A brief account of KQ3 Redux' history

[Kurdt]

I'd first heard of this game being developed only a little while after our KQ3 was released and have been eager to play it ever since. I'm not really around anywhere anymore (I try to only get paid for my writing and acting nowadays), but news like this will always bring an old warhorse back to familiar pastures. I'm very glad that you guys have finally come to the end of your AGDI journey. These games have more than shaped you into powerful developers with nothing but a bright future in the business. They will always stand as testimony to what people with the will to create can do. I've been privileged to be a fan here since 2001 and will never forget the times this place, and you people, have given me. Congratulations, everyone. Success looks good on ya.

This is me, awaiting February with bated breath.

-Kurdt

[navynuke04]

Nice to see you around Kurdt!

We used to chat quite a bit and it was always difficult to keep this a secret. I'm glad I can finally discuss it! Stick around this time!

[Fender178]

Wow Im very impressed and surprised that this is happening. I wonder if the game will have Voice acting like KQ1VGA & KQ2VGA+ had.

[MusicallyInspired]

Read up the thread. Voice acting is confirmed.

[navynuke04]

Some interesting trivia:

The voice pack started out as surprise from me to the rest of the development team. I programmed it all using template voices. These were recorded by myself, my wife, and my kids. We aren't very good voice actors! it was rather comical to play though!

[Anonymous Game Creator 2]

Nichols Quest.

[MusicallyInspired]

Some interesting trivia:

The voice pack started out as surprise from me to the rest of the development team. I programmed it all using template voices. These were recorded by myself, my wife, and my kids. We aren't very good voice actors! it was rather comical to play though!

What??? I want THAT version!

[Lambonius]

Some interesting trivia:

The voice pack started out as surprise from me to the rest of the development team. I programmed it all using template voices. These were recorded by myself, my wife, and my kids. We aren't very good voice actors! it was rather comical to play though!

What??? I want THAT version!

Hell yes. I smell a director's cut!

[navynuke04]

I'm not sure I even have those files anymore. Besides, I don't think that pack would be compatible with the current version of the game.

[Angelus3K]

Some interesting trivia:

The voice pack started out as surprise from me to the rest of the development team. I programmed it all using template voices. These were recorded by myself, my wife, and my kids. We aren't very good voice actors! it was rather comical to play though!

What??? I want THAT version!

Me too! I want Nichols Quest lol!!

[Aristocles]

I'll bet Josh Mandel was surprised to hear another company ask him for his talents in a remake of the same game... XD

[Darkterror]

I've always been really impressed by Josh Mandel who has voiced so many KQ remakes and other Sierra voice actors. How the hell do you guys get them?

Brings some authenticity to the games for sure.

[Noa]

It's not like he has many lines in KQ3. It's been awhile since I played it, but I don't recall King Graham having a large role in this one.

[Aristocles]

And Dracula had NO lines in the original King's Quest Two. And they ended up remaking him into one of the chattiest characters in the whole remake... and it really, really worked!

I'm probably going to be comparing the two remakes a lot, maybe even posting compare/contrast screenshots of the same rooms. There's also the matter of Andy Hoyos and Mannanan's voice. The IA remake scenes with him and Mordack were very convincing, much more so than the scenes in King's Quest V ("what have you done to my wand?!")

While I don't mean to put down anyone at IA, I get the feeling that AGDI will have the superior remake, if only because AGDI is a larger operation, with a perfect track record, and if I had to guess, superior technology. Plus, we've already seen a spell be made in a game (the emerald charm in KQ2VGA+), as opposed to the rather minimalist scene in KQ3VGA where all one has to do is have the items and click on the book to "mix them" off-screen.

The third game truly was darker and more cerebral than the first two, a lot like Reboot, if anyone remembers that show.

[Blackthorne519]

I'm sure there will be lots of comparisons, and rightly so - we released KQIII almost five years ago, and IA was very different then. Gaining our footing, for sure. I'm very proud of our game, but it really is a freshmen effort. When I compare it to what we're doing now - it's light years away. KQIII was a great learning experience, and I'm glad that now, five years later, AGDI can finish telling the story they started with KQ2+, and the fans really win out because they get to play two different versions of the same game.

I know I'm going to have to prepare myself to face the criticism and art comparisons, and I know KQ3 redux's art is BEAUTIFUL. The artists who worked on the game were amazing - but I will remind myself of the hard work we did as amateurs to make our KQ3.


Bt

[MusicallyInspired]

Actually, the Manannan's of IA's remake and AGDI's remake are fairly different. It's going to be interesting to see who prefers who...

I will say that I was very surprised and impressed with the Manannan of IA's remake (V2.0, that is, when he looked MUCH better) and Andy Hoyos did a FANTASTIC job voicing him. He was very intimidating and very unnerving to be around! I'm not sure which Manannan I prefer myself! I'll have to play both again...it's been quite a while since I've played either, actually!

Of course, I'm a little biased about the soundtracks so I can't comment on that....

[Klytos]

Got to be honest, I've known about this one since we were producing our version so probably 5 years now! And I must admit that I am really looking forward to it. At a quick glance I'd say that AGDI's KQ3 will piss all over IA's, but hey, as AGD2 said, it's more fair to compare AGDI's KQ1 with IA's KQ3 as it was our respective first games. I'm prepared for the comparisons of the two retellings, and I look forward to what people think!

I can't wait for this one. Release it already!

[Erpy]

I suspect comparisons will be unavoidable. The only thing I can say is that I sincerely hope that people aren't gonna be assholes about it and blast the game they liked less. (or even worse...hypocritical assholes who blast a game they praised in the past) In the end, a lot of love and effort went into both and both games deserve at least that much credit.

[pbpb33]

I suspect comparisons will be unavoidable. The only thing I can say is that I sincerely hope that people aren't gonna be assholes about it and blast the game they liked less. (or even worse...hypocritical assholes who blast a game they praised in the past) In the end, a lot of love and effort went into both and both games deserve at least that much credit.

I think it's very helpful how you have fully explained how KQ3 Redux came to be. It's also great to hear the different design teams express mutual respect for one another. Seems like getting out early in front of and preemptively trying to discourage the perception of a KQ3 catfight (no pun intended) between AGDI and IA, where fans would have to pick sides, will hopefully remind people that it's ok to appreciate both games for what each of them is. In the end, though I guess it can't be denied that probably at some level there is healthy competition between the design teams, I would think everyone here has a common love of adventure games and would want to see as many different successful adventure game design teams as possible. For what it's worth, I loved IA's KQ3.

I don't think you guys should be too afraid of people harshly criticizing either game, though. Those criticisms (including mean-spirited ones and ones where the two KQ3 remakes are pitted against each other) are surely going to come. I'm sure you all are quite accustomed to that sort of thing already and handle it fine. I know how it stings when someone blasts your work, but, as long the criticism is sincere, honest and substantive, hopefully you guys will take it, at least in a way, sometimes as a compliment, whether or not you agree with what they say... at least they cared enough to offer an opinion.

Anyway, I'm really excited about AGDI's KQ3 Redux and plan to replay their KQ1VGA and KQ2+VGA sometime over the next few weeks to refesh myself about the details of the "retold" KQ2 plot and so that there will be a nice flow when I start the new one next month!!

[Erpy]

I think it's very admireable how you've gone to such lengths to fully explain how KQ3 Redux came to be. It's also great to hear the different design teams express mutual respect for one another. Seems like getting out early in front of and preemptively trying to discourage the perception of a KQ3 catfight (no pun intended) between AGDI and IA, where fans would have to pick sides, will hopefully remind people that it's ok to appreciate both games for what each of them is. In the end, though I guess it can't be denied that probably at some level there is healthy competition between the design teams, I would think everyone here has a common love of adventure games and would want to see as many different successful adventure game design teams as possible. For what it's worth, I loved IA's KQ3.

This was probably before your time, but there has been a period in the past where interaction between IA and AGDI was very tense, even hostile at times. (around 2004-2005) If KQ3 Redux had been released or announced around that time, I don't know if I would have taken any bets on it that a catfight like you described wouldn't have broken out. IA released their KQ3, established themselves as a team that can finish what it starts, got a hefty number of downloads out of it without any KQ fans ignoring their game due to the "let AGDI do it"-attitude and moved on with several other projects. So ultimately, I think the way things worked out was the best way things could work out.

Still, since a lot of folks in the adventure gaming community have been around for a long time, I wanted to kill off any potential theories that KQ3 Redux foundation was in any way related to that old time of bickering because that's simply not why the project's development was started or continued.

[eriqchang]

Still, since a lot of folks in the adventure gaming community have been around for a long time, I wanted to kill off any potential theories that KQ3 Redux foundation was in any way related to that old time of bickering because that's simply not why the project's development was started or continued.[/img]

In true Stijn style, thought the development piece posted about this final release was really beautifully written, and concise.

[Anonymous Game Creator 2]

I think comparisons are a given. I mean, we're talking about the same game so it's the natural course of action people are going to take. Also, I don't think anybody starts developing games expecting to be immune to constructive criticism. It's all part of the gig.

What makes me cringe, personally, is when people mention the obvious discrepancies, comparing the flaws of a first-time project to a 4th generation one that has been continually refined over a long period of time. They know it's not an accurate comparison, but go to extremes and rip it apart anyway. Then they top it off with a fanboy episode which shows complete, unwavering allegiance to one team. These types of fans mean well, and you can tell that they really enjoy your games, but it seems like the more of them you have, the easier it is for certain parts of the community to start loathing you. They seem to equate your most vocal fans with your team, and even if that's not accurate, it can easily stand as the public's perception if too many of those fanboy types start speaking out as if they're speaking for you.

I think criticism is a necessary process towards improvement, otherwise we'd just stagnate and never make better games. In fact, the harsher the critiques (if they are valid), the more you're likely to learn. The thing is, IA have said that they've improved a lot since their own KQ3 remake, so to harp on about the "flaws" in their version is like flogging a dead horse, since obviously, those lessons have already been learned and acted upon, and SQ2VGA has benefited from them.

[Klytos]

In the end, though I guess it can't be denied that probably at some level there is healthy competition between the design teams, I would think everyone here has a common love of adventure games and would want to see as many different successful adventure game design teams as possible. For what it's worth, I loved IA's KQ3.

Of course there is! We want to do better than AGDI. You always need goals to aim for! As an example, we released a narrator as part of our voice pack in our KQ3 simply because AGDI hadn't done one at the time with either of their released games. Conversely, the quality of QFG2 prompted us to go back on SQ2 and fix up some backgrounds to a higher standard. I think it's healthy rivalry from our part. We love, but we want to do better too!

This was probably before your time, but there has been a period in the past where interaction between IA and AGDI was very tense, even hostile at times. (around 2004-2005) If KQ3 Redux had been released or announced around that time, I don't know if I would have taken any bets on it that a catfight like you described wouldn't have broken out. IA released their KQ3, established themselves as a team that can finish what it starts, got a hefty number of downloads out of it without any KQ fans ignoring their game due to the "let AGDI do it"-attitude and moved on with several other projects. So ultimately, I think the way things worked out was the best way things could work out.

Still, since a lot of folks in the adventure gaming community have been around for a long time, I wanted to kill off any potential theories that KQ3 Redux foundation was in any way related to that old time of bickering because that's simply not why the project's development was started or continued.

Looking back, I think a lot of the issues that were there between the two teams were a result of vast differences between the two styles and outlooks the teams took. AGDI were always, in my view anyway, more outwardly professional than IA. Obviously you guys had goals of going commercial (which you successfully have) and had to run your team and your community in a manner which reflected that. Blackthorne and I both never seriously wanted to turn IA commercial, we did, and still do, only make our games for fun. It's the difference between people doing things for money and people who don't. Don't get me wrong, I know there's deep love for these old games on AGDI's part too, but it's looking at things differently, AGDI have a goal, IA really don't. Our game is our goal. Your goal is, let's do these remakes and build a team and learn / refine our skills, then go commercial. Of course, this is only my opinions in retrospect, I could be seriously wrong about AGDI.

The other thing is that IA is a strange beast. At times we're seriously immature, but at others we can have deep and meaningful conversations about life, death, cancer, kidney disease, wives, children etc. Some people get us, some people don't. People who've been a part of IA have been brilliant at their work, but maybe felt that they didn't fit in to our culture, but have gone on to flourish at AGDI. Then others have worked for both teams.

These types of fans mean well, and you can tell that they really enjoy your games, but it seems like the more of them you have, the easier it is for certain parts of the community to start loathing you. They seem to equate your most vocal fans with your team, and even if that's not accurate, it can easily stand as the public's perception if too many of those fanboy types start speaking out as if they're speaking for you.

Oh, that is so true.

So there you go, that's my thoughts. I look forward to the game and hope they've fixed a couple of things which still piss me off in our KQ3.

[Gronagor]

Great to hear it is almost here. Feels good to see such an e-mail after a very depressing year for myself.

I too want to thank everyone. Especially JP and Emily who has taken our art to levels the rest of us will probably never reach. Fantastic job you two.

Like was said, people will probably compare the two games, but they're completely different, but with the same foundation. Most of the AGDI team never played IA's version to avoid unconsciously 'stealing and improving on' ideas or work. Thus, I'm pretty sure the games can be seen as two different worlds.

If you enjoyed the King's Quest series (even only one of the games), you really should get this one. A number of nice little touches added all over the place.

[navynuke04]

Hey Gron! Great to hear from you. I've been worried about ya.