[Mod] The Keep on the Borderlands 1.0.1

What is Keep on the Borderlands?

KotB is a new module - or total conversion, if you prefer - for the Atari game Temple of Elemental Evil. It was created by modders at the Circle of Eight fansite and freely distributed. It requires the original Temple of Elemental Evil game, patched to patch 2. It does not require any other mods from Co8, such as Co8 8.0: it is a separate module to ToEE and not a mod of it.

KotB is for starting level players. It attempts to push many elements of the ToEE engine to their limits, using the engine's capacity for animations, quests, skills, feats and dialogue, as well as combat, to produce an adventure game in the classic puzzle-solving mode. There is considerably more thought required to finish KotB than ToEE: though all the information is still given in the game, and it is not excessively difficult, just more thoughtful than the original game.

The aim of the game is simple. The player controls one or more characters who have arrived at the Keep on the Borderlands seeking fame, fortune and adventure. The player needs only talk to the NPCs of the Keep and surrounding locales, and role-play their character, to find a variety of adventures, culminating in a journey to the infamous Caves of Chaos, where the party can fight, work for, manipulate or despoil the various tribes of monsters.

Features of Keep on the Borderlands

Keep on the Borderlands expands on ToEE's excellent simulation of the D&D3.5 engine with the following additional features:

• New skills - Alchemy, Handle Animal, Climb, Use Rope, Knowledge (Nature), Speak Language, Disguise and Forgery (NPC only) - and additional uses for skills such as Appraise, Perform, Spellcraft and Sleight-of-Hand
  
• New class abilities such as Wild Empathy, Slow Fall, Illiteracy, new familiars, better control over animal companions, new spells, Domain skills, class-specific quests
  
• New racial abilities such as Stonecunning and racial languages
  
• Over 60 new maps to explore, with more interactive environments (such as desks, shelves and cupboards commonplace) and over 40 quests
  
• Heaps of new and classic equipment from the PHB such as Disguise and Climbing kits, new magic items, and many alchemical items.
  
• Deeper, more thoughtful quest progressions, usually with multiple ways of completing quests.
  
• Day / night routines for most NPCs.
  
• 'Black Market economy' with stolen items and fences.
  
• And of course the new spells, new equipment and bugfixes that Co8 brought to ToEE, including more than 60 new feats.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

The Circle of Eight front end utility, TFE-X, requires Java Runtime Environment (JRE) v1.6.0 (also known as Java 6) or higher to run. Most modern systems will have this installed. To check if it's installed on your system, go to Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs and look for 'Java.' Both the standard Oracle package and the open source OpenJDK are fully supported. If you are on Microsoft Windows, you can download Java at this URL:Java.com If you are on Linux, your distro repository should contain a version of Java (e.g. OpenJDK) that you can use.


COMPATIBILITY NOTES

The Keep on the Borderlands is a standalone module that runs on the Temple of Elemental Evil engine. The Temple of Elemental Evil game is required to install and run The Keep on the Borderlands.

The Keep on the Borderlands is compatible with all retail versions of ToEE, including the boxed, jewel case, Anthology, and Good Old Games download versions. The Anthology and Good Old Games versions of ToEE come fully patched. You don't need to add any Atari patches.


INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS

STEP 1: INSTALL ATARI PATCH 1

If your version of ToEE is not pre-patched, install Atari Patch 1. It is available here: http://www.sorcerers.net/community/index.php?resources/temple-of-elemental-evil-official-patch-1.80/

STEP 2: INSTALL ATARI PATCH 2

If your version of ToEE is not pre-patched, install Atari Patch 2. It is available here: http://www.sorcerers.net/community/index.php?resources/temple-of-elemental-evil-official-patch-2.81/

STEP 3: DO NOT INSTALL ATARI PATCH 3

There is no need to install Atari Patch 3. The only additional feature Atari Patch 3 contains is a fix for the infamous DirectX 9.0c looting bug, but this particular issue is also fixed in the Keep on the Borderlands module. If you have installed patch 3 already or if your game comes pre-patched with Atari Patch 3, dont worry. It doesn't matter.

STEP 4: INSTALL THE KEEP ON THE BORDERLANDS

Double click the Keep on the Borderlands Setup utility to begin installation. When prompted to choose an installation location, make sure to select the location where your game is installed. The default location as defined by The Keep on the Borderlands is C:/Temple of Elemental Evil. If you are using a modern operating system like Windows 7 or 8, it is best to avoid installing to the Program Files directory, as those operating systems may not allow unrestricted access there. The Keep on the Borderlands and its installation utility require unrestricted access. The default installation location for most versions of ToEE is generally in Program Files. We recommend you change this and install to the root directory of your C: drive.

Follow all on-screen promps. After the module has been deployed, the Circle of Eight front end utility, TFE-X, will automatically launch.

If this is a new installation, TFE-X will perform the necessary operations to convert your installation for use with The Keep on the Borderlands. Be patient; this can take some time. When TFE-X is finished, it will report the status to you in a popup window. IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THIS POPUP NOTIFICATION WINDOW, THE CONVERSION IS NOT COMPLETE. DO NOT CTRL-ALT-DEL OUT OF THE TFE-X APPLICATION. WAIT FOR THE POPUP WINDOW. Next, select The Keep on the Borderlands from the TFE-X menu and click 'activate.' This can also take some time. WAIT FOR THE POPUP WINDOW TO TELL YOU THAT THE MODULE ACTIVATION IS COMPLETE. DO NOT CTRL-ALT-DEL OUT OF THE TFE-X APPLICATION. After the module has been activated, you may customize various options through TFE-X and launch the game.

If this is an existing front end installation to which you are simply adding The Keep on the Borderlands, simply select The Keep on the Borderlands from the TFE-X menu and click 'activate.' This can also take some time. WAIT FOR THE POPUP WINDOW TO TELL YOU THAT THE MODULE ACTIVATION IS COMPLETE. DO NOT CTRL-ALT-DEL OUT OF THE TFE-X APPLICATION. After the module has been activated, you may customize various options through TFE-X and launch the game.

Version 4 of TFE-X will give you feedback on the progress of conversion and module activation. Pay attention to this feedback and no not interrupt any of TFE-X's operations.

STEP 5: IF YOU ARE INSTALLING AN ADD-ON MODULE

If you are installing an add-on module like a patch or some other specialized mod, double click its setup utility and follow all on-screen promps. Be sure to select the correct game directory as detailed above in Step 4. Launch TFE-X after installation, click Add-On Packs, select the add-on pack you want to install, and click install. WAIT OUT THE INSTALLATION.

The module that you are adding the add-on pack to must be activated and selected in the TFE-X module menu prior to activating the add-on pack.

You may only have one add-on pack activated at a time.


We hope you enjoy The Keep on the Borderlands!

- The Circle of Eight team