3rd May 2007, 2:53 PM
(This post was last modified: 3rd May 2007, 3:06 PM by A Black Falcon.)
Steam has no PC RPGs though, I believe... in comparison, notable major RPGs on Gametap:
Planescape: Torment
Baldur's Gate
Baldur's Gate II
Icewind Dale w/ Hearts of Winter expansion
Icewind Dale II
I'm not sure about the BG and BGII expansions though (and while the BG1 expansion doesn't really add that much plotwise, the BGII expansion is essentially the third and final section of the story), and Gametap is a subscription service... the BG games aren't that expensive and should be available. Well, it'd probably be not too hard to find the Baldur's Gate II collection anyway... not so sure about BG1, and despite how BGII is a better game in almost every way, I would say start with the first one.
The releases:
Hero's Quest (later Quest for Glory): So You Want To Be A Hero (EGA, text input, 1989)
Quest for Glory II: Trial by Fire (EGA, text input, 1990)
Quest for Glory I: So You Want To Be A Hero (VGA graphical interface remake, 1991)
Quest for Glory III: Wages of War (VGA, 1992)
Quest for Glory IV: Shadows of Darkness (VGA, 1994)
Quest for Glory V: Dragon Fire (1998, 3d characters and stuff)
Quest for Glory: Anthology (1-4, unsure if both versions of 1 are there) (1996)
Quest for Glory: Collection Series (1-2 EGA versions, 1, 3, 4 VGA versions, 5 demo and soundtrack on separate cd) (1997)
They're great, great games, and QFG still has a devoted fanbase (just look at how the Sierra.com official QFG board is still actually active), and on ebay the games are expensive -- Quest for Glory: Collection Series goes for up to $100 or more on ebay sometimes... the Quest for Glory Anthology (similar to the QFGCS, but without the QFGV soundtrack CD and a few other things, that is assuming that it's a complete version of the Collection Series box) is also expensive, though not as much so as the QFGCS. Old copies of the games themselves are cheaper, of course, but those of course are on floppy discs and stuff (well, for 1-3 they are; 4 has a floppy version, but without speech of course so it shouldn't be bothered with. The CD version is what to get.)
Quest for Glory V is cheap, though. Not that that helps much, it being the last game in a series with strong story continuity and a transferable character and all... :)
I of course found QFGCS (complete) and QFGV (complete) in a local shop a while back (mid '05?) for $5 each, but most people probably would not be that lucky. And since we'd owned QFG1-VGA for years, and I had loved it, I knew the series well and had been wanting the CS for a long time...
Most people who want to play the QFG games probably just download them, I'll bet, though as I own them I've never looked to see if any 'abandonware' sites have any of them (and you wouldn't do that anyway, I know)... because yeah, it should have been part of the rerelease series they did last year. I mean, I'd say that QFG has a larger fanbase now (and for years now) than KQ, SQ, or PQ have, much less LSL...
I don't have a laptop so that's not a concern for me, but it is annoying even so that you'd have to log on online just to play a single-player game. But does it also need that for boxed copies of those games you install separately? Annoying copy protection indeed... they restrict your rights in order to try to stop piracy. Which, of course, I'm sure it fails to do...
Planescape: Torment
Baldur's Gate
Baldur's Gate II
Icewind Dale w/ Hearts of Winter expansion
Icewind Dale II
I'm not sure about the BG and BGII expansions though (and while the BG1 expansion doesn't really add that much plotwise, the BGII expansion is essentially the third and final section of the story), and Gametap is a subscription service... the BG games aren't that expensive and should be available. Well, it'd probably be not too hard to find the Baldur's Gate II collection anyway... not so sure about BG1, and despite how BGII is a better game in almost every way, I would say start with the first one.
Quote:Interesting... It is unfortunate I can't find these games anywhere. I would hope Sierra would eventually release a box set, but considering what that meant with the various Quest collections, they'll likely phone it in again...
The releases:
Hero's Quest (later Quest for Glory): So You Want To Be A Hero (EGA, text input, 1989)
Quest for Glory II: Trial by Fire (EGA, text input, 1990)
Quest for Glory I: So You Want To Be A Hero (VGA graphical interface remake, 1991)
Quest for Glory III: Wages of War (VGA, 1992)
Quest for Glory IV: Shadows of Darkness (VGA, 1994)
Quest for Glory V: Dragon Fire (1998, 3d characters and stuff)
Quest for Glory: Anthology (1-4, unsure if both versions of 1 are there) (1996)
Quest for Glory: Collection Series (1-2 EGA versions, 1, 3, 4 VGA versions, 5 demo and soundtrack on separate cd) (1997)
They're great, great games, and QFG still has a devoted fanbase (just look at how the Sierra.com official QFG board is still actually active), and on ebay the games are expensive -- Quest for Glory: Collection Series goes for up to $100 or more on ebay sometimes... the Quest for Glory Anthology (similar to the QFGCS, but without the QFGV soundtrack CD and a few other things, that is assuming that it's a complete version of the Collection Series box) is also expensive, though not as much so as the QFGCS. Old copies of the games themselves are cheaper, of course, but those of course are on floppy discs and stuff (well, for 1-3 they are; 4 has a floppy version, but without speech of course so it shouldn't be bothered with. The CD version is what to get.)
Quest for Glory V is cheap, though. Not that that helps much, it being the last game in a series with strong story continuity and a transferable character and all... :)
I of course found QFGCS (complete) and QFGV (complete) in a local shop a while back (mid '05?) for $5 each, but most people probably would not be that lucky. And since we'd owned QFG1-VGA for years, and I had loved it, I knew the series well and had been wanting the CS for a long time...
Most people who want to play the QFG games probably just download them, I'll bet, though as I own them I've never looked to see if any 'abandonware' sites have any of them (and you wouldn't do that anyway, I know)... because yeah, it should have been part of the rerelease series they did last year. I mean, I'd say that QFG has a larger fanbase now (and for years now) than KQ, SQ, or PQ have, much less LSL...
Quote:The thing is, Steam's there. They can do the full port job and sell it to pretty much everyone with very little cost to them. Now, the thing I hate about Steam is the need to connect online to play any game, even if it's single player. I understand it's a copyright protection scheme, it's just annoying when I take my laptop out and about and still need an online connection, but generally speaking I am within range of some wifi access point so most of the time I at least can still play these games.
I don't have a laptop so that's not a concern for me, but it is annoying even so that you'd have to log on online just to play a single-player game. But does it also need that for boxed copies of those games you install separately? Annoying copy protection indeed... they restrict your rights in order to try to stop piracy. Which, of course, I'm sure it fails to do...