http://www.greatgamesexperiment.com/games/popular/month/core/Mac/rpg/?utm_source=feed&utm_medium=rss ]]> This Month's Most Popular Games Tagged 'core, Mac, rpg' on The Great Games Experiment http://www.greatgamesexperiment.com/css/logo.jpg http://www.greatgamesexperiment.com/games/popular/month/core/Mac/rpg/?utm_source=feed&utm_medium=rss ]]> en-us PlaneShift is a cross-platform, open source, and free MMORPG in development.

PlaneShift is has a classic medieval fantasy setting, with a slight twist. Instead of a generic planet, the game is set inside a gigantic stalactite named Yliakum, divided into eight levels, of which the lower two are flooded.

]]> 06 Feb 2007 02:44:47

]]> 20 Sep 2007 12:33:09 The year is 2052 and the world is a dangerous and chaotic place. Terrorists operate openly - killing thousands; drugs, disease and pollution kill even more. The world's economies are close to collapse and the gap between the insanely wealthy and the desperately poor grows ever wider. Worst of all, an ages old conspiracy bent on world domination has decided that the time is right to emerge from the shadows and take control. No one believes they exist. No one but you.

]]> 22 Nov 2006 09:26:12 It is Four Thousand years before the Galactic Empire and hundreds of Jedi Knights have fallen in battle against the ruthless Sith. As the last hope of the Jedi, you must lead a band of freedom fighters in an epic struggle to save the galaxy. Can you master the awesome power of the Force on your quest to save the Republic? Or will you fall to the lure of the dark side?
Hero or villain, savior or conqueror...you must choose wisely as you alone will determine the destiny of the entire galaxy!

]]> 25 Nov 2006 04:18:12 After the Creation, the cruel god Moloch rebelled
against the authority of Marduk the Creator.
Moloch stole from Marduk the most powerful of all
the artifacts of the gods, the Amulet of Yendor,
and he hid it in the dark cavities of Gehennom, the
Under World, where he now lurks, and bides his time.

]]> 26 Nov 2006 12:00:10 From the Moby Games entry:

The fourth game in the now well-established Ultima series featured an improved game engine, with color graphics and better character interaction (you could now have actual conversations with NPCs). But what really makes Ultima IV shine is its radical departure from any other RPG made before or since in terms of the story and goal.

Instead of building up your character by any means possible in order to face the Ultimate Evil in a big bang up showdown, in Ultima IV you were trying to become the Avatar, a role model of sorts for the people of the land. This meant upholding the "eight virtues" and basically trying to become a better person. In most RPGs you chose to be a just/nice hero because the people you'd help would usually provide you with some nice equipment for your services, but in Ultima IV you helped people not for a reward or to advance the plot but simply because it was the "right thing to do". The game actually frowns on behavior that was typical of most other RPGs, such as backstabbing fleeing monsters or picking up everything that wasn't nailed down even if it didn't belong to you. The game keeps track of all your actions, so if you went about killing and looting like in most RPGs, you'd never finish the game.

This VERY different approach to the game's ultimate goal is what makes Ultima IV famous so many years later, and became the sort of design philosophy that made all the following Ultimas so unique in their genre.

Of course, the game still has plenty of traditional RPG elements such as dungeons to explore and hostile monsters to kill, as well as a typical final "Holy Grail" type quest where you had to find the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom to complete your transformation into Avatarhood.

In 1996 Computer Gaming World named Ultima IV as #2 on its Best Games of All Time list on the PC.

The game was released for free to the public. The original MS-DOS version is available on many sites, and a game engine recreation is now available for for Windows, Mac OSX, and Linux.

]]> 05 Dec 2006 01:59:25 Since the beginning of time, the forces of Order and Chaos have been engaged in an eternal struggle to decide the fate of all Creation. That struggle has now come to the Mortal Realm...and neither Man, Demon, nor Angel will be left unscathed...

After possessing the body of the hero who defeated him, Diablo resumes his nefarious scheme to shackle humanity into unholy slavery by joining forces with the other Prime Evils, Mephisto and Baal. Only you will be able to determine the outcome of this final encounter...

In Diablo II, return to a world of dark fantasy. As one of five distinct character types, explore the world of Diablo II -- journey across distant lands, fight new villains, discover new treasures, and uncover ancient mysteries, all in the quest to stop the Lord of Terror, once and for all...

Game Features

Five all-new character classes with unique attributes and abilities

Four different, fully populated towns complete with wilderness areas

Multiple dungeons, caverns, and crypts in every town for players to explore

Expanded world, filled with all-new quests, weapons, spells, armor, monsters, and non-player characters

Advanced combat system, incorporating class-specific fighting techniques and spells

Full Multiplayer support, including Internet play over Battle.net®

Optional 3Dfx and Direct3D support

]]> 07 Dec 2006 12:38:51 According to wikipedia:
"Neverwinter Nights (NWN), produced by BioWare and published by Infogrames (now Atari), is a third-person perspective computer role-playing game that is based on third edition Dungeons & Dragons and Forgotten Realms rules (with minor changes). It was originally to be published by Interplay Entertainment, but the publisher's financial difficulties forced the change. Infogrames released Neverwinter Nights for Windows on June 18, 2002. BioWare released the freely downloadable Neverwinter Nights Linux Client in June 2003. MacSoft released a Mac OS X port in August 2003."

]]> 10 Dec 2006 08:21:17 The player is charged with the task of retrieving data on a biological weapon from the site of a major test failure. Assisted by military allies, the player will adapt his character to survive the environment and upgrade with larger weapons and improved strategy.

It features a unique shader-driven art style and a streamlined play interface that will seem familiar to enthusiasts of Robotron and Tri-Stat-based game players.

]]> 20 Dec 2006 11:54:52 RPG based on the world of Valendera.

]]> 21 Dec 2006 08:44:37 Dragon's Blood: The Rise if Vanir is a single player RPG in an island based world. You play Vanir, a dragon rider, and with your dragon counterpart, you journey on a quest to thwart evil.(cliche?) DB(for short) is the first game in development by Twilight Glow Studios, and is slated for release in 2008-2009.

]]> 30 Dec 2006 05:01:30 Baldur's Gate was the first great daptation of the classic tabletop, role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons that reinvigorated the hardcore role-playing genre for the PC.

It offers six separate races and eight core character classes, from which the player can create a completely original character. The game world is beautifully designed in the best 2d renders of its time, and players are free to explore this wonderful game environment in any way they see fit, all against the backdrop of a thoughtfully conceived and versatile plot written by the genre's finest at Bioware.

Your adventures begin as a young orphan living with your stepfather within the safe and scholarly confines of Candlekeep on the Sword Coast. It is an idyllic life until you are forced to leave the place in order to ensure the safety of everyone within. Your stepfather is killed on the night of your journey, and it becomes clear that you are intended to be next. You, as the young protagonist, then set out to discover your true identity, which your stepfather kept from you, and your ultimate destiny.

During the adventures, you recruit a number of personable allies, battle foes, delve into dungeons, trek across wilderness, solve mysteries, and complete a plethora of epic quests that are seamlessly sown into the fabric of the overall plot. The story line unfolds in response to your choices to reveal your character's true identity as well as the nature and motive of your enemies.

Baldur's Gate is the epitome of the classic role-playing experience. It won several awards in 1998 for being the Role-Playing Game of the Year, and as such, it sets itself as the standard by which all such games will be judged. Games like Planescape: Torment, Neverwinter Nights and Knights of the Old Republic all take inspiration from the masterpiece that is Baldur's Gate.

]]> 25 Jan 2007 03:49:28 From the creators of the Avernum and Geneforge series comes the latest edition of Avernum. In an entire nation underground you begin your journey ready to gather treasure and to find out why everyone is acting so strange in your homeland.

]]> 02 Jan 2007 07:27:56 Taskmaker is a game for the Macintosh developed by Storm Impact in 1989 and re-released in 1993. In it, you take the role of a young hero who must serve the TaskMaker, a powerful man who commands over a large kingdom.

You adventure through various realms, encountering ferocious monsters, in-jokes, and an amazing depth of features (including ATMs, recycling depots, public drunkenness, teleporters, "pass walls") and an enormous game world, particularly for the time. Its most obvious inspiration is the Ultima series, particularly Ultima III and IV, but far surpasses those games in terms of the interactivity the player can engage in with the world.

It features an extremely simple RPG system: characters are created with nothing more than a name, and the player rarely has to look at sheets of statistics to figure out what has to be done next.

Later, a sequel, Tomb of the TaskMaker, was released, also for the Macintosh.

]]> 08 Jan 2007 08:31:28 Icewind Dale is a computer role-playing game developed by Black Isle Studios.

The game is set in the Forgotten Realms Icewind Dale region of Dungeons & Dragons, but takes place decades before the events described in R. A. Salvatore's books which popularized the area. An expansion to the game, Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter, was released in 2001.

Based on the BioWare Infinity Engine, the game features pre-rendered backgrounds, and an isometric camera perspective with sprite-based characters. This engine was used to power Black Isle Studios' previous game, Planescape: Torment. Icewind Dale is based on a real-time modification of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition ruleset.

]]> 25 Jan 2007 05:24:54 Several years have passed since the Burning Legions defeat at Mount Hyjal and the races of Azeroth have continued to rebuild their once shattered lives. With renewed strength, the heroes of the Horde and Alliance have begun to explore new lands and broken through the Dark Portal to investigate the realms beyond the known world. Will these heroes find friends or foes? What dangers and rewards lie in wait beyond the Dark Portal? And what will they do when they discover that the demons they thought vanquished have returned to renew their terrible Burning Crusade? World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade is the exciting new expansion to Blizzards award-winning massively multiplayer online role-playing game. It expands the game by tremendous bounds, adding new races, lands, battlegrounds, professions, items and more.

]]> 03 Feb 2007 06:53:20 Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord

This maze-style Dungeons and Dragons-like game has you lead your party of six charaters into the dungeon below Trebor's castle to search out Werdna and retrieve a powerful magic amulet.

This classic RPG led to several sequels and set the stage for future RPGs such as The Bard's Tale and Might and Magic.

Developers: Andrew C. Greenberg & Robert Woodhead
Released: 1981

]]> 03 Mar 2007 10:23:21 Unlimited Adventures is a tool for building Gold Box-style RPGs using the D&D 1e ruleset (more or less). It comes with one (fairly short) sample game, Heirs to Skull Crag. 13 years after its release it still has an active fan community, built around a dizzying array of hacks to the main program.

]]> 05 Mar 2007 02:22:57 From the game's description:
"The Shapers have the ability to create life, in any form they choose. They can make plants to grow in harsh wastelands, living tools that obey their commands, and powerful monsters to crush any who oppose them. They jealously guard their powers and destroy any who question their will.

Or so they did. Then the revolution came.Your Army

Some of their creations, tired of bondage, rose up. Jealous humans, wanting the powers of the Shapers for themselves, joined them. Now the lands of Terrestia are full of ruins, refugees, and maddened mutant beasts, hunting for prey. There is war. And the Shapers are winning."

You play as an apprentice life crafter, a rebel in the war against the Shapers. Of course, like most Spiderweb games, you have a choice of allegiance. Will you continue to fight against the tyranny of the Shapers, or will you help the Shapers restore order to the world?

]]> 26 Mar 2007 10:10:40 Directly following from the events of the first game, the newly-proclaimed Hero of Spielburg travels by flying carpet with his friends Abdulla Doo, Shameen and Shema to the desert city of Shapeir. The city is threatened by magical elementals, while the Emir Arus al-Din of Shapier's sister city Raseir is missing and his city fallen under tyranny.

After defeating the four elementals that threaten Shapeir, the Hero travels to the city of Raseir. There, he is imprisoned by Khaveen and under hypnosis helps the evil tyrannous wizard Ad Avis to resurrect the evil genie Iblis. In the final fight, the Hero attacks the palace and battles with Ad Avis, who falls to his presumed death begging for assistance from his Dark Master. As thanks for the Hero's success in liberating Raseir and restoring its lost splendor, the Sultan of Shapeir, Harun al-Rashid, rewards the Hero by adopting him as his son.
- from Wikipedia

]]> 22 Apr 2007 07:55:46 Developed by Interplay Productions and distributed by Electronic Arts, The Bard's Tale series is considered by many to be one of the pillar classics of computer fantasy role playing games.

The Bard's Tale II: The Destiny Knight allows players to create characters, form parties and adventure throughout the lands. Combat is turn based and players can choose the actions of every member of the party.

From the box text:

"Do you believe in legends? Legend states that, 'Unimaginable power is bestowed upon the one who reforges the Destiny Wand...' Regardless of whether or not you hold faith in the stuff of legend, you must defeat Lagoth Zanta, regain the seven fragments, and reforge the Destiny Wand â€â€

]]> 10 May 2007 02:27:38 Autoduel was based on the Steve Jackson Games series Car Wars and published by Orion Systems.

The action revolved around the many car chases, demolition derbys, and combat driving that made Car Wars popular.

Taken from Wikipedia:

Autoduel is based on events in the future in the Northeast part of the U.S.. In this future, cars are a primary means of protection and defense and the highways are dangerous stretches of land ruled by gangs and vigilantes with armed vehicles. The player's character starts without a car and has to enter demolition derby contests using spare vehicles in order to raise enough capital to finance the creation of their own vehicle.

]]> 10 May 2007 10:33:42 The Continuum combines classic turn-based wargaming, collectibility and RPG character development into one multi-player adventure that will change the way you game. Characters, abilities and equipment combine with in-game artifacts, epic battlefields, and changing scenarios to provide an experience that is at once familiar and all-new.

Players will have a huge impact on the ultimate design, features, and direction that the game takes as the beta rolls out. Pre-registration for the beta is open at the official website for The Continuum.

]]> 17 May 2007 01:28:46