Unfortunately I have never played those two. But thanks.
It looks very interesting, but it is another game I have never played (or heard of!) Thanks though.

I definitely will update if I ever find it. I am beginning to think it is a lost cause though. Either the game is too obscure to really be known, or I am not remembering it correctly.

No problem! Good luck!
Maybe your memories are mixed up with more than one game... Still I hope you find it.

I recommend using the mobygames search when that happens. You can filter by year, genre, platform, attributes, etc, and order it.
Usually I order by year because I probably have a hunch when I played it for the first time.

Example for RPGs for Windows: [url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/genre:role-playing-rpg/platform:windows/sort:date/page:1]https://www.mobygames.com/game/genre:role-playing-rpg/platform:windows/sort:date/page:1[/url]

[EDIT] I cannot fix the link.
I have noticed that I haven't read this well enough. Then it could be almost any game in the SSI/Black Isle/Bioware/Obsidian D&D series as well. They all look very similar (despite presenting different stories)... (Not intended to offend D&D fans)

Then it could be Dark Sun itself. Maybe looking at a few CD pictures could help.
https://www.mobygames.com/game/1802/dark-sun-shattered-lands/cover/group-10533/cover-14970/

Dark Sun has deserts (with oasis) as well.
https://www.mobygames.com/game/1802/dark-sun-shattered-lands/screenshots/dos/699403/
https://youtu.be/sQowm32FuiE?t=208

This specific area is the best match I could find. https://youtu.be/mHKYSkyV21o?t=287

I don't have a clue but wish you luck. I feel you as I'm going through the same thing right now and it just won't leave my brain. lol

Nostalgia is a powerful thing man.

Thanks, I hate it when things like this happen.

I will get an image from a game, or a certain sound byte, or a passage from a book, and it will only be a *vague* memory, but it won't go away and I will constantly be thinking about it, yet every time I try to remember more to make it clearer, it instead just gets more vague.

It doesn't help I have played so many games, and a lot of them are very similar, so it is hard to narrow things down.

Yeah, it is a powerful thing and I wish it came with more details :P

The one going on for me right now (and for quite some time now)) isn't even an image. It was a sound, and so I don't even know how I could possibly even TRY to form it into a question to ask for help. lol

But man it's real. And now curiosity can be added to the nostalgia because now it's like "Daggone it what WAS that game" even though I can't for the life of remember enough to know where to begin.

I have had that happen, just a little snippet, no where near enough to actually figure it out.

If you want to PM me if you remember anything or just ramble on about it (maybe something will jog your memory) go ahead. That is what I have been doing for this image. Trying to remember everything I can, and trying to not let subsequent things I have seen interfere (like now I am not sure if it were truly as colorful as I remembered, or if it were more Dark Sun Colorful)

What frustrates me more is that I cannot think of how to phrase my searches to find what I am looking for.

Maybe it is Baldur's gate and I just haven't come across it yet (hopefully...) Unfortunately the image is almost entirely gone, so I can't pull anything else up about it, I wish I could have just seen a little of the HUD.

No need to PM, I'll just tell you it's a sound effect of a production company that I hear every time I watch a movie that they had a hand in producing. And every time I hear that, I just overwhelmed by nostalgia.

The weird thing is, I'm pretty sure when that nostalgia hits me, and I mean HARD, it also feels like it was in the intro of the game in question. So it seemed logical, since many production companies produce both movies and video games, that this company whose logo and sound play at the beginning of movies must have also made or distributed the game. But I looked up the company, and I couldn't find any listings of ANYTHING else they've done except movies.

And it is possible the same sound could be associated with multiple companies. I know, as an example, I had this same overwhelming feeling of nostalgia when I was playing a video game and this same came up it gave me nostalgia over a movie, sort of the reverse of what's happening here. In that case I figured it out though. The sound I was hearing while playing Civ IV in the late 2000's was in fact the same sound (in this case music) that I heard from a movie trilogy in the 90's, The Matrix. It took me awhile to piece that together.

I don't know how long it will take me to piece this one together. But, every time I lay my bed back (I'm bedbound) and turn of my game(s) and decide to watch a movie for the evening and I pick one that has that company involved in the making of it, I'll hear that sound effect and once again get just overwhelmed with it, and once again get motivated to start thinking about it again. So I guess I'll get there eventually on this one.

PS: I may be misremembering the game being Civ IV in the old example I cited above. But there was a video game I played in the 2000's that had one song that was in fact one of the main songs from The Matrix (usually played during action scenes). So in that old case it was a video game giving me nostalgia for the movie. In this current case, it's a sound effect from some movies giving me nostalgia for a video game.

Just wish I knew which one lol.

Hello again. I must mention that I really appreciated discovering the scenario of Dark Suns, I believe I would not play enough to get so far myself.

Well, you probably already know this, but this is in fact very common. Many many more sound effects are indeed the same! They are often used both in games as well in movies. The very same recordings are licensed (or freely available) and reused over and over.

Just search for "Stock Sound Effects" and you will find several thousands of them... The same happens with "Stock Images".

My point is: focusing on a short sound or small picture of a game or movie may not be enough to identify a unique instance.

There are two different games called Pool of Radiance. The 1988 predecessor of Pools of Darkness (1991) is much too old to fit and not isometric. What was suggested was this one from 2001 instead.

I've played a lot of NWN and know the tilesets in and out, plus may of the custom modules, and yeah, I can't imagine anything like you describe being reminiscent of a NWN module. That being said, the NWN module you remember best is Shadows of Undrentide, the first expansion.

Yeah, but this is different. I mean I get small snippets of sound effects are "canned" and reused, but this is a specific sound... sequence I guess. It's not something highly repeated which is why hearing it sets off such a reaction.

Yesterday when I posted I couldn't remember the name of the company. It had been over a month or so when I had it happen the last time and I remember immediately pausing the movie and looking up the company, but yesterday when I posted I couldn't remember it. Now I remember it. It was Grindstone.

I looked it up (again just now actually) and again I could only find references to them producing movies, and a long list of those, but I couldn't find any mention of video games.

If you watch a movie where Grindstone is involved, and they show their intro/logo with about a 30 second sound effect that ends in a real "bassy" sound that literally makes your subwoofer vibrate. I know, I just KNOW, I used to play a game with that same opening sound sequence. Or maybe it's just something very similar. I've tried about a dozen of my old games to see. I keep thinking it might've been Disciples or Arcanum. But man it just feels like I played a game years ago with that exact same sound sequence ending with that same exact deep base that used to make my spine tremble. But I don't remember what it was.

I would need to hear a soundbyte (I looked up some, but not sure if I am hearing the same ones you are), but grindstone is owned by lionsgate, and they DO have a video game division, however, it is a newish one (2014, so depending on what you mean by years ago, don't know if this could be something you remember).

I know how you feel, I got another 'game flashback' last night that I barely have enough to even describe. Basically, green fields, isometric, castle/ruined building. I doubt I would even *recognize* the name of whatever game that was...

I also have a piece of music I found on a random website like in the very early 2000s that I love, sounds soooo familiar but have no clue what the name is, and have not been able to find the name.
Yeah, Most of the time I just give it up as lost causes because either I will remember more, or just forget about it until the next time nostalgia comes calling with a 'Remember THIS?!?!??' hammer. This one is unusually persistent and elusive.
I have played the original Pools of Radiance (think I might have the books floating around somewhere as well, or at least another set of books that I also have the video games) and knew that wasn't it. I, however, have not played second one, though it looks very very interesting. So, I Know that wouldn't be it.

Thanks also about the NWN. So it is Shadows of Undrentide? It just didn't sound familiar to me. But that is my memory for you :P The module I remember best is actually the original campaign, but that is why I knew it wasn't that one.

This is looking more and more like it is just going to remain a mystery.

Ok how about out there kind of suggestion then...

Get an AI to draw the scene you remember & google/tineye/bing search it?

I am not quite sure how to go about it. I have tried AI (not for this, but just playing around), but I wouldn't know which AI to use, nor how exactly to set up the parameters.

It might work, or at least it might job more memories loose.

I'd probably suggest https://labs.openai.com which is the chatgpt picture one... it's pretty simple to use & does good art... but costs $.

Basically you just describe, in as best detail as you can, the image you want.

"A screenshot from a 15 year old crpg where it's a puzzle focused around 4 pools of coloured liquid; one to the north, west, east & south. They should be in a cross formation.' Etc.

I haven't actually used it but have seen the results & some are near photo quality... but it can vary a lot.