Is the game worth getting?

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Do people think that the requirements for a good set of rules for pen and paper FRP are all that similar to the requirements for a CMFRP structure? I'd say not. For example it's essential that the maths of the pen & paper game be kept quite simple, otherwise at best calcuation interferes with maintaining the mood of the game. (A big complaint about, say, Rolemaster). No such consideration applies in CMFRP.

There's also a completely different balance of optimal risk levels.

Of course there's something to be said for having a familiar spell set, for example, but there's a lot of magic you can do in a pen & paper game which is (at least as yet) impossible in a CMFRP. For the more subtle magic you'd need levels of NPC inteligence that aren't even on the horizon yet.

 

I agree that the computer is good at handling the math (dice rolls, random encounters, ecc...). One common complaint is that the game is to linear. This is true with ALL the computer D&D games. IE: you will find a certain monster and it will drop a certain item. In the Pen and paper game most if not all of the fun was finding the random cool treasure. The only game I can think of that fulfills that part of the game is the Diablo series (they are not even offical D&D games)

As far as TOEE goes the 3.5 rules do have some different ways of doing things which I think make the game play more like the pen and paper game. If you get the game and download all the patches as listed in Earl Grey's quote:Install the following patches
- Official ToEE Patch 2.0
- Co8 mod pack v3.0.4:
- Temple.zip
you can have fun with this game (I'm not to the elemental levels so I have not noticed any major bugs like I said after loading the patches).

 

The worst thing about this game is not the bugs.

The thing about this game that makes it not worth buying is the playingtime. The game is VERY short. If you deduct the time it takes to wander around hommlet trying to locate where you are (the map of hommlet is HUGE and none of the houses have any signs(which means you have to put your own signs at the map, but for some moronic reason you can only make a limited number)) the game could be cleared in a few hours.

Dont buy.

 

>This is true with ALL the computer D&D games. IE: you will
>find a certain monster and it will drop a certain item. In the
>Pen and paper game most if not all of the fun was finding
>the random cool treasure.

Well, the huge advantage of a pen and paper game (if you're lucky) it that you've got an intelligent DM, who can respond to your decisions by creating whole new game sections, and indeed changing the whole plot.

A CMFRP can only be finite or randomly generated. It can't invent new quests and characters in response to the way the play goes.

And there really is no way to escape a large degree of linearity, though a CMFRP can have a number of major quests to chose from. It's a severe challenge that players can completely crock a quest of this sort without being aware of it.

 

Iron Chicken is right, the pen and paper version is very Linear. But during the P&P version it always seemed like you had a million paths, and with a good DM you did as long as you didn't do something stupid. That being said and my early gripes aside this game might interest those not just in it for the role playing.

 

I fininshed TOEE recently and I found it quite enjoyable. It's true is not Planescape or Baldur's Gate but it's fun to play. The bugs are awful though...however if you save often and you have multiple saved games you can finish the game without major problems.
If you like AD&D and D&D you should buy it, especially because probably you can find it by now for very low prices.

 

I just got TOEE the other day and I really like it. I'd definately recommend it if you enjoy the other D&D CRPGs.

 

It was quite ok that game. Damn bugs ruined abit of the gameplay though. But the turn based fights was damn cool.