The usual staples consist of Master of Orion 2 and Ascendancy.
And the occational Magic the Gathering-Planeswalker(or is that a Win game, not sure).

But been a while since last time, so... correct answer would probably be 'none', for the previous 2 weeks at least.
(HoMM IV does not fit the description I assume, heh)

I took a break from DOSBox for a while until 0.73 came out and sucked me back in. I went crazy (as usual) and installed and fiddled with a couple dozen games. I did manage to beat Ultima 1 (got bored of Ultima 2 real quick though) and get farther than I ever remember getting in Arena (until I found the CD version laying around and started over 🤣).

Currently I'm making a serious attempt to play Albion. I purchased it from a bargain bin around 7 years ago and have only given it a couple of brief attempts before losing interest. It's holding my interest this time around, although I have to take breaks because the user interface SUCKS.

Specifically, they make you do EVERYTHING by right-clicking the mouse (which gets very tedious) and do not provide many keyboard shortcuts nor many obvious drag-and-drop shortcuts (such as when buying and selling, or when trying to loot items or talk to people). Combat is very tedious because you have to right-click each of your characters and assign actions to them; at least it remembers the last assigned actions so that you can repeat them each round if you want.

There are also quirks with trying to equip items, such as only being able to equip a dagger on someone's tail if you equip things in the right order (or else it will go to their hand instead). They also don't list racial restrictions on items, just class restrictions, even though such restrictions actually exist.

And then there are the sound issues...

(BTW, I doubt Bethesda can release Skynet for free because of licensing issues).

Bullfrog's Syndicate. What is the ideal tax rate, by the way? 45%? 30%? My territories keep rebelling, but I need the damn money. 🙁

Re-playing Space Quest Series. Currently playing SQ2 - Vohaul's Revenge.

Edit: Just completed Vohaul's Revenge. Have to take a break from another adventure for a while. Almost burnt my brain out! (Err...actually I used the UHS to help me at two places - the tying of rope to the log part and another hint at the asteroid tubes - the part where you need to turn on the water sprinklers. But I'm glad that I didn't reveal all the hints for these two. Didn't want to spoil my adventure.) This is the first time I've completed SQ2.

For those interested, Infamous Adventures is in the process of releasing the VGA remake of Space Quest II.

retro games 100 wrote:

Me - Arena, elder scrolls.

I tried to play Arena when they released it for free, I couldn't handle it. The word is so massive but seems you can only see a 5 feet in front of you, it's like your running around blind.

But Bethesda rocks. The Fallout 3 bug caught me again, figure I'd start building up a character and get the GOTY edition with all 5 DLCs when it comes out in a couple weeks.

Malik wrote:

Re-playing Space Quest Series. Currently playing SQ2 - Vohaul's Revenge.

Edit: Just completed Vohaul's Revenge. Have to take a break from another adventure for a while. Almost burnt my brain out! (Err...actually I used the UHS to help me at two places - the tying of rope to the log part and another hint at the asteroid tubes - the part where you need to turn on the water sprinklers. But I'm glad that I didn't reveal all the hints for these two. Didn't want to spoil my adventure.) This is the first time I've completed SQ2.

A couple months ago I played through the original EGA and then VGA remake of SQ1, and it was interesting to see some of the differences. It was also interesting to note that SQ1VGA supports the MT-32 but not General MIDI.

I then re-played SQ2 for the first time in quite a long time. I had to pull out my walkthrough book to get through one of the mazes I think but that was about it. I also had to go back to an earlier save once because I forgot to get the green gem (doh).

I haven't started re-playing SQ3 because it deserves being played on my real MT-32 that I can't use right now 🙁

For those interested, Infamous Adventures is in the process of releasing the VGA remake of Space Quest II.

Cool! I might check that out. I haven't had the heart/time to really check out the QfG2 remake that was recently released.

SQ2 remake site: http://www.infamous-adventures.com/index.php?page=sq2

Also, I finally strayed from Albion (again) although I made it much farther this time than any other time I've played. I'm still in the first jungle area because I was grinding monsters to sell their parts for gold.

I've been playing through Bethesda's Terminator: Future Shock. I have Skynet but am not playing Future Shock through it because I heard it prevents you from completing the game. I do intend to play Skynet next if I'm not burned out by then 😀

HunterZ wrote:

I haven't started re-playing SQ3 because it deserves being played on my real MT-32 that I can't use right now..

You're right! SQ3 is a must play with MT-32!

The humming of the engine of the spaceship warming up, the planetary landing sounds, the reverb when roger wilco falls at the edge off the cliffs, the ambient music.....
To put it simply, WOW!

(I've managed to complete the game with the max 738 out of 738 points without going through any walkthrough! 😁)

HunterZ wrote:

I also had to go back to an earlier save once because I forgot to get the green gem (doh).

Heh! I missed the gem the first time around too, till I reached the underground! And imagine what I typed when I got the gem the first time : "PUT GEM ON HEAD", till I figured it out to "PUT GEM IN MOUTH" before climbing down the ladder! 😁

Malik wrote:

You're right! SQ3 is a must play with MT-32! […]
Show full quote

HunterZ wrote:

I haven't started re-playing SQ3 because it deserves being played on my real MT-32 that I can't use right now..

You're right! SQ3 is a must play with MT-32!

The humming of the engine of the spaceship warming up, the planetary landing sounds, the reverb when roger wilco falls at the edge off the cliffs, the ambient music.....
To put it simply, WOW!

The intro sequence really sold me, and the "INSERT BUCKAZOID" humor on the MT-32's LCD display makes me not care that I don't have a CM-64 instead :p

HunterZ wrote:

I also had to go back to an earlier save once because I forgot to get the green gem (doh).

Heh! I missed the gem the first time around too, till I reached the underground! And imagine what I typed when I got the gem the first time : "PUT GEM ON HEAD", till I figured it out to "PUT GEM IN MOUTH" before climbing down the ladder! 😁

I vaguely remember hitting a couple of instances in the first 2 Space Quest games where I had to type something a certain way or it wouldn't understand. I don't miss text parsers too much :p

I managed to miss some points in SQ2 by forgetting to use the jock strap to sling a rock at the ape guard who patrols the shuttle landing pad on the planet surface. I ended up sneaking to the elevator while he wasn't looking instead. I guess SQ2 was made before the days when it was popular to offer both violent and nonviolent solutions to situations hehe.

For the last couple of days I've been playing "Champions of Krynn", one of SSI's "gold box" RPGs for DOS, published in 1990. It's old school D&D. I quite like it! I'm using DOSBox and everything seems to work well.

Moved from Syndicate to Master of Magic. The MIDI songs sound quite great on my Roland VSC.

Finished SkyNET, was shorter than I remember and seemed to be quite a bit shorter than Future Shock. I guess the briefing videos and multiplayer features took up too much of Bethesda's development time.

Not sure what to play next. Have been fiddling with Betrayal at Krondor since I never quite finished it, but it always bothers me that I have to choose between Sound Blaster digital sounds + OPL music *or* no digital sounds + really nice MT-32 music. Maybe I should try to get my hands on the CD version - are the tracks recorded from MT-32?

Mmm, not very easy to tell. Sounds at least as good as MT-32 in my opinion, and as you say, you get the SB soundeffects with the music.

Working thru Cybermage. One of those games I remember reading about but never tried until recently.

rcblanke wrote:

Mmm, not very easy to tell. Sounds at least as good as MT-32 in my opinion, and as you say, you get the SB soundeffects with the music.

Agreed. I checked ebay for old copies of the CD version, and they are still available at not unreasonable prices. I'd say go for it.

Regarding the SSI RPG called "Champions of Krynn", I just managed to extract myself from a spot of bother.

Spoiler below.

You can only enter the eastern side of Neraka with an NPC named Maya. Once there, if you subsequently leave before completing all of your tasks, you can't return to the eastern side ever again. So, I find myself stranded on the western side, with absolutely no chance finishing off an important quest.

But check this out -

http://www.hexedit.com/download.htm (hex editor, version 3.0F, completely free)

What I did was save my game, then move one square down and one square along, then save my game again (with a different file name). Then I ran hexedit, and loaded up both "save game dat files", then used a useful feature of the hex editor called file compare. I looked for the differences between the 2 files. And I could see my coordinate changes, and thus I could see where I could alter my X coordinate. I just increased this value enough to get me over a wall which divided east and west Neraka, and I was then able to complete my mission in the eastern side of town.

retro games 100 wrote:

Regarding the SSI RPG called "Champions of Krynn", I just managed to extract myself from a spot of bother. […]
Show full quote

Regarding the SSI RPG called "Champions of Krynn", I just managed to extract myself from a spot of bother.

Spoiler below.

You can only enter the eastern side of Neraka with an NPC named Maya. Once there, if you subsequently leave before completing all of your tasks, you can't return to the eastern side ever again. So, I find myself stranded on the western side, with absolutely no chance finishing off an important quest.

But check this out -

http://www.hexedit.com/download.htm (hex editor, version 3.0F, completely free)

What I did was save my game, then move one square down and one square along, then save my game again (with a different file name). Then I ran hexedit, and loaded up both "save game dat files", then used a useful feature of the hex editor called file compare. I looked for the differences between the 2 files. And I could see my coordinate changes, and thus I could see where I could alter my X coordinate. I just increased this value enough to get me over a wall which divided east and west Neraka, and I was then able to complete my mission in the eastern side of town.

Ah, Champions of Krynn! I've finished it. Without using any hints or walkthrough. I did use a cheat to replicate specific items, though, the one where you need to create a dummy character and transfer what you want to replicate to him, drop, save re-load, etc., if you know which I'm referring to. Had to use this method since I didn't want to get stuck because of my very weak pure Mishakal cleric, and pure mages - one pure Red Robe, another pure White Robe mage. All a form of elves or another. Mages are a pain while bringing them up. But once they're at high levels, they're formidable.

What I used to do is replicate the fireball wand (after finding it) and give it to my mage. It finishes off any group of enemies with a massive damage die. Especially indoors.

The other characters are my alter ego Human Knight (with my name 😁), a Kender thief and a half-elf ranger.
I can't remember much about the part you're explaining in Neraka. And I can't remember getting stuck as you said. Either I had completed all the said quests or found a secret door.

The final battle is very memorable. The graphics depicting where the enemy's stronghold is situated, is really awe inspiring.

Congratulations on completing Champ Krynn, without cheating! 😀 I've just finished it, but I cheated a lot. I found out a useful cheat - if you build up a healthy party then copy the .sav files for each party member in to a back up folder, you can simply overwrite your current .sav files for damaged party members with your back up files. (The info about quests and current location aren't recorded in the .sav files, because they are in a "global" .dat file.)

Have you played any other SSI "Gold box" RPGs? Champ Krynn is my first. Actually, I don't know the rules for (A)D&D, so I was quite confused by most of it! Hehe. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it and I'm glad I played it.

retro games 100 wrote:

Have you played any other SSI "Gold box" RPGs? Champ Krynn is my first. Actually, I don't know the rules for (A)D&D, so I was quite confused by most of it! Hehe. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it and I'm glad I played it.

Hehehe...you made a good start with Champions of Krynn. It's a good game.

I have also played the sequel, Death Knights of Krynn, about 18 years ago. And completed it, with my best friend, with nothing but the Adventurer's Journal and the Rule Book. No walkthroughs or hints whatsoever. I still remember when we reached home after school, we used to discuss a lot by phone and exchange new discoveries and experiences regarding the progress in the game.

Death Knights of Krynn is much harder than Champions, even after transferring your characters from Champions. But is equally rewarding. You get better items including a special sword. Forgot it's name, but I remember it's EXTREMELY powerful. For certain enemies anyway.

I didn't play the final sequel of the Krynn series, The Dark Queen of Krynn. My friend had completed it, and according to him, it's the best of the series.

I have the Interplay's Forgotten Realms Archives - all Gold Box's Forgotten Realms titles. I did start Pool of Radiance some time ago but didn't continue playing it. I have to re-start the series later.

If you're interested in Dragonlance series, you might want to take a look at Shadow Sorcerer. It's in a isometric prespective pov.

Part of my SSI RPG series :