AD&D gold box series

Series of computer role-playing games (CRPGs) from SSI, Inc, based on AD&D rules. Named such because of the box design. They were based on AD&D 1st edition rules, and used mostly the same engine. They were based on Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance settings.

• Pool of Radiance (1988)
• Hillsfar (1989)
• Curse of the Azure Bonds (1989)
• Secret of the Silver Blades (?)
• Pools of Darkness (?)
• Champions of Krynn (1990)
• Death Knights of Krynn (1991)
• The Dark Queen of Krynn (?)
• Gateway to the Savage Frontier (1991)
• Treasures of the Savage Frontier (?)

(The C64 game guide (http://www.c64gg.com/) didn't tell the dates for the rest. Please inter/extrapolate. There may be more of these, or less. The list was from... darn, lost the URL. /msg me if you have corrections =)

Also, There was a program called Unlimited Adventures (aka FRUA) that was used to make gold box-style games for MS-DOS (people still use it actively) and a MUD called Neverwinter Nights (unrelated to the 2002 Bioware game, of course).

Many people considered the gold box engine rather limited and slow, eventually most people started calling the games of the series "same shit in different box". Graphics were not great, the places didn't correspond to what was on screen ("cities full of people" were strangely empty), and so forth.

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons releases by Strategic Simulations Inc.

While there are a couple more companies (Interplay, Sierra) that have released games based on the AD&D game system of TSR Inc. I will concentrate on the games released by SSI only. If you notice any inconsistencies, errors or missing items, please /msg me.

Background

In 1987, Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI) entered into a strategic partnership with TSR Inc. - publisher of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (world-leading role-playing game system at the time) and acquired the license to produce official AD&D games for computers, arcade coin-ops etc. As a result of this, SSI produced one of the most widely sold, legendary, role-playing game series for computers ever: the AD&D gold box series.

Original gold box series AD&D games in chronological order (Game name, game world, release year):

Pool of Radiance, Forgotten Realms, 1988
Heroes of the Lance, Dragonlance, 1988
Curse of the Azure Bonds, Forgotten Realms, 1989
Secret of the Silver Blades, Forgotten Realms, 1990
Champions of Krynn, Dragonlance, 1990
Pools of Darkness, Forgotten Realms, 1991
Gateway to the Savage Frontier, Forgotten Realms, 1991
Death Knights of Krynn, Dragonlance, 1991
The Dark Queen of Krynn, Dragonlance, 1992
Treasures of the Savage Frontier, Forgotten Realms, 1992

Other AD&D releases in chronological order (Game name, game world, release year):

Note: games that are inside brackets are either not set in any of the AD&D worlds, are not role-playing games or, are in some other way different from the "normal" AD&D releases.

(Dungeon Master's Assistant Vol 1, 1988)
Dragons of Flame, Dragonlance, 1989
Hillsfar, Forgotten Realms, 1989
War of the Lance, Dragonlance, 1989
(Dungeon Master's Assistant Vol II, 1989)
(Dragon Strike, 1990)
Eye of the Beholder, Forgotten Realms, 1991
Eye of the Beholder II, Forgotten Realms, 1991
Shadow Sorcerer, Dragonlance, 1991
Spelljammer, Spelljammer, 1992
Spelljammer: Pirates of Realmspace, Spelljammer, 1992
Eye of the Beholder III: Assault on Myth Drannor, Forgotten Realms, 1993
Fantasy Empires, Mystara, 1993
^* (Unlimited Adventure Fantasy Construction Kit, Forgotten Realms, 1993)
Dark Sun: Shattered Lands, Dark Sun, 1993
Stronghold, Dark Sun, 1993
Dungeon Hack, Forgotten Realms, 1993
Dark Sun: Wake of the Ravager, Dark Sun, 1994
Ravenloft: Strahd's Possession, Ravenloft, 1994
Al-Qadim: The Genie's Curse, Al-Qadim, 1994
Menzoberranzan, Forgotten Realms, 1994
Ravenloft II: Stone Prophet, Ravenloft, 1995
(Deathkeep (3DO & PC), 1995)

Deathkeep was probably the biggest disappointment of all the AD&D games SSI released and, it was also the last one for SSI, since Interplay won the license from SSI in 1996 and started releasing games based on the AD&D game system.

^*: This release is not a role-playing game at all but, a tool for building custom scenarios and adventures of your own.

Sources:

http://www.gamesreview.com/
http://www.gamespot.com/
http://www.mobygames.com/
http://www.rpggateway.com/
http://www.ssionline.com/
+ my own game collection and fond memories of the gold box series