Spelljammer: Pirates of Realmspace was a computer game put out by SSI in 1992. Most die-hard Spelljammer fans have either played this game, or have seen it, and still play it for sentimental reasons. The jerky graphics and primitive interface almost seem quaint by today's standards.
More information (and game reviews) can be found at:
Some of them are even nice enough to have a copy of the game, in case your floppies have been corrupted. This version's been "tweaked" and updated, so you won't need the patch.
Looking for the game box itself? The best place to start is to search on eBay or Google for it.
Got more information? Let me know!
Pirates of Realmspace doesn't get along well with versions of Windows newer than 3.11. If you have a boot disk of an earlier version of DOS (MS-DOS 5.0 was the most common system when the game was released), don't be too proud to use it. Keep in mind that you will also need the DOS drivers for your sound card.
If you don't have the hardware/operating system to play this game (i.e. if you don't run DOS), check out DOSBox. It emulates an old DOS system along with any drivers needed to play old DOS games. Spelljammer: Pirates of Realmspace runs fine with the default configuration.
Here are little bits and pieces of the game. Got any additional information? Let me know!
The officers onboard your ship are player controlled, while the crew are not. The gender of the crew matches the gender you choose for your captain. (The officer character icons don't change based on gender.) The officers are all 5th level characters with (very) randomly generated stats. (I've had a mage with Int 9, a fighter with Str 9, and a thief with Dex 9.)
| Female/Male Name | Race | Class | Position | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — / — | — | — | Captain | You, the player. |
| Erica Ravenhair / Grendal | Half-elf | Cleric | 1st Mate | Not sure what this position affects. |
| Jasmine Blossom / Loric Brightshield | Human | Cleric | Helmsman | Determines ship's rating in "Hard" mode. |
| Julia Valador / Moran Silverleaf | Elf | Mage | 2nd Helmsman | Ditto. |
| Madam Mona / Melcar The Wise | Human | Mage | Navigator | I've noticed that sometimes the ship "misses" its destination, so there may be some stat that determines a good navigator. |
| Lady Arina / Nory Greybeard | Human | Mage | Lookout | All of the ship encounters seem to occur at really long range, but there may be a stat that determines a good lookout. |
| Eva Dulac / Grog Stiffbeard | Human | Fighter | Crew | |
| Cystal Cloverleaf / Sir Aeron | Human | Paladin or Fighter | Crew | With a Good-aligned captain, it's a paladin, otherwise a fighter. |
| Latitia Lendleaf / Stephan Longlegs | Half-elf | Ranger or Fighter | Crew | With a non-Evil-aligned captain, it's a ranger, otherwise a fighter. |
| Robin Swiftsail / Sopa Swiftfingers | Halfling | Thief | Crew |
Most the game revolves around completing missions for payment. You can inquire about a mission at the local pub or tavern at any port.
Spelljammer: Pirates of Realmspace is abandonware, and can be downloaded!
DOSBox is an Intel x86 PC emulator, complete with sound, graphics, mouse, modem, etc., necessary for running many old DOS games that simply cannot be run on modern PCs and operating systems.
Update to version 1.1 of the game. (Get WinZIP)
This patch is not necessary for the abandonware version.
