GK3 - Foreword by Jane Jensen

[Spikey]

This is from the Prima Official Strategy Guide - not sure if it is out there yet but typing it up just for the sake of it. Jane herself wrote the foreword! So nice. Thought I had posted it in the past, but can't seem to find where. Oh well.

It reveals a bit about her interest in mysteries. Interesting to see that she is inspired by X-files too, it seems. Anywhose...

"Rennes-le-Chateau exists. I visited in October of 1997. You can never reproduce the true feeling of a real place, although we've done our best in Gabriel Knight 3. I drove down from Carcassonne, in the south of France, and the terrain slowly became drier as I approached the Pyrenées. The first thing I recognized from the maps and endless photographs was Mount Cardou. When you actually stand before the mountain, it is smaller than you'd expect. Yet it has much personality for a mountain. It has a "presence", as some of the myths claim, even if the presence arises only from the many stories about the place. I dragged myself away and continued driving.

The roads are rural, narrow, and unmarked by lanes, curving around hillocks in a dry autumn heat. I knew I was close to the chateau, but nothing prepared me for rounding that hairpin turn and confronting it. Across a flat valley of farm fields, there sat, perched on a hill that rose out of nowhere; Rennes-le-Chateau. I hand't anticipated the setting sun or the way the plowed-up earth became bright red, right there, just as you hit that spot. I stopped the car right on the road - mine was the only vehicle for miles - and stared. I had two overriding impressions. First, that it was breathtaking - perhaps some of the most beautiful, most haunting landscape I'd ever seen. And second, that the land was cursed. The red earth and the setting sun turned everything to blood. I felt like I'd wandered into the realm of King Arthur.

That was my first glimpse of Rennes-le-Chateau. Perhaps yours will be this game. I won't bother going into the myths and history of the region; you'll find all that out soon enough. What you should know is that you are embarking on a stoy that is only partially ficiton. We have gone to great lengths to put into this game everything that is involved in the real-life quest of Rennes-le-Chateau. Here you'll find the church of St. Mary Magdalen - a place that is supposed to contain innummerable encoded clues to the mystery - reproduced in precise detail. You'll find the parchments that Saunière allegedly dug up and the paintings he copied. You'll find Mount Cardou and other landmarks in the area. You'll hear many theories about the treasure in the game, for you see, everyone has a theory. And finally, you will solve the mystery of Rennes-le-Chateau. What did the priest find? Where did he get his money? What treasure remains lost in the south of France and who put it there? And what are the ancient, heretical secrets of the Languedoc?

I have long been interested in the bizarre pages of religious history. I am intrigued by secrets. I must find them out. Perhaps that is why I love secret societies, heresies, and the "unexplained". Rennes-le-Chateau has them all. If you read enough on the subject, you'll begin to wonder about the hidden motives that create history. Rennes-le-Chateau involves not only the Catholic church and the Knights Templar, but it gives a whole new impetus to any number of royal marriages, dynasties, and would-be usurpers like the Black Prince. and there's even... but, no. Any decent writer would have said all there was to say in the piece itself. I'll leave you to experience it through Gabriel's eyes.

A final note about the gameplay: I approach adventure games as interactive fiction. You are the hero of the book - the main character of a tale - but you cannot simply turn the page to find uot what happens next. You must do what the hero would do. You are the gumshoe, or in this case, the Schattenjäger (think of it as a medieval X-files kind of sleuth, handed down through the family). There's nothing to fear. Put yourself in his shoes, use this guide when you must, and start to play..."

[Tawmis]

That is really cool. Thanks for taking the time to share that!

[BBP]

Thank you very much Spikey, very interesting!