To everyone who thinks the episode is too short and with not enough puzzles

[Cez]

Please point everyone to this thread.

Hey all,

We know it. The episode is short and easy. We should not be giving excuses as to why it is short and easy, but let me do some explaining.

There were 2 chapters we were working on. Chapter 1 and Chapter 2. Chapter 1 was meant as a long winded introduction that was meant to welcome you back to the world of King's Quest and just get you completely set up. Chapter 2 throws all the gameplay and puzzles at you.

When we decided to break Chapter 1 and 2 into episodes, Chapter 1 naturally became Episode 1. Extending it towards sections of what is Episode 2 didn't feel right, so we made the call to make it its own episode. There was talks at the time of making it "longer" with more puzzles, etc, but if we did that, we probably wouldn't be releasing today.

As it stands, I love this episode because it doesn't only invite the old fans back, but for those that are curious about the world of King's Quest, and have never played the game before, or are casual gamers, is a very cinematic episode that they can experience quickly.

Now, once you get to Episode 2, we will break the linearity. You will have goals that you can meet in the order you want, and there will be a lot more characters to interact with.

I am very grateful that everyone has loved the episode. And I feel you when you say it's short. It was our one big concern. But fear not, Episode 2 will remedy much of this!

Thanks!
Cez

[Stratos]

I thought it was a great episode to start the series off. Sure it was short but it did it's job well. I loved the little nods to the old games. Looking forward to playing the rest.

[Sundoulos]

The first episode was wonderful.   You all should feel very, very proud of what you've accomplished, though I'm sure that you don't need me to tell you that.

I'll admit that I was a little surprised and disappointed when the first chapter was over; but that's because I was captivated and really just wanted more!   It was great going back to the Land of the Green Isles, even if it was rainy.  Seeing Graham and all the other characters was truly like seeing or hearing from a group of long-lost friends!

Thank you so much for all of your hard work!

[Big C from Cauney island]

Big C once again.

    I figured from previous postings that episode one was going to be the shortest of the chapters from the get go, really more of an introduction to new and old school gamers to get an idea of whats to come.  The fact that people say it was shorter just shows how much they crave for the rest!  I know in the forums it said that episode 1 was the shortest (1-2 hours), it might have been good to let interview sites know that it was more of an introduction, and expect the gameplay and length in episodes 2-5.  But absolutely make no mistake, phoenix has done justice to Kings quest in ways most people only dreamed.  If episode one is a GLIMPSE at whats to come, I can't imagine whats ahead!  So, to everyone giving their opinions, keep in mind exactly what Cez said above.  It was a design decision it sounds like.  I was absolutely shocked to play it, regardless of length, of course wanting more. Who wouldn't? Set the stage perfectly.  Absolutely unbelievable, Phoenix. Really, you guys did it.  And believe me, we all want more!

[Gog]

Is there any chance of publishing a release schedule?  I am busy downloading chapter 1, but is so excited that the legend is reborn again and that this could be the start again of the KQ series, the SQ and PQ series as well.  I do not mind paying for any of the coming chapters, as long as they keep coming!!

[A.R.C.C.]

Heh, I figured as much TBH.

What does bother me a little is the lack of danger and "sudden death" options. I'm just so used to everything trying to kill me in these games. This might be the first King's Quest in which it's impossible to die in the first 30 seconds (if not, it's definitely the first in which the first minute is safe).

It's really not putting the Fear of Unsaved Games into me.

All that aside, I love it. It's beautiful, colorful, emotional (for me), and true to the Quest. It's short, but very, very sweet.

[liggy002]

It's not impossible to die through the whole episode though.  If you try ignoring the narrator under at least one circumstance, you will die.  I'm not sure if there are any other ways to die.  I need to explore this more.

[wilco64256]

Only one way to die in this episode, though I would have appreciated being able to fall out of the tree and get dizzy.

[Animan]

Short yes, very beautiful.

I do get that it is an intro and I'm sure many would have appreciated exploring non-necessary areas.

At least the game's introduction is launched.

Limited interaction and no fear of demise. Unless I missed how ...
<<I really wanted a classic-esque Sierra death scene ... like the spelling misadventures in KQ3>>

Lovely though and very nicely done. The narrator voice crosses somewhat into annoying ... just as it is supposed to. A fine line well balanced.

Thank you.

[wilco64256]

Short yes, very beautiful.

I do get that it is an intro and I'm sure many would have appreciated exploring non-necessary areas.

At least the game's introduction is launched.

Limited interaction and no fear of demise. Unless I missed how ...
<<I really wanted a classic-esque Sierra death scene ... like the spelling misadventures in KQ3>>

Lovely though and very nicely done. The narrator voice crosses somewhat into annoying ... just as it is supposed to. A fine line well balanced.

Thank you.

Think of places where you could die as Alexander early on in KQ6.  One of those is still as dangerous as ever, though there's nobody pretending it's safe this time around.

[Haids1987]

Thanks Cesar, well put.

[HardCore74]

'Just finished episode 1.  Wow, what a flood of memories!  Thanks to all the devs on this.  It brought me back to the days of the trusty Tandy 1000EX - guiding Graham around Daventry in KQ1.  What a wonderful job you guys have done pulling us back into the adventure!  I can't wait for the next episode!  Well, I guess I'm off to reload the "previous" episodes.  I look forward to that feeling of "You can't do that here."   ..."OK FINE highlight the next hint!" again...

[Shmargin]

OK, I feel compelled to respond to this because in the feedback section I said the game was too short, and lacked puzzles.

In restrospect, and reading this post, what youre doing makes sense. BUT, I agree with someone else who said, maybe calling it a Prologue or Introduction would have made more sense.

BUT, hindsight is always 20/20 so, I know theres not much at this point to be done, other than saying Chapter 1 is really short, and Chapter 2 will have more puzzles.

Keep in mind everyone, length was really my only complaint, when it was over, I was a little shocked. But you guys completely out did yourselves on everything else. It was YEARS AND YEARS ago when i first came across this project, and never ever imagined it would come out, let alone come out this good.

The way the game handles camera work, with clicking around and having the camera follow, makes perfect sense, and completely modernizes the old school point and click adventure, in ways that other, larger companies, are barely keeping up with.

The developers should always remember, the reason people were disappointed by how short it was, is because they loved everything they saw and wanted more of it. If it was a bad game, no one would have complained about it being short. The game is beautiful and being well executed.

Phoenix Online Studios should be applauded by the fan community, and by larger companies that have failed to modernize the adventure genre as well as POS (lol at the acronym) has. Episode 1 plays and looks BETTER than most commercial endeavors out there, and if the series gets better as episodes progress, then this maybe the best modern adventure game out there.

I look forward to Episode 2 guys (and the briefly mentioned new adventure game coming soon), and remember, great job!

[daventry]

I assumed going to the Sacred Isle, we would have to solve the Wall Puzzle like Alexander did, instead there are Stairs. 

The significance of a Test, is to let Mortals fall to their Deaths you know. 

Puzzle 101 

[wilco64256]

I'd say a major purpose of the cliffs of logic previously was just copy protection since you needed the manual to solve the puzzles.

[B'rrr]

yea, they weren't that hard, wasn't even a timelimit on it I think? just get your manual and look for it 

[Darkbulb]

I am very grateful that everyone has loved the episode. And I feel you when you say it's short. It was our one big

I fear that breaking it up in two parts and letting this first episode be the what you are exposed to was, sorry, a huge mistake. I've already had two people on Twitter telling me how it was a let-down to them and that they wanted a game and not an interactive movie.

I understand, sort of, your explanation but I still feel that releasing this 'intro' as a stand-alone episode was a huge mistake as it IS setting the tone of what to expect...and it did NOT give me a sense of a game with puzzles and without a very linear plot.

I posted my positive and negative feedback here: http://www.postudios.com/blog/forum/index.php?topic=8806.0

Once again, thanks for the efforts in this fanbased sequel but it did not..sorry..make me too excited to see any upcoming episodes. I really wish you had not released just an 'intro'.

[wilco64256]

Releasing a smaller first episode also gives us a chance to discover and resolve surprise technical issues so we can be confident future episodes will run better.

[Darkbulb]

Releasing a smaller first episode also gives us a chance to discover and resolve surprise technical issues so we can be confident future episodes will run better.

I'm sorry but that's a horrible "reason" and I'm disappointed, if you are part of the development team to even hear you say that - and to state it as if it's fact.

a) There's a testing crew mentioned in the credits,
b) If need for more diverse testing increase that crew. I'm sure there would be an army of people willing to do so,
c) Releasing something as finished in order to gather more info on how it runs is never a good/feasible idea regardless of if it's free or commercial (and I've worked on a number of freeware initiatives).

[wilco64256]

I didn't say that was part of the reason for the shorter release, just that it's been nice to have a short episode to be working with.

And no matter how much testing you do on a PC-based game, when you release it you will encounter scenarios that you never could have possibly tested for.

Personally I would have liked more playtime and more puzzles as well, but I know that's coming and this has been a great starting point.

Oh and I'm not part of the development team, just helping out with tech stuff.