TSL Updates!

[Numbers]

Obscure Star Wars Holiday Special shout-out ftw.

It may just be me, but I feel like the Holiday Special isn't obscure anymore. With JonTron and Nostalgia Critic and many others reviewing and commentating on it; surely everyone knows about it by now?

The joke is that the Wookiee's actual name is Lumpy; I don't think NC, Chris Stuckmann or the others actually called them by their real names. JonTron might have. but I haven't seen his riff on it yet.

[snabbott]

Because thankfully someone was actually testing this week.

[Chrury]

Update:
Things have slowed even more. Only had three bugs to deal with this week.
I've put my animators on break. We simply don't have anything for them to do right now.
The guy who was helping me export Valanice's animations hasn't been online for a week plus. I know he has a new job to deal with, I hope that's all it is. In the meantime, Valanice still folds in on herself about a third of the time.
At director's request, I've made a huge list of what every scene needs to move forward. Let's hope that'll provide some direction.

[Shalkar]

When will the gae (episode 5) be done? Man oh man I been waiting an awful long time an still very little to no progress. I am tired of waiting since episode 4 in 2012. That's crazy, really?! How can this be? I am tired of this cliff hanger it's very depressing waiting so long it might not even be worth the wait. Wait to long, different ideas get added an tossed aside might as well get it over with.

My hair will turn gray by the time this game will be done. Come on Phenoix someone please shed some light on this.

GrahamRocks: no I am not cool with you you are very rude to me. Just wanted to let you know.

[Chrury]

I am tired of waiting since episode 4 in 2012.

I know, right? How do you think we feel? This nagging buggy feeling that it needs to be worked on when we honestly can't is the pits.

My hair will turn gray by the time this game will be done. Come on Phenoix someone please shed some light on this.

What do you want to know that hasn't been said a number of times already?
It will be done when it's ready.
It will be ready when we can manage time to work on everything that's left.
The only reason I've been able to do all I've been able to is because I don't have a life. That doesn't fly for most people and even I have to figure out something else really soon. Everyone else on the team is either a student or working full-time elsewhere to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table.
We can't just "hire" more people to help us finish it because there are dependencies. (We actually had to turn down a couple volunteers in early January, as there wouldn't be enough work to give them.) Some require director level decision making, others are complicated. That's why our animators are on break.

This has all been said, or at least implied, a number of times before. Is there anything I'm missing?

Yes, it will be finished. No, we don't know when. I can't speak for everyone but for me, it's a punch in the gut every day that I can't work on it. I understand that waiting is hard, but please, try to word your queries in a way that won't aggravate. (Proper spelling and punctuation helps.) This is stressful, yo.

[GrahamRocks!]

The reason as to why I rag on you so much, Shalkar, is because this right here- you constantly asking "When is the next episode due? Work faster, dammit! We've waited years for this, so hurry up!"... is ALL that you do. Nearly every post you make is asking that same question, every few months. And you keep getting the same answer: it'll be done when it's done. You're persistent to the point of irritation sometimes because you just repeat things ad nausium and are never satisfied with the team's answers to you, because in a few months, you're back at it again.

Yes, Phoenix IS taking a long time for episode 5 (and I'm riding on the wait being worth it), but bitching and moaning and whining about how it's not here yet is not going to help matters. If anything, it's probably stressing everyone out more because they might be thinking "OH GOD, IF WE DON'T FINISH SOON NOBODY WILL BUY OUR STUFF ANYMORE BECAUSE WE TOOK TOO DAMN LONG!" So please, just stop.

We're all getting tired of waiting, but only you actually post about it. Most of us keep it to ourselves, and spend time playing other games and living life while we wait.

[Numbers]

Shalkar, are you serious? Are you really getting mad at GrahamRocks for saying it how it is? Are you actually telling her she's the one being rude when you're being completely blind to your own social ineptitude? And then pestering the team even when they do provide updates? I repeat, are you serious?

[Chrury]

Alright, let's not derail the thread. Question asked, answered, and commented on. Let's move on.

Small note I forgot to mention: our lumpy prop is making progress. We're not sold on the texture yet but it's smoother while still being lumpy.

And I'm more than happy to answer questions if it doesn't involve touchy subjects or spoilers. Anything specific come to mind?

[GrahamRocks!]

Wow, it's so weird to see you defend me, Numbers. 0_o

Anyway, yeah. Let's move on. Sorry about that.

The only question I have might not even apply to you since it doesn't sound like you're in that department. Do things end happily? Will this adventure be worth it in the end for both myself and Graham? Are things better off or worse in the ending?

[Chrury]

The only question I have might not even apply to you since it doesn't sound like you're in that department. Do things end happily? Will this adventure be worth it in the end for both myself and Graham? Are things better off or worse in the ending?

You can put your mind at ease. My opinion, the adventure is SO worth it.
And no "To be continued" garbage. Can you even imagine? No no, the end is perfect.

[Numbers]

Wow, it's so weird to see you defend me, Numbers. 0_o

I, like you, am a human being. I'm not on your side all of the time, nor am I 100% against you all of the time. We have opposing views on TOG's KQ, but that doesn't mean I can't agree with you on certain aspects of it. Hell, I was on Rock Knight's side regarding TOG up until he started acting like the world was over because of my "review" of it. I consider his actions in the wake of my attitude towards it to be my greatest mistake on this forum, and so I am staying far away from TOG's KQ for the time being. I still have no idea what happens in the second episode.

You can put your mind at ease. My opinion, the adventure is SO worth it.
And no "To be continued" garbage. Can you even imagine? No no, the end is perfect.

Just don't give us a Mass Effect 3 ending, and it'll be cool.

[GrahamRocks!]

I, like you, am a human being. I'm not on your side all of the time, nor am I 100% against you all of the time. We have opposing views on TOG's KQ, but that doesn't mean I can't agree with you on certain aspects of it.

Yep! We both like Achaka for example. We might as well turn our opposing views on KQ7 into an in-joke at this point.

Hell, I was on Rock Knight's side regarding TOG up until he started acting like the world was over because of my "review" of it.

*nods sadly*
I found your review thorough and funny, but it didn't change my mind on the game. Though it DID make me consider a few things, like why DOES Gart have a british accent? That's a good point.

You can put your mind at ease. My opinion, the adventure is SO worth it.
And no "To be continued" garbage. Can you even imagine? No no, the end is perfect.

Katie said the same thing. I'm putting my trust in you guys.

Well of course there's no "TBC"... this IS the last episode, after all. And I highly doubt you're planning a sequel since this meant to be a big finale for the series. Wouldn't make sense.

I consider his actions in the wake of my attitude towards it to be my greatest mistake on this forum, and so I am staying far away from TOG's KQ for the time being.

I can respect that. On the plus side of doing that, you won't have to wait to play more episodes and can just play them all back to back kind of like me and TSL. And hey, at least we're friends (or at least friendly rivals) now in the wake of it. Never would have thought that'd happen.

I still have no idea what happens in the second episode.

And I won't spoil anything for you unless you ask me. Well... I guess you technically WERE spoiled on a few things already due to the thread for episode 2 going up, mostly by me. Oops. Sorry.

[daventry]

Will Episode 5 be long and really special, i dont want to play it and finish it in an Hour and think this is what we waited 5 years after Episode 4

Its like KQ2015 where Episode 1 was long and awesome, but when Episode 2 came out, it was short and quick and repetitive with going back and forth and i still dont get whats going on.

I have a feeling TSL Ep5 will be Amazing in Graphics wise, but its the Gameplay that has me worried.

[Chrury]

Will Episode 5 be long and really special, i dont want to play it and finish it in an Hour and think this is what we waited 5 years after Episode 4

That's a harder answer to pin down. The way we play and playtest the game is very different from how you all will eventually play it. We're either meticulously checking things multiple times, jumping around with saves to check bugs, or going through as fast as possible for an overview. Add to that that testers still haven't made it to the credits yet, (come on guys, the QTEs aren't that hard) and you can see how it would be hard for us to give you an "X hours of gameplay" estimate.

It's certainly more than an hour though. The genre-savvy among you might get through the intro in ~30 minutes but that's maybe a fifth of the episode, max. The main section of the game is also less straight-forward than the intro. Even with that walkthrough I wrote; testers still manage to get lost. :p "Hey where's that thing again?"

Still in dev though. I can think of a few places where we need to add better/longer cinematics for clarity and story purposes. We'll make sure they aren't annoying, promise. 

[Numbers]

We might as well turn our opposing views on KQ7 into an in-joke at this point.

You: KQ7 is great!
Me: Nuh-uh!
*stalemate*

And I won't spoil anything for you unless you ask me. Well... I guess you technically WERE spoiled on a few things already due to the thread for episode 2 going up, mostly by me. Oops. Sorry.

It doesn't matter if you spoil things for me, honestly. I'm not emotionally invested in it enough to care right now. Me continuing to rag on it would just be a waste of my energy and everyone else's patience, so I'm just going to leave it be.

(come on guys, the QTEs aren't that hard)

I have to laugh at the people complaining about the QTEs in TSL. They are so damn easy to figure out. If the QTE section in episode 3 is too fast for you, you probably shouldn't be playing video games. The QTEs in episode 4 are only slightly harder, leaning more on the tedious side in the first such puzzle, and an unintuitive interface in the second puzzle. They still only took me a couple tries to complete.

[GrahamRocks!]

I found the tower sequence in episode 3 to be my favorite part of the episode, actually! The music helped.

[Numbers]

Oh, absolutely. That part was amazing.

[Signore Buchelli]

There has been a tricky week around here. 

Yes, it will be finished. No, we don't know when. I can't speak for everyone but for me, it's a punch in the gut every day that I can't work on it. I understand that waiting is hard, but please, try to word your queries in a way that won't aggravate. (Proper spelling and punctuation helps.) This is stressful, yo.

Take it easy, please. Cheer up! Your updates show an adequate progress and I appreciate too much your selfless/altruist work. THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!! 

Still in dev though. I can think of a few places where we need to add better/longer cinematics for clarity and story purposes. We'll make sure they aren't annoying, promise. 

I love very long cinematics, as the Intros of TSL Ep.1 and Monkey Island 3. 

[GrahamRocks!]

We got your back!

[beernutts]

16 years I've been following this project, and it's not yet done.  Yes, I remember finding kq9.org in the year 2000, and was ultra excited.  But, time goes on, my passions change, and, from playing kq1 on a IBM PC Jr. in 1984, I have followed all things KQ, but now, I find I don't think I'll even play the final chapter(s) if they are released.

I'm glad there are still KQ fans tho, the game is possibly responsible for my career now, and it's great a younger generation has stuck to it.

Good luck all, and have fun developing.