Pool of Radiance Remastered

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This is the most famous mod for NWN2, I think. So After complete BGR mod, I try it.

Initial impression

- Graphic: much tighter than BGR.
- Music: the music in taverns are marvellous. Sound effects are over all good.
- I do wish I had chosen Rogue because initial combat map has two locked chests. Then again, it's bloody dangerous, so a Paladin to go with the only NPC a Fighter are more survivable. I am not sure a rogue can survive those battle. Low level Paladin use Healing kits to restore health.
- Twist: You can only rest at certain location, or paying for supply kits to rest anywhere.
- Travel: No world map shortcuts. You move from one EZ to another in a map, from this map to the next. Think NWN2 without the world map... oh wait~

New Phlan. Aldo's stall

Kuto's Well

 

- Heal skill is pretty good. in combat, it's like Cure Moderate Wounds. Out of combat, it's better, though rest trump that. Before Sokol, my paladin is the sole healer. During Sokol, the cleric use heal kit also, save slots for blessing (protect evil, bless, Shield Other).
- Alchemical potions are good alternative to high level spells. Expensive, but needs must. The assault on Sokol Keep happen indoor, so enemies are bunched up~ My Paladin used up nearly ten fire ones.
- Oh and all three maps have no tables or anvils. No item craft~

 

It's been a while since I played either, so please tell me if I'm confusing this with the original game.
Laclongquan says that there was only a paladin and a fighter available as an NPC to take with you.
I thought in the training hall you could hire a cleric, fighter, magic user, or thief.
Am I confusing the remake mod with the original game when you hired hirelings in Phlan?
I actually own the Apple II version of the original Gold Box game, so I might be confusing it.

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Nevermind, I just noticed that this was the Neverwinter Nights TWO forum, not the NWN1 forum.
I thought you meant this one:
http://neverwintervault.org/rolovault/projects/nwn1/modules/6000/index.html

 

Pre Sokol Keep, you only has one joinable free Fighter, Roldd. He left after liberating Sokol along with temp cleric Dristan.

Next to that, we got a pair of Wiz5 Shal and Ro2/Ra2 ren o blade join for quest. We also can hire two named mercs, Garet and both fighter.

We got blackmith and alchemist tables in both newly opened shops. Though there only three armor mold. Can only make alchemist potions, not that it's useful because you can buy it at same price. The magician's workbenchs are in the Mantor's Library in Western Ruins... way far from the base.

You can make a base out of Alyaran shop, as it has two crates right next to the blackmith workbench. This shop is available after liberating Sokol Keep. Also available is the chest in City hall, later on there's a bookcase. The chest in Tyr's temple is blocked so we cant use it. Waaaay later, middle game, we got our own house, but there's only one freaking chest in the bedroom: no bookcase, even with the decor.

 

When Cardona sent us on his secret mission to buy Staff of Command at Podol Plaza aution, all our companions get dismissed. Shal and Ren can be rehired once we finish this quest, but Garret and Carlo are bye-bye for good. They become an "Adventurer" in adventurer quarter, but no name and no talking. We can let them get killed to take back money, of course, but that feel cheap.

The auction is fun. We can auction two good stuffs at cheap price. The staff, best we can get is 17000~ The fences are all cheap, with some good stuffs to buy.

The solo factor is actually just Cardona being *******, because later on, when we get Shal and Ren back and explore the Kuto Well and Kodol Plaza, as long as MC wear the orcdisguise, we are all good.

We kill all orcs in Kuto Well because XP, but enter Kodol Plaza on disguise to shop properly.

After the Pyramid mission for clear water, we got a house, an assasination, then get bundle off, alone, to Zhentil Keep/camp. Items on Shal and Ren are saved properly, but not items in chests in alyaran's shop, and home.

On return a magic shop move into the Tower and start selling magical goods, from armors, weapons, to spells, and accessory. She sell dearly, and buy very cheaply (max 200gp/item) with low money threshold. Expect to lose your entire savings to her.

 

Sorry about my earlier comment, I confused this with the NWN1 version.

Overall, for those who own the Apple II version of the original game and have downloaded and played the Neverwinter Nights ONE port, is it worth downloading and installing this version?

 

I havent played the original POR.

However, I do compare a walkthrough for the original with this mod.

- The writing of this mod is good. I think it's based somewhat on the novel, so the dialog and writing are smooth and flowing. Dont expect a POR made in NWN2 engine though. it's an original mod, with heavy influence of POR, but I expect a POR gamer will find plenty of good things to do in this mod.
- The quests are in a structured form, Quest A then B, end chapter, Quest C/D then E. The sidequest is not noted on journal, only in dialog form. Example is making and selling medium/heavy armor to Alyanran the armor smith. he only mention it, and it does not register in journal. Later on, in next chapter, the council clerk mention that thanks to recent upgrade to better armor the guards beat back an assault from orc warlords. And indeed, most of the guards sporting new shirt, mail, and breastplate. The armorsmith mention something about needing mithrals. If you talk to him with 20 in your bag, you give to him and he will make an armor for you, up to half plate, and this seem to be the only way to get a mithral halfplate, as I cant find its mold .
- The way character get in and out of your party is annoying, as there's not much warning that they will leave in the next segment. A fighter, a cleric, a ra/ro, a wizard...
Also, remember to Talk To them, as they dont initiate dialog outside of scripted sequence.
- Economy is well balanced. You can find money, but most of the time you can buy useful stuffs so easy come easy go. In late chapter the wizard tower shop has very expensive stuffs, that will be sure to drain your coffer. Even if you economize your game with all kind of trade tricks, your savings will be sure to go.

Conclusion: Definitely Recommend!

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On crafting

No weapon mold as of the moment we rescue the Nanthers' young lady from pirates.

Limited number of 3 armor mold type (chain shirt, mail, and breastplate) and unlimited mithrals. You need 15 to craft them, -2 for Fox cunning, -2 for Heroism, so Craft Armor of 11, including INT bonus.

No Trap mold.

Limited number of type of raw ingredients in unlimited amounts. Definite enough for Tanglefoot and Choking Powder. Maybe Acid Flask.

Have limited access to earth, air and water essence. Buy when you can and extract it to keep on your inventory.

Recommend to save and buy gems.

Recommendation: If you can. Make Acid Flask of higher quality, as level 1 can be bought unlimited. They can substitute for area of effect spells, the which can be very rare to find before the Tower shop open. Sometimes you can buy Greater Flask, of fire and acid, but it seem their number are quite small. Price is not a problem because of balance. Definitely make enough of higher quality Tanglefoot bag and Choking Powder. (unless you play Druid, you wont have access to entangle)

Wonderous items or enchantment can be expensive investment though they can pay off. The Magician workbenches in Mantor Library are available only before going upriver to deal with Pyramid. After that, during the assault Kovel Mansion bandit, we get access to another bench.
We can make enchantment to armor, up to +2. Something like elemental resistance if you save gems beforehand. Scabbard of Keen Edges can be a good choice. the limitation is the utter lack of fire and power, and gem scarcity.

It might be advisable to make a few spell scrolls for important battles. Example, making Fireball scrolls can make sure that Shal can act in a pinch when her arsenal is exhausted. or a a few Prayer scrolls during the time you have access to a Cleric and can make them. Prayer is useful if your MC is paladin. They are expensive solutions, but can be very useful in that unexpected pinch.

 

Interesting. The PoR for NWN1 is a rather faithful remake of the original game given the constraints of the NWN1 engine, but this sounds like they took some artistic license with making a new games based on PoR's basic story but not the details.

Sounds interesting, although it is rekindling my interest in playing the original. I'm thinking I'll try the MS-DOS version on "Forgotten Realms Silver Edition" that includes it. I was given that CD many years ago when somebody was tossing their old computer and some software that they couldn't get to work on modern PCs (I'm not sure if DOSbox was around then or not) and asked if I wanted to have it. At the time my Apple IIGS was still set up, so I never bothered to try the MS-DOS version.
Sounds like a good time to try it with DOSbox.

I cannot review the MS-DOS version. I first played the Apple II version in 1991 after getting Curse of the Azure Bonds for Christmas in 1990. Yes, I played the sequel first.
It was an awesome game for 1989. The graphics are terrible by today's standards, and they weren't anything to write home about in their day, but the tactical gameplay and involving story with sidequests was quite good.
They used a separate journal instead of in-game text, in part because the game came on 140K 5.25" disks and still took 6 sides (3 program disks, but you were encouraged to back up the disks and most disks came such that you could only write on one side on an Apple II unless you had a hole punch tool, the use of which was officially discouraged) plus a character disk and a data disk.
The game was long but well done. All the Gold Box games available for the Apple II were really good.
The "worst" were the Savage Frontier games, and they were still good.
The only bad thing really was the graphics were sub-par for the most part. A few of what we would call cut scenes today were decent graphics, but most were bad.

Sound was limited but the Apple IIe in general had lousy sound. It was actually pretty good sound effects considering that the only way to produce sound on the system was "tweaking" the speaker by accessing $C030. I have no idea about the MS-DOS version, but the later games had virtually the same sound as the Apple II version so I assume it was the same.

If you can deal with great gameplay and story but mediocre graphics, try the original if you can find it. Honestly, I'm not sure they COULD have done better with EGA graphics and certainly not with the Apple II's hi-res graphics.

 

If the walkthrough for POR is any indication, original POR is somewhat openworld, open game.

PORR mod is something of a structured RPG. You have a few freedom in exploring between main quests AT CERTAIN PERIOD, but not all time and all areas.

 

Pretty much, yes. I can compare it to Baldur's Gate II in chapter 2 when you need to fulfill some side quests to earn gold to rescue Imoen.

Notice how in BG2, unlike in BG1 you don't get access to Umar Hills, Trademeet, or Winspar Hills until after getting at least one quest in those areas. Nor can you enter the sewers under the temple district until after getting the Unseeing Eye quest. You can pick up lots of quests and then fulfill them in any order.

Similarly, in PoR1 you get several posted commissions (3-5 at different points in the game. I believe you start with a choice of 3 with difficulty of easy, medium and hard for first level characters. It's recommended you clear the slums then tackle the other two in either order) from the city council and as you fulfill each commission, it generally opens up new areas, but you can generally do the commissions in any order.
However, what TVtropes calls Beef Gates exist in that if you try to go to certain areas too early you'll get crushed by the monsters. Hence it is strongly recommended you visit the slums first, followed by Sokal Keep, although the next couple of side quests don't usually make that much difference. IIRC, you also _need_ to clear the slums before you can access most other areas of the city, so an extra incentive to do the slums first as it is the easiest quest and one of the most necessary. Kinda like Ironicus' Dungeon in BG2, it gets you to level 2 and ready to survive. Not that the slums are a cakewalk for fragile level 1 characters, the ogre in there can kill off party members and you probably can't afford to have them Raised.
However, by 1/2 to 3/4 of the way into the game, you can go virtually anywhere and don't have to worry about getting curb stomped.

 

Completed! But it's a great pity that the ending slide is a bit too short, not equal to ingame cutscene of previous chapters