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King's Quest

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King's Quest
File:Kings Quest Logo.png
Logo
Genre(s)Adventure
Developer(s)Sierra Entertainment
The Odd Gentlemen
Publisher(s)Sierra Entertainment
Creator(s)Roberta Williams
First releaseKing's Quest: Quest for the Crown
May 10, 1984
Latest releaseKing's Quest: A Knight to Remember
July 28, 2015

King's Quest is a graphic adventure game series created by the American software company Sierra Entertainment. It is widely considered[by whom?] a classic series from the golden era of adventure games. Following the success of its first installment, the series was primarily responsible for building the reputation of Sierra. Roberta Williams, co-founder and former co-owner of Sierra, designed all of the King's Quest games. The first game was released in 1984, and the latest in 2015.

The King's Quest series chronicles the saga of the royal family of the Kingdom of Daventry through their various trials and adventures. The story takes place over two generations and across many lands.

Description

The world of King's Quest encompasses many different kingdoms and supernatural realms. Technologically, the series pioneered the use of animation and pseudo-3D environments in graphic adventure games, so that the main character could, for example, walk behind objects on-screen.[1]

The main characters in the series are King Graham, originally a knight of Daventry who won the throne of the kingdom through questing, and members of his family: his wife Queen Valanice and his twin son and daughter, Prince Alexander and Princess Rosella. The exception is King's Quest: Mask of Eternity, where the protagonist is Connor of Daventry, a tanner (and a knight like Graham from the first game) from the Kingdom of Daventry who is unrelated to the royal family although in the opening sequence there is a brief moment where King Graham is shown and Connor later visits Castle Daventry and sees the King's statue form, and is later shown restored in the ending.

Many famous fictional characters make appearances in the series, including Beauty and the Beast, Rumpelstiltskin, Little Red Riding Hood and Count Dracula. They are featured most prominently in the earlier games, which focus on solving item-based puzzles in a fantasy setting. The later sequels have more elaborate story lines, more complicated puzzles, and more original and well-developed characters.

The primary way in which characters solve puzzles and advance through the game is by using items found earlier in the game and stored in their inventory. Even the most apparently useless item (a dead fish, a rotten tomato, or an old board) can have an unexpected and creative purpose in the right situation. The famous adventure game dictum, "Take anything that isn't nailed down," is generally a good rule of thumb, as is the fan addendum "And if it is nailed down, look for loose nails, or solve the nail-removing puzzle." When a situation looks completely impassable, a good idea is often to leave it and come back later with new items. Other puzzles include the mapping of labyrinths, deserts, or other inhospitable places; solving riddles; and tasks involving the use of logic or lateral thinking skills. Another important strategy is to use all one's character's senses to gather all the information available: look, listen, smell, taste, or touch whenever possible.

Series

Mythology

Much of King's Quest was inspired by fairy tales, which designer Roberta Williams loved reading.[4] In particular the Andrew Lang's Fairy Books.[5] Many creatures, characters and situations from mythology, fairy tales, folklore & classic literature are encountered within the world of King's Quest. A Minotaur, Pegasus, Pan, Pandora, Charon, Cupid, Ceres, Druids, Harpies, Oracles, Poseidon, Medusa, Fates, Djinn, Azrael, Goliath, and the Graeae appear in various games in the series. In general, the mythology and cultures of the King's Quest world is derived from that of the Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Egyptian, Arabic, Biblical, Mesopotamian, Celts and 17th-century Romanticism (Druids and Samhain).

Many of the puzzle solutions are inspired by various tales (so a player with knowledge of the stories beforehand would have an advantage).

Magic plays a large role in the King's Quest series. Wizards, witches, enchanters, sorcerers, and genies appear throughout. In some of the games (most prominently in KQIII), the main character must use magic spells or items to achieve a goal.

The concept of the King's Quest series was derived from ideas first established in Wizard and the Princess (Adventure in Serenia) which was an early forerunner of the series.[6] The game versions followed the exploits of unnamed hero known only as the "wanderer", in later versions said to be a time traveler from the future. The game's connection to the King's Quest series led to its inclusion as one of the King's Quest trivia questions.[7] The fifth King's Quest game marked a return to Serenia, the land first seen during the game. The game's backstory was further tied into the King's Quest history through The King's Quest Companion. According to the Companion, in various periods of history people from the real world withdrew to Daventry, which explains how historical and mythical elements exist there.[8]

In most of the series, it is said that the games take place, 'a long time ago' a few centuries in our past,[9] in a time when mermaids and unicorns existed (an easter egg in KQ8 suggests sometime after year 1000).

Well, yeah, King's Quest is on Earth. Daventry is very old city from a long time ago. It's in ruins now and people aren't quite sure exactly where it used to be. There are some archaeologists searching through the ruins, they think they know it's Daventry. But it's somewhere on Earth.

— Roberta Williams, Mask of Eternity TalkSpot Interview, Part 1, December 9, 1998 (1:20:40 to 1:59:58)

In The King's Quest Companion, the series takes place in a parallel universe.

The Quest

The "King's Quest" (for which the series takes its name) often involves the hero saving the king of Daventry or becoming a king during the adventure. To save Daventry often involves adventuring in other lands. Often the quest is given to the protagonist through the realm's magic mirror (the first game involves obtaining the magic mirror, that becomes an important feature in the later games).

In King's Quest I, the young knight Sir Graham is sent on a quest to find three treasures to save King Edward and his kingdom. He became the new king in the process. During the journey Graham finds the magic mirror, one of the treasures, it also shows him he will be the new king. In King's Quest II, the quest is for the new king to find his queen (he learned about through the magic mirror), and save her so that there will be heirs to the kingdom. The fifth game returns to the king, in his attempt to save his kingdom and family from an evil wizard (this is the first game which doesn't include the magic mirror).

The third and fourth games do not star a king, but involve the protagonists who ultimately end up saving King Graham and/or the kingdom from threats such as a dragon and untimely death. Gwydion is portrayed as a poor slave and peasant of Llewdor, who ultimately discovers he is the long lost son of the king Graham (Alexander), and discovers he has a sister. After he saves his sister (Rosella) and father from the ravages of the dragon (and restoring the magic mirror), Rosella travels to another land (after learning about it through the magic mirror) on a quest to save her father, the king.

King's Quest VI follows Alexander's attempt to save his true love, marry her, and ultimately becoming king of the Land of the Green Isles. The magic mirror pointed him in the right direction to finding the kingdom.

King's Quest VIII[10] is similar to King's Quest I, in that it involves a young knight attempting to save the king Graham (who stands in place of Edward), his queen Valanice, and the kingdom of Daventry from harm. Again the magic mirror shares a prominent role telling of the doom that befell the kingdom.

King's Quest VII is the only game in the series that does not involve King Graham (he is missing entirely from the story), Castle Daventry, or saving the kingdom of Daventry (only a small portion of the land is shown briefly in the introduction), nor the magic mirror. Rather, the plot involves the protagonists Valanice and Rosella attempting to save another land. Rosella ultimately finds a romantic interest with the implication that she may be married in the future (perhaps continuing the family line).

Good and evil

In the series, the player, as the main character, always plays on the side of that which is right and fair. King Graham, Queen Valanice, Prince Alexander, Princess Rosella, and Connor strive to serve the greater good. The main character is often motivated by a desire to protect his or her loved ones or protect the innocent from evil. The villains of the series have been characters who threatened the safety of Daventry or sought to rule other kingdoms as tyrants. In the first seven games of the series, emphasis is placed upon avoiding violence whenever possible. Many of the villains are not killed but instead are magically imprisoned or otherwise neutralized. Sometimes, especially in the earlier entries, there are multiple methods of defeating adversaries. When dealing with adversaries who are dangerous but not necessarily evil, nonlethal methods are always rewarded with more points and sometimes more tangible rewards too (most notably the snake in King's Quest II).

Still, violent methods are used against certain villains. In KQ1, Graham pushes the witch into a burning stove or cauldron. In KQII, he kills Dracula with a wooden stake. In KQ3, Alexander kills Medusa (using her own appearance against her), and later slays the three-headed dragon. In KQIV, Rosella kills Lolotte with a love arrow. In KQV, Graham kills a Yeti (indirectly, by causing it to fall over a cliff), and he also kills Mordack during a magical duel. In KQVI, Alexander uses a red scarf to cause the minotaur to fall into a pit of fire. This drastically changes in King's Quest VIII, where every villain the player encounters is killed with the exception of Lucreto, who cannot be killed and is therefore banished into the Black Abyss.

Other media releases

Collections

The games in the series have been released together in several collections or bundles through the years (often packed with bonus material).

  • King's Quest 15th Anniversary Collector's Edition (1994)
Contains I (AGI & SCI versions) through VI, The King's Questions, King Graham's Board Game Challenge. It also contains a French floppy version of KQ5, and the German floppy version of KQ6. It also contains Inside the Chest, Behind the Developer's Shield, A View from Inside the Mirror, Hold onto your Adventurer's Cap, and The Royal Scribe, programs which contain concept material, artwork, documents, magazine articles, etc.
It also contains assorted videos, including making of, interviews, anniversary material, promo videos for KQ7, etc. The Fun Has Just Begun, Sierra Technology History, 15 Years of Products, Roberta Williams's Inspiration Interview, Ken & Roberta Sierra Future Interview, Roberta Williams Designer Interview, the Making of KQ6, Intro Sequence, KQ6 Art Slideshow, KQ7 Promo (non-playable demo), and two About KQ7 interviews.
  • King's Quest Collection (1995)
It contains I (AGI & SCI versions) through VI, King's Questions, Graham's Board Game Challenge. It contains all of the bonus material from the 15th Anniversary Collector's Edition, and added a playable demo of KQ7.
  • Roberta Williams Anthology (1996)
It contains KQ1 (AGI & SCI versions) through 7 (2.0 version), Wizard and the Princess. It also contains Laura Bow 1 & 2, Mixed-up Mother Goose (AGI & VGA versions), Mystery House, Mission Asteroid, Time Zone, Dark Crystal, and Chapter 1 Demo of Phantasmagoria.
It contains the Chest & Developer's Shield, as well as box covers, and KQ7 concept art. Videos contain some of the videos from the first collection (that were not included in the "Collection 2"), and more interviews from the development teams, and a different Mask of Eternity sneak preview.
  • King's Quest Collection Series (1997)
Also known as King's Quest Collection 2; it contains 1 (AGI & SCI versions) through 7 (2.0 version), King's Questions, Graham's Board Game Challenge, Wizard and the Princess, Mixed-Up Mother Goose Deluxe, Laura Bow 1 & 2, Mystery House, Mission Asteroid, and Time Zone.
It contains most of the bonuses from the previous versions, including Developer's Shield, Royal Scribe, and Chest. It does not contain all of the videos from the previous versions. It contains making of and intro videos for KQ6, and the intro and ending videos for KQ7. It has an added sneak peek of KQ8: Mask of Eternity.
  • King's Quest MASK/Collection Bundle (1998)
A special bundle sold through Sierra during the release of King's Quest Mask of Eternity. It included both the 1997 King's Quest Collection, and King's Quest 8 at a discounted price. It included King's Quest Mask of Eternity™ , plus the first seven games in the King's Quest Collection.[11] Both products came in separate boxes.
  • King's Quest Collection (2006)
In September 2006 Vivendi Universal released King's Quest Collection, a compilation CD for Windows XP encompassing games I–VII. Rather than porting the games directly, however, this release uses the original versions running under the DOSBox emulator and a Windows front end. As a result, it is also possible to run King's Quest I–VI on other platforms with a little tweaking and ports of DOSBox. King's Quest VII is the earlier 16-bit Windows version, version 1.4. It lacks DOS compatibility, the improved save and restore functions, and character speed control found in version 2.0. It contains the dragon tail death that was removed from version 2.0, "Father always said to let sleeping dragons lie", and the volcano eruption deaths. It runs natively on Windows 32-bit versions but is incompatible with 64-bit windows.
Missing in the collection are the original AGI version of King's Quest I, as well as installation for the Windows CD version of King's Quest VI with high-resolution character art (although the assets can be accessed through ScummVM), the 2.0 DOS and Windows versions of KQ VII, and King's Quest: Mask of Eternity. It also lacks any of the bonus material from previous collections.
This collection was released on Steam in July 2009. But has been removed (2015), likely due to bugs and compatibility issues.
  • King's Quest Bundle: King's Quest 1+2+3, 4+5+6, and 7+8 collections (2010)
Three collections released by Activison through GOG.com. The first consists of the classic AGI versions of King's Quest I–III (the KQ1 remake is not included)[12] released 2010, and the later games King's Quest 4–5–6 on Vista.[13] The final collection contains King's Quest 7 (2.0 version) and 8 designed to work on Vista and Windows 7 32-bit and 64-bit. The collections come with assorted bonus material such as windows background artwork. All three sets can be bought as a bundle; the "King's Quest Bundle" at 30% off the regular price of all three separately.
  • King's Quest: The Complete Collection (2015)
Bundles the five chapters of the upcoming King's Quest series, with a bonus playable episode.

Collection bonus material

  • Inside the Chest; a program containing reprints of magazine articles, game reviews, designer interviews, studies of game development process, and other documents related to the KQ series.
  • Behind the Developer's Shield; A program containing pencil sketches, background and game art, and other documents related to the game development of KQ1–7.
  • A View from Inside the Mirror; A series of videos including an interview with Roberta Williams and Ken Williams, talking about the history of the King's Quest games, and other Sierra products she was involved with. Roberta Williams reflects upon her role as the designer of the award winning King's Quest series.
  • Hold onto your Adventure's Cap; A series of videos concerning the development of King's Quest VII. It contains a video preview of the game.
  • The Royal Scribe; A document containing information about the Sierra company, their various series, each KQ game, with a few interviews from the developers (including Roberta Williams, Josh Mandel, Jane Jensen, and Lorelei Shannon).
  • King's Questions; A king's quest trivia game, with randomized questions.[14]
  • King Graham's Board Game Challenge: Checkers & Backgammon: A King's Quest themed board game collection starring King Graham.

Quest for Daventry

Quest for Daventry is a King's Quest V themed pinball board in Take a Break! Pinball, one of the first pinball games for Windows. Other boards in the game are also based on Sierra game characters like Leisure Suit Larry, Gir Draxon, Willy Beamish and Roger Wilco.

The pinball game follows a narrative story with objectives based on the KQV adventure game. The board transforms adding new locations as the player finishes missions. Short cut scenes are shown near the ticker when certain objectives are met, and the ticker lists narrative or objective information..

Hoyle's Official Book of Games (series)

This game contains both King Graham and Rosella as opponents. They both are able to communicate with other players in the game, discussing various topics related to the Kingdom of Daventry. One notable aspect of the characters stories is that it introduces Rosella's Great-Grandfather, who "slew the Dragon of Herenna". Another discussion between royal family and Roger Wilco establishes that Roger once crashed a space ship into Castle Daventy's moat (a nod to an Easter egg in Space Quest: The Sarien Encounter).

Graham and Rosella along with two King's Quest villains Mordack and Lolotte would go on to appear in Hoyle 3: Board Games, although they weren't nearly as interactive, only commenting on moves in the game. Lolotte was given an updated higher resolution VGA close up image (KQ4 which she originated was EGA). Lightning would spark behind her whenever she got mad.

In Hoyle's Classic Card Games only Graham returned as an opponent representing King's Quest series characters, again comments were limited in interactivity, but it contained fully digitized speech.

Books

  • Manuals; Most of the games of the series came with manuals that included short stories or recap of the series. The manual for KQ3 included the spellbook needed to solve the puzzles in the game (the spells were reprinted in The King's Quest Companion). Often the manuals contained information used for copy-protection schemes. The manual for KQ8 contained assorted information concerning the lands, enemies, and potion and health items in the game.
  • Guidebook to the Land of the Green Isles – Written by Jane Jenson, it was a booklet packed in with KQ6, which discussed background and geography of the Land of the Green Isles. The book also contained copy protection information for the game.
  • King's Quest V Hintbook – Written by Roberta Williams. Gives a behind the scenes details of the making of King's Quest V and the King's Quest series, and the stories of the previous games. It contains concept art from KQV. The book is split into sections for each major area in the game including; "Woods and Town of Serenia"; "The Desert"; "The Great Mountains"; "Beach, Ocean and Harpy Island"; and finally "Mordack's Island and Castle". Each section begins with a character introduction giving a few details about most of the characters in the game.
  • King's Quest VI Hintbook – Written by Lorelei Shannon. It contains behind the scenes "Welcome" discussing the making of the game, an "Excerpts from "The Royal Family: A Celebration" by Bryanne Eridiphal, Scribe and Herald", which discusses the Royal Family and events leading up to KQ6. A section is devoted to each island, and to the two paths of the Castle of the Crown. Each section contains a page or two which discusses places of interest and character introductions giving more background to the game. The book also contains concept art from KQ6. There is also a "Did You Figure Out...?" section which explains Alhazred's schemes.
  • King's Quest VII: The Official Hint Guide – Written by Lorelei Shannon. It also contains an interview with Roberta Williams, a making of KQ7 section, A summary of King's Quest (discussing the events of each game leading up to KQ7), and a section giving the backstories and legends explaining the backstories to King's Quest 7. It fills in details of Lolotte, Malicia, Edgar, Count Tsepish, and other KQ7 characters backgrounds both before and after the events of KQ4, up to the start of KQ7. The book also contains concept art from the game.
  • The Official Book of King's Quest – Written by Donald B. Trivette. Series contains crossword puzzles, clues, trivia, making of the games information/photos, pronunciation guides, secret debug codes, and other technical information/history of the games.
The Official Book of King's Quest: Daventry and Beyond, Forward by Roberta Williams, making of King's Quest IV.
The Official Book of King's Quest (Second Edition)
The Official Book of King's Quest VI/The Official Book of King's Quest (Third Edition), published with two different cover titles. Has an interview with Roberta Williams discussing development of King's Quest VI, material concerning making of King's Quest V, and line artwork.
  • King's Quest: Mask of Eternity Prima's Official Strategy Guide- Written by Rick Barba. Basic strategy guide offering little in the way of extras. The book follows the "designers' own optimal solution path" and tries to tell the game's story efficiently without sacrificing dramatic effect. Each section contains a brief description of the land and the problems occurring in each one.
  • The King's Quest Companion – Written by Peter Spear and published in four editions. The book contains novelizations of games. It also contained articles that further explained the history of Daventry, its geography, the characters, and magic. The first two editions also contained An Encyclopedia of Daventry (Abridged) which gave even more details about various subjects relating to Daventry (from abominable snowman to zombies).
  • Authorized King's Quest VII Players Guide – Written by Peter and Jeremy Spear. It is a strategy Guide and novelization of King's Quest VII.

Three original novels have been published by Boulevard Books.

  • The Floating Castle (1995): Written by Craig Mills, placed somewhere between KQ IV and VI, it follows Alexander on a quest to discover what is behind the mysterious Floating Castle and the monstrous invasions over the kingdom.[15]
  • The Kingdom of Sorrow (1996): Written by Kenyon Morr (pseudonym of Mark Sumner and Marella Sands), placed between II and III, it follows the adventures of Graham, who moves to rescue an imprisoned Fairy Queen held by the giant Dunstan in order to return balance in nature.[16]
  • See No Weevil (1996): Also written by Kenyon Morr, set between II and III. Taking place 7 years after the previous book, it focuses on Rosella, just before her 15th birthday, who must run the Kingdom of Daventry during an absence of her parents.[17]

Cancelled games

King's Quest II & III remakes (1990)

In 1990 the developers at Sierra redeveloped King's Quest with a new interface and up-to-date technology. The plan was to redevelop King's Quest II and King's Quest III[18] but due to rather disappointing sales of the 1990 remake of King's Quest I, the prospect of officially remaking and re-releasing the sequels was scrapped.[citation needed]

Davidson version of King's Quest 8 (1996–97)

Between September 1996 to January 21, 1997, due to conservative criticism over the content in Roberta's King's Quest: Mask of Eternity and Phantasmagoria by the Davidsons of Davidson & Associates, a team of managers was assigned to work above Roberta Williams. They began creating their own version of KQ8 while ignoring Roberta's version. Their version was purged of combat, violence and possibly religious themes.[19][20] While Roberta continued to work on her own ideas including its own script and puzzles, the Davidson's team of managers began to design their script and puzzles for their own version of KQ8. This ultimately lead Roberta to believe she had lost control of the game during that period; she even thought about removing her name from the product.

Davidsons intervention was ultimately stopped (Davidson left the company in January 1997[21]) and Roberta reasserted her control. But this was not without its damage to Roberta's version of the game's final release (due to loss of time and funding), which was already hurting from other technical issues caused by Dynamix engine development problem and others.

Cancelled King's Quest IX games

There have been several attempts to create a ninth installment in the King's Quest series, all of which have been cancelled before going into production.

All three development attempts never went past announcement or concept stages nor received official titles. They were described as the next game in the "King's Quest" franchise in known released information. King's Quest 9 or Kings's Quest IX are more unofficial designation for being the next game in the franchise used by the media in regards to released information. The idea of a King's Quest 9 goes back to some of the discussions with Roberta Williams after the release of King's Quest: Mask of Eternity.[22]

The King's Quest: Mask of Eternity Prima's Official Strategy Guide by Rick Barba made reference to King's Quest IX as the next title in the series if a new one was made (or at least as a description of the ninth game in the series).[23] "...start checking the Sierra website, looking for word of King's Quest IX."

Roberta Williams offered a few ideas for a King's Quest IX following the release of KQ8 in 1998-1999, her version never saw development. The ninth game has been in development four times since then with three different developers, Vivendi Games, Silicon Knights, and Telltale Games between 2001 and 2013, and currently The Odd Gentlemen (with a scheduled 2015 release).

Roberta Williams/Sierra

Following the release of King's Quest VIII, King's Quest:Mask of Eternity, Roberta occasionally alluded to ideas if she was allowed to make the follow-up game or ideas that would influence the direction of any follow-up games, or ideas that were cut during the process of KQ8 that she would have liked to have introduced in the following game. Though she was generally tightlipped on the subject when it came to the next game, there are a few details. These never evolved into anything, however, and the game was neither started nor cancelled.[24]

Primarily it was decided during the production of KQ8 that Graham was now too old to go on adventures, and that Alexander would be less likely to go on adventures as he now had his own concerns as king of the Green Isles. This led to Roberta introducing a new playable character into the series (which started with Connor), which probably would have had similar impact in future games in the series had she had the chance to develop them.[25]

Rosella was still potentially a possibility for use in future games, and she tossed out the idea that Connor might even meet the princess.[26] This idea grew to include the idea that Rosella would possibly fall in love with Connor, or Connor would fall in love with Rosella and initiate some kind of love triangle between them and Rosella's other love interest, Edgar (KQ4/KQ7).[27]

In addition she had ideas to add multiplayer as early as KQ8 early development, but these were cut and she hoped to introduce them into future games in the series. Some of the ideas were an MMO (massive multiplayer online) adventure game, with the ability for players to collect and swap items to help each other solve puzzles,[28] or fight monsters together.[29][30]

Vivendi Games

There was a ninth installment in development by Vivendi Games (under the Sierra branding) between 2001 and 2002. It was cancelled before going into production. The game never made it past the prototype stage. Images of two renders of the playable character were leaked to the public.[31]

The renders show what looks like an older and bearded King Graham, wielding a giant sword, wearing full armor, and having the ability to flip in the air. Suggesting that it may have been a third-person action-adventure game, similar to the 3-d Legend of Zelda games.

This like later attempts at producing a new game, were described as the new King's Quest, and not necessarily KQ9 (though news media referred to it as King's Quest 9).

Silicon Knights

Silicon Knights worked on a prototype for a King's Quest game at some point before Telltale Games acquired the rights. This information was released to the public through documents on the Silicon Knights suit against Epic Games.[32]

This also was discussed as a new King's Quest rather than specifically called KQ9.

Telltale Games

Telltale's take on the ninth installment of the King's Quest franchise was first announced at a press event on February 17, 2011.[33] Telltale announced that they had entered into an agreement with Activision, the current owner of the rights to the classic Sierra On-Line adventure franchises, to create new episodic games based on those series. The first Sierra intellectual property they intended to work on was King’s Quest.[34]

The game was to follow the format of previous Telltale Games series such as Tales of Monkey Island, as a continuation of the series with all new episodic games and multiple series.[35][36] It was intended to preserve the back story of King's Quest, and fit into the established canon. It was intended to include the challenge and possibilities of death of the original games, but the gameplay was going to be adapted to relieve some of the frustration present in the original games.[36]

Telltale approached Roberta Williams, the originator of the series, and one of the designers on all of the original games, to see if she was interested in working on the new one. While she declined by saying she had retired from games, she did offer the development team advice, which was "very valuable," according to developer Dave Grossman.[37][38] In May 2012, Dan Connors confirmed that Dave Grossman was in charge of the King's Quest project, and Telltale was working on how to proceed.[39]

The game was confirmed to be cancelled by Telltale senior vice president of publishing, Steve Allison, on April 3, 2013.[40]

As development never went far, the game never received a title beyond the reference to the franchise name (but was referred to as King's Quest 9 in some news reports).

Activision

Activision holds the rights to any potential new King's Quest games. When Paul Trowe at Replay Games attempted to negotiate with Activision for King's Quest licensing, they were turned down and were told that Activision already had plans for the series; "No, we're pulling it because we’re going to do it ourselves".[40] Activision passed it over to The Odd Gentlemen.

Fan-created episodes

Main article: King's Quest (fan games)

There have been several fan-created King's Quest games both original and retellings of the original games that have been released by various developers.

Satire

Many of the classic Sierra games series had in-jokes, cameos, or homages to characters, situations and elements of the King's Quest series. Cedric from KQ5 was often the brunt of several jokes found in Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist, Quest for Glory: Shadows of Darkness, and Space Quest VI, etc. Rosella has appeared in or was mentioned in the Leisure Suit Larry series, Police Quest II, and Quest for Glory series. Graham is mentioned in or appears in several of the Space Quest, Police Quest, and Laura Bow games.

Mike and Matt Chapman, creators of the Homestar Runner series of cartoons and games, have created a game known as Peasant's Quest, mostly based on King's Quest I. However, there are allusions throughout the game to King's Quest II, King's Quest III, King's Quest IV, and The Black Cauldron.

References

Notes
  1. ^ Wagner, Roy (June–July 1987). "King's Quest III". Computer Gaming World. pp. 18–20Template:Inconsistent citations.
  2. ^ [1][dead link‍]
  3. ^ Ken Williams Official Website
  4. ^ Scorpia (December 1988). "Interview with Roberta Williams". Computer Gaming World. p. 21Template:Inconsistent citations.
  5. ^ WIZARD AND THE PRINCESS Computer Fantasy Comes True by ROBERT DEWITT Managing Editor
  6. ^ Interaction Magazine, Fall 1994
  7. ^ King's Questions (2004), "The Wizard and the Princess" was made for the Apple computer. What was it called when released for the IBM PC? a. Hello, Daventry!, b. Adventure in Serenia, c. Hi-Res Adventure No. 2, d. The Princess and the Wizard
  8. ^ Spear 1991, pp. 506–07
  9. ^ Interaction Magazine, Fall 1992, p. 29.
  10. ^ White Silhouette. "King's Quest 7+8 for download $9.99". GOG.com. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
  11. ^ "Sierra". Web.archive.org. December 6, 1998. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
  12. ^ DoctorMcFist. "King's Quest 1+2+3". GOG.com. Retrieved February 10, 2011.
  13. ^ "King's Quest 4+5+6". GOG.com. Retrieved June 1, 2011.
  14. ^ Game listing
  15. ^ "King's Quest 1: The Floating Castle". Amazon.com. Archived from the original on January 19, 2014. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
  16. ^ "King's Quest 2: Kingdom of Sorrow (King's Quest/Kenyon Morr, Vol 2)". Amazon.com. Archived from the original on July 2, 2013. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
  17. ^ "King's Quest 3: See No Weevil". Amazon.com. Archived from the original on January 19, 2014. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
  18. ^ The Official Book of King's Quest, 3rd edition, p. 9
  19. ^ All Your Base Are Belong To Us: How Fifty Years of Video Games Conquered Pop Culture by Harold Goldberg, pg 157, 158
  20. ^ "(Message Board) Davidson & Blizzard: Hi Ken Seeing as you". Sierragamers.com. July 29, 2006. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
  21. ^ "CUC International Inc. Announces Senior Management Changes in Software Division". Business Wire. 1997.
  22. ^ King's Quest IX ideas by Roberta Williams
  23. ^ King's Quest: Mask of Eternity: Prima's Official Strategy Guide, pg VIII
  24. ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20130310053850/http://www.adventureclassicgaming.com/index.php/site/interviews/198/ King's Quest IX ideas by Roberta Williams
  25. ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20120331214945/http://www.sierragamers.com/uploads/49/8414..rm Mask of Eternity Talkspot Interview, part 1
  26. ^ http://www.justadventure.com/Interviews/Roberta_Williams/Roberta_Williams_Interview_1.shtm Just Adventure Interview: "I felt that it was time to feature a new character to the saga of King's Quest as long as we were updating the whole look and feel of the series. And--who knows? Perhaps in some future King's Quest game, Connor will at least meet Rosella!"
  27. ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20120331214945/http://www.sierragamers.com/uploads/49/8414..rm "What if Connor met Rosella? That would be good... We got that problem with Edgar... Love triangles are always interesting." Roberta Williams -Mask of Eternity Talkspot Interview, Part 1.
  28. ^ http://verbosity.wiw.org/issue2/kenw.html pervasive universes... the ken williams interview
  29. ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20120331214945/http://www.sierragamers.com/uploads/49/8414..rm Mask of Eternity Talkspot Interview, part 1: "When I started development on King's Quest Mask of Eternity, we also decided, we were thinking at the time to make it multiplayer, and also 3-d, but we dropped the multiplayer aspect of it. It was just too much to try to develop, and also develop 3-d."
  30. ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20120331214854/http://www.sierragamers.com/uploads/49/8413..rm "...and also I, Mark and I entertained the idea of making it multiplayer also, but that was nixed. It was like, well were doing 3-d, and that's enough, you know, for now. Maybe Multiplayer later." -Roberta Williams, Talkspot part 2.
  31. ^ "Blog : Leaked pictures reveal cancelled King's Quest 9". Adventure Gamers. January 24, 2008. Retrieved February 3, 2011.
  32. ^ "Epic Wins Advantage in Too Human Lawsuit". Escapist Magazine. December 27, 2011. Retrieved December 31, 2011.
  33. ^ "King's Quest 9 in development at Telltale Games as a new reboot". Video Games Blogger. February 22, 2011. Retrieved April 4, 2013.
  34. ^ http://www.adventuregamers.com/news/view/21058 Report of the Telltale 2011 press event
  35. ^ "King's Quest reboot coming courtesy of Telltale - Joystiq". I.joystiq.com. February 18, 2011. Retrieved September 7, 2012.
  36. ^ a b "Telltale Games - Dave Grossman and Dave Felton". AdventureGamers.com. Retrieved September 7, 2012.
  37. ^ "E3 2011: First King's Quest Details - IGN". Pc.ign.com. June 8, 2011. Retrieved September 7, 2012.
  38. ^ "E3: Roberta Williams advised Telltale on King's Quest". Retrieved February 6, 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  39. ^ http://www.siliconera.com/2012/05/16/how-telltale-wants-to-evolve-the-adventure-game-genre/ Interview
  40. ^ a b "Activision is planning something for King's Quest After Recovering the Rights From Telltale Games". Digital Trends. April 3, 2013. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
Bibliography
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