Quest for glory

[OracleX]

Hello People,

I've got some free time coming up and was looking for (a) nice game(s) to play. As a RPG and old school adventure game lover it seemed like Quest for Glory is a good choice.

What is your opinion on the whole series? Are they all worth investing some time in?

I have this idea to start with QoG1 (remake) and import the hero to the other games. Is this a good idea? like does is have any benefits at all?

Seeing as this serie has 5 part how much time will it take to complete all part?

Please share you opinions without spoiling to much as I'm totally new to the whole serie.

Thanks!

 

[mediocrepoet]

QfG is an old favourite of mine. Playing through importing characters is fun, you tend to start out with more money and higher stats (though if you're not raising them much, you could actually start with lower stats in some areas than just starting a new character). If you're playing a magic user/wizard, you generally have more spells than a newly started character, also you can import things that a build won't normally get such as having spells or armour that your class couldn't have if you created the character new. This benefit tends to only last for a game or two though, as I believe most of that sort of thing gets sorted out in III or IV.

Either way, it's definitely worth your while. It's been a long long time since I first played through them, so I couldn't give you an accurate time line for playing through spoiler free. None of the games except II has a definite timeline though, so you can prolong them to max all your skills (not that it's hard in II even with the timeline) or blow through them as quickly as you can.

 

[No soup for you!]

The QfG series is great fun, though don't go in looking for a hardcore RPG--it's not one.

I'd recommend playing 1-4; I still find QfG5 too depressing to play. It's fine to play the VGA remakes of QfG1 and the very recent VGA remake of QfG2. I do recommend continuing your hero through the series... it's just more fun.

I can't tell you how long it might take you to finish them, as I can blow through them all from memory. Like mediocrepoet said, QfG2 is on a timeline, and QfG4 to a much lesser degree so those will take a bit of time.

I only found I ever needed to grind up a character in QfG1, but the grind was a lot of fun, IMO. Combat in QfG3 and QfG4 is quite easy.

There is class/build specific content that you can miss, so doing a second or third playthrough of the series is worth it: once as a fighter/paladin, once as a wizard, and once as thief. Though, if you make a versatile build you can hit quite a lot of such content in one playthrough.

 

[Sceptic]

QFG is great. Playing through them in order while importing is highly recommended. I'd suggest the official VGA remake of 1 and the unofficial VGA remake of 2, as they're reasonably faithful to the originals and it'll make 1-4 play quite seamlessly. Importing is more fun than just creating a new hero every time, and there are some small advantages here and there. The biggest reason to do this is that all the paladin stuff in 3 and 4 is only available if you import. It's possible at character creation to give your hero a skill from another class, but I don't recommend this; the games are quite replayable so going through 3 times (once with each class) is much more fun.

On the first run, it'll take a while, though not that much. They're longer than typical adventure games, but not as long as full-fledged CRPG's.

 

[SCO]

Use the qfg2 remake:

http://www.agdinteractive.com/games/qfg ... epage.html


Us the talk icon on yourself too.

 

[OracleX]

Thanks people!

Yea I also was planning the remake of part 2.
I guess I'll start in the weekend

Are there patches that are necessary? I saw that there where some import issues..

 

[Norfleet]

There is class/build specific content that you can miss, so doing a second or third playthrough of the series is worth it: once as a fighter/paladin, once as a wizard, and once as thief. Though, if you make a versatile build you can hit quite a lot of such content in one playthrough.

What about the ever-popular Paladin-Wizard with Thief Skills?

 

[SCO]

Lulzy, but you can't actually be a wizard, paladin precludes it.

You can be a mage though.

A paladin wizard mage thief can't have some wizard spells and story sequences.
But the paladin abilities and quests are dang cool anyway for a replay.

(so i'd advise to leave the paladin alone, but mark "sad" situations you find through the games, from 3 on - you probably can affect them with a paladin - sometimes others too of course).

It can lead to lulzy situations
One of the best parts of being a paladin/mage/thief is in 5 where you:

Spoiler

can end up a paladin king upright man

If i want to do a that kind of hybrid i normally start with a thief with magical abilities (more abilities, more things to do - but you must watch your honor) though i guess a fighter might work too (and they get chainmail right in the first i guess).

Though i must warn you, doing this is grindy as fuck - especially grinding spells, though that is not normally necessary (since you have a fuckload of other abilities) - while importing has the potential to give you increased stats, only a OCD individual (shamefully me) would get the maximum on all spells, normally imported chars get weaker stats - sometimes abyssal since there is no minimum bump - on your less favorite stats.

Also be aware that there is some opportunity to get some stats earlier than you might think

 

[SCO]

Ah the innocent days of grinding communication and honor by finding a screen where i can loop a greeting by putting the pc under the mouse in the exact position the greet menu will appear and placing a weight on return and go to eat something, knowing that, greeting a hapless liontaur sentry for 3 hours like a monomaniacal, my hero would gain dignitas and gravitas like a patrician discoursing superbly in the phorum.

Good times.

 

[Fowyr]

What is your opinion on the whole series? Are they all worth investing some time in?

Fuck yes, even with 3th and pretty meh 5th.

Seeing as this serie has 5 part how much time will it take to complete all part?

From several weeks to 5 years like in my case.

Please share you opinions without spoiling to much as I'm totally new to the whole serie.

They are awesome RPG/adventure hybrids.
Try mage first, btw. And almost all versions of QfG IV were very buggy. I remember finishing it with some tricks and using of unofficial patches.

 

[mindx2]

Do the remakes allow you to import your character into the later games?

 

[SCO]

Yeah. But you lose the parser that (in 1 since AGD interactive included it), makes some text-only actions/responses impossible.

I don't have a list of those though, it's minor stuff ("this is not Leisure Suit Larry" stuff mostly).

 

[SCO]

What is your opinion on the whole series? Are they all worth investing some time in?

Fuck yes, even with 3th and pretty meh 5th.

Gotta say,

Spoiler

"dragon" was a letdown after "eldritch abomination", especially since the build up was shit and had nothing much to do with the greek mythology thing.

 

[Sceptic]

Fuck yes, even with 3th

What? 3 was awesome. Loved the savannah, the atmosphere, the world-building... also lots of class-specific stuff, moreso than 2 IIRC. I think I had the most fun playing a mage in this one.

 

[Fowyr]

Strange, but I don't like it. Dunno why, maybe it was setting, maybe it was something in the story, can't remember now.
Should try it one day again.

@SCO
Yeah, but I like what story of Hero and You-Know-Who was ended with pretty proper finale.

 

[No soup for you!]

Fuck yes, even with 3th

What? 3 was awesome. Loved the savannah, the atmosphere, the world-building... also lots of class-specific stuff, moreso than 2 IIRC. I think I had the most fun playing a mage in this one.

IIRC there's not much good thief content in QfG3. But otherwise it has a special place in my heart, too. Good atmosphere, waffle walkers, wonderful scenes like the tree in the jungle. The wizard battle was pretty god damn fun, too.

Try mage first, btw. And almost all versions of QfG IV were very buggy. I remember finishing it with some tricks and using of unofficial patches.

Yes, QfG4 is pretty buggy; but totally playable if you get the CD version and stack on the unofficial patches.
...
Yeah, just looked it up. Get the CD version and isntall the QFG4CD_NRS patch you can find on the following page. Nowadays I play QfG4 with almost no glaring bugs.
http://www.sierrahelp.com/Patches-Updat ... dates.html

 

[Radisshu]

I've only played the first two games, but they're some of the best pairs of games I've ever played, a really good adventure/RPG hybrid.

I'd recommend the older version, as the aesthetics IMO are superior, and I prefer the text-based interface.

 

[OracleX]

So I installed the games and went thought the manual. I guess I'm ready!

Lemme see .....ahh character creator. I want to be a magic user. As far as I can see I don't need to spend point on skills like strength? What do you guys recommend on the stats?

Also this hybrid character seems interesting. Will such character gain all spells that the magic user could acquire? And how does this influence the rest of the games?

I'll like to put some thought in building my "hero" since we have a long way to go, with one another.

Please be light on the spoilers Thx!

 

[Sceptic]

Also this hybrid character seems interesting. Will such character gain all spells that the magic user could acquire?

No, and this is why I don't recommend it, especially before having played through each other class once. Some spells in 2 and up are only gained through plot elements, and those you will only get if your base class is Mage. Base class also can influence other plot elements, in which you're forced down the path imposed by your base class. Things might get a bit confusing and not terribly fun.

 

[DoomIhlVaria]

It should be noted that a lot of times you only get full points for completing puzzles in the way that your actual character class is meant to. I remember missing a lot of Thief and Mage/Wizard solutions in Quest for Glory 4 the first time around simply because my characters sometimes had enough strength to solve puzzles with the brute force option. However, I don't think the points actually matter and they can be freely ignored unless you are OCD.

If you go Fighter, I'd recommend buying Climbing early on. You get it for free in Quest for Glory 4 as a Fighter (Thief gets from the start) but you need a pretty high score by the end of game and it can get a little annoying training it up from scratch. But in general a lot of insufficient skill problems can be solved by jacking up the game speed and doing something that requires only one click, it is like classic Ultima Online or the Elder Scrolls games in that respect.

As others have mentioned, you definitely want the CD version of Quest for Glory 4. However, I would add that it isn't just for bug fixes. John Rhys-Davies serves as narrator, reading out every random piece of text you get from interacting with or looking at things. The characters are also voiced in the game and they aren't bad but John Rhys-Davies' comedic delivery in that game is spot on throughout which is further amplified by how dark and depressing the Mordavia setting is.

Playing in order is an absolute must. There are a lot of repeated characters and the structural similarities between Quest for Glory 1 and 4 are often very interesting. For example, there are Fighter puzzles involving gates in both games that mimic each other in a way that I find very monocle.

Also, be sure to get a hold of and read the manuals. Some puzzles are unsolvable or nonsensical without information in the manuals. Also, the whole concept of the Famous Adventure's Correspondence School is pretty great and it helps give you a feel of just how amazingly lame and pathetic your character is in the beginning which in turn can improve your appreciation of his development.

 

[DoomIhlVaria]

Oh, one more thing, be sure to use the Roland MT-32 music when available in any Sierra game. Those versions are almost always better.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

As others have mentioned, you definitely want the CD version of Quest for Glory 4. However, I would add that it isn't just for bug fixes. John Rhys-Davies serves as narrator, reading out every random piece of text you get from interacting with or looking at things. The characters are also voiced in the game and they aren't bad but John Rhys-Davies' comedic delivery in that game is spot on throughout which is further amplified by how dark and depressing the Mordavia setting is.

This. The voice cast in QFG4 is awesome, even better than QFG5. Although 5 is the weakest of the series, just be grateful that it was made at all. QFG is one of a handful of game series that has a half-decent closure to its story.

Also, I recall that there's at least 1 unofficial patch that helps keep QFG4 stable, but I can't remember even what it's called anymore. Anyway, a workaround if you encounter these problematic areas in QFG4, is to disable all in-game sound and music through the setup program.

 

[Ogre Smash]

So, I was doing a play through from 1-5 a few months ago, and I've been stopped by one the numerous game-stopping bugs in QFG4.

Somewhat spoiler ahead:

So in the swamp, the area with the two wights, it always crashes when I approach them. This is a common bug that I've searched for several times and tried various solutions, such as downloading some file or changing the speed. I also tried turning off sound like the previous user suggested, but still doesn't work.

Anyone have any other suggestions or been successful in getting past this specific bug?

 

[mutile]

NewRisingSun patch prevents the swamp bug, also slowing down the cpu, if using dosbox cut the cycles right down, if using an older computer, use moslow, or if possible disable cpu l2 cache.

 

[SCO]

If you go Fighter, I'd recommend buying Climbing early on. You get it for free in Quest for Glory 4 as a Fighter (Thief gets from the start) but you need a pretty high score by the end of game and it can get a little annoying training it up from scratch. But in general a lot of insufficient skill problems can be solved by jacking up the game speed and doing something that requires only one click, it is like classic Ultima Online or the Elder Scrolls games in that respect.

Spoiler

"Climbing" (you mean acrobatics?) is the secret skill in QFG3 that you can get by being a thief and speaking to someone in that game.