I’ve got three games for you for Boxing Day (to the uninitiated Boxing Day is the 26th December) it’s celebrated in Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. The exact derivation of the name is uncertain but is believed to be one of the following practices which took place prior to the 14th century. The practice of the Lords and Ladies giving their servants boxes of presents on the day after Christmas day (probably left over food and unwanted clothing etc), or more likely priests, who opened the church's alms (charity) boxes on the day after Christmas and distributed the contents to the poor.
One of the games is a classic and has spawned one of the most successful modern RPG’s to date called Oblivion, though the one I’m posting details off and a download link for is the second Elder Scrolls game called Daggerfall. I posted The Elder Scrolls I in week four of the project, and intended to follow it up with this one shortly after, but for several weeks I couldn’t figure out how to get it to work. I’m amazed that you can buy the original game from between around $60 to $150 depending upon the condition, but those are from private sellers and not the original developer. So if you’re a collector of old games and insist on having the original discs and packaging you can get it if you go to the wiki link and follow through some of the links. I hope all the links aren’t too confusing. I’ve posted many of them because this is quite a complex game with a lot of game play to it. Some say it’s more expansive than Oblivion and Morrowind the games released after this one was made. I would definitely read the “Starting the game Guide” and the “Beginners Guide to Daggerfall”. If you downloaded the first one and enjoyed it, then you’ll like this one even more with it’s expansive story and greatly improved graphics, though no where near as graphically pleasing as Morrowind and Oblivion.
Elder Scrolls I: Arena:
http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/3991
The second game is another physics based game that is very simple, but addictive and is called Towerball, and the final game was added at the last miute, only because it caught my eye as I was shutting down several pages, and is called Trans Am.
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Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall:
A spectacular successor to The Elder Scrolls: Arena which introduces the fantasy world of Tamriel to RPGers, Daggerfall is undoubtedly one of the most ambitious and in-depth RPGs ever created.
As a single-player, real-time RPG, Daggerfall is literally packed with fantasy RPG elements and features, in addition to a HUGE 3D gameworld that encompasses millions of square miles, including dungeons, ruins, snow-filled plains, and even underwater(!) areas. Unlike most RPGs which are quite linear, Daggerfall virtually lets you create your own RPG story. You can be a valiant paladin, traditional protector of virtues. Or be a dark elf mercenary, wandering from town to town on horseback, with your bow always at the ready. You can even become a carefree thief, making your living by stealing valuables from people's houses at night. Similar to Darklands (which I’ve posted a couple of months ago), there is an overarching, uber plot you can follow to see the game's "ending," but you can just as easily spend countless hours following literally hundreds of sub-quests in the game.
One of Daggerfall’s hallmarks is the character creation system, which gives you unprecedented control over the process. Start off by choosing your race, background, class (or you can design your own), skills, physical attributes, and so on. You can even choose what your character is allergic to, hates, likes, etc., and all of these choices will effect gameplay. There are also no less than 27 different skills that your character can learn and use in the game, ranging from the serious to the frivolous. If that's not enough, Daggerfall is chock full of magical spells, weapons, armour, and magical artefacts. You can even create your own custom magical spells and items - the first fantasy RPG to offer this feature.
Of course, the game will be quite boring if there isn't much you can do with such an arsenal of weapons and spells. Fortunately, the world of Tamriel is brimming with life. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of NPCs to talk to and glean information from. Text dialog is used extensively in the game, and fans of TES: Arena will be happy to know that the repetitive, "stock" dialogue text that made most NPCs in Arena seem like clones of one another is gone. NPCs are much more diverse and interesting in Daggerfall, and even remember your previous dealings with them. Add to that a great 3D graphics engine (with weather effects such as rain and snow nicely simulated), countless monsters to slay, and many fascinating locations to discover, and you won't want to leave the world of Tamriel.
Daggerfall is one of the few RPGs that truly deserve the term "epic." If you are a hardcore RPGer who prefer a vast, virtually non-linear game to one with tightly-knit storyline, Daggerfall is the nirvana you've been waiting for, and a bona fide classic in every respect. Too bad the sequel Battlespire is very disappointing. Here's hoping that the upcoming next game in the series, long-awaited Morrowwind, will be a true heir to Daggerfall legacy.
Note: As if the game's mind-boggling length isn't enough, Bethesda released a "special patch" for the game that adds several new extra quests, new artefacts, and a lot more cool secrets to the game. Shortly after that, the patch was made available to everyone from Bethesda's ftp server. I highly recommend you apply the patch
Reference: http://www.the-underdogs.info/game.php?id=2110 accessed 25th Dec 08
Reviews and other info worth reading:
Beginners Guide to Daggerfall:
http://www.izhtex.com/tes2/index.htm
I think there’s a PDF manual in the installed games folder, but I need to crash, so will leave that up to some bright spark to check. :)
http://fourfatchicks.com/Blog/?p=1051
Starting the game guide:
http://www.oldgames.sk/en/games.php?article=elder-scrolls-daggerfall-the
DOWNLOADS:
Please note: I think you need to register for a free subscription before you can download files from the links to fileplanet, though the main game isn’t available from fileplanet, so if you’re having problems getting any of the files it’s not important. Most, apart from the music files are available elsewhere. .– I have had a paid subscription for several years, so can’t really remember exactly what procedure you have to follow to get the downloads from fileplanet. I do remember that you are limited to one download at a time and that they are rate limited, which means that you get the slowest servers. – If I have time I will try and find more details and /or download links, but I’m sure you can appreciate that having to re-do all of the games I’ll be posting over the Christmas vacation is a little tedious. :) )
Download Daggerfall: (125Mb)
The initial download link is partway down the page above the orange “Review the Game” button. This takes you to a second page where you’ll find the download link. There’s a login and password that you need to input before you can get the download to start. These are easily seen and are in a blue slightly larger font to the surrounding information. Just click on the French word Telecharger meaning download.
http://www.abandonware-paradise.org/abandonware-830-fichedejeu.html
Alternate download link (this one has DOSBox included, but I had difficulty getting it to run for some reason – the game started, but I couldn’t get it to work after that as it appeared to freeze. It’s worth trying if the first link is blocked due to bandwidth problems as it may have been a problem at my end.
http://www.oldgames.sk/en/games.php?article=elder-scrolls-daggerfall-the
Daggerfall Patch v2.13: (1.40Mb)
http://www.fileplanet.com/51562/download/Daggerfall-v2.13-Patch
Daggerfall Patch (installer - the download above is also required)):
http://www.fileplanet.com/114400/110000/fileinfo/Windows-XP-Daggerfall-Install
Alternate mirror for patch:
http://www.svatopluk.com/daggerfall/download/official.stm
Music downloads (from the game):
http://www.fileplanet.com/41102/0/0/0/1/section/Music
Fix Saves:
Fixsave is a utility designed to fix problems with people's saved games. It repairs a multitude of problems that Daggerfall creates in your game.
http://www.svatopluk.com/daggerfall/download/official.stm
(you can also get this from Fileplanet)
Videos:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=I_MY0ihuJZc
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=l2xa2r-0bTI
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=hT-JycJv5CM
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=2KYC83NXO1w
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=35ZydVTGI7k
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=uXNonRzGqfQ
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc7Mhljqy2I
This has got an ERSB rating of mature because of sexual themes and mild violence
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Towerball:
Towerball is an entry for LD12 (www.ludumdare.com), a 48 hour game programming competition. The goal of the game is to guide two balls connected by a string to a yellow target. Set your trajectory and speed using the mouse, then left-click to fire and right-click to dampen your shot.
Climb the tower, gathering as many points as possible on your way to the goal. To maximize points, hit as many walls as possible while being careful not to spend too much power. Each shot uses 1-7 levels of power, and when the power is out, you cannot shoot. Once a wall has been hit, it will light up, indicating that you have gotten points for hitting it. In the first few levels you also get a slight amount of power for each wall you hit. Your final score is 2*(number of walls hit) + (remaining power).
Download Towerball:
http://www.download.com/Towerball/3000-2099_4-10879945.html
Alternate mirror:
http://www.zdnetasia.com/downloads/pc/swinfo/0,39043052,38000323,50001353r-39415274s,00.htm
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Trans Am:
Here’s a simple arcade game remake called Trans Am. You have to find the gold cups without being caught by other drivers. Well at least that’s what he game seemed to be about. I posted it as an extra, only because it caught my eye as I was closing down all the pages I’d opened while researching Daggerfall and to a lesser extent Towerball. Here’s the download link. It’s above the image in the first post of the forums. You’ll be able to glean more information from the posts following the first one:
http://www.retroremakes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=12158
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