Messages

[heltenjon]

heltenjon, the links themselves are definitely in working order. Not sure what the reports were about. If they were meant to indicate that there is a bug with the ports, I currently have no way of checking it and would need more information.

Thunderforge, hi! Could you send me your save? I've never heard of this problem before, so I'll need more details. Were you playing with deadends on? Was it night or day when you tried bringing the unicorn to Lolotte?

Wow! Congrats on the release, Akril!

Hey, everyone!

King's Quest IV Retold (a Point & Click remake of Sierra's King's Quest IV) is currently in need of Spanish localization testers.

If you're fluent in Spanish and want to participate, please DM me or leave a post in this thread. KQ4 isn't a particularly long game, so don't be intimidated.
For more information about the game itself, see https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/2533-king-s-quest-iv-the-perils-of-rosella-retold/.

Thank you!

[MacOS port of KQ4 Retold 1.0.5 is out!]

Hey everyone!

Just wanted to let you know that the MacOS port of KQ4 Retold 1.0.5 is out! You can get it on the game's download page. In addition to the changes from 1.0.4 to 1.0.5, this version is now a Universal Binary which supports both Intel and Apple Silicon processors (the previous Mac versions only natively supported Intel processors).

As usual, huge thanks to edenwaith for making the port!

Your export contains 2 ags file. One is probably an older version named 'King's Quest 4.ags' and one (the current version) named 'KQ4Retold.ags'

Hi negator2vc!
Good catch. I've updated the download links on the game page, is everything correct now? I don't have a Linux system to test if the port still works, but the file size issue seems to be fixed at least.

[King's Quest IV Retold 1.0.5 is out!]

King's Quest IV Retold 1.0.5 is out!

Hey everyone!

It's been a while, so I've decided to release another update for KQ4 Retold. Most notably, the game now fully supports localization, which means that every line of text that is in the game should now be translatable, including text that previously was baked into sprites.
I've also made a couple of changes to the way the cave lighting effects are implemented, which should improve performance at top game speed levels (this used to be a problem for speedrunners).

Complete changelog (may contain minor spoilers if you haven't played the game yet):

Spoiler

[ + ] Added localization support
[ + ] Added nighttime backdrops for the swamp
[ + ] Added looping for the music track that plays in the dwarf mine
[ + ] The dwarf mine music track now correctly resumes after interruptions (e.g. when Rosella plays the lute)
[ + ] Improved looping for the music track that plays during the dinner with the dwarfs
[ + ] Updated the appearance of the Talk icon
[ + ] Added a hard limit of 30 FPS for rendering the cave lighting effects (this should improve the performance and make the animation less jittery at top game speeds)
[ + ] Made minor optimizations to the cave lighting effects
[ - ] Fixed possible freezes when the game waits for a specific audio position but no audio is playing (this could lead to a hardlock after falling down the chasm)
[ - ] Slightly tweaked the walk-behind mask for one of the backdrops with the evil trees
[ - ] Slightly expanded the walkable area for crossing the chasm
[ - ] Fixed a couple of instances of missing punctuation and whitespaces

[close]

The MacOS port is coming a bit later. However, from what I understand, Mac users can still play the latest patch under ScummVM.

There were three things that could not be translated from the .trs:
- The aforementioned texts
- Disclaimer
- "The time is:" from the manor clock

Just tried generating a new .TRS file within AGS and got all of these to export correctly. When you're done with editing/testing, feel free to PM me a link to your translated .TRS so I can update it with the missing messages.

Actually, the translation is already finished. Now I'm testing and correcting/modifying some things to improve it.

Oh, nice! Let me know when you're done so I can send it to another Spanish speaker for double-checking.

There is only a small change regarding the phrases of Rosella's different deaths. I had to translate these with a hexadecimal editor, so it was impossible for me to translate the sentences giving them the same meaning and with the same number of characters. So I chose to always use the same phrase as in the original game.I really hope this isn't a problem.

That's unfortunate but understandable. Even without the character limit, I had to word these lines really carefully to make sure they fit the GUI.
That being said, there are 3rd-party programs that can export text from AGS games to .TRS files. Have you tried those? I'm afraid having some of the game's text translated via hex editing would make publishing the translation and rolling out future updates to the game itself more complicated than it needs to be.

So I didn't want to commit without being sure that this translation would be well done.

Once again, perfectly understandable, especially considering I myself never told anyone I was working on this remake until after it was released. 

However, I am Spaniard, so Spanish is my mother tongue. In addition, I have had pen pals for several years, so my level of English is quite good.

Oh, I don't doubt that you can speak English and Spanish. It's just that translation is a complicated field in and of itself (I should know, I localize software for a living). In other words, many people can translate, but only a few can do it actually well, hence the importance of quality control.

Hey @Nana_Ortigas!
I'm glad you enjoyed it!
As for the translation — go for it! I appreciate the initiative — the more people can enjoy this game, the better. That being said, Spanish isn't among the languages I can read, much less judge the quality of a translation, but if someone (preferably a trusted and/or long-standing member of the AGS community) who is fluent in Spanish could vouch for the quality of your translation, I'll be happy to add it to the game's download page.

A couple of things to keep in mind regarding the technical side of the translation:
1) From what I remember, all text with the exception of the game's title screen logo should be extractable as plain text, but if I missed something and some of the game's text is stored as part of a sprite, let me know and I'll make it translatable too.
2) The game uses my own custom functions for text output. Unfortunately, these functions contain a minor bug that may cause text messages to not be centered correctly in some rare cases. If this happens, try changing the length of the message (e.g. by adding spaces at the very end of the message or at the end of one of the lines).

Let me know if you have any questions.

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.

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.

Hi, ArthurWalden, thanks for the extensive feedback! I'll try to answer your questions as best I can.

a) 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.

b) 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.

2) 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).

3) 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.

a) 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?

b) 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.  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.

[King's Quest IV Retold 1.0.4 is out!]

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]

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.

Mad props to the organizers and congrats to the winners, their awards are well-deserved!

Wish I could make it to this year's ceremony, but at least I can watch it in video form, for which Scavenger deserves a special thanks!

I don't post on these forums very often, but seeing the relevance of my FYC post to this discussion, I might as well share my two cents for what they're worth.

It's a difficult topic.

It is indeed. To be honest, these things can only be decided on a case-by-case basis, in my opinion.

It's absolutely possible for a game developer to use someone else's music or graphics in a creative and transformative way that would put the original assets into a new context. For example, the short film 21-87 is almost entirely made of discarded footage from other movies, and The Avalanches compose their songs using samples from third-party sources. If either of these was an AGS game, they'd still be perfectly eligible for an award in my eyes.

The reason I explicitly asked people to refrain from nominating my game for certain categories is because, unlike the examples above, it's an almost direct port of an existing game that copies assets from a single source without changing their meaning or context.

The way I see it, completely barring the former from being nominated would be about as bad as giving an award to the latter.

[For your consideration:KING'S QUEST IV: THE PERILS OF ROSELLA RETOLD]

For your consideration:

KING'S QUEST IV: THE PERILS OF ROSELLA RETOLD



AGS Database Page | Completed Games Thread

"King's Quest IV Retold" is a point-and-click remake of the fourth chapter in Sierra's classic King's Quest series.

The game's story picks up immediately where "King's Quest III: To Heir Is Human" left off. As King Graham tosses his adventurer's cap to his children, he suffers a massive heart attack and is left on his death bed. It is up to his daughter, Princess Rosella, to retrieve a rare magic fruit that can heal her father, as well as save the land of Tamir from the evil fairy Lolotte along the way.

This remake introduces numerous improvements to the original game while staying faithful to its story and graphics, thus offering a new way to experience this classic adventure and making it more approachable for new players.

Please DON'T nominate for*:

• Best Writing
• Best Character
• Best Puzzles
• Best Background Art
• Best Character Art
• Best Animation
• Best Music & Sound

*Even though I did some additional writing, art, and sounds for the project, the overwhelming majority of assets used in the game are identical to those found in Sierra On-Line's original SCI release of King's Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella. I'd hate to take credit for something I didn't make or steal a nomination from someone who created all of their assets from scratch.

Instead, please consider for:

• Best Game Created with AGS
• Best Freeware Game Created with AGS
• Best Gameplay
• Best Programming

Thanks for the kind words, everyone! It really makes my day whenever I hear from people who enjoyed this project!

When 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.

Space 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.

[fernewelten]

I was just about to report the same issue when I saw your thread, fernewelten.

The last post in my game's thread is dated 17 Jun 2021, 18:46 (at least in my time zone), which would place it exactly between the last thread on page 1 and the first thread on page 2 of the Completed Game Announcements board, however it is nowhere to be found:

Spoiler

[close]

So yeah, the bug has definitely not been fixed yet.