Best King's Quest 1 Cover?

[Rath Darkblade]

@ Wingdings. Now it makes even less sense.

Why is there a treasure chest in the background? Why does it look larger than the trees?

The treasure chest ... maybe it's supposed to symbolise "fantasy"? Or maybe it's to mislead people into thinking that the knight is a red herring, and it's really a pirate game. Honestly, I've no idea.

Perspective, possibly -- because the treasure chest is closer?

And the knight - the way he is holding the shield doesn't make any sense. It looks like he is missing his left arm and the shield is just attached somehow to his torso.

Agreed -- although (and this is me getting technical), that armour is definitely late 14th- or early-15th century, i.e. Late Middle Ages or getting close to the Renaissance. During that period, some knights were using kite-shaped shields (to protect their torso and legs), or using no shield at all and relying on their horses and armour for protection.

Steel plate is very, very protective (and nowhere near as heavy as most people seem to think), although it IS vulnerable to crushing blows, e.g. from warhammers.

Not all knights could afford steel plate, though. Poorer knights (i.e. those who didn't own that much land) either went with maille (generally known as chain-mail) or brigandine armour, and used shields -- the bigger and more protective, the better.

The motion lines look like he has finished swing his sword, but the way his arm is positioned it looks like he is preparing to thrust.

Hmm, that's funny. I never paid much attention to those motion lines, but here's something else: for him to do this, his right arm (the sword-arm) would somehow have to swing around the shield that he's already holding in his left hand ... yeesh.

If he tried this in real life, his sword would CLANG-NG-NG-NG (etc.) into his own shield.

A piece of armor from his leg overlaps that medal "skirt" he is wearing.

Nerd alert - you're thinking of faulds. From wikipedia:

Faulds are pieces of plate armour worn below a breastplate to protect the waist and hips, which began to appear in Western Europe from about 1370. They consist of overlapping horizontal lames of metal, articulated for flexibility, that form an apron-like skirt in front.

His waist is hidden by the shield, but must be super narrow, with much wider hips. His legs then seem to bow out from his hips.

That's true. The narrow "wasp waist" and torso reminds me of (dare I say it?) a bikini model. There, I said it.

But it's a mistake to think that knights had to be bulky. The most important thing for knights (and other warriors) is endurance. Guys who could win sword fights didn’t necessarily have amazing physiques, but they had great control of their core, and therefore their weapons. They trained for years in armour, so they knew how to move in it. They had fought in their armor, so they had the endurance to carry an extra 30 pounds or so and not wear out. You didn’t have to be particularly big or strong; you had to be motivated and fit.

For your enjoyment: We fought as knights (so you don’t have to) - The Boston Globe

[notbobsmith]

Why is there a treasure chest in the background? Why does it look larger than the trees?

Because it's closer than the trees? The treasure chest could be 100 feet behind him off to the side, while the trees behind it could be 500 feet away.
Now if there were trees right next to it, casting shadows that were smaller, then... that'd be odd.

Perspective, possibly -- because the treasure chest is closer?

The chest looks to be several "hills" away, just like the castle in the distance. The chest also seems to be on the shore of that lake/river. The same as the castle. And with the chest being in front of the trees which do not appear to be any further in the background... all the visual clues suggest that the chest is the size of a house and off in the distance. Obviously not what the artist was intending, but that's what it looks like.

The motion lines look like he has finished swing his sword, but the way his arm is positioned it looks like he is preparing to thrust.

He's swinging his sword, for sure, but it also looks like he's swinging it reversed (smaller blade is closer to the front of the swing).

But yes, it's a poorly drawn over all.

It's an odd looking sword. It looks like a double-edged sword, but with a piece cut out. Or something single-edged like a saber, with another side attached to it.

[notbobsmith]

Can you do wingdings?

Your command is my wish...

Awesome!

[Rath Darkblade]

Just for fun - let's try to read the Wingdings!

Meh, crossed-out brackets, Black Square, Yo!, Candle, SmallDiamond

Plane, BigDiamond, Big M, SmallDiamond, BigDiamond

These things are like hieroglyphics. (Which are like loweroglyphics, just higher).

[goatmeal]

Awesome!

Thank you.

I especially like how the capital K glyph (the neutral face) is even showing its disappointment/disapproval at Wingdings being used in such a silly manner...

[goatmeal]

Just for fun - let's try to read the Wingdings!

Meh, crossed-out brackets, Black Square, Yo!, Candle, SmallDiamond

Plane, BigDiamond, Big M, SmallDiamond, BigDiamond

These things are like hieroglyphics. (Which are like loweroglyphics, just higher).

Okay, now decipher the Wingding text on the "banner of arcane symbols" outside of the Apothecary in QFG5...



ANSWER:
It's gibberish/nonsensical. From the top down (left to right): adzhijayf

[Rath Darkblade]

Just for fun - let's try to read the Wingdings!

Meh, crossed-out brackets, Black Square, Yo!, Candle, SmallDiamond

Plane, BigDiamond, Big M, SmallDiamond, BigDiamond

These things are like hieroglyphics. (Which are like loweroglyphics, just higher).

Okay, now decipher the Wingding text on the "banner of arcane symbols" outside of the Apothecary in QFG5...

It's a bunch of nonsense. From the top down:

69
stick-and-horseshoe
circles-and-square
two lightning bolts
stick-and-waves
horse's head (??? whatever that thing is)
69
square-and-greater-than-sign
anchor-pointing-right

Am I right? Wrong? (Not even close?)

[goatmeal]

69
stick-and-horseshoe
circles-and-square
two lightning bolts
stick-and-waves
horse's head (??? whatever that thing is)
69
square-and-greater-than-sign
anchor-pointing-right

Am I right? Wrong? (Not even close?)

Here's my answer from underneath the picture above, where most of the symbols are astrological in nature. They are the standard ASCII locations for those Wingding symbols...

ANSWER:
It's gibberish/nonsensical. From the top down (left to right): a d z h i j a y f

And here's a website that explains what the symbols represent:

https://www.alanwood.net/demos/wingdings.html

[Rath Darkblade]

OK. And from the website (if folks wish to know), the symbols (all turned sideways) are:

Cancer
Libra
Place of interest sign
Aquarius
Pisces
Leo (I think??? Not sure)
Cancer again
Up arrowhead in a rectangle box
Sagittarius

OK, that was fun. (And hey, even if you don't know what the signs mean, they're still nicely drawn).