The Ironworks - Letters from Viewers Archive

Mailbag Archives

Where is the Arcanum?

This e-mail is to comment on your total lack of coverage on what many of us feel is *the* game to be waiting for this year. The game is Arcanum, being developed by the original developers of the Fallout series.
It has a rich story, background, and world with a complex social and political tapestry (from what we can tell).
I know that you have had other e-mails regarding this game including links to source material, I wanted to add my voice to those who are very surprised and disappointed that a RPG site which claims to be representative of the CRPG world would miss the game entirely.

Evensen, Marceivind

We've received lots of emails about Arcanum in the past few days, and we DO plan on covering it very soon. We've contacted Troika and Sierra Studio's and should receive a demo or beta, when that arrives, we'll have a huge preview of Arcanum and even an interview with the Troika development team!

Vampire Quest got you stumped?

I found your Quest Log part of the site vague and unhelpful. Please expand on Luxurious the Vampire because I have no idea what to do. Do you need the Miller's Torch? Where do you get the 'hammer that can smash rocks' and where do you find the camp of rats and the boulder? Is this how you get the other tombs open?

Alex Maxwell

This quest will begin in an old mill. Seems the miller has been hearing strange noises coming from his mill. His apprentice has also disappeared inside the mill. He will ask you to investigate and give you his torch. The torch is not needed for the quest so do with it what you will.

Venture inside the mill and you will come across the apprentice. He will tell you of an evil vampire named Luxorius. Seems Luxorius is looking for something inside the mill. The apprentice, being bitten by Luxorius, will turn into a vampire and attack you after he's done speaking to you. Continue onwards into the mill until you come across some werewolves. Defeat them and rescue the Rock Crushing Hammer they were guarding.

When you have the hammer go back up above and find the Mad Rat's Camp. There will be a large boulder blocking your entrance to the camp. Your new found hammer will do the trick nicely so give it a whack and kill the Mad Rat inside. When you kill him you will receive Luxorius's sceptre.
Back inside the dungeon you will come across two coffins. Equip the sceptre and you will be able to open them. Inside you will find the vampire's ring and cloak. Watch out when opening one of them though, as you will be attacked by a load of enemies.

On the final level of the dungeon you will find Luxorius's lair. The guard will tell you that he does not want to be disturbed. Give him the sceptre and he will let you enter. Meet up with Luxorius himself and he will ask you for his belongings. Give him one of the three items and he will ask you for the other two. Before you can give it to him though, he will attack you. Don't worry about giving him anything else. Just fight and kill him and he will drop a crystal for you.

BONUS STRATEGIES
This quest can be completed without getting the ring and cloak. You can just give the sceptre to Luxorius and kill him to get a crystal.

You can also complete this quest by giving Luxorius all three items. You have to give him all three in VERY quick succession. If you do this, you won't have to fight him, he will just drop the crystal and take off.

NPC Voices!

Is it possible to change Party NPC voices. I tried numerous editors, biff strippers and the like and I can't change their voices. All I can do is change my original characters voice. How can I change the NPC party member voices?

Alex Percy

As far as we can tell, you can't change them. We tried a few times with different editors but failed. We'll look into this more and see what we can dig up. In the meantime, if anyone knows of a way to allow this, email us!

Darkstone Patching Problems

Ok I'm want to know if patch 1.02 exists or what, because when I try to install the v1.03 patch, it keep saying "old file missing". I have been looking for the 1.0.2 patch for a couple of months but find nothing, thanks for answer!

Wolfgang

I would just backup your saved games and reinstall Darkstone. You DO have to install each patch, not just the latest one. Go to the Official Delphinesoft site.

Does sleeping restore your characters' full hit points?

This seems to be happening with my copy (and this makes the game considerably easier). My characters are regaining 30 or more points after a sleep - even camped out in the snow or in a cave.

I have the latest patch installed.
Is this a bug/feature/idiosyncrasy of my own set-up?

Anonymous

Most all Computer Roleplaying games (Especially AD&D) Allow resting in game to restore hit-points, and as well as re-memorizing Spells that your Mage or Cleric's have used in combat.

Dungeon Craft Release?

Do you have any idea when Dungeon Craft will be released? And will it be freeware, shareware, or "buy before you try" like all the other programs?

Christopher Mathieu

Dungeon Craft: Unlimited Adventures Forever is in Beta, and you can download it right now and try it out. It is Freeware, and the source code is also up for download on the Programmers Site

Download Either Here.

Problems with Baldurs Gate Portraits?

I was downloading portraits for Baldur's gate. I tried to download the Necromancer portrait and got Elminster's instead. I looked at the link for both of them and they are the same I liked the portrait for the evil looking Necromancer and I hope you fix it soon. Thank you for your time.

Anonymous

Thanks for the tip, we received many emails about that error in the Baldurs Gate 1 Portraits area, its been corrected now. Enjoy!

I Want Dragonlance PC Games!

Baldur's gate and Icewind dale are great games but they're both set in the forgotten realms universe, I've never read a forgotten realms novel but, you know, i can still enjoy playing these games.

But I know I'm not enjoying it as much as those who have read these novels. My question is will the company that released these games make any in the Dragonlance universe using ad&d rules. those are the novels i read front to back and thoroughly enjoyed. I hope you can answer my question.

Luis Dongo

Believe me, you're not alone. Many people have been wanting a Dragonlance computer game for a long time. The last Dragonlance game that was made was the old Goldbox games. I really miss the world of Dragonlance... I'm not sure who owns the license to design such games, or if even one does. If anyone does know, email us, and we'll update this response. (I hope someone DOES know!) and their is someone designing a game based in the Dragonlance world.

Unbiased reviews- Ha i don't think so!

This is obviously a Ad&d fan sight, even if it is a CRPG ad&d fan sight, it is one none the less.

Icewind Dale should be renamed "Icewind failed".

It's no wonder only this game was released at the same time of D2, the developers where hoping it would go unnoticed by all but the most avid AD&D fans.

I find it funny that the review skated over the worst of it: The sluggishness of its speed at critical times, lock-ups and crashes (with the patch).
The fact that the tweaks are merely cosmetic, with very little effect on game play.......
I was a huge fan of BG 2 years ago, and anticipated the release of IWD....but I and every one I know who bought the game IWD are disappointed with it.

The Infinity engine is showing its age, and time has not been kind to her.

All and all if the review had been honest, the game would have been described as "middle of the road, lackluster, and unoriginal".

One can only hope that Baldurs Gate 2 will be 'the' game that gives D2 a run for it's money....

Phil Harte

I will agree with you that this is an AD&D fan page of sorts, but that's a given since we're a Computer Roleplaying Game site.

I don't believe that Interplay decided to release it at the same time as Diablo 2 so Icewind Dale would go "Unnoticed", in fact, it received a LOT of attention, with sales figures pushing Icewind Dale up to the top of the charts to #2. And 99% of all the gaming sites gave IWD a very high score as well, so.. are you saying that ALL Gaming sites are biased? Thats Absurd...

I'm sorry that you didn't like Icewind Dale, you should return it if you felt that way about it, and the Infinity Engine.

Our review of Icewind Dale WAS Honest, 100% Honest. Believe me, if a game sucked, we'd let you know. We have nothing to "Hide" from you guys, and we kiss no corporate ass either <g>.

In closing, you are welcomed to your opinion, but don't try and force it upon others. Our reviews of the games we receive are non-biased, and from the heart. Some may not agree with our reviews, which is expected. We just try and give people an idea of what the game is like, and let them make their own decision.