Adventure Game Studio

AGS Games => Completed Game Announcements => Topic started by: AGD2 on Sat 14/03/2009 19:11:27

Title: King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones Version 3.1
Post by: AGD2 on Sat 14/03/2009 19:11:27
Update: September 12th, 2010

King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones (Version 3.1) has been released for both PC and Mac.  You can get the latest builds from the King's Quest 2 page (http://www.agdinteractive.com/games/kq2/about/about.html) on the AGDI website.

Also, King's Quest I: Quest for the Crown (Version 4.1) is now ready for both PC and Mac. You can get it from the King's Quest 1 page (http://www.agdinteractive.com/games/kq1/about/about.html).

Important: Remember to uninstall any previous versions of both games from your system prior to installing these new ones. Since we have changed installer software, the latest versions shouldn't be installed over an existing installation of the games, as this has the potential to leave ghost files behind when you later uninstall. Also, note that save game files aren't compatible between different game versions.

-------------------


Hey, all!

Over at AGD Interactive, we have just released Version 3.0 of King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones, a remake based on the 1985 original, King's Quest II: Romancing the Throne, by Sierra On-Line. We first released this remake in 2002, and over time have received feedback and comments which we have taken on-board. We have spent the past three years enhancing and embellishing the game to an even higher level of quality. We hope you enjoy the results of our hard work! Regardless of whether you've played this remake previously or not, Version 3.0 includes a great many new features and improvements. Be sure to check it out. There's new content for veteran players and newcomers alike!

To celebrate the brand new release, we've also launched a new KQ2 sub-site at:  

http://www.agdinteractive.com/games/kq2/


Here are a handful of screenshots which contrast the enhanced backgrounds in the remake (right side) to those of Sierra On-Line's AGI original (on the left).

(http://www.agdinteractive.com/images/KQ2_comparisons.jpg)



And, for good measure, a few additional screenshots of just the remake:

(http://www.agdinteractive.com/images/game_screenshot1.jpg) (http://www.agdinteractive.com/images/game_screenshot2.jpg)
(http://www.agdinteractive.com/images/game_screenshot5.jpg) (http://www.agdinteractive.com/images/game_screenshot9.jpg)



VERSION 3.0 FEATURES
---------------------------------
This version includes many new features and improvements. Some of the major ones are:

-Fully enhanced backgrounds.
 Every screen has been completely re-edited and re-detailed to classic Sierra-quality.

-New dialog pictures
 Redrawn and edited to a higher level of quality (no more head-bobbing while talking!)

-A new professionally narrated voice track for all in-game comments
 A major feature that was lacking from previous versions. Over 3,800 narrator lines!

-Lip-synced character speech.
 For added detail and voice enhancement. Over 1,000 lip-synced character lines!

-Ogg Theora movies/cutscenes
 For smaller filesize and also better Linux & Mac compatibility.

-Speech & Music Packs now included as part of the download.

...Plus all of the other familiar enhancements that are unique to King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones, like the revampled plot, deeper characterizations, additional puzzles and quests! All that and more awaits players in Version 3.0.
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For in-depth information, you can check out the King's Quest II Announcement Thread here (http://www.agdiforums.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18=13320) at the AGD Interactive forums.


Visit our games page to download your Enhanced copy of King's Quest II Version 3.0 (http://www.agdinteractive.com/games/games.html) now! The filesize weighs in at 321 MB.

Hope you guys like the improvements. Have fun!
Title: Re: King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones Version 3.0
Post by: Spike4072 on Sat 14/03/2009 21:12:36
Yay I have been wanting to play this again for a while. I had your old version but forgot to copy it when moving to my computer. Will be great to play with the new improvements. :D
Title: Re: King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones Version 3.0
Post by: Leon on Sat 14/03/2009 21:28:12
Congratulations with another fine release.
Looking very good as always. Be playing this later on.. first wait for the download to finish....
Title: Re: King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones Version 3.0
Post by: magintz on Sat 14/03/2009 22:12:30
Wow! Looks awesome. Congrats.
Title: Re: King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones Version 3.0
Post by: Azure on Sun 15/03/2009 08:34:28
It's out hooray ;D ;D Been meaning to get through this!
Title: Re: King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones Version 3.0
Post by: Buckethead on Sun 15/03/2009 17:35:39
Yay!

Unlike King's quest I, I haven't played this one grey yet. I hope this also has the option to disable death ends.
Title: Re: King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones Version 3.0
Post by: Erpy on Sun 15/03/2009 17:38:14
It never really had dead ends to begin with. So there's no option to disable it.

(http://www.agdiforums.com/forum/images/avatars/moodpics/Nashheh.jpg)
Title: Re: King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones Version 3.0
Post by: Buckethead on Sun 15/03/2009 18:11:28
I remember that I once flew away with the carpet but couldn't go back because I didn't have all the items.
Title: Re: King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones Version 3.0
Post by: MusicallyInspired on Mon 16/03/2009 04:39:11
There are tons of "death ends" but no "dead ends." And you can go back and forth on the carpet as many times as you like. You just have to be in an appropriate area (that goes for the original as well as the remake).
Title: Re: King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones Version 3.0
Post by: Dualnames on Mon 16/03/2009 08:29:12
Congrats people!!!!
Title: Re: King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones Version 3.0
Post by: Frodo on Mon 16/03/2009 23:20:51
This is fantastic!  Thanks for all your hard work.   ;D

Title: Re: King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones Version 3.0
Post by: cosmicr on Tue 17/03/2009 02:21:34
Quote from: AGD2 on Sat 14/03/2009 19:11:27
-Ogg Theora movies/cutscenes
  For smaller filesize and also better Linux & Mac compatibility.

so there is a linux version? or do we have to use the 2.72 version that's available?
Title: Re: King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones Version 3.0
Post by: MusicallyInspired on Wed 18/03/2009 15:16:08
No, you use Wine to run the Windows executable in Linux. Not sure about MAC, probably the same thing though. Apart from a minor mouse acceleration issue, it runs perfectly.
Title: Re: King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones Version 3.0
Post by: tombom62 on Thu 19/03/2009 22:36:06
Quote from: MusicallyInspired on Wed 18/03/2009 15:16:08
No, you use Wine to run the Windows executable in Linux. Not sure about MAC, probably the same thing though. Apart from a minor mouse acceleration issue, it runs perfectly.
Linux, it works amazingly, I use linux almost 99 percent of the time.  For MAC, there's also a port of wine.  See here http://davidbaumgold.com/tutorials/wine-mac/
Title: Re: King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones Version 3.0
Post by: cosmicr on Thu 19/03/2009 22:56:25
so what difference would the ogg format make if its running in wine anyway?
Title: Re: King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones Version 3.0
Post by: tombom62 on Fri 20/03/2009 02:37:29
Quote from: cosmicr on Thu 19/03/2009 22:56:25
so what difference would the ogg format make if its running in wine anyway?
Wine doesn't support the format they were using before, so instead of seeing the logo, you'd just see an error. (It would then continue the game, so it wasn't a huge problem) Now, it works great. go to winehq.org and get one for your distro.
Title: Re: King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones Version 3.0
Post by: Bob on Sat 21/03/2009 01:59:08
I'll have to replace the one I'm playing with this version...thanks for the announcement!

Are there any additional challenges in this release?

The graphics look awesome, btw.  Can't wait to hear the voices.
Title: Re: King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones Version 3.0
Post by: Puddleglum on Mon 23/03/2009 01:54:48
I am loving it!! Thank you  ;D
Title: Re: King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones Version 3.1
Post by: AGD2 on Mon 13/09/2010 05:54:56
I didn't want to create a new thread for this announcement, so I thought this would be the best place to post it:

King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones (Version 3.1) has been released for both PC and Mac.  You can get the latest builds from the King's Quest 2 page (http://www.agdinteractive.com/games/kq2/about/about.html) on the AGDI website.

Also, King's Quest I: Quest for the Crown (Version 4.1) is now ready for both PC and Mac. You can get it from the King's Quest 1 page (http://www.agdinteractive.com/games/kq1/about/about.html).

Important: Remember to uninstall any previous versions of both games from your system prior to installing these new ones. Since we have changed installer software, the latest versions shouldn't be installed over an existing installation of the games, as this has the potential to leave ghost files behind when you later uninstall. Also, note that save game files aren't compatible between different game versions.
Title: Re: King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones Version 3.1
Post by: Sslaxx on Mon 13/09/2010 14:01:45
Quote from: AGD2 on Mon 13/09/2010 05:54:56
I didn't want to create a new thread for this announcement, so I thought this would be the best place to post it:

King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones (Version 3.1) has been released for both PC and Mac.  You can get the latest builds from the King's Quest 2 page (http://www.agdinteractive.com/games/kq2/about/about.html) on the AGDI website.

Also, King's Quest I: Quest for the Crown (Version 4.1) is now ready for both PC and Mac. You can get it from the King's Quest 1 page (http://www.agdinteractive.com/games/kq1/about/about.html).

Important: Remember to uninstall any previous versions of both games from your system prior to installing these new ones. Since we have changed installer software, the latest versions shouldn't be installed over an existing installation of the games, as this has the potential to leave ghost files behind when you later uninstall. Also, note that save game files aren't compatible between different game versions.
So what's changed? Oh, and you need to change the disclaimers at the bottom of the pages to say Activision, not Sierra.
Title: Re: King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones Version 3.1
Post by: Igor Hardy on Mon 13/09/2010 15:20:07
Hey, how did you manage to port the games to Mac? :o
Title: Re: King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones Version 3.1
Post by: AGD2 on Tue 14/09/2010 05:10:41
Ascovel: It's not a port, as such. The PC version of the game has been wrapped (similar to Cider) so that it's basically the same as running it under Wine, but without the need to dual boot. This way, it works out-of-the-box, so to speak. On Mac, you just need to drag the King's Quest I or II Game Application to your application folder. Once installed, you can run the game by clicking on the King's Quest I or II Application in the application folder.


Here's a full list of changes made to the latest versions of each King's Quest remake:


Quote
CHANGES TO KING'S QUEST I VERSION 4.1
-----------------------------------------------------
WARNING: GAME SPOILERS AHEAD

- Fixed: a bug that caused the invisibility ring's expiration message to appear during the end credits
- Fixed: the Magic Chest sometimes disappearing behind trees when killing the giant with the slingshot
- Fixed: a bug where Graham could eat the mushroom while invisible, despite being unable to find his mouth
- Fixed: graphics filters in the winsetup.exe program crashing the game
- Fixed: a crash when loading save-game files by double-clicking on them and then clicking restart
- Fixed: a bug where opening and closing the Restore GUI on the title screen caused the icon bar to appear
- Changed: the appearance of Graham's hair in the dialog portrait without his adventurer's hat
- Fixed: a bug where CTRL+Q and TAB could cause glitches after the Sorcerer freezes Graham.
- Changed: the way the dragon behaves when the protection spell expires within close proximity to it
- Changed: the 'drowning' death GUI picture to one of Graham kneeling when eating the mushroom too early
- Changed: the appearance of the hole in the base of the slingshot tree, making it more visible
- Changed: save-games to be saved in the game directory again, rather than in My Documents/My Saved Games
- Changed: the game's installer to use Inno Setup for better compression and performance
- Added: an Apple Mac port of the game
- Added: a checkbox to the installer asking whether the user wants to create a game desktop icon or not


Quote
CHANGES TO KING'S QUEST 2 VERSION  3.1
------------------------------------------------------
WARNING: GAME SPOILERS AHEAD

- Fixed: a crash on the title screen triggered by reloading the game in Vista and Windows 7 without Admin privileges
- Fixed: a crash when loading save-game files by double-clicking on them and then clicking restart
- Fixed: a bug where character and object tint/shade levels displayed incorrectly under Direct3D mode
- Fixed: potential freezing of the video stream in the introduction Magic Mirror movie sequence
- Fixed: a bug where the mouth icon became active in the final Cloud Spirit test instead of the arrow
- Fixed: a bug which made it possible to walk using the arrow keys when the walk icon was disabled
- Fixed: a bug when reading the bible which caused the wrong background frame to appear behind the page
- Fixed: graphics filters in the winsetup.exe program crashing the game
- Fixed: an oversight where the Count could appear during the swamp wolf ambush scene.
- Changed: the visibility of Graham and the seahorse as they near the fake wall in the Sharkee's realm
- Changed: the appearance of Graham's hair in the dialog portrait without his adventurer's hat
- Changed: save-games to be saved in the game directory again rather than in My Documents/My Saved Games
- Changed: the game's installer to use Inno Setup for better compression and performance
- Added: an Apple Mac port of the game
- Added: a checkbox to the installer asking whether the user wants to create a game desktop icon or not

Most importantly: If you're still running v3.0 of King's Quest II, you really should uninstall it and upgrade to v3.1 instead.  Version 3.0 had the potential to crash on the title screen in Windows Vista and Windows 7, due to the way Microsoft became more strict about privileges and file permissions. v3.1 resolves this issue so that both Admin and normal user accounts can run the game interchangeably.
Title: Re: King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones Version 3.1
Post by: Igor Hardy on Wed 15/09/2010 23:10:41
Quote from: AGD2 on Tue 14/09/2010 05:10:41
Ascovel: It's not a port, as such. The PC version of the game has been wrapped (similar to Cider) so that it's basically the same as running it under Wine, but without the need to dual boot. This way, it works out-of-the-box, so to speak. On Mac, you just need to drag the King's Quest I or II Game Application to your application folder. Once installed, you can run the game by clicking on the King's Quest I or II Application in the application folder.

That's interesting. Did you develop that "wrapper" by yourself or is it some kind of public software that can be used for other AGS games too?
Title: Re: King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones Version 3.1
Post by: xenogia on Thu 16/09/2010 02:01:06
I too would be interested in this technology.
Title: Re: King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones Version 3.1
Post by: therantingrob on Fri 17/09/2010 00:48:29
excellent work!
Title: Re: King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones Version 3.1
Post by: AGD2 on Sat 18/09/2010 07:36:00
Quote from: Ascovel on Wed 15/09/2010 23:10:41
That's interesting. Did you develop that "wrapper" by yourself or is it some kind of public software that can be used for other AGS games too?

No, we didn't develop the wrapper. The games are using the CXZ wrapper/engine and any AGS game could make use of it. We received an offer from a guy who handled the conversion for us. You can find more information on CXZ here:

http://portingteam.com/category/news/cxznews/
Title: Re: King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones Version 3.1
Post by: Sughly on Sat 18/09/2010 09:15:07
Looks great AGD2! Impressive list of updates there. Particularly in getting a Mac port, looks pretty interesting what you've done there... well done indeed!