Old graphics for Exile I & II

[popnfloss]

I adapted the old art from the 1.x versions of the first two Exile games to work with the 2.0 versions. You can download it here.

 

The art is mostly interchangeable, with a few exceptions. Exile I 2.0 has a redone title screen animation that uses a file named comanim.bmp so I replaced the sprites in that with the old versions of those sprites. Sss-Thsss and the Spider Queen have unique sprites which I replaced with the regular slith chief and spider sprites that they used in the 1.x version, and there is also an additional terrain tile of an altar on a brick floor that I added. Exile II 2.0 uses a different algorithm for drawing roads on the world map so I altered the old road sprites to work with that as best I could. The dlogs.bmp in 1.x has two icons that were removed in 2.0, one of an ankh and one of a cave cow with a pile of gold. I don't know where or if those appear in the game so I just left them in.

 

I haven't tested it very extensively so if you use it and notice anything out of place or missing just let me know.

[Enobarbus World]

AWESOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMME.

[The Almighty Doer of Stuff]

I'm glad this is still here. Are the Mac graphics any different, maybe color adjusted like the newer graphics between Mac and Windows? Also, can someone tell me who made these graphics? It's a noticeable jump in realism between these and Exile 3, so I'm wondering whether they were made by Andrew Hunter, or Jeff Vogel himself.

 

I'd like to host these on BladesOfExile.com when I get it up and running, and I'd like to credit them appropriately. It's not BoE specifically but I want to separate the graphics and put them in the archive I'm sorting out for use with BoE, and also I'm planning on including some Exile Trilogy stuff due to their inherent connection to BoE.

[ladyonthemoon]

So, there are even older versions of these games? 😲

 

I like the old style for Exile 1, thank you!

[The Almighty Doer of Stuff]

I got old copies of Exile 1 and 2 running and looked at the credits. The old graphics were made by Shirley Monroe.

[Enobarbus World]

I thought I remembered that, but couldn't find it anywhere on the web!  Good catch.

[The Almighty Doer of Stuff]

It's in the credits, if you open the program, open the Help menu, and select "About Exile #". It's good, because you can't open the actual help files on Windows 10.

Edited September 2, 2020 by The Almighty Doer of Stuff

[Thaeris]

Hmmm.

 

I'm not currently in the running for such a project, but porting over the information in the help files of the old Spiderweb games to a linked PDF format would be a very helpful community project. Perhaps you could attempt to wrangle in some volunteers?

 

...Would not opening the help files also pertain to Old Nethergate and the "original" Avernum trilogy as well?

[The Almighty Doer of Stuff]

Blades of Exile's help file works fine, so it'd probably just be the original trilogy and maybe Nethergate. They can be opened with some additional Microsoft software on systems up to 8.1, but Microsoft deliberately does not offer a version for Windows 10. So it'd basically just be a copy-paste project on an older OS. I have Windows XP in VirtualBox, so I might do it myself, if I have time. Good point, Thaeris!

[Celtic Minstrel]

Nethergate probably isn't a major issue for that, since it's not even legally available anywhere… although I suppose some people probably still have it. That said, didn't it come after Blades of Exile? So if the original help with Blades of Exile works, then Nethergate's would likely be fine too?

[The Almighty Doer of Stuff]

Exile trilogy, Nethergate, BoE, I believe. Many of the item graphics in BoE came out of Nethergate, unless I'm mistaken.

[Enobarbus World]

You're mistaken.  Nethergate came the year after BoE.

[Thaeris]

Tee hee, Brutus:

 

14 hours ago, The Almighty Doer of Stuff said:

Exile trilogy, Nethergate, BoE, I believe. Many of the item graphics in BoE came out of Nethergate, unless I'm mistaken.

 

I believe what you meant to say was that many of the graphics in Nethergate were used in Avernum. Silly nitpick, I know, but I was just musing over all of this the other day, so...

 

...OT, but I think the coolest thing about the point above is that the sprite artist (I think that was Andrew Hunter?) did seem to incorporate some of the item art into the isometric character art. Not so much the weapons (which can be rather wild - some of the characters have maces, which are sadly absent in Avernum), but you can see lorica segmentata on at least one of the PC sprites when armored. That said, I do look forward to the day when the term "studded armor" is dropped from RPGs, and the writers understand that what they're actually looking at is an armor called brigandine, where plates are riveted to the inside of an outer textile or leather garmet, and all you see are the "studs" on the outside. Not saying that there could not be some sort of fanciful "studded armor" that wouldn't work, but it is a silly idea held over from older days:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigandine

 

...Interestingly, Exile of course did feature brigandine as one of the armor types, though I do not remember if it was better or worse than studded armor.

[Celtic Minstrel]

I think some  of the item graphics in Nethergate / Avernum were carried over from the Exile series, actually. For example, the bread icon, and maybe some potions?

[Thaeris]

Some of that happened, too. I do remember that one of the old Exile helmet sprites was used in Nethergate for some of the special helmets, etc.

 

...One thing I don't quite get is why Jeff did not use a specific sprite for halberds in Avernum. That always miffed me a little.

[ladyonthemoon]

On 10/4/2019 at 10:38 PM, popnfloss said:

I adapted the old art from the 1.x versions of the first two Exile games to work with the 2.0 versions.

Well, I like very much the old look; I have just a problem with the cities. I might restore the new sprites for the cities and keep the rest.

 

 

 

Outside the Crystal Cave:

 

 

A new look for my party members, from the left to the right and the top to the bottom: Bear, Pip, Djinn, Djuna (Djinn's sister), Edward and Leah.

 

 

Entering Cotra:

 

Edited September 5, 2020 by ladyonthemoon

[Thaeris]

Hmm - this may come across as snooping or musing about things which are not of my concern, but my interest has become piqued:

 

Who was Shirley Vogel? I have no experience with the original release of Exile, so this is the first time I've seen the name. Is there any information about her - I get the impression from earlier in the conversation that her maiden name was Monroe?

[The Almighty Doer of Stuff]

Her maiden name was Monroe, and she took it again after she divorced Jeff Vogel. Monroe Province in Exile/Avernum 3 was named after her, and various other people Jeff has been in relationships with - including current wife Mariann Kriszan - lend their names to the other provinces. There was nobody called Footracer but I think someone figured out who it was referring to at some point. Where all this information came from, I don't know.

[Fredigar]

Hey, thank you so much for this, used to play Exile II at my grandma's house off a Galaxy of Games disk. Only worthwhile game in that whole collection. It was our favorite game to play. We could never finish it though, because it was a demo :(.

 

Was so excited to see that they made Exile II free! But the new graphics . . . :p. Thank you so much, now I can relive the nostalgia and finally finish this game. I am in your debt.

[silentwolf91]

Please make another link I used this in the past and now it's gone! Please help.

[Ess-Eschas]

Of course!

 

Since the graphics mods for the early Exile games are a useful community resource, and relatively small, I’ve temporarily uploaded them to the link below. Be aware that only registered users of these forums will be able to access this link:

 

exile_oldgfx_mod.zip

 

Have fun playing through the Exile games as they looked at the very beginning!