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This is the seventh newsletter being sent out by the development team at AGD Interactive. In this edition, it gives us great pleasure to announce the re-release of AGD Interactive's interpretations of the classic Sierra On-Line adventure games, King's Quest I: Quest for the Crown and King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones.
Whether you're new to our King's Quest remakes, or even if you've played them countless times since they were first released, you don't want to miss these pristine, enhanced editions with tons of improvements and a plethora of cool new features. Adventure fans, read on!
The wait is over Sierra fans; King's Quest I Version 4.0 is now available for download from the AGD Interactive website! In fact, the latest revision of the game isn't merely a re-release, but closer to a fully-fledged revamp! You could essentially say that Version 4.0 is a remake of our original King's Quest I VGA remake!
The decision behind enhancing our King's Quest remakes came about three years ago. While working on Quest for Glory II, we had noticed that our skills had increased with experience, and that our earlier games no longer accurately represented our current abilities. When we first started creating Sierra remakes, we put less focus on artwork quality and more concentration on simply getting the games out the door quickly. Originally, we had no idea that our King's Quest I remake would become so widely popular. We had only ever intended to remake the game for our own practice and never really planned to show it to anyone else. Despite this, it was eventually released to the public in August 2001; just to show other AGS game developers and fans the work we had done. However, with the widespread acclaim the King's Quest I remake received, it also drew its share of criticisms. We have taken note of these issues and attempted to improve upon them in version 4.0.
The largest improvement in version 4.0 is undoubtedly the complete revamping of all game backgrounds. Every piece of room artwork has been lovingly re-edited exclusively by our artist's own hands. This process has enhanced the visual look of the game tenfold and it really does feel like playing a genuine Sierra game all the more as a result! So, when you play version 4.0, take the time to admire all the fine artistic details that didn't exist in previous builds. The difference is like night and day. In addition, all of the character dialogue pictures were completely redrawn and colored so that they match the same quality level as the backgrounds. All character dialogue pictures now have fully lip-synced speaking frames for added immersion.
A major element missing in former versions was the presence of a narrator vocal track for background and in-game descriptions. We can now report that this is no longer the case! The extremely talented and always hilarious voice actor, John Bell, has spent countless months recording the narration vocals for King's Quest I: Quest for the Crown in a crisp, professional tone to match the atmosphere of the game. Do yourself a favor. Entertain yourself by checking out John Bell's hilarious free podcasts at Bells in the Batfry and subscribing. If you're still alive after laughing so hard, you'll be glad you did!
Notably, version 4.0 includes a new feature called "No Dead-Ends" mode. Based on feedback, it seems that King's Quest I is still a mighty frustrating experience for some newcomers! In fact, some first-time players find the walking dead-ends (which often force them to restart the game) to be a complete turn-off and make them abandon the game entirely. For this reason, we have implemented a new feature that will disable all dead-end experiences from gameplay, to ensure that the game is always finishable from any point when "No Dead-Ends" mode is enabled. Of course, classic mode (with all dead-ends included) is still included for the benefit of sadis... uh, purists!
Other features and enhancements in version 4.0 include Windows Vista support and Native Ogg Theora movies (meaning in-game cutscenes/movies will play flawlessly under Linux and Mac emulators like Wine). The full digital Speech and Music is now included as part of the game download, rather than being separate add-on files.
We'd love to hear your comments and feedback, so come and join in the discussion on the King's Quest I Forum.
Visit the brand new King's Quest I game site and download the game now!
Following hot on the heels of the King's Quest I: Quest for the Crown revamp, comes AGD Interactive's enhanced version of the critically acclaimed King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones.
Much like its predecessor, our motives behind wanting to update Romancing the Stones in such a drastic way mainly came down to aesthetic reasons. A great number of improvements have been added to Version 3.0 and we think you're really going to enjoy them! In the past it has often been claimed that AGD Interactive's King's Quest II remake almost equaled Sierra's own King's Quest VI in terms of quality. It is our hope that the new enhancements featured in Version 3.0 will bring your playing enjoyment even closer to the coveted King's Quest VI experience!
New features in Version 3.0 include enhanced digital background artwork, refined character portraits with lip-syncing for over 1000 spoken lines, a complete narration audio track by John Bell, bug fixes, game refinements, new special effects, and much more! The Digital Speech and Music is now included as part of the main game download, rather than being separate add-ons.
We'd enjoy hearing your comments and feedback about the new improvements in Romancing the Stones. Feel free to discuss the game on the King's Quest II forum.
If you enjoy our enhanced King's Quest remakes, please tell your friends and gaming acquaintances about AGD Interactive's website and all about our remakes. Help spread the word to others far and wide across the Internet!
Visit the brand new King's Quest II game site to download your FREE copy!
After several months in development, AGD Interactive's new website has finally launched. Eriq Chang, our web designer and artist has created a fresh new identity, branding, and site design which greatly compliments the new "home" of our revamped Sierra remake titles. The new site design has been streamlined to make navigation easier and also functions much more effectively to showcase the various games that we have developed. All pertinent information is a whole lot easier to find.
So take some time to check out the new AGD Interactive site. Browse around and we trust that you'll enjoy the new look and feel! Our new website can be found online here.
You will also notice that each game now has its own dedicated sub-site, where you can find information, history, facts, news, and downloads relating to that specific game.
(Please note that the enhanced website experience may require that you upgrade your browser to a modern version such as Firefox 3.0 or Internet Explorer 7.)
We wanted to quickly inform everybody that we have completely revamped the Himalaya Studios Online shop.
You can also access it by going to the Himalaya website and clicking the "Store" button up near the top of the page.
Over time, many fans have inquired as to why Himalaya Studios didn't offer any other payment options besides PayPal. Well, we're happy to announce that our new online store accepts payment via Credit Card, PayPal, Check, Bank Wire Transfer, Money Order, Phone, or Fax! So, if anyone has been interested in grabbing a tangible copy of Al Emmo, but was previously unable to on account of our store only accepting PayPal in the past, you'll be glad to know that limitation no longer exists.
We would also like to remind fans that all Collector's Edition orders of Al Emmo and the Lost Dutchman's Mine are shipping with a FREE high-quality 23"x32" cinema-style Quest for Glory II poster (shipping charges apply), designed by artist Eriq Chang. Remaining poster numbers are very limited, however. There are less than 50 in stock, so don't miss out on this rare adventure gaming Collector's Item!
Some images of the Quest for Glory II poster are available here.
In addition to the new Himalaya Online Store, we have also released a new trial version of Al Emmo and the Lost Dutchman's Mine, directly from the Himalaya Studios website.
This supersedes the older demo we had available, and offers one hour of uninterrupted gameplay. The full game can be unlocked by purchasing a license key from the Himalaya Store.
This downloadable version of Al Emmo is the perfect option for those who prefer the instant gratification of being able to play the game immediately, without the wait!
Remember, once all of the hard-copy versions are sold, they will be gone FOREVER. So be sure to make "Al Emmo and the Last Dutchman's Mine" part of your classic-style adventure gaming collection today!
Click here to visit the Official Al Emmo website.
As many of you will no doubt be aware, the intellectual property rights formerly owned by Vivendi Games (including all of the Sierra titles) were recently transferred to Activision. We were informed that Activision would honor our outstanding agreements with Vivendi by allowing us to finish our pending contractual projects, but that we will not be granted permission to start any new Sierra remakes in the future.
This means the future direction of our development team will focus on creating commercial adventure game titles under the Himalaya Studios (https://www.himalayastudios.com) banner. Please visit our website and forums for upcoming announcements and updates.
AGD Interactive would also like to thank the following people for kindly assisting with server space and hosting. Take some time to check out their corresponding sites.
In no particular order:
Finally, thanks to Vivendi for allowing these projects to proceed, and to Activision for continuing to honor our licensing agreements.
This concludes the seventh edition of the Official AGD Interactive newsletter. From everyone at AGD Interactive, we would like to thank you for your support. If you enjoy our new enhancements of King's Quest I and King's Quest II, please spread the word to as many others as possible, as increased support and awareness leads to an increased chance of the adventure game genre's survival and revival.
We have enjoyed working on these remakes and bringing them to adventure game fans across the world. Feel free to drop us a line in the AGD Interactive forums and let us hear all about your adventures, quests, and experiences!
Site address: www.AGDinteractive.com
Forums: www.AGDIforums.com/forum
Email: Web@AGDInteractive.com