
Quest for Glory III and IV - doppp
https://www.filfre.net/2018/10/quest-for-glory-iii-and-iv/
======
JimiofEden
I've always held QfGIV on a Pedestal, citing it as possibly my favorite
adventure game of all time. I had grown up playing King's Quest and Space
Quest, but didn't play Quest for Glory until college, and this game was the
first one made available to me. The setting hit just the right mix of campy
horror for me, and I loved the flexibility. I later played through the rest of
the games, and got to appreciate them all on their own merits, but I always
loved the fourth entry.

On a more recent playthrough, now with my partner, and the ability to see
these games from a fresh perspective, I can see all that was wrong with QfGIV
as it came up, and I found myself frustrated with it, especially because I
held it in so high esteem. Same with QfGIII, but I never held it in too high
esteem. (Hell, I don't even think we were able to finish it because of the
bugginess.)

That being said, my partner ended up loving IV and we still frequently quote
it to one another. But I'm forced to objectively acknowledge that the first
two were just more solid games, and had very focused design and this
translated into better player experience at the end of the day.

We didn't play Dragon Fire for obvious reasons (the same reasons we decided
we're better off ignoring Mask of Eternity.) But we did play Hero-U for a
while, and particularly enjoyed the Cole's Latest effort.

I highly recommend at least the first game for anyone that's into Adventure
games but prefers to stay away from Sierra because of wonky logic/unfair
scenarios/zombie states. The first game does a lot to blur the lines between
tabletop RPG and adventure game in a very fair and enjoyable package.

~~~
aidenn0
The QFG games were my favorites growing up, except for IV which I still
haven't completed (after 3 attempts ending up in an unwinnable state due to
bugs, it's hard to start again).

It's almost hard to overstate how _good_ of a game QFG-1 is., so I won't get
into that there.

As TFA mentions, QFG3 was critically acclaimed, and I loved it. It is
absolutely the easiest of the games, but that meant it was the only game I was
able to complete it with all classes solo; typically my group of friends would
play in parallel and help each other out when we got stuck (as an aside, I
still remember when someone figured out how to kill the Antwerp).

It was also gorgeous (compare [https://www.old-games.com/download/1523/quest-
for-glory-2-tr...](https://www.old-games.com/download/1523/quest-for-
glory-2-trial) to [https://www.old-games.com/download/1524/quest-for-
glory-3-wa...](https://www.old-games.com/download/1524/quest-for-
glory-3-wages)), and if not as polished as QFG1 still a lot of fun.

The only other three non QFG sierra games I played were KQI and VI and
conquests of camelot. I played rise of the dragon as well, but that was a
released under the dynamix label.

~~~
will_brown
Played QFG1 all characters...but had to constantly log onto Prodigy and go to
the billboards (BBS) “video game cheats” or something of that nature. I may
have had to do that to answer some of the Sierra unlock questions referencing
the booklet it came with.

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cousin_it
QFG1 was an amazing game. It solved the main problem of adventure games:
players getting stuck. The solution is embarrassingly simple: allow _every
puzzle in the game_ to be solved in three different ways (corresponding to
fighter/mage/thief classes, but any class can use the solution of any other
class). For example, there's a bird nest in a tree and something is glinting
inside. You can climb the tree, or throw something at the nest, or cast a
"fetch" spell; any of those will work. That makes you feel that the nest is
part of the game world, not just a "lock" requiring a unique "key".

And then adventure games promptly forgot that idea and went back to locks and
keys. Last year's Milkmaid Of The Milky Way and Thimbleweed Park are
artistically head and shoulders above the QFG series, but allow only one
solution for each puzzle, so they feel like guessing games instead of worlds.
I wish there was some new point-and-click adventure taking the QFG approach.

~~~
paulryanrogers
Multiple solutions is also a wonderful trait in games like Deus Ex. Didn't
know QFG1 worked that way, now I have a reason to try it. Thanks.

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Einstalbert
The ability in these games to import a character from a prior game's save
state was incredible and is something I haven't seen in games since. Unlocking
the special character class for doing so (paladin) led to hidden cutscenes and
choices. I would be happy with a modern game simply recognizing I played its
prior installments with much less programming required.

QFGIV's official remastered soundtrack is out on Bandcamp. I would link it but
I am not sure how without creating a mess. It's a treat for the new and
nostalgic alike.

~~~
pvg
_I haven 't seen in games since._

It was fairly standard at the time and still is in episodic adventure games
(e.g. Mass Effect, Dragon Age, etc). Strictly episodic games with character
continuity are themselves a lot less common, though.

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electricslpnsld
I'd love to see a 'where are they now' type feature on all of the Sierra Games
folks. A lot of the original Origin people pop up from time to time (Star
Citizen, Garriot, etc), but the Sierra people seemed to have dropped off the
face of the earth!

~~~
JimiofEden
I know that Ken and Roberta Williams are currently travelling on a boat, doing
various consultancy work. (Apparently as of two days ago, they're moving back
from travelling the world on a Nordhavn to wanting to do a tour across half of
on a smaller boat, but still fascinating nonetheless)

[https://www.kensblog.com](https://www.kensblog.com)

~~~
heroprotagonist
I was kind of hoping this would require the password 'Ken sent me' to get into
it. Thanks for the link, that's interesting. I have also been curious about
the Sierra guys over the years, despite having never met them.

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chasingthewind
I'm going to be in San Francisco soon and I actually really considered making
a pilgrimage to the original Sierra Oakhurst building [0] which says something
about how much of an impact their games had on me. I can't say that I stayed
with QFG all the way through III and IV but QFG I (aka Hero's Quest) is one of
my all time favorites.

[0] [https://forum.guysfromandromeda.com/topic/171-sierra-
oakhurs...](https://forum.guysfromandromeda.com/topic/171-sierra-oakhurst-
location/)

~~~
madeuptempacct
JamStack Conf by any chance?

~~~
chasingthewind
No but that conference looks cool :D

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threeio
I recently stumbled on my original Hero's Quest 1 (non-vga) disks when digging
thru a box... I forget who owned the trademark but they had to change the name
of the game.. after it had been released :) Thief for life.

~~~
gavanwoolery
The original name was owned by Milton Bradley / Games Workshop, used in a
board game of the same name
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HeroQuest](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HeroQuest))

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tptacek
_Then, because the parade of Gothic-horror clichés apparently wasn’t enough,
the Coles added H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos to the mix (or, as the manual
calls him, “P.H. Craftlove”). The two make decidedly uneasy bedfellows._ [long
description of why they're mismatched follows]

Somebody hasn't played Bloodborne.

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gavanwoolery
QfG I (the original) was the first game I ever played on an x86 (and the first
game I played on a color monitor). I cannot understate how amazing that
experience was, and feel slightly sad that newer generations will not be able
to experience the same leaps in technology and game design. :)

~~~
bitwize
Pff. Find yourself a member of the Lost Amiga Civilization to talk to, they'll
tell you how much a step _backward_ gaming on x86 was :)

~~~
gavanwoolery
I only used an Amiga twice growing up (did own a C64 though), so I can't speak
to the experience much, but I do believe they were amazing machines from what
I have heard.

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dibujante
Honestly, his QfG4 section is lazy. Sorry, but in QfG3 he talks about the
history of the series, the changing character of the game, the setting, what
worked, what didn't (mostly didn't), and gives it a very thorough treatment.

But that changes when he gets to QFG4. In this section, he devotes 1428 words
to discussing the game as a game, and 2074 words to discussing the bugs. It's
a let-down. That should be a cautionary paragraph or two, especially since he
acknowledges that the CD-ROM version fixed them and the CD-ROM version is what
people would be playing today.

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madeuptempacct
QFG would be the best game of all time if it wasn't for Planescape Torment.

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cousin_it
Also check out Heroine's Quest:
[http://crystalshard.net/?g=16](http://crystalshard.net/?g=16)

It's basically QFG1 with a Nordic coat of paint and enough new stuff that
you'll feel like you're playing it for the first time. I loved it.

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logfromblammo
> pick nose

Congratulations! Your nose is now open.

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StrictDabbler
QFGIV was buggy and infuriating but by far the most artistic and evocative
entry in the series. If Coles had had a little more time or access to a
properly finished engine QFGIV would be one of the most famous games of the
era. As it is, it's _worth_ metagaming your way through, which is highly
unusual for that period in gaming history.

QFGV is a steaming pile of cow shit.

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kthejoker2
Unprompted but relevant plug for a cool coffee table book, played my nostalgia
nerve like a fiddle.

[https://www.bitmapbooks.co.uk/products/the-art-of-point-
clic...](https://www.bitmapbooks.co.uk/products/the-art-of-point-click-
adventure-games)

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javery
I still have a 3.25 "floppy" with my QFG character on it.

~~~
wyldfire
5.25" or 3.5"... :)

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aricz
hiden goseke

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asimpletune
QFG rules

