Fan-made King's Quest quashed by Activision!

mrCrumpet · March 2010

It is a sad day for people who grew up on games like Leisure Suit Larry, Space Quest, and King's Quest. Over the past (almost a) decade, a talented band of fans at the Silver Lining (www.tsl-game.com) has tried to continue the King's Quest story and fill plot holes by making new episodes. They were granted a fan license to continue some time back, but now Activision has legally shut them down. Activision is perfectly within its rights to do so, so a few forum posters have given them the obligatory "serves you right" treatment. But as a fan of King's Quest who was sad when the narrative was abandoned, this feels like nothing more than corporate bullying. If Activision plans to do something with the intellectual property, great!, but I doubt it. I hope the Silver Lining is able to release its work in some form or other. I yearn for the saga to continue.

http://www.tsl-game.com

Xenogears of Bore · March 2010

Just rename everything, reskin a few places and release it. Not real hard folks.

Buttcleft · March 2010

Name it the Monarchs Semi-generic adventure based game.

Vegan · March 2010

This was STILL in the making? I remember this being well under way in 2005.

apotheos · March 2010

Xenogears of Bore wrote: »

Just rename everything, reskin a few places and release it. Not real hard folks.

The timeline this game was being developed on suggest it basically had no chance of ever being completed.

So, hey, turn that incompetence into a shot at "the man" and get some press. That'll work.

Xenogears of Bore · March 2010

It is an extraordinarily common fan project ploy.

I much prefer the fake his own death gambit, but it would be hard for a group to pull it off. :P

Glenn565 · March 2010

apotheos wrote: »

Xenogears of Bore wrote: »

Just rename everything, reskin a few places and release it. Not real hard folks.

The timeline this game was being developed on suggest it basically had no chance of ever being completed.

So, hey, turn that incompetence into a shot at "the man" and get some press. That'll work.

Hey, it worked for both of the Chrono Trigger fan projects.

Shorn Scrotum Man · March 2010

Ok, their laziness aside, would anybody be surprised anymore to see Activision pull an asshole stunt like that?

Darlan · March 2010

With Monkey Island making a bit of a comeback and Heavy Rain doing decently, I can see why they'd suddenly see value in protecting the King's Quest ip like this.

It sucks, but people aren't entitled to use other's IPs.

Xenogears of Bore · March 2010

It would be so damn easy if you had a completed game to just change some names to protect the innocent and release it so long as you're not using a ton of borrowed code.

Dac Vin · March 2010

Probably confusing something here, but wasn't that the same project that got a go-ahead from Vivendi back then?

Rucio · March 2010

King's Quest is the reason point and click games died. Roberta Williams Logic(tm) is a huge part of the frustration I feel with poorly designed adventure games.

That aside, the presentation in KQ6 was amazing, featuring some of the best storytelling and voice acting (narrator, Jollo, Alexander) I've ever seen in a game. The whole society of the Black Cloak background story was so intriguing, hinting that the royal family had unknowingly been fighting this benevolent force for as long as they have been in power in Daventry. You could argue that every major villain had some tie to the society.

And then KQ7 and 8 happened.

I'm a bit sad to see the KQ9 project die, as it sought to, in a fan fictiony way, give some closure to the series, but I knew it would never come out.

"Alexander pulls out his magic map."

apotheos · March 2010

I never played the CD version of KQ6, just the floppy version.

Even then, the presentation was amazing.

Xenogears of Bore · March 2010

Same here. I should probably get around to that some day...

Rucio · March 2010

apotheos wrote: »

I never played the CD version of KQ6, just the floppy version.

Even then, the presentation was amazing.

The windows version was the best, with highly detailed character portraits, and a more complete opening cutscene, but alas, you can only play the DOSBOX version anymore, as I'm sure it would be way too much trouble to emulate Windows 3.0 or '95 in order to play it.

Malechai · March 2010

Rucio wrote: »

apotheos wrote: »

I never played the CD version of KQ6, just the floppy version.

Even then, the presentation was amazing.

The windows version was the best, with highly detailed character portraits, and a more complete opening cutscene, but alas, you can only play the DOSBOX version anymore, as I'm sure it would be way too much trouble to emulate Windows 3.0 or '95 in order to play it.

Install to C:\games\kq6. Set compatabilities properties to emulate 95/98. This should make it run for you.

GSM · March 2010

Did they shut this down just because they are re-releasing the games on GOG.com? There should be a rule that rights holders can only shut down unofficial sequels that they already sanctioned if they are actually going to really make a new project with the property.

Or at least the previous sanctioning should have been more iron-clad...

edit: Oh my. 8 is worse than I remembered!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoWFtF3kMxk&feature=player_embedded

Xenogears of Bore · March 2010

It's their franchise!

Rhesus Positive · March 2010

It's a shame they didn't shut down the development of King's Quest 8. I persevered with it long enough to get completely stuck because I managed to totally bypass an entire world and I didn't have a special weapon or some shit like that.

Although I guess dying because you didn't pick something up three hours previously was par for the course in King's Quest VI. It was still a game I came back to every year or so, until the CD became too scratched to repair.

Elimination · March 2010

I forgot this fan thing even exsisted.

Gilder · March 2010

I've never actually played the KQ games because I know they would just piss me off with missable stuff, but I have seen videos and such. At least they can go down knowing that whatever they would've made in no way could have done the series any harm, because it already shot itself in the foot with 7. 8 is a bad game for sure, but 7 is just absolutely dreadful in all ways. If I had bought that after playing 6 I think I would've killed myself. People who bought 8 only had themselves to blame because they had seen the last game, but you couldn't have known with 7. 6 was so good and they've had such a good streak so far, so 7 can't possibly be terrible! Right?

Rhesus Positive · March 2010

I enjoyed 7. Sure, the puzzles were occasionally hard and I have no idea whether picking up certain items instead of others would screw you over, but I had a lot of fun in the world, which was amusing with engaging characters. I only didn't finish it because my music card was borked so I couldn't use the harp to do whatever it was supposed to do.

Duchess Prozac · March 2010

Xenogears of Bore wrote: »

It's their franchise!

Except that Vivendi had previously given them the go ahead to make it, now Activision have plugged the plug for what seems no reason than to be utter douchebags and to carry on for their Guinness book of World Records attempt for Worlds most evil games company.

Bioptic · March 2010

Waaay more interesting than this are the actual, honest-to-god-released remakes of the first 2 games (and Quest for Glory II). Redrawn from scratch, VGA, fully-voiced, redone with the interface of VI, and in the case of II, completely restructured with new puzzles and plot strands. There's also a more faithful (read: bastard hard) VGA adaptation of III out there, leaving IV as the only one I'd deem utterly unplayable by modern standards.

Fig-D · March 2010

I'm sorry, but I'm calling bullshit on this story.

Regarding the forums, Cat and I will need to sort through the ones that are "TSL-related" and the ones that aren't. Unfortunately, we weren't given much notice to sift through and it will take some time.

So, once you guys have done that, at least the non-TSL related stuff will be put back up?

To be honest, I don't know. This is the only solution we could think of to keep the forums online without risking litigation.

The bits about the forums just don't sit right with me. Sounds more to me like they were looking for a way out once they realized that project was basically unfinishable, and Activision is an easy scapegoat.

The Wolfman · March 2010

Which was the animated cartoon one? I think you played as a princess or something? I remember that coming with the very first computer I ever got. Neat game, don't think I ever beat it though. But knowing what I know now about Sierra and their adventure games, I reckon my young punk ass never stood a shot. Not to mention this was years before the invention of the internet.

Lent the disc to somebody and never saw it again. I was really bummed about that. Not because I lost some King's Quest game, but because the Incredible Toon Machine was also on the disc. It REALLY sucked losing that...

Fig-D · March 2010

The Wolfman wrote: »

Which was the animated cartoon one? I think you played as a princess or something? I remember that coming with the very first computer I ever got. Neat game, don't think I ever beat it though. But knowing what I know now about Sierra and their adventure games, I reckon my young punk ass never stood a shot. Not to mention this was years before the invention of the internet.

Lent the disc to somebody and never saw it again. I was really bummed about that. Not because I lost some King's Quest game, but because the Incredible Toon Machine was also on the disc. It REALLY sucked losing that...

That was KQ7.

And The Incredible Toon Machine was AWESOME.

Jealous Deva · March 2010

Bioptic wrote: »

Waaay more interesting than this are the actual, honest-to-god-released remakes of the first 2 games (and Quest for Glory II). Redrawn from scratch, VGA, fully-voiced, redone with the interface of VI, and in the case of II, completely restructured with new puzzles and plot strands. There's also a more faithful (read: bastard hard) VGA adaptation of III out there, leaving IV as the only one I'd deem utterly unplayable by modern standards.

Was Quest for Glory 2 the one that had that insane copy protection scheme where you had to literally have the manual with you for directions just to walk around? Like the whole thing was this giant maze and you couldn't get from point A to B without the detailed step by step instructions?

Because fuck that.

Rhesus Positive · March 2010

King's Quest VI had the manual bullshit on the Isle of Labyrinthy Death (it's been a while, can't remember the name) where if you weren't able to decode the alphabet the mountain dropped you to a squishy end. I must have lost and found that manual a dozen times.

Jealous Deva · March 2010

Rhesus Positive wrote: »

King's Quest VI had the manual bullshit on the Isle of Labyrinthy Death (it's been a while, can't remember the name) where if you weren't able to decode the alphabet the mountain dropped you to a squishy end. I must have lost and found that manual a dozen times.

Yeah, I remember that, but there was this one game ( I think it was a QFG), where the whole town basically was copy protection. Like literally you had to do copy protection to go down the street to get groceries. Over and over again through the whole game.

Librarian's ghost · March 2010

Man forget King's Quest. I want Space Quest Seven! It was referenced in SQ6 and there was even a brief trailer for it. I miss Roger Wilco and his hilarious space janitorial adventures.

Librarian's ghost · March 2010

Jealous Deva wrote: »

Rhesus Positive wrote: »

King's Quest VI had the manual bullshit on the Isle of Labyrinthy Death (it's been a while, can't remember the name) where if you weren't able to decode the alphabet the mountain dropped you to a squishy end. I must have lost and found that manual a dozen times.

Yeah, I remember that, but there was this one game ( I think it was a QFG), where the whole town basically was copy protection. Like literally you had to do copy protection to go down the street to get groceries. Over and over again through the whole game.

The game came with a map because the city was realistically big. I don't really see that as copy protection. Also if you bought the map from Chico Marx you could just fast travel to the locations after the first time you visit it.

Now Quest for Glory 4 had the blatant copy protection where you had to remind Dr Cranium what the formula for the healing potion was which was listed in the manual.

I can't believe I still have all those things.

Jealous Deva · March 2010

timspork's ghost wrote: »

Jealous Deva wrote: »

Rhesus Positive wrote: »

King's Quest VI had the manual bullshit on the Isle of Labyrinthy Death (it's been a while, can't remember the name) where if you weren't able to decode the alphabet the mountain dropped you to a squishy end. I must have lost and found that manual a dozen times.

Yeah, I remember that, but there was this one game ( I think it was a QFG), where the whole town basically was copy protection. Like literally you had to do copy protection to go down the street to get groceries. Over and over again through the whole game.

The game came with a map because the city was realistically big. I don't really see that as copy protection. Also if you bought the map from Chico Marx you could just fast travel to the locations after the first time you visit it.

Now Quest for Glory 4 had the blatant copy protection where you had to remind Dr Cranium what the formula for the healing potion was which was listed in the manual.

I can't believe I still have all those things.

Note all the blind alleys, loops, areas with nothing at all ... It's copy protection.

Sir Carcass · March 2010

Didn't a demo for this come out in like 2006? I had forgotten about it. The demo looked pretty good.

And whoever mentioned DOSBox and KQ6, it's pretty easy to install Windows 3.11 under DOSBox. I did it a little while back to play my original Myst disc. I didn't think about trying the Windows version of KQ6 with it, though. I should do that.

Bioptic · March 2010

Jealous Deva wrote: »

Rhesus Positive wrote: »

King's Quest VI had the manual bullshit on the Isle of Labyrinthy Death (it's been a while, can't remember the name) where if you weren't able to decode the alphabet the mountain dropped you to a squishy end. I must have lost and found that manual a dozen times.

Yeah, I remember that, but there was this one game ( I think it was a QFG), where the whole town basically was copy protection. Like literally you had to do copy protection to go down the street to get groceries. Over and over again through the whole game.

The VGA remake gives you the option of using the original or 'simplified' streets - the latter drastically cutting down the number of redundant alleys, making things correspond to the cardinal directions, and I believe actually giving you access to an in-game map at some point.

And KQVI - bought a budget release of the game that didn't have the copy protection guide in it! Had to get Sierra US to send a copy... I wish more games came with a well-produced booklet containing a workmanlike narration of you playing.

jefe414 · March 2010

timspork's ghost wrote: »

Man forget King's Quest. I want Space Quest Seven! It was referenced in SQ6 and there was even a brief trailer for it. I miss Roger Wilco and his hilarious space janitorial adventures.

Space Quest X: Roger Wilco and the Latex Babes of Phobos.

Visti · March 2010

I don't really care about that, What I do care about is: Indiana Jones and the Fountain Of Youth

I would be so happy.

Those geese have some pro fucking art for what is a new game:

Cherrn · March 2010

That's another one of those games that have been in development for-fucking-ever. Who knows whether it'll survive?

bloodatonement · March 2010

Play our award winning 2006 demo!

cuz you aint gonna see shit else from us

As much as I love the idea behind a number of fan projects, I can't, off the top of my head, think of even 1 that was finished.

Rucio · March 2010

Bioptic wrote: »

Jealous Deva wrote: »

Rhesus Positive wrote: »

King's Quest VI had the manual bullshit on the Isle of Labyrinthy Death (it's been a while, can't remember the name) where if you weren't able to decode the alphabet the mountain dropped you to a squishy end. I must have lost and found that manual a dozen times.

Yeah, I remember that, but there was this one game ( I think it was a QFG), where the whole town basically was copy protection. Like literally you had to do copy protection to go down the street to get groceries. Over and over again through the whole game.

The VGA remake gives you the option of using the original or 'simplified' streets - the latter drastically cutting down the number of redundant alleys, making things correspond to the cardinal directions, and I believe actually giving you access to an in-game map at some point.

And KQVI - bought a budget release of the game that didn't have the copy protection guide in it! Had to get Sierra US to send a copy... I wish more games came with a well-produced booklet containing a workmanlike narration of you playing.

Don't forget the riddles actually inside the labrynth that you needed the book for.

alabaster · March 2010

Rucio wrote: »

Bioptic wrote: »

Jealous Deva wrote: »

Rhesus Positive wrote: »

King's Quest VI had the manual bullshit on the Isle of Labyrinthy Death (it's been a while, can't remember the name) where if you weren't able to decode the alphabet the mountain dropped you to a squishy end. I must have lost and found that manual a dozen times.

Yeah, I remember that, but there was this one game ( I think it was a QFG), where the whole town basically was copy protection. Like literally you had to do copy protection to go down the street to get groceries. Over and over again through the whole game.

The VGA remake gives you the option of using the original or 'simplified' streets - the latter drastically cutting down the number of redundant alleys, making things correspond to the cardinal directions, and I believe actually giving you access to an in-game map at some point.

And KQVI - bought a budget release of the game that didn't have the copy protection guide in it! Had to get Sierra US to send a copy... I wish more games came with a well-produced booklet containing a workmanlike narration of you playing.

Don't forget the riddles actually inside the labrynth that you needed the book for.

Oh god the labyrinth. I still have nightmares about dying over and over in there because I didn't bring a brick.

Penny Arcade

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