Poll of difficulty

[oh_brother]

I guess CSBwin is not one of those *certain* versions? So you mean someone made up a cheat, and later someone built a version to make that cheat true?! Ha ha, this is getting better and better. Maybe it is just me, but I find the idea of someone's 20 year old made-up cheat still living on really weird! I wonder if he/she knows!

[Duckman]

Anyone who actually finishes CSB without
assistance deserves a great round of
applause. I doubted it was possible.

CERTAINLY DESERVES! in fact I did not manage to get further than the vexirk crossfire without hint oracle! (i selected KU first)

[Trantor]

I didn't actually try to do it without help. Those were the days when I played EVERY complex game like adventures or RPGs with walkthroughs I found in magazines. I needed to get 14 or 15 to see that I spoilt some of the fun for myself. I did however beat Pool of Radiance with almost no help in the spring of 1995. This is probably the feat I am most proud of in my gaming career.

[andilist]

Hello Trantor,

... beat Pool of Radiance with almost no help in the spring of 1995. This is probably the feat I am most proud of in my gaming career.

I played all the games from SSI on my beloved AMIGA. My heroes went through the "Forgotten Realms" to solve the adventures of the "Dragon Lance" just to come back to the Forgotten Realms to finally overcome the quests at the "Sword Coast".

Pure Entertainment!!

Kind regards,

Andi

[andyp3001]

Anyone who actually finishes CSB without
assistance deserves a great round of
applause. I doubted it was possible.

CERTAINLY DESERVES! in fact I did not manage to get further than the vexirk crossfire without hint oracle! (i selected KU first)

Well...deep breath... I am proud to say that I actually completed CSB without any assistance at all, back in the Atari ST days. It must have been early 90's. Looking back (especially after I did it again a couple of years' ago with the RTC version) I cannot believe it myself. Especially sussing out the Diabolical Demon Directory in its various guises. Mind you, it was one hell of a slog. The only time I went back in there, with assistance via ST Format magazine (remember that!) with a saved game was to work out how to get into Death Row. Round of applause, please!

[Jan]

*claps his hands*

[beowuuf]

Wow, congratulations and much respect!

[Duckman]

From me too!

[Erik Bauer]

CsB IS lots harder than DM, for all the reasons spoken above.
I always manage to get lost in it, and it is the only dungeon game where it happens to me.
As already told, fights are not the hardest part (DM is harder in this respect, I recall fearing RockPiles, Worms, Knighst and Scorpions in DM while I do not have memory of a particularly hard fight in CsB), the hard part is to figure out what to do and where to go in order to accomplish something.

Sometimes you'll find it even frustrating and you'll feel like wanting to stop, DON'T! Perseveration is needed but once you manage to get attuned to the crazy logic and messy dungeon layout you'll start to feel proud of yourself and will get a sort of satisfaction that not many games can give to you once Mastered (pun intended).

[Duckman]

Fights easier than in original? you have made your accounts archmasters in original... with CSB accounts or normal accounts from original (meaning that they are about lo-on masters in their best skill) the fights are definetely harder, much harder. Beating a deth knight is quite a problem at start when you have only one or two good parts of equipment, needless to say that Mongor is almost overpowered.

[Jan]

I think the fights are relatively easy - well, there are a few pretty tough places, but in general I think that it's not that hard, and that puzzles and orientation through the dungeon are much bigger challenge. I would say that fighting is the easiest think in CSB.

[Trantor]

I absolutely agree with Jan here. The fights are usually the smallest problem in CSB. Mongor is actually rather easy since you have an almost infinite amount of space to dodge him. The dragon directly below the DDD is much harder.

[Ameena]

Yeah, I agree he's harder, until you can get him into a two-by-two space (there is one down there, I think...it's been a while since I played)...but that's tricky in itself, of course, because of the layout of his area. And you get there by going down the "Trust me..." pit, don't you? Or is that somewhere else...

[oh_brother]

Currently I have three corbums gone, and am at the DDD of the Dain path. It is much harder than DM.

Spoiler

But some of my favourite parts have been the sections that seemed impossible, but were not. In the Ros path (possibly my favourite path - much better than evil Dain) the invisible wall maze with the dragons was terrifying at first. I remember 18 years ago my champions running around in terror like headless chickens, bumping into walls and dragons. And the same happened this time again, except at one point I was trapped between two dragons. I thought it was game over, so I just let lose two or three fireballs to go down with a fight when suddenly one dragon exploded in a pile of steaks! Not as tough as I had imagined!
The same for the "dead end" section at the end of Ku....ha ha...seemed impossible but eventually the impossible becomes possible.

I think one of the reasons I could not finish it as a kid was that there were times when progress did seem impossible, like some pits that would not close and no way to get around, and I just assumed that I had messed up somewhere and that there was no way forward. But if you convince yourself there really is a solution it becomes easier (although there were occasions where I had to reach for a walkthrough, something I did not have when I was 12).

[Trantor]

I agree oh_brother, the game often seems harder than it actually is because it is playing with your exceptions. This game is evil on so many levels, but never unfair, and that is what makes it so great.

[Bit]

Watching some DM/CSB-clips on YouTube, I found one about an 'item replicator'.
Never knew about that thing - and haven't read here about it so far. What is with this?

[Duckman]

Watching some DM/CSB-clips on YouTube, I found one about an 'item replicator'.
Never knew about that thing - and haven't read here about it so far. What is with this?

I have heard something about it but can't remember much. (acually was it "replicator" or "dublicator"?) If I remember it's a bug in original DM and you can duplicate items somehow with firestaff+ and the blinking teleporter in the choose door level. And I do remember it may crash the game.

[Gambit37]

The item replicator involves dropping a fluxcage through a pit or teleporting the fluxcage. Go to the fluxcage you dropped/teleported and place items in it -- when you pick the item up, it gets replicated (but can crash the game). You can also end up with other strange side-effects, such as the wrong monsters appearing on different levels. I ended up with pink rats on leve 4 once! Anyway, off topic....

[Bit]

I am archmaster in going off-topic! Medival wizards always got there own special ways, but usually they return - sooner or later (see sentence below)

Yes, CSB was harder. Even being experienced in painting the map from DM, I remember I did have some problems to find out where I am - that was the greatest problem in CSB.


pink rats *rofl* - i should send you some of my buggy versions