% protection and racial modifier for elves: does it mean other races get the base 25% and elves get a bonus, or do elves get the 25% and other races get a penalty? In either case, how much is the modifier? Unlike damage and chance to hit with weapons, which show an actual modified value, armor doesn't show the modified defense rating.

I'm assuming that the superior defense rating of, say, the Grey Tower armor over the Elven armor would make it a better choice even for elves/moredhels, or are the racial modifiers greater than that?

And now, a bit of a spoiler concerning getting #3 (+15) bless on weapons and armor, as someone asked a while ago:

.
.
.
.
.

Go to the "very convenient" temple located in a major town

AFIK you get a penalty if you wear aarmour not suited for your race. How much it is I have no idea. I only wish you could get a dwarf in your group... those dwarven items are really cool.

Soild story line, if you can get past the polygon pixel backround. I just can't get past the poor graphics :tomato: to play it for too long.

Oh my God. I just finished Betrayal at Krondor this afternoon, after playing it pretty intensely for a month, and I'm seriously jonesing for more. I know nothing's going to come close, but what other RPGs would you guys recommend to a total noob who just spent the last four weeks of his life obsessively wandering around Midkemia? Ideally something similarly old school, as free is a very good price and my laptop's a piece of crap.

Try Realms of Arkannia games that you can both download here, and if you can, get your hands at the third game, Shadows over Riva, you can import your party from the first game along to the second up to the third game so it doubles the fun. What about me, I'm going to play the Realms of Arkannia Trilogy now through again :D

Nothing was ever done again that was quite like BoK. There were two attempts at followups, whose histories I know well, thanks to knowing some of the primary and secondary figures involved. But Return to Krondor was a rather unoriginal, dumbed down and linear game, while Betrayal at Antara was a braindead attempt to redo BoK using programmers utterly unfamiliar with writing or with previouis game design experience.

If the epic quality of the game gets you, consider Ultima VII: The Black Gate. It's a very different game, but also doesn't dumb down things for the average player. (Back then, publishers weren't telling developers that they had to make a game for everybody from 8 to 80.) This usually can be purchased for a few dollars/Euros. There's an excellent engine here that you can download which lets you run Ultima VII on WinXP, and offers a few more features (extra key commands, higher resolutions) than the original. Very long, epic story, with some inter-party dialog as you go.

Also Planescape: Torment is worth getting. Another intelligent RPG, it probably boasts the best writing of any RPG to date. Fascinating characters, interesting setting, solid AD&D system.

Much the same can be said of Baldur's Gate II, though the party interactions here are very extensive. (There are even a couple of instancces where if you have certain NPCs in your party, they will take over command of decision-making for you because of their personalities.) Very long game, again, lots of quests, good add-on, and a lot of interesting mods created by users that add available party NPCs, shops, and new quests.

Finally, check out King of Dragon Pass as www.a-sharp.com. This is a unique game, an RPG/strategy/sim hybrid that mixes roughly 500 plots and mini-plots, many in a different order (leaving some odd) in any given game. It's all menu driven, so combat is rather boring, but you have to make so many decisions as head of a clan, and interact with quite a few clan chiefs; and the result is a game that never ceases to amaze.

I'd recommend some earlier RPGs to you, but none of them have the same visual flavor or chapter outlook as BoK, and none of them include those wonderful riddle chests or 3D maze traps. However, you should check through the RPGs on Abbandonia (the *best* site for abandonware, bar none) and take a look at some of the reviews that have been offered.

Wow, thanks for the advice. I'll definitely check them all out. I'm still reeling from how great this game was.

Just started replaying this old classic. First played it back in 1994 but never finished it ... I alwyas had this lingering "discomfort" of not seeing this to the end.. but I think I got really stuck somewhere looking for a hidden portal in the forest .. or something like that and walkthroughs were not so easy to come by thosesdays. I am really thankful for excellent sites such as Abandonia and the ingenious DOSBOX that allow us to relive these excellent games.
Been playing solidly for past week and only got to Chapter 5. Almost forgotten how substantial this games was.

I suspect you mean the forest portal leading to the Elven queen. If you miss that, you can end up falling under some magic that causes time to accelerate, and ends up with your party starving to death. Should we assume you got past it? Because if not, I can provide help. :)

In any case, you're right: this is a very substantial game. It created several RPG standards that are now accepted, and set a bar for intelligent puzzles that has never been met by any other title. The plot is decent, the writing is strong, combat is intriguing, and game balance is excellent.

Definitly the VERY BEST RPG that was ever made!!!!
Really.
It really makes games like Gothic2 or Morrowind concurrence.

I just started playing this game (and it is fun :D ), but I am having a little trouble with the missing ruby quest. I am apparently supposed to find Isaac now, but either he isn't where I think he is our I am just remembering wrong, but the guy who told me where he was won't talk anymore, and the walkthrough only mentions Isaac by name, no by location, so I was wondering if anyone could help me with locating him.

Haven't played this game for ages now. But I've just bought the english CD version. Should play it some time again.

Anyway. My walkthrough says Isaac should be at the street north of Hawk's Hollow.

:D Thanks! Out of curiosity :blink: , what walkthrough are you using?

I use the walkthrough from dirty little helper (DLH).

The manual for this game no longer works with XP Wordpad. I downloaded this a few days ago and Wordpad just produces gibberish.

It turns out that Microsoft turned off support for WRI. files with XP Service Pack 2. Seems it was a potential security problem. The situation and the fix are given here http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=883090


The fix involves a fairly simple registry edit (attempt only if you know what you're doing).

Great game by the way. I've never played an RPG so I really needed that manual!

Thanks there Guest_Castaway! I fiddled for an hour trying to figure out what the hey.. I should have guessed this. Duh. :blink:

It helped. The Game runs fine here with DOSBox 0.65 (also using D-Fend Front End)

The only small problem I have is the mouse moves so slow, it takes a lot of rolling to get it across the screen. It's annoying. Anyone know how to speed the mouse up?

Thanks for any help.

:bye:

good game only liked the game because ive read the book

this was the top RPG back in the day.. really cream of the crop. i remember i got pretty far with it.. gonna relive it now.

Any idea how you can resurrect the dead companions when you are in the very early part (chptr 1, just got the party to Krondor and two of them are as good as dead. Low on cash, since I didn't travel world wide to loot the lot. Some 200 gold, that's all). I know of one temple, but it demands half the GNP of Krondor.
Also, no matter how I rest or eat, the stamina will only reach about 2/3 of max. How do you get the stamina to max?

The stamina gets up to the max value only if you rest at inns, not outside.

I remember from long ago re. stamina and agree with Scatty!
Wish I could play it again :crybaby:

If you like this, you have to play return to krondor, i have it on CD right here... awesome rpg.

I didn't play it, but other people say that it's not nearly as good as the first part, which the reviews on some sites just confirm.

AH Guest you make my mouth water :whistling:

But then to an extent Scatty is right...most Returns...are not as good as the originals despite the better graphics and sounds!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(me_lobo @ Aug 2 2006, 11:30 AM) [snapback]246412[/snapback]</div>Usually only two poles are connected with the trap field together. Try to attack him from a different direction.
[/b][/quote]

Thanks for the info. I have managed to get past the poles but have now come across one with what appears to be rocket launchers and floating diamonds etc etc. Needless to say I didn't survive it LOL.
Any ideas on that one?

Thanks again.

For the First Problem you are best Using magic to pull him into his own traps and then use one character to navigate the traps. the seccond set is more difficult. Easiest way to do it is to send your strongest party member through the least painfull route and accept the little damage. Rememebr you only have to get one Party member through it alive.

BTW the best web site on gods green earth for this game is http://www.hi.is/~eybjorn/krondor/krondor.html

Lucky yes :brain:

This is great! :w00t: I remember playing this game back with it first came out, yes I'm old, it was my favorite game for years. I can't wait to play this again!

This game was the reason I started reading Raymond E. Feist books in the first place, I wanted to know what this awesome world was about and what else happened there. Heh it would have been a help with all those chest puzzles in the game.

Krondor is my favourite game because of it's brilliant, almost detective story, nice puzzles, variety of items and on-it's-times great graphics. Although i stucked for long time in chapter, where i needed the Guild Pass and surrended, last week I happily done it all.. :brain: thx for bringing people such brilliant piece of art again.

Loved BaK when I was younger. Got me hooked on all of Feist's works.

I'm using Dosbox to run the game (I couldn't get it to work in winxp). And I only have one big issue: the mouse speed. It's way too slow. Anyone know how to speed it up?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(kellan @ Dec 2 2006, 10:51 PM) [snapback]269893[/snapback]</div>Sadly this game did the opposite for me, and killed off a long running appreciation for his writtings :whistling:

Insofar as your mouse speed problem is concerned, perhaps speeding up the dosbox cycles might help?

Or you can simply raise the mouse movement speed in Windows settings.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(kellan @ Dec 2 2006, 10:51 PM) [snapback]269893[/snapback]</div>Oddly enough, Feist knew nothing about computers when the game was in development. He simply sold the rights, and had no input on the project other to make sure that facts drawn from his novels were correct.

On the other hand, he had a great deal of input into Return to Krondor, one of its two followups, and the better of the two. (Though Betrayal at Antara was one of the worst RPGs I've ever played, so improving on it wouldn't have been difficult.) Unfortunately, he insisted on changes to such things as the magic system that turned it into a standard AD&D style product. What Feist touched in the new game, lost imagination.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(L0c***** @ Jan 2 2007, 09:18 AM) [snapback]272979[/snapback]</div>Edit the DRIVE.CFG file and change the letters C E to the letter of the drive you unpacked the game to (e.g. D).

I would also recommend deleting the RESOURCE.CFG file and running the install.exe, so you can choose whether the game will use extended memory.

This was an excellent game. This game would definitely benefit from a remake and graphical overhaul. The outdoor graphics definitely take getting used to, even back then when the game came out. And the game is kind of hard to get into, but eventually it sucks you in. It was probably the first game I played where I felt like I was actually in a living world.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Guest @ Feb 24 2007, 01:53 PM) [snapback]280812[/snapback]</div>I would agree with the above poster. It starts out slow and then the story develops and you get hooked.

One of the finest computer games ever created. It's one of the few games I have played where my memories of it are more like life experiences, where I remember them almost as if it was something I lived through. The only other game that has had that effect on me as I recall is System Shock 2, though others have come close.

Now why can't a company just take Betrayal at Krondor and upgrade the game, while leaving every game element, every line of text, exactly as it is while only changing the graphics? :unsure: Boy, would that ever be a great game with the technology available today. Or how about remaking it in the future about 5 years, when real time ray-tracing is possible? Imagine walking in the night in a remake of B.a.T. with a torch, fighting bandits in the mountains? :max:

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Adam @ Feb 25 2007, 11:47 AM) [snapback]280870[/snapback]</div>You should try System Shock (1) out then, it's even better.

Ehhh, I didn't like System Shock 1 so much. I like it, but not as much as #2. I have the CD version of it. I don't know why I didn't like it as much. I think System Shock 2 just had a better story, and the better graphics made it more believable.

I tried running it using D-Fend but I got some error about there not being enough memory, what shoule I do?

Also I read a post near the beggining of this thread and read that...

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tuttle @ Dec 9 2004, 01:55 AM) [snapback]35217[/snapback]</div>
Does that mean there are more Krondor abandonware games? Because only Betrayal of Krondor is on Abandonia.

Return to Krondor is probably a bit big to be hosted on a site like this. Covers two cd's and is a Windows 95/98 game. Excellent game, though. Don't know it it has been abandoned or not.

What about the install help? Anyone know what the problem is?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(FoxURA @ Feb 27 2007, 09:18 PM) [snapback]281237[/snapback]</div>

In d-fend edit the profile for the game and click on the environment tab and increase the amount of memory that it is allocating.

Hello!

I cant seem to get this working under Win98.
It just crashes when I run KONDOR.EXE. When I change the letters in DRIVE.CFG to the drive where I copied this game and start KONDOR.EXE again, the screen turns black and a text appears: "Loading...", but nothing more happens and the pc crashes.

Anyone got an idea?

Stop using D-Fend. It's little more than a crutch in disguise, really.
If you do things right, you can create shortcuts to make DosBox run specific games (or simply start with specific settings) without any frontend.

Either use DosBox to run the game or reboot your machine into DOS and run the game from there.

These two topics should help:
How to configure DOS for gaming
Win98 - Memory

Another option is to use Abandonia's bootdisk.

The reason I use D-Fend is because I am not the most computer leterate person. Yes I can use them well, I just am not that good a programming things. Besides that I would prefer to just skip directly to games by clicking on an icon instead of going through DOS box itself. Although if someone would tell me how to set up Krondor to run through its own icon I'm willing to give it a shot.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(FoxURA @ Feb 28 2007, 04:18 AM) [snapback]281237[/snapback]</div>I don't know the abandonware status of the other two games, but Return to Krondor is a depressingly unimaginative attempt by Sierra to do a followup, while Betrayal at Antara, by Dynamix, is among the worst attempts at a sequel ever attempted, and a truly, horrifically bad game. Why would you want to play either of these, when are so many good games (not to mention excellent books, films, and other things to do with living, human beings) to check out?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Borodin @ Feb 28 2007, 09:13 PM) [snapback]281361[/snapback]</div>I don't know the abandonware status of the other two games, but Return to Krondor is a depressingly unimaginative attempt by Sierra to do a followup, while Betrayal at Antara, by Dynamix, is among the worst attempts at a sequel ever attempted, and a truly, horrifically bad game. Why would you want to play either of these, when are so many good games (not to mention excellent books, films, and other things to do with living, human beings) to check out? [/b][/quote]



I don't think Betrayal in Antara is a sequel to the Krondor saga. Used the same game engine. Return to Krondor wasn't that bad. Antara did suck, however.

I'll send you detailed instructions via PM tomorrow.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Geezer @ Mar 1 2007, 05:41 AM) [snapback]281366[/snapback]</div>Not a gameplay sequel, which really doesn't matter, but a sequel in terms of project, marketing, concept, and appearance. I would go so far as to say it was a near-clone, done by people without the slightest idea how to make a good game and whose only thought was "cram more of the same down their throats but make it much, much more." So combat balance was lacking, character writing was abysmal, etc. Suck doesn't begin to describe it.

The reason it came to be that way was that a certain VP at Dynamix who tangled with and hated the Betrayal at Krondor development team fired them all right after the title was published. It proved a big hit, so that VP took an inhouse programmer with no game design experience and ordered him to make a followup as quickly as possible. Antara was the result. I spoke to the programmer-who-was-made-king when I got my copy for review, and he frankly struck me as a good-natured lug without the slightest idea what he was doing. His attitude to questions about why plot elements didn't connect and why balance was so bad was to laugh and say, "Oh, well! Hey, at least they gave me a great job doing it!" :blink:

I've started this game twice, but never made to the first town. I think I'll try again =D

Fun game, you just gotta keep Stamina in mind. Two of my party members were mortally wounded because they went to battle with like 3 stamina. Then I went to get them healed, and it was WAY out of my budget :tai:

Don't use temples for healing. Haggle and buy two packs of Rations (14) for each member and then camp until fully healed. Cheaper and restores you to full health. Sleep at an inn for bonus stamina.

You can also use herbal packs before setting camp (there's more than enough of them to be looted from corpses or caches. Or you can just buy them, they're pretty cheap anyway). Or you can sleep at an inn, that way your stamina recovers fully. Drink some alcohol for faster healing (the drunk condition).

This game is working with both dosbox and VDMsound in my experience. Been running it on both XP and in Linux.

General Windows Tip
I have actually managed to get Krondor working without using vdmsound/dosbox in windows xp. The trick is insterting emm=RAM in c:\windows\system32\config.nt .. Save and perhaps a reboot.


On thing I experienced with VDMsound though is that you need to tweak it a little. I used the latest version + the "hidden" update to it + vdmslaunchpad. If I recall correctly either dosx or dpmi have to been turned of. I also experienced problems when I tried to run the game with "Sound Blaster Card" setup in Krondors config. If VDMSound crashes because of this, just pick Midi or something. The music is actually better in this mode :)
Enabling CD-rom support for cd-music might cause the game to have to little memory though :/


For Dosbox it should be working out of the box. Just start a default configuration..
mount c c:\dos (or whatever dir you wanna keep your games in)
mount d d:\ -t cdrom (if d: is your cdrom)
Go to D: - install.exe - configure sound and install

c:\Dynamix\bakcd
krondor

(If you do it this way you can also enable cd-music if you have the original cd :))
If Krondor complains about low memory, you should try again without mounting the cdrom.

--
Betrayal at Krondor is by far the best computer game I have ever played. It also lead me to read the fantastic books of Raymond Feist. I am a veteran of the game, having pretty much done everything possible in the game, and completed it yearly for about 11 years or so. So if anyone want to discuss some in-game stuff I am sure to be of help :)

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Zerqent @ May 26 2007, 09:27 PM) [snapback]291484[/snapback]</div>I rank it in my top 3 at least, one of the very very few games I've ever replayed after completing, I think the only game I've ever completed more than once.

I had read the Riftwar saga just before playing the game, which I think enhanced the experience considerably.

Masterpiece.

Game musics can be obtained from here > http://www.queststudios.com/quest/bakcd/bakcd.html
(it's in ogg to listen it separatedly or burning it on cd)

And for easing the game, here is way to get a cheat patch, with all saves maxed, from this page > http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Cavern/1947/

As it's mentioned on the second link game went freeware after Return to Krondor was released. From the same place can be also downloaded full version with everything stuffed in. And also on the same place is described how to configure it in the pure dos and probably in dosbox as well.

I love sierra approach :brain:

@rallier
wasn't it this?

Thanks a lot for this game. I have the original Betrayal at Antara, and I liked it a lot when I was younger. Yet, everyone I talked about it said Betrayal at Krondor was the original and was much better.

Now I see why they said it. The graphics arent as good, but the story is awesome. So, thanks for helping me get this game.

BTW, the game is hard as hell. Also, I solve most of the wordlock puzzles by pure luck. How the hell am I supose to know the answer is sieve?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Demeanor @ Aug 29 2007, 12:42 AM) [snapback]307330[/snapback]</div>If you are familiar with hex-editing, all you need to do is to find with a hex-editor one or two words of the wordlock puzzle in the biggest file in the game's folder (forgot what the name of that file was, but it's the biggest one). The answer is always located right after the according puzzle itself.
Wordlock puzzles are piece of cake (or pie, if you prefer) after that.

Hunm, thanks for the tip. I have some experience with them when I tried to make some mods for Morrowind. I guess I can do it.

Do you think they are really worth it? Some of the boxes I opened didnt had a lot of good stuff inside it. And as much as your idea is quite good, I would feel like I was cheating.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Demeanor @ Aug 30 2007, 06:37 PM) [snapback]307839[/snapback]</div>Well, in a way, it would be cheating. Some chests contain really neat items - such as spells which you would be using for the rest of the game, or weapons (there's one in chapter 2 with a really good sword - especially for that part of the game), or various gems and equipment which you could then use to buy other stuff. But the riddles assume you have good knowledge of English - some are really hard to solve. So it's up to you weather you want to "cheat" or not.

Cheers!

Those word locks are simple...no need to cheat...use your head. there is no satisfaction in cheating

It's not cheating. It's being wise and knowing programming. See?
I stopped playing this game after I got poisoned when you get out of the castle the first time. I remember my friend totally hogging the computer when this game first came out. We used to playe Daggerfall too. *sigh* those were the days!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(B@by_Flem @ Sep 2 2007, 02:16 AM) [snapback]308285[/snapback]</div>Well, what if English (or any other language the game is translated to) isn't your native language and you can't understand it well enough to solve the riddles, what then? Granted, you really don't need to open any wordlocks to finish the game (at least I can't think of one right now), and those that you do - somebody gives you the answers to those. But still - is it cheating if you don't actually KNOW the word because you don't speak the language?



<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(cazgotsaved @ Sep 2 2007, 11:59 AM) [snapback]308348[/snapback]</div>Those two aren't mutually exclusive.

Trying to run this on XP with Pentium 3, 450 mhz but no luck so far. Have tried the emm=Ram thing and recommended adjustments in properties of the exe. Mem says I have 655K conventional memory but the error message says I don't have enough. Is dosbox going to help with such a slow machine? Any other ideas? I also have a computer with Pent. 2, 200 mhz with W98. Would that work better?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(crazylegs @ Oct 16 2007, 10:49 AM) [snapback]316383[/snapback]</div>No.
VDMSound.
Yes.
Use the option to restart the system in DOS mode, and make sure you have DOS drivers for your soundcard.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(The Fifth Horseman @ Oct 16 2007, 11:13 AM) [snapback]316394[/snapback]</div>No.
VDMSound.
Yes.
Use the option to restart the system in DOS mode, and make sure you have DOS drivers for your soundcard.
[/b][/quote]

So do you mean VDM will help my XP do the job or is that with the W98?
Could you be a little more specific on how to check for the sound card dos drivers ?
Thanks.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Guest @ Oct 16 2007, 05:14 PM) [snapback]316425[/snapback]</div>XP only.

First thing would be restarting to DOS and trying to run the game's sound setup. If the sound is correctly configured but does not work you'll have to look for DOS drivers for the soundcard you are using.

Personally I just have an old machine with two hard drives, one of them only for DOS and DOS-based games. Works like a charm.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(crazylegs @ Oct 16 2007, 06:49 PM) [snapback]316383[/snapback]</div>Install Windows XP on that one instead, install DosBox and enjoy the game without any problems or worries about VDMSound or soundcard drivers. DosBox doesn't need soundcard drivers since it emulates soundcards itself.
Windows 98 is better on the P3 450Ghz one, that way everything fits perfectly.

Windows XP on 200 mHz? Plus DOSBox on top of that?
That idea is something I wholeheartedly advise... AGAINST.
Would be totally unplayable.

Oh, oops :tomato:
I actually misread it and thought it was a Pentium with 2200 Ghz. Sorry, my mistake. In that case Horseman's advise is the one to try out, while I myself would recommend Windows 98 as a more compatible operating system with older Dos games.
If you have Soundblaster Live!, this one usually has Ms-Dos drivers for older Soundblaster standard which are installed automatically when you install the Windows drivers for SB Live!, but only in Windows 98, in Windows XP these drivers aren't installed. If you then play a game in the Dos-prompt while in Windows 98, or restart in Ms-Dos mode completely, you'll have sound and music in every game that supports Sound Blaster, Sound Blaster Pro or Sound Blaster 16.

Using the Abandonia boot disk I was able to get BAK going on my W98 computer. No sound yet but downloaded the drivers and may try that but is sound really needed to play the game? I usually find that I prefer to play games without sound so if it's just atmospheric then I'll probably be OK without it. I tried VDM and the exe did no action at all when I clicked it on my XP machine and when I tried it on my W98 it started to install and then said it couldn't continue because I wasn't an administrator. First time I've ever seen that message and couldn't figure out what to do about it.

Just like I said, VDMSound is XP-only. You won't be able to run it on any older version of Windows.
To use it after installation, right-click the executable and select "Run with VDMSound". The first time you do that, a configuration proces will begin. You can use the default config if you like.

A bit confused. The exe of VDM or the exe of krondor? But neither of them, when right clicked, give an option of running "with" another program. Is this a feature of SP2? I don't have it yet.

Of Krondor.
Reinstall VDMSound. If that won't help, you'll have to use a workaround - run the command line tool, move to the game directory, type in DOSDRV and then run the game.
Not related to SP2.

Well since I got it working with the boot disk and don't mind no sound I think I'm going to go with that. Thanks a lot for your help. Now it's getting dark and I've got to find that inn so catch ya later.

Betrayal At Krondor is my favourite RPG ever, though I was disappointed with the end battle. It should have been Owyn, Pug and Gorath Vs. Delekhan and Malaka. That would've been more interesting.

After Vivendi has left ESA, all protection periods currently in effect on any games published by them or their subsidiaries are void.

This includes Betrayal at Krondor - effective immediately, the game has been requalified to Abandonware once again.

Glad to hear that, because BoK was an excellent and distinctive RPG. :) A shame a VP for Dynamix fired the team that made it as soon as it was released, because neither of the followups ever came close to what it had.

Best game ever..
 

Betrayal At Krondor is my favorite RPG forever.
..Beware of some fat enemies,
arising from the earth..They were my main problem..

Enjoy it.
And thanks Abandonia site.

yoga:)

have you played betrayal at antara? it was a good sequel

Well, I enjoyed BaK very much too. I agree, that this game was the best RPG on that time, but still it's too linear and worth completing only once.

Disagree
 

Hi, Mates,
@ russ
Y'know that without yr valuable help (freezed commando in AD) I was unable to complete the game. Once again my thanks.
,,concerning Atara I carefully read the newspapers when the game started and they all stated : Bad game .. So I decide to ignore the game because the game developer team was not the original one and the game was far away from BAK.

@Nick
Nick, with all my respect to YOU may I very politely disagree with yr opinion about the game. .. linear..?
Pls excuse me , but check the theme - The best game and You will see how many gamers said: BAK is the best one. Well, I do not like to initiate a conversation bout the game, it is just my HO. Ty
:)

Well, I have to agree that once you play the game, the story becomes quite predictable if you decide to replay it. It is linear in story, but allows for quite some exploration nevertheless and is worth to replay more than once. But that's just my opinion.

Yes Scatty
 

..For me BAK is like the first love.. No more repeated. :)):laugh:

Sorry, this might sound stupid but how do you install and play BAK through XP???

-Downloaded the files, saved them in the directory Program Files/Dynamix/Krondor

-Ran the install.exe, changed sound to General Midi SOund Driver.

-SAved config and exited. Now everytime i try to run krondor, a black screen comes up for 2-3 seconds then goes off again and im back where i started.

Should mention I havent a clue how to use DOSbox/

Dosbox is your friend, especially with this game. I've had no problems playing it through Dosbox.

Just download Dosbox, run it and type "intro" It will give you a pretty good idea on how to use Dosbox.

It's just me?
 

It's just me who can't run it?
I got just some rainbow like vertical lines... :doh:

Yes.


Post above yours:
>wtf IS dos bOX AND DOES IT WORK ON wIN xp?<

Go to game directory and open Drive.cfg file with notepad. There will be two letters: C & E change both to letter of hard disk where is game installed.
example:
d:\games\krondor so change to D

Sorry for my english

Also, when using DOSBox, use the drive letter where it is mounted, because that's where it thinks it's installed when you run it.

Excellent game if you can get past the ugly graphics. This is one of those games that I'd like to see remade because the graphics were bad even for back then, but you get used to them and you can forgive them due to the epic scope of the game and the excellent story. Definitely worth playing. The graphics just take getting used to.

I've been able to play this on XP without Dosbox. But that was years ago.
It worked fine back then, but I was too young to understand the game.

But now I'm experiencing the same thing as others without Dosbox. And I prefer not to use it. It's complex, I think.

You think or have you actually tried using it?
Try starting with A beginner's guide to DOSBox.

no, instead start your dosbox and input "intro"

Well, I still can't find the command to actually run the game. Where do I find that in the guide? It goes straight from finding the DIR thing to a lot of configurating that I don't understand. I just want to play the damn game!

So, quick question with a quick answer, please: How do I start the game!?

You go into DosBox and type in the name of the executable that starts the game. No pain no gain.

DosBox is extremely easy with a frontend. It saves you from messing with commands.

You know that it isn't particularly advanced if I can handle it.

And what would that be? "krondor.exe"?

Because that doesn't work. The DOSBox wants a command in front of it, apparently...

did you input "intro", like i told you? the tutorial horseman linked you is overly complicated in my opinion

* you firstly mount your game directory (input that god damn intro)
* cd to krondor directory (if necessary)
* input krondor.exe

So do I type "input krondor.exe" or what? :embarassed:

So, to summarize. I've typed in "intro", mounted the directory, found all the games and files etc. Now, how do I actually start the game after finding the directory and all that??????????????

krondor.exe
how simplier can it be?

I only get "Illegal command: krondor.exe"

but you need to go into the krondor directory before.. you don't go out on street and start yelling "1 presso with milk", first you have to walk into starbucks

it's done with cd command, which means "change directory" for example, if i'm located in C: and type: "cd programs", it takes me into directory c:\programs\

where is your krondor located and what are your mount commands?


note: you have to input whole mount thing everytime you start and turn dosbox off. or you can avoid repeating mount by inputing the commands into in dosbox config

First I mounted the directory, which is G:\abandonware\

It mounts fine, and when I input "dir" I can see all the games in there.

Then I input "dir krondor" which takes me to the Krondor files in that directory, G:\abandonware\krondor\

Now, is this the right place to input "krondor.exe"? Because that won't work...

read post again.. you don't input "dir krondor" you need to input "cd krondor". dir only shows list of files in a directory

It shows you the files in krondor directory but you have to type "cd krondor"
to actually change the directory.

Okay, that worked... Kinda.

When I did it right this time, the little window went blank for a moment, and then it was filled with psychedelic stripes flashing in different colors... And the only way to get out of it is by Ctrl+Alt+Deleting it...

What's the problem this time?

mmm make a screenshot?

http://i40.tinypic.com/nmgspe.jpg

There...

holy shit, why do you use dosbox 0.65?
get the newest one and come back then

also, get this and stop using that excrement-ware called internet explorer

I'm a computer conservative! If it was up to me I'd still be using Windows 98.
Yet I still don't understand DOSBox... :mhh:

However, I installed 0,73 now, but it still doesn't work. The flashing and moving has stopped, but it has been replaced by just two colorful dashes... :(
And that's it... Although now it shuts down by itself.

Next thing you'll need: http://www.7-zip.org/
Freeware and really good.
Just saying ....
:whistling:

As for your problem, would you be so kind to:
Post your mount lines.
What you did t'll now when trying to run the game?
Your inputs?
See, That would be helpful info to pinpoint where things go wrong.

What do I need the 7-zip for???


And here it goes:

I start DOSbox.

I type in "mount g g:\abandonware\"
That seems to work fine.

Then I change from Z: to G: by typing "G:"

Then I put in "cd krondor" still seems to be working fine.

And finally, "krondor.exe".

And then... Blank.

Because it's damn good and works as it should be? Because you can't run a simple game and I don't have any problem at all? Because you need help to get a game running and I don't?
Just saying .....:)

Wrong.

Do this:
mount c "g:\abandonware"
c:
cd krondor
krondor

If that still doesn't work
Redownload, get 7zip and be sure to unarchive ALL files in g:\abandonware\krondor.
Follow my instructions, the game is pre configured to run in dosbox, no problems.

*sigh*
If you paid attention and read that part of the guide instead of scrolling through it because "you just want to play the game", you'd find it's there to make some things easier for you.
Yes, it takes 5 minutes longer. It will save you a few minutes every time you run DOSBox, so that instead of endlessly typing in the same commands every time you want to start a game you can just start DOSBox, start the game and concentrate on playing.

Modifying the configuration file involves just changing a few bits of text in it and adding two lines on the end - this way you won't have to type the MOUNT commands in manually every time you start DOSBox.

In the same vein, installing Norton Commander gives you access to a simple but useable interface that will free you from the need of constantly typing in things like DIR, CD or SETUP.

I'm trying to explain things in it as simple as possible, but if there is some part of the guide you can't understand, re-read it and ask me about it.

Edit: nevermind

horseman why do you point him to hour long reading and adjusting norton commander, while he already understands everything and knows how the mount works =l

Because he still apparently doesn't know about autoexec, and NC's user interface makes navigating directories and running programs much easier than if he had to enter everything manually.

yes, that's why he should go through million paragraphs long article with complete newb step by step instructions. to tell him that autoexec lines are located in the end of dosbox.conf

Yeah, well... if you want to explain to him how he can avoid having to type in the commands to move in the directory structure, list directory structure and so on all the time, be my guest.

but he knows how to dir and cd

*points out that's not the problem*
After a while, having to repeat them over and over tends to get on one's nerves (proportionally faster the more prone one is to making typos).
Using the [autoexec] and a rudimentary GUI helps get around it without having to resort to a frontend.

playing betrayal at Krondor
 

Hi,

I played Betrayal at Krondor a bit during the weekend. It was a lot of fun even though all I've managed to do is walk around bashing peeps in blue capes and looting their corpses.

I couldn't help but notice the problem Dramo was running into. I think the best solution was as dosraider described. Dramo did you finally get it to work?

When I first started figuring out DOSBox it was all so hard to figure out. For starters, the config file with the autoexec section at the end (the one where you can type in the mount and cd instructions in order to automate the process) was not there with all the other installation folders. I'll try to explain what I did, in case it is of any help.

#1) I installed DOSBOX 0.73 (yay DOSBox rules) in my E:\DOSBox folder.
#2) I read the intro and mount information to figure out how to properly apply the mount command and how to navigate the different levels of this DOSBox thing. It was initially very confusing because the pertinent details seemed to be dispersed all over. Most importantly though I followed the instruction to create a games folder separated from the DOSBox installation folder: I created it in my E: drive, and called it "dosboxdrive", and unzipped a few of the Abandonia goodies into it - with each game having its own independent folder. Consequently, my mount command prompt is "mount c e:\dosboxdrive" and shows up like this:
Z:\ mount c e:\dosboxdrive

#3) To play Betrayal at Krondor I use
Z:\mount c e:\dosboxdrive
Z:\c:
That changes the z:\ prompt to c:\ and I type dir
C:\dir
Which lists the files and folders in my folder called dosboxdrive
Directory of C:\
. <DIR>
.. <DIR>
BURNTIME <DIR>
KRONDOR <DIR>
MOO <DIR>
Notably. Krondor is the folder where I installed Betrayal at Krondor. I myself changed the name to "krondor" during installation because if the name is longer than 8 characters then it gets modified to something with a ~ character and a number 1 (something like betray~1) and then it all gets reaaaaallly confusing for me. So I purposely changed the name during installation, from whatever it was before (I think it was "betrayal at krondor) to simply "krondor". Then, I move into the krondor folder holding my installation of Betrayal at Krondor by typing "cd krondor" and getting the prompt:
c:\krondor>
then I run the Betrayal at Krondor game executable itself by simply typing in "krondor".

Ok, so I guess everyone who can use DOSBox knows about all this, and if you don't know this then I doubt you're using DOSbox. Buuut, the really hard part is actually getting the mount and c prompt automated. And, the main reason, I think, is because there seems to be an explanation error in the readme text file that comes along with the DOSBox installation.

As I mentioned before, when I initially installed DOSBox 0.73 I could not see any config files in my DOSBox installed folder. In section 11 of the 52KB README text file that comes with the application, it is stated that a config file is generated by CONFIG.COM and that you can see the config file when you start DOSBox, and that you can edit the file. Buut, again, I did not see any config file. I did see a line in my DOSBox Status window which said something to the effect of "CONFIG: Loading settings from" and then some location on my c: drive which I could actually not find (perhaps it is in a hidden folder?).

**
Still fiddling around, I reread the readme, and in section 2 I came back upon the "Q: I would like to change the memory size/cpu ..." to which the reply is to "just create a config file: config -writeconf configfile" and then to edit this said file and to "start DOSBox with your new settings: dosbox -conf configfile". The answer concludes with the suggestion to see the description of the config command in section 4 of the readme.
**

Ok, the first time that I read this I simply did not look at section 4 because I had the impression that the reply to the question in section 2 was the complete solution to the problem. Wwwrooong. When I typed in "config -writeconf configfile" I did get a file of size 10KB and of type File which I did open with notepad, and which does have the text that the file ought to have, and I did edit the file's autoexec section at the end in order to automate the mount. But, when I restarted DOSBox and typed in "dosbox -conf configfile" at the Z:\ prompt or several other variations of my wacked out attempt (such as just typing in "-conf configfile"), I kept getting error reports or my DOSBox would stop responding and I had to shut it by clicking on the x at the top right hand corner. I also noticed that DOSBox could not see this file because it could not be displayed via the dir command, and not even after a rescan. So, I deleted the file.

It was only after I read section 4 of the readme file that I noticed the appropriate instructions:

1. To create a configfile in your current directory:
config -writeconf dosbox.conf

I tried that at the Z:\ prompt right after starting up DOSBox, and finally a little text file called "dosbox" popped up in my E:DOSBox windows folder - where I had installed DOSBox. Again, this little file was not visible through the dir command in DOSBox. (This is something about DOSBox that I still don't understand.) However, the file was clearly different (of type CONF), so I gave it a try again. I edited it by typing in my desired lines:

mount c e:\dosboxdrive
c:
dir

All this at the very end of the file, right after the line "# Lines in this section will be run at startup." I restarted DOSBox and suddenly it all worked on its own!!

After all this, even though it works for me, I still wonder about a few things:

Could I have avoided this by simply allowing the DosBox0.73-win32-installer to install DOSBox in the c:\program files folder as it first suggested?? I mean, is it the case that the CONF would've been there as opposed to being non existent in my E:\DOSBox folder where I had forced the install to occur? I don't like installing stuff in my c:\ drive as a habit and sometimes weird stuff happens as a result.

**
Is this problem specific to me with my use of the win32 installer on an XP system? In other words, do the instructions in section 2 of the readme apply and work well for other folks but do not apply to my installation??
**

How did I manage to *not remember* this from having figured out how to use DOSBox0.72?

I guess that's all. Cheers Dramo, and everybody. I feel it was worth experimenting around all that just to play Betrayal at Krondor. It seems to me that having to go through a chaotic gauntlet of small issues like this is part and parcel of the magical DOSBox experience. Still, I'm glad I never had to walk 10 miles to school, everyday, uphill, in the snow, both ways.

You went through a lot of trouble for nothing.
You have a dosbox config start menu item.
One click, that's all ......
That your dosbox-073 folder is on E: doesn't matter.
http://www.abandonia.com/vbullet/showthread.php?t=19983
http://www.abandonia.com/vbullet/showthread.php?t=19982

Remark: if you have a dosbox.donf file in your E:\dosbox-0.73\ folder the shortcut won't edit that one and dosbox won't load the default one but the one in your dosbox folder.

I am experiencing the same problem as mentioned above (two flashing lines, sometimes one, sometimes only a black screen).

I am used to Dos-Box and all other games run fine. I tried several install options with Krondor, changing dos-box configurations (cycles, sound etc.) and nothing worked.

Idea, anyone?

I read the Books by Raymond.E Feist and when a played this game it was so coolzor (haha nerdy) Gawd I didn't finish it because I lost the game when My old pc went bonkers.But anyway(and yes u can begin sentences with but) I got it again and will play it when im done with Star Trek And Ultima. Its an Epic game.

The funny thing is that Feist was completely uninvolved in BaK, other than to take a check for using his setting. At the time, he didn't know a thing about computer gaming. When Return to Krondor was made, Feist was much more knowledgeable and got involved--and the result was a much more cliched magic system and more linear product.

D'oh
 

Err, yes I did. Thanks a lot for pointing this out. From here I also rediscovered the (noconsole) link to the dosbox executable - which stops that other window from popping up.

Cheers
:insertbeericonsmileythingyinhere:

:laugh:I am replaying BAK again after a few years. I upgraded my computers over this time and for a while did not have Dosbox so I just couldn't get the game to play..I love this game. Can't recall how many times I have played it in the past and it still seems fresh(to me anyway)
A couple of days ago I thought I would try again as I have been playing old games with the help of dosbox fairly successfully..I used the method shown to me by DosRaider when I was stuck with "Maupiti Is" and voila it works perfectly. No drama, no long involved stuff just unzip and play.HURRAH By the way I am using Dosbox 0.72

This is the best RPG game ever. There's nothing else like it.

Well they tried something similar with Antara.. and failed miserably. It had the same premise, spans 3CDs, but it's just not as much fun as Krondor is. Maybe because you don't have a badass half-elf to your shepherd boy :D BAK is truly one of the best RPGs of its time.

Antara failed in large part because it wasn't the same "they" that made the game as BoK. The latter became a big success, and the VP at Dynamix who had constantly fought with the development team fired them almost immediately. Then, in turn, he got some minor staff programmer to do up a game that offered "more of the same, only bigger" in Antara, with terrible writing, and extremely poor balance. It was a bomb, and deservedly so. The VP was fired, in turn.

Return to Krondor was something else. Sierra farmed it out to a company that had never made an RPG before, and they produced a competent, all too linear, and rather unimaginative game as a result. But it's worlds' better than Antara.

I finished BaK JUST now and am feeling awfully sad that it all must come to an end. The story seemed like one capable of going on forever. :( Simply put, this is the finest RPG I've ever laid my hands on. Long live Sierra and Raymond E. Feist. :rocks::rocks::rocks:

Feist only gave permission for the use of his characters. He had no input into BaK. And Sierra only published it. The work was done by a team at a subsidiary that had complete control of their own choices, Dynamix.

If you want to see who really was responsible, check out the manual for the Dynamix's development team. ;)

Borodin I read you mention that this is one of your top five RPG's of all time. Although this may not be the proper forum for it, I wanted to ask you what the other four are. You seem to be very knowledgeable on the subject.

BTW, I used to go to my best friends house as a child to play this game, a King's Quest title or two, lots of Quest for Glory, Dune, Dune 2, and Eric the Unready. This game brings back fond memories even though we never really accomplished much on it.

That's a matter of perspective, and what you want from the game...but generally, Fallout series (except 3 perhaps), TES series (especially Morrowind), Might and Magic 4-6, and Baldur's Gate series make into most of these top RPG lists.

Edit: And forgot Gothic series...

There are many just as knowledgeable, here, and some with far greater knowledge in some areas--but as you wish it, sahib, so shall it be. ;) I'll even had 5 more rather than 4, and in no particular order:

King of Dragon Pass is an astonishing RPG/strategy hybrid. I only wish it had sold better, but it appeared only on the Web, and at a time when you still couldn't make a living doing that.

Ultima VIIa.

Darklands.

Planescape: Torment

Morrowind (with plenty of mods)

...or, if you won't allow mods:

Baldur's Gate II. (Though there are some damn fine mods for BG2, as well. They just cover fewer aspects of the game.)

If you had fun, that's what counts. Don't let any powerplayer tell you otherwise. :)

Actually, Return to Krondor was supposed to be published by some other company, I think Take Two? I guess Sierra must've lost the rights. But Sierra ended up buying up the rights to publish RtK before it was completed. I remember because I was distinctly excited about another Krondor game, and disappointed that my favorite company (Sierra) wasn't going to make it.

Betrayal at Krondor would be a great candidate for a remake. The story and gameplay were excellent at the time, but the graphics were horrible, even back then. But I still liked the scope of the games, and having to travel long distances to cities. It made a huge impression on me.

As for King of Dragon Pass, I agree it was a unique and interesting game that was strangely addicting. Definitely worth checking out.

Never heard of that, is that good ?

Hey, morrowind is still great without mods!

Not my opinion, sorry, and that's what they asked for. :)

Are you sure you aren't confusing Morrowind with Oblivion? :ph34r:

Joking :p

And sure, you have your right to be wrong :bleh2:

;)

but not when he's right, because morrowing is boring as hell=P

btw, you guys made me want to play betrayal at krondor again

Vanilla Morrowind is far, far more interesting than Vanilla Oblivion, but there are tons of mods for both, and they make each game much better. My current Morrowind lineup includes about 120 mods. My Oblivion lineup has 214. They work great together, and add quests, companions, spell systems, new armor and weapons, house mods, etc.

BaK has a far more interesting plot and range of NPCs than either, however, because it's a different kind of RPG.

Cof-Cof :ph34r:

Because nothing is more exciting that flat landscape and polygon hills of the Krondor.

Huh? I think Morrowind has good gameplay.

I think you're missing a whole lot there. It's not just the flat landscape and polygon hills. And it's not Morrowind's gameplay that _r.u.s.s meant but that of Betrayal of Krondor. It's the great music played on different locations in BoK (especially the CD-music in the CD version), it's the great and captivating story which leads through the game and is full of twists and thrills. And not to forget the for the time great graphics in many still and cinematic scenes that accompany the game story.

And the combat is fun. And the riddle chests.

Yeah well, the riddle chests actually can be pain in the arse if one doesn't know where to look for the answers. Fortunately the questions and answers to them are all located in text form in the file krondor.001.

D: Cheater!

lol, I answered most of the riddle questions fairly without cheating ^_^

Meh. If you end up bashing your head against some of the chests with the riddles for hours you can either sit there for few more hours or search for a solution to move on. Try to figure out which one is more efficient and especially more fun.

:thumbs:BAK is a game that NEVER loses its appeal whether game assists like cheat sheets or walkthroughs are used or not.I tend to agree with Scatty...get hint..learn something and get on with enjoying the game..

If you can't solve the riddles then just skip the chests. Don't cheat to get what you want out of them, just accept that you can't because you can't solve the riddle. Yes, it gets boring if you stay at one chest trying to solve a riddle that you can't get. So if you can't, then just cheat? What I used to do is, I'd write down the riddle, then make a note of where the chest was in order to find it again easily.

For me, true satisfaction and enjoyment comes with completing a game entirely on my own without outside help. Half the fun of most games is making your own decisions and figuring out what to do and how to do it.

To each his own, eh, guys? :)

Personally I need a walkthrough, because I can't spend thousands of hours trying to find the blasted golden bridle. Or figuring out how to open the pirate shopkeeper's safe. Meh ^_^

You say it. It's all about fun anyway, so whichever way it delivers that for anyone. Myself, I prefer to bash my head for some time against a riddle first, and only then look for the solution. Can't just move away from that locked chest without cracking it on the spot, right there :D

:3:Having played BAK from the time it came on the market up until now(probably around 10 times) I feel confident in saying that it would be impossible to cheat ones way through the entire game..even if one wanted to.when I first played it (no walkthroughs or hints) it took me almost 12 months!! This is a game with many layers and side quests which is one of the reasons it is so addictive..I still feel that each time one plays this game it changes slightly so that nothing can be taken for granted..By the way the first time I played the game Acethor if I left a chest I didn't find it again easily in fact in most cases I didn't find it again at all..

I don't mind using walkthroughs in games now if it involves finding sidequests and other things I might miss. I don't have the time or patience to wander around in games spending a day on something that should take an hour. The only time I feel guilty about it is with adventure games since that's the entire point of them. I almost always solved games on my own back in the day though. Blame gamefaqs.

For sale at GOG

:)

I just loooove how companies are putting up sale their old freeware games. First Red Baron, now this. And yet, people write stuff like "This is why I love GOG".

yeah.. i remember abandonia got exclusive permission from the makers to host this game, or something like that

Hi,

BAK is my best favorite game forever!!
I will never play it again.

-Why, yoga?
Because I do not want to delete my first feelings of gaming BAK..

Walk through ?
Of course..
One have no time to go up-down all the day long..

Time is m...y

;))

return of the infamous cd-music issue
 

Hi, I'm new to these forums, so pardon me if I break any etiquette.

I'm a long-time BaK fan, and I just recently got DosBox and DGBL for the sole purpose of running BaK, and so far the game is running well (even though I had to do a lot of work with it on my laptop since the patches and bakhack( if only for bugs) are only available in 32bit). Still, I feel that I'm missing out on the best experience because the lack of proper music. I have the CD image and all, the audio runs fine when used as audio disk, but the 'cd music' option is never possible. I've tried mounting the image/virtual-cd countless times now, but it never works.

After doing quite a lot of google searches and looking through various internet forums, it seems that no one has figured out how to do this on Vista/XP. One possible solution to my problem would be re-installing Windows XP, but switching OS for a 17 year old game is simply not going to happen. Does anyone know how to get the game/dgbl to recognise the CD on Windows 7?

1. Image format?
2. How are you mounting it?

Thank you so much for the swift reply, I really appreciate it!
I don't have all the details in my head right now. Suffice to say, I've tried the methods that are supposed to work, but they don't seem to work in Windows 7.

I've used the DGBL "mount" settings to mount a .cue file, and I've tried mounting it as a virtual disk (through daemon tools). The disk seems to be fine, I even managed to mount it and attempt an install in dosbox, just to see if it worked( I run the game itself with patched freeware files in the dosroot folder). The disk seems to be working, but somehow BaK can't detect it. It's really frustrating. I'm no computer wizard, so I thought I might find one here. :)

1. What letter is the virtual drive set to use?
2. Have you tried running IMGMOUNT manually from DOSBox? Sometimes frontends cause some things to not work correctly.

1. F.
2. Not sure, I think I have. I'll try it now anyway.

All mounted drives should use successive letters. Unless you already have a D and E mount, you should mount the drive as D.

YES! It finally worked! The trick was to mount the cd as E -t cdrom with the KRONDOR label. I have no idea why, but it worked.

I'm sorry for the blatant double posts, but does anyone have tips regarding the sound settings? The music is lovely, but it gets "hiccups" every three to five seconds, as well as every time another sound is being played. Is it possible to have several sound channels in order to avoid this, and if so, how?

Once again, thanks for taking the time to help me rediscovering Betrayal at Krondor! :D

If your cycles in dosbox.conf are set to auto, set a distinct value instead. If core is set to auto, set it to dynamic instead.
There are a few tweaks to the buffering that could help as well, but I don't have them on hand right now. Will post them later.

4g2JJz
 

Thanks, got most of the kinks sorted out now! :)
The only bother now is that the music fades out after a minute or so. Maybe it's not supposed to loop like the MIDI does.

thats normal, back in 93 thats what it did, however the music you hear isn't midi its the actual cd track, and since their is 54 plus tracks they are all about a minute to 2 long at best.

And yes, i bought this when it first came out , $54.95.. danm good price back then.

I never got into this game. It was one of those that I'd install, play a little and then uninstall. A little later I'd try it again, play a little more and lose interest.

I started this game some days ago and looks pretty hard.
Any suggestion is welcome :unsmug:

It really isn't that hard. :) Combat follows simple logic: keep your magic users to the back, and remember, if they're next to an opponent, they can't cast--but that applies to enemy magicusers, too. As magic is very powerful in the game, try to take mages out in battle, first.

While you can toggle to follow the road, stepping off the road to the sides will often yield interesting results: hidden caches in the ground, ward chests, sometimes NPCs wandering around, etc.

The word puzzles on chests are really very easy. Often the answer is a pun that solves a riddle, so think first along those lines before spinning the wheel dials. I think I figured out every one of them on my first try.

The thing about traps is that if you have trouble lining things up, send your party member with the highest hit points through. After they get hit by a lightning bolt or fireball, and gotten to a safe area in the trap, have them stop. Wait several turns, and watch their strength build up. Only when that process is finished should you move them ahead, again. All you need to do is get one party member out the other side--not all.

In every chapter check out as much of the land as you can, because things will change for the next chapter, and you may miss secondary quests, as well as interesting items. Some things won't change, but others definitely will. Revisit buildings you've been to, before. Closed houses may become taverns, and shops may reopen that have been closed.

Don't barrel through the game at high speed. You'll find yourself getting ambushed, as well as missing hidden stuff on the ground.

Lockpicking isn't an absolute figure, but uses a value from your party member along with a random roll against the lock number. So if you don't succeed on your first try, you may on your fifth, or tenth. However, you may also break your current lockpick. Fortunately, they're very cheap, and stack in your inventory. Also, your lockpicker gains a bit of skill whether he/she succeeds, or not.

Save regularly. The combat options are slim, but that means the AI has fewer concerns, and it's usually very, very good. There's never any cheating involved, but Be Prepared is a good motto.

You'll eventually find and be able to buy both elemental-flavored attack enhancers and protection. Use both liberally. Your characters' knapsacks are very limited for space, and it would be a shame to leave some of that stuff behind, when it helps so much in combat.

Check every building, but save first. Save before you accomplish the final objective for a chapter, because you may end up with completely different characters for the next one. That means different inventory, and something you really liked (such as an amulet that assists in opening locks) won't transfer.

Watch for images forming in the road at the distance. They're probably attacks waiting to happen. Save, then enter, and see if you can ambush them. Even if not, you may have to deal with them, and it's better to approach and slowly and be aware.

Besides hastily covered pits and chests, two other sources of hidden objects are dead bodies, and tree stumps. Be sure to check all of these for items.

Read all the text about items you find, because not everything that looks the same, is the same. If the text says that food you've found doesn't look or smell right, for example, take it seriously. It's probably spoiled, or poisoned.

Magic is handled differently in BaK than in many other games. You find, are given, or purchase scrolls that are then learned by a magicuser in your party. They don't get them through the grace of the airwaves by making levels. (And I find this much more realistic, personally.) You'll find a monastery or something similar to it on a trail to the left as you head towards your main goal in chapter one--and a monk tending a farm on the main road directly after that trail. Walk through the farm area, and a dialog with him will pop up. He'll give you a very useful free scroll, and offer to sell you another. Agree.

You raise skills through use, but you can designate for each party member a few skills to go up quicker than others. I suggest giving one party member weaponcraft (repairing weapons), another scouting, etc. These skills don't gain for being spread across your party. On the other hand, everybody should have accuracy, which affects melee as well as ranged and magical attacks.

Books are very useful. You will find them, buy them, and receive them as quest rewards. Each party member may read the same to their benefit, but first, be sure you have plenty of food handy. Because a lot of time passes while reading, and a party that goes a full day or more without eating and sleeping is going to be very tired and starved when it finishes with a book.

You can deposit objects in chests/caches, and another party you run in a later chapter will find them there. This means you can place a book, extra weapon damage enhancers, etc, in a chest for future use. This is a tradeoff with selling for cash, however, so you have to be the judge.

Make a record of all the prices on selling and buying at various shops, because the differences are very considerable.

In chapter 2, you will find that the town of Romney is under siege. While that's in progress, you can sell anything you have for an enormous amount of gold there. (Don't buy from there, obviously. Buy elsewhere.) This can make you tons of money--until you solve the guild crisis, which involves approaching a guild master's house further south on the main road. I suggest avoiding the main quest, and checking out all the sidequests, selling stuff there, until you are really ready. Because after the crisis is solved, and the guild boycott is ended...? Prices return to normal.

When venturing through dungeons and mines, always carry rope. Portions of corridors may simply fall away, and your party will fall to their deaths without rope. You will use a portion of rope for each time your group has to cross a chasm.

Ask about anything else, and you shall be answered as well as possible. ;)

Wow, a lot of suggestions, so i have to explore the entire world map every chapter ?

Then i havent understant how the healing work, i have sleept all night but havent recovered a single stamina point.

Last thing: In combat there are a lot of misses even when the attack % is good :omg:

Be brave
 

Cheer up, Caro Capo!:smile2:

YOU can. You did so much difficult games!

BoK is not so hard as Dungeon Master, for example.

My only hard moment was when some strange fat enemies grown up from the earth.

I wish YOU luck!!

the brave
:smile2:

This is the best RPG after Baldur's gate saga, believe me.

No--I'm only suggesting that you do so. :) Because if you do, you'll encounter a number of helpful side quests. It's like many other good RPGs in this respect. You can rush through it and only do the main quest, but what's the fun in that? So you walk around looking for other things. You don't have to do any of that. But you can, if you want to, and get rewarded handsomely for it.

I think I know what happened. In BoK, as long as you're camping out, you can only recover a certain amount of your party's health. (It's a lot, though.) If you want everybody to be at full health, you'll have to sleep at inns or in government buildings. Inns are pretty expensive, and I'd generally avoid their use. Plus, your party may be pickpocketed while you're staying overnight.

Sounds like a run of bad luck. There are ways of raising your chance of hitting:

1) better weapons (be sure to check for their accuracy ratings by clicking to look at them),

2) magic that paralyzes or severely harms an opponent,

3) enhancers like Redweed Brew that make your attacks temporarily more likely to hit,

4) developing the Accuracy value for each character (most important of all),

5) choosing attacks that have a greater chance to hit but do less damage--thrust, don't swing,

6) giving characters weapons that are designed for their races (but this is less important than giving them very good weapons),

7) reading Dorcas' Treatise on the Animation of Objects,

8) Paying Tad Questor at Questor's View to raise each of your party member's Accuracy permanently.

In the early days of the game, you start poorly. That's expected. Be sure to select Accuracy for each of your party members as one of the few skills they can train better than the others. This is essential.

Exploring everywhere would be optimal, but you can't enter every area in every chapter, some become open in certain chapters, some can't be entered again on another chapter, but mostly you will be able to visit many locations each time, which you really should if you got the patience.

If you rest simply outside, you will recover health completely, but stamina only up to a certain amount, something more than a half of its full value. Also you will recover them slower than if you rest at an inn. In the inns you can recover health and stamina completely.
Aside of that there's a healing spell, takes stamina at casting as every spell (or health if there's not enough stamina) and heals a characters health and maybe stamina also, don't remember exactly enymore.

Enemy's (or your) armor value is taken into account for chance to hit, so you mostly won't hit each time, but more often the better you are with the weapon and the better the weapon is / the better (if) it's blessed.

That's a very good point. The game looks a lot larger than just about every chapter is, because there are some artificial limits on where you can go. But there's a great deal to explore, and I see that as an advantage. I've never been a fan of the JRPG "you can go anywhere to explore in this game, just as long as its down this one corridor" approach.

We're going to confuse Capo. ;) Health/Stamina measure parts of the same thing, though the manual isn't all that clear. Basically, your Stamina goes down if you're hurt in any way, and once it reaches 0, your Health goes down. Once your Health reaches 0, you're critically injured. It's as though Stamina were the top portion of a mountain peak called Health. (In this case, Stamina has nothing to do with fatigue.) You do not recover Health/Stamina completely when resting in camp--you can get the Health part back, and then 80% of the Stamina part. To get all the way to 100%, you need to rest at an inn, go to an official building, or take a healing potion.

Many thanks Borodin and Scatty :OK:

Yes wise Yoga, if you suggest this game i will try to complete it.

I think i will leave this game, i have two characters -near dead- and i cant find a temple, i tried north but there is a mage that i cant beat, i tried east, assassins everywhere, i tried sud, there a group that block my pass that i cant beat, already used all the restorative to beat another group of assassins :sucks:

The mage is in the barn, isn't he? That's the first major battle you face in the game.

I'm guessing you took the direct route to him. What you wanted to do was work your way around and investigate more, turning off into other roads, building up your skills in battle on lesser opponents. He's meant to be the boss of the first chapter.

Up to you, of course. :)

The problem is that i have tried every possible route and every one ends with a fight i cant win with 2 pg at 1 life point.

I will try lands of lore 2.

I see what you mean. Didn't save before your last fights? Not enough food to rest up in the open and regain your party's health?


Think! You have a future, friends, youth. Don't throw it all away by such a...desperate move.

;)

Pg at 1 hp dont heal sleeping, the only way is a temple but i havent found any.


Is a bad game ? I've started it and look pretty cool :omg:

Though this game is for sale at GoG, a certain version of it is actually freeware; Sierra gave it away free way back in the late 90's, to promote their new, "amazing" sequel, "Betrayal at Antares".

There is a version ~10mb, and that is entirely free and legal :p (should go on AR).

Which as many times discussed on the GoG forums, was for a limited time, and only from certain sources. It's by no means freeware anymore.

BoK was my first love,
till i met Morrowind and Oblivion.
I am surprised to know that some well respected gamers of AB
name this game - crap.!?
I strongly recommend BoK to every dedicated fan of RPG.
..and beware of some unfriendly fat gentlemen who raised from the earth..

There should be a list of temples in the GameFAQs strategy guide. I remember one being in the north-south road leading from your starting position to the capitol. Once you find additional temples, always be sure to go in and click to speak to the leader. Choose the teleport option, but don't teleport--just do it, to get a look at where the various temples are that you already know.

BaK? No, it's great. I reviewed the thing when it first came out, and its two successors. It was innovative in several respects.

1) First genuine 3D RPG. The third dimension wasn't for anything other than visuals, but still.

2) The wordlocked chests. No other development team has thought its player base intelligent or literate enough to spend time figuring these out.

3) The trapped land system. Very clever, and also something that I don't recall seeing much of, subsequently.

4) A series of mini-plots that actually move ahead on their own, chapter by chapter, whether you become involved in them, or not.

5) A magic system that fortunately avoids all the AD&D cliches. That's not innovative, but it's nice. :)

6) Plots within plots, and for once, evil types who really aren't selfishly evil, but simply want the best outcome by standards that differ from your own.

As a sidenote, the development team got into a really heated debate with the Sierra VP appointed to oversee their project. The day after the game was released, they were literally all fired by him. He in turn was fired soon after he reasoned that anybody could make a similar game, appointed a few programmers to lead Betrayal at Antara, and it was treated by press and players alike (for good reason) as a bomb.

This is a fantastic game! Most of the complaints are probably due to its age, more than anything. I think a vast majority of people who didn't try it when it was current weren't even born yet when it was new.

But it was truly a wonderful game, and a classic. It is not action-oriented, so if you want your FPS with an RPG veneer (I'm looking at you, Bethesda), then just keep on walking.

What it does offer is an incredible story line in a fully-fleshed-out world. It is easily on par with other classic PC epics such as Albion. It beats far better-marketed and better-selling games, at least of it's time.

I found no better RPG until the days of Baldur's Gate came and then all other RPGs from that day forward would be compared to it and be humbled; but still I remember this one as a real gem. It's a shame that it hasn't aged as well as it's contemporaries.

Oh, this makes me feel so good. :wacko:

Awesome game!
 

I remember how excited I was buying this game when it was brand new!!! Great story, awesome graphics (for the time)

The thing that most impressed me about the game is how much they added for you to find on your own. Most RPGs drag you around by the nose. BaK actually lets you go almost everywhere and do almost anything. If you just go and follow the "main" plot directly, you miss out on over half of the side quests and stories.

Though its combat system is not totally unique, it is far from common. A tile based, 2d isometric, turn based combat system was done very, very rarely.

What I also found impressive was the writing. It is placed in Raymond E Feist's Midkemia, but Feist had nothing to do with it. Basically just licensed Dynamix to go nuts. They managed to write a story that felt perfect within the setting. I had never read a book from Feist, but this game inspired me to do so.

Exactly. Feist accepted a fee for the use of his setting and characters, but he had no involvement in the writing or the world. When he did get involved, with Return to Krondor, it turned into a pretty routine, average lookalike RPG with a standard template of AD&D-style magic spells you auto-chose from as you leveled up. There's no leveling in BaK, as you know: instead, your skills increase as you use them, and if you highlight specific skills, they'll increase faster. The catch is, the more you highlight, the slower that extra boost becomes, since it's spread out.

I recently started it up, again. Still played damn well. And the little in-jokes--like the Inn called The Green Cat--are fun to catch, too. I remember asking the chief developer if he was a Fritz Leiber fan (novel called The Green Cat), and he laughed, and said I'd got him. We were both Leiber enthusiasts. :D