Hero-U Kickstarter: Quest For Glory spiritual successor

[Hurlshort]

*bump*

 

Fund this people!

[Jaesun]

 

Matt Chat 170: Lori and Corey Cole on Hero-U; Dave Marsh on Shadowgate

[BruceVC]

http://www.kickstart...e-to-redemption

 

The Quest for Glory series is my all-time favorite, with a perfect blend of adventure and RPG elements. Lori and Corey Cole are working on a new project, and their video shows that they've already done quite a bit of groundwork for it. It is a bit tough for me after dropping a big amount of PE, but luckily this campaign will take us into the next month so I should be able to come up with a decent pledge.

 

Quest for Glory was at the time the most amazing and inspirational game I had ever played. Before that had I played only played Kings Quest 1. It was my first proper "RPG" ( and it wasn't even a proper RPG, but for me it was close enough). I remember being completely stunned about the complexity of the game. Like Baba Yaga's Hut and the saying " Hut of Brown, Now sit down "

 

For those interested in a nostalgic journey you can buy the entire Quest for Glory series on GOG.

[Keyrock]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=U780GGvEgco

 

Matt Chat 170: Lori and Corey Cole on Hero-U; Dave Marsh on Shadowgate

 

"We're not putting our money into advanced graphics' date=' we're putting our money into the story and the puzzles, and this will probably have even richer character interactions than Quest for Glory."[/quote']

 

[vchalub]

Well, for the people who missed it, here's the link to IAMA on reddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/12f8ip/ask_corey_and_lori_cole_anything/?sort=new

[lobotomy42]

I would also encourage people to back this!

[Hurlshort]

Ok, I am really confused and sad to see how much this is struggling to make their target. It isn't like they have a million dollar goal. I am shocked that the Space Quest game managed half a million and this is struggling to reach $200,000. Also, only 3,100 backers? What is happening here?

 

I'm going to be super bummed if they don't make it, this game looks like it will be a great return to the humor and creativity of the QFG series.

[twincast]

Ok, I am really confused and sad to see how much this is struggling to make their target. It isn't like they have a million dollar goal. I am shocked that the Space Quest game managed half a million and this is struggling to reach $200,000. Also, only 3,100 backers? What is happening here?

 

I'm going to be super bummed if they don't make it, this game looks like it will be a great return to the humor and creativity of the QFG series.

SpaceVenture? That's really the worst example if you want to feel all bummed and pessimistic about Hero-U. In fact of all the ex-Sierra developers' game Kickstarters it's the one with the (percentual) progression by far the most similar to Hero-U's in the first twenty days. Here's hoping the last twelve days will be just as similar. Don't fret.

 

But anyway, yes, as much as I love P:E, WL2 et al., this project is something really unique by veteran developers that needs to be made just as much, if not more. Thus, with the new and improved main video and mock-up concept screen-shot released today I can finally make (and spread) that big post I've been wanting to make about it.

[HoonDing]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=U780GGvEgco

 

Matt Chat 170: Lori and Corey Cole on Hero-U; Dave Marsh on Shadowgate

That's a really creepy couple. They look like axe murderers out of a B-horror movie.

Edited November 8, 2012 by Drudanae

[Starker]

That's a really creepy couple. They look like axe murderers out of a B-horror movie.

 

Actually, someone made a similar comment on another forum and Corey (I think) said that they have a big garden with a lots of room to hide the bodies. Little graveyard humour there...*

 

* Anyone not getting the reference should go play the QfG series from start to finish right now.

[twincast]

That's a really creepy couple. They look like axe murderers out of a B-horror movie.

?

A quirky old (and kinda hippie) couple is all I see, which admittedly is far from your archetypal game dev of any era, but people age, duh.

Edited November 8, 2012 by twincast

[Humanoid]

Ok, I am really confused and sad to see how much this is struggling to make their target. It isn't like they have a million dollar goal. I am shocked that the Space Quest game managed half a million and this is struggling to reach $200,000. Also, only 3,100 backers? What is happening here?

 

I'm going to be super bummed if they don't make it, this game looks like it will be a great return to the humor and creativity of the QFG series.

 

I think the early mockup of the topdown game view probably confused and put people off a bit, looking like a solo-coded flash game for the most part. Yes it was stated to be far from final, but as evidenced in this thread at earlier points, that part didn't seem to come across.

 

I'd also would have liked to get some addon physical goodies, but the separate $30 shipping on top of the $15 for the physical tier shipping in the first place kind of kills that deal for me. I'll probably end up sticking to the $35 tier and adding a second copy and the proposed sequel for a net $71 spend. Better value than the honestly rather unappealing $50 and $65 tiers. I don't have statistics or anything to back me up, but it feels like the backer count for those mid-tiers are lower than usual for projects of this scale.

[Oerwinde]

If the concept piece they just posted had been there instead, I wouldn't have ho hummed for a week before backing it.

Edited November 9, 2012 by Oerwinde

[twincast]

Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption by the Quest for Glory designers

(an unofficial Q&A-style list of known/important details by yours truly)

 

Pledge goal: USD 400,000. Reached 1/2 of that in 2/3 of the time, so we need a bit of a proper end rush to prevent it from becoming one of the 3 % of KS projects that fail despite having reached 50 % of their goal.

 

If you have already seen the project page, I implore you to check out the replaced video/recent updates. Or at least check the art question at the bottom here.

 

Q: What is Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption?

A: A role-playing/adventure/puzzle game by Corey and Lori Cole.

 

-Q: Can you be more specific?

-A: The first game in a planned pentalogy (and potential hexalogy) of tile-based turn-based role-playing/adventure/puzzle games, each following a different character of a different class with different reasons for attending Hero-University through their freshman year at an actual mythology-based medieval fantasy-themed school complete with haunted catacombs, by Corey and Lori Cole, the core creators behind the setting and all (official) games of renowned groundbreaking 1990's (1989-1998) adventure/role-playing game series Quest for Glory. (It might also be followed by a series following them through a sophomore exchange year, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.)

 

-Q: That sounds like an overambitious hodgepodge of genres, does it not?

-A: May sound like it at first, but when you think about it, it all fits together very well. IMHO one could just as easily describe it as a role-playing game that cherry picks the best(-fitting) parts of adventure games and puzzle games, which are already way more present in most tabletop RPG's than in most computer RPG's. Besides, they are all seasoned developers.

 

Q: What platforms will be supported?

A: Windows PC, OS X and Linux. (I think tablets have been mentioned as a potential stretch goal.)

 

Q: Why should fans of the Quest for Glory series be interested in this project?

A: It's by the creators of the QfG series, set in the world of QfG, with the writing style (and thus both depth and humor) of the QfG series.

 

-Q: But I'd rather they make a game in the exact same style as the (VGA) QfG games, why don't they?

-A: Painted graphic adventure backgrounds are very expensive (but the more money they get the more will be made to illustrate important scenes) and the easily expandable tiles lend themselves better to the focus on RPG gameplay, i.e. navigating between rooms and around enemies.

 

--Q: Well, okay, but I don't owe them anything and it just doesn't interest me, so?

--A: Fair enough, but you should still join in advertising it to your friends and followers as Activision has been lazily sitting on the QfG rights, neither selling nor licensing them to any of a number of interested parties that wanted to continue the series -- many (all?) of them with the Coles --, so a combination of this project and Telltale's King's Quest sequel (merely oddly phrased by them as a reboot) both being successful would go a long way to ensure not just any Quest for Glory game, but a "true" Quest for Glory VI (starring the Hero's child of whatever pairing you ended up with in QfG5 if the Coles have their way).

 

Q: Why should fans of role-playing games be interested in this project?

A: Three words: Tactical turn-based combat. And because your choices will matter; not just through dialog, but also your actions. What's more, each game will focus on a character of a particular RPG archetype class in their QfG interpretation: The first game will star a male rogue called Shawn O'Conner, the second a female wizard and the third and fourth a male paladin and a female warrior. (I don't know the planned order of the latter two.) The last as I understand it will star a "mystery character" (I suppose the child of a QfG NPC?) and maybe have segments of you controlling each of the prior protagonists (but that's just speculation on my part based on a hunch or three)? And they've talked about maybe adding a game starring a (proper) bard student between the fourth game and the final one if the series is big enough a success. Also, the QfG games were revolutionary for their time in their offering of multiple ways to solve a situation, so expect much of that.

 

-Q: Tactical turn-based combat? Tell me more!

-A: The current plan is for there to be five action points per turn, movements costing 1 AP per tile, light attacks (and minor actions?) costing 2 AP and heavy attacks (and major actions?) costing 4 AP. And of course Shawn being a rogue, he'll be able to sneak, backstab and lay traps.

 

--Q: Wait a moment; tiles? You mean squares? Ugh.

--A: I can think of some games with hexagonal tiles (instead of just an according overlay), but they mean tetragonal ones, yes. I'll be honest, I prefer vector-based a bit over hex-fields and both a lot over square grids, but I am capable of enjoying all of them. If you like turn-based you should be very much used to them as well. And if you actually prefer them, all the better; go pledge now!

 

-Q: And how will my choices matter?

-A: Primarily in the first game you can decide whether to go with Shawn's original plan of joining the Thieves' Guild in the end or try to follow the school's teachings and become a heroic rogue. And you can decide every time whether to diligently go to class (etc.) or to spend that time exploring/treasure-hunting in the catacombs, caves and ruins below and near the school instead. Whether you attend your classes and how you behave there (or in the library or wherever) will affect how the instructors and fellow students think of your PC, everyone liking different kinds of conversation/behavior, e.g. you can work together, help someone out, play pranks, try to cheat on tests, take the blame for something or put the blame on somebody else. So, while Shawn will always have a typical roguish personality, it's up to you if he's just a jerk or has a heart of gold (or both, I guess). Spend enough time on Shawn's (and later the other PC's) social interactions and you may gain him some friends and/or foes (and maybe also find him some love). And you will be able to import your characters into the sidequels, so they'll have the same personality and abilities as a (cameo-ing) NPC as they had as a PC. That and some other undisclosed changes and minor bonuses.

 

-Q: What about experience gain and skill progression?

-A: It will be neither typical XP-leveling like most RPG's, nor exactly akin to the easily exploitable repetition-based systems of Quest for Glory and The Elder Scrolls. The current plan goes something like this: Doing something new with the abilities at your disposal, like defeating a new enemy type (in a respectively new way), will give a boost to the skill you used, but slaying fifty rats or throwing a dagger at a wall fifty times won't get you anything but maybe carpal tunnel syndrome. Additionally, attending classes will increase your stats in some way, with elective courses potentially even giving you new skills altogether.

 

Q: Why should fans of adventure games be interested in this project?

A: Despite its look it will have lots of adventure game-style problem solving (inventory items, dialog). Also, all combat will be avoidable through dialog and/or sneaking. And the main draw should be the bound to be interesting story and lots of well written characters. Plus, it's got a punny title! What self-respecting fan of graphic adventures -- especially Sierra's -- doesn't love that?

 

Q: Why should fans of puzzle games be interested in this project?

A: Andrew "Brawsome" Goulding is also working on this, the engine is based on the one for MacGuffin's Curse and there'll also be some puzzle game-style problem solving (logic, environmental objects). And every combat encounter can be thought of as a puzzle to solve. Besides, Corey Cole also created The Castle of Dr. Brain.

 

Q: Why should any/all fans of computer games be interested in this project?

A: The writing ("Mystery, Magic and Murder") should entice anyone that isn't totally averse to fun and funny moments. But most of all? Because it's unique, and not just for today's market. Aside from The Bard's Tale being the last RPG I can think of that had a heavy dose of humor, it's really the criminally underused school (not just student characters) setting (and according interactions with NPC's) that seals the deal for me. It's fairly common in Japanese adventure games (= visual novels = choose-your-own-adventure) with their boring gameplay and outside very special scenes boring visuals that live and die by their writing, many of them solely focused on selecting your love interest of choice (although some do have very interesting stories) through the utterly necessary choice tree guides that come with practically every review, some of them having a stat-based sim factor (the actual romance sims), but many of those drift into the creepy, and only a scarce few that are based on RPG gameplay (essentially almost only the rarely released Persona series). And it's completely untapped in the West! (Other than a couple of very, very, very low budget indie games set in present-day magical schools. Meh.) And of course a university in an actual mythology-based medieval fantasy-themed medieval setting adds another level of unique awesomeness -- a "normal" school would most likely run the risk of merely "reliving" your high school years or at the very least be perceived as such. The project just combines the best of so many worlds, it makes me giddy!

 

Q: What about the art style?

A: 2D. Think classic animation. They had to endure some flak for the (naturally, duh, very cheap-looking) early mock-up(s), but they recently posted image(s) closer to their final goal (and an all-new pitch video) and I have to say I find it very pretty despite their choice of perspective. Sure, I'd prefer isometric tiles, but unlike MacGuffin's Curse the perspectives of the different elements at least aren't all over the place (let alone plain wrong -- I'll never stop complaining about/making fun of the front-angled top-down view mid-room book cases that grow (much to boot!) wider at the bottom) and the average level of detail seems to already be much higher to me. And like for example Guild Wars 2 dialogs will show bigger versions of the conversation partners left and right.

 

Q: What's in it for me other than the game, i.e. pledge reward highlights?

A: Download edition, boxed edition and KS-exclusive limited edition boxes. The official yearbook. Inclusion in said yearbook. Toy meeps. Caps. T-shirts. At least two types of meet-&-greets. And more! As for pledge add-ons: second copy of the first game, pre-order of the second game, getting a personalized headstone in the catacombs, getting that headstone and a virtual presence as an undead there. And more!

 

Q: Anything else?

A: The first stretch goal would encompass an optional baby meep to adopt, which depending on how you treat it could grow into a useful little helper. =)

Edited November 9, 2012 by twincast

[Malcador]

All these Sierra people need to get Roberta to plug them. I've never played QFG, but I'll pitch in for this I think.

[Starker]

All these Sierra people need to get Roberta to plug them. I've never played QFG, but I'll pitch in for this I think.

 

Speaking of people never having played QfG, I'm giving away another copy on GOG in a limerick writing contest.

[twincast]

My prior post went through a number of revisions to reduce blocks of text by adding more sub-questions. Not really any new content of note, so I won't plaster another giant post here, but you can check it out on my scarcely used tumblr here.

[Oerwinde]

All these Sierra people need to get Roberta to plug them. I've never played QFG, but I'll pitch in for this I think.

 

Favorite Sierra series of a few people here. You can get all 5 on gog.com for like 10 bucks in a bundle I think.

[alanschu]

Picked up QfG series of Gog. Playing the first one now.

[BruceVC]

Picked up QfG series of Gog. Playing the first one now.

 

Thats going to be interesting, I know we all have fond memories of those classic games but I wonder if the gameplay is just a little too dated to really enjoy? Keep us updated. I also want to buy this series on GOG for nostalgic purposes but I'll wait for what you think.

[Brannart]

Dang I don't know if this game is going to make it. I hope for a late push.

[BruceVC]

Dang I don't know if this game is going to make it. I hope for a late push.

 

I doubt it, I also noticed the lackluster financial support

[Brannart]

It might be too long. The old QFG fans might have moved on.

[BruceVC]

It might be too long. The old QFG fans might have moved on.

 

I am an original QFG fan but I feel we are just inundated with games that we feel we should fund, I guess you can't fund everything?

[alanschu]

The original (well, remake) has some hella dated combat that is clunky as hell (I ended up just spamming attacks) which made the game a lot more challenging than it needed to be.

 

Game is funny funny funny though (in that old school Sierra charm). I skipped the second and got the free, more modern remake instead.

 

 

Though as I go through a lot of these retro games, the idea that the old school RPG was a 60 hour mega journey is less and less the case. I'm also a lot better at video games than I used to be (I remember getting stuck a lot when I played this decades ago). I beat the game in probably 5 or 6 hours.