Pool of Radiance

"Pool of Radiance is a computer role-playing game developed and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc (SSI) in 1988. It was the first adaptation of TSR's Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D or D&D) fantasy role-playing game for home computers. It is the first in a four-part series of D&D computer adventure games. The other games in the "Gold Box" series used the game engine pioneered in Pool of Radiance, as did later D&D titles such as the Neverwinter Nights online game. Pool of Radiance takes place in the Forgotten Realms setting, with the action centered in and around the city of Phlan.

Just as in traditional D&D games, the player starts by building a party of six characters, deciding race, sex, class and ability scores for each. The player's party is enlisted to help the city by clearing out the marauding inhabitants which have taken over. The characters move on from one area to another, ultimately confronting the powerful leader of the evil forces. During play the player characters gain experience points, which allow them to increase their capabilities. The game primarily uses a first-person perspective, with the screen divided into sections to display pertinent textual information. During combat sequences, display switches to a top-down perspective.

Generally well-received by the gaming press, Pool of Radiance won the Origins Award for "Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Computer Game of 1988". Some reviewers criticized the game's similarites to other contemporary games and its slowness in places, but praised the game's graphics and its role-playing adventure and combat aspects. Also well-regarded was the ability to export player characters from Pool of Radiance to subsequent SSI games in the series."

Source: Wikipedia, "Pool_of_Radiance," available under the CC-BY-SA License.