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TSL Updates!

Started by KatieHal, May 21, 2015, 11:15:15 AM

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calmlunatic

Happy July to the development team!   
Quote from: Numbers on June 01, 2021, 01:09:46 PM
Calmlunatic, do you really think you're accomplishing anything by writing the exact same message every month, other than artificially inflating your post count? The "development team" hasn't responded to you in years.

Quote from: waltzdancing on January 23, 2014, 07:08:37 PM
The best thing that we need as in the volunteer team, is to offer us encouragement, support us with your trust and best regards. I'm speaking for myself, but coming on to the forums and seeing attacks and anger that makes me want to leave and hide because I do this out of love of the game and for the fans that helped me to save this project. I is damaging mentally to come to a safe haven and see us thrown aside. I know it has been a while since anything was heard but we do that because any bit we give you might think it's coming any day and that is not what we want to project for the project because we honestly don't know when it is coming.

Please, please, please, just support and not put us down as some posts have. It is disheartening and mentally defeating. If anything does come up, please believe me that I will tell you the moment it does. I have not led you astray. Just hang in there.

They've asked for encouragement. I am offering it to them. I'm sorry you're annoyed by my posts.
Grateful about a free game currently in development & offering support to the dev team in hopes the final episode will be released. Will keep waiting for updates.

KickCat

Don't apologize to Numbers.  Guy has to put his two cents in with every comment telling you why you're wrong.  Must be real fun at parties.

Numbers

#662
Quote from: calmlunatic on July 01, 2021, 12:24:18 PM
They've asked for encouragement. I am offering it to them. I'm sorry you're annoyed by my posts.

You just proved my point. That quote from waltzdancing is over seven years old. I know your heart's in the right place, but it's misguided. They're not here anymore.

Quote from: KickCat on July 01, 2021, 01:35:37 PM
Don't apologize to Numbers.  Guy has to put his two cents in with every comment telling you why you're wrong.  Must be real fun at parties.

I have no mouth, and I must scream.

GrahamRocks!

Quote

*chuckles*

To be honest... I have been considering going back and replaying TSL again. I just haven't done so, because my outlook on the series has changed over the years, my sense of humor and what I can consider good writing has changed. At the time I'd first joined and gotten into TSL (concurrently with Sierra in general), it was all new and fascinating for someone like me, and at that particular time I'd considered it the absolute best KQ game ever, overall (aside from the Valanice and Manannan thing, I don't think anyone likes that connection TBH)- it had the best soundtrack, the visuals were gorgeous, Graham's characterization as an older gentleman was on point, the relationships between Graham and Valanice/Alexander and Cassima/Rosella and Edgar were all very sweet, and there was a good sense of lore and worldbuilding and intrigue and tension about where the plot was going. It certainly wasn't perfect (I don't like the Isle of the Beast segment, both because of the way Beauty is characterized/designed and the hedge maze puzzle, no matter how many times I play it, I can never remember where the second half of that puzzle is off the top of my head despite that being the case for every other puzzle), but at the time, it was good.

And then, 2015 hit, and the 2015 Reboot (IMO, I know not many will agree with me, especially on here) of KQ blew most of that out of the water. It took a lot of what I already liked about TSL (music, visuals, characters etc) and pulled it off even better in my eyes. And, unfortunately, it kinda overshadowed TSL for me, and that game overtook the spot for "Best KQ Game," and when I think of the characters of KQ, what I see in my mind and hear mentally, are those characters from KQ2015, not TSL.

I feel bad about that sometimes, since I was one of the more prominent posters here once upon a time, defending Phoenix as one of their biggest, staunchest fans about most everything negative said about TSL, and I do it (not did, do, because there's still tired complaints about it) for the Reboot with as much fervor even now, as I did TSL back then.

I just feel a bit scared, I guess, about potentially playing it again, looking at it with fresh eyes so to speak, because I'm afraid that now that I can look at things more critically, more constructively, that I'm going to look at this game and say, "This isn't nearly as good as I remember. :( " and view it more negatively at worst, and at best as "It's Good, but not Great," y'know? That's kind of what I consider AGDI's KQ2+ is the latter, because once I actually stopped and paid attention to the writing, the lore, the characterization etc, there were some major problems in it that I feel should've been fixed, seeing it in hindsight (also an art critique of AGDI's I've had for a while is "Why does nobody blink?! That's creepy that the only thing that moves is their mouths!"), and I'd hate for the same to happen with me and TSL.

Will I still laugh at the snarky Narrator ribbing Graham? Will I still feel the danger of Shadrack oppressing the Royal Family of Daventry? Will I still be drawn into the lore of the Silver and Black Cloaks? Will I still be heartwarmed by Graham and Valanice as a couple? Will I still love the vision scene of Graham's in part 3 where he's mentally saving Valanice on horseback, which was one of my favorite parts of that chapter? It's been so long- seven or eight years in fact -that I'm honestly not sure. I've changed a lot since then, I think. We all have. I definitely wouldn't say that it's "So Good, It Might As Well Be Canon" like I might've said way back then to Phoenix, that's for sure. I acknowledge that it's an alternate universe where some things went a bit differently, at least. But I won't deny the impact it's had on me, and I'm honestly hoping that my memories and nostalgia weren't steering me wrong.

Numbers

TSL has definitely lost a lot of what made it special. Even if POStudios were to release a polished, bug-free Episode 5 next week, there's no way it would live up to over a decade's worth of expectations. The ending cutscene of Episode 4 is still one of my favorite moments in KQ history, canonical or otherwise, but the fact that it currently leads to nothing at all makes it less worthwhile now. I hope POStudios can finish Episode 5 someday, but it's definitely not going to be any time soon.

I remember being extremely harsh on TOG's KQ reboot, but I realize now that, at the very least, it was a fully finished product, and in spite of the controversies surrounding it, still ended on an optimistic note, and left the door open for another entry, though that has yet to surface. I'm sure if I went back to it now, I'd probably feel softer towards it.

I have the feeling that the primary reason POStudios hasn't released the soundtrack for Episodes 3 and 4 is because they know it's all they have left to work with, so they're continuing to hold it over our heads with empty promises that they'll release it along with Episode 5, even though it's becoming increasingly obvious that that won't happen.
I have no mouth, and I must scream.

ShiftingBalance

I just don't understand given how they had a release date of 2017 that must mean they were close to finishing it, why they can't bring someone else in to help get it released. I know that life happens but it doesn't seem like anyone at phoenix online cares about this game anymore.

Numbers

#666
Just imagine if they didn't make the TSL Haunted Castle game that almost nobody bothered to play and instead devoted their resources to TSL Chapter 5 itself, instead of making a demo that was just an advertisement for something everyone was already looking forward to, and on top of that, failed to deliver on its promised release date. Much as I hate to admit it, I think beernutts called it when he said Chapter 5 would never happen.

EDIT: Also, this is the 666th reply in this thread. I know you think I'm evil, and I'm willing to accept that responsibility. Evil will always triumph, because good is dumb.
I have no mouth, and I must scream.

kyranthia

I was disappointed when that Haunted Castle game came out teasing a release date for Chapter 5 and then...well, still nothing. 

I get it everyone is busy, there have been setbacks and all that.

But, at some point, I do hope the team either releases the game or says, "Sorry, it's not happening but here is a write up of how the story ends" or something like that.

Just my thoughts.


GrahamRocks!


Boogeyman

Quote from: Numbers on July 19, 2021, 01:08:06 PM
Just imagine if they didn't make the TSL Haunted Castle game that almost nobody bothered to play and instead devoted their resources to TSL Chapter 5 itself, instead of making a demo that was just an advertisement for something everyone was already looking forward to, and on top of that, failed to deliver on its promised release date. Much as I hate to admit it, I think beernutts called it when he said Chapter 5 would never happen.

EDIT: Also, this is the 666th reply in this thread. I know you think I'm evil, and I'm willing to accept that responsibility. Evil will always triumph, because good is dumb.
I too, am afraid it will never happen, they have repeatedly lied about the release date, including in Haunted Castle Experience, and lied about continued progress reports!
I don't narrate for stinky kings!

ThunderChild

Well after a year and a half and five pages further without any official word from the developers, I have decided to leave this project "as is" and I'm not going to follow TSL or any other Phoenix related projects nor will I recommend people playing the four chapters of TSL that have been released thus far. I do not see any reason on promoting and/or recommending something that hasn't been properly finished and TSL simply has no ending to speak of.

A shame though. It's been 15 years to the date that I have signed up here after playing the demo while the team was in anticipation for the go-ahead for episode 1, after the King's Quest rights exchanged hands to Vivendi or whatever party obtained them during those days in 2006. Hell, I even printed out a TSL DVD cover and put it into a DVD box in anticipation of the full release that I could burn onto a single or double sized DVD disc, see https://imgbox.com/g/pQCybcJKFL. Yes boys and girls, an optical disc was used in order to distribute content. Nowadays completely surpassed by digital distribution such as Steam and Netflix and the likes but back then it was common practice. Heck I even get disbelieved looks when I say to youngsters that one man was able to flatten all the landlines during a live television event. Seriously, it happened !!

In 15 years, a lot has changed for each and everyone of us. Some for the better and some for the worse but I always kept my eye on TSL and its development but sadly after 2,5 years of absolute silence from the team (last official word regarding TSL was January 2019), I am no longer going to wait episode 5. If the episode is going to happen, I won't be one of the first who downloads it if I can bother myself to download it. It's been so long since I last player TSL, I just probably let it linger in memory . . .
It seems totally incredible to me now that everyone spent that evening as though it were just like any other. From the railway station came the sound of shunting trains, ringing and rumbling, softened almost into melody by the distance ...

Jack Stryker

Quote from: GrahamRocks! on June 01, 2021, 08:01:55 PM
To be fair here... KatieHal is probably really busy right now, because she's not only had a kid but also is apparently writing a book.

Oh, her too?  I've written one myself.  It's called A Sorceress Reconstructed, and it's available on Amazon.  It's actually part 1 of a planned trilogy.  The second book is nearly done, but I'm waiting until after I get a few other bills paid, before I order its cover.

Shalkar

What happened to this topic? Is the team still working on the game?

Shalkar

What does it take for you phenoix to complete the 5th chapter and release it 🤔

It's a good enough game for us to play chapter 5 to complete the story.

Shalkar

threej_lc

I love how there's 5 - 10 of us still straggling along here.  We're not actually expecting Episode 5, or even an update, anymore.  We are simply the remnant who hold vigil over the lost memory. 

♫How will I find this game of mine,
Taken from me for some time?
Here I stand near my pool of tears.
Here I'll stay throughout thy years. ♫

GrahamRocks!

#675
I'm still here. I may not talk nearly as much as I used to on here, but I haven't left entirely yet. :)

Numbers

I still check in every day. There's just nothing to say anymore.
I have no mouth, and I must scream.

Enchantermon

Same here. And I plan to keep checking until it's either released or we're officially told that it's not coming.
So what if I am, huh? Anyways, I work better when I'm drunk. It makes me fearless! If I see a bad guy, I'll just point my sword at him and saaaaaaaaaay, "Hey! Bad guy! You're not s'posed to be here! Go home or I'll stick you with my sword 'til you go, 'Ouch! I'm dead!' Ah-ha-ha!" Ha-ha. *hic* See? Ain't no one gonna be messin' wit' ol', Benny!

jen

I'm still here too :)  I don't usually log in since I don't post often, but I check this thread often, and will until the episode is released or it is officially announced scrapped

MarkoH01

Still here as well. Sometimes I even forget about Episode 5 but then I remember how much I would love to play it and as long as they don't say that it's cancelled I still have hope that it will one day come out ... because why should they lie to us? They could as well say that they tried everything but that it is just not going to happen - we would leave this thread and that would be it it. We would not abandon POS becuse of that so yes ... hope is still there.