In the last year, the QFG2VGA project has undergone a tremendous amount of progress. Amazing advancements in all areas of the game are shaping up this project to be AGDI's best. From programming to artwork, animation to sound, QFG2VGA is definitely going to break some records. While in our last update the dialogue portraits had been finished up and touchups were being done on earlier portraits, at this stage in development a number of the older backgrounds are being touched up again and the improvements are drastic in detail and mood. It's an exciting time for the game, nearing an alpha phase when team members will be able to play the game from start to end.

Some of you have expressed disappointment that QFG2VGA will not be finished by the end of 2004. We hinted that we hoped it might be, but as you know we never set solid dates for our releases as nothing ever stays 100% on schedule. You can trust that we are working very hard on this game and that the longer development time means that you will be getting a better game when it does release in 2005. And for those of you who have been emailing enquiring about beta testing, please be patient. When we are ready for beta testing, we will announce it in our forums, so keep a look out there. Finally, our FAQs have been newly updated to reflect the closing of 2004 in regard to the development of QFG2VGA.

In other news, AGDI was recently mentioned in an article on Wired.com. Check that out here.

Happy holidays and we'll see you in 2005!

Raseirian Guards, Shapeirian Guards, Mayzun, Ja'afar, Al Scurva, Agi - these are just some of the many characters in Quest For Glory 2 VGA that AGD1 and AGD2 have recently finished coloring and animating. These latest portraits, along with the Hero himself, round up the remainder of the dialogue portrait work that had to be done! These new portraits are more colourful and detailed than any that have come before - and AGD2 has even taken the time to clean up and improve some of the old closeups so that everything is of the same high quality.

The latest edition of The Inventory e-zine contains an exclusive preview of Quest for Glory 2 VGA! The preview includes never-before-seen screenshots from the game and also the first impressions of Dmitris Manos, who had the chance to play a pre-release demo of the game. Any self-respecting Sierra or AGDI fan will not want to miss this one, so make your way over to www.TheInventory.org and download Issue 19 to read all about it.

In other news, after several weeks of gruelling, labour intensive work, the alley system is finally nearing completion. Some final work remains on the Raseir system (like implementing some decorations) but once that's done the alleyways can be considered completely finalized! Also, the final round of backgrounds are undergoing the pixel-editing process at the moment. It's like some kind of assembly line machine - the images go in looking normal, and they come out looking all sparkly and detailed! As more game backgrounds are finalized, we inevitably get closer to reaching the finishing line.

The madness continues. We're talking page after page of monotonous code that AGD2 has to create to implement the alley system. He's continuing to work hard and luckily, we wrote an AGS mini-util line-generator to make his job easier. Meanwhile, those extra touch sprites I was talking about last time are also still being made. But now let's talk about something more fun this week. Now that the music for QFG2VGA is basically finished, Tom Lewandowski, AGDI's musician, has begun creating sound effects for the game. Listening to sound effects without any visual is odd - especially if you listen to the sounds one right after the other, it can start getting funny. So far, among others, we've got an awesome wind effect, some great explosions, fire and water effects, and an assortment of growls, grunts and yells. There's also some great animal noises as well as various zaps and other battle sounds. Many of the effects Tom is creating from scratch, while others are being based on existing QFG effects for authenticity. When all is said and done, QFG2VGA is definitely going to be just as exciting aurally as it is visually.

More sprites for QFG2VGA have been completed in the last two weeks, and I am so excited about these. The detail in these sprites is amazing, and they present a very realistic and vibrant appearance. I can't say much more about them, but I can say that they're sort of the extra touches being done at this point that are really going to make this game feel alive. Meanwhile, an insane amount of scripting is being worked on by AGD2 for the much-anticipated alley system. This is not fun code - this is not even interesting code. This is chunk after chunk of purely mind-numbing code that simply has to be done and there's no way around it. It ain't pretty - but when you're on the other side of this code, seeing what it does in the game - well, it's going to be nothing short of awe-inspiring, and I for one just can't wait to see it in action!

This week we have some QFG2VGA concept drawings to show you! These background sketches were drawn by AGD1 on special paper (hence the presence of faint crosshatch textures) and have since been reworked, coloured, resized, and pixel-edited to become the backgrounds that you will see in the completed game. This is a rare glimpse at how some of AGDI's artwork looks in the initial stages of production. Enjoy the concept artwork here!

AGD1 and AGD2 are not just computer game adventurers - they are real life adventurers! The AGDs are currently taking a short break from their work on QFG2VGA to go adventuring in East Africa, from the isle of Zanzibar, across Tanzania on bike, to Kenya and finally - to climb Mount Kilimanjaro! The isle of Zanzibar is as authentic Middle Eastern as it gets, and the AGDs will be doing some photo research there in the main city of Stone Town, which very much resembles Shapeir with its fascinating labyrinth of narrow streets and alleyways.

In other news, E Boredom recently conducted a short interview with AGD2, and you can read it here.

Also, our guestbook has been updated with all the newest entries, so take a look and see what people are saying about us! If you haven't signed our guestbook yourself, please do!

We've had a bit of a wait for this one, but let me tell you, it's worth it! We'll skip the small updates today and save those for next time, so that we can get right to today's feature - a special article about our very own AGD1's visit to E3 a couple months ago now, where she had a chance to both check out the former big names of adventure (Sierra and Lucasarts) as well as promote AGDI!

The image shown here is the flyer that AGD1 mentions in her article - and if you click on it, you'll get a really nice big version for yourself that you can print and post wherever you can - bus stops, your school, your workplace, your local community center, your church, mail it to all your friends... you get the idea. Read AGD1's article, then do your part. The flyer can be printed on a full page or 2 per page in landscape mode.

E3 by AGD1

I received a phone call from my good friend in Los Angeles on Thursday. He informed me that he had tickets to the E3, which was ending the next day, Friday May the 14th, and wanted to know if I would be interested in attending. Having slept merely a few hours the night before, having a full day of work ahead of me, a fundraising event to go to that night, ultimate Frisbee practice after that, and another work day ahead of me the next morning, I thought it would be impossible for me to attend. But, understanding the need to further my gaming career, my wonderful boss gave me Friday off to go to the conference, and I, being a person who loves real-life adventure almost as much as the game genre, jumped at the chance to go! Relight worked behind the scenes, creating business cards and flyers to hand out at the event. When I got home at around 11pm at night, I prepared these things, got packed, slept for 4 hours, and headed out for California at 3am. I arrived just in time for the opening of the conference!

I must admit, I was in a groggy stupor for most of the day, but I still enjoyed myself immensely. I will elaborate on some of the most memorable experiences and lessons that I learned by attending this event.

First, I got to play the new Leisure Suit Larry game personally. The graphics were beautiful. The game was hilarious. It was high quality and very enjoyable! Unfortunately, it is a bad excuse for an adventure game and can barely be considered part of the genre. There are some puzzles strategically placed in the game, but they are unfortunately not the type that actually require any thinking skills - they are more eye-hand coordination/impulse puzzles. So overall, my opinion is that it is a wonderful game definitely worth purchasing; yet, it is not quite the step that needed to be taken to resurrect the adventure gaming genre! This IS no adventure game.

Secondly, I spoke with several cell phone companies. I filled out some contact forms with select companies such as Nokia. I spoke with representatives from the different booths, and it seems that there is an interest in offering 2D adventures on cell phones. Cell phone technology is not quite advanced enough to allow people to play the newest 3D games - yet, the simplistic games that are offered on phones right now are not all that entertaining. Adventure games are a nice middle ground - the graphics and technology correspond well with the cell phone's capabilities, and most importantly, the games are fun!

I spoke with LucasArts about 2D adventure games, and was basically laughed at for speaking about such an ancient art form in our technologically advanced world of today. Being a bit annoyed, I asked why, if adventure games were a dead genre, did the company work on a Sam and Max sequel. The man stopped laughing, and actually completely changed his stance, admitting that adventure games of yesteryear were some of his favorite games of all time. He insisted that Sam and Max was quite far along in production - in the alpha phase, actually, but the reason it was cancelled was due to a fear in lack of potential sales. He insisted the market was not large enough for a company the size of themselves to make a profit; he also informed us that the gaming business has become exactly that - a business, and the goal of any business is to make money. Although most of the gaming companies know that their games are not the most rewarding to play, they do know that they can make more money off of a game based on a movie title. They will continue producing what makes money, and are not interested in making games that will appeal to people because of an in-depth storyline or amazing gaming experience.

I made my way to Sierra Entertainment and Vivendi Universal. I asked a representative about the market for adventure games, and he informed us that it would be suicide for a large corporation to produce an adventure game and sell it on store shelves. He informed us that Sierra could never cover the costs of developing an adventure game and purchasing prime shelf space - the market is not large enough and the game could not compete with the titles in other genres. Because of this, Sierra creates games that have mass appeal like movie titles, CSI, etc. The representative suggested for small development houses to publish with an online publisher, create a company site, and advertise the game there as well. He did feel that adventure games could easily have a market large enough to support a small development house if they took this self-publishing or online publisher route.

Interestingly enough, while walking through the isles of the conference, I ran into my good friend from the IGDA club in Phoenix. It was rather awkward running into him, as there was a massive amount of people there, so the odds of bumping into him were slim to none. Additionally, I had just spoken to him previously in Arizona, and neither of us had mentioned going to the E3 the following day!!

Overall, a major lesson was re-iterated throughout the course of the day. I was informed by each company that adventure games could make a comeback if one important thing was done - we must educate the public! They insisted self-distribution was the way to go, but before and during that time, we must continue to publish articles and spread the word of adventure games. So come on guys, it's your turn to do some work as well - start educating people about this wonderful genre! Tell your friends, your family, your coworkers. Write articles, write to journalists and editorial sections of newspapers and magazines. Write on forums. Please do anything that you can to aid our cause in bringing back this beloved genre! Making games is challenging - talking about them should be the easy part! :)

After the conference ended, I stood outside with my friend, and we handed out Relight's flyers advertising AGD Interactive to people leaving the event. Many people seemed enthusiastic upon reading them, and two people even fought over my last flyer. I then took a short nap, and afterwards, headed back to Arizona. On absolutely no sleep, I headed straight out to the police station to participate in a 10 hour ride along with a police officer - and that was the beginning of yet another rather eventful day - but that's another story :)

After watching the development of the Katta's Tail Inn VGA background for so many months, the simplicity of the original 16-color EGA screen came as somewhat of a surprise to me as I played the original game again. Considering the two screens, the VGA rendition is gloriously rich and textured compared to the now-seeming plainness of the original. The brickwork detailing on the walls is more pronounced, the curtains practically shine in their luxury, the booths glow with warmth and every decorative detail from the rug to the marble-like floor and ceiling bring this scene to life. You will certainly feel at home here in this familiar place, but after having sat for a few minutes to enjoy your honey tea and chat with Abdulla, you will be more than ready to venture out into the spectacular city of Shapeir! In other news, some of our FAQs have been updated, including the QFG2VGA FAQ.

Hello Quest For Glory fans! This week we continue our reminiscing by moving from the opening menu to the game introduction of Sierra's original QFG2. The game introduction in QFG2VGA follows the same sequence as the original, but it's definitely more vibrant, colourful and lively, as one would expect from a VGA upgrade. AGD2 has been working hard to improve his art talents and the result is hinted at here where we see a first look at his new style of making desert screens. However, I'll talk about those later in more detail because while you watch the introduction, what will catch your attention most will be the large, fiery font used to display the opening credits while Hero and friends are meandering towards Shapeir on their magic carpet. Those who remember the little easter egg in the original introduction sequence will want to keep a watch out, and as always, Tom's music sequencing here continues to be spot-on and remains the golden touch on this simple, yet effective opening.

It's been a year since I started writing these designer journals, and now that Quest For Glory II is a year closer to completion, we're going to have updates on a much more regular basis - so keep a watch out!

Do you remember the first time you played Sierra's Quest For Glory II? Though I was a big fan of King's Quest and Space Quest, I hadn't actually played any of the Quest For Glory games until the Summer of 1998 when I bought one of the QFG collections and played through the series - it was one of the most memorable summers ever. I remember staying up late every night questing with Hero through Shapeir and the other QFG lands, captivated. And now I can't wait for you all to play Quest For Glory II VGA for the first time, to experience that same feeling of magic that the original game stirred in all of us. When QFG2VGA starts, a gorgeously moody intro screen just like that in the original appears while mysterious and beautiful music, originally composed by Chris Braymen and Mark Seibert and faithfully re-sequenced by AGDI's Music Director Tom Lewandowski, wafts through the air. It's obvious from the first that QFG2VGA is going to be a spectacular tribute to the game that is hailed as the best of Sierra's SCI quests.

In other news, AGD2 recently posted in our forums the AGS statistics for all AGDI releases, including the current stats for QFG2VGA. Exceeding our previous remakes on almost all counts, QFG2VGA looks like a record-breaker in terms of sheer numbers! Of course, with QFG2VGA still in development, the numbers will increase somewhat before the game is released. You can view the AGS stats for all of our games on our games pages.

In today's update, we hear from various members of the QFG2VGA team who've had a chance to play the latest internal demo, named simply "The June Demo." I'll let these guys speak for themselves, and next week I'll give you my impressions of the demo and all the latest stuff that's happening behind the scenes.

AGDI Music Director: Everything is looking REALLY nice! Nice job! One thing I can say about the QFG2VGA battle sequences... you've done a good job in not making them TOO easy! Can't wait to win one. (I need to review my weapon movement keys, that's all.) From what I've seen thus far, the music and f/x seem to be implemented very well. I can't believe how much you guys have done. This is really neat!

Team Member #1: Hey, I just took a look at this and I'm impressed. Everything's looking great. I hadn't checked out combat since an early demo, and the combat system totally blew me away.

Team Member #2: Wow. I just played through a couple of the scenes, jumping around with the debugging controls and what not. I am totally blown away. The game looks more and more refined, and is beginning to take on some of that great charm that was present in the original. The scripting is amazing. The combat system is also amazing, my favorite part of the whole project. All in all, I am really excited, it's looking fantastic.

Once again it's been too long! The first thing you'll notice is the updated sketch on the front page. We've had the fighter, now we have the thief... you can guess what'll come next.

A few King's Quest 1 updates! The final easter egg has been added to Erpy's Official Guide to KQ1VGA, in the Easter Eggs section. And secondly, near the bottom of our King's Quest I VGA page, you'll find a new Latin translation pack for version 3.0 of the game. This translation pack was completed shortly after version 3.0 was released, but was forgotten somehow until now. So if you want to play KQ1VGA in Latin, now you can, and before you ask - no, we will not be developing or releasing any further translation packs.

And now, what you've all been waiting for - a Quest For Glory II VGA update! Just what is it about Quest For Glory II that makes it such a captivating game? That is the question I asked myself while playing an updated demo version of the VGA remake recently. One thing that struck me immediately while watching the game introduction (newly revised by AGD2) was the realization that QFG2 is a game of raw beauty - colors, music, emotions - and that is exciting to experience. Having named my Thief hero "Kamashalzatzara!", I eagerly started to take in the sights of Shapeir once again. I was more than impressed with the "newly remodeled Katta's Tail Inn", and finally seeing Dinarzad's talking animation in the game was very cool, as I find that each dialogue portrait really brings the part of the game that they're in to life. Actually, I've seen a couple of completely different versions of Dinarzad's portrait floating around. It's always fun to be behind-the-scenes and see how, just when you thought something looked great, it gets even better!

Stay tuned! I will have another update soon!

Continuing AGDI's April's Fools tradition of gift-giving, after last year when the team announced on the forums that there was a King's Quest II VGA voice pack and everyone thought it was April's Fools, but then there really was a voice pack... this year AGDI's old ezBoard forums mysteriously blanked out for a day and then brand new forums were unveiled, courtesy of forum member NavyNuke. So if you aren't yet a member of our new forums, we encourage you to come and join in the fun.

In QFG2VGA news, with a rare scripting update, AGD2 comments, "Right now we've pretty much just finished scripting the part of the game where the hero can break into the Palace or sneak through the Harem and now we're moving onto the end sequence stuff. So progress is definitely being made." But for all of you out there who are guessing at release dates, don't take this as indication that the end is near. The order that scripting is done in does not always follow the linear progression of the game story.

I haven't seen any new animations lately, but work has not slowed in that department - it's just that new animations are being processed through email right now instead of through our development forums. Art in other departments is also being worked on steadily. AGD1 continues to produce dialogue portraits in her distinctive style, while, with the most dedication I've seen out of all the different areas of this project, pixel-perfect attention continues to be given to the background art. New backgrounds recently finished include some end game scenes, and current backgrounds in progress include some Shapeir interiors.

There hasn't been much to report on the status of QFG2VGA recently. Progress has been good and steady. The team is back to focusing on backgrounds at this point, with some of the last Shapeir screens being finished and work beginning on the Forbidden City screens. Work is also still being done on more of the combat animations. I've recently been asked some questions about the AGDs over email, and I have a few questions for the AGDs myself, so I snagged the unsuspecting dynamic duo while they were taking a quick break and put some questions to them.

Special Interview

How much time do you spend working on your remakes?

AGD1: Between school, a full time job, and a handful of outside hobbies, time is scarce. But I can honestly say, adventure game making is a lifestyle, and I've dedicated every spare moment of my day to our game making pursuits. I would say I put in around 65 hours of actual work a week, on average. If you are considering the time I take to actually plan and work on administrative aspects of game making, the number of hours would be much higher.

AGD2: I probably spend about 84 hours a week doing game related work. At the moment, I'm living, eating, drinking, and dreaming game creation. I've temporarily forfeited pretty much every other aspect of life (including but not limited to friends, family, hobbies, a job, and personal hygiene... well, almost) to get QFG2VGA released in a reasonable amount of time. Realistically, though, these insane hours are necessary to see such a complex game as QFG2 to completion.

Why are you remaking these games? How do you have the time / money to be able to do this?

AGD2: I have money saved up and I'm living cheaply at my parents house. Can't beat a life that lets you make games every day from the comfort of home!

AGD1: I am remaking these games because I love the games, and I also love the game development process! It is a completely creative experience on all counts--it's amazing being able to dabble in so many creative fields, such as art, web design, story design, and also to be able to work alongside other talented people. I also enjoy the team environment--I feel that the AGDI group is a second family, possibly even preferred over my biological one! As for finding the money and time to make the games, that's a good question. I work full time with the administrative staff at a wildlife rehabilitation center, and it's definitely not a typical nine to five job--I've found the work day never really ends. This is also true with game making. But, at the same time, I love what I do--I enjoy working with people, with similar goals, improving the world in our own, small way. Whereas most people probably work to survive, and to fund their lifestyle outside of work, I notice that I work towards what I believe in and will make me proud at the end of the day, even if the monetary rewards are miniscule. My life is my work.

What do you do when you want a break from working on the games?

AGD2: Make games, of course!

AGD1: Time is scare, but if I need a break, I either go biking (I've taken up century rides as a hobby), running, hiking, travel the world, or spend some quality time with friends. I also plan silly little events that will allow me to continually increase my life experiences, like going on police ride alongs, or swing dancing. I also like to play with my pet pigeons, make crafts, read, learn, write, and plan more goals. I love offering psychological advice and attempting to unravel the mysteries of human behavior as well.

Downloads for KQ1VGA and KQ2VGA have been continuing as strong as ever, with 20,000 for KQ1VGA and 15,000 for KQ2VGA in the past three months alone. How do you account for this interest in adventure games?

AGD1: Everybody knows adventure games are the best genre on the face of the planet, and possibly the universe as well. This fact alone speaks for the large volume of downloads!

AGD2: I think the interest in adventure games has always persisted. Just somewhere along the way, companies wanted to try out the new 3D technology and somehow, as the technology grew, they got the false perception that 2D games - adventure games - would not sell anymore because they looked too dated. Many people don't think in those terms though, they see 2D adventures as an alternate style of gameplay. The interest has always existed, it's just that nobody had delivered the goods for quite a long while.

So do you think that there is a future for the adventure game genre?

AGD2: Yes.

AGD1: Without a doubt.

Fans are anticipating that QFG2VGA will be your greatest remake yet. Do you have any last words to all those who are waiting for this game?

AGD1: No. I mean, yes. It will rock your world.

AGD2: Thanks for your patience. This game will be worth the wait, though! It's really shaping up well. In the meantime, get your copies of QFG1 out, dust them off, play through the game again--get a character prepared to play through QFG2VGA with. We've taken the best aspects of the original game and incorporated them with the new point and click interface. If you look hard enough, you might even notice a few little additions here and there! We're planning on making QFG2VGA highly reminiscent of the other VGA games in the series, and doing them justice will take some time. But it's coming!

The AGDs have been working very hard on QFG2VGA in the past weeks. It seems like at this point they're racing toward their goals and stopping for nothing! AGD2 alone did over 100 animations in a 5 day period. The Quest For Glory 2 VGA world is definitely coming to life in gorgeous VGA, from the Hero to Aziza, from the Blue Parrot Inn to the Forbidden City. Even more impressive than the small animations are all the close-up animations that have recently been made, including some of Djinn, Zayisha, Issur, Rakeesh, Ad Avis and more! That's all I have to comment on for now, so stay tuned for the next update!

All too quickly, the guess the screenshot contest is over, and that with only two small rectangular clips from the screenshot revealed. The correct guess was made by Wodball, and he was correct to also note that there wasn't a green object in the original EGA version of the game. So without further ado, here's the full screenshot! And here's the music to accompany it!

The guess the screenshot contest is going very well! The thread already has over 500 views and the lurkers are coming out of the shadows to guess! 22 guesses have been made so far, but no one has guessed the screenshot yet, so here's the next clue!

After the last update, Erpy made a few extra points in the forums: "Combat will have a QFG2-classic look and we're trying to make the controls as easy as possible without limiting the actions of the hero. There's no longer mouse control, but hotkeys used in combat will be redefinable, while the default keys for attacking are on the numeric keypad. It would be next to impossible to beat most opponents on anything but the lowest difficulty setting if you had an icon pad in the bottom-right corner like QFG1VGA and QFG3 used to have."

AGD2 commented, "We're using most of the same GUI system from QFG1VGA to keep consistency between the first two games (in the same way that we used the KQ5 GUIs for KQ1VGA and KQ2VGA)."

And now... announcing a new contest - it's the guess the screenshot contest! We'll reveal a bit of the screenshot over the next few updates, and once someone guesses the screen we'll post the full screenshot and a music sample that goes with it! Read the rules and participate in this contest in our forums.

Lastly, our new guestbook is finally up! It contains all the entries from our old guestbook and we'd love for you to be a part of it! Sign or view our guestbook.

So it's 2004! It's been 8 months since Quest For Glory II VGA has been in earnest production, and the results of the hard work are showing. Some things in the latest QFG2VGA internal demo still haven't changed since their original renditions, though I know they will be updated sooner or later - the opening menu screen and the game introduction for example. Yes, the starship Enterprise does appear in the introduction - but you already knew that we'd leave it in, because it wouldn't be Quest For Glory II without it!

The AGDs continue to work relentlessly on this game. It's as if they are their own slave-drivers! There was a huge push before and during the holidays to create hundreds of animations, and everything new that's created is added to the game almost instantly. The backgrounds at this point are coming around a bit slower though - some placeholder images are still hanging around, so I can't wait to see them replaced with new graphics.

Tom's conversion of the original soundtrack continues to sparkle as it's added to each section of the game. It's especially exciting on the new Hero selection screen as the Fighter breaks through a wall, the Wizard appears out of thin air, and the Thief drops down stealthily. The points assignment screen is currently borrowed from Quest For Glory III - with a few adjustments, it'll maintain Quest For Glory authenticity while having a Shapeir feel.

It's really cool to finally experience the city of Shapeir as it was meant to be experienced - this latest demo has parts of the alley system scripted and ready for action. It kind of feels like wandering around on a sound stage though with all the blue screens hanging around, waiting for cool stuff to be added later. It's a monumental scripting task, but it's turning out brilliantly. The quality throughout this game is top-notch - the AGDs' best work yet.

The conversation system has also required extensive scripting, but it's fully operational and, along with the alley and combat systems, it's one of the technical highlights of the game. The head-bobbing that many found annoying in our release of KQ2VGA is not here - just beautifully detailed and animated dialogue portraits that are as great as the intuitive and open-ended conversation system.

The combat system has improved tremendously since I last saw it, and it now has all the smoothness and ease-of-use of an arcade game, thanks to tireless scripting and some amazing animations. I wish I could say more about so many things right now, but I can't. Here's a screenshot from the combat system though, to hold you over until my next update.