D&D computer adaptations

[Sarafan]

I've enjoyed a ton of D&D games over the years. Although when I DM, I like to keep things very close to the rules as written, some of the games I've enjoyed the most have been fairly loose adaptations. The one I've certainly put the most time into is Dungeons and Dragons Online- one of the first western F2P MMOs and also one of the first MMOs I ever played, DDO has been a game I keep coming back even after more than a decade.

I completely forgot about this game. It's not a faithful adaptation of D&D ruleset, but I played a lot of it in the past. I'm glad that someone mentioned it here.

Oh yeah I just remembered there was a Dungeons and Dragons game on the Sega Genesis that I played SO much when I was a kid. Warriors of the Eternal Sun, according to Google. I don't remember much about it, other than finding a spot to keep resting to fight bears to level up, and a fairly long path through some lizard infested swamp that I had a pretty rough time with. I loved it though, but I was pretty young and didn't know much if anything about D&D.

Never heard about the game. I see that it's present in the Wikipedia article that I linked in my first post. I wonder how it aged after all this time. Probably a comeback would be very painful...

We need a Dark Suns adaptation.

Not only Dark Sun, but also Ravenloft, Dragonlance, Spelljammer and a few others. A lot of D&D campaign settings were explored in computer games, but that was around 30 years ago. We need something fresh.

 

[drunkpunk]

Never heard about the game. I see that it's present in the Wikipedia article that I linked in my first post. I wonder how it aged after all this time. Probably a comeback would be very painful...

Oh yeah as much as I played it back in the day, it has no business making a comeback It certainly makes games like Baldurs Gate look quite modern in comparison.

 

[FreezerBurn]

Not only Dark Sun, but also Ravenloft, Dragonlance, Spelljammer and a few others. A lot of D&D campaign settings were explored in computer games, but that was around 30 years ago. We need something fresh.

OMG! I just remembered that there was a Ravenloft game. It was put out in 1994 by a company called DreamForge. " RavenLoft: Strahd's Possession" It was one of my favorites back then. That definitely needs a remaster!

 

[Sarafan]

OMG! I just remembered that there was a Ravenloft game. It was put out in 1994 by a company called DreamForge. " RavenLoft: Strahd's Possession" It was one of my favorites back then. That definitely needs a remaster!

Actually there were two of them: Ravenloft: Strahd's Possession and Ravenloft: Stone Prophet. You can get both on GOG. I'd like to see remasters of most D&D computer games from the 90s.

 

[Daggerknight]

I've played Neverwinter Nights 2 consistently since the day it was released, and to this day a bunch of us are still making content for it in the mod scene. It's a real gem for sure.

....with that said, I'm not sure I'd call it the best D&D adaptation, for a simple reason; it lacks any real squad based mechanics. Oh sure, it has control over multiple party members, ala the old Infinity games. But it lacks any real synergy between the classes, or need to coordinate abilities, especially in the online space. What I mean to say is that it's a game about -your- character, and beefing up your one main character to be awesome, not about forming a team that can take the world as long as they act together.

For me personally, that's a key element of DnD that both NWN games lacked, as much as I love the sequel (and as much as I will always defend it to the bitter end against many of its detractors).

In my eyes, the best DnD adaptation then would have to be Icewind Dale. It had a lot of things that make DnD what it is:

- Gorgeous lands to explore
- Heavy emphasis on your team working together, with each character filling a role in a way that others could not simply invalidate.
- Big emphasis on the act of exploring dungeons and facing monsters, rather than getting lost in a lot of side things. IMO, this puts it above Baldurs Gate in terms of "a good adaptation". BG has a deeper story, but I feel like in some ways it skips over some of what makes a DnD session what it is.
- A tone that is both serious, while at the same time being somewhat cheeky in how typical high fantasy it is. Again, this is something I feel is part and parcel with the spirit of DnD, and why in a lot of ways I think Neverwinter Nights 2's OG campaign was a far better one than NWN 1's.

 

[DarkShine]

Havent read the entire thread. But if it isnt mentioned, i want to point out Eye of the beholder. 1-2 and 3?
When i played the 2 one (my first dnd game) i didnt know anything about dnd rules or lore.
But i finished it, and believe me - i found EOTB 2 very difficult, but captivating :0)
I had tried DungeonMaster on the first amiga 500, but couldnt understand much.

Even 25+ years later im still in love with the DND lore and ruleset,
Im gonna play BG3 for sure!!

 

[FreezerBurn]

I think one of the first D&D games I played was Hillsfar.

 

[ludachris714]

We need an adaptation indeed

 

[Sarafan]

...

You're right that NWN2 is mostly focused on one character. There's teamplay there, but the game with its default AI settings encourages leading only the main character. The possibility to control other team members is only an option which you can choose, but it isn't a necessity. NWN1 is even more focused on leading only one character. Good point indeed.

Havent read the entire thread. But if it isnt mentioned, i want to point out Eye of the beholder. 1-2 and 3?

Eye of Beholder games are a true classics. I've mentioned already in this thread that I tried to return to the series, but archaic gameplay solutions scared me off. Especially painful is the lack of automap, but I've found an automapper tool which solves this problem. I'm also in love with D&D and will buy BG3 on its release date. It's even tempting to buy it in early access, but I'll probably wait until it's finished.

 

[Sarafan]

One of the hidden gems for me as a DM for D&D from the 1st edition was Pathfinder: Kingmaker. I know it is not a core D&D but the amount of gameplay and the vastness of the world was mesmerizing.

Pathfinder is almost D&D, so we can count it in. I still haven't played the game. It's waiting in my huge backlog. I'm waiting for turn-based mode.

 

[gohandias]

hey there

 

[OsaX Nymloth]

Pathfinder: Kingmaker is great, like an almost perfect mix between old school Baldur's Gate with bit of "modern" design like Pillars of Eternity. Do play it @Sarafan - I am planning on starting a new game as well

 

[Sarafan]

...

I still need to finish D:OS2. I'm quite tired of the game (more than 70 hours on the counter), but I'm determined to do so. I hate leaving unfinished games. I don't want to start too much of them simultaneously. Besides I was planning to wait until they implement turn-based combat. It should be available around August. I'll play it for sure...

 

[OsaX Nymloth]

I still need to finish D:OS2. I'm quite tired of the game (more than 70 hours on the counter), but I'm determined to do so. I hate leaving unfinished games. I don't want to start too much of them simultaneously. Besides I was planning to wait until they implement turn-based combat. It should be available around August. I'll play it for sure...

Why you want turn based combat? Real time with pause works flawlessly - and I guess they managed to balance the game a bit since I played, some of the fights were.... interesting. I still have my old save around 100h in and damn, coming back to it NOW after literally months would be painful so I will probably start a new with different character and use my knowledge to make my enemies bleed faster x]

 

[Sarafan]

...

I want the turn-based combat as an option. I'm fully aware that real-time with pause works great (pretty much as in the Infinity Engine games), but I might choose turn-based for harder encounters. The game will have an option turn it on and off in the fly (something I haven't seen since Arcanum), so it can be very useful.

Now I'm not so sure whether I'll finish D:OS2. Tried it a few minutes ago and I barely remember the remaining quests. I had a big break. Crap...

 

[FreezerBurn]

Pathfinder: Kingmaker is great, like an almost perfect mix between old school Baldur's Gate with bit of "modern" design like Pillars of Eternity. Do play it @Sarafan - I am planning on starting a new game as well

I just started playing last night, Kingmaker is a great game, I was surprised that looting and your actions played a big part on the story in the prologue.