In 2022, the famed Gold Field D&D video games lastly got here to Steam (opens in new tab). They’d been on GOG for years, however the newer Steam releases featured updates together with preinstalled variations of the Gold Field Companion (opens in new tab) and All-Seeing Eye (opens in new tab) apps that made the aged video games extra manageable on trendy {hardware}. Now SNEG, the corporate behind these updates, is doing the identical for eight extra D&D classics from way back, together with Spelljammer, DragonStrike, and the Silver Field video games.
The Silver Field video games aren’t as well- referred to as these of the Gold Field lineage, however as Jody defined in his wonderful evaluation of the Steam updates, it is all somewhat bit arbitrary anyway.
“Not each recreation made with the Gold Field engine was launched in a gold field, and which video games must be counted relies upon who you ask,” he wrote. “The bundle of Gold Field Classics (opens in new tab) SNEG launched on Steam does not embrace the 1991 on-line recreation for apparent causes, or Spelljammer or the 2 Buck Rogers video games made within the engine however not revealed with gold packing containers, but does embrace the Darkish Solar, Ravenloft, and Eye of the Beholder sequence, in addition to Menzoberranzan and Dungeon Hack, none of which got gold packing containers or made with the engine.”
The Silver Field video games are equally muddled: Wikipedia (opens in new tab) lists them as Heroes of the Lance, Dragons of Flame, and Shadow Sorcerer, whereas SNEG’s Silver Field bundle provides Conflict of the Lance. Wiki lists that one as a “standalone recreation,” perhaps as a result of it is not an RPG however a top-down technique recreation. However Shadow Sorcerer is strategy-focused too, whereas Heroes of the Lance and Dragons of Flame are sidescrolling motion video games.
Anyway, no matter you name them, these video games collectively characterize an vital slice of gaming historical past from the late ’80s and early ’90s. This is the complete lineup:
DragonStrike is a “dragon fight simulator,” whereas Spelljammer is a bit like Sid Meier’s Pirates, besides you are crusing by way of Wildspace as a substitute of the excessive seas. Fantasy Empires is a method recreation, and Deathkeep is a first-person dungeon crawler. It is also the most recent of the bunch, though “new” is relative: It was launched in 1995.
“I’m an previous D&D fan and It was at all times my dream to convey again all its online game classics,” SNEG director Oleg Klapovskiy mentioned. “Again in 2015, I began making that dream come true by bringing the Gold Field titles again to avid gamers, and now we’re persevering with with this dream by bringing again one other portion of classics to each GOG and Steam.”
Klapovskiy is severe about his dedication to old-time videogames: Previous to co-founding SNEG, he spent a number of years at GOG.
Spelljammer: Pirates of Realmspace, Fantasy Empires, DragonStrike, Deathkeep, and the Silver Field Basic Bundle are set to launch close to the tip of March—a selected date hasn’t been set but—and will probably be out there on Steam (opens in new tab) and GOG (opens in new tab).
