Progress Update Thread (formerly known as quest for glory 2)

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gamecreator · #476 Post by **gamecreator** » Thu Jun 12, 2008 7:04 pm

So, it's almost the two year anniversary of the trailer's release. Assuming a trailer was released today, using the same scenes, in the same order, would it look much different?

I know that much of the last year or two was spent concentrating on bugs. I guess my questions is, how much have the graphics changed since back then?

It's also interesting to read AGC2's 1/21/07 post commenting on how "bland" the game looked in 2004. If the graphics haven't changed much, any chance they'll be considered bland again once the game is released, or will they be updated before then?

Thanks.

MellowVids · #477 Post by **MellowVids** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 5:18 pm

I've noticed there haven't been many progress updates lately, unless pretty specific questions were asked to garner a response... so I thought I'd ask to hear the latest news about bugs, bug-fixes, and the vivendi saga. I don't really expect a quick reply, and it's cool if I don't get one at all.

Like I said, I just thought I'd ask.

Thanks for all your hard work! I'll be looking forward to the release of the game "when it's done."

#478 Post by **Erpy** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 11:50 am

No, the graphics of the trailer are still up-to-date. The graphics changed a lot between 2004 and 2006, but after that we realized that we were content with how things looked.

We haven't really heard from Vivendi, but we're hoping to hear from them soon. As far as bugs go, most of the bugs fixed last weekend were fairly minor. We also ended up implementing the suggestion of one of the beta testers regarding the application of certain spells on a certain object.

Muadeeb · #479 Post by **Muadeeb** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 3:40 pm

Casting 'open' on a certain curtain?

#480 Post by **Erpy** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 4:09 pm

No.

Alanor. · #481 Post by **Alanor.** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 1:52 am

The vivendi people received the QFG2vga copy you send them right. Last time i think they said, they didn't get the beta version you send them.

#482 Post by **navynuke04** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 1:58 am

Yes. They confirmed that they received the beta and that they had someone reviewing it. We plan on making contact tomorrow to check on the status.

Gronagor · #483 Post by **Gronagor** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 9:34 am

After that, this forum will be packed tomorrow to get the official update. :rollin

R.A.B.I.D. · #484 Post by **R.A.B.I.D.** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 10:35 pm

I'm a bit puzzled by the Vivendi situation.

I know they own the rights to Sierra On-Line's old intellectual property. The QfG2 remake will be almost completely faithful to the original, except in VGA and with some tweaks to areas that could use improvement (better combat system, non-annoying alleyways, et cetera).

I realize that the remake will be the result of hard work by the AGDI team, but still, it's like distributing Vivendi's intellectual property for free. I can understand them ignoring remakes (many companies do), but why review it with the possible intent of allowing distribution?

Seems to me that most companies would either ignore the project entirely or put a stop to it.

Angelus3K · #485 Post by **Angelus3K** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 11:32 pm

I don't know anything about the situation but my guess is that upon release of KQ1VGA or KQ2VGA, sales of KQ:MoE shot up out of nowhere and I think Vivendi see's the value of this.

#486 Post by **Anonymous Game Creator 2** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 11:46 pm

It's because a company has to actively defend its copyrights, even if that product line has been lying dormant for years. Case in point, even if Vivendi isn't currently creating Sierra "Quest" adventure games anymore, they do still own the IP (which is worth big money to someone), so they are obliged to protect and safeguard everything they own, in order prevent anyone from 'damaging' the reputation of that series, and thus damaging its lucrativeness to potential buyers of the IP in the future. Nobody wants to buy damaged goods, after all.

A couple of years back, Disney contested the copyright laws (which, then, lasted 70 years) to get an extension of coverage on their earliest incarnation of Mickey Mouse. Fortunately for them, they won. But if they had failed, that particular version of Mickey Mouse would have fallen into the public domain. That means anyone in the world could have then used that version of Mickey Mouse to advertise their own products without any legal repercussions from Disney whatsoever.

It's a similar situation here. If Vivendi (or any big company) doesn't actively pursue their copyrights, then they run the risk of just anybody being able to profit from the IP which they have paid big money for.

So if fan projects come to their attention, it's in Vivendi's best interests not to ignore them. They either have to shut them down or license them. We just got lucky that they allowed us to continue. When they tried to cancel the Silver Lining fan project (formerly known as KQ9), the fan community backlashed against Vivendi's decision, even though they were completely within their rights to do so. I guess their 'mistake' was permitting the fangame community to flourish for too long before taking any kind of action.

Vivendi were bound to raise the ire of fans by shutting down highly anticipated projects after so much hype had been allowed to build around them. You could say that the fans have Vivendi by the balls, as they're now aware that they'll need to consider fan reactions if they consider shutting down future fan projects. Other companies like LucasArts seem to take early action when they notice fan projects popping up -- before things can get to the stage where fans have any bargaining power against them. But, that said, I think permitting these games to go ahead is a wise move for Vivendi, and even if they are only doing this to appease fans and prevent a backlash, it should work well to generate them good publicity. I just hope that they take notice of the increased interest in these games and the Sierra "adventure" line once the games are released publicly.

In short, Vivendi need to review our games to ensure that they meet the same level of quality which they'd expect from a game released with their name attached to it. Quality assurance, basically.

R.A.B.I.D. · #487 Post by **R.A.B.I.D.** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 11:49 pm

It's awesome if they allow it, of course, for whatever reason — even if it's one of those situations where they quietly allow the project to go forward, with the unspoken (but unofficial!) understanding that they don't really mind too much.

I'm sure you're right, Angelus: Vivendi must see some benefit from these high-quality remakes. I'm just not quite sure what that benefit may be.

EDIT: AGC2's explanation just popped up when I posted.

I'm aware of that curious part of copyright law that requires you to defend your intellectual property at the risk of losing it. I read up on it once, because I've worked on some fan-made projects before, and legality is always a critical issue.

So what you're saying (if I'm reading you right) is that Vivendi wants to review the game and give it their official (or semi-official) go-ahead, thus actively taking part in the process and preserving their rights to the IP?

EDIT 2: The motivation and benefit for them being not alienating the fan base by shutting down an anticipated project, I presume.

#488 Post by **Anonymous Game Creator 2** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 12:22 am

Well, the game is licensed, so they're not allowing it to fly under the radar. We have to acknowledge the Vivendi connection. But, yes, they want to review it to ensure that the integrity of the series/characters/names/company/brand etc. are being portrayed in a positive light.

As for Vivendi's true motivation, I can only guess at what that might be! They haven't really mentioned much about their perspective on things. I'd like to think that they want to reward us handsomely for all the hard work we've put into these games over the years. But it's more likely that they're merely allowing us to continue in order to keep the peace. The commercial games that Vivendi puts out these days (World of Warcraft, for example) would totally blitz our remakes in terms of profits and popularity, so the impact our NON-PROFIT remakes will have is likely to be relatively small. And although, the KQ collection is currently being distributed by Vivendi, sadly there isn't a QFG one. So I don't know if there will be as much chance to boost sales and turn heads again like we did with MOE sales back in 2001.

Still, they allowed us to proceed without any attempt at issuing a C&D, unlike the way they dealt with the Silver Lining project (which they attempted to shut down several years after allowing us to continue). So, who knows. Vivendi seem to listen to fan feedback, so if enough people take the effort to tell Vivendi that they liked our remakes, perhaps that'll convince them that there's a market for these old school adventure games, and they could possibly have us doing this commercially for them or something.

#489 Post by **Erpy** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 4:43 am

Then again, they also offered the SQ7 project the same fan license. (which was refused) That project hardly had an active fan base at all, since it kept its progress so much under wraps.

I assume VU simply does this to indeed keep the peace in some way. If they crack down on fan projects very hard, eventually people are just going to keep their projects a secret from the public until the time of release and then anonymously toss it on the internet. This way, they at least have some control over their property.

Alanor. · #490 Post by **Alanor.** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 10:49 am

navynuke04 wrote:Yes. They confirmed that they received the beta and that they had someone reviewing it. We plan on making contact tomorrow to check on the status.

So what did they say..

#491 Post by **Erpy** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 11:02 am

We tried calling a few times, but couldn't get hold of our contact. We left a voicemail and sent a mail to try and get more information or a more suitable time to establish contact. In other words...to be continued.

gamecreator · #492 Post by **gamecreator** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 6:24 pm

We can help. Name, numbers and address?

Gronagor · #493 Post by **Gronagor** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 8:05 pm

Considering the number of 'unofficial' sequels that received C&Ds in the past, they probably want to keep the option of continuing the series open. By allowing these projects to be released, there is a chance these games would rekindle interest in these series' and they'll be more than willing to jump in with some kind of freakish mutation of the 'brand'.

Remember the 3D Larry monstrosity? It most probably took them a month or two to throw that thing together.

gizzywiz · #494 Post by **gizzywiz** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 1:43 am

Well at least they have recieved it this time! I read enough Dilbert to know how disfunctional big companies are

! I hope they get back to you guys soon! The waiting for comfirmation feels worse than the waiting for the actual game!

ulmont · #495 Post by **ulmont** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 6:57 pm

Anonymous Game Creator 2 wrote:It's because a company has to actively defend its copyrights, even if that product line has been lying dormant for years.

You're thinking of trademarks here, not copyrights. I suppose it's a moot point, since QFG2 is no doubt protected by both.

Ghost_Rider · #496 Post by **Ghost_Rider** » Sat Jun 21, 2008 2:53 am

Erpy wrote:We tried calling a few times, but couldn't get hold of our contact. We left a voicemail and sent a mail to try and get more information or a more suitable time to establish contact. In other words...to be continued.

I bet I know why you have not heard back. Your contact and anyone else who has seen the game at VU has become addicted and they are now glued to their computers playing non-stop. No time to answer the phone, no time to answer e-mails.

Xyloc · #497 Post by **Xyloc** » Sat Jun 21, 2008 2:34 pm

Well, in the mean time, more bugs are being squashed, making the final release even greater!
I have confidence that Vivendi will allow this release, but I'm willing to wait.

Gronagor · #498 Post by **Gronagor** » Sun Jun 22, 2008 8:23 am

ulmont wrote:You're thinking of trademarks here, not copyrights. I suppose it's a moot point, since QFG2 is no doubt protected by both.

Heh. Actually you're thinking of copyrights. Trademarks are very similar though.

Klytos · #499 Post by **Klytos** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 12:02 am

Do fans really have any power over VU, as AGD2's post suggests might be the case? I wouldn't think so, they can simply issue C&D's if they so desire and screw the fan teams whether they like it or not.

I think they've gone out of their way to try and support fans of their older series. Other companies, LucasArts and Disney at the top of the list, shut down everything they can find, as is their right as the copyright holders.

As for SQ7, they're just stupid for not accepting the fan license. That was one game I was greatly anticipating and it got stopped, not because of VU, but because of greedy fans wanting to own the copyright on something they could never except to own the copyright on.

Brainiac · #500 Post by **Brainiac** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 2:59 am

Klytos wrote:I think they've gone out of their way to try and support fans of their older series. Other companies, LucasArts and Disney at the top of the list, shut down everything they can find, as is their right as the copyright holders.

Actually, Disney's getting a little more mellow recently (or, if you prefer, they're less uptight than some other groups). Disney allowed various video game music concerts use the music from the Kingdom Hearts games when the game's developer, Square-Enix, said no. They also allowed the use of video from various Disney movies when S-E insisted that video from the games could not be used.

Klytos wrote:As for SQ7, they're just stupid for not accepting the fan license. That was one game I was greatly anticipating and it got stopped, not because of VU, but because of greedy fans wanting to own the copyright on something they could never except to own the copyright on.

I always thought that was more about not letting VU gain control rather than the fan workers insist on keeping it from themselves (and considering there was a fair bit of help from ex-Sierra employees, I can understand why).

Progress Update Thread (formerly known as quest for glory 2)

progress, or lack thereof?

Holders