I've just made this post in the adventure game topic, but I figured it deserved its own thread.
So I've been sick on the couch all day, not doing much except for feeling sorry for myself and reading a lot. I happened to be reading the newest Game Informer, and it's actually full of information on the new King's Quest. I don't think most of this information is widely available online yet, so I figured I'd type out all the new juicy facts for you guys:
Some general information:
- 5 episodes. First episode will arrive in the fall. They're still working out the details on the episodes after that, but it won't be more than 'a couple of months' between episodes.
- Not point & click. Direct control, one button interactions, still adventure game style puzzles - no action or platforming sequences.
- There is still an inventory system.
- Choice plays a big part in the game - more information below.
- There are some new screenshots, but as far as I can tell they're all from situations you saw in the trailer. There is also some new concept art showing stuff that's not in the trailer, including a very nice watercolour one with Graham riding through a forest on some sort of yellow beast, and another one of four knights.
- They have plans for what they want to do with the series after the first one if it's a success, but the first series of games forms its own complete story.
Some information on the story and the structure of the games:
- It's focused on Graham's family, but they hint at some sort of cameo for Mask of Eternity's Connor.
- Graham is telling stories to his granddaughter, which allows for hopping between different times in Graham's life.
- In the first episode Gwendolyn (his granddaughter) is going to take part in an archery tournament but is unsure of her chances of winning, so Graham tells the story of how he beat the odds and became a knight in his youth.
- It won't be a retelling of the original games, and it won't be a reboot. Instead, everything that happened in the old games still happened, and these games 'fill the gaps', such as the aforementioned story of how Graham became a knight.
- Even though it won't be a retelling, the first episode does start in a familiar scene - the well with the dragon guarding the magic mirror from the first game (also seen in the trailer). It acts as a fairly linear introduction to the new gameplay style. The game starts with Graham walking down a path towards the well, 'It's been years since I came here...', and climbs down into it. At the bottom there are all kinds of things: skeletons, arrows, and a lot of mattresses. Gwendolyn's voice interrupts and asks why there are mattresses. Later in the first episode you see that same scene again but at an earlier point in Graham's life, and all the weird things you saw the first time are explained. Skipping through time like that (and sticking so closely to actual scenes from the original games) isn't the focus of the new episodes, but it can happen now and again. The article mentions that most episodes will stick to a single period in Graham's life within that episode though.
- The old 'Sierra-style' narrator is still there, but now it's the older Graham. An amusing anecdote to illustrate this from the article: if Graham walks past one of the mattresses in the well you can choose to jump on them. The voice over starts saying that it was an urgent situation, and that there wasn't any time to hide under the covers. If you continue jumping on the bed however, the voice over starts again and admits that he did take a brief nap during his time in the well.
- No dead ends (meaning that you can't get into an unwinnable state because you didn't pick up a certain item 4 hours earlier), but death is still there. When you die you are automatically brought back to the point before you made your fatal mistake, with old Graham in the voice over mentioning something like 'that's what would have happened if I...' or 'Just wanted to see if you're paying attention' after his granddaughter interrupts.
- There is some form of choice mechanic in the game, based on how you choose to solve certain scenario's. For instance: at the end of the introductory sequence you face the dragon (as seen in the trailer), and you have to find a way to escape. Using a bow you found in the well you can shoot him in the eye, blinding him while you escape, or you can shoot a feeding bell, luring him away, or you can shoot his shackles and free him. The choice you make there will have consequences which ripple through in later episodes as well. Freeing the dragon might mean that he will befriend Graham later down the line, or he might decide to go on a rampage in Daventry, for instance.
- These choices are gameplay based, not dialogue based. There are branching dialogue trees, but the major decisions will come through during actual gameplay.
- The choices aren't between 'Good Graham' and 'Bad Graham' - the older games have already proven that Graham is a good guy. Rather, most of the choices will be focused around three core traits: Wisdom, Bravery and Compassion. The designers want to make sure you mix up your choices and don't just stick to a single trait the entire time.
- What choices the player will make influences your granddaughter and the problem she faces in that episode. For instance, if you decide to shoot the dragon in the eye, what lesson does that teach your granddaughter about how she should approach her uncertainty towards the tournament? How your granddaughter develops over the five episodes is mostly a consequence of your choices in the stories old Graham is telling.
- The opening in the well is linear, but after that the game opens up and you have an entire forest to explore. Answers to puzzles you encounter won't necessarily be nearby, and the game encourages exploration.
- In the well sequence Graham is a knight already - the rest of the first episode features Graham before he became a knight. Later episodes will jump slightly forward in Graham's life each time.
- The main story of the first episode focuses on young Graham trying to become a knight by entering an elimination contest against three other knights. One is faster, one is stronger, one is smarter. He has to outsmart all of them.
- The puzzles have multiple solutions. For instance: a woman has a cart that's missing a wheel. There are multiple circular objects in the world that could serve as a replacement for the wheel.
And that's about it. I have a bit of a fever so I'm sorry if any of this is confusing or full of spelling mistakes - but I'm happy that I had something to focus on for a bit and I'm sure there are some people in here who'd appreciate the new information.
As for my opinion on all this: it seems they took a lot of inspiration from Telltale (remember that Telltale had the license for a bit - I doubt they inherited their design ideas, but the control methods, choice mechanics and episodic model all sure sound like Telltale.
I admit I was never the biggest fan of the Sierra licenses, but I respect those games a lot and I'll give this a chance. How they decided to tie together your granddaughter's problem and the stories you're telling and how it influences her seems inspired to me, and it fits the fairy tale idea of the old games. It seems like it could be worth a play. I'm curious to hear what classic King's Quest-fans think of all this though.
For the sake of completion here's the trailer again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spU...&feature=iv&annotation_id=annotation_15655601
So I've been sick on the couch all day, not doing much except for feeling sorry for myself and reading a lot. I happened to be reading the newest Game Informer, and it's actually full of information on the new King's Quest. I don't think most of this information is widely available online yet, so I figured I'd type out all the new juicy facts for you guys:
Some general information:
- 5 episodes. First episode will arrive in the fall. They're still working out the details on the episodes after that, but it won't be more than 'a couple of months' between episodes.
- Not point & click. Direct control, one button interactions, still adventure game style puzzles - no action or platforming sequences.
- There is still an inventory system.
- Choice plays a big part in the game - more information below.
- There are some new screenshots, but as far as I can tell they're all from situations you saw in the trailer. There is also some new concept art showing stuff that's not in the trailer, including a very nice watercolour one with Graham riding through a forest on some sort of yellow beast, and another one of four knights.
- They have plans for what they want to do with the series after the first one if it's a success, but the first series of games forms its own complete story.
Some information on the story and the structure of the games:
- It's focused on Graham's family, but they hint at some sort of cameo for Mask of Eternity's Connor.
- Graham is telling stories to his granddaughter, which allows for hopping between different times in Graham's life.
- In the first episode Gwendolyn (his granddaughter) is going to take part in an archery tournament but is unsure of her chances of winning, so Graham tells the story of how he beat the odds and became a knight in his youth.
- It won't be a retelling of the original games, and it won't be a reboot. Instead, everything that happened in the old games still happened, and these games 'fill the gaps', such as the aforementioned story of how Graham became a knight.
- Even though it won't be a retelling, the first episode does start in a familiar scene - the well with the dragon guarding the magic mirror from the first game (also seen in the trailer). It acts as a fairly linear introduction to the new gameplay style. The game starts with Graham walking down a path towards the well, 'It's been years since I came here...', and climbs down into it. At the bottom there are all kinds of things: skeletons, arrows, and a lot of mattresses. Gwendolyn's voice interrupts and asks why there are mattresses. Later in the first episode you see that same scene again but at an earlier point in Graham's life, and all the weird things you saw the first time are explained. Skipping through time like that (and sticking so closely to actual scenes from the original games) isn't the focus of the new episodes, but it can happen now and again. The article mentions that most episodes will stick to a single period in Graham's life within that episode though.
- The old 'Sierra-style' narrator is still there, but now it's the older Graham. An amusing anecdote to illustrate this from the article: if Graham walks past one of the mattresses in the well you can choose to jump on them. The voice over starts saying that it was an urgent situation, and that there wasn't any time to hide under the covers. If you continue jumping on the bed however, the voice over starts again and admits that he did take a brief nap during his time in the well.
- No dead ends (meaning that you can't get into an unwinnable state because you didn't pick up a certain item 4 hours earlier), but death is still there. When you die you are automatically brought back to the point before you made your fatal mistake, with old Graham in the voice over mentioning something like 'that's what would have happened if I...' or 'Just wanted to see if you're paying attention' after his granddaughter interrupts.
- There is some form of choice mechanic in the game, based on how you choose to solve certain scenario's. For instance: at the end of the introductory sequence you face the dragon (as seen in the trailer), and you have to find a way to escape. Using a bow you found in the well you can shoot him in the eye, blinding him while you escape, or you can shoot a feeding bell, luring him away, or you can shoot his shackles and free him. The choice you make there will have consequences which ripple through in later episodes as well. Freeing the dragon might mean that he will befriend Graham later down the line, or he might decide to go on a rampage in Daventry, for instance.
- These choices are gameplay based, not dialogue based. There are branching dialogue trees, but the major decisions will come through during actual gameplay.
- The choices aren't between 'Good Graham' and 'Bad Graham' - the older games have already proven that Graham is a good guy. Rather, most of the choices will be focused around three core traits: Wisdom, Bravery and Compassion. The designers want to make sure you mix up your choices and don't just stick to a single trait the entire time.
- What choices the player will make influences your granddaughter and the problem she faces in that episode. For instance, if you decide to shoot the dragon in the eye, what lesson does that teach your granddaughter about how she should approach her uncertainty towards the tournament? How your granddaughter develops over the five episodes is mostly a consequence of your choices in the stories old Graham is telling.
- The opening in the well is linear, but after that the game opens up and you have an entire forest to explore. Answers to puzzles you encounter won't necessarily be nearby, and the game encourages exploration.
- In the well sequence Graham is a knight already - the rest of the first episode features Graham before he became a knight. Later episodes will jump slightly forward in Graham's life each time.
- The main story of the first episode focuses on young Graham trying to become a knight by entering an elimination contest against three other knights. One is faster, one is stronger, one is smarter. He has to outsmart all of them.
- The puzzles have multiple solutions. For instance: a woman has a cart that's missing a wheel. There are multiple circular objects in the world that could serve as a replacement for the wheel.
And that's about it. I have a bit of a fever so I'm sorry if any of this is confusing or full of spelling mistakes - but I'm happy that I had something to focus on for a bit and I'm sure there are some people in here who'd appreciate the new information.
As for my opinion on all this: it seems they took a lot of inspiration from Telltale (remember that Telltale had the license for a bit - I doubt they inherited their design ideas, but the control methods, choice mechanics and episodic model all sure sound like Telltale.
I admit I was never the biggest fan of the Sierra licenses, but I respect those games a lot and I'll give this a chance. How they decided to tie together your granddaughter's problem and the stories you're telling and how it influences her seems inspired to me, and it fits the fairy tale idea of the old games. It seems like it could be worth a play. I'm curious to hear what classic King's Quest-fans think of all this though.
For the sake of completion here's the trailer again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spU...&feature=iv&annotation_id=annotation_15655601
