Pool of Radiance
1988 · RPG · Commodore 64 / Multiple
Overview
Pool of Radiance (1988) is SSI's first game based on the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rules, set in the city of Phlan in the Forgotten Realms — the start of the Gold Box series.
Deep Dive
The player builds a party of up to six characters from six races and four classes and adventures in the city of Phlan, on the northern shore of the Moonsea. Exploration is in first person, while combat switches to a top-down isometric view. The rules follow TSR's Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: spells must be memorised each day, and characters gain experience to rise in level. Characters could be carried over into the later Gold Box games.
Developer Story
SSI developed the game under director Chuck Kroegel and designer George MacDonald, and released it for the Commodore 64 and MS-DOS in June 1988. It sold 264,536 copies for computers in North America. The sequels Curse of the Azure Bonds (1989), Secret of the Silver Blades (1990) and Pools of Darkness (1991) followed.
Did You Know?
- It won the 1988 Origins Award for Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Computer Game.
- The DOS and Mac versions used a code wheel both as copy protection and for in-game puzzles.
Sources & further reading
- Pool of Radiance — Wikipedia
