Starting another QfG fangame, better late then never
Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 3:11 pm
So, a couple guys, including myself, from the hero6 board. Want to make a QfG game. I'm pretty sure we've figured out all of the legal odds and ends to avoid any copyright issues. We intend on asking Corey and Lori for permission to play with Glorianna. Are highest priority right now is artwork. I'm talking to a spriter right now. So, I'd really like to find someone for backgrounds. However, we're also looking for more spriters, programmers, and even musician's . We just got started so we are definitely looking at putting people together. So if anybody is interested now is the perfect time to speak up, you can reply here or PM me with your contact information and I'll put you in touch with our project's coordinator.
So, since I'm writing this thing. I've been researching the world of Quest for Glory. This link is a great resource for all of the cannon locations in Gloriana: Here is an excerpt:
According to Lori Ann Cole, a force wave hit Earth during 1 BC which split the world in two parallel realities. While our part evolved as we know from history, the time on our parallel Earth did not advance in a stable time pace, which explains the anachronisms found in the games.
There was a diversity of progress of the civilisations in Glorianna and some remained in ancient times (Marete), Middle Ages (Spielburg), while others evolved into Victorian times (Mordavia); all civilisations co-existed together, with flavours of modern anachronisms. The Force wave also influenced some animals that started to evolve rapidly into sentient species, like the Katta and the Liotaurs.
The world of Glorianna is, essentially, a mirror of our own world. Many of the kingdoms and locations mentioned in the game series are representative of real-world locations. Spielburg, for example, represents a small, medieval Germanic town; while Marete is Glorianna's version of the Greco-Mediterranean islands in the Aegean Sea.
Compare also to the concept of the Divide, after which our world is apartized by parallels Stark and Arcadia in the game The Longest Journey.
However in Trial by Fire, we see different constellations (eg the Saurus, Dragon and Hand constellation), while the names of the planets Xenon, Ortega, Pestulon, Phleebhut, and Uranus (an injoke about Space Quest 3), hints that Glorianna is in a different planetary system. Also, the division occurs only in backstory and is never brought in consideration in the games' scenarios.
So, I've been looking into the various locations for a story and the corresponding mythologies that should accompany them. Then I weighed them against what else is being made out there. Currently there are two major Quest for Glory inspired fan games floating around out there. One of them is based on Celtic Mythology and the other is based around Norse Mythology.
Now ideally, I'd prefer to set our game in Norse Mythology but I'd like to respect the concepts of our fangame brethren out there. Which is why I propose a game based on a character, a location, and a mythology that the original hero uncovers during his WIT initiation, The Isle of Gramarye. The Isle of Gramarye is home to the wizard Merlyn Ambrosius from the paintings on the wall during the WIT initiation, and would make an excellent home for a story centered around Arthurian & Brittish Mythology.
Now, I haven't worked up a story yet since I'm still in the rough concept stages but I've been looking heavily into characters like Morgan Le Fay as inspiration for the villain of the game. As the story goes, I'd like to feature further into the future in a post Camelot and post Arthur timeline. Possibly a pre-industrial Britain or a post medieval with a big forest. I'd like to use the Lady of the Lake, the questing beast, a nightmare hag, the ogres who formerly occupied Britain aka Gramarye. I definitely want to feature a Jack in irons running around the town. The Green Man of the forest. The Elves (or Fairy People) and Oberon their King. For random monsters, I'm looking at Goblins, Humans, Black Shucks, Revnants, Bugbears (not the d&d type), and Ogres.
To keep the story from being just a generic fantasy setting, I've been toying with the idea of setting the game in a large city probably 4x4 or 5x5 screens in length modeled after industrial london, but without the industry. With a Neil Gaiman style Neverwhere-esque underworld of magic and mystery. I'd like to use an enchanted forest as well though. As long as they don't step on eachothers' toes. Of course the London-esque city setting could be different enough that the secret underworld city may not be necessary. I'm trying to reconcile these three environments into a cohesive place for adventure. Like I said, I'm still in the concept stages.
My story takes place between 18 to 20 years after QfGV. Our character a new hero, a graduate of the Famous Adventurer's Community College in Silmaria, sets off to Gramarye investigate the disappearance of both Silmaria's greatest hero and his recent bride. Throughout his journey our new hero soon learns a lot about himself and the hero who he's modeled his life after. Just remember, I'm still working on the concept so the point is it will be different.
As far as the copyright issues we won't be calling the game QfGMany of the characters that the Cole's used are public domain, I believe even Liontaurs are considered public domain, and the Coles' own the rights to Erasmus and Fenrus. I couldn't find any mythological usage of the land Gramarye but I did find a published song or an album that uses the term Isle of Gramarye from 1976, although I haven't had time to investigate it fully yet, so it's also not copyrighted by Blizzard. I'm pretty damn sure that there is nothing they can do to us. Take heroine's quest for example. They are doing the same thing. I'm pretty sure that we can get away with including words in the text and dialogue like Silmaria, Aidendale, Elsa, Katta, Spielburg, etc. without fear of any repercussion.
So, since I'm writing this thing. I've been researching the world of Quest for Glory. This link is a great resource for all of the cannon locations in Gloriana: Here is an excerpt:
According to Lori Ann Cole, a force wave hit Earth during 1 BC which split the world in two parallel realities. While our part evolved as we know from history, the time on our parallel Earth did not advance in a stable time pace, which explains the anachronisms found in the games.
There was a diversity of progress of the civilisations in Glorianna and some remained in ancient times (Marete), Middle Ages (Spielburg), while others evolved into Victorian times (Mordavia); all civilisations co-existed together, with flavours of modern anachronisms. The Force wave also influenced some animals that started to evolve rapidly into sentient species, like the Katta and the Liotaurs.
The world of Glorianna is, essentially, a mirror of our own world. Many of the kingdoms and locations mentioned in the game series are representative of real-world locations. Spielburg, for example, represents a small, medieval Germanic town; while Marete is Glorianna's version of the Greco-Mediterranean islands in the Aegean Sea.
Compare also to the concept of the Divide, after which our world is apartized by parallels Stark and Arcadia in the game The Longest Journey.
However in Trial by Fire, we see different constellations (eg the Saurus, Dragon and Hand constellation), while the names of the planets Xenon, Ortega, Pestulon, Phleebhut, and Uranus (an injoke about Space Quest 3), hints that Glorianna is in a different planetary system. Also, the division occurs only in backstory and is never brought in consideration in the games' scenarios.
So, I've been looking into the various locations for a story and the corresponding mythologies that should accompany them. Then I weighed them against what else is being made out there. Currently there are two major Quest for Glory inspired fan games floating around out there. One of them is based on Celtic Mythology and the other is based around Norse Mythology.
Now ideally, I'd prefer to set our game in Norse Mythology but I'd like to respect the concepts of our fangame brethren out there. Which is why I propose a game based on a character, a location, and a mythology that the original hero uncovers during his WIT initiation, The Isle of Gramarye. The Isle of Gramarye is home to the wizard Merlyn Ambrosius from the paintings on the wall during the WIT initiation, and would make an excellent home for a story centered around Arthurian & Brittish Mythology.
Now, I haven't worked up a story yet since I'm still in the rough concept stages but I've been looking heavily into characters like Morgan Le Fay as inspiration for the villain of the game. As the story goes, I'd like to feature further into the future in a post Camelot and post Arthur timeline. Possibly a pre-industrial Britain or a post medieval with a big forest. I'd like to use the Lady of the Lake, the questing beast, a nightmare hag, the ogres who formerly occupied Britain aka Gramarye. I definitely want to feature a Jack in irons running around the town. The Green Man of the forest. The Elves (or Fairy People) and Oberon their King. For random monsters, I'm looking at Goblins, Humans, Black Shucks, Revnants, Bugbears (not the d&d type), and Ogres.
To keep the story from being just a generic fantasy setting, I've been toying with the idea of setting the game in a large city probably 4x4 or 5x5 screens in length modeled after industrial london, but without the industry. With a Neil Gaiman style Neverwhere-esque underworld of magic and mystery. I'd like to use an enchanted forest as well though. As long as they don't step on eachothers' toes. Of course the London-esque city setting could be different enough that the secret underworld city may not be necessary. I'm trying to reconcile these three environments into a cohesive place for adventure. Like I said, I'm still in the concept stages.
My story takes place between 18 to 20 years after QfGV. Our character a new hero, a graduate of the Famous Adventurer's Community College in Silmaria, sets off to Gramarye investigate the disappearance of both Silmaria's greatest hero and his recent bride. Throughout his journey our new hero soon learns a lot about himself and the hero who he's modeled his life after. Just remember, I'm still working on the concept so the point is it will be different.
As far as the copyright issues we won't be calling the game QfGMany of the characters that the Cole's used are public domain, I believe even Liontaurs are considered public domain, and the Coles' own the rights to Erasmus and Fenrus. I couldn't find any mythological usage of the land Gramarye but I did find a published song or an album that uses the term Isle of Gramarye from 1976, although I haven't had time to investigate it fully yet, so it's also not copyrighted by Blizzard. I'm pretty damn sure that there is nothing they can do to us. Take heroine's quest for example. They are doing the same thing. I'm pretty sure that we can get away with including words in the text and dialogue like Silmaria, Aidendale, Elsa, Katta, Spielburg, etc. without fear of any repercussion.