Matrix Games Forums

Did you have a role in designing and producing the gold box games?

I was very involved in getting the license for AD&D from TSR, as President of SSI at the time. Not being a role-player game player (turned off in college by a very bad high school D&D dungeonmaster), I can't claim any credit for the design and development of the games. My role on Pool of Radiance was being a playtester. Since we were so heavily invested in the series, I spent a lot of time playtesting POR, and I found I really enjoyed it. The kudos for the game go to Chuck Kroegel, Keith Brors, and many others at SSI. Chuck worked out a great relationship with Jim Ward at TSR, and IIRC, Keith was the main programmer. My one other involvement was convincing Jim Ward that he should write a POR novel to cover the events in the game, which I'm happy to say did get published. POR and the gold box line was a very special series put out due to the fantastic efforts of a lot of people at SSI (and TSR). Amazing that, IIRC we signed the license in May of 1987 and released POR in Augst 1988. At the time it was 1-2 months later than we were shooting for, but in hindsight it was an amazing feat to produce such a gem so quickly. I have only the fondest of memories of those days. Thanks for asking.

Ya, GREAT game and series.

I moved to Never Winter Nights, the online version, when it was released in 1990 or 1991. I can still hear my modem chirping and my phone bill going into the $1,000 to play against live players, LOL. Feeblemind was awesome!

Yes it was a great series. Looking at pictures of the game it's incredible how far computers have advanced.

+1 - Great series. I still have them, and a few to complete when I retire.