Queen's Wish - SW Blog Post

[Slawbug]

http://jeff-vogel.blogspot.com/2018/05/we-did-our-first-kickstarter-and-it.html

 

 

Things I noticed:

 

"a simpler top-down graphics style... makes it clear what creatures are in what spaces,  which is necessary for a game like this on small screens like the iPhone."

Aha, the big motivator behind the viewpoint switch becomes clear.  This makes a lot of sense.

 

"I love my country. But this doesn't keep me from thinking about my homeland and the power it holds, and what that means."

There is a remarkable amount of restraint here, and attempting to appeal to everyone and alienate no one, from the former (?) leader of the Scorched Earth Party

 

"You will be dealing with other nations, poor but proud, weaker than Haven but just as brave and determined. Each has its own history, beliefs, grudges and resentments. I want them to feel real, both sympathetic and infuriating, and then force you to deal with them."

I was reminded here of something Jeff wrote in a blog post 2 years ago, when he announced the release of Avadon 3:

"When I was designing Avadon, I was very ambitious. Lynaeus, the continent on which the series takes place, has 5 friendly nations and six hostile nations, each of which has its own politics, history, and so on. I wanted to make a whole world... In the end, however, I was just one designer... There are so many factions, wings of government, conflicts, controversies ... Too much for me to keep track of, too much to fully develop. I wrote so much lore I could never find a place to fit into the game. There were so many locations I just wasn't able to give enough time to... My eyes were bigger than my stomach on this one."

It will be interesting to see how this is handled.

 

"The game system will be skill-based. There won't be character classes. You can pick your skills from four different trees, hopefully allowing for a wide variety of different builds and strategies."

I can't tell -- is this just a reworking of the Avernum Remake skill system, or is it like taking four skill trees from Avadon and making them available to everyone?

(I have my own opinions about whether or not classless systems increase the variety of builds and strategies -- my answer is "almost never" -- but I also remember Jeff's heartfelt support for classless systems in the help text of Exile I, so, OK, nostalgia pass.)

[Jawaj]

I was also thinking that the concept sounds pretty similar to Avadon - important person in a morally questionable empire navigating ambiguous political complexities with various nations (though in this case you're nobility, not just a high-ranking official). But I'll give Jeff the benefit of the doubt that he's found a way to meaningfully differentiate it and avoid past mistakes.

Edited June 2, 2018 by Jawaj

[Dintiradan]

Sadly, no word on why Queen's Wish will be a trilogy while the previous series, King's Quest, was much longer. I can only extrapolate that Jack's Desire will be a standalone game.

Edited June 2, 2018 by Dintiradan

[Rhinestone Jedi]

It looks like it's going to easily surpass the 70k mark to get the Vahnatai realm.  Although he didn't specify goals beyond 70k, I wonder if he's got anything in mind to correspond with additional milestones.  I know he didn't want to name a ton of stretch goals because he wanted to make the game he wanted to make.  And he may not want to update a sprite just for the sake of doing so if he happens to like his dragon sprite, etc.  But I'm genuinely curious whether there are artwork goals, music goals, feature goals, etc.

 

I also wonder if Jeff would ever consider going the DLC route.  I think that probably has pros and cons from a developer's perspective.  Off the top of my head, Pillars of Eternity was great, but then they released White March 1, White March 2, and it was extra content for existing games that just had to be integrated into the existing game... but is now almost considered essential to buy.  But then there are people who won't buy the base game unless it's on sale or is bundled with the DLC.  I prefer the current Spidweb model where you buy the full game, you get to enjoy it as such, and that's that... but I do wonder whether it's something Jeff's thought about.

 

My number one hope is that Queen's Wish is friendlier to language mods than Avadon/Avernum.  I would totally work on translating Queen's Wish into French, for instance, unless it's basically futile to do so because of a bunch of text being hard coded instead of referenced.

[googoogjoob]

Maybe I'm just burnt out by fantasy RPGs but this sounds so. So generic. I am so tired.

[VCH]

My issue with all the custom quests being made by people is that the game may suffer a bit. I mean unless he directs the backers well, I don't see these random quests as being a huge bonus to game play. 

Also, who has $1,000 to put into this?—wow! 

 

He may end up with a serious amount of cash. I guess with that comes more and more pressure to make a great game. 

Edited June 3, 2018 by VCH

[nikki.]

On 6/2/2018 at 11:56 PM, Dintiradan said:

Sadly, no word on why Queen's Wish will be a trilogy while the previous series, King's Quest, was much longer. I can only extrapolate that Jack's Desire will be a standalone game.

 

Marry me. 

[Dintiradan]

Ooh! Instead of wasting money on the ceremony and reception, we can pay Jeff to write our marriage in-game!

[Slawbug]

Is this going to be one of those games where if you complete the optional content, there is a... special image of the happy couple?

[googoogjoob]

1 hour ago, Mode 7 Terraces of Purgatory said:

Is this going to be one of those games where if you complete the optional content, there is a... special image of the happy couple?

That's the new $10,000 backer tier.

[Randomizer]

I thought for $2000 payment Jeff calls you up to tell you how play the game. You also can get 5 free calls on how to get past an obstacle in the game.

[Edgwyn]

 

11 hours ago, Randomizer said:

I thought for $2000 payment Jeff calls you up to tell you how play the game. You also can get 5 free calls on how to get past an obstacle in the game.

How about getting your initials built out of walls in one of the dungeon maps like in Wizardry 1?  After all, I can post questions to you on how to play the game for free.

[Necris Omega]

Professional sound? Awww...

 

And here I was hoping we'd go back to the ultra-retro days of Exile.

 

♫ Row, row, row, your boat! Gently down the waterfall... ♪ *Canned water sound, toilet flushing, blood curdling scream*

 

 

 

... Okay, no, not really.