Winter has come.

[Sir Perceval of Daventry]

I haven't been a fan of KQ as long as some have. My ride with King's Quest started in 1995, as an eager four and a half year old. I discovered King's Quest when my family got our first computer. My father found King's Quest V--it intrigued him.

He brought it home and somehow he and I began playing it. Everyday, I'd play it after school, whenever I could. My father and I would complete the games together, and through it, according to him, my ability to read was enhanced. We bonded through the games, too, sitting at the computer in my parents' room, with the King's Quest Companion in hand, playing the games. It quickly became something I dearly loved, it became I suppose an obsession, a lot of emotions were tied to it, and over the next year or two, from '95 through '97, we got all of the available KQ games. We got the '94 Collection, the individual games, my father made me a King Graham doll, modified from an Aladdin doll, complete with his Adventurer's Cap, cloak, and amulet from KQV; he made me a Cedric stuffed animal.....It became so that a punishment for any misbehavior by me would be that I wasn't allowed to play King's Quest--that's how much I loved those games. Beyond KQ, I became a lover of all things Sierra. We bought a good many Sierra games--The SQ series, Slater and Charlie Go Camping, others.

I watched the videos of interviews with Ken and Roberta with rapt attention as a child...They became for me what Walt Disney must've been for a child growing up in the 1950s. I idolized Roberta as this awesome person who made these amazing stories. And Ken reminded me of Walt Disney--even down to the mustache. As a child, I hoped to someday work at Sierra. Hell, the games even infected my dreams--I can recall childhood dreams wherein I was on an adventure with King Graham and Cedric.

After all this, then there was the long and exciting (at least for me) wait for KQ8, and I longed for it to be basically KQ5 or KQ6 Part II, I envisioned that a future King's Quest would star Alex and Cassima's children, only to have KQ8 be what it was, and for it to work on our computer--our computer ran too slow to play it properly. And after that, my love for the series died down. My love of the series fall into a slumber, one might say.....

Then, a few years later, around the summer of 2002, after drifting around with several other game series (Baldur's Gate and Kingdom Hearts in particular), I found all my old KQ game CDs in a box and replayed them all for the first time in several years. I looked up any new involving King's Quest and came upon a site and forum discussing a game called "King's Quest IX"--Which eventually evolved to be what we call The Silver Lining.

Around the same time, I discovered the AGDI (then called Tierra) remakes of KQ1 and KQ2.

And still at the same time, rumors abounded that Sierra was interested in reviving the Quest series themselves. Ken Williams was meeting with the new head of Sierra and getting information and giving advice. Sierra seemed to have new life in it's veins; Hell, they even began to use the Half Dome logo again. It seemed like the Sierra of old was coming back....And then in 2004, Sierra's offices at Bellevue were suddenly shuttered and Sierra was for all intents and purposes dead. It would remain as a soulless shell of it' former self for several more years--essentially as simply a brand which Vivendi used to market their products, but with no real employees or studios behind the name.

Yet in spite of this, the fan community continued on. TSL seemed to be closer and closer to completion each year, in spite of a cease and desist order in 2005. Their overcoming the cease and desist seemed to have given hope to other groups. I saw groups such as IA spring up and release their own remakes, I saw Akril's amazing KQ9 story released as an interactive novel, I watched a lot of interesting projects (KQ8 remakes, KQ4 remakes, games based on the KQ novels) rise and fall. I saw a ton of other Sierra fan projects--many relating to Space Quest--come and go.

The period from 2002 to about 2011 seemed to be a fan fueled revival. King's Quest was NOT dead...It was simply in the hands of the fans. There were down times during this period, for sure, but there was always SOMETHING going on--something to look forward to. Some little light of hope to follow, even if it was distant and dim.

Now, it seems, we're in the dead of winter. Sierra is now totally non-existant, even as a brand, rolled into Activision. Activision's own future is in doubt and as such so are the fate of the Sierra properties and probably any existing arrangements with the fan groups could be put into legal limbo as a result. AGDI will no longer make any Sierra related projects. IA is dead, at least as a company creating Sierra IP projects; they've moved on to commercial, original products. TSL seems to be on hold at the moment, or at least, will not come out anytime soon, as Phoenix is focused also on original projects. Other KQ and Sierra related projects have faded from view and have either ceased production or simply fallen to dust before even truly entering production. Telltale's game seems, at least on surface appearance, to be dead. Stillborn.

Winter has come to the KQ community and I cannot imagine a bleaker period on all fronts, except for perhaps the 1999-2002 period. There is literally no activity, no spark, no passion, nothing to be excited over.

We can either let this winter continue--Let KQ, Sierra, and it's titles--fade just to memory, just to , crumble to dust, consign them to our pasts...Or we can reignite the community. There are great, brilliant, creative minds in this community who only need partnership or collaborators or inspiration or confidence. There are still tales waiting to be told from the world of Daventry, but only if there are those out there willing to tell them to us.

We can either write a new chapter in the long story of King's Quest, Sierra, and it's other franchises...Or we can finally admit defeat, admit that the forces of time and the forces of corruption and greed which killed Sierra, the adventure genre, and King's Quest have won, and then fall away and move on.

Or, we can perhaps remember how great and bright things seemed just a few years ago and realize it only seemed so bright because of people like us. Because of people who were willing to believe in King's Quest, who were willing to sacrifice time and effort into bringing new stories to life. The choice is ours to make...

I have made mine. I am willing to aid, support, endorse, help out and promote any KQ or other Sierra franchise fan project, no matter what direction or form it takes--Whether it be a game like KQ7, a game like TSL, or Mask of Eternity Part II. My mind is more open now than it ever was. I am willing to work on a KQ project, myself, if I can get help from others. I do not want to witness the final death of King's Quest, and it doesn't have to happen now. We can still resurrect it on our own, just as TSL, IA, AGDI and other groups did over the years. We can sacrifice just as they did, just as Sierra's employees did, and create something wonderful which will bring delight to others. Sacrifice is something many do not want to make, but it is the sacrifice of long hours and resources made by others which brought us AGDI's remakes, TSL, IA's remakes, and the original King's Quest games themselves.

The choice is for all of you to make. We can either step up and continue King's Quest ourselves, as individuals or as new groups, spawning from the ashes of groups old and defunct--no one else will do it for us at this point. We cannot depend on TT or Activision. We can bring ourselves up the way IA, TSL, and AGDI did, and tell the untold tales of King's Quest. We can breathe new life into this series ourselves. Or we can let it die, put it in the ground and move on. We must have closure in some way, whatever decision we as the community make....It is up to us as individuals and as a community, to decide. The future seems bleak...but it is in our hands.

[Rosella]

Wow. That was very, very...impassioned.

Now, I have a question. When you talk about how IA is dead and all of these fan groups have moved on, do you really not think that that's in the spirit of King's Quest? I mean, sure, there isn't much in the way of new adventures for our favorite royal family, but think about what there is. Phoenix is making Cognition, which looks awesome and is getting tons of media attention (and with good reason). Infamous Adventures has a super exciting game based on Quest for Glory that, from what I understand, has pretty much been Bt's dream project since before their remake of KQ3 even came out. It's not King's Quest, but in this Kickstarter age, adventure games are entering a renaissance.

You talk about supporting any KQ-like game, whether it be the Disney-ish style of KQ7 or even a Mask of Eternity sequel, and I honestly don't see how a lot of these games are very far off. The Two Guys from Andromeda have a brand new SpaceVenture they're working on. Leisure Suit Larry is getting remade with new content, with Al Lowe on board. Jane Jensen has Pinkerton Studio going strong. The Coles are rumored to have a Kickstarter in the works as well.

And even ignoring the mindblowing reaction from the original adventure game greats to Kickstarter, AGS is still a wonderful little engine that enables pretty much anyone with a strong vision and decent art and programming skills to create an adventure game (see A Tale of Two Kingdoms, 5 Days a Stranger for some of my favorites).

The King's Quest name may not be very active (though TSL is still coming out), but the fandom and the genre are going strong. IA and Phoenix aren't making commercial games because they want to be rich (I'm sure people as talented and hard-working as they are could find much more direct paths to that); they want to be able to support themselves so they can give their all to creating games they have a passion for. People are sacrificing time and effort into bringing new stories to life, and with Kickstarter, more and more things are happening every day.

Of course, if you don't think this is enough, like I said, AGS is a really wonderful little engine. If you have passion and drive, get people together. Make something. Take matters into your own hands, but even if you don't, trust me on this: this isn't winter. This is spring.

[Jafar]

Technically, it's Autumn...

[GrahamRocks!]

Way to ruin the moment, Jafar. Sir Percival, don't give up! Graham isn't hanging up his adventurer's cap yet... because, like the legendary Phoenix itself, we shall rise from the ashes once more if it kills us!

[Bludshot]

First off I'd like to say I appreciate that you divided your wall of text into paragraphs, something we see too little of on message boards.

I really don't see the need to keep the franchise alive, there were eight games for goodness sake.  Fan remakes and sequels are nice, but I am glad that time and effort is being put into new ideas like Cognition.  Rehashing the past can only do so much for the genre.

I may have liked the Gabriel Knight series for example, but I am glad Jane Jensen's kickstarter project will pursue new IPs.  Gaming is already starting to look way to much like the movie industry with decade old remakes and necessary sequels, I'll take all the fresh ideas I can get.

[Deloria]

First off I'd like to say I appreciate that you divided your wall of text into paragraphs, something we see too little of on message boards.

lol on the Baggins-channeling.

Technically, it's Autumn...

But the days are getting shorter and winter is approaching. Odd how the season never seems to change in Mordavia.

You know, there is always fan-fiction if you're desperate to create but don't have the skills to put a whole game together yourself. StoryNexus is a wonderful little thing that allows you to make your own text adventure and its tools will be going public next month.

[crayauchtin]

Not to mention, the entire series is now available on GoG.com (as are most of Sierra's adventure games by now) and as far as I know, TellTale is still going to producing a King's Quest reboot.

That's part of why there's been a decline in King's Quest fan-projects. Now that Activision is making money from the games via GoG.com and a new professional, you-have-to-pay-for-it game is coming out (some day) they're now allowing new fan projects.

I know you're very passionate, Percival, but I feel like you're not totally up-to-date on the situation you're addressing.

[darthkiwi]

I'm also not sure how many more games are needed. There are remakes for 1, 2 and 3 which include voice acting, music and VGA-style images, and I don't think 5, 6, 7 or MoE need to be remade. (Well, it would be great if MoE were tweaked or modded, but to remake it for the sake of that would be quite a big task for quite a small gain).

KQ4 would certainly benefit from a remake, but the gap in quality isn't as broad as between the early and VGA games. I find that I'm perfectly happy playing 4 as it is. But, if someone did do a remake they might be able to draw all the disparate elements (Cupid, Pandora's box, the haunted mansion) into a cohesive narrative, which would probably be a good thing.

I would personally love to see a well-done MoE sequel, but there are three problems:

1) It would have to be in 3D (otherwise it wouldn't be a MoE sequel), and 3D is always harder and more time-consuming than 2D. So as a fan project, that's a problem.

2) Related to this: I'm not sure that a fan game could do a really good job of a third-person 3D action-adventure game - at least not a great deal better than Sierra originally did with MoE. And while I do like MoE, I think one of the goals of a fan sequel would have to be that you'd improve on the original.

3) I might want a MoE sequel, but I'm pretty sure nobody else does. Non-KQ fans won't be interested, and KQ fans... uh... well...

And I'm sorry but I can't resist:

Winter is coming.

[Blackthorne]

I'll note - 2D is NOT easier than 3D.


Bt

[GrahamRocks!]

Wait... darthkiwi, you actually like MoE?! Uhh... care to explain why? Because not many people can say that. That seems just as rare as someone saying "I don't hate Cedric the Owl."

[Jafar]

I don't hate Cedric the Owl...

[wilco64256]

I'll note - 2D is NOT easier than 3D.


Bt

I second this. And third it. And so on. Though I probably would have made the same assumption in the past, it isn't actually the case.

[Lambonius]

MASK OF ETERNITY IS NOT A REAL KINGS QUEST GAME.

[Blackthorne]

MASK OF ETERNITY IS NOT A REAL KINGS QUEST GAME.

There's no Baggins here to infuriate and wring a wall of text out of.


Bt

[KatieHal]

Just people who will mostly agree with you

and yeah, 2D is no easier than 3D--both have their own challenges. It's been interesting working in 2.5D for Cognition--every camera that gets set up has to be considered for how much time it'll take and how much we'll use it, because each camera needs its own unique background created. Whereas in TSL, with the whole world being in 3D, we had more room to play with cameras, but on the flipside, the whole set had to be created instead of only needing to create certain backgrounds.

And that's only one aspect of it!

I don't think Winter has come (but of course, Winter is coming! hee), I think adventure games are seeing a great Renaissance right now. Remakes, new games, continuations. And that may or may not include a new official King's Quest game, but either way I don't think it's necessarily "too much" or "a bad thing". It all depends on the quality of the games, across the board.

That said, hey, if another group wants to make another unofficial KQ game, go for it and best of luck to you!

[Bludshot]

MASK OF ETERNITY IS NOT A REAL KINGS QUEST GAME.

There's no Baggins here to infuriate and wring a wall of text out of.


Bt

Just people who will mostly agree with you

In the interest of heated discussion we just have to out agree him.

MASK OF ETERNITY IS NOT A REAL GAME.

[Sir Perceval of Daventry]

Wow. That was very, very...impassioned.

Now, I have a question. When you talk about how IA is dead and all of these fan groups have moved on, do you really not think that that's in the spirit of King's Quest? I mean, sure, there isn't much in the way of new adventures for our favorite royal family, but think about what there is. Phoenix is making Cognition, which looks awesome and is getting tons of media attention (and with good reason). Infamous Adventures has a super exciting game based on Quest for Glory that, from what I understand, has pretty much been Bt's dream project since before their remake of KQ3 even came out. It's not King's Quest, but in this Kickstarter age, adventure games are entering a renaissance.

You talk about supporting any KQ-like game, whether it be the Disney-ish style of KQ7 or even a Mask of Eternity sequel, and I honestly don't see how a lot of these games are very far off. The Two Guys from Andromeda have a brand new SpaceVenture they're working on. Leisure Suit Larry is getting remade with new content, with Al Lowe on board. Jane Jensen has Pinkerton Studio going strong. The Coles are rumored to have a Kickstarter in the works as well.

And even ignoring the mindblowing reaction from the original adventure game greats to Kickstarter, AGS is still a wonderful little engine that enables pretty much anyone with a strong vision and decent art and programming skills to create an adventure game (see A Tale of Two Kingdoms, 5 Days a Stranger for some of my favorites).

Yes, it is a great time for the adventure genre as a whole, overall. It's just simply not a good time for the Sierra titles. It's cool that some of the designers from Sierra are doing new projects...But I guess I don't have the emotional investment in an utterly new world and characters that I do with the old Sierra games. I'm sure the SpaceVenture game and Jane Jensen's games will be great, as will Cognition, and Infamous Quests...But it's not the same. In my OP, when I say supporting a "KQ-like game." I don't mean one inspired by KQ only in spirit, I mean like a fan sequel or prequel, whatever the direction it takes--Whether it is a fan KQ like KQ7 in tone or like KQ8 in style. None of the Sierra series ever got a truly fulfilling end. They all stopped at sequels which are considered subpar or at anticlimaxes. I suppose I want in part closure, and I also want in part to see some of my favorite video game characters in new adventures. I have almost two decades worth of passion for King's Quest, for Sierra and it's other series. I am sure all the new adventure games coming out will be good...But it's not the same.

[Blackthorne]

It hasn't been a good time for Sierra Titles in almost 14 friggin' years, man.  They've only been kept alive by people who devoted hundreds of thousands of man-hours for free.  Unless you're the Egyptian Empire and you have a handy supply of slaves, you can't keep that kind of free labor up forever.


Bt

[inm8#2]

OP - don't lose hope. This is a great time for adventures. We are dawning on a new era!

Rejoice!

[Bludshot]

None of the Sierra series ever got a truly fulfilling end. They all stopped at sequels which are considered subpar or at anticlimaxes. I suppose I want in part closure, and I also want in part to see some of my favorite video game characters in new adventures.

I will never understand why some people need closure from King's Quest, they are all goofy titles with contained stories.  It's not like the series was leading up to something great before it ended. 

The games are based on fairy tales for goodness sakes, the obvious closure is "then they all lived happily ever after."