Do the AGD's play their finished games?

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johnb4467
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Do the AGD's play their finished games?

#1 Post by johnb4467 » Fri Jun 24, 2005 9:49 am

The above seems to be kind of a trend...at least I find myself in similar shoes, and along with the following story I'm quite curious:

My Ever Quest II-addicted (and I mean ADDICTED, truly Ever CRACK for him!) buddy is friends with a guy that worked on World of Warcraft...but surprisingly met him on Ever Quest II. All the guys were shocked, asking, "Man, wtf you doing on here then?"
He simply replied, "When you work on a game as long as I did, the last thing you want to do is play it...."  :rollin

I work in visual effects, and to be honest, when I've worked on a shot for so long, it quite honestly loses a lot of its final "viewing satisfaction" that everyone else gets from it. All you tend to remember is all the hours of trouble you had!  >:

Haha well anyway it will be really interesting to see if AGD1 and AGD2 play their finalized QG2 (for fun...beta testing doesn't count!), considering it's their favorite series. I myself do the dorky little man-dance every day thinking about getting my adventure-craving hands on it. The remake of my all-time fav game, the one that has me more excited than any recent or upcoming commercial release.  Woo hoo!

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#2 Post by Erpy » Fri Jun 24, 2005 11:42 am

Heh, Lori Cole only ever played QFG5 for fun. And they and Corey were among the rare employees of Sierra even interested in gaming. Most other people there didn't even play games at all.

I see the art/music department play through the game at least once to see how everything turned out. I don't think the scripting department will be touching the game for a loooong time. :p

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#3 Post by Khaveen » Fri Jun 24, 2005 12:32 pm

*and the Quality Assurance department.

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#4 Post by Klytos » Fri Jun 24, 2005 1:04 pm

Erpy wrote:I see the art/music department play through the game at least once to see how everything turned out. I don't think the scripting department will be touching the game for a loooong time. :p
From an Infamous Adventures point of view, well it's exactly the same to be honest. You just don't want to play a game I've spent 6 months scripting. We usually play through bits and pieces of the game when we've changed something.

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Testing vs. gaming

#5 Post by Brainiac » Sat Jun 25, 2005 4:08 pm

I don't know; I personally think I'll play the official IA release of KQ3 even though I've been bugtesting it for them for quite a while now.  I guess it's just a matter of personality, you know?

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#6 Post by Kurdt » Sat Jun 25, 2005 6:23 pm

I'll be playing it, but then again I'm the vainest man in the universe.

Well, on second thought, I'll either play it all the time or I'll play it without the voices turned on. I guess it all depends on how well of a job I'll think I did when I see it all combined together to form one big game. I mean, I can't click through the first cloud test in KQ2VGA fast enough, so if it's a similar feeling I'll probably just turn the voices off.

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#7 Post by Klytos » Sun Jun 26, 2005 4:48 pm

Who said I'm giving you the option to turn the voices off?  :lol I wish these forums had the evil laugh smiley we have at IA. Then my life would be complete.

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#8 Post by Erpy » Sun Jun 26, 2005 5:11 pm

Who needs evil smilies when you can hotlink? Image

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#9 Post by Klytos » Sun Jun 26, 2005 6:32 pm

Cool. Image

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#10 Post by Kurdt » Sun Jun 26, 2005 8:57 pm

*GULP!* :o

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....

#11 Post by FatherGhostface » Sun Jun 26, 2005 10:11 pm

Now when you say GULP......?


Oh please, I can do better than that! I practice!Image

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#12 Post by Milan Easton » Tue Jul 19, 2005 9:03 pm

I remember speaking with Lori Cole about her Quest for Glory games, and to her, she didn't see them as being as special as we all do.  She was really impressed with OTHER games and is a  true gamer at heart.  Right now, she's completely hooked on World of Warcraft, and you could see her excitement as she tried out all the different features the game offered, including, but not limited to, playing with a pet squirrel.  You could totally tell that she loved that game as much as we loved her work at Sierra.

I think when you work on a project, the game doesn't have the same mystical feeling you get when playing something for the first time.  When I play our games, I am noticing details, and it's hard to get caught up in the gaming world.  I'll be walking around screens, and seeing all the decisions that went into making them--and seeing the things I would like to improve upon.  It's hard seeing it as a whole.  Also, we put SO much work into these projects, that there is just little time to sit down and enjoy them.  I do love our games, because of what they represent--and the mission behind them.  They remind me of Sierra, and the wonderful memories I had playing those games.

I will admit though, there is also something wonderful about playing our own work that I didn't really feel before playing a Sierra game.  It's neat seeing a goal completed, and seeing the compilation of so many talented peoples' work.  It just plays together beautifully. I am in awe with everyone's efforts, and really appreciate all the work that went into it.  I guess, in a way, it would be akin to climbing a really big mountain--like Kilimanjaro. It was painful along the way, and I probably don't want to climb the mountain again anytime soon.  But, looking back on the memory of it, it was an amazing experience--and I'm proud that it was done.  It was an experience of a lifetime, and something to be proud of.  It is something you do yourself, but ALSO with a team of people.  None of us would have made it up Kilimanjaro without the help of a guide, the people who set up huts, someone cooking food, porters, the motivation of our team members.  It's something very personal--but also, something that is the biproduct of a group of special people.

I also have to admit, on King's Quest II VGA, I purposely did NOT read much of the screenplay. I did not want to know what the story was going to be, as I really missed that feeling of playing a new adventure.  It was a REALLY magical experience, playing the game for the first time, seeing these characters and environments I made come to life.  That was probably the best gaming experience I've ever had...

But mostly, I would say, it's not playing the end result that keeps us going.  It's definitely working within a team environment, setting goals, and coming through.  All of the members on our team are big on keeping their word and not disappointing, and creating these games is often the result of saying we will, and then feeling the need to follow through--regardless of whether or not we'll have our own wonderful gaming experience in the long run.

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#13 Post by Quest For Glory Fan » Wed Jul 20, 2005 12:54 am

Interesting to see your point of view there Milan. John do you know why it was called Ever Crack recently? It's because some kid in Europe lost his high level character in that game and killed himself over it. That's why I'm never going to play it or ever get to attached to a game. Milan you say that Lori Cole plays World of Warcraft ? :eek I would change my server (and lose all my characters) just for a chance to play Warcraft with her... you wouldn't happen to know what server it is would you? just kidding, I know both games are very addictive.

To me growing up in the time after QFG was made still nothing beats vintage to me. Everyone my age is the same in some way. We have girls wearing bell bottoms at school just to be retro I just take it to a nerdier extreme and wear an old brown and yellow Tandi 80 T shirt every now and again hoping someone gets it.

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