King's Quest II Remake v3.1 Released! (now with Mac Version)

[1234567890]

Ah! Let's not start that discussion again! Just accept that if you use anything without permission you can get into trouble.... anything!

Yep. Though TSL is coming out really soon. So, I love the game! I'm not too upset about the easter egg being taken off.

[daventry]

You People have done superb work on KQ2VGA, i love the Sharkee King, seriously better and scarier then the old Lion Head Face it had.

I love how the Characters Faces look now, they are better.

Brilliant work again you guys.

I still hate the whole Father and the Crown nonsense, when it has no resemblense with the rest of the KQ History.

[MusicallyInspired]

The Sharkee King portrait is much better than the original in that it actually looks somewhat more like a shark now rather than a bulldog or something, but it's still missing the longer snout that the rest of the Sharkees (including the Sharkee King's regular sprite) has.

[Fender178]

Nice. I never expected this to get done this quickly. I thought It would be another 2 months or so.

[DrJones]

I'm enjoying the new background effects on the bottom of the sea and swamp, they're a wonderful addition!

John Bell does a wonderful job, too. I mostly like the new portraits, but for some reason, I enjoyed more the original mother pumpkin portrait even though I'm not really sure you actually changed it on 3.0! Weird.

Great job! It's a pity we won't see soon another King's Quest anthology with your work on it.

[Gronagor]

All the portraits were touched up.

[ATMachine]

I thought one of the most striking new character portraits was that of the Ferryman. The old portrait showed him at some distance, so you saw less of his face. Now you see his moldy skull in all its g(l)ory.

Also, were any of the voices rerecorded? I recall thinking the Sharkee King sounded different, for example.

[Anonymous Game Creator 2]

Yes, I rerecorded the Sharkee King and also all of Hagatha's lines. The monk's lines were rerecorded as well.

All other lines in the game were remastered from the original wav files. That is, they were cleaned, removed of background noise, amplified, and encoded at higher quality so that they sound clearer and louder than in previously released voice packs.

[MusicallyInspired]

Am I the only one who misses the shrouded mystery of the ferryman's portrait from the original release?

[Quest For Glory Fan]

I'm going to grab a copy of this when I boot into windows next. Can't wait to see the changes (because I didn't finish it the first time) could someone tell me what the original murray line was?

[ATMachine]

As I recall it was a sound rip from Curse of Monkey Island, specifically the line where Murray introduces himself as "the all-powerful demonic skull."

[Cadbury Wookie]

could someone tell me what the original murray line was?

"I am Murray, the demonic talking skull!"

Wish I'd thought of it.

i love the Sharkee King, seriously better and scarier then the old Lion Head Face it had.

You should have seen the one we first 'auditioned'! <runs away to hide from AGD1>

[Gronagor]

At first I thought you meant one of her older sketches... then I realized you meant AGD1 herself.
You know... she just returned from her bike-adventure. LOL!

[Erpy]

Actually, I think she's taking some time off in South America right now without any biking involved.

[Cadbury Wookie]

At first I thought you meant one of her older sketches.

I did. It was a different take on the Sharkee King. In retrospect, it might have worked. In any event, that's the fun of being involved in a game's development. Everything changes several times before the public gets it.

[DrJones]

Actually, I think she's taking some time off in South America right now without any biking involved.

At first I read "without any bikini involved"

She sure travels a lot! In a year she has gone to more places than me in my entire life. I'll have to fix that one of these years.

[Anonymous Game Creator 2]

Taking time off from time off? Sounds like a real slog!

[MusicallyInspired]

Any chance we can see the early Sharkee King portrait concept?

[Erpy]

I don't think the picture's still around, but he was modelled after a hammerhead shark.

[1234567890]

Actually, I think she's taking some time off in South America right now without any biking involved.

At first I read "without any bikini involved"

lol. I did too!

[Gronagor]

I did. It was a different take on the Sharkee King. In retrospect, it might have worked.

LOL. I know you did. Just teasing (and remembering a pumpkin face photo she took of herself 9 years ago. LOL!)

[Lady Pyro]

Okay I know I'm late to the party but I have to say, the revamp looks great!
I haven't finished it yet, but blame my new job. It really gives me something to look forward to after a long day though.

[Gronagor]

Oooh! Now I'm curious! Is it an animation job?

[Lady Pyro]

Yeah, I'm fixing up other peoples animation for some animal game so it can get approved and sent out. It's supposed to be just to hold me over until the new shows come in but it's in a program I haven't used since school so it's a bit slow and maddening.

[Milan Easton]

Yes, I'm much more pleased with the Sharkee in this version compared to the last. I'm much, MUCH more pleased with the new Sharkee compared to the very first "hammer head hi-de-ho sailor" Sharkee I conceptualized. As hard as it was to hear Wookie's comments regarding how lame he looked, I am glad we cut him out of the game and went back to the drawing board. It's kind of like when I was a kid, and had a mullet, and thought it looked ok...and now, I can look back at pictures from the 80s, and wish I had not gone through a period wearing that hairdo? That's how I would have felt if that Sharkee had been released for public viewing.

And yes, after four months of incredible (albeit life and death) experiences, my bike adventure to raise money for a charity I support is now complete. I rode over 4,000 miles from the United States to Panama, covering the entire Pacific Coast of Mexico (that country is HUGE), the highlands of Guatemala, the coast of El Salvador, the deserts of Honduras, the volcano infested Nicaragua, the crazy roads of Costa Rica and ending in the post apocalyptic warzone like area of Panama City. I kept a blog if anyone is interested in reading about the adventure over at www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/hq8

If you're not interested in the stories, laughing at the bad tan line is also fun.

If anyone is interested in supporting a good cause by donating to the charity, you can do so at: www.firstgiving.com/herosquest2008

Two friends in Panama met me to celebrate our safe arrival and we continued to Colombia by sailboat. It's been pretty excellent fodder for potential future adventure games. I'm currently in Medellin, at one time the cocaine capital of the world, famous from the Cartel run by Pablo Escobar. They've done a lot to improve the city, and I'm quite impressed with its beauty, cultural activities, museums, libraries, sport facilities, architecture, and people. I'll be leaving today for coffee country further south.

I'm moving to an apartment on the East Coast with my friend when I return to the States, but it will not be ready until May. Therefore, I will continue traveling and studying Spanish until that time, as I would prefer learning and experiencing new cultures than sitting at home waiting for my big move (and additionally, I don't have a place to wait for that move!).

I'll be sure to continue searching for good material for games while on the road.

I'm glad people are enjoying the new version of King's Quest II!