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Akril
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icon Questions about ATOTK's previous incarnation... (0)  
Though I know that A Tale of Two Kingdoms started out as a King's Quest fangame, I didn't follow the project too closely. Now that ATOTK has been out for some time, I've found myself wondering how the planned fangame compares to its replacement. I know that the general plot is unchanged and Maeldun replaced Graham as the protagonist, but what about the subtler things? Where there any other KQ characters that were replaced by original ones? Were there a lot more KQ references and cameos? Were any of the puzzles or inventory items changed?

I didn't even get a chance to play the demo of the KQ incarnation of ATOTK, so I know very little about what that game was going to be like. If it's not too much trouble, I (and a few others, I'm certain) would be interested to hear what ATOTK was like when it was still a KQ fangame.

Thanks!

(On a completely unrelated note, I just realized the werewolf librarian in Gobliiins and the main town in ATOTK both have the same name -- Carbonek.)
08-03-2009 at 10:11 AM
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Radiant
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icon Re: Questions about ATOTK's previous incarnation... (0)  
Ah, that's an interesting question.

How does the fangame compare to its replacement... the short answer is that it doesn't - the guy who was writing the plot for KQ2.5 had some real life issues to take care of, which caused him to leave the project before he could actually share his plot with us. So the general plot, puzzles or items weren't unchanged, they had to be rewritten from scratch.

The original plot, or what I know of it, did contain e.g. a monk (who was evil, however) and the chancellor (who was instead an evil vizier, and the main source of trouble). On the other hand, it did not have e.g. Geraint (he was just a regular soldier) or Ashe, and as I recall there were no female characters other than Valanice.

Maeldun is indeed a replacement for Graham, although I believe that Maeldun has more of a backstory than Graham does (in the games, that is; I have never read the KQ novels).

Of course there would have been a number of cameos, for instance my intent was for Graham to take Ifnkov along as his advisor. In particular, as I recall, our writer wanted to join the KQ9 writing team, and have the metaplot that Manannan would stage the events in KQ2.5 to lure Graham out of Daventry, so that Manannan could kidnap Graham's child. The reason why Manannan would do this (or indeed, why he couldn't do it with Graham present) was to be explained in KQ9.

For what it's worth, the short KQ2.5 demo is available on our website. It does not, however, contain any references to the plot, because we didn't know it then.

And on a completely unrelated note, the name Carbonek stems from Arthurian mythology, which explains its presence in ATOTK. I would assume that its presence in Gobliiins is an inside joke. ATOTK intentionally takes influences from mythology, and that includes most of the names. I like to say that the game is a fairy tale, and indeed this is the main reason why it contains a sleeping princess near the end.

I hope that answers your questions :)

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08-10-2009 at 02:33 PM
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Danjen02
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Radiant wrote:
I like to say that the game is a fairy tale, and indeed this is the main reason why it contains a sleeping princess near the end.
Due to its nature, I would think people with good knowledge of classical myths would have a slight advantage in the game: knowing about Faerie circles, and how cold iron is an aversion for Fey, for example. When I saw the giant (I forget his name, now...) and he wanted me to prove my strength, I immediately knew I had to get cheese and a bird.

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08-10-2009 at 08:36 PM
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Akril
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Wow, that was very informative! Thank you very much for the lengthy reply. I thought the gnome cameo you mentioned was especially interesting to hear about.

I'm surprised that all the various references to fairy tales weren't present in the game's original form, since all of the KQ games are rife with fairy tale and mythology references.

Again, thanks!
08-11-2009 at 12:37 AM
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