The Temple of Elemental Evil

To who ever will start playing this game: 'It is absolutely necessary to download and install two mods: - Co8 mod. - Temple+ mod. Those two mods resolve compatibility issues, tons of bugs and add new content. Temple+ also completely modernizes the game (+4k and upwards scaling, forgotten realms races, 3.5ed prestige classes, flexibility in rule settings - similarly to 5ed, etc). There are also expansion pack mods, like the KotB (Keeper of the Bordelands). Visit the co8 community forums (please google it) for more info. The moding community is still active, closing 20 years!

Nothing compares to TOEE. I'm old school and grew up on the earliest wizardry and ultima titles. I'm currently playing through BG 2 hoping it will compare to the bliss of TOEE. When I was 12 (27 yrs ago) I was playing modules like whiteplume mountain, the isle of dread, castle amber, and tomb of horros and finally TOEE, so I'm a thoroughbred nerd. I recall trying to run TOEE in 2004 on a slugish pc and it was buggy back then sending an indelible pain of anguish through my heart. Perhaps it was a blessing though as I only discovered it on GOG a few months ago and have played through it numerous times. If I had known how much pleasure this fully armed and operational masterpiece would have given me I would happily have paid hundreds of dollars. I'm going to slowly donate that money to the CO8 (circle of eight) modders community for their tireless work in turning this game into a flawless masterpiece. The only reason GOG has it so cheap is because the TOEE.exe file is often misdiagnosed as a trojan by anti-virus software such as Mcaffee, causing people to complain when their install fails. Mcaffee would not let me create an scanning exception or fully deactivate realtime scanning for a trojan file but when I completely uninstalled Mcaffe from my system I enjoyed a seamless install which only involved 2 simple steps. Obviously I have backed up my entire computer on the D drive and a few dvdr 4 gig disks should the worst happen. Step 1 download GOG TOEE which to me seems to come fully patched. Step 2 goto CO8 website and download the latest TFE-X mirror which everybody will be thrilled to know is now at version 6.0 and includes all updates and patches! Get the one which says NC (new content) and you can enjoy many new areas such as verbobonc and the arena of heroes and highly advanced AI improvements too numerous to mention here. It's that simple! I also right click on my TFE-X icon and run it as administrator . C'mon 2 steps? My kids can do that! I'm running everything smooth on my Vist 32 bit laptop and my new Win7 64 bit 23 inch Touchscreen and I assure you the results are far, far superior to the fully modded widescreen versions of Baldur's Gate etc. The youtube movies do zero justice to how the game will look on your computer these days and I assume they failed to update their game or use fraps or something! TOEE is really like infinity engine 2.0 and upping the res requires no patch or modding. I was pleased to note a few thousand people had gone to CO8 to download 6.0 NC only a few weeks ago in Jan 2011 indicating there are still people who know where to get the most exquisite, truly only authentic turn-based rpg opium af all time! Forget pause buttons. You will need to carefully plan every single battle descision with D&D rules version 3.5. Fortunately the Incredibly brilliant conception of a user friendly radial menu makes this so easy my 12 yr old daughter is feinting, charging, and casting defensively. Skills like tumble, cleave, and sneak will have you fully immersed in the battle. Do I risk disengaging my druid to use a heal on my monk? Will I pass the concentration save or provoke an attack of opportunity from that beholder if I run there? Honestly I could write a thesis about how you will be agonising over every single step or thrust your characters will make during the course of the most epic battles you will ever see. The music score is so rich and varied with special tracks for special encounters and The final showdown with the Plant Goddess should be pumped out on your loudest stereo or usb headphones for heart jolting effect. Ohman that organ blasting goes through my nighbours heads at night I kid you not! The graphics are so rich you will thrill to role a critical hit and see your maul come crashing down in a bigger more deliberate way with a sickening thud on some bugbear's skull. Its the devil in these details that seperate TOEE from anything you have ever experienced. I mean the beastiary is incredibly rich with hundreds of very detailed monsters more cleverly animated than anything you have seen and all attacking you in many ways. Watch out for the trip attacks! Get those save rolls up fast or you will be running in fear, staggering blind, or worse still hitting each other over the head as your charmed by wizards. I feel so sorry for the poor deluded younger generations who seem satisfied by their 3d shooters and driving simulations instead of this cerebral high. Don't get me wrong I have played em all at one stage or another in moments of boredom. Oblivion was ok at least. But nothing and I mean absolutely nothing compares to TOEE. If only I knew python I would help write the new keep on the borderlands module CO8 are finalising for the TOEE engine. I mean really I appreciate all the great work done on Baldur's gate 2 and IWD etc but I would rather see every expert recognise the simple fact that time would be better spent further developing the TOEE engine. Forget your fancy 3D games like Mafia 2 and get back to this exquisite topographically rendered painting masterpiece! The storyline is not linear. It has been developed immensely since release. I consider Dragon age linear and is a sick joke on kids who don't know any better. If they want to wacth movie cutt scenes, Y don't they just go and watch some pixar film like Shrek instead? TOEE the best experience of my life ever by a country mile and the best ever authentic graphically superior simulation of tabletop D&D ever. PERIOD!!!!

I was secretly hoping that GOG released ToEE. My original disc is beyond repair, and I was eager for an official re-release. It is a great game, with a few problems: AI can be funky at times, there are several bugs within quests and spells. However, it is a nice dungeon crawl (quite literally), allowing for great customization of characters. Trying to beat the game with oddball lineups is great! For first timers: a half-orc fighter with Spiked Chain feats (capitalizing on Attacks of Opportunity and the extended range) will make your life considerably easier.

More like an erratic, disjointed rant than a "traditional" review, 'cause that's how I roll, so here's how it is: I started playing D&D back in the early eighties; still have my original manuals,etc., I've been computer gaming forever and rpg's are my favorite.. I've been looking for *years* for a BG2 type game, full party creation, epic, super long... lots of quests and lots of ways to tweak your characters, etc... a game that makes you *care* about the party you create, you know what I'm talkin' about.. so I've played my Arkania's, my Icewind Dales, my dosbox rpg's, my snes wizardry games (again...) etc... always looking for that "best" one... I didn't buy ToEE years ago when it was first released because my hardcore gamer friends told me it was horrible... I let it go at that and never gave the game another thought.... turns out there's been some ridiculously serious bug fixing and modding going on for quite a few years now... so what you need to do is get this game, which comes from GoG *fully patched and compatible and ready to go with the Circle of Eight Mod Pack* which you will Google and download.. then you will simply apply that one mod and you will own the best party based game you've played in a long, long time.. spent hours creating my party.. you can switch members in and out like Wizardry... graphics are the best for a game of this type.. there are clothes (capes, pointy hats, etc.) of different colors that you will dress your party with when you create them, allowing for great customization,along with hairstyles/colors, etc., and arms/weaps of course... I made my dream thief... finally a game that lets me use my thief like I'm actually playing D&D.. I mean, the combat in this game feels like Jagged Alliance 2 sometimes; you wanna just sit back, relax (and get tense!) and take your time with each fight, really using each heroes' abilities; everything counts and there are TONS of options and it can get intense, like JA2... it's THAT cool.. so... I make my dream thief and she's a 3 feet tall (you can adjust height!) Halfling, she's got a black hood/cloak combo; the cloak blows around nicely, the physics are exceptional for this type game... The classic magic missile spell... My first cast in the game.. I just sat and smiled.. watching it slowly fly around the screen almost like an insect then home in and POW!!... the enemies are varied and amazing.. the fights are never boring.. I spent a few hours the other night just traveling back and forth over the world map to get into random encounters to level up my characters (and have fun!) it wasn't a chore, it didn't feel like a grind because it was so intense! You will smile when you see the character creation screen(s)... you will love dressing your heroes to look the way you like them; appropriate size, colors, etc... armors and weaps (tons!) look really nice and distinct.. animations are excellent.. characters are large on screen (or smaller; you can set many resolutions) ...of course there are many Feats, Skills, Spells and abilities, etc., for you to play with... Many environments; the ambience in the game is great, this game *will* suck you in from the very beginning... You'll be re-rolling/re-allocating stats to create your dream party and you'll be smiling the whole time.. You know how the portraits don't always "match" your characters in games like this? Well, my Cleric has antlers on her helmet in her portrait... and wouldn't you know, she found a helmet just like it ;-).. little touches, little touches.... this game is Quality... Re-playability, oh yes... for a long, long, long time... My search is over. Two downloads. This game. And the Circle of Eight Modpack.

It's only on the GOG release that I've seriously sat down and made an effort to play this game. It's a mixed bag... but incredibly enjoyable. If you stick with it. The Circle of 8 modpack is a must. Easy to install - Win 7 - it tweaks the game so more of the crippling bugs are absent. It also rips up the (ludicrously low) level cap. The plot is simple. Go to village. Find temple. Slay bad guys. Although the first village is in danger of putting folk off the game altogether. The inhabitants of Hommlet are a fickle, tedious lot and don't waste much time in giving a raft of dull, uninspiring quests to fix their soap-opera lives. "I'm an adventurer!" "Really? Old man grumpy is grumpy ever since his wife died. Maybe you could hook him up with the widow up the road" or "clear out the very small grove of a couple of spiders". Meandering side-quests and dull conversation options mean this is no Baldurs Gate. Don't expect a story-driven epic here - unless you want to be disappointed. Treat it as a dungeon crawl and you'll have a far better time. Character creation is lengthy with plenty of options(for D&D newbies the manual is essential) although some may miss the additional races and classes that come with later rule sets. The inventory screens and spells are functional at best. Not a game-breaker, but their simplicity feels a little jarring. Graphics while your party or exploring their surroundings are excellent. 3D models on 2D backgrounds. Incredibly well detailed and animated with all customizations showing up on your party (although losing characters behind walls is nothing short of irritating). The backgrounds are richly detailed and incredibly well done. Pathfinding can be atrocious on occasions. And the music - an interesting synth based score which occasionally seems out of place - is also refreshing from the standard fantasy fare. What makes this work... is the combat system which is nothing short of excellent. The early fights can be frustrating but stick with it past that... and there's a gem here. Zombies and clerics can be turned to fight for your cause. NPC's can be recruited (although they're a bunch of greedy bastards so it's doubtful you'll shed any tears when they meet their demise). Creatures can be summoned to create a small army. Tactical options abound and a radial menu (which takes a little getting used to if you've been weened on a diet of hot bars) makes considering your options and selecting your next move a breeze. Positioning your party, balancing your ranged and melee fighters whilst protecting your (excellently animated) spell casters who are bombarding the enemy while employing a range of tactics to unbalance, confuse, pummel and ultimately decimate your opponent. Battles are fantastic. On more than one occasion it feels more like a game of chess (on steroids). There are comments the game is short. I'm no D&D veteran so I feel I'm getting my moneys worth (read: I'm a hopeless player). Aside from CO8's sterling work there are no other additional modules or adventures which is a shame. Despite its faults this game does deserve more. Can a game be redeemed by its a combat system alone? I think it can. It's a dungeon crawl. Nothing more. I still want to burn Hommlet to the ground (sadly the game won't let me do that although I can ruthlessly slaughter it's inhabitants without mercy - a fate I think they deserve). But the exploration of dungeons and plotting the take down of the next batch of minions lifted from the monster manual is addictive, fun and satisfying. Just don't let Hommlet put you off. It does get better.