DragonLance Games PC
SSI's DragonLance games are cRPGs released from 1990 to 1992 for IBM PC MS-DOS. The origin of the DragonLance games is SSI's Pool of Radiance of 1988.
Specifications for DragonLance Games
The three main DragonLance games share the following specifications:
- 256-color VGA 320x200 display
- Icon-driven mouse control
- Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st Edition ruleset implementation
- Set in TSR's DragonLance campaign setting of 1984
- 88x88px first-person flip-screen drawspace ("3D" perspective) with sprite-scaled objects and actors
- 168x168px dimetric battlefield drawspace (tile-rigged)
- Installation to HDD via 5.25" floppy disks or 3.5" diskettes
- Built on the Gold Box engine originated by Pool of Radiance 1988
- Party importation supported by Death Knights / Dark Queen
Champions of Krynn IBM PC 1990
Strategic Simulations Inc. released Champions of Krynn for IBM PC MS-DOS 2.1 in 1990. Champions of Krynn was programmed by Scot Bayless and Russell Brown of SSI Special Projects Group. Champions of Krynn is the first of three cRPGs to be set in TSR's DragonLance campaign setting. Champions of Krynn displays in EGA 320x200.
In Champions of Krynn the player assumes the role of an adventuring part that goes up against the forces of the Aurak Draconian, Myrtani.
Champions of Krynn introduces DragonLance races to the Gold Box engine: Qualinesti Elves, Silvanesti Elves, Hill Dwarves, Mountain Dwarves and Kender (Tasslehoff Burrfoot from the novels). The Paladin is replaced with the Knight of Solamnia aka Solmanic Knight (Sturm Brightblade from the novels).
Champions of Krynn requires 512K of free conventional RAM.
Distributed on 1x 3.5" 1.44MB HD diskette or 2x 3.5" 720kB DD diskettes, Champions of Krynn extracts and installs to hard disk drive via Robert K. Jung's UNARJ 2.21 archive extraction utility of 1991. The install size is 1.3 megs.
Overall, I give Champions of Krynn 5½/10.
- Champions of Krynn Manual aka Rule Book: 12 pages
- Champions of Krynn Clue Book: 60 pages
- Champions of Krynn Adventurer's Journal: 60 pages
Death Knights of Krynn IBM PC 1991
Strategic Simulations Inc. released Death Knights of Krynn for IBM PC MS-DOS 2.1 in 1991. Death Knights of Krynn is the second cRPG set in TSR's DragonLance campaign setting. Death Knights of Krynn displays in EGA 320x200. Death Knights of Krynn was programmed by Russ Brown of SSI Special Projects Group.
In Death Knights of Krynn the player assumes the roles of members of the Special Solamnic Order of the Champions of Krynn, who go up against the forces of the Lord of the Death Knights, Soth.
Distributed on 2x 5.25" 360kB DS DD floppy disks or 1x 3.5" 720kB DD diskette, Death Knights of Krynn extracts and installs to hard disk drive via PKSFX Self-Extract Utility 1.1 by PKWARE Inc. The install size is 1.3 megs.
Overall, I give Death Knights of Krynn 4½/10.
- Death Knights of Krynn Manual aka Rule Book: 12 pages
- Death Knights of Krynn Clue Book: 44 pages
- Death Knights of Krynn Adventurer's Journal: 59 pages
Dark Queen of Krynn IBM PC 1992
MicroMagic released The Dark Queen of Krynn for IBM PC MS-DOS 2.1 in 1992. The third and final cRPG set in TSR's DragonLance campaign setting, Dark Queen of Krynn was programmed by five coders at MicroMagic: Jason Linhart, David Blake, Lester Humphreys, David Arcand and Bill Sloan.
In Dark Queen of Krynn the player assumes the role of an adventuring party that goes up against the forces of the evil goddess, Takhisis.
Distributed on 2x 3.5" 1.44MB HD diskettes, Dark Queen of Krynn installs to hard disk drive via MicroMagic's Dark Queen of Krynn Installation Program of 1992, which uses PKSFX Self-Extract Utility 1.1 by PKWARE Inc. The install size is 4.2 megs.
Dark Queen of Krynn requires an 808x CPU and at least 540K of free conventional RAM, but 570K is recommended (640K RAM).
Dark Queen of Krynn features a hardware cursor for mouse-control, which is a big improvement over PoR kb-only control. However, hardware cursors on the ST/Amiga had been stock-standard since 1985.
Dark Queen of Krynn supports MT-32 music, Sound Blaster sound effects and displays in 256-color VGA 320x200. As with Pool of Radiance of 1988, Dark Queen of Krynn presents its action in a piddling 88x88px "3D" flip-screen viewport and a 168x168px dimetric battlefield viewport. In addition, there is only tile-based screen-scrolling of the battlefield even though non-standard VGA was capable of super-smooth per-pixel scrolling in 1991.
The "Gold Pox" or "Gold Slop" engine was outdated even in 1988. Thus, in 1992 it was a complete joke. Remember: 88x88px drawspace!
The DragonLance games were mostly popular due to the AD&D license, their painterly boxart that made them stand out on store shelves, and the famous DragonLance campaign setting and novels from which they drew, both of which I am very fond of (I have read the novels several times each over the years).
Overall, I give Dark Queen of Krynn 6½/10. And that is a solid score.
- Dark Queen of Krynn Manual aka Rule Book: 12 pages
- Dark Queen of Krynn Clue Book: 58 pages
- Dark Queen of Krynn Adventurer's Journal: 59 pages
Heroes of the Lance IBM PC 1988
U.S. Gold Ltd. released Heroes of the Lance for IBM PC MS-DOS in 1988. Heroes of the Lance is a horizontally-scrolling hack n slash game.
Heroes of the Lance displays in 4-color CGA or 16-color EGA, VGA or Tandy 320x200. Heroes of the Lance supports keyboard or joystick control. In-game, the sound can be toggled on and off with the S-key. Hit the Spacebar to call up the menu.
As you can see, the graphics are quite poor. And I can tell you that the animations are worse and the screen-scrolling is the worst of all.
Heroes of the Lance was distributed on 2x 3.5" 720kB DS DD diskettes or 3x 5.25" 360kB floppy disks. The hard disk drive install size is 1 meg (35 files).
- Heroes of the Lance Manual aka Rule Book: 25 pages
- Heroes of the Lance Clue Book: 12 pages
- Heroes of the Lance copy protection: Manual reference. Answer a question about a character's stats
War of the Lance IBM PC 1990
Strategic Simulations Inc. released War of the Lance for IBM PC MS-DOS in 1990. War of the Lance is a turn-based strategy game. War of the Lance was designed and programmed by David Landrey.
War of the Lance displays in 16-color EGA 320x200.
War of the Lance was distributed on 2x 5.25" 360kB DS DD floppy disks and installs to hard disk drive via copy *.* c:\. The install size is 530 kbytes (48 files).
- War of the Lance Manual: 19 pages
- War of the Lance copy protection: Manual reference
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