Can you use the Gold Box Companion to make a Paladin or Ranger in Pool of Radiance?

[Graycloak]

I was able to get the Companion App to work by reducing my display to windowed with 720p, bu there doesn't seem to be a button which allows character editing?

[Demetrios1453]

Not that I've seen after searching around. However, I just tested and you can still use the original GBC editor to edit characters and create paladins and rangers in this version of PoR; it changed things just fine and didn't cause any crashes upon re-load. Still, a bit disappointing that at least the paladin/ranger feature wasn't added, since so many of the other quality of life features seem to have made it. Hopefully there will be enough interest for them to do some updates, including this...

At least they made changing that awful font quick and easy compared to to GoG version, and I'm very curious how painless moving between games will be.

[Quarex]

I downloaded the newest version of the Gold Box Companion and am trying to figure out how to actually use it to convert a couple of characters to paladin or ranger, and as far as I can tell, you have to launch the game in DOSBox without the normal companion, launch the newer companion, and then ... do something. But when I load my saved game in the new companion and hit "search," it cannot find the game, and says the 1st ID was not found. When I have it check which memory locations can be read, it says it cannot find any to read.

I feel like this should not be so challenging for something that every guide assumes you are going to do before playing (as in, make a paladin and/or ranger so you can use the same characters through all four/five games)

[BigRowdy]

Originally posted by Quarex:

I downloaded the newest version of the Gold Box Companion and am trying to figure out how to actually use it to convert a couple of characters to paladin or ranger, and as far as I can tell, you have to launch the game in DOSBox without the normal companion, launch the newer companion, and then ... do something. But when I load my saved game in the new companion and hit "search," it cannot find the game, and says the 1st ID was not found. When I have it check which memory locations can be read, it says it cannot find any to read.

I feel like this should not be so challenging for something that every guide assumes you are going to do before playing (as in, make a paladin and/or ranger so you can use the same characters through all four/five games)

Try saving a game first...wild guess here..

[Demetrios1453]

Originally posted by Quarex:

I downloaded the newest version of the Gold Box Companion and am trying to figure out how to actually use it to convert a couple of characters to paladin or ranger, and as far as I can tell, you have to launch the game in DOSBox without the normal companion, launch the newer companion, and then ... do something. But when I load my saved game in the new companion and hit "search," it cannot find the game, and says the 1st ID was not found. When I have it check which memory locations can be read, it says it cannot find any to read.

I feel like this should not be so challenging for something that every guide assumes you are going to do before playing (as in, make a paladin and/or ranger so you can use the same characters through all four/five games)

Create your characters with fighters instead of paladins or rangers. Save the game. Launch the outside version of GBC and make sure you find the correct save path for the Steam version saves by clicking the "Set Folder" button (that's the tricky step, and it took me a few tries to get it right). Load up the save in the outside version of GBC. Convert the fighters to paladins and rangers in the character editor.

If you want to make half-elf cleric/rangers (which I did), make sure you create them as single class fighters, convert them as single class rangers, then use the character editor to change their class to cleric/ranger. They'll be 0-level clerics at that point, but when you load up the game, they'll be immediately ready to level to 1st-level clerics through the "level up" option.

[Quarex]

I got as far as loading up the save earlier, but I cannot find any place to actually edit the characters. The SGE.EXE editor seems to be the only one that lets you edit characters, except I do not see anywhere to edit their classes. GBC.EXE can load the save fine but then when I try to do anything else it says it cannot find the characters in memory due to a game/DOSBox version mismatch.

I will go try changing the folder to the save folder maybe? I do not know why it let me load the save if I was using the wrong folder, but I guess from what you said it might be a little misleading.

Edit: No, still getting the same thing after it loads the save:

" - Party size matches vs found characters. Click SEARCH.

- Trying to solve base address by searching for 1st ID starting at $1000000...
- ERROR: Could not solve base address. 1st ID not found!
Try increasing the latter address range value and click search again.
Incompatible DOSBox / game version / soundcard settings might cause this.
Press Control + R for a read test to see which memory locations can be read.
Click HELP for more info."

Edit: I am going to try making a new party and running them around a bit just because I wonder if something went wrong with the order of how I did things the first time

[Quarex]

I did indeed make a new party and start the game and save after finishing the Phlan tour and am still having the same problem. Alas. I am patient though, I will just wait until someone inevitably figures out why this is not working. Or points me to a different program to edit characters with (though yeah I tried the MS-DOS-based one, and oddly that does not let you make Paladins or Rangers as far as I can tell, haha)

[Demetrios1453]

In the "Set Folder", makes sure it ends with "Forgotten Realms The Archives - Collection Two\games\POOLRAD\GAME\POOLRAD". Don't stop at the first POOLRAD, and don't go beyond the second to the Save folder.

[Quarex]

That is where I ended up deciding to put it, so that part checks out anyway. I also increased the latter address range as it suggested, but that did not help.

[Zorbus]

I've added a tool that makes the paladin/ranger conversion easier, available here with couple of screenshots:
http://gbc.zorbus.net/steam/index.html

Direct download link for the file:
http://gbc.zorbus.net/steam/steam_gbc_pr.zip

Read "Instructions.txt" inside the archive! Some files need to be copied before the tool can be used.

This tool automatically adds the "Protected from evil" effect to paladins, so you don't have to use Save Game Editor any longer. The second tool is needed for Curse, because it doesn't properly import the class effects.

These are "offline" tools because the effects are linked lists, and it's very difficult to add new effects into game memory.

You can now also convert half-elf cleric/fighters to cleric/rangers.

[Demetrios1453]

Very nice!

Is there some way to put this in a pinned post? I'm sure lots of people will want to use this tool, and it would be a pity to have it several comments down in a thread that may slip off the front page...

Looking at the tool, it states that humans fighters can be changed to paladins and rangers, and half-elf cleric/fighters can be changed to cleric/rangers, but can plain half-elf fighters be changed to rangers (which is a valid race/class combo). I imagine it's not a common choice, but it would be useful to know one way or the other...

[Zorbus]

Oh yeah, completely forgot about half-elf rangers. Updated the tool, thanks!

[Hidron]

Originally posted by Demetrios1453:

Very nice!

Is there some way to put this in a pinned post? I'm sure lots of people will want to use this tool, and it would be a pity to have it several comments down in a thread that may slip off the front page...

Unless someone representing SNEG wants to pin it, the best the player base could do is to post a write up in the Guides section.

[Quarex]

You fool, you were too late! I already started playing CHAMPIONS OF KRYNN because I could not start with Pool of Radiance!!!

Oh, who am I kidding, definitely going to go back and actually start with Pool of Radiance again. Gonna be my first time ever, really, as I thought Curse of the Azure Bonds was the first game in the series as a kid, somehow.

Edit: Oh, but seriously, thanks very much for your help, Zorbus!

[Galadan]

I used the tool as instructed and it works well, thank you! (to create cleric/rangers in POR)
I do have a few questions though if anyone would be so kind:
Do Half elf cleric/rangers get sweep?
My cleric/ranger 2nd/2nd does not seem to?
Also, my cleric/rangers do not seem to be able to use cleric scroll?

[yerDEAD]

@Zorbus, so if I use the editor to change a fighter to a ranger after importing the characters into Curse, is that all there is to it? Seems to show the character (human) as dual class, but doesn't list the fighter part.

Same for paladins - just change the character to a paladin in the editor and the buffs like protect from evil will be applied to the character?

Any way to rename characters?