In Rick Kreb's interview, he talks about how he mentioned to Gary Gygax that S.S.I were making good roleplaying video games. The first D&D licensed video game was Pool of Radiance by S.S.I in 1988. What was S.S.I up to before that time? That is easy to answer as it is a subject that was near and dear to my young teenage self. Winston Douglas Wood created a series of games starting in 1985 that were the premiere role playing video games for the Commodore 64. Phantasie I, II, and III.Below is a combined map of the three overland world maps from each game. Much like the Legend of Blacksilver map, these maps are very square as the developer filled up as much space as possible for adventuring in. The maps, the opponents, the programming, everything in the game had to fit on a 512K disc.

Thanks for the post. I had forgotten all about "JR Trollkin's." And the "Green Dragon Inn" must be one heck of a franchise. It seems like every fantasy world has one or two of them.
ReplyDeleteHa, too true. I like to think that the Shady Dragon Inn (Basic D&D), the Green Dragon Inn (Video Games), the Comeback Inn (Blackmoor), and the Inn of the Welcome Wench (Greyhawk) are all somehow interdimensionally linked through a maze like wine cellar. Would make a good FLAILSNAILS supplement.
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