Unused background images from the 1990 Sierra KQ1 remake
Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 11:18 pm
Hello there!
I thought I'd share something interesting pertaining to the SCI remake of KQ1, what with the new AGD version released recently.
This is how Castle Daventry looked in the SCI remake of KQ1. Obvious, right?
But this is how the same rooms looked in advance previews of the remake:
This is a very different design. Note the windows set in the castle walls and the much simpler design of the bridge. Plus there are wild ivy vines and well-trimmed hedges in place of the potted, flowered trees shown in the final game - even the water serpents' sprites are different.
Most notably, in the earlier version the guards are absent, and there's a large swath of purple floor beyond the portcullis.
Now let's consider what's on the other side of that portcullis.
In the final game, there's a courtyard:
And beyond that, the Throne Room. Note the purple carpet.
But there's obviously no carpet in the courtyard.
Now consider the same sequence in the original AGI KQ1.
In the AGI KQ1, the player started outside the castle. To meet the king, Graham has to open the castle door, walk down a long carpeted hallway, and finally arrive at the throne room.
Based on the above pictures, I think it likely that the initial design for Castle Daventry in the KQ1 SCI remake was based much more strongly on the version of the castle seen in the original AGI game. This may well have included requiring the player to enter the castle instead of putting that part in the introduction - hence the lack of guards. Obviously, this was junked at some point in favor of including an intro and closing scene which were more thoroughly fleshed out.
Incidentally, a couple of the above images come from the SierraVault online PDFs of InterAction magazine - it's really a great site.
I thought I'd share something interesting pertaining to the SCI remake of KQ1, what with the new AGD version released recently.
This is how Castle Daventry looked in the SCI remake of KQ1. Obvious, right?
But this is how the same rooms looked in advance previews of the remake:
This is a very different design. Note the windows set in the castle walls and the much simpler design of the bridge. Plus there are wild ivy vines and well-trimmed hedges in place of the potted, flowered trees shown in the final game - even the water serpents' sprites are different.
Most notably, in the earlier version the guards are absent, and there's a large swath of purple floor beyond the portcullis.
Now let's consider what's on the other side of that portcullis.
In the final game, there's a courtyard:
And beyond that, the Throne Room. Note the purple carpet.
But there's obviously no carpet in the courtyard.
Now consider the same sequence in the original AGI KQ1.
In the AGI KQ1, the player started outside the castle. To meet the king, Graham has to open the castle door, walk down a long carpeted hallway, and finally arrive at the throne room.
Based on the above pictures, I think it likely that the initial design for Castle Daventry in the KQ1 SCI remake was based much more strongly on the version of the castle seen in the original AGI game. This may well have included requiring the player to enter the castle instead of putting that part in the introduction - hence the lack of guards. Obviously, this was junked at some point in favor of including an intro and closing scene which were more thoroughly fleshed out.
Incidentally, a couple of the above images come from the SierraVault online PDFs of InterAction magazine - it's really a great site.
