Way too hard playing QFG 3 now!

[Brainiac]

The plot advancement also has some very annoying non-sequiturs. That is, relevant plot points happen based on entirely unrelated actions. I think there's something like having to meet Manu in order for Johari to become captured. Those situations are very annoying, especially if you don't know exactly what the required triggers are.

Actually, the triggers make a bit of sense for Fighters, Paladins, and Wizards. The first two must have been challenged to a spear throwing contest (indicating they have a shot at winning the Simbani Initiation) and Wizards must have created a Magic Staff, allowing the Shaman Duel to proceed. The Thief is the only odd one - they just have to have been to the Waterfall Map (last screen).

[adeyke]

I was unaware of the exact trigger. But my statement stands. Even though it might make sense that you have to be prepared for the whole drum/spear thing before the prisoner is captured, the mechanism is completely illogical. There's no causal relationship between a spear-throwing challenge and the capture of Johari. If someone is stuck at that point, has tried everything they can think of, and are and at a loss for how to continue, telling them to grind their throwing stat so that the Simbani will catch their prisoner isn't going to elicit an "Aha!" response.

I suppose non sequiturs are still better than dead ends (ending up in an initiation you can't possibly pass), but they're a very unsatisfying way to to eliminate those, and other approaches should be used when possible.

[Brainiac]

Oh, I don't disagree that the setup is more than a little non-sensical. I just recognize that it was probably, as you said, a deliberate attempt to avoid dead-ends. A poorly designed one, yes - but it's better than the alternative.

[murphy]

Its even more non-sequitorial than that. In my current playthrough of the series (Woo! Paladin!), I raced through the plot points of 3 too fast. I became initiated, freed Johari and met her again before I'd met and freed Manu. I figured I'd rather just wander around the jungle and meet him after the peace summit than reload to a point where I could spend a couple of days doing it proper.

As soon as I hit the jungle, the dork shows up shouting," Hey, man-friend!" even though I've never met him before! What's with that, huh?

The thing about 3's plot that really gets me, is that its the really the one QFG where he's acting from truly heroic impulses. In 1 and 2, he's functionally a mercenary. Every good act he accomplishes, he receives money in return. In 4, he's trapped in a dark valley that's about to be utterly destroyed (along with the rest of the world), by Avoozl. In 3, however, you start the game as the son of a sultan, rich beyond belief, and travel halfway across the world to help your friend. I kinda feel like a jerk in 2 every time Omar hands me a purse.

[adeyke]

That's a good point. I always return the reward from Rakeesh and would return the rewards from Omar if I could. But heroing is still heroing even if you get paid for it.

[soule]

One of the things I didn't like about QG4 was the poor introduction and ending...

It was quite impressive that QG3 replayed the QG2 ending again, albeit with refreshed animations. But one thing I have to admit was that the whole game was very much guided... it was one of the easiest because you had your 'hand held' throughout the game.

Katrina is one of my favourite characters in QG series, even more than Erana. I would have hoped they fleshed out more of her background though.

Remember the spectre in Katrina's castle? I remember you get a message of intense sadness when the ghost drifted through you. Is there a back story to this ghost? It's quite a waste to not follow up on this story.

[murphy]

I don't think there is any in-game fluff to back it up, but I always assumed that the ghost(s) in the Castle are those of the Borgov family, killed by the cultists during the time of Darkness/Katrina when she claimed the castle (pick whichever one makes more sense to you).

Its funny that you say that 3 was the 'most' guided. I definitely felt that honor belonged to 2, with the constant input from Aziza and the rather obvious progression of "Hey, its time to whack another elemental." In 3, Rakeesh drops you off in the Simbani village and basically says," Hey, uh, good luck bringing peace. I'm heading back to Tarna to spend my last remaining days with honor sleeping with my wife. Peace out, holmes."

[daventry]

[quote="Schloss Ritter"][b]daventry[/b]With D-Fend Reloaded, it automates most of the DosBox setup in a relatively easy to use Windows interface. Seriously, just download D-Fend Reloaded and try it out, and you'll quickly get the hang of it. I can't imagine it would be any more complex than ScummVM's interface.[/quote]Im even more confused now after i tried D-Fend Reloaded, i dont know what to do or where to find QFG3 with this program for the Game to work, please help. :9

I dont have Dosbox on my PC no more, but this thing is even more confusing then it.

Scummvm is a very easier tool by the way, you just go look for the LucasArts Game and click on it, then you play it. .

[Schloss Ritter]

Click on the Help menu, and there should be a option for the Manual or some kind of help. I haven't really messed with this latest version of D-Fend much yet since most of my old games still run fine on my system (except for the Dynamix ones). Basically, look around for something about using the Profile Wizard (there should be an option for it somewhere). You should know what folder you installed QfG3 to, or I think by default it's at C:\Sierra\QfG3

Also, D-Fend Reloaded should automatically install the latest version of DosBox for you, and help you configure the needed settings. But you have to follow the instructions in the manual.

Sorry I'm not good at explaining better. Just tinker around and you'll figure it out eventually.

[ATMachine]

I was browsing through SierraVault and found an old interview with the Coles in which they revealed that the original plan for Trial by Fire's ending was to have the hero be teleported to Mordavia, in the manner of QFG3, but that the game artists were unsure about how well they could pull this off. So the teleportation scene was pushed back (but intended for QFG3's opening), which freed the team to consider an African setting in between.

[daventry]

[quote="Schloss Ritter"]Click on the [b]Help[/b] menu, and there should be a option for the Manual or some kind of help. I haven't really messed with this latest version of D-Fend much yet since most of my old games still run fine on my system (except for the Dynamix ones). Basically, look around for something about using the Profile Wizard (there should be an option for it somewhere). You should know what folder you installed QfG3 to, or I think by default it's at C:\Sierra\QfG3

Also, D-Fend Reloaded should automatically install the latest version of DosBox for you, and help you configure the needed settings. But you have to follow the instructions in the manual.

Sorry I'm not good at explaining better. Just tinker around and you'll figure it out eventually.[/quote]Well im getting the hand of this Program now, thanks.

Now my Game is going weird, like the Graphics is smeared all over the place and i clean it away with my Mouse Pointer, is it a Setting within the Program.

[Goilveig]

Personally I think the worst bit with QFG3 is the thief aspect.

The thief gets two "jobs" so to speak -- stealing the drum and spear and whatever else they find in the building. Not only are the thief jobs unsatisfying, there's no plot related reason why you need to steal both. The Leopardmen are happy to exchange the spear for the drum, if you're a fighter/paladin, and the Simbani will exchange the drum for the spear, if you're a mage. Logically, ONE of those two should be open to the thief, and there's no explanation why they're not.

Personally, I think the thief part should have gone more along the lines of:

* You steal the Drum and get kicked out of the Simbani village
* You meet Johari in the jungle, but she realizes you're a thief and won't take you to her village.
* You use stealth to follow Johari unseen. You get to the village without her (willing) help. You rob the Spear.
* With both Drum and Spear, you go to Tarna, and have the Liontaurs use the artifacts to compel each side to visit the peace conference.

[Schloss Ritter]

Well im getting the hand of this Program now, thanks.

Now my Game is going weird, like the Graphics is smeared all over the place and i clean it away with my Mouse Pointer, is it a Setting within the Program.

Could be the "Render method" or "Scale" settings, maybe under the profile General tab? I'm not sure where to look in Reloaded right now, since I can't get the program to run at the moment and am looking at the original D-Fend program. Also, I never had to run QfG games in DosBox, so I'm not sure on that one.

Anyone else know?

[daventry]

How do i speed up the Game a little with this Program, the entire Game from Menu to the Loading to when im playing is very slow.

I hope my PC doesent burn up when i play these very Old Games, how does D-Fend and Scummvm help keep your PC under control so to speak.

Where can i find Patches for my Sierra Games, this Website www.sierra.com has nothing on the Older Games and im trying to Register to the Board, but i get soe Error

[Schloss Ritter]

How do i speed up the Game a little with this Program, the entire Game from Menu to the Loading to when im playing is very slow.

I hope my PC doesent burn up when i play these very Old Games, how does D-Fend and Scummvm help keep your PC under control so to speak.

Where can i find Patches for my Sierra Games, this Website http://www.sierra.com has nothing on the Older Games and im trying to Register to the Board, but i get soe Error

In the game's profile in D-Fend Reloaded, under the Environment(?) tab, make sure Cycles is set to auto. Maybe change CPU core to dynamic, but if that setting makes the game crash, leave it on normal. Frame Skip should be 0. The Video Card should be set to VGA. The Memory Settings shouldn't matter for this game, but you can try checking (or unchecking) these. If none of this works, try setting Cycles to 10000 or so and fine tuning it with Ctrl-F11 or Ctrl-F12 while running the game. Remember to click OK and test run the game after each time you change one of the settings above so you can find out which specific one helps (or makes things worse).

An emulator won't "burn up" your PC or anything like that. It's just like running any other program. What it basically does is pretend to the game to be a PC (or whatever) that the game is capable of running on. Then it relays commands to your real PC to display stuff, etc.

Unfortunately, Sierra (under Vivendi) no longer supports any of their "obsolete" games, so you won't really find much, if anything, on the Sierra site anymore. However, fans have taken it upon themselves to collect the old official patches, and NewRisingSun has actually written new superior patches. Look here: http://tawmis.com/collector/