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Messages - DrSlash

#1
No, since Retold is a recreation of the original game built from the ground up on a different engine, no patch made for any of the official releases of KQ4 would work with it.
#2
Ah, I see. I believe in the original game there was a chance that a goon will be waiting for you at the door when you exit the kitchen screen. If that's what you mean, I decided not to include it in Retold since it's more of an annoyance than an actual game mechanic.
#3
Hi, ArthurWalden, thanks for the extensive feedback! I'll try to answer your questions as best I can.

Quote from: ArthurWalden on Fri 29/07/2022 06:18:26a) The shark is still a hazard with dead ends disabled, and while you can swim away if you're very near shore, if the shark attacks while you're in the middle of the sea, it is unlikely you can escape. Now, it does seem that Autosave offers a way around this, as there appears to be a new autosave with each ocean screen. Still, there may not be enough warning for a new player who doesn't necessarily know to expect the shark.
No, the game only creates a new autosave once you enter the ocean, so this shouldn't be a problem. If there were any additional autosaves created while you explored the ocean, those are generic timed autosaves made at 15-minute increments and have nothing to do with the ocean. These won't overwrite your original save file created when first entering the ocean unless you spend at least 45 minutes in the water without leaving or dying.

Quote from: ArthurWalden on Fri 29/07/2022 06:18:26b) The overall day/night cycle time limits are disabled (if that option is chosen); however, there are some other shorter time limits that may still be issues for some. I'm not talking about obvious threats like the ogre or the troll, as the ability to escape from those is usually feasible (though getting stuck in a corner in both cases could be an issue). I'm talking more about becoming exhausted by swimming in the ocean and, particularly, running out of breathable air in the whale's mouth
Once again, these dead ends should all be completely avoidable with autosaves.

Quote from: ArthurWalden on Fri 29/07/2022 06:18:262) On the other hand, it is impossible to see several death scenes if you disable time limits (specifically, getting killed by the zombies, and, of course, running out of time altogether). I know not everyone cares, but players may want to be informed of that.
Yeah, those scenes are unfortunate casualties of removing the dead ends. However, I don't consider this to be too big of a problem, since even the original game has an instance of an unachievable death (death by the mummy).

Quote from: ArthurWalden on Fri 29/07/2022 06:18:263) One thing that might be particularly concerning to new players is that the introductory statement, if you choose to disable dead ends, doesn't in any way explain that there are still many ways to die in the game. This could come as a particular shock to a player mainly used to adventure games with a "mortality failsafe" policy (i.e. it is not possible to die in that game, essentially the policy classically associated with most Lucasarts adventure games). I'm not saying that I myself only want to play adventure games with "mortality failsafe." (I actually enjoy both kinds.) It's just that there are some players who expect it.
It's a Sierra game, so the vast majority of players, with very few exceptions, should expect the game to have deaths. I may expand the text explaining the dead ends removal feature at the start of the game to include information on still being able to die even with the dead ends disabled, but frankly speaking, that text window is wordy enough as it is.

Quote from: ArthurWalden on Fri 29/07/2022 06:18:26a) Did you deliberately remove any possibility of Lolottte's goons waking up? I never saw it happen even when dead ends were enabled.
Very odd. They absolutely should be able to wake up and catch you. Are you sure you were standing close enough to them?

Quote from: ArthurWalden on Fri 29/07/2022 06:18:26b) I was just wondering if you were planning on placing the random Sierra game plugs in that message in a bottle eventually. I really enjoyed that part of the original game.
Including plugs for 30-year-old games seemed somewhat redundant, so I ultimately opted for their removal. I do agree that the current message in the bottle is rather uninspired, but that's what happens when you write things at 4 a.m. on the night before the release.  :-D I did originally consider putting a link to Patreon or some other donation page on there, but decided not to to avoid potential legal trouble with Activision Blizzard. I may change the text in the future â€" there have already been suggestions to change it to plugs for modern adventure games, and while it's a sound idea, I can't say I love it considering that these will also eventually become redundant once the advertised games come out. I'd prefer the message to be a bit more timeless.
#4
King's Quest IV Retold 1.0.4 is out!

Fixed the bug reported by ArthurWalden as well as a few other minor issues that I've been meaning to correct.

Complete changelog (may contain minor spoilers if you haven't played the game yet):
[changelog][ + ] The unicorn can now be seen roaming the meadows once it is released
[ + ] Picking up the frog now automatically sets it as the active inventory item to avoid confusing the player
[ - ] Fixed a bug where the game would switch to nighttime at noon if the dead ends are enabled
[ - ] Fixed a graphical bug where Rosella could sometimes pick up the frog and the ball without walking up to them first
[ - ] Fixed a bug where the peacock could sometimes walk on water
[ - ] Fixed a minor graphical bug where Rosella's sprite would not update after falling off the stairs
[ - ] Fixed a bug where the song played when summoning the dolphin would sometimes prevent other music tracks from playing
[ - ] Fixed a typo in the text pop-up for examining the chest of drawers in the Manor bedroom
[ - ] Fixed misaligned text boxes in one of Lolotte's cutscenes
[ - ] Fixed incorrect text box positions in one of Edgar's cutscenes
[ - ] Tweaked the walkable area masks for the organ room and the upper part of the Manor stairs
[ - ] Tweaked the walk-behind mask for Lolotte's dining room
[ - ] Increased the size of the trigger zone for going north from the eastern cemetery
[ - ] The troll now takes more time to appear when chasing Rosella from a different screen
[ - ] The unicorn's initial location is now determined after starting a new game rather than immediately after the game is launched
[ - ] Adjusted the timing of the intro cutscene
[ - ] Updated the fonts used in the credits[/changelog]
#5
Currently looking into this issue. Could be a programming oversight that went unnoticed for over a year because of how few people play with the deadends enabled. If I manage to replicate this bug, I'll be sure to fix it as soon as I can.
#6
Thanks for the kind words, everyone! It really makes my day whenever I hear from people who enjoyed this project!

Quote from: almeath on Sat 08/01/2022 13:38:52When I play the original PC release, the MT-32 tracks tend to blend seamlessly when looped, but in some places in this enhanced version (i.e. the dwarfs' cottage) there is a brief gap of 1-2 seconds between the looped tracks. It is a very minor issue, but I was wondering if this occurs because of a technical limitation in the AGS engine (i.e. as the MT-32 is being emulated) or whether it is something that could potentially be addressed in a later bug fix release?
Yeah, it's an unfortunate limitation of using .mp3/.ogg music as opposed to midi. While there are workarounds that would allow for better looping (i.e. cutting the audio falloff at the end of each file, blending it with the beginning of the corresponding track, and then having the game switch between two versions of the track â€" one with no falloff and one with the falloff inserted at the beginning â€" depending on whether it's the first time the track is being played or if it's being repeated), but that would be beyond the current scope of the project.

That being said, implementing better music looping is definitely not a bad idea and would absolutely benefit the project. Another major audio-related improvement I had in mind was remastering the soundtrack with the use of modern instrument libraries (while allowing players to switch back to the original MT-32 soundtrack via game options, of course). If someone more experienced in audio editing and mastering than myself were to take on these two tasks, I'd gladly welcome the help and add their version of the soundtrack to the game.
#7
Quote from: TheTMD on Tue 28/09/2021 16:55:39Space Quest 3 (another p&c remake)
I actually happen to have a demo of this one! Here you go:
https://www.mediafire.com/file/pj6780j3s1ji5oc/SQ3_PC_demo.zip/file

From what I understand, the game itself was never finished though.
#8
There had been several reports that MediaFire links don't work for some people, so I've added mirror links to the game's AGS database page. Huge thanks to Steven Alexander (aka Blackthorne) of Infamous Quests for providing hosting space for the mirrors!
#9
Quote from: ToeKnee on Tue 15/06/2021 01:32:39Oooooh, happy dance.
I can't wait to re-try this. Loved all of the KQ series and first played this one just over 30 years ago!!! - the week it was released
Great job. re-living my younger days is so nice!
Quote from: Nowhere Girl on Wed 16/06/2021 22:45:00Thanks a lot for the update. It's beautiful, although I must admit that I found the swan pond a little disappointing (should have expected that the flowers will look brown at night...). But particularly th facade of Genesta's palace looks amazing.
Thanks, both of you!

Quote from: Nowhere Girl on Wed 16/06/2021 22:45:00Will you be updating the message in the bottle?
Yes, I still have it on my to-do list, but right now there are more important matters that I need to focus on. Updating the message requires some time (as I would need to play some of the games I haven't played yet, select the games to be included in the message, get a thumbs up from their authors, and write the messages), but it is pretty high on my list, so there is a good chance that I will do it for the next patch whenever/if it comes out.
#10
Hey everyone! Just a quick update: King's Quest IV Retold 1.0.3 is now available for MacOS! As usual, all download links can be found on the game's AGS database page. Once again, huge thanks to edenwaith for his help with the port!
#11
King's Quest IV Retold 1.0.3 is out!

This should be the final patch for the time being. Same as before, it mostly contains minor fixes and quality-of-life improvements. The biggest changes of this patch concern night scenes: a number of unfinished night backgrounds from the original game have been reworked, the script responsible for spawning animals at night now behaves more consistently with the original game, and there is now a new ambient track for night woods.

Complete changelog (may contain minor spoilers if you haven't played the game yet):
[changelog][ + ] Added an alternative hotkey for toggling between Walk and the last cursor mode
[ + ] Mouse in now automatically switched to Walk mode after digging to prevent the player from breaking the shovel by accident
[ + ] Added a text pop-up for trying to interact with the fake wall after looking at the portrait but before examining the wall
[ + ] Added mouseover hints for stable gates
[ + ] Added nighttime water animations for Genesta's island
[ + ] Added nighttime graphics for the ogres' house
[ + ] Added a new ambient track that plays in the forest at night
[ + ] Added a music track that plays when Rosella gets caught by the troll
[ + ] Seagulls can now appear on the screen with the fisherman's shack
[ + ] Improved goon pathfinding when using diagonal movement hotkeys
[ + ] Rosella now always faces the board before picking it up
[ - ] Fixed a bug where Rosella would get stuck on the eastern stairs in Lolotte's castle
[ - ] Fixed a bug that would sometimes prevent the player from combining inventory items
[ - ] Fixed a bug where the hen would not appear in Lolotte's storage room
[ - ] Fixed a bug where Rosella would fall upwards after trying to pick the bow from the opposite side of the pool
[ - ] Fixed a bug where the troll would appear even if the game is already over (e.g. if the player extinguishes the lantern immediately after entering a new screen)
[ - ] Fixed a bug where the message warning the player about Lolotte's goons would permanently stay on the screen
[ - ] Fixed a graphical bug where Rosella would move backwards while on the stairs
[ - ] Fixed a typo in the text pop-up for examining the locket
[ - ] Slightly tweaked several backdrops (waterfall, south of the waterfall, organ room, western stairs in Lolotte castle, Lolotte's throne room)
[ - ] Made major updates to all nighttime and some daytime backdrops for Genesta's island
[ - ] Tweaked walkable area and walk-behind masks for the northeastern and southeastern sections of Genesta's island
[ - ] Tweaked walkable area, walk-behind, and hotspot masks for Cupid's pool
[ - ] Increased the size of several hotspots (crypt ladder, Lolotte in bed, Genesta in bed)
[ - ] Updated the ambient track used in the swamp
[ - ] Fall sounds no longer get cut off on room transitions
[ - ] Certain decorative birds and fish no longer appear at night
[ - ] Rosella can no longer die from exposure at night
[ - ] Slightly increased the maximum distance from which Cupid can be startled[/changelog]

I don't know when (or if) a MacOS port of this patch will be ready, however, from what I understand, Mac users can still play the latest patch under ScummVM. The Mac port is out!
#12
Quote from: Nowhere Girl on Sun 30/05/2021 19:52:25DrSlash - could you perhaps tell when, approximately, can the patch be expected?
It's very close to being finished, actually! I'm planning to release it by the end of next week, around June 6.

Quote from: Nowhere Girl on Sun 30/05/2021 19:52:25And I thought... I'm no artist, I lack a steady hand, a good mouse (it tends to perform double clicks when my finger does a single click and I often somehow can't hold the button - it too seems to be murine* fault, not mine) and visual imagination... but a model already exists in form of the AGI version. Maybe I'd try drawing a SCI version of the "Beam Me room"? In fact, I even have an item-related idea: the golden ball remains on the ground after Rosella lures the frog with it and the turns it back into a prince, and can be picked up again. Maybe it could be used somewhere in Lolotte's castle in the morning to be sent to that room?
Unfortunately, even beyond the more obvious reasons to not include the easter eggs from the AGI version (i.e. the need to remake the old AGI graphics and the impossibility to adapt the commands "kq rap" and "beam me" for point & click controls), I just don't see much point in adding these into the game. One of them describes the development of the original game, which is irrelevant to this particular remake. The other is a tribute to the original team behind the AGI release, which has nothing to do with this version. Moreover, Sierra themselves did not deem it necessary to include either of the two in the SCI release. And most importantly, the whole point of easter eggs is the search itself (at least for me), so I don't see any reason to include an easter egg that has already been discovered decades ago.

Quote from: SansSouci on Sun 30/05/2021 16:33:37
Hello,

I wanted to ask whether it would be possible to play the KQ4Retold under ScummVM?
Hi, SansSouci! Is there any particular reason why you would want to run the game under ScummVM in the first place? To be honest, I don't really follow how that would help with anything, considering that the game should run under Windows, MacOS, and Linux without an emulator. To answer your question, from what I understand, only the ScummVM team themselves can help you with this issue, there is nothing I can do, unfortunately.
#13
Quote from: Nowhere Girl on Wed 19/05/2021 22:39:311. I have discovered it quite accidentally! Why isn't it promoted everywhere where there are game developers who "admit" to retro inspiration?
Well, it's not a commercial project, so there isn't much point for me to actively promote it. The goal was to create a game, not to reach an X number of downloads. My thinking is that if someone really wants to play a remake of KQ4, they'll eventually stumble upon this project one way or another.

Quote from: Nowhere Girl on Wed 19/05/2021 22:39:312. When I first discovered "King's Quest 4", I greatly enjoyed checking how do places change after nightfall... and was very disappointed to see that, apparently, at night you just can't return to Genesta's island. Rosella would just get tired and drown. (At some point I complained about it somewhere and someone commented, something like: typical Sierra - don't want to do extra graphics? Block a whole area off in an implausible way! ;)) Thanks a lot for fixing that flaw.
In that case I've got more good news for you!  ;) All backdrops for Genesta's island post-nightfall will be updated in the next patch. The ones used in the current build are very rough first drafts found in the original game's files. Here's a comparison between an old backdrop and its updated version:



Quote from: Nowhere Girl on Wed 19/05/2021 22:39:314. Although, the "readme" file seems to indicate that there is some way of getting rid of the troll, or having him let you pass. I haven't discovered it - any hint?
What I meant in the readme file is that it is now possible to outrun the troll. In the original game this wasn't an option.

Quote from: Nowhere Girl on Wed 19/05/2021 22:39:315. Therefore (?), I also had "only" 228 points, unlike in the original.
Did you check it before or after the ending cutscene?
Spoiler
The last 2 points are scored when Rosella returns the magic hen to Genesta, which happens automatically mid-cutscene.
[close]
Quote from: Nowhere Girl on Wed 19/05/2021 22:39:316. Improvement idea. I actually liked the new text on the note found in the whale's mouth, but I was a little disappointed that there's nothing more. Perhaps it could promote other retro games, particularly EGA/EGA-ish ones - you'd of couse need to talk to their developers. "The Crimson Diamond", "Betrayed Alliance", "Snail Trek", "Cascadia Quest", and just now a guy from Powerhoof is making some little EGA game for Adventure Jam, I hope that it will be available... (Actually, I checked out the Adventure Jam site, but haven't seen any information about this game - and I can't contact omost game developers directly because I only use social media "passively"- (that is, I read some profiles without having any accounts.)
Yep, giving a shoutout to other AGS games was something I had considered, but I didn't want to leave anyone out, so I ended up with a more blanket and, frankly, underwhelming message. To be honest, now that I think about it, I should probably give this idea another shot. Thanks for the feedback.

Quote from: Nowhere Girl on Wed 19/05/2021 22:39:317. As most players probably know, the SCI version didn't have the "Beam Me" room. I wondered if you had nevertheless recreated it for this version. And if yes - how to get there without a text parser? ;)
No, none of the easter eggs unique to the EGA version are currently in the game, and I don't really have any plans to add them later. That would be beyond the project's scope.

_______________________________________________________

Quote from: mkennedy on Tue 18/05/2021 16:11:52Maybe just add an extra line of dialog at the end where Rosella gives the bow to Genesta and ask her to give it to Cupid next time she sees him?
I feel like that would mess with the pacing of the ending. To be honest, I think the bow thing isn't such a big deal. Adventure game protagonists "borrow" unattended items all the time.  ;)
#14
Quote from: mkennedy on Sun 16/05/2021 17:13:19
Good job on the remake, one slight comment about getting a perfect score -
Spoiler
apparently Rosella does not need to return Cupid's bow to him? Seems he would be a lot more deserving than giving the eye back to the withes.
[close]
Yeah, as sthomannch said, there is no way of returning the bow in any version of the game. I included a text mentioning it in Retold so as to at least make it clear that Rosella does not intend to steal the bow, even if she never gets an opportunity to give it back. While it would be interesting to have an option to return the bow, I didn't want to make any changes or additions that would make the game incompatible with walkthroughs written for the original game. Besides, there are dozens of other things that I would love to alter or implement, but it would just delay the release a couple of years more.

Quote from: cesarcoll on Mon 17/05/2021 06:47:30Would you consider making the code open source?  :grin:
I have considered doing it at one point during the development, but it would be more trouble than it's worth. However, if someone is interested in some particular feature of my project, especially if it's something unique to Retold and not present in the original game (e.g. autosaves, lantern code, etc.), I might consider creating a thread where I explain how I did that.

Quote from: cesarcoll on Mon 17/05/2021 06:47:30Anyway, I found a little discrepancy with the original version (not even a bug, really). On the river screen, one west of the starting screen, when you go up, the original game sends you to a different screen depending on your horizontal position. If you are close to the river, it takes you to the bridge screen. I personally like this, but I can also see that it can be confusing for people who are drawing their first map of Tamir.
I always found it weird and unintuitive how this is the only screen where this happens in the original game. So, no, this is one discrepancy between my remake and the SCI version that I have no plans to fix.
#15
Quote from: JStryker47 on Sun 16/05/2021 03:00:13
I seem to have discovered a new bug.
Thanks for letting me know! It will be fixed in the next patch.

Quote from: cesarcoll on Sun 16/05/2021 06:26:56I was wondering if you plan to add speech. I think one of my favorite things about KQ6 is the narrators voice. It feels like someone is reading you a story. Max out those nostalgia points.

There are very good voice actors on fiverr.com. If you count the words that need to be said, you can easily calculate the cost and then start a gofundme campaign. I think it's quite doable.
No, as stated in the F.A.Q., I don't have any plans to add voices to the game. It's an extremely tedious and time-consuming process, and it simply would not be worth doing at this point.
And attempting to crowdfund an unofficial non-commercial project is a whole other can of worms that I have no desire to open.
#16
The Mac port is now available for download! Same as with other versions, all download links can be found on the game's AGS database page. Huge thanks to edenwaith for creating the port!


Quote from: Snarky on Wed 12/05/2021 11:15:50
Really happy I noticed this thread. So cool! I haven't played it yet (or any earlier version of KQ4, actually), but I'm really psyched that you've got all the various music and audio from different versions combined.
Quote from: agentbauer on Wed 12/05/2021 14:25:25Awesome work, even if I repeat myself. Programming that game must have been a difficult task.
Thanks, both of you!
And yep, programming this game was definitely a rather challenging task, considering its scope and the complexity of some of its sections and systems, but that's what made this whole project fun. Game development can become tedious and feel like a chore when there are no challenges.
#17
Quote from: Jen_78 on Mon 10/05/2021 17:26:29
Spoiler
At the end of the game, after killing Lolotte, the hen is supposed to be in the room with Pandora's Box. You're supposed to be able to pick it up and take it to Genesta's island, but it isn't in the room.
[close]
Hm, very curious, thanks for reporting this. I think I might have found the issue. Did you
Spoiler
return to the Ogre's house to get the axe AFTER bringing the hen to Lolotte, by any chance?
[close]
#18
Quote from: sonneveld on Mon 10/05/2021 15:16:27This is wonderful! I found out about this new version on therenesance's twitch stream
Thanks for the link, I'll definitely check out the stream! Seeing other people play the game is extremely helpful for collecting feedback.

Quote from: sonneveld on Mon 10/05/2021 15:16:27Is there a chance of incorporating some of the differences in the AGI version?  For example, opening Pandora's box is slightly different:
Interesting, I did not know that the Pandora's box scene has a dedicated screen in the AGI version. Regardless, I don't currently have any plans to incorporate any of the scenes unique to the AGI version into Retold. That would require remaking all the graphics used in these scenes from scratch, which is beyond the scope of the project.
Besides, Retold has its own easter eggs (albeit, all of them are text-only).
#19
King's Quest IV Retold 1.0.2 is out!

Same as the previous one, this patch only contains minor fixes and quality-of-life additions, so no need to updated if you've already started a save.

Complete changelog (may contain minor spoilers if you haven't played the game yet):
[changelog]Version 1.0.2 (May 10, 2021):
[ + ] Added hotkeys for toggling between Walk and the last cursor mode
[ + ] Lute and flute playing animations can now be skipped with the Esc key
[ + ] Movement hotkeys introduced in the previous patch can now be used to stand up from the organ
[ - ] Fixed a bug where movement hotkeys introduced in the previous patch allowed Rosella to walk while holding the frog
[ - ] Cupid behavior is now more consistent with the original game
[ - ] Increased the chance for the robin to appear
[ - ] Implemented a better fix for the bug where the game would not recognize a two-tile inventory item
[ - ] Optimized the code responsible for highlighting items on the inventory screen
[ - ] Fixed minor graphical errors on the backdrop for Genesta's bedroom[/changelog]


The MacOS port is still coming, stay tuned!

Quote from: Athanor on Sun 09/05/2021 08:17:30
Thank you so much @DrSlash for continuing to iron out the (very few!) bumps in your lovely remake! I really appreciate that.
Thank you, Athanor! Yeah, there were definitely less bugs than I feared, but still more than I hoped (then again, I hoped there won't be any bugs at all  :-D).
#20
Thanks, Shadow, glad you're enjoying the game! Also thanks for the report, however the bug you described has just been fixed in today's patch ;)
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