Download Game
Curse of the Azure Bonds

Game Mechanics

Like that of Pool of Radiance, the game system Curse of the Azure Bonds is based on the rules of the role play Dungeons and Dragons. The player controls a group that can count up to six characters and must explore the world of the game, fight monsters and perform quests to advance in the game. It stands out from its predecessor by introducing a number of new features and improvements such as the addition of two new classes of characters 'the robber and the paladin' as well as more powerful spells and new creatures. It also becomes possible to create a multi-class human character. At the interface level, a new order, allowing to treat the characters very quickly when a priest or paladin is in the group, makes its appearance.

Like in Pool of Radiance, the game starts with a stage of creation of the characters in which it can choose the race, sex, class, characteristics, alignment and appearance of them. Six races 'human, elf, dwarf, gnome, halfelin and half-elfe' and six classes 'warrior, priest, magician, thief, paladin and ranger' are thus available in the game. The characters also have the possibility of being multi-class, allowing them to have the capacities of several classes at the same time. When creating a character, its features are randomly generated by the computer but the player can adjust them if he wishes. The player also chooses the alignment of his characters, that is, his moral philosophy, which influences the reactions of the non-player characters to the group. The player can finally customize the appearance and color of icons representing each character. Alternatively, the player can also import a group of characters from Pool of Radiance or Hillsfar, the latter retaining their experience but not their equipment. By making progress in the game, the characters controlled by the player gain experience that allows them to become more powerful. The amount of experience they have determines the level of the character, each passing at a higher level giving access to training allowing it to become more powerful. This training is done in a specific area. In addition to training, magicians can learn new spells by transcribing them from parchment found exploring the region. To strengthen his characters, the player can also equip them with weapons and armor that he can find on the corpses of enemies killing in combat or buying from a merchant.

During the exploration phases, the world of the game is displayed in three dimensions with a rectangle at the top left of the screen displaying what the group sees, the rest of the screen being occupied by textual information about the group and the area being explored. The player can access menus to give orders to his characters: use, exchange, buy or sell an object, parliament with an enemy, and learn or launch a spell. The player can observe the movements of the characters from different angles, including an aerial view. The game uses three different versions of each sprites to indicate the difference in distance between the group of the next meet.

During the combat phases, the game is displayed in view of the top in a dimetric perspective. The player can then decide which actions will realize his characters in each turn, his actions taking effect immediately and not at the end of the turn as it is often the case in other role games. Optionally, the player can let the computer decide the movements of the characters in each turn. If the points of life of a character descend below zero, it must be treated by another character under penalty of dying. Different options are available depending on the character class. Thus, a warrior can arm himself with a weapon of mingled or fired remotely, the magicians can cast spells and thieves can attack by tracing an enemy. By winning levels, warriors become able to attack more than once per turn and « sweeping » the close enemies, thus attacking several creatures at once. Magicians can memorize and launch a number of spells every day. Once launched, a spell must be memorized again before being reused. This requires an hour of rest for the whole group, when they stay at their camp. This rest also helps to treat injured characters.