New Direction is Best

[Chyron8472]

Why do people keep insisting that using an inventory item on a monster to solve a puzzle in a graphic adventure is the same thing as combat in an action game?

Graham using a sword on a snake is a solution to a puzzle.

Solid Snake shooting a single guard in the face is not.

[Big Ted]

For me a modern and more adult kings quest would contain

1) Survival horror elements - which in a kings quest game means running away from monsters like in amnesia the dark descent and using your ingenuity + puzzle elements to elude them; like witch from kq1 or troll and donkey etc
2) Plenty of lighter elements to offset the dark parts; classic fairy tales but with the original grimm elements
3) Plenty of puzzles but in a modern seamless 3d world to explore; kings quest 1 was at the time the equivalent to skyrim today.
4) Game should not allow combat as in rpg but only puzzles to resolve problems

My two cents...

[Blackthorne519]

What the fuck does MORE ADULT mean? Adults were playing these games back in 1990.... I hate that goddamn saying "More Adult"!


Bt

[BagginsKQ]

Leisure Suit Graham in the Land of Lounge Leprechauns.

[Lambonius]

Originally Posted by Blackthorne519

What the fuck does MORE ADULT mean? Adults were playing these games back in 1990.... I hate that goddamn saying "More Adult"!


Bt

Come on, Bt--you should know by now that when someone says "more adult," they really mean "more appealing to teenagers" who don't have the attention span or intellectual maturity to appreciate a light-hearted story and world on its own merits without thinking that it's "too kiddy."

Okay, well...so far we've got King's Quest: The Open World Survival Horror Action RPG. Are you guys seriously unaware of how hilariously stupid that sounds??

[BagginsKQ]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8pJhi1kB80

[BagginsKQ]

Why do people keep insisting that using an inventory item on a monster to solve a puzzle in a graphic adventure is the same thing as combat in an action game?

"Graham encountered this dragon in the Dragon's Lair. From across the cave, the heat of the sulphurous flames singed Graham's hair. The dragon made half-rushes back and forth at him, taking its time before making a killer charge. Graham tested the balance of his dagger, knowing he had only one chance to strike the dragon in its heart. In order to distract the dragon to give himself more time to aim and a clearer target, he hefted a bucket of water, and just as the dragon exhaled , he flung the water into its snout. He had extinquished the dragon's flames, it stopped and sputtered, steam and bubles gurgling form its nostrils. Graham stayed the dagger in his hand, seeing the look of embarrasment on the dragon's monstrous face. It dropped its head, and tucked its tail, and the beast pushed a boulder aside and pussyfooted out of the cave."-From the Chronicles of Daventry, Part I.

"Graham had intended to kill the snake using a magic sword he had received from a genie. He knew the weapon would rid him of the the menace. Graham was more of a fencer than a hack-and-slash type who triumphs through brute strength. He knew to dispatch the snake would take only a flick of his wrist, a flick of a moment. However, Graham had forgotten about the Leather Bridle he had draped over the sword's hilt. With a swift motion King Graham made to grab the hilt and swung the blade through the air, so to slice the head from the serpent's body. His hand grabbed the bridle's silver bit instead, and still thinking he held a sword, he flicked it through the air. In surprise, Graham let go of the bridle, and he threw the bridle at the snake by mistake.-From the Chronicles of Daventry, Part II.

[Lambonius]

Originally Posted by BagginsKQ

"Graham encountered this dragon in the Dragon's Lair. From across the cave, the heat of the sulphurous flames singed Graham's hair. The dragon made half-rushes back and forth at him, taking its time before making a killer charge. Graham tested the balance of his dagger, knowing he had only one chance to strike the dragon in its heart. In order to distract the dragon to give himself more time to aim and a clearer target, he hefted a bucket of water, and just as the dragon exhaled , he flung the water into its snout. He had extinquished the dragon's flames, it stopped and sputtered, steam and bubles gurgling form its nostrils. Graham stayed the dagger in his hand, seeing the look of embarrasment on the dragon's monstrous face. It dropped its head, and tucked its tail, and the beast pushed a boulder aside and pussyfooted out of the cave."-From the Chronicles of Daventry, Part I.

And your point is?

[BagginsKQ]

Graham is a klutz when it comes to combat!

"What would you do, dear reader, if confronted that quickly by such a monster whilst stupidly looking at a pie, instead of looking out for danger? What Graham did was totally reflexive; startled, he jumped at the roar and flung what was in his hand in the direction of the attack. The king's aim is good, it always has been. The custard pie splatted squarely in the yeti's face. The creature, literally, never knew what hit it, and with vision totally obscured by the gooey filling, it stepped off the cliff's edge... "Did I really do that?" he asked the heavens. Shaking his head in befuddlement...."-From the Chronicles of Daventry, Part V.

In 2002 though, developers thought about making Graham a Link-like action hero in one version of King's Quest IX;



Development didn't go very far though.

[Lambonius]

Originally Posted by BagginsKQ

In 2002 though, developers thought about making Graham a Link-like action hero in one version of King's Quest IX;

The sad and mind-boggling part is that that seems to be exactly what some people want, according to the posts in this thread. Where is my Picard facepalm mosaic when I need it?

[BagginsKQ]

Why so serious?

[Sleeq]

I don't recall saying I want it to be a gorefest nor an epic RPG. I think it would not be harmful to curb the light heartedness.

Reading those excerpts makes it sound really bad. "Did I really do that?" Is that what a king would say? Why does he have to be so helpless or aloof?

[BagginsKQ]

Part of its satire on the silly or obscure puzzle solutions in the KQ series. in that the solution that is probably the most likely, is often the lesser of two choices! ...or its a solution that most people aren't going to think of at all.

If I had a penny for every article that makes fun of the 'cheese' in the machine solution!

Actually the hintbooks written by Roberta and others sometimes poked fun at the solutions too, LOL.

[Lambonius]

Originally Posted by Sleeq

I think it would not be harmful to curb the light heartedness.

But to what purpose? Just for the sake of doing it? What makes the light-hearted tone in need of changing?

[Sleeq]

I think for me, it belittles the crisis at hand. Like how in KG5 Graham acts as if his family being captured happens everyday and his dialog and
VA , not to mention his actions don't match the situation.

I don't know if it makes sense or if I worded it correctly...

[gamingafter40]

Originally Posted by MusicallyInspired

You can also kill a whole bunch of things in KQ1.

Yes, but none of those creatures seem to hold it against Graham -- they all show up for his wedding at the end of KQ II!

[BagginsKQ]

What you are trying to say in KQ5, how the dialogue in the game, doesn't quite match up with the situation described.

Graham is mostly upbeat, and helpful, and happy go lucky, even though the narration claims he should be in extremely sad over the situation. There are a couple of lines in KQ5 when looking at Graham or at a bird in the game where the game describes Graham being in extreme remorse. But you never see that in the game! Infact, he even seems to crack a few jokes at Cedric's expense in a few places.

Yes, but none of those creatures seem to hold it against Graham -- they all show up for his wedding at the end of KQ II!

Gaming after 40;



Other than the fairy godmother, the giant, the dragon, the leprechaun, the dwarf, enchanter/sorcerer, most of the people at the wedding are from KQ2 (or in both)! You can only kill the giant and dragon in KQ1, out of that bunch.

Graham didn't do a good job of killing Dracula, . Man, that giant cross must be painful to him .

[gamingafter40]

Originally Posted by Sleeq

I think for me, it belittles the crisis at hand. Like how in KG5 Graham acts as if his family being captured happens everyday and his dialog and VA , not to mention his actions don't match the situation.

I don't know if it makes sense or if I worded it correctly...

You got your point across. I always think that's one of the hardest things to deal with in balancing storytelling and gameplay in adventure games -- for dramatic purposes, you want to keep the pressure on, but if you make the solutions too obvious for the sake of keeping the story moving, the gameplay suffers. Puzzles that are TOO esoteric make everything grind to a halt, draining emotion from the events, but if they're too easy then it doesn't seem like much of a game.

Linear dramatic storytelling can usually take the simple way out -- "Suddenly, Buck remembers he has the Maggdar Crystal stashed in his Hooblefritz! With great precision, he thrusts it into the prison chamber's lock! The Moon Beast staggers back in surprise as Buck invades the Sanctum of Evil to rescue Queen Bea!"

But when there's a player involved, it necessarily has to play as, "Buck wanders around the room and looks at various things, while Queen Bea's screams echo through the chamber, though no more urgently than they did two minutes ago when the crisis began. Buck returns to the entryway briefly and scans the floor and walls for tiny sparkling objects. Finding nothing tangible or suggestive of a solution to the problem, he opens his Hooblefritz and ponders the wide array of items he has collected during his travels. 'Perhaps this one will do something unexpected and save the day', he thinks, as he fondles the Froomnana and presses it up against the prison bars. Then he tries doing the same with the broom, the Maggdar Crystal and the latex appliance instead. Nope, no luck there. He thinks, 'What if I insert the Froomnana into the socket on the wall?' And is then disappointed in the result. But he resolves to try it again, using the Maggdar Crystal, which come to think of it, resembles the shape of the keyhole. If he only he had thought of this sooner! Fortunately, the Moon Beast has not actually made any progress towards his nefarious nefariousnesses."

[gamingafter40]

Originally Posted by BagginsKQ

Other than the fairy godmother, the giant, the dragon, the leprechaun, the dwarf, enchanter/sorcerer, most of the people at the wedding are from KQ2 (or in both)! You can only kill the giant and dragon in KQ1, out of that bunch.

Graham didn't do a good job of killing Dracula, . Man, that giant cross must be painful to him .

Hee-hee... I should have gone back and looked at my own notes! I wrote:

When Graham and Valanice marry, everyone's at the wedding. The guest list even includes several characters whom Graham has previously murdered in cold blood, including Dracula and the Giant and Dragon from KQ1. I guess everybody loves a royal wedding!

And I COMPLETELY failed to make a joke about the giant cross! Hats off to you!

[Blackthorne519]

Again - why put the old King's Quest name on something that is patently not King's Quest?


Bt