AGDInteractive - Sierra Adventure Game Remakes Forum

I must say it feels good to be able to speak of this project in public again after 8 years. Yeah, that's how long it's been since this project went underground. A lot has happened. I wager most people reading this are somewhat surprised by this project's sudden announcement. I'm sure the question on most people's minds is: "why this game?" To be able to answer that, I want to make a quick attempt to review the history of this project and the rather unique way in which the project came to be.

The answer to the question: "why this game" is really quite simple. When the project was started, King's Quest III was THE game most fans wished for if AGD Interactive (then Tierra Entertainment) were to do another remake besides Quest for Glory II. The poll and resulting discussion took place in this thread. It was posted some time before King's Quest II+: Romancing the Stones went live and the winning option was rather obvious. The choice was also not at all unpopular with the Tierra team itself. King's Quest II+ writer Wookie had already written a basic screenplay for King's Quest III prior to King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones' release and King's Quest III itself was AGD1's first Sierra game so it held dear personal memories for her. At the same time, development on both Al Emmo an the Lost Dutchman's Mine and the Quest for Glory II remake was more or less starting, so adding King's Quest III to the busy schedule seemed overambitious.

What spawned King's Quest III Redux was the post of Tierra forum regular Navynuke who had been messing around a bit with AGS a bit and as sort of a tutorial for himself scripted a few rooms from King's Quest III in the engine. He then posted his mini-project in our public game making forum, where it received a fair bit of attention. You can read the topic itself here.

I'll summarize for those without the patience to read through the entire thread. Two other members (Muzlak-a programmer who also possessed artistic skills and our very own MusicallyInspired) offered him assistance. Believing Navynuke was serious, AGD2 eventually made an offer. Tierra would "adopt" the new King's Quest III project, Navy would be given Wookie's basic screenplay to work with and he'd be able to work on the project under the AGDs' guidance. The idea was for the King's Quest II+ development team (AGD1, AGD2, Tom, Wookie) to play a largely supportive role on the side, focusing on the Quest for Glory II remake and Al Emmo while Navynuke would assemble his own team on our private forums. It was an experiment of sorts - an additional development team working under the same banner. Naturally, AGD2's post caused quite a bit of commotion and we realized that since the King's Quest III project was essentially an experiment that could succeed grandly or fail horribly, we decided to lock the thread and go underground. (the thread was later moved to our private forums after it started to fade from public memory) We figured that whether things would succeed or fail, it was most beneficial for the project to be developed away from public pressure. That all happened 8 years ago. (to this day)

So, did the experiment succeed? Yes and no. While the initial idea was to have two separate teams working on isolated projects, what actually ended up happening was that both teams essentially merged into one. Team members who became part of AGD Interactive's development team through the secret King's Quest III project (people like John Paul and Emily Selwood, Gronagor, Eriq, Cornjob and myself) ended up contributing to (and greatly adding to) multiple AGD Interactive projects. The AGDs' role ended up being much more than merely sideline-stuff too. Saying King's Quest III Redux was a side project for AGD Interactive would be an exaggeration, because there have been many times when both the Quest for Glory II remake and King's Quest III Redux were progressing actively simultaneously, but as a rule, if we HAD to pick one project to focus on due to lack of time, that usually wasn't King's Quest III. As a result, King's Quest III's development cycle has always been quite a bit less steady than the Quest for Glory II remake's. (longer times of inactivity, more INTENSE bursts of progress) King's Quest III itself didn't even take THAT long to create, but the project received several MASSIVE visual facelifts over the years (like the other KQ remakes got) plus the making of a voice pack that wasn't planned at first. Ultimately, we knew we could take our time with this game to polish it up to perfection because there was no public pressure to have it released. (which we still stand behind)

The lack of public "accountability" has always been important to us. We knew from King's Quest II's and the Quest for Glory II remake's releases that constant requests for progress reports create extra stress and we wanted to avoid that with King's Quest III. And truth be told, it WAS very relaxing working on this project, knowing we only owed it to ourselves and nobody else to see it through. That did create one issue - what if someone else decided to start something similar? We were forced to take a position on that fairly soon. A few months after the start of our project, another developer announced a King's Quest III remake on the AGS forums (and was promptly lambasted by a fan of King's Quest II+ for it) When that news reached us, we made a public statement about the matter. "If we want to do King's Quest III, we'll do it. We're not gonna stop other people from doing a remake, but they won't stop us either if we decide to take a similar project up." The thought behind this isolationist stance is twofold; first of all, we COULD contact him, tell him about the project and ask him to stop, but it wasn't really our place to tell him to stop remaking someone else's game and besides, even if he'd stop, someone else would soon follow in his footsteps, who'd we have to contact too, etc, etc. (and spread our secret over an increasingly large crowd) Secondly, if someone WOULD give up months of work for our sake, we'd create a big obligation towards that person to finish our own project on a timely basis, which would defeat the whole idea being only accountable to ourselves. So ultimately, we kept quiet about this project throughout the years. Until now.

So what is it? And why call it Redux? We figured calling it KQ3VGA (after KQ1VGA) or KQ3+ (after KQ2+) wouldn't describe the game well, because the game lies somewhere in between both extremes. It's not a 1:1 remake like our King's Quest I remake, nor is it a major reworking like King's Quest II+ where many characters' roles were spun around. The underlying plot remains the same, but many existing elements have been given more personality and polish. A few new elements were added, but not on King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones' scale. So we gave the game its own unique moniker.

So is it worth playing, even if you're already familiar with King's Quest III? Hell yeah, it is. While I'll always view the Quest for Glory II remake as AGD Interactive's pinnacle point in the scripting department, King's Quest III blows all the other projects out of the water in the presentation department. It's filled with the lush and colorful graphics that makes it like a true interactive storybook. It contains a massive soundtrack filled with familiar and new tunes alike that easily rivals soundtracks like King's Quest V's and King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones' in quality and mood-setting ability. Its voicepack is of higher quality than any of our other remakes. Extensive QA has already made it stable and solid, so that heavenly suspension of disbelief won't be broken by sudden crashes. (crosses fingers and prays ) And of course there are some Easter eggs here and there. The sheer amount of love and polish this game has received are guaranteed to give any King's Quest fan the nostalgic trip of a lifetime and any King's Quest III fan the fangasm of several lifetimes. This is classic King's Quest fare through and through. AGD Interactive's most polished project. And it's almost ready!

Stijn, and all the rest of the team, it has been a true honor to have worked with you all on this game. We all have learned so much from our experiences. It is almost time to unveil our work to the public! I'm so excited!!

You guys are gonna love this one! So much hard work and talent has been poured into this! (as with all AGDI/Himalaya games )

I'm SO RELIEVED that this is out in the open now. I can't wait for all of you to play it. So much love went into it in so many ways you will never know.

Sean, Stjin, the rest of AGDI, anyone else involved, all of you guys you've done a fantastic job and I feel privileged to have worked with you.

I'm very, very excited for everyone to play KQ3!

It was truly inspirational working with everyone on the KQ3 team - you're all amazing, and now we can celebrate all the hard work!

ZOMG!! BBUT TEH INFAMUSE ADVENTSARES ALREAYD MAED TEH KQ3VAG!>#?$

Heh, just kidding. This is awesome news guys. Congrats on another job well done. You guys are a continuing source of inspiration for the rest of the community, and we at IA salute you!

*Oh yeah, any word on a Mac port?

This is awesome! I'm incredibly excited for this; what an awesome, unexpected surprise! I can't wait!

What an achievement.

Who would have thought, 10 years later, that "Tierra" would be releasing their final game? I know how much love, devotion, and work went into not only this game, King's Quest 3 Redux, but the whole rest of your oeuvre. You've been a source of entertainment and joy, to me personally, as well as a source of inspiration. I liked what you did so much, I went off to try and do it with my own team - and it's been an amazing trip for us as well.

I'm really excited to play this version of King's Quest 3, and the only thing about this that makes me sad is that I'll probably want to play your version of King's Quest 4! Hahaha!

Seriously, though, congratulations on all your hard work. I look forward to playing the game. Here's to you, AGDI!


Bt

*Oh yeah, any word on a Mac port?

If they don't make one, I'm making one, or at least a winewrap. (IDK if distributing it would be legal, but I would make it just cause I can)

I bet there will be though, cause all the other ones have em.

Finally. It's been strange for me because I have nothing to do with the team but I've been knowing about KQ3 Redux for more than 2 years now. And I've been waiting patiently and silently, because I knew the game was "almost finished" since then but, not being part of the team, had no clue about the real progress or why it was taking so long.

I'm glad it's finally out and, as usual, all I can say is a huge Thank you to all involved, I've no doubts the game is awesome, and it will be fantastic to finally play it for real (I've been playing it in my head for two years now!!!).

I have to say it:

GET DOMINIC ARMATO TO DO THE GUYBRUSH CAMEO!

Heh, uh, it was our game that had a Guybrush Cameo. I don't think theirs does, sir.


Bt

Yes, it has certainly been a tumultuous ride! This project has been like making 3 games instead of one, due to the amount of revisions and overhauls it has received over the years. I also must thank the team who developed this and showed extraordinary patience throughout the process, keeping "mum" on the project even though the desire to talk about it was great at times.

I'm aware that the existence of KQ3 Redux was leaked to several people in the adventure game community some years ago, so hats off to all you guys who already knew about it, for managing to keep it top secret. I'm impressed. And apologies for me having to play dumb about the game's existence when questioned. I just really didn't want to "officially" confirm it's existence, even off-the-record, until we knew that we were 100% capable of releasing it. Luckily, that time has now arrived.

I'd also like to make it clear that this is a completely different beast that IA's King's Quest III remake. I know comparisons are inevitably going to occur, but both "interpretations" are quite different. Both have different areas that are unique and follow the unique visions of their own authors. For example, our version of KQ3 Redux was specifically designed with the intention to carry over the non-canonical "Father" inspired storyline from KQ2: Romancing the Stones. Keep this in mind; KQ3 Redux should be viewed more as an extension to KQ2+: RTS (ie. the 2 titles form one long game), while IA's version can be played as a continuation of the official series. I hope this explanation will be enough to convince everyone to try the opposite teams' KQ3 version, if they've only played one of the two.

Anyhow, I'll wrap this post up. Suffice it to say that there's a lot of old-time, classic Sierra adventure game elements awaiting players next month, and I think Sierra fans are really going to enjoy the nostalgia trip with this one. And then there's Brandon's most excellent soundtrack which really has to be heard in-game to know how well-suited his compositions are. That alone makes up at least 50% of the gameplay experience, if you ask me!

Oh, and big thanks to Eriq for making the stellar teaser site and getting that all uploaded. Looks fantastic!

I don't think saying the desire to talk was "great" does it any justice. This is one of the toughest secrets I've ever kept, and I used to hold a Secret security clearance in the military!

If the music department is 50% of the game play, then I have to say that the art department would take the other 50%. The detail in this game is incredible!

Then there is the voice acting, the plot writing, puzzle creation, and programming. I think we are going to need more than 100% to cover things!

Playing a small part in the making of the game 3 years ago and not being in the loop of the project, I'm excited to see a release coming in the near future. Thanks to MusicallyInspired for answering my occasional nagging question about whether the project was still in the works and for some great work himself. And of course I thank the team for allowing me to be a part of the project.

On the subject of the soundtrack, MI truly has done an amazing job, can't wait for you all to be blown away by this game! It's weird because Katherine is 6 now but she would have been about 2 when Deb and I tested the first pre-alpha. It's had so many enhancements since then its like a HD remake of what it was lol!!

I have played many AGS and fan-made adventure games over the last several years (and have enjoyed them all!), but AGDI's adventure games truly hold a special place in my heart. I mean this very sincerely. Their KQ1VGA and KQ2+VGA games genuinely blew me away when I first played them many years ago, and the joy from playing those meticulously-crafted remakes inspired me to revisit several classic adventures and eventually led me to purchase an MT-32 module. I have no doubt that I wasn't the only person inspired by AGDI to again take up adventure games. Then, later, after I played their massive QFG2VGA with that impressive fighting system and everything else it had (a special hats off to the programming team for pulling off that beast of a game is in order), the first thing that came to mind was that they better get proper credit for what obviously took a HUGE amount of work!

As I look forward to their new KQ3 Redux ( wow, I was so thrilled to see its teaser site and the announcement of its impending release!! ), I want to stress again that the AGDI team (I have no idea how many of the same people worked on all the games) should be applauded for their absolutely remarkable, perfect record of delivering solid, POLISHED games of a professional quality; their games can easily stand alongside Sierra's own classic adventures. This kind of record is no small achievement.

YEA!!!!!!!

I'm still trying to wrap my head around this.

So. Any projected estimates for a release date, other than the obligatory "When it's done." ?

Read the website again.

Woah I'm shocked to know there's another KQ3 coming out. I've been following all the major KQ sites for years, slowly anticipating Chapter 3 of Silver Lining. Ultimately I would say that AGD's KQ2 was the most memorable with a wonderful creative story that made sense in what was a really hollow game. Ending it, I felt a little sad that the "Father" concept was specific to AGD's KQ2, and thus not expanded on.

Looks like I'll have my chance again! Although I played IA's KQ3, which I thought was a great remake with a lot of new things to make the old story engaging, the extremely high quality of AGD's KQ2 and now a KQ3 is something I won't miss.

What we need now is a good KQ4 remake, just time and we'll see it.

I'm still trying to wrap my head around this.

So. Any projected estimates for a release date, other than the obligatory "When it's done." ?

There's an internal release date set in February, but we'll wait before confirming it just to give ourselves some leeway for now.

Tell you what though... it'll definitely be less than 36 days.

Darkterror: Thanks, I'm glad to hear you're anticipating the game. KQIV would be nice, since there's definitely more story to tell in Wookie's canon, but Activision won't allow us to make any more Sierra games, and we also can't afford to work on any more free projects after this one either. We've never been allowed to monetize the AGDI site or accept donations, so all the expenses incurred have come from our own pockets and made us poorer, not richer.

Also, it's not really a fair comparison to put KQ3 Redux against IA's first title ever released. A first game is always a learning experience, especially for a group who's never made a prior game. We've both been in that boat at one point or another. The most accurate comparison would be to compare their KQ3 remake to our KQ1 remake, which I think was actually more visually polished than our KQ1VGA v1.0.

Anonymous Game Creator 2 wrote: Also, it's not really a fair comparison to put KQ3 Redux against IA's first title ever released. A first game is always a learning experience, especially for a group who's never made a prior game. We've both been in that boat at one point or another. The most accurate comparison would be to compare their KQ3 remake to our KQ1 remake, which I think was actually more visually polished than our KQ1VGA v1.0.

Thanks for that. Yeah, you know - we released King's Quest III almost five years ago, and it's amazing how far we've come now. I've been talking with the boys, and playing over our latest work and we always talk about "what we could have done better in KQIII!" It was a learning experience, and a lot of people played it and liked it.

KQ3 Redux offers another vision on the game, and like you said, a continuation from KQ2+ - which makes it a different beast all together. One that I'm really, really excited to play. The screenshots you've posted look GORGEOUS, and I'm excited to hear all the music, sound effects, and voices.

So, let's hurry up and get February here! It's winter in New York, and it's perfect game-playin' time for me!


Bt

It's been an honor to be a part of one of the most fun and memorable game series from my childhood, and King's Quest III was one of the most intriguing games out of all of them. I often thought how amazing it would be if it were to be remade. Back in 2002, I googled King's Quest and found AGDInteractive. I was thrilled to find the remakes of King's Quest I and II, and was intrigued to see the level of quality and dedication put into them.

Two years later Sean Nichols(Navynuke) recruited me to work in the art department, and I got to work alongside the other very talented members of the team. I'm so proud to have been a part of King's Quest III, and to bring the background artwork to a visual polish I once dreamed of it being from my childhood. In all aspects this game shines, from the scripting, the animations, portraits and backgrounds, the interface design, the enhanced story and puzzles, and the breathtaking soundtrack all leave me full of joy from this memorable experience.

Also, as always Eriq, your talents for promotion and web design bring the excitement up to a whole new level. To coin our favorite phrase, "CAN'T WAIT TO SEE IT IN THE GAME!!!" or rather website!

Has it really been 7 years since I was signed on?! Surely, you jest.

Seriously, a great deal of time, energy, and talent was put into creating this game by everyone on this project. It is a work of art -- the level of quality in every department should not go unnoticed, and it will be thrilling to see what the fans say about this new release.

It is my hope that a whole new generation of gamers will be introduced to the KQ series and adventure game genre.

It was a pleasure to work with all of you, and even through the more stressful times (balancing real life with development) we still managed to have a great deal of fun! Many thanks to everyone.

And, for lack of a better phrase...

Happy playing!