Can I play Temple of Elemental Evil without going insane?

kale

Hello out there,

I was going to give Temple of Elemental Evil a go and I installed the Temple+ and Circle of 8 mods already. However, when I read the readmes and FAQs that come with the Circle of 8 mod in particular, I get the impression that the game is still basically broken, even if you do not commit the cardinal sins of quicksaving and autosaving (which apparently blow up your computer). If I play the game, will I be able to finish it in one go or are savegame corruptions and game ending bugs basically inevitable?

OlvynChuru

While the game has various bugs, I don't think I ever encountered game-ending bugs while playing it.

But there's something else about the game that might drive you insane. The early game is utterly brutal. Enemies tend to have much higher AC than they should e.g. the gnolls in the first dungeon have 19 AC, so even a mix-maxed fighter will be missing them more than half the time (never mind a non-min-maxed fighter). It's very easy to die early on, and at that point in the game the only way to bring someone back to life is to travel all the way back to town and pay to raise them (if you can even afford it).

While resting in many places, there's a good chance of being interrupted by enemies. Resting in the first dungeon can get you interrupted by one or more Giant Crayfish which could easily kill half your party members before you got a first turn.

Isewein

Not at all! With the newest versions of Temple+ and Co8 installed, I experienced barely any bugs on a recent playthrough. Admittedly, I haven't quite come around to completing it yet as it does get a bit repetitie towards the end, but the first half (Moathouse & Nulb) are great environments. Definitely recommended.

shabadoo

Yes it it's a bit deadly in the beginning...ooh and the middle bits... The end gets a bit repetitive but has a couple nearly impossible encounters. But once you've finished it (or even without) Co8 produced the entire "keep on the borderlands" to overlay on ToEE. I hope it works with dl'd versions because i lost the discs in a fire some years back.
The gnolls at the moathouse can be bargained with and will leave without a fight. Paladins beware..."fallen" status sucks.

jjstraka34

Since the advent of Temple+, you don't actually NEED Circle of Eight anymore. Temple+ is more of a straight bug-fix/technical modification that fixed the broken parts of the code, with some optional home brew stuff in the launcher. Circle of Eight changes the game in more fundamental ways. For many years, it was the only game in town, but that's no longer the case.

kanisatha

Wait. Seriously? You cannot quicksave or autosave in this game? I have this game in my GOG wishlist, but this would be a deal-breaker.

Felipefpl

If I play the game, will I be able to finish it in one go or are savegame corruptions and game ending bugs basically inevitable?

I played the game till the end without using ANY patch including the official ones (i had no internet due to poverty for LOTS of months) so it's possible, i used quick n normal saves (normal saves in previous locations are a MUST to avoid problems related mostly to garbage in the gfx) but can be done.

shabadoo

jjstraka34 wrote: »

Since the advent of Temple+, you don't actually NEED Circle of Eight anymore. Temple+ is more of a straight bug-fix/technical modification that fixed the broken parts of the code, with some optional home brew stuff in the launcher. Circle of Eight changes the game in more fundamental ways.

Co8 does have the "Keep on the Borderlands" mod to overlay on ToEE. I've not tried it yet, but I've read that people enjoy it immensely.

jjstraka34

shabadoo wrote: »

jjstraka34 wrote: »

Since the advent of Temple+, you don't actually NEED Circle of Eight anymore. Temple+ is more of a straight bug-fix/technical modification that fixed the broken parts of the code, with some optional home brew stuff in the launcher. Circle of Eight changes the game in more fundamental ways.

Co8 does have the "Keep on the Borderlands" mod to overlay on ToEE. I've not tried it yet, but I've read that people enjoy it immensely.

Never played it but I have looked at the maps and enemy placement. They basically managed to implement perhaps the most iconic module ever word for word into the ToEE engine.

m7600

Keep on the Borderlands is really good, in addition to new content it also adds a lot of new features and mechanics. The Temple Plus engine is awesome, it's as good as the Infinity Engine.

McGollum

kale wrote: »

Hello out there,

I was going to give Temple of Elemental Evil a go and I installed the Temple+ and Circle of 8 mods already. However, when I read the readmes and FAQs that come with the Circle of 8 mod in particular, I get the impression that the game is still basically broken, even if you do not commit the cardinal sins of quicksaving and autosaving (which apparently blow up your computer). If I play the game, will I be able to finish it in one go or are savegame corruptions and game ending bugs basically inevitable?

I can't remember any crashes with the German version of TOEE (purchased, not crispy burn from pirate folks). BUT, contrary to the US version we had less patches, so the patches on moddb dot com did not work for me and blocked me from later versions of the mods.

Return to the Moathouse & Pishella's cocky punchlines made the game worth my while nonetheless. I did quit, after the fight with Saint Cuthbert manifesting though...