Version 1.10    12-May-2020


Mail feedback to
joonas@zorbus.net


Read the tutorial on how to setup ASE

For EOB3 check ASE3

Introduction - "Going down..."

The Eye of the Beholder - games are AD&D-rulesystem based dungeon crawlers released in the 1990s by SSI. They draw huge incluence from Dungeon Master, a game amazingly released already in 1987. The first two EOB-games were developed by Westwood Studios but the third one, universally considered bad, was developed internally by SSI.

Games from the 80s and 90s generally didn't have an automap but assumed players drawing their own maps. With Dungeon Master and its clones, mapping could be tricky with teleporters and changing dungeon layouts.

The All-Seeing Eye is an automapper for the English MS-DOS-versions of the first two EOB games, meant to be used with DOSBox on a Windows PC. It shows a real-time updated dungeon map on a separate window. The map is revealed as you explore. If you have a second display, you can play the game fullscreen and have the map window on the second display.

The games can be bought from Steam or GOG. The Steam versions have ASE integrated.

If you're looking for an automapper for Eye of the Beholder 3, there is ASE3.





ASE in action. Moving the mouse over the map shows a description of the map element and items and monsters located there.





After the item usability tweak, any character class can use any item. Especially useful for characters in the back row.


Features - "Gonna party like it's 1991"

  • Real-time automapping meaning that if you open a door or press a button to reveal a secret area, the map changes correctly. The map window can be resized and docked around DOSBox or moved freely.
  • Monsters and items can be displayed on the map.
  • Official clue book solutions can be shown on the map.
  • Backup save game. In EOB 1, there's only one save game slot. You can use All-Seeing Eye to make backups of the save files.
  • Explore whole level. You can reveal the whole map.
  • Teleporting. You can teleport around the map.
  • Character editor with spellbook and inventory editing.
  • You can identify all items in the game.
  • You can optionally tweak item usability so that every item is usable by every class and only requires one hand to use. So you could use a bow with your back row cleric and so on.

EOB with an automapper is of course a completely different game. I remember playing EOB 1 first time in the 90s and especially in the drow levels felt completely lost after going up and down between the levels looking for yet another key. If you haven't played these games previously and don't use any maps or clue books, they will take quite a lot of time and you won't discover all their secrets first time playing them.

Using automap might even feel cheesy for veteran players. But maybe it's justified if you're spoiled by newer games or just don't have that much time anymore to spend on a one single game. Automapping and the other debugging features can be fun for so-called completionist gamers or useful if someone is planning to remake these games on a modern game engine.

For more detailed info, read the instructions included in the download package.


What's new

v1.10 (12-May-2020)
  • Fixed some errors in the hint files and maps (big thanks to Lokadamus for these).
v1.10 (03-Mar-2020)
  • The hint files were edited and proofread (thanks to Unkillable Cat).
  • Added some notes about the flags in the script files (Unkillable Cat).
v1.10 (16-Nov-2019)
  • Added level explorers / editors for both games to the package. See here for more info.
  • Should now work with GOG cloud save folders.

Requirements

  • Windows XP or newer
  • DOSBox
  • Eye of the Beholder 1, version 1.7 or 1.9. Only English-version is supported!
  • Eye of the Beholder 2, version 1.1. Only English-version is supported!

Downloads

  • ase.zip ... Latest version. The package includes the software and instructions.
  • ase050.zip ... Version 0.5 (2012). Try this older version only if you have problems with the latest one.
  • saves1.zip ... A collection of saved games for EOB 1.
  • saves2.zip ... A collection of saved games for EOB 2.
  • eobwikispaces.zip ... Contents of the gone www.eobwikispaces.com site (about 40 megabytes).

Known bugs & troubleshooting

  • If you add or remove a party member or change the order of characters, you should save the game and restart All-Seeing Eye, otherwise the characters might not be found.
  • When going up or down the stairs, the game changes the coordinates of the party to those of the next level stairs before the level index changes. This means that some map cells are being tagged as explored on the current level before the level is changed.
  • Some map elements might be wrong. Especially getting door type right is tricky. A door might be opened with a door button from the other side only and currently I can display only one type of door per map cell.
  • Some item names might be wrong. EOB games have a fixed array of items but some are generated for starting items for the characters and some during the game.

Oddities found in EOB 1

With full explore and teleport options you can find things in the game you wouldn't otherwise see.

  • The ending of the PC-version is rather lacking because the ending movie didn't fit on the floppy disks! You can watch the Amiga-version ending on Youtube. SPOILER WARNING!
  • Some mage spells listed in the rulebook can not be found as scrolls. Burning Hands, for example. These can be added with the character editor. However most of them don't work and might even crash the game. Burning Hands works and is quite usable.
  • On level 1 at coordinates 11,14 (right at the start but there's the rubble blocking your way) there's some kind of XP giving mechanism. If you walk at the map cell you'll get XP (I got 2500 XP on a 4 character party). Maybe for debugging purposes?
  • On levels 1, 2, 3 and 5 there are areas that are not accessible by normal means. The areas contain stairs up/down and stone portals but most of them don't work. The small area on level 5 has spiders in it. Maybe some areas used for debugging by the developers or just unfinished. There's an unofficial version 1.9 of the game which adds paths to these areas and even makes the stone portal usable.
  • On level 9 at location 21,08 there's a rust monster inside the wall. You can see it if you put "Show monsters" option on in the map view. You can teleport next to it to see it.
  • On level 12 there's a huge empty space with nothing there in the lower part of the level.
  • If you complete all the special quests, you'll get a "bonus party code" in the end. I guess this was something that was supposed to be used in the next game or something to be sent to SSI.


     

Oddities found in EOB 2

  • In the main executable, there are three mage spells listed that are not accessible: Finger of Death (7th level), Power Word, Stun (7th) and Bigby's Clenched Fist (8th). I've added the possibility to memorize these as 6th level spells with the character editor. Note that you can't memorize these spells normally from the game as it only shows spells up to level 6. The first two spells work somehow.
  • For clerics, the 7th level spell Resurrection is listed (spelled as "Ressurection" in the game). As with the mage spells, I've added the the memorization option but the spell doesn't seem to do anything.

Links

Basic information Buy the games
  • Steam ... ASE is integrated in the Steam versions of the games.
  • GOG
EOB 1 walkthroughs and FAQs EOB 2 walkthroughs and FAQs Abandonware downloads
  • OldGames.sk ... Abandonware site with huge collection of old games.
  • CRPG Directory ... Lots of downloads and links related to old CRPGs.
  • Replacementdocs ... This site has game manuals, check it for the Manuals and Clue Books.
Alternate versions and remakes
  • EOB1 v1.9 ... EOB 1 version 1.9. Unofficial version which adds paths to the unfinished areas, includes a stone gem for the stone portal and some other things.
  • C64 remake ... Commodore 64-version of EOB 1.
  • EOB 1 NWN Module ... EOB 1 module for Neverwinter Nights 1.
  • EOB 2 NWN Module ... EOB 2 module for Neverwinter Nights 1.
  • Waterdeep Sewers ... EOB 1 mod for Legend of Grimrock.
  • ScummVM ... ScummVM has added support for EOB 1 & 2.
Technical information Forums YouTube videos Other
  • Gold Box Companion ... If you like SSI's "Gold Box" games, you might be interested in this.
  • Ultimapper 5 ... Automapper for Ultima V.
  • Zorbus ... D&D-inspired roguelike game.
  • HxD ... Freeware hex editor which can also edit RAM directly.

Screenshots




ASE starts with a wizard which searches for characters in DOSBox's memory.




After a successful search, the map window is opened. By right-clicking on it, a pop-up menu opens with options. Monster locations, items and clue book hints can be shown on the map. You can teleport to a map location under the mouse. Note the upper left corner's unfinished area.




Character editor. You can also edit spells and inventory.




The package includes level explorers / editors for both games. See here for more info.