So you want to be a hero?
August 25, 2008 12:11 PM Subscribe
The remake of Quest for Glory II: Trial by Fire is finally finished
The 1990 adventure/rpg game from Sierra has been almost eight years in the making by AGDInteractive Studio, who already remade Sierra's King's Quest I and II. The game is fully integrated into the original series by Sierra, meaning you can import a saved hero from the original first part and continue playing with your character in original part three. The download is about 85 megabytes and the game runs on Windows only.
The 1990 adventure/rpg game from Sierra has been almost eight years in the making by AGDInteractive Studio, who already remade Sierra's King's Quest I and II. The game is fully integrated into the original series by Sierra, meaning you can import a saved hero from the original first part and continue playing with your character in original part three. The download is about 85 megabytes and the game runs on Windows only.
And import/export are supported, which means, I think, that I'm going to be locking myself in for a week. With QFG I, III, and IV, and maybe even V if I can rustle up a copy somewhere.
posted by nasreddin at 12:16 PM on August 25, 2008
posted by nasreddin at 12:16 PM on August 25, 2008
So awesome. I've played I and IV, but not this. I suspect I'm in for a treat.
posted by naju at 12:19 PM on August 25, 2008
posted by naju at 12:19 PM on August 25, 2008
III is the best, by the way, if you can get past all the feel-good early-90s PC crap.
posted by nasreddin at 12:23 PM on August 25, 2008
posted by nasreddin at 12:23 PM on August 25, 2008
Oh yes you are naju! For me, the first two were the most magic of the series. Of course there's a lot of nostalgia blurring my judgement now, but what made Trial by Fire even better than the first was the wonderful and enchanting setting and from what I've seen so far of the remake, the update was fully consistent with my memory of it and enhances it beautifully.
posted by Glow Bucket at 12:23 PM on August 25, 2008
posted by Glow Bucket at 12:23 PM on August 25, 2008
I'll have to set Progress Quest aside for a while and play this instead.
posted by sourwookie at 12:24 PM on August 25, 2008
posted by sourwookie at 12:24 PM on August 25, 2008
QFG I-III are absolutely fantastic. IV and V....not so much. But the first three are gold.
posted by Diskeater at 12:43 PM on August 25, 2008
posted by Diskeater at 12:43 PM on August 25, 2008
Aw yeah - always nice to revisit the old alma mater, WIT.
posted by kid ichorous at 12:43 PM on August 25, 2008
posted by kid ichorous at 12:43 PM on August 25, 2008
And 1-3 suffer from a conspicuous lack of John Rhys-Davies which 4 notably rectifies
posted by kid ichorous at 12:49 PM on August 25, 2008
posted by kid ichorous at 12:49 PM on August 25, 2008
I never actually played Quest For Glory, but considering it's from the guys who did those King's Quest remakes, I'm already downloading it. If it's anything like King's Quest, I'll probably spend the entire evening arguing with the game about what would and would not work. "Just BREAK THE WINDOW you fucking asshole! You're holding a rock! Jesus! What? I need to put the pumpkin on top of that horse, so the witch will turn it into a golden hat? How the hell would I have known that?"
Not, of course, that this will stop me from playing.
posted by Uppity Pigeon #2 at 12:58 PM on August 25, 2008
Not, of course, that this will stop me from playing.
posted by Uppity Pigeon #2 at 12:58 PM on August 25, 2008
Is the first one remade? Or is it just "still available?" I'm having trouble finding out via google for some reason. Appreciate it.
posted by agregoli at 1:00 PM on August 25, 2008
posted by agregoli at 1:00 PM on August 25, 2008
Sweet! I remember writing to the game's creators when I was a wee lad - and got a reply from them! (something about CD-ROM being the upcoming technical advance that will make games so much more awesome)
In QFG2, if you made a new thief character, you could never get the chainmail. So I replayed Hero's Quest as a thief with magic abilities, and picked up the chainmail just so I could import that into QFG2.
So many good memories of those games.
posted by porpoise at 1:33 PM on August 25, 2008
In QFG2, if you made a new thief character, you could never get the chainmail. So I replayed Hero's Quest as a thief with magic abilities, and picked up the chainmail just so I could import that into QFG2.
So many good memories of those games.
posted by porpoise at 1:33 PM on August 25, 2008
On page 2 of their FAQ (can't cut and paste because it's an image), it says that the first one was already remade by Sierra in 1992 and hence they had no reason to remake it again.
posted by dixie flatline at 1:34 PM on August 25, 2008
posted by dixie flatline at 1:34 PM on August 25, 2008
Never did the Sierra games. I do want Day of the Tentacle and the Monkey Island games for OSX or PS3.
posted by infinitewindow at 1:34 PM on August 25, 2008
posted by infinitewindow at 1:34 PM on August 25, 2008
Agrgoli, Sierra did publish an official text-less VGA remake for 1. But the remake was buggy in ways that I imagine could only be worse on modern systems (e.g. the code uses clockspeed-dependent counters). Also, the translation to point-and-click erases some of the charm inherent to text interfaces, wherein tempting fate with commands like "pick nose" would evoke little flashes of (often malicious, always nerdy) personality from the devteam.
On the other hand, the soundtrack receives a nice Gernal MIDI overhaul. Which is a little like saying ringtone overhaul, but it works for me.
I think the QFG Anthology has both versions of 1, and you can find it well-seeded on The Pirate Bay. Insert SIIA disclaimer condemning copyright infringement and Abandonware, yadda yadda.
posted by kid ichorous at 1:39 PM on August 25, 2008 [1 favorite]
On the other hand, the soundtrack receives a nice Gernal MIDI overhaul. Which is a little like saying ringtone overhaul, but it works for me.
I think the QFG Anthology has both versions of 1, and you can find it well-seeded on The Pirate Bay. Insert SIIA disclaimer condemning copyright infringement and Abandonware, yadda yadda.
posted by kid ichorous at 1:39 PM on August 25, 2008 [1 favorite]
Aww, I was hoping it was the sequel to Quest for the Crown.
posted by mikesch at 1:40 PM on August 25, 2008
posted by mikesch at 1:40 PM on August 25, 2008
I do want Day of the Tentacle and the Monkey Island games for OSX or PS3.
ScummVM can do that.
posted by kid ichorous at 1:42 PM on August 25, 2008 [1 favorite]
ScummVM can do that.
posted by kid ichorous at 1:42 PM on August 25, 2008 [1 favorite]
Man, hell yes. I was a huge Sierra player when I was a kid, and since I was also a Cheesecake Fantasy devouring nerd, Hero Quest (errr, Quest For Glory) was always one of my favorites. And, II was my favorite episode in my favorite series. The setting, the scope, the humor. Oh, happy day!
posted by absalom at 1:43 PM on August 25, 2008
posted by absalom at 1:43 PM on August 25, 2008
I love the smell of victory in the morning.....It's smells like....sweat. No, no...oregano....noooo...like Victory! Yea! Victory!...Yea! Yea! That's the ticket.
posted by CheshireCat at 2:10 PM on August 25, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by CheshireCat at 2:10 PM on August 25, 2008 [1 favorite]
Man, hell yes. I was a huge Sierra player when I was a kid, and since I was also a Cheesecake Fantasy devouring nerd, Hero Quest (errr, Quest For Glory) was always one of my favorites. And, II was my favorite episode in my favorite series. The setting, the scope, the humor. Oh, happy day!
Read that as "Cheesecake Factory devouring nerd". Couldn't quite figure out the connection you were trying to make.
posted by BaxterG4 at 2:33 PM on August 25, 2008 [1 favorite]
Read that as "Cheesecake Factory devouring nerd". Couldn't quite figure out the connection you were trying to make.
posted by BaxterG4 at 2:33 PM on August 25, 2008 [1 favorite]
III is the best, by the way, if you can get past all the feel-good early-90s PC crap.
QFG I-III are absolutely fantastic. IV and V....not so much. But the first three are gold.
QFGIII was alright but it seemed much shorter than the others. I like IV better than III for that reason, but IV was buggy as all heck.
posted by juv3nal at 3:10 PM on August 25, 2008
you can import a saved hero from the original first part and continue playing with your character in original part three
WOW!
Also... Space Quest ]I[ was the best. End of argument.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 3:16 PM on August 25, 2008
WOW!
Also... Space Quest ]I[ was the best. End of argument.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 3:16 PM on August 25, 2008
Damn you, Glow Bucket, for beating me to the punch on this one!!!
But just to answer a few questions: You can get the quest for glory anthology through the usual sub-legal channels.
If you've never played them before, they are indeed an RPG/Adventure hybrid, and if you can transfer your character to the next game in the series. So if you start from QFG1, you can work your way with the same character all the way up to the 5th one. So it's definitely worth downloading them all now, and doing just that. It makes the later games all the better.
Some of them (I'm looking sternly at you, IV!) are quite buggy, but there are fan patches to get them to work properly on modern machines. Combine them with DOSBox, and it should be smooth sailing.
And finally, the best ones are in fact II and IV. IV was lost on many due to its insane buginess, but, especially as a paladin, the story is easily the best of the series. Make sure to get a version with all the packaged audio (e.g. vocals and non-midi music).
posted by Alex404 at 3:33 PM on August 25, 2008 [2 favorites]
But just to answer a few questions: You can get the quest for glory anthology through the usual sub-legal channels.
If you've never played them before, they are indeed an RPG/Adventure hybrid, and if you can transfer your character to the next game in the series. So if you start from QFG1, you can work your way with the same character all the way up to the 5th one. So it's definitely worth downloading them all now, and doing just that. It makes the later games all the better.
Some of them (I'm looking sternly at you, IV!) are quite buggy, but there are fan patches to get them to work properly on modern machines. Combine them with DOSBox, and it should be smooth sailing.
And finally, the best ones are in fact II and IV. IV was lost on many due to its insane buginess, but, especially as a paladin, the story is easily the best of the series. Make sure to get a version with all the packaged audio (e.g. vocals and non-midi music).
posted by Alex404 at 3:33 PM on August 25, 2008 [2 favorites]
Oh MAN! I've been keeping an eye on this for literally years. My favourite of the series (though QfG 4 was also superb) and it gets released just after I switch to Mac?
Woe! Is! Me!
Civil_Disobedient: SQ3 was really, really good. But this was better.
posted by Magnakai at 4:46 PM on August 25, 2008
Woe! Is! Me!
Civil_Disobedient: SQ3 was really, really good. But this was better.
posted by Magnakai at 4:46 PM on August 25, 2008
Magnakai, if this doesn't run under Parallels I'll eat my hat. Also, your handle sounds like an allusion to Lone Wolf, which would make this thread my childhood RPG overdose.
posted by kid ichorous at 5:34 PM on August 25, 2008
posted by kid ichorous at 5:34 PM on August 25, 2008
Thanks for the info, everyone - I am in rapture. What a freaking nostalgia fest. I think I played "So You Want to Be a Hero?" about a 1,000 hours. Fantastic game.
posted by agregoli at 5:43 PM on August 25, 2008
posted by agregoli at 5:43 PM on August 25, 2008
Man, I wonder if getting to the money changer when you don't have the map yet is still a pain in the ass. I almost hope so!
posted by bertrandom at 7:10 PM on August 25, 2008
posted by bertrandom at 7:10 PM on August 25, 2008
Hooray! I had gotten into the habit of checking AGD's website every five or six months to see if the game was finished, so I'm quite pleased someone posted this.
I'm also quite pleased that the remake comes with the option to simplify the alleyways -- I remember spending way too much time hunched over the map that came with the game, futilely trying to correct my course (I started the series when QFG3 came out, so I was horribly spoiled by the VGA versions).
posted by brookedel at 7:11 PM on August 25, 2008
I'm also quite pleased that the remake comes with the option to simplify the alleyways -- I remember spending way too much time hunched over the map that came with the game, futilely trying to correct my course (I started the series when QFG3 came out, so I was horribly spoiled by the VGA versions).
posted by brookedel at 7:11 PM on August 25, 2008
I generally play this game beginning to end once or twice a year (once you know what to do it doesn't take that long to run through it).
It feels so weird not to be playing this and not be using the keyboard the entire time. Weird enough that I actually find it uncomfortable. I never liked fighting with the mouse, among other things, but mostly it's just deeply, deeply ingrained habit.
Sounds and looks like they've really put a lot of time and care into this though. I've already seen some extra/new easter eggs that are mildly LOLZ and perfectly in keeping with the spirit of the game.
(About my only complaint is kind of a book-to-movie translation analogue: Many of the characters don't look much like I pictured them at all. Particularly Keapon Laffin. They don't look bad. Just not how I've ever pictured them.)
posted by sparkletone at 7:47 PM on August 25, 2008
It feels so weird not to be playing this and not be using the keyboard the entire time. Weird enough that I actually find it uncomfortable. I never liked fighting with the mouse, among other things, but mostly it's just deeply, deeply ingrained habit.
Sounds and looks like they've really put a lot of time and care into this though. I've already seen some extra/new easter eggs that are mildly LOLZ and perfectly in keeping with the spirit of the game.
(About my only complaint is kind of a book-to-movie translation analogue: Many of the characters don't look much like I pictured them at all. Particularly Keapon Laffin. They don't look bad. Just not how I've ever pictured them.)
posted by sparkletone at 7:47 PM on August 25, 2008
Anyone else playing this in Parallels on a Mac? (Although VMware also seems to exhibit the behavior I'm about to describe.)
The game seems broken for thieves, since the submenu that use you to run, sneak, etc. is unusable. It appears when you click the button, but the moment you move the mouse at all it disappears.
Hopefully, this and some other bugs that are being reported will be fixed ASAP!
posted by sparkletone at 11:41 PM on August 25, 2008
The game seems broken for thieves, since the submenu that use you to run, sneak, etc. is unusable. It appears when you click the button, but the moment you move the mouse at all it disappears.
Hopefully, this and some other bugs that are being reported will be fixed ASAP!
posted by sparkletone at 11:41 PM on August 25, 2008
"Suck Blue Frog"
After downing a bottle of Razzle Dazzle Root Beer?
posted by sparkletone at 11:42 PM on August 25, 2008
After downing a bottle of Razzle Dazzle Root Beer?
posted by sparkletone at 11:42 PM on August 25, 2008
kid ichorous: This guy is releasing the Lone Wolf books as Nintendo DS homebrew. I believe they run in a DS emulator if you don't have the hardware to run them in an actual DS. I will vouch for the awesome.
Or if you prefer an actual book, they're being rereleased -- with four new volumes to finish the series.
posted by rifflesby at 1:53 AM on August 26, 2008 [3 favorites]
Or if you prefer an actual book, they're being rereleased -- with four new volumes to finish the series.
posted by rifflesby at 1:53 AM on August 26, 2008 [3 favorites]
Hey, this is great. I loved Sierra games so much back in the day and those KQ I & II remakes were far more enjoyable than they had any right to be.
The saga of King's Quest V, for one, was an incredible one for me. The family computer was already well out of date by the time it came out in 1990, but we found a version at Price Club that we thought would be compatible, but it turned out to be on the 3½" diskettes rather than the 5¼" ones we needed. So we sent away for a special non-retail version with the game spread out on about eleven 5¼" floppy disks.
I was playing on a 16-color EGA monitor. The very first thing you do in the game, and it's something you have to do in order to do anything else, is find a silver coin on the streets of the town. Well, the "town" screen was a panoramic overhead view with the character sprites being relegated to a mere handful of pixels, and the "glinting coin" you were supposed to notice was about 3 flickering light-grey pixels, almost totally indistinguishable from the grey pavement upon which it lay. So after wandering around for a few weeks, I sent away again for the hint book. It didn't bother me that thereafter I just followed what it said to do, especially considering that typical screens took minutes just to walk across on our CPU. To say nothing of having to change discs every five screens, or anytime anyone said anything. The real game was getting the game to work.
It was nice to learn more recently that I was not alone in my frustration.
Yes, King's Quest V was the pinnacle of all computer games ever.
posted by anazgnos at 12:00 PM on August 26, 2008
The saga of King's Quest V, for one, was an incredible one for me. The family computer was already well out of date by the time it came out in 1990, but we found a version at Price Club that we thought would be compatible, but it turned out to be on the 3½" diskettes rather than the 5¼" ones we needed. So we sent away for a special non-retail version with the game spread out on about eleven 5¼" floppy disks.
I was playing on a 16-color EGA monitor. The very first thing you do in the game, and it's something you have to do in order to do anything else, is find a silver coin on the streets of the town. Well, the "town" screen was a panoramic overhead view with the character sprites being relegated to a mere handful of pixels, and the "glinting coin" you were supposed to notice was about 3 flickering light-grey pixels, almost totally indistinguishable from the grey pavement upon which it lay. So after wandering around for a few weeks, I sent away again for the hint book. It didn't bother me that thereafter I just followed what it said to do, especially considering that typical screens took minutes just to walk across on our CPU. To say nothing of having to change discs every five screens, or anytime anyone said anything. The real game was getting the game to work.
It was nice to learn more recently that I was not alone in my frustration.
Yes, King's Quest V was the pinnacle of all computer games ever.
posted by anazgnos at 12:00 PM on August 26, 2008
Wow, my nostalgia-dial just went to 11.
I played the first four of these when I was a kid. Very, very fond memories: these were the Harry Potter of my generation, complete with going back to re-do all the previous adventures each time a new game arrived on the shelves.
I think I might still have the first four around somewhere... and you say I can download the fifth using a semi-legal method? Hmm....
posted by anotherpanacea at 3:31 PM on August 26, 2008
I played the first four of these when I was a kid. Very, very fond memories: these were the Harry Potter of my generation, complete with going back to re-do all the previous adventures each time a new game arrived on the shelves.
I think I might still have the first four around somewhere... and you say I can download the fifth using a semi-legal method? Hmm....
posted by anotherpanacea at 3:31 PM on August 26, 2008
Awesome! When my wife comes home from work she'll have undeniable proof that she married a nerd.
posted by robotot at 7:24 PM on August 26, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by robotot at 7:24 PM on August 26, 2008 [1 favorite]
@anazgnos
Those old King's Quest games were totally unforgiving. I had full collor and those glittering coins/itty bitty levers were still pretty brutal. My favorite "Fuck you" about King's Quest V was that you could make an unfixable mistake, and the game wouldn't even tell you. It would just let you keep playing for hours and hours.
I remember needing a crystal to get by some laser-shooting stone snakes right near the end of that game. I was supposed to get the crystal earlier, apparently, but I totally missed it, because I forgot to use every item in the game on every other item in the game. After I had to restart from the beginning, I kept a fresh save for every step of the game, because clearly these people were just out to hurt me.
Adventure games are like a sickness in my brain, But in a good way.
posted by Uppity Pigeon #2 at 7:49 PM on August 26, 2008
Those old King's Quest games were totally unforgiving. I had full collor and those glittering coins/itty bitty levers were still pretty brutal. My favorite "Fuck you" about King's Quest V was that you could make an unfixable mistake, and the game wouldn't even tell you. It would just let you keep playing for hours and hours.
I remember needing a crystal to get by some laser-shooting stone snakes right near the end of that game. I was supposed to get the crystal earlier, apparently, but I totally missed it, because I forgot to use every item in the game on every other item in the game. After I had to restart from the beginning, I kept a fresh save for every step of the game, because clearly these people were just out to hurt me.
Adventure games are like a sickness in my brain, But in a good way.
posted by Uppity Pigeon #2 at 7:49 PM on August 26, 2008
not part of the good memories: watching that cat chick in a belly outfit dance... no furries!
posted by spec80 at 9:49 PM on August 26, 2008
posted by spec80 at 9:49 PM on August 26, 2008
Wow. I apparently had a lot more patience for mapping out the city back in the day. Can't wait to find the $%&@ moneychanger so I can get that compass & map. And that's me using the brand new "simplified" alleyways too.
posted by juv3nal at 12:35 PM on August 31, 2008
posted by juv3nal at 12:35 PM on August 31, 2008
I can't wait to go back and flirt with the money changer.
posted by Lokisbane at 4:14 PM on August 31, 2008
posted by Lokisbane at 4:14 PM on August 31, 2008
Wow. I apparently had a lot more patience for mapping out the city back in the day. Can't wait to find the $%&@ moneychanger so I can get that compass & map. And that's me using the brand new "simplified" alleyways too.
I actually decided against the simplified alleyways simply because:
1) I still have the paper map that came with the original game.
2) The Internet is littered with maps of the original layouts of Shapier and Raseir. "Simplified" just means I couldn't Google up how to get to the moneychanger in the first ten minutes.
posted by sparkletone at 7:54 PM on September 1, 2008
I actually decided against the simplified alleyways simply because:
1) I still have the paper map that came with the original game.
2) The Internet is littered with maps of the original layouts of Shapier and Raseir. "Simplified" just means I couldn't Google up how to get to the moneychanger in the first ten minutes.
posted by sparkletone at 7:54 PM on September 1, 2008
Dear QFG Fans,
Let's say that I downloaded some abandonware that came in the form of .ccd, .img, and .sub files. What would I do with that to play?
Best,
Some guy anotherpanacea won't admit to actually knowing
posted by anotherpanacea at 2:31 PM on September 2, 2008
Let's say that I downloaded some abandonware that came in the form of .ccd, .img, and .sub files. What would I do with that to play?
Best,
Some guy anotherpanacea won't admit to actually knowing
posted by anotherpanacea at 2:31 PM on September 2, 2008
Sounds like you got a disc image in CloneCd format, so you'll probably need that to burn it. Remember way back when warez were distributed in paired .BIN and .CUE files? You needed both files to regenerate the disc image, and that's probably the case here too.
posted by kid ichorous at 2:44 PM on September 2, 2008
posted by kid ichorous at 2:44 PM on September 2, 2008
I've already seen some extra/new easter eggs that are mildly LOLZ and perfectly in keeping with the spirit of the game.
If anyone's playing through the VGA remake of QFG2 as a wizard, try naming the "Dark Master" as your sponsor into W.I.T. But save first. If you're at all familiar with game 4 you'll get a perverse kick out of this.
posted by kid ichorous at 2:56 AM on September 3, 2008
If anyone's playing through the VGA remake of QFG2 as a wizard, try naming the "Dark Master" as your sponsor into W.I.T. But save first. If you're at all familiar with game 4 you'll get a perverse kick out of this.
posted by kid ichorous at 2:56 AM on September 3, 2008
Hrm. CloneCd looks shadier than the whole abandonware deal. It's one of those programs, the mere installation of which will cause legitimate software to view your computer with suspicion.... :-(
posted by anotherpanacea at 4:30 PM on September 3, 2008
posted by anotherpanacea at 4:30 PM on September 3, 2008
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posted by nasreddin at 12:13 PM on August 25, 2008