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[Neonivek]

I know, I meant for here... but whatever.

Looking through the old games I am convinced the creators of Quest for Glory had a love affair with mazes.

1, 2, and 4 are 90% mazes... and the order of difficulty in maze? 2, 4, then 1... with each being twice as difficult as the last.

1 did it the best with the world map not being too large, there being a few landmarks, and a few methods to getting your bearings. After about 12 hours you probably memorised where everything is.

2 did it the worst with making a large part of the game navigating a confusing maze that alters dirrection on you.

4 is like if someone did the first game wrong. The map is huge, many scenes look exactly like the last, and it can be nearly impossible to find out where you are in relation to anything.
-Don't get me wrong... You get those land marks, you make the woods seem less "Exacty like the other section of the woods" and this game loses its "terrible maze" issue.

[oasis789]

An interesting worldbuilding tidbit from update 17:

Alexander Freed (a writer on the SW:tOR team) wrote:

I've worked as a fiction writer for about a decade now, largely in the world of video games. I won't say I wouldn't be doing this without Quest for Glory (or Hero's Quest, as my ten-year-old self will always think of it), but those games absolutely shaped my sense of what was possible in an interactive narrative.

Breaking down plots with other writers, I've repeatedly used Trial by Fire as an example of the Right Way to generate player emotional investment in a city setting--not just by giving the player quests involving a place's residents and history, but by creating a large and rich supporting cast with attitudes that evolve slowly and subtly. Other games have tried it, of course, but few have executed it as well.

Shadows of Darkness remains one of my touchstones for how to give a player the chance to make All Things Right--not requiring it, but allowing players who want the happiest ending for everyone to actually achieve it. (Yes, I saved the Rusalka.)

To this day, I'm still comforted by how few "bad guys" the series had (Ad Avis and the Demon Wizard are the only ones who spring to mind)--my bleeding heart wishes there more modern games that didn't insist on having a Guy You Hate and Kill.

[Haschel]

The whole villain trope is something game designers seem to absolutely adore, but feel like most players never really draw sympathy or emotional response from the situation. In the few cases I can think of games that do it right they often draw focus away from the person itself to build layers in both the supporting cast and the world itself. It also helps if the villain is a bit multi-dimensional instead of just being the token entity of evil misdeeds. Sadly, that last bit seems to be the most common occurrence even in modern gaming. Poor writers will try to dress it up with some type of motive, but it usually feels flat and tacked on so that the evil can take place which allows the rest of the story to exist.

[Neonivek]

To this day, I'm still comforted by how few "bad guys" the series had (Ad Avis and the Demon Wizard are the only ones who spring to mind)--

Baba Yaga and the Imp in the first game were just flat out evil characters.

I know what Alexander Freed means though. That the series had very few outright evil characters and that were beyond redemption.

But I think he is sort of wrong. All the games, except perhaps the fifth, had a "villain" who was the "Evil guy".

What helps Quest for glory is that each villain sort of went around things in their own way. Baba Yaga was truely passive, she really didn't care. The second game was a Schemer if I remember correctly.

But yes what quest for glory NEVER did EVER was try to make you hate the bad guy. Their wicked deeds always spoke for themselves. The game worked exclusively on making the villain threatening, if that, or even entertaining. Baba Yaga was a very intimidating villain in the first game. There was no moment where the villain killed someone and laughed in your face... While indeed you could see a trail of corpses and ruined lives, you rarely saw these acts yourself.

Mind you the only villain in Quest for Glory I liked was Baba Yaga... She just had so much style.

Yes, I saved the Rusalka

I really don't see why not. I never was killed by her mostly because if by Quest for Glory 4... she manages you kill you... You really should replay the games until then. Heck she isn't even subtle.

[Tally]

I always enjoyed the Quest for Glory series, even considered speedrunning QfG2. Compared to many other adventure games, I'd agree with the general sentiment held within these forums: Solutions tend to be rather simple, though throwing yourself into the thief guild boss's dagger may be amusing just to see what horrible pun-riddled death message you may get (these got even 'worse' later in the series).

The games managed to fit together quite well in plot and setting. Even the characters were very well made, and each had their own charms or memorabilities (I don't think that's even a word). They did tend to recycle the 'whimsical master of puns' personality a bit too much, admittedly.

This is the kind of thing that's kept me playing the Persona games as well; the characters are well-forged. Their relationship (no, not necessarily that kind) with the protagonist is a given, but what breathes life into them is their own outlooks and even petty squabbles upon the other important characters.


Thanks for bringing this up, OP. I'll look into it in more depth soon.

[Neonivek]

The Puns were always so amazing in Sierra games. They just loved to revel in your misery.

The absolutely most In your face You lost moments of all time are in the Space Quest Series.

Unfortunately Space Quest is no where close to as fair as Quest for Glory

[oasis789]

The games managed to fit together quite well in plot and setting. Even the characters were very well made, and each had their own charms or memorabilities (I don't think that's even a word). They did tend to recycle the 'whimsical master of puns' personality a bit too much, admittedly.

I always thought the punmaster was a stand-in for the designers themselves!

Update with preview art from Eriq:

[Neonivek]

Soooo close SOOOO maybe!

[Sonlirain]

I wouldn't say the maze in qfg 1 was all that bad. It was somewhat small and had many safe spots.
Eranas garden to the north and Hermit Enry to the south.
And the town in the middle.
On top of that the only immediately lethal place was the graveyard and that's only if you stumble there in the night without a potion.
Now the desert in Q2... it could screw with your head by changing directions (especially hurts during the day because you can't watch the stars) and there are no safe spots out there to refill your waterskins besides one pretty hard to find oasis (if you got lost).
And the "rotating" world directions can make you walk south when you want to go north.

The desert in G2 can be pretty darn lethal.

[Neonivek]

Actually Sonlirain that is exactly what I said. Quest for Glory 1 was the only Maze-Centric Quest for Glory to do its maze right. Especially the remake.

Quest for Glory 4 has the exact same style of maze as 1 did but not only is it much much larger but has a lot less visual cues as to where you were. Often reusing screens several times.

Yet yes 2 was the absolute worst.

[Tally]

As good of a game as QfG2 was, I do find it amusing how very deliberately railroaded it was. Earlier I stated I had considered doing a speedrun of the game. My spin on a QfG2 speedrun would be: "Hero has a major sleep disorder. He sleeps all day every day, does things at the very last minute and goes right back to bed. His priorities towards life are so skewed that he will be a jackass to anyone who dares try to pull him away from the bed."  ex. It is now morning. "Shema is going to be dancing tonight, and we would like you to attend!" "TOO TIRED, GOING TO BED."  "Omar the Poet is going to perform at the inn tonight, and he wants to speak to you in private after!" "BED!!"

[oasis789]

"Hero has a major sleep disorder. He sleeps all day every day, does things at the very last minute and goes right back to bed. His priorities towards life are so skewed that he will be a jackass to anyone who dares try to pull him away from the bed."  ex. It is now morning. "Shema is going to be dancing tonight, and we would like you to attend!" "TOO TIRED, GOING TO BED."  "Omar the Poet is going to perform at the inn tonight, and he wants to speak to you in private after!" "BED!!"

Exactly, the city they built was rich enough that you could choose to do all of those things or none of them. It's entirely up to the player what he wants to optimize.

So the official website has been completely revamped. It's well worth a look even just for the new art! I attached a nice one below.

With the campaign coming to a close and still a ways to go, it's now or never folks.

[Aptus]

Heeyyy just noticed.

$403,260 pledged of $400,000 goal.

Awesome.

[Neonivek]

Heeyyy just noticed.

$403,260 pledged of $400,000 goal.

Awesome.

Yep fully funded.

[oasis789]

Yay! The campaign was a success!

Even though the kickstarter is over, you can still be a part of the game through Paypal, check it out here.