Forgotten Realms: Unlimited Adventures
Golden Box toolbox! Create your own Golden Box RPGs
I'd argue that Unlimited Adventures is the best commercially available development pack for the famed Golden Box RPG type games. It contains all the prerequisites, from scripting tools, to import tools, to design of mazes and everything in between. The most important thing about the product is that it is more than simple to use. In fact, if you have minimal experience with regular window and mouse based interfaces you'll understand what needs be done from the get go. Thus, if you're just looking for a toolset for that game you've always wanted to create, that pays tribute to your favorite first person RPGs of yore, here it is; all there for you to try, all appealing and simple to sink into. You'll find that it can be a great method to get into game design, whether or not you are looking to take this up seriously or at a beginner/for the love of the art type level. Want to see what Golden Box adventures could look like? See Companions of Xanth or Dare to Dream, both games created with similar tools. Oh, and since you're into rejuvenating this type of experience, maybe, just maybe, drop the Xt..., Ht..., Xhe..., Grh..., and all that other jibber names! Try present day cool, for your characters' names, hehe!
Golden Box Dungeons and Dragons development kit
By the end of the 90s the Golden Box had been the house of quite a few RPGs but it was no longer in its prime. However, the modding community kept the simple first person RPG alive, producing and managing their own adventures based on this particular toolset. What this software development kit does is offer you a modular tool box that allows you to create your own dungeons, populate them with the monsters that you want to add, and with the texts that you want to include, along with a host of assets that can also be edited or imported. Don't expect an easy ride however, building a functional game will take lots of patience and time, but, if you're willing to do it you have all the tools at your disposal. Finding your way through the menus and the different categories is pretty fair and easy. For instance, if you want to build your own dungeon you will be offered a grid like environment seen from above and then a small screen in which you can track your progress from a first person perspective. Each asset that you can include can be edited, managed, named and so on, and thus the toolbox can really be used to create games from scratch. However, there is little automation, and so, you will have to establish each little detail yourself. But, in all honesty, some of the early Golden Box games designers didn't have it so easy. Due to the ease of use and very simple design of this toolset, I bet you could use it to showcase and even learn a few things about level design and about gaming programming. So, whether you want to build a Golden Box RPG or just want to see a very simple design software package in action, this can serve both purposes brilliantly. I do recommend it.
