Chapters 3-9?

[ABajillion]

Does anyone know if the plot for chapters 3-9 was ever written. The final journal entry made it clear that only chapters 1-2 will ever by released by phoenix, but it also sounds like the plot had been written for the entire trilogy. I know the intention of this series was to wrap up KQ and I guess I was just hoping that one day after TSL has been released that the plot of chapters 3-9 would also be released so we could read how the guys at Phoenix imagined that it would all play out. I've always played games for the story and I would just hate to see any story go to waste  .

[tessspoon]

The plot is all written out, and is quite long - don't remember exactly how long off the top of my head - but whether or not the rest will be released or in what form, we don't know.

[atec123]

Neil would know.  or at least guess better than me

[Yonkey]

Yeah it was written out, and around 2200 pages in total. 

To be honest, we still haven't decided exactly what will happen with Chapters 3-9 yet.  All we know is that developing them for free isn't an option, due to the insane amount of time required to do that. 

At the moment, Chapters 1 & 2 are the only things seeing the light of day in the next few months.  The remaining chapters will largely depend on how well Chapters 1 & 2 do.  Our hope is to release them someday, somehow.

[atec123]

I'd be happy to pay 50$ for a e book of it

[Bludshot]

Yeah it was written out, and around 2200 pages in total.

This looks more like a TV series than one story.

[Petra Rocks]

I'd be happy to pay 50$ for a e book of it

Wouldn't be allowed as it is based on IP Phoenix doesn't own, unless I am wholly mistaken.

[Haids1987]

I'd be happy to pay 50$ for a e book of it

I'm still holding out hope that they'll be released as a game, somehow, someday...

[atec123]

I'd be happy to pay 50$ for a e book of it

I'm still holding out hope that they'll be released as a game, somehow, someday...

yeah, me too.

[Farquhar]

I too have the same hope. Just think, for a while POS weren't even going to be allowed to complete one chapter let alone two.

Things can often find a way of working out in the future....

[oberonqa]

Yes... where there is a will there is a way.  I'm sure if Chapter 1-2 are received well by the public and Vivindi likes what they see, they might be open to possibly contracting Phoenix to complete the rest of the trilogy.  After all, look at what's happened over the last couple of years.  Going from a cease-and-desist order to a sanctioned release of two chapters is quite a leap. 

Add to that Vivindi's recent approval and sanctioning of AGD's KQ1VGA  4.0 and KQ2VGA 3.0 and it's not too much of a stretch to see something positive happen.

KQ has always been about chasing after ones dreams and facing  seemingly insurmountable challenges.  I see this whole situation with Chapters 3-9 as another one of those seemingly insurmountable challanges.  All it takes is a little ingenuity, a bit of luck, and a peppering of fairy dust and I'm sure everything will work out fine. 

[PirateKingChris]

That would be quite amazing if Vivendi did that. Not saying it's likely, but that would be quite incredible.

[Erpy]

Yes... where there is a will there is a way.  I'm sure if Chapter 1-2 are received well by the public and Vivindi likes what they see, they might be open to possibly contracting Phoenix to complete the rest of the trilogy.  After all, look at what's happened over the last couple of years.  Going from a cease-and-desist order to a sanctioned release of two chapters is quite a leap. 

Add to that Vivindi's recent approval and sanctioning of AGD's KQ1VGA  4.0 and KQ2VGA 3.0 and it's not too much of a stretch to see something positive happen.

KQ has always been about chasing after ones dreams and facing  seemingly insurmountable challenges.  I see this whole situation with Chapters 3-9 as another one of those seemingly insurmountable challanges.  All it takes is a little ingenuity, a bit of luck, and a peppering of fairy dust and I'm sure everything will work out fine. 

Except things are a lot more complicated than that. For one, Vivendi Universal Games does not exist anymore. Vivendi does, but its game division does not...the division was disbanded and the few most financially viable franchises were transferred to Activision-Blizzard to develop. The rest of the franchises are property of Activision-Blizzard, but won't be used commercially.

KQ1VGA 4.0 was not recently approved. We had it approved together with QFG2VGA around june 2008. That was before the Activision-Blizzard merger. When we spoke to our contact at VUG after the merger, we heard that the person who tested QFG2 and KQ1 was laid off. We were allowed to release KQ2VGA 3.0 without submitting it, since I suppose they trusted our judgement enough to give us a last bit of leeway. (and they couldn't even get anyone to test our game anymore)

Activision, we were told, does not support fan licenses. We were told we could release our running projects, but that was all. This was okay with us, since we weren't planning on starting any other free projects anyhow. At least it allowed us to get KQ2VGA out of the door extra-fast.

If TSL gets the exact same approach, I'd wager chapters 1-2 will be available for release much sooner, but the remaining chapters will remain as unreachable as a load of swamp ooze without a stick-in-the-mud around.

[PirateKingChris]

Crap 

[atec123]

Crap 

Pretty much sums it up.

[tessspoon]

Erpy's scaring me.

[atec123]

Erpy's scaring me.

sadly, he's right.

[Yonkey]

Actually, I'm not too shocked by much of what Erpy said.  We've known for a while that VU isn't interested in the Sierra brand, and weren't able to sell it either.  Given today's economy, I'm not too surprised by VU experiencing lay-offs.  I didn't realize it was only one person performing the quality assurance, but considering our games aren't earning any income, I can see why they're not wasting company resources on it either.

I don't really know if the situation 9 months ago is still the case or not, but if so, then it could mean the approval process will be painless and virtually non-existent.  I had speculated this a while ago too.  Someone asked why the game still must go through Sierra, when for all intents and purposes, Sierra itself is no more.  Now, obviously, the Sierra brand is still owned by someone (i.e. Activision-Blizzard), so I wouldn't assume we or anyone else can do whatever they like with Sierra-based IP.  If all it means in our case is a quicker public release, then I'll take it!

As for the original topic (i.e. Chapters 3-9), we've already said we have no intentions of developing them non-commercially due to the amount of development time involved.  Knowing that Activision will not even grant fan licenses only re-enforces our decision.  Developing them commercially on the other hand, is entirely different.  I'm not surprised about Activision not seeing the Sierra brand as commercially viable, but markets can change.  What was true a year ago or even four years ago, does not necessarily mean it will remain true forever.  To go from ceasing & desisting non-profit fan-based projects to complete ambivalence over a 30-year franchise is proof alone.

In fact, knowing this information is actually quite valuable, because it changes many of the assumptions we've been making.  It also changes the kind of approach we'll take in the future.  The fate of the remaining chapters will still largely rest on the shoulders of Chapters 1 & 2, as I've said before.  There are plenty of ways to loosen a clenched fist, but I'd rather not plan too far ahead. 

Thanks again for the info, Erpy.  It was very insightful.

[atec123]

Hey, that's great!  So like, there might not eve be much of an approval thing?

[PirateKingChris]

That does sound good, Yonk. Crossing my fingers still of course.