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Got around to doing the commentary for #QuestForGloryIII much sooner than I anticipated. There's a metric ton of rambling. And I start with the bugs about the game I hit. BUT - then, I go on to talk about how much I actually loved this game (despite those bugs!) and how it pulled me in more than QFG2 had done! Don't believe me? Come give a listen. And if you click a LIKE on the post, consider clicking a LIKE on the video on Youtube too! It'd help me out!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagggggggghh. I posted a long and detailed response to this last night, and it disappeared into the ether. *headdesk*

I just noticed something I didn't notice before: the lightning sword above your head! I presume that was an intentional reference to the hero on the mountain-top with his lightning-sword?

It's awesome that Lori commented on your videos, and that you were able to interact with Al and Lori and Corey.

Alas, you didn't end up a game designer for Sierra. When I was (much, much, much) younger, I dreamed of being a successful author. It didn't pan out that way. But I still kept writing through high school and college (when I had the time), and kept writing (when I had the time). And now, nearly 30 years later, I have about eight serious-sized books under my belt that I feel are "ready for agent/publisher review", and I'm actively planning the ninth. It may not pan out, but hey - I can always try.

It's true, there's no gargoyle in the QfG3 intro, even though there is one in the end of QfG2. Maybe it wasn't there, because it would confuse people who started their QfG adventure in QfG3, and didn't play QfG2?
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Yes, "kwa heri" means "goodbye" in Swahili (from the words "kwa", meaning "with, by" and "heri", meaning "happiness". So, literally, "go with happiness"). When the Laibon talks to you and Rakeesh and Uhura, he says "kwa herini" (the plural of "kwa heri"). It's pronounced "kwa HEH-ree". (See the wikitionary article).

The Simbani, by the way, are very reminiscent of the Zulu or Xhosa tribes. They are both from South Africa, and like the Simbani, they both value cattle highly and value honour in combat very highly. The Swahili peoples, on the other hand, have no connection to cattle.

In QfG2, Lori and Corey do the same thing, except that the 'Arabic' people say "ma fhimt", which is "I don't understand" in Arabic. And in QfG5, they do the same thing, but in Greek - "dhen katalaveno, signome" (meaning "I don't understand, sorry"). I love little things like that - they make the game more authentic.
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"How do I blanking change money". I love your creative (and obviously frustrated) savegame names.

"And you hear the 'ding!'" I love how your voice goes up an octave when you say the word 'ding!'

What, no "TRAINING MONTAGE"?

"While I'm on the subject of bugs"... you mention this right after fighting a gi-ant (a giant ant).

You end up walking up into the sky? I've never seen that bug. ( "Taken away by UFOs or Roger Wilco").
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Ah, yes ... Keapon Laffin. Puntime is funtime. And yes, Salim the apothecary is very strange. Why is there a hippie in an Egyptian-style city? *shrug* The only connection -- and this is VERY tenuous -- is this:

- In the Middle Ages, Egypt was the headquarters of Saladin, the legendary Muslim ruler who fought against Richard the Lionheart in the Third Crusade.
- Saladin was originally from what is today's Syria.
- Right in between Egypt and Syria, in what is today's Jordan, were the famous sect of the Hashishim (the original Assassins, immortalised in the Assassin's Creed games). They were famous for smoking hashish before setting out on dangerous missions.

So ............... maybe Salim is a reference to that? Or probably not. Salim and his hookah are not that out of place, to be honest.
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Yes, Manu the Monkey is very funny. Sun up. Manu happy. Hero come with Manu. Hero come to Monkey Village. Be Hero of Monkeys.

If we enjoyed this video? Yes, yes, we did. Check out this video. It's very cool. Thanks, Tawm!

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Sun Jul 02, 2023 8:02 am Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagggggggghh. I posted a long and detailed response to this last night, and it disappeared into the ether. *headdesk*

That answers my question whether a new computer would also cure the disappearing posts. lol

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Sun Jul 02, 2023 8:02 am I just noticed something I didn't notice before: the lightning sword above your head! I presume that was an intentional reference to the hero on the mountain-top with his lightning-sword?

Reference to how Quest for Glory III - and the intro.
And how I got to select Paladin, despite my mess up in Quest for Glory II (attacking the unarmed man during the test).

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Sun Jul 02, 2023 8:02 am It's awesome that Lori commented on your videos, and that you were able to interact with Al and Lori and Corey.

Agreed!

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Sun Jul 02, 2023 8:02 am Alas, you didn't end up a game designer for Sierra. When I was (much, much, much) younger, I dreamed of being a successful author. It didn't pan out that way. But I still kept writing through high school and college (when I had the time), and kept writing (when I had the time). And now, nearly 30 years later, I have about eight serious-sized books under my belt that I feel are "ready for agent/publisher review", and I'm actively planning the ninth. It may not pan out, but hey - I can always try.

Absolutely. Never give up on your dreams.

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Sun Jul 02, 2023 8:02 am It's true, there's no gargoyle in the QfG3 intro, even though there is one in the end of QfG2. Maybe it wasn't there, because it would confuse people who started their QfG adventure in QfG3, and didn't play QfG2?

They could have even just made it look like a statue.

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Sun Jul 02, 2023 8:02 am"How do I blanking change money". I love your creative (and obviously frustrated) savegame names.

I do like how each time, they've "resolved" an issue I had in the previous game.
In QFGII you can not go to the money maker and change lower coin into higher coin if you have enough.
In QFGIII they fixed that. You could do it.
QFGIV, as far as I've adventured, a money maker isn't even a thing.

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Sun Jul 02, 2023 8:02 am What, no "TRAINING MONTAGE"?

LOL! There was some - but because QFGIII ended up being 9 hours long, due to the bug issue, I didn't focus on any - and ended up just speeding up the game to just under an hour (and at that speed, almost impossible to cover what's going on on the screen) - and just gave some general thoughts about the game and some of the challenges.

QFGIV, I've been doing some training montage stuff - climbing the rope endlessly in the Adventurer's Guild so I could climb over the town gate.
And been throwing a lot of rocks.

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Sun Jul 02, 2023 8:02 am You end up walking up into the sky? I've never seen that bug. ( "Taken away by UFOs or Roger Wilco").

LOL

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Sun Jul 02, 2023 8:02 am Ah, yes ... Keapon Laffin. Puntime is funtime. And yes, Salim the apothecary is very strange. Why is there a hippie in an Egyptian-style city? *shrug* The only connection -- and this is VERY tenuous -- is this:

I suspect the hippie is probably a reference to the Coles, who strike me as folks who perhaps enjoyed that era.

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Sun Jul 02, 2023 8:02 amIf we enjoyed this video? Yes, yes, we did. Check out this video. It's very cool. Thanks, Tawm!

Thank ye sir!

I just finished watching your commentary video. It is interesting that you liked the story to this game over QFG2. I think the prevailing opinion is that QFG2 is the best of the series. Personally I liked the overall gameplay to QFG2. There was structure to how the game progressed. The encounters with the elementals at specific times. Each elemental gave you something you would need later. Moving on to Shapeir. QFG3 felt more haphazard. You do bring up good points about some of the character arcs, like with the Thief. Another thing I liked was the setting. Tarna in QFG3 looks beautiful. QFG2 is all sand and light tan colors. QFG4 is dreary.

26:00 The Coles' did use languages in the other games. QFG1 used German. There is some Arabic in QFG2 (effendi). And Greek in QFG5. I'm not sure if QFG4 used Russian. Except that the head of the country is called a Boyar.

40:30 I seem to remember facing off at least 5 Goblins at times in QFG1 and I think 6 Jackalmen in QFG2. I wonder if they changed that because you end up just fighting them one at a time while the others watch. This is a QFG game, not a Kung Fu movie.

49:28 As a bit of an aside, I first played Wizardry 8 when it came out. Really good game for its time. I ended up tracking down the other games and did a little research along the way. One thing that I thought was odd was that it was apparently really popular in Japan. So much so that they released an anime movie in the '90s and a company bought the IP and released a new game a few years ago, although it looks very much like a JRPG. I'm not sure why they singled out Wizardry. At the time Ultima and Might and Magic were all pretty similar and Japan has their own franchises like Final Fantasy. Unfortunately, it looks like another company now has the IP and is releasing a game that incorporates blockchain and NFTs. I'm not ever sure how that is supposed to work.

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Sun Jul 02, 2023 8:02 am The Simbani, by the way, are very reminiscent of the Zulu or Xhosa tribes. They are both from South Africa, and like the Simbani, they both value cattle highly and value honour in combat very highly. The Swahili peoples, on the other hand, have no connection to cattle.

I think the Simbani are modeled after the Maasai, which also have cattle as ventral to their culture. But they don't speak Swahili. But the central religious figure is called the laibon.

Tawmis wrote: ↑Sun Jul 02, 2023 3:06 pm

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Sun Jul 02, 2023 8:02 am Ah, yes ... Keapon Laffin. Puntime is funtime. And yes, Salim the apothecary is very strange. Why is there a hippie in an Egyptian-style city? *shrug* The only connection -- and this is VERY tenuous -- is this:
- In the Middle Ages, Egypt was the headquarters of Saladin, the legendary Muslim ruler who fought against Richard the Lionheart in the Third Crusade.
- Saladin was originally from what is today's Syria.
- Right in between Egypt and Syria, in what is today's Jordan, were the famous sect of the Hashishim (the original Assassins, immortalised in the Assassin's Creed games). They were famous for smoking hashish before setting out on dangerous missions.

So ............... maybe Salim is a reference to that? Or probably not. Salim and his hookah are not that out of place, to be honest.

I suspect the hippie is probably a reference to the Coles, who strike me as folks who perhaps enjoyed that era.

I wonder if it is a play on most RPGs where there are places that sell potions and ingredients. Perfectly normal for a fantasy setting, but here, places that sell herbal remedies are run by hippie-type people. And Salim means "peaceful" in Arabic, so it makes sense to name him that.

notbobsmith wrote: ↑Tue Jul 04, 2023 1:25 am Another thing I liked was the setting. Tarna in QFG3 looks beautiful. QFG2 is all sand and light tan colors. QFG4 is dreary.

Is it? *curious* Why do you say Mordavia looks dreary? During the day, the Mordavian forest is full of colour - bright blue and yellow and green and tan and browns. At night, these colours are toned down, as per normal with the QfG "feel".

notbobsmith wrote: ↑Tue Jul 04, 2023 1:25 am 26:00 The Coles' did use languages in the other games. QFG1 used German. There is some Arabic in QFG2 (effendi). And Greek in QFG5. I'm not sure if QFG4 used Russian. Except that the head of the country is called a Boyar.

QfG2 used "ma fhimt" ('I don't understand' in Arabic) too.

I don't think QfG4 used any really complex Russian - Russian sounds really unusual to Western ears. But the actors playing the Burgomeister, the innkeeper Yuri Markarov and his wife Bella, and (to a lesser extent) the shopkeeper Olga Stovich and her husband Boris (who guards the gate at the castle) all take their turn at Russian accents to more or less a degree.

Nikolai (the old man) doesn't really have a Russian accent, but his wife Anna has a soft one.

notbobsmith wrote: ↑Tue Jul 04, 2023 1:25 am

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Sun Jul 02, 2023 8:02 am The Simbani, by the way, are very reminiscent of the Zulu or Xhosa tribes. They are both from South Africa, and like the Simbani, they both value cattle highly and value honour in combat very highly. The Swahili peoples, on the other hand, have no connection to cattle.

I think the Simbani are modeled after the Maasai, which also have cattle as ventral to their culture. But they don't speak Swahili. But the central religious figure is called the laibon.

Ah, yes! I'd forgotten about the Maasai. *blush* The shields that Uhura has back in QfG2 (and trains with) is definitely a Zulu shield, wouldn't you agree?

notbobsmith wrote: ↑Tue Jul 04, 2023 1:25 am I just finished watching your commentary video.

Thank ye sir!

notbobsmith wrote: ↑Tue Jul 04, 2023 1:25 am It is interesting that you liked the story to this game over QFG2. I think the prevailing opinion is that QFG2 is the best of the series.

I'm a bit odd, I admit. Everyone loves King's Quest VI and hails it as the best, but to me King's Quest IV will always be my favorite. Wasn't the first I played (that was the original KQ1), but I just really enjoyed the story of KQIV immensely. KQ6 has an amazing story, don't get me wrong (and obviously better graphics and music), but I just thought KQIV was the perfect example of what a KQ game was supposed to be. I admit, KQ6 has the better story. But something about KQIV is just special to me.

notbobsmith wrote: ↑Tue Jul 04, 2023 1:25 am Personally I liked the overall gameplay to QFG2. There was structure to how the game progressed. The encounters with the elementals at specific times. Each elemental gave you something you would need later. Moving on to Shapeir. QFG3 felt more haphazard. You do bring up good points about some of the character arcs, like with the Thief. Another thing I liked was the setting. Tarna in QFG3 looks beautiful. QFG2 is all sand and light tan colors. QFG4 is dreary.

One thing that I literally hated about QFG2, and probably impacts my view as to why that game isn't the top - is the fact that "east" and "west" (left and right) on the desert - it's virtually endless, as far as I can tell. And made for "mapping" the game on paper, stupid difficult. And I also truly, truly hated the "flip orientation" that it'd do - especially in the desert when you go "north" and "south" (up or down). Quest for Glory III has no endless screens. It was definitely very different - and took some getting used to (and I finally figured out why it'd "randomly" stop on the screen and show me a scene - it's because that's where the hero stopped walking/where I clicked). That took too long to figure out - I just assumed it'd keep me on the map until something relevant happened (like a honey bird, or an encounter, etc). So overall traveling in the world of Quest for Glory III was infinitely better/easier than QFG2 in every regard.

I remembered QFGIV being dreary too - but it's not as bad as I remembered. It's actually no different than QFG1, in every regard. Small town that looks like Speilburg. Forest is green. Has day and night.

I swear I remembered constant darkness - but I realize, I think I was thinking of the "dark area" in King's Quest VII and mixing up the two.

For example:
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ikb98OYTwIs/maxresdefault.jpg
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/imag ... E&usqp=CAU

That's how I thought I remembered QFGIV to look like. But it's not.

And the character are quite fun. Especially the town's people.

I _think_ I am getting near the end of it. Less and less things for me to do.

notbobsmith wrote: ↑Tue Jul 04, 2023 1:25 am 26:00 The Coles' did use languages in the other games. QFG1 used German. There is some Arabic in QFG2 (effendi). And Greek in QFG5. I'm not sure if QFG4 used Russian. Except that the head of the country is called a Boyar.

There's definite Russian lore and titles in QFGIV. And someone told me (on the YT channel in response) that an actual African language was used in QFGIII (and I think Rath mentioned it in this thread too?)

notbobsmith wrote: ↑Tue Jul 04, 2023 1:25 am 40:30 I seem to remember facing off at least 5 Goblins at times in QFG1 and I think 6 Jackalmen in QFG2. I wonder if they changed that because you end up just fighting them one at a time while the others watch. This is a QFG game, not a Kung Fu movie.

This is true - but long battles were more dangerous, and burned health and stamina - adding to the danger.
And humanoid groups (or even some animals who travel in packs) would make sense to encounter more than one.
Like in QFGIII, it's a shame it's always just one ant and not like 3.

notbobsmith wrote: ↑Tue Jul 04, 2023 1:25 am 49:28 As a bit of an aside, I first played Wizardry 8 when it came out. Really good game for its time. I ended up tracking down the other games and did a little research along the way. One thing that I thought was odd was that it was apparently really popular in Japan. So much so that they released an anime movie in the '90s and a company bought the IP and released a new game a few years ago, although it looks very much like a JRPG. I'm not sure why they singled out Wizardry. At the time Ultima and Might and Magic were all pretty similar and Japan has their own franchises like Final Fantasy. Unfortunately, it looks like another company now has the IP and is releasing a game that incorporates blockchain and NFTs. I'm not ever sure how that is supposed to work.

I loved Wizardry. My friend Shawn (whom I have to thank, as it was his father who showed me the original KQ game, then later LSL, and thus began my addiction to Sierra) - my friend Shawn and I would spend HOURS upon HOURS on soda, chips, and carne asada burritos on the weekend, just playing Wizardry (or Sierra games, and other games as well - but it was mostly dominated by the latest Sierra game or bouts of madness into Wizardry).

Wizardry 8, almost didn't see the light. The folks who were working on it kind of forked over money to finish it.
I even made a Wizardry 8 page way, way, way back when this game first came out... not touched in in forever.
http://www.tawmis.com/wizardry8faq/

When the Japanese company eventually bought the Wizardry franchise, I was excited when they announced a new game.

And discovered it was an online MMO type game.

And they made a game for the PS2, but as you said more of a JRPG.

And now, GoG has a licensing issue, apparently trying to get Wizardry I-V released... but they at least have VI-VIII.

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Tue Jul 04, 2023 8:19 am

notbobsmith wrote: ↑Tue Jul 04, 2023 1:25 am Another thing I liked was the setting. Tarna in QFG3 looks beautiful. QFG2 is all sand and light tan colors. QFG4 is dreary.

Is it? *curious* Why do you say Mordavia looks dreary? During the day, the Mordavian forest is full of colour - bright blue and yellow and green and tan and browns. At night, these colours are toned down, as per normal with the QfG "feel".

Tawmis wrote: ↑Tue Jul 04, 2023 11:12 pm I remembered QFGIV being dreary too - but it's not as bad as I remembered. It's actually no different than QFG1, in every regard. Small town that looks like Speilburg. Forest is green. Has day and night.

I suppose you are right. I might be remembering the swampy areas of QFG4 more strongly. But the jungles and savannas of Tarna do look more vibrant than the forests of Spielburg and Mordavia. Although I do think the town of Mordavia looks a bit less inviting than Spielburg. Maybe it's the temple.

notbobsmith wrote: ↑Tue Jul 04, 2023 1:25 am It is interesting that you liked the story to this game over QFG2. I think the prevailing opinion is that QFG2 is the best of the series.

And there are many that would say that QfG4 is the best of the series.

Collector wrote: ↑Wed Jul 05, 2023 9:22 am

notbobsmith wrote: ↑Tue Jul 04, 2023 1:25 am It is interesting that you liked the story to this game over QFG2. I think the prevailing opinion is that QFG2 is the best of the series.

And there are many that would say that QfG4 is the best of the series.

So far, I think because it's all voice acting, it's probably my favorite as well. The voice actors were great.

Yep, they were ... without exception. Even the ones playing bit roles, like the goons in the Castle. And Igor! "Igor saved! Kind stranger rescued Igor!" He's such a fun woobie.

But of course, the most fun voice actors are the ones voicing the three farmers. In my not-so-humble, anyway.