Chat with Sierra )n-line producers Lori and Corey Cole, designers of Quest for Glory (4): Shardows of Darkness (December 12, 1993) GMl Muse : Hi DavdEnglish! Elan Morin! GMl Muse : Welcome to the COMPUTE Conference with Sierra Online re: Quest for Glory #4! GKeighley : Denny: You should be getting your copy this week GKeighley : if you ordered from Sierra. KentConrad: Well, I'm waiting for a CD version to come out. Will there be one? Elan Morin: Hello everybody Dennny : GK, I'm COMPUTE's Entertainment Editor, so it'll be coming from Sierra PR. :) Tom Netsel: Hi, folks. A little late in arriving. Sorry. LoriNCorey: Shadows of Darkness CD should be out in March or April. GMl Muse : DeanROCK1!! Welcome to the COMPUTE Conference with Sierra Online re: Quest for Glory #4! Dennny : If it arrives before Xmas, I'll take it on my visit to the family and tie up Mom's computer Dennny : while I'm there. :) LoriNCorey: Denny: You should get your copies of Shadows next week (with luck). KentConrad: Well, then that's when I'm getting it(hopefully) RBixby : Is that the only personal computa in bermuda, denny? GMl Muse : Hi Randy22! Welcome to the COMPUTE Conference with Sierra Online re: Quest for Glory #4! GKeighley : Denny: Nice to meet you. I'm Geoff Keighley from Strategy Plus. Randy22 : Heelo all. DeanROCK1 : The game sounds cool, are you going to give any away tonight LoriNCorey: Hello, Tom. Looks as though everyone made it! Dennny : When I brought it over for my Mom, Rob, they said "a 486? for PERSONAL use?" RBixby : Yeah, I see her point, denny. Why didn't you get her a REAL computer? Tom Netsel: Glad everyone could make it tonight. Dennny : Okay, the cat's on my lap, we can start now. :) GMl Muse : Okay, folks, let me introduce our speakers! GMl Muse : LoriNCorey are Lori and Corey Cole -- the designers of Quest for Glory! GMl Muse : They're going to be introducing their new game Shadows of Darkness tonight... GMl Muse : and taking questions. Please let everyone have their turn for answers, and have a great night! GMl Muse : Lori and Corey? LoriNCorey: Hello! Good evening and velcome to the vorld of Shadows of Darkness! GMl Muse : Hi JenniIynn! Welcome to the COMPUTE Conference with Sierra Online re: Quest for Glory #4! LoriNCorey: The game shipped out last Thursday, should be in stores everywhere by now. Randy22 : I picked up my copy yesterday LoriNCorey: Shadows of Darkness is the 4th game in the Quest for Glory series... LoriNCorey: of hybrid adventure/role-playing games. This one is set in the Ktscarlett: Good timing, L&C, I expect it to arrive in time for my birthday 12/16. LoriNCorey: mythical land of Mordavia, our own strange variant on Transylvania. DeanROCK1 : The game sounds cool, are you going to be giving any copies away tonight LoriNCorey: (DeanROCK1: We don't even have our *own* copies yet! Sorry.) DeanROCK1 : Darn GMl Muse : Yes, Dean, there *will* be a giveaway tonight! COMPUTE editor Dennny will be in charge. DeanROCK1 : Yes Tom Netsel: I think we DO have a door prize though. :) Dennny : (We will be giving away a copy of another Sierra hit tonight, though -- Al Lowe's KentConrad: Hey, Dennny, did I mention what a great typer you are? LoriNCorey: The game has a fundamentally serious story line, but there's lots.... Dennny : Phreddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist) Tom Netsel: I love that game. GMl Muse : Hi CKarnes! Welcome to the COMPUTE Conference with Sierra Online re: Quest for Glory #4! LoriNCorey: of humor along the way. Bad puns, crazy characters, and more. DeanROCK1 : Sounds cool LoriNCorey: Shadows of Darkness features a hot new combat system -- you can play.... Dennny : I've always enjoyed the mix of serious and fun in the QfG games, C&L. Perfect balance. LoriNCorey: it as an arcade game similar to Street Fighter II, or set the game... GKeighley : Denny: Urgh, it's FREDDY not Phreddy ;) LoriNCorey: to "strategy mode" and just make strategic decisions while the computer.... LoriNCorey: does all the arcade stuff for you. RBixby : How do you feel about the congressional hearings on violence in videogames, and the industry RBixby : regulating itself? LoriNCorey: We think it's the best game we've created yet. GKeighley : The combat system is excellent C&L! Good Job! Tom Netsel: Evening, Tony. TonyRobrts: Hey, Tom. LoriNCorey: RBixby: I strongly feel that the industry should regulate itself... LoriNCorey: We have a hard enough time getting games out for Christmas without.... LoriNCorey: adding a four month delay while someone reviews and rates them!!! RBixby : do you believe it can do a good enough job to silence critics? DeanROCK1 : Will it be challenging for people who have built their characters through the other 3 games? LoriNCorey: But the whole thing in Congress is just a politician trying to... LoriNCorey: get his name in the press. LoriNCorey: The same thing happened a few years ago, trying to censor games... STU8 : Does the Cyberman add to or hinder the game play as an imput device? LoriNCorey: like Leisure Suit Larry. It just blew over after a while. LoriNCorey: Dean: Yes, we Beta tested the game with some "super" imported.... LoriNCorey: characters, and even *we* found it challenging! LoriNCorey: RBixby: The critics will always complain. Some of the most vocal.... LoriNCorey: ones now aren't even playing the games -- they've just heard... DeanROCK1 : neat, my character right now has a hundred skill on everything LoriNCorey: about them, and are taking it upon themselves to "do something". DeanROCK1 : thats good to know LoriNCorey: STU8: Lori and I haven't played with the Cyberman ourselves. There... LoriNCorey: is some special code in the combat section of the game to.... LoriNCorey: support it -- you get "zapped" every time your character is hit, GMl Muse : Hi Walt486! Welcome to the COMPUTE Conference with Sierra Online re: Quest for Glory #4! Randy22 : Speaking of importing characters from QG3, QG4 won't recognize any of my saved characters LoriNCorey: can pull up to jump, push down to duck, that sort of thing. Should.... Randy22 : from QG3 Walt486 : Which of the g4q series do you suppose is best? LoriNCorey: be pretty neat, but we don't have direct personal experience to relate. STU8 : I know-users are "panning" it pretty regularly with other games at this point KentConrad: Hmm...Sounds neat. DeanROCK1 : So tell me, what goes in to producing a game like this LoriNCorey: Randy22: We've seen a couple of reports of import problems, have no.... Dennny : Folks: Let's try to keep the number of pending questions down to about two at a time. Tom Netsel: Hello, Walt. Welcome. LoriNCorey: idea what's wrong. We *did* test that feature quite a bit. Can you.... Dennny : So that Lori & Corey can keep up. Plenty of time for everyone to ask. LoriNCorey: send copies of your characters to me c/o Sierra On-Line, please? LoriNCorey: Walt: We definitely feel that Shadows of Darkness is our best game to date. GKeighley : Corey: Better yet, they could e-mail them to you here Randy22 : Sure, but how? Walt486 : e-mail them like regular, then attach the file Walt486 : it's one of the options on the side LoriNCorey: Geoff: We have no idea how to read or download e-mail from here. LoriNCorey: (This is only our second time on AOL.) Randy22 : Ok, I'll do that. GKeighley : Corey: They could send them to me and I could forward GKeighley : them to you on that other online service? Walt486 : when you log on, it will say in the bottom corner Walt486 : you have new mail. select it. then, if there is LoriNCorey: Dean: How to produce a game like this: GMl Muse : Well, we've lost Walt. Why don't you send them to GKeighley and he'll take care of it. LoriNCorey: Take two game designer/writers..... LoriNCorey: Add a Project Manager, 4 programmers, LoriNCorey: a lead artist, two illustrators, two animators at a time LoriNCorey: one full-time musician and a couple of assistants, LoriNCorey: two full-time QA'ers and 20 more part-time, LoriNCorey: 15-20 Beta testers, LoriNCorey: and about a million dollars (literally), Walt486 : sorry about that, aol dropped me LoriNCorey: and you have Shadows of Darkness.... DeanROCK1 : Gee Wizzz!!!!!!! LoriNCorey: Of course, you asked about "a game like this." Don't think you can get another.... Walt486 : so anyway, just click on download attached file, and you're all Walt486 : set STU8 : there has been a service problem this week, Walt GMl Muse : Re's Walt. LoriNCorey: quite like this one. No two are every quite the same. :-) KentConrad: Who did the music? LoriNCorey: Aubrey Hodges, who also did Freddy Pharkas, was our main musician... LoriNCorey: He did an incredible job, IMO. DeanROCK1 : Thanks guys, I will be back Walt486 : well, i'm outta here b4 I get dropped again... bye all GKeighley : Corey: I'll second that! Aubrey is a gem! Ktscarlett: The technology of qg2 and qg3 was great but I missed some of the "mysteries" from qg1 (what' GMl Muse : Thanks for coming, Dean! See ya! KentConrad: Never heard aubrey. LoriNCorey: The game "only" eats up 12.5MB to 16 MB on your hard disk ... LoriNCorey: (depending on whether you get the "sampled sound effects").... Ktscarlett: under the rock? Why can't I wake the old lady up?) What will qg4 be like? KentConrad: That's nothing... :) Dennny : Lori and Corey, does this use the new engine that runs better under Windows than DOS? LoriNCorey: But that came out of some 60 MB of original data... LoriNCorey: There's some 3.5 MB of code (twice as much as most adventure games), KentConrad: Gee... LoriNCorey: not including the SCI-32 interpreter (that much again).... LoriNCorey: 20 MB of animation, etc., etc. LoriNCorey: Ktscarlett: Nothing was under the rock -- our original design.... LoriNCorey: called for the Goblin caves there, but we couldn't afford the time.... LoriNCorey: or extra disks to make them. The Little Old Lady is a clue to the fact.... LoriNCorey: that you can wake her up inside if you're not careful (she sleeps LoriNCorey: all day, so she's wakeful during the night). LoriNCorey: Denny: I don't think *anything* runs better under Windows than DOS! KentConrad: Oh...will there be more thieveing to do in Qfg4? I didn't find much in numero three. Dennny : L&C, well, it has a few more capabilities under Windows. :) LoriNCorey: But we are using the new engine (SCI-32). It gave us much more memory.... LoriNCorey: so we could do things like full-screen "talkers" that we couldn't afford before. LoriNCorey: Kent: Your Thief will be ecstatic. There's a Thieves' Guild, places to.... STU8 : Any chance of Sierra considering Super VGA suppport for the CD-ROM version? LoriNCorey: break in, and an entire castle in which to sneak around (and pillage). KentConrad: Hehehee. LoriNCorey: STU: Problem with Super VGA is that it would run four times more slowly. LoriNCorey: (Double the pixels each way, and you're pushing four times as much data.) STU8 : I see-lock out too many people from the experience. LoriNCorey: Maybe next year when the CD and 486 make a base, rather than high-end, LoriNCorey: machine, then it will be manageable. GKeighley : What improvements can we expect in the QG4CD GKeighley : besides full speech? LoriNCorey: We'll have a few more character talkers who didn't fit on the floppy version, LoriNCorey: niftier death animation for those into morbidity , and... GKeighley : Any chance of doing the talkers in SVGA? LoriNCorey: generally more animation to fill out a few places where we.... LoriNCorey: couldn't fit everything in on the floppy version. KentConrad: Will a double-speed CD be necessary? LoriNCorey: SVGA talkers are totally unnecessary since they're full-screen. LoriNCorey: (We experimented with them -- they didn't add anything.) LoriNCorey: Kent: No, we'll definitely support single-speed CD drives. KentConrad: Wohoo! GKeighley : Any ideas who will provide the voice talent? Ktscarlett: I wasn't clear before. I LIKED the mysteries in QG1. I HAD to go back as the other 2 Ktscarlett: characters to find out the answers to Erana's rock and LOL. That did not LoriNCorey: Geoff: No, we've just started casting the CD-ROM. Ktscarlett: happen for me in 2&3. Are there some "teasers" to encourage 2nd and 3rd character quests. LoriNCorey: Ktscarlett: Oh, I thought you meant the rock in the Goblin practice area. LoriNCorey: Did you try reading Erana's rock several times? Or talking to the bear in the cave? LoriNCorey: We have a lot of mysteries in Quest for Glory IV.... LoriNCorey: even at the beginning of the game, the question is... LoriNCorey: "How did you get here? Who brought you? Why?" LoriNCorey: There are also a number of puzzles and areas which.... GMl Muse : Hi MikeHud! Welcome to the COMPUTE Conference with Sierra Online re: Quest for Glory #4! LoriNCorey: only apply to one character type -- Thieves' Guild, LoriNCorey: Paladin quests, Faerie Folk for the Magic User, etc. Ktscarlett: YIPPEE STU8 : Besides QG5 are you folks "hatching" any new ideas for a hit series that you can give GMl Muse : Hi ErskineC! Welcome to the COMPUTE Conference with Sierra Online re: Quest for Glory #4! STU8 : oblique hints about? LoriNCorey: We've proposed several games to Sierra -- don't have word yet.... LoriNCorey: as to which ones they want us to make for next year.... LoriNCorey: There's a very high probability that we will make "Starship of LoriNCorey: Dr. Brain", a "Castle of Dr. Brain" sequel in outer space. GMl Muse : Who moved my black hole out of the lab? ErskineC : I have encountered a number of problems with quest for Glory IV and have heard similar LoriNCorey: We're also looking into a science fiction role-playing game, ErskineC : things form other people LoriNCorey: an arcade game, and others. KentConrad: Hey, what'll the storyline be about? I read the article in Interaction. Will it be a Lovecr- KentConrad: aftian storyline? STU8 : like the idea of a SF role play AKLOT STU8 : alot Dennny : I'd love to see a SF RPG in the style of QfG! GMl Muse : SF? *I'd* like that! Dennny : (Acronym overload) LoriNCorey: Erskine: Please send e-mail on your problems to Sierra Customer Support.... LoriNCorey: there will certainly be a patched version, plus we'll correct..... LoriNCorey: all known problems for the CD-ROM version. LoriNCorey: Kent: There are definitely Lovecraftian aspects to Shadows of Darkness... Ktscarlett: Can you tell us anything about Phantasmagoria? LoriNCorey: as well as the usual ghoulies, ghosties, vampires, and things that... LoriNCorey: go bump in the night that you'd expect from a horror scenario. KentConrad: Ahh..das es gut. ErskineC : Frankly, I'm surprised you would release this version in such a state GKeighley : If your character doesn't correctly import into QG4, KentConrad: gute. GKeighley : send it to me here on AOL (Account GKEIGHLEY) and KentConrad: Whatever. GKeighley : I'll forward it to Sierra for testing. LoriNCorey: Ktscarlett: We know next to nothing about Phantasmagoria, sorry. LoriNCorey: Sierra wanted to make sure that people could play Shadows of Darkness.... LoriNCorey: for Christmas. The game is definitely playable (we went through it.... Ktscarlett: Do we ever find out who Simba's dad is? LoriNCorey: a number of times), and there would have been very many very LoriNCorey: disappointed players if Sierra had held the game until February. ErskineC : Numerous fatal errors and characters walking in the sky is not "playable" for me and I'd LoriNCorey: Kt: Simba's dad is one of the castle guards at the Sultan's Palace in Shapeir. STU8 : I am you glad you released it, but as 15-20 to beta testers is on the lean side I will GMl Muse : Hi EfrerjoseM! Welcome to the COMPUTE Conference with Sierra Online re: Quest for Glory #4! STU8 : volunter my services LoriNCorey: Erskine: You may be low on memory or such -- please report the.... ErskineC : rather have waited. It's disappointing after the really great I, II, and III LoriNCorey: bugs to Sierra -- Lori and I design the games, but are not... LoriNCorey: responsible (or asked) when they should ship. EfrerjoseM: What is the object of the game GKeighley : Erskine: If you send me e-mail I will try to help you. Ktscarlett: Thanks. Now I'll be playing Hero's Quest (oops QG1) a fifth time! LoriNCorey: EfrerjoseM: Well, you get to save Mordavia. At first, you are a ... ErskineC : I have about 620 k free, but I'll report and probably return it and wait for the CD version. Dennny : (Folks: We'll be giving away a Sierra game in a little while.) LoriNCorey: stranger in a strange land, nobody likes or trusts you. You must.... ErskineC : I'll e amil you now. bye. GKeighley : Erskine: You need high memory, not conventional. LoriNCorey: make friends and prove your worthiness so that people will work LoriNCorey: with you. GMl Muse : Night, Erskine! Thanks for coming! LoriNCorey: Yes, Erskine, you only need about 450K of low memory. But you... LoriNCorey: do need at least 1.5MB of free high RAM. ErskineC : I've got eight megs of ram as well GMl Muse : RE's Dean!! GKeighley : Corey: Only 1500k free? Other games need 2900k. DeanROCK1 : I am back KentConrad: Only 450k!?!?! The demo wouldn't run when I had more memory than that. LoriNCorey: Kent: The demo was produced under Sierra's older "SCI" interpreter. LoriNCorey: The game runs under "SCI-32", which needs very little low memory, LoriNCorey: but tons of high memory -- 4MB system is the minimum. LoriNCorey: By the way, you mentioned that the demo was "hot". Wait until.... LoriNCorey: you see the game! LoriNCorey: Anyone else have questions we can answer? GMl Muse : Hi Gabby haye! Welcome to the COMPUTE Conference with Sierra Online re: Quest for Glory #4! KentConrad: I guess it's good I have 16MB of high then :) Dennny : How about we give away the prize while folks formulate more questions? :) LoriNCorey: Kent: With that much high memory, game won't have to go to.... LoriNCorey: disk very often at all. DeanROCK1 : sounds good to me Tom Netsel: Dide Denny mention a DOOR PRIZE? Gabby haye: should we all sing the Freddy Pharkas song? GMl Muse : Sounds good, Dennny! KentConrad: That's good. KentConrad: Mmmmmmm..... prize! Dennny : OKAY, FOLKS, LISTEN UP.... Ktscarlett: . . .lewd and balding and pushing 45 Dennny : WE'RE GOING TO BE PLAYING "GUESS THE MAGIC NUMBER" TO SEE WHO WINS A COPY OF Dennny : SIERRA'S FREDDY PHARKAS: FRONTIER PHARMACIST TONIGHT. Dennny : TO WIN, YOU'LL NEED TO GUESS CORRECTLY A NUMBER BETWEEN 1 AND 100. THE WINNER IS THE PERSON Ktscarlett: Will we see Erana in this one? Dennny : WHO COMES CLOSEST TO THE NUMBER, WITHOUT GOING OVER. DeanROCK1 : how many guesses do we get GMl Muse : Hi Source! Starting the door prize! Dennny : IN THE EVEN OF A TIE, WE'LL HAVE A RUN-OFF BETWEEN THOSE WHO TIED. GMI Source: Great Muse! {{{}}} LoriNCorey: I'm sure we don't qualify, but our guess is "37". :-) Dennny : EVERYONE GETS --ONE-- GUESS. SENDING MORE THAN ONE GUESS DISQUALIFIES YA. Ktscarlett: 62 Dennny : TO PLAY, WAIT FOR ME TO SAY "GO," THEN YOU'LL SEND AN INSTANT MESSAGE TO TOM NETSEL LoriNCorey: Ktscarlett: We'll answer that after the contest break. :-) KentConrad: 47 says the kent. Elan Morin: 51 Dennny : WITH YOUR GUESS. --- DO NOT -- SAY YOUR MESSAGE PUBLICLY. Dennny : ER YOUR GUESS. KentConrad: Ohh...hehe. STU8 : 71 Gabby haye: to send an instant message, type Ctrl-I Gabby haye: Type TOM NETSEL in the IM box. Dennny : TO SEND YOUR GUESS, TYPE CTRL-I, THEN TYPE TOM NETSEL IN THE IM BOX, THEN TYPE YOUR Tom Netsel: I am the keeper of the number tonight! Dennny : GUESS BELOW. Dennny : ANY QUESTIONS? EfrerjoseM: No GMl Muse : Hit the SEND button! Dennny : YEAH, DEFINITELY HIT THE SEND BUTTON. YOU'LL HAVE A MINUTE TO SEND YOUR GUESS, SO Gabby haye: what special qualifications does Tom have to have in order to be the keeper of the secret number. Dennny : DON'T WORRY IF IT SEEMS TO TAKE A BIT. IF YOU GET AN ERROR, JUST RESEND. Tom Netsel: I can count. Dennny : OKAY, IF NO QUESTIONS... GMl Muse : Re's Erskine! Dennny : ON YOUR MARK.. Dennny : GET SET... Dennny : (((( WAIT FOR IT..... )))) Dennny : ***** go! ***** Tom Netsel: no IMS at all yet. :) Dennny : (sound of sysops humming the Jeopardy theme in perfect harmony) Tom Netsel: still none. :) Tom Netsel: Thanks, Elan. Tom Netsel: any other IMS? GMl Muse : IMs are *very* slow tonight. Dennny : IM's are running slow, Tom, we'll keep it open for another minute. Tom Netsel: Muat be. : Only got 1. Gabby haye: What's up for next week in the conference, Denny? GMI Source: IMs are impossible tonight! Tom Netsel: Thanks, Kent. GMl Muse : And folks won't be able to talk in the chat window until their IM goes. Dennny : And you can't talk while you're waiting for your IM to go through Gabby haye: give them a couple of extra minutes, tom. Ktscarlett: "Tom netsel cannot currently receive instant message." ???? GMl Muse : GMTA, Dennny! Dennny : (Prodding Tom with the Wand of Patience) Gabby haye: maybe you should do it onscreen just this once. Dennny : If you get a "can't currently send" message, resend it. Tom Netsel: Yes I GMI Source: MikeHud - My IM is, theoretically, plodding its way to you. :D GMl Muse : Oh, no! Kt -- try again. Tom Netsel: Yes I can. :) GMl Muse : We know he got some IMs so he didn't turn his off -- it's just the system being strange. KentConrad: Good lord...(watching tv) I hate those Disney ads. GKeighley : That was really slow! DeanROCK1 : Any hints? GMl Muse : Turn it off, Kent!! KentConrad: I changed to 60 minutes. Dennny : Okay, anyone not successfully send an IM yet? STU8 : me GMl Muse : You must be further West -- I taped 60 minutes a few hours ago. DeanROCK1 : Wait a second STU8 : system wouldn't accept Gabby haye: I can't send an IM to Tom. LoriNCorey: We're taping a Peter, Paul, and Mary concert currently. GMl Muse : Try again. KentConrad: At "sunny" california. Tom Netsel: Thanks, GK. GMl Muse : <---frozen Virginia LoriNCorey: O.k., while we're waiting for IM results.... EfrerjoseM: Did I get through Ktscarlett: Is it under "Tom Netsel" or "netsel, tom"? GKeighley : <---- REALLY frozen Canada ;) GMl Muse : Tom Netsel -- just like his name onscreen. Ktscarlett: Does it give confirmation? Gabby haye: I froze in Virginia, too. Years ago. LoriNCorey: Erana has a definite part in the Shadows of Darkness story.... EfrerjoseM: Did I get thru Dennny : Okay, anyone who hasn't successfully gotten an IM through, just type it publicly now. If you Dennny : are retyping a previous guess you aren't sure got through, make sure to type the SAME Dennny : number. GMl Muse : No -- but if it disappears from the screen, it went. Dennny : (HEADS UP, TOM! :) Tom Netsel: I've got Elan, Kent, and Geof and Jose. STU8 : 71 if you didn't get it EfrerjoseM: Did Tom recieve my message GMI Source: ::sigh:: My major work is in IMs tonight. :Tom Netsel: Thanks for clogging the system. Gabby. :) Dennny : Everyone except those 4, type it publicly now. KentConrad: Hey, L&C, Erasmus and Fenrus are back, right? Ktscarlett: 62 EfrerjoseM: Tom, did you get my message LoriNCorey: Erasmus and Fenris make cameo appearances in QG4, will be... Tom Netsel: yes, Efrer. Gabby haye: Every little bit helps. LoriNCorey: major characters again in QG5 (2 or 3 years from now). Dennny : YOU HAVE 30 SECONDS TO TYPE YOUR GUESS. Tom Netsel: any last guesses? Dennny : JUST TYPE IT OUT IN THE OPEN. Dennny : (Dum dum dum dum dum dum dum... dum dum dum dum DUM dum dum dum dum dum...) KentConrad: A giant homer simpson WooHoo!!! DeanROCK1 : 32 LoriNCorey: Erana has a garden in Mordavia, there's a shrine to her magical staff, Dennny : Last chance... LoriNCorey: and you might just be able to meet her (at least in your dreams). Dennny : TIME! Tom Netsel: Ok, we have a winner! Dennny : Okay, Tom will now contact the accounting agency of Dewey, Cheatham, and Howe and Dennny : be back with the results of the contest in one moment. :-) Tom Netsel: The number was 4 and GKeighley was right on it! Dennny : CONGRATS, GK! STU8 : congrats Ktscarlett: Corey: Thanks. You are great at answering questions w/o giving anything away! GKeighley : Oh, I was just playing for fun. Someone else can win! KentConrad: Wtg, GKeighley! DeanROCK1 : NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GMl Muse : YAAAY Geoff!! GKeighley : I'm not eligible! Dennny : Everyone else, we try to give away a game at every entertainment conference, so you'll Dennny : get a chance the second Sunday of every month! EfrerjoseM: {S good bye Tom Netsel: In that case Dean is the winner. Dennny : Oh wait, GK works for Sierra. I forgot. :) GMl Muse : Bye, Efrer! Come again! DeanROCK1 : I won DeanROCK1 : ? Tom Netsel: Put in a ringer huh? Dennny : Make that... Congrats Dean! GKeighley : Denny: I don't work for Sierra, but I am in the FPFP credits. GMl Muse : Okay, then, YAAAY Dean!! KentConrad: Well, uh... WTG Dean! Tom Netsel: Ok, if GK is out Dean is in with 32. Dennny : Ah LoriNCorey: Way to go, Dean! Hope you LoriNCorey: are enjoying the CO as well! :-) GKeighley : But I must say my guess was pretty good there Tom Netsel: Send your name and address to me in email, Dean, and we'll mail out Freddy to you. Dennny : So back to Corey and Lori and Quest for Glory! KentConrad: Hey, guys, gotta go(temporarily. Bye.) Dennny : (Hey, that's awfully poetic) Dennny : Any more QfG questions for our guests? LoriNCorey: See you, Kent. Nice of you to visit! DeanROCK1 : What is your screen name tom netsel Tom Netsel: Tom Netsel...jeesh. Dennny : It's TOM NETSEL, Dean. :) LoriNCorey: Incidentally, one common mistake is for people to assume.... LoriNCorey: that Sierra is a homogeneous group of people working together... LoriNCorey: on every project. In actual fact, Sierra has several hundred... Dennny : They're actually a pasteurized group, rather than homongenized. LoriNCorey: employees, and generally a dozen or more projects going.... Ktscarlett: What's the deal with the Silly Clowns on QG2? Or Arnie in QG3? Dennny : (Sorry, I know I shouldn't have said that. :) LoriNCorey: in parallel. In fact, Lori isn't even an employee, and I'm only... GMl Muse : (well, pasteurized is a lot safer.....) LoriNCorey: a part-timer. We are both contractors doing most of our work at home. STU8 : {S good bye and thanks to all (gonna "DOOM" a little while the family slumbers GMl Muse : Night, STU8! Come again! LoriNCorey: Dennny: Actually, I thought your remark was pretty funny! Tom Netsel: Thanks for stopping by, Stu. Ktscarlett: Night Stu. Find the chainsaw yet? LoriNCorey: Ktscarlett: Silly Clowns were a joke inserted by the programmers. LoriNCorey: Brian Hughes mentioned that every piece of productivity software LoriNCorey: he got had at least one menu item that was always disabled or LoriNCorey: never seemed to do anything. He thought we should have one too. DeanROCK1 : Tom, Did you get my E-Mail? Tom Netsel: Yep, Dean, thanks. LoriNCorey: I perverted the concept a little bit, by tieing some of the DeanROCK1 : Cool LoriNCorey: Easter eggs to the Silly Clowns option -- there's Harpo in the Tom Netsel: We'll mail it out tomorrow. LoriNCorey: alleys, various weird occurrences in the desert, and the silly LoriNCorey: death message animation. (You get serious animation otherwise.) Ktscarlett: This is fascinating. I had no idea that we would get this much "inside stuff!" LoriNCorey: Arnie the aardvark came out of the original brain-storming LoriNCorey: sessions. Lori and I live on the "Flying Aardvark Ranch" (another GKeighley : I've gotta take off folks! Nice meeting everyone! LoriNCorey: story entirely). Doug Herring, a fellow Cerebus the Aardvark fan, GMl Muse : Night, Geoff! Thanks for coming! LoriNCorey: was drawing our initial maps and said "The aardvark miners go here." LoriNCorey: So we wrote a miner into the game. Tom Netsel: Too lucky, Geoff! :> DeanROCK1 : The game sounds cool, I'll get a copy(I love your games) LoriNCorey: Great, Dean. You won't be disappointed. GKeighley : See you on Friday C&L :) DeanROCK1 : Where do you guys live LoriNCorey: Programmers, artists, and designers alike get pretty silly after LoriNCorey: enough 3 a.m. sessions in a row! Tom Netsel: :) Ktscarlett: Even we librarians get silly at 3 AM! LoriNCorey: Dean: We're very near the exact geographic center of California, DeanROCK1 : I want to thank you GKeighley for letting me win LoriNCorey: north of Fresno, south of Yosemite Park., GKeighley : Dean: No problem. I think you'll love Freddy Pharkas! Tom Netsel: If you play the CD version backwards will it say something like John Lennon is alive? Dennny : L&C, better that than the geographic epicenter. :) DeanROCK1 : HAHA GKeighley : Dean: It's designed by this hot, up and coming game GKeighley : designer named Josh Mandel. LoriNCorey: Tom: It would if I understood the technology well enough to do it! Tom Netsel: lol LoriNCorey: Actually, we're kind of Ego Centric. Ktscarlett: Is it 3 AM there? Dennny : Leggo my ego (Common breakfast phrase in the Neitzsche household) DeanROCK1 : I have Quest For Glory 3 right now, but my dads computer is out of space and I can't play it DeanROCK1 : its a drag LoriNCorey: At Sierra, we refer to your game character as the "Ego".... DeanROCK1 : whats it like working for Sierra LoriNCorey: Quest for Glory III features the "Awful Waffle Walker", which is .... LoriNCorey: basically an Eggo Maniac on legs. (Artist joke, there.) It saves you.... LoriNCorey: if you're wandering around hungry. Dennny : Heh. That's great! LoriNCorey: Dean: Working for Sierra is like riding a roller-coaster -- very Ktscarlett: I liked Arnie best. Complements to the Aardvark afficionados (sp). LoriNCorey: intense highs, and really depressing lows. Beats being a CPA. Dennny : Lori and Corey, we appreciate ya'll taking the time to come meet everyone tonight! Tom Netsel: And for visiting AOL. Ktscarlett: Is there a definite final QG game or will you just go on until the hero falls in love? DeanROCK1 : On the Bulls and Bears I bought 1000 shares of Sierras stock GMl Muse : And for answering questions so well! Dennny : If you guys ever want to come talk about future projects, just let me know, you're welcome Dennny : any time. LoriNCorey: We were very happy to be here. You've all been great! DeanROCK1 : Yeah is this the last game? Dennny : (DENNYA on GEnie, since I know that's where you guys hang out a bit) DeanROCK1 : you to, letsd do this again soon LoriNCorey: Dean: We plan to do precisely one more Quest for Glory game.... Tom Netsel: We do something most every Sunday. Dennny : Quest for Glory V: Everyone Dies LoriNCorey: but whether it will happen depends on how well Shadows of Darkness sells. DeanROCK1 : I hope it does Tom Netsel: Game night is the 2nd (?) Sunday of the month. LoriNCorey: Game 5 is set in Silmaria (think Grecian isles), home of.... LoriNCorey: the Famous Adventurers' Correspondence School, the Silmarian.... DeanROCK1 : Will Lori and Corey be here DeanROCK1 : again LoriNCorey: Academy of Science, dragons, and much else. Many characters.... LoriNCorey: from the earlier games will be there. DeanROCK1 : Neat Tom Netsel: I just got 3 IM guesses!!! Ktscarlett: Cool. Dennny : Tom, heh! DeanROCK1 : But just one more? GMl Muse : LOL! I just sent you mail because I couldn't IM you! Tom Netsel: My mail box has about 20 messages in it. :) Tom Netsel: Gonna read them tomorrow. Ktscarlett: L&C: do you give out your e-mail address? DeanROCK1 : This has been great, lets do this again soon! KentConrad: Wow...this is a lot smaller. GMl Muse : Re's Kent! DeanROCK1 : I won the prize Tom Netsel: Closing up shop. :) DeanROCK1 : Yeah KentConrad: Doh! Ktscarlett: Fellow rabid QGers. Would you e-mail me when you get QG4 in the mail from Sierra? LoriNCorey: Geoff: Yes, INN conf is next week (IM's are too slow to use.) KentConrad: Sigh...when will this be available in the logs? LoriNCorey: Ktscarlett: We'd happily give out our address if we knew it! :-) Tom Netsel: Should be up tomorrow. LoriNCorey: Isn't it our user name -- LoriNCorey? KentConrad: Good. I'll get it. GMl Muse : Tom, since I can't IM you -- did you log or do you want mine? Tom Netsel: It is on here. Dennny : Corey and Lori: If you're going to stick around AOL permanently, yep, your email address Dennny : is LoriNCorey Ktscarlett: But do you ever check your AOL mailbox? Tom Netsel: I've got a log thanks. LoriNCorey: Thank you everyone for coming. We really enjoyed it! Tom Netsel: You can send mail to them on GEnie from here too. KentConrad: Thanks for all the info, L&C! LoriNCorey: scarlett: Haven't so far... we're "COREY" on GEnie.... LoriNCorey: and [76224,66] on CIS -- those we read a couple of times a week. Dennny : To send them mail at GEnie, just use this address: Dennny : COREY@Genie KentConrad: Thanks, Dennny. Dennny : With that, you can email them there from here on AOL Tom Netsel: Don't need the Genie.com any more? Ktscarlett: Thanks, Corey. Where is Lori, tonight? GMl Muse : I thought Genie.com also. Dennny : Tom, it was genie.geis.com, but AOL installed some aliases for the major networks LoriNCorey: Lori has been standing over my shoulder dictating the whole time! :-) Tom Netsel: Saves typing! Dennny : you can now just use name@genie, name@cis, name@delphi, etc. LoriNCorey: (Although she just ran off to pull some bread out of the new breadmaker toy.) Tom Netsel: Hi, PMM, sorry you came too late. Ktscarlett: Tell her "Great Job!" DeanROCK1 : Good bye, everyone(I will be looking forward to playing Freddy) GMl Muse : Hi PMM! We're just wrapping up a conference on Quest for Glory 4! DeanROCK1 : Me too GMl Muse : Bye, Dean! Come again! DeanROC1 : I will LoriNCorey: Well, we'd better be off and running -- this is a long-distance call for us. Tom Netsel: Thanks for coming, folks. Remember, we meet here most every Sunday at 9 EST. LoriNCorey: Thank you again for coming, everyone! Ktscarlett: Thanks, guys. Goodnight, everyone. GMl Muse : Thanks again, Lori and Corey!! DeanROCK1 : Good night