December 4, 1997

Dear Adventurer,

Welcome to the eighth edition of the Famous Adventurer's Correspondence School!

Can you believe I started this newsletter on November 7 and nearly a month has passed since I last looked at it? Of course, little things tend to distract me, like the demo. It seems like I only recently started intensive testing and that a month couldn't possibly have gone by. But it has and the hour is getting late. We've missed Thanksgiving and feel that our heads will roll if we don't have it ready by December 10 - just mere moments away.

Hopefully, by the time this newsletter goes to press and arrives in your mailbox, the demo will be in its final stages before replication. Some of the technology we are developing is still in its infancy and may force us to make some compromises in order for the demo to make it in time. Though we may make a compromise for the demo we are committed to following our new break-throughs to the end and produce what we hope will be the greatest Fantasy Role Playing game ever.

With the demo taking all my time (I'm talking all day and night) I've slipped in keeping up with the web site and mail. By the time I get around to answering all the mail, some of your addresses will have changed and you'll think I'm ignoring you.

A lot of the mail has to do with order tracking questions. I've gone out of my way to try and resolve these problems but I haven't had much luck. Just when I was assured the problems had been resolved I found out from you (the fans) that the system is still broken. Hopefully, a final solution will fix the problem very soon and you will be able to check on the status of your order.

Once again I have to concede that our demo isn't ready yet. It seems every time I write my newsletter I'm apologizing for delays and then try to maintain your interest in our efforts. It's nearly as frustrating for us as I am sure it is for you but we're constantly trying to maintain a high quality product and proceed efficiently with this innovative technology. Fortunately, you guys are the greatest fans in the world and have been very patient with us. We can't possibly let you down when the final product is released. Anyway, I've babbled enough. Let's hear from some folks that are infinitely more interesting than moi.

The Programmer's Platform by Corey Cole:

I'm very excited to be back working on a Quest for Glory team. The game is looking very cool, but we still have a lot of work to do before it will be ready for play. This time we have a commitment from Sierra management to not ship the game until it is completely solid. This means you're going to have to wait a while to play Quest for Glory 5, but it will definitely be worth the wait.

Why is QG5 taking so much longer than the previous games in the series? This is the first time we've been able to really forge new ground with the game technology. (For example, Quest for Glory II: Trial By Fire was Sierra's last 16-color game shipping just a few weeks before King's Quest V, their first 256-color game. QG2 would have shipped 4-6 months later if we had gone to the new technology.) We're using C++ instead of SCI, which means the systems programming team has had to reinvent several man-years' worth of software tools before we could even start on the game code.

I will be playing a "fill in the gaps" role on the QG5 team. For the most part, I'll be doing game programming like the other application programmers. In addition, since I designed the original Quest for Glory role-playing system, I'm converting that code to C++ (and of course improving it as I go) and generally serving as a liaison between the systems and application sides of the code. I also get to contribute a little to the fine-tuning of the game design here and there, although that's pretty much done at this point.

The Conductor's Platform - Contributed by Chance Thomas

I wouldn't exactly compare it to a vacation in Tahiti, but life is definitely more relaxing since we finished up the soundtrack album. I've had time to indulge in all kinds of luxuries since then, such as eating, sleeping, taking showers, answering e-mail, etc...

There have been a couple of things recently that caused me some concern, however. First of all, there were some problems with the new music pages of the website. Yes, the very pages that I encouraged you all to go to in order to check out the soundtrack clips. But that was resolved by Robin Bradley and Jennifer Workman just in time for the Halloween weekend. It works perfectly now. The other concern I had was that our e-mail server was down for a couple of days. That means that many of your e-mails may have been lost in digital oblivion. So if you had a comment on the music that you wanted to share with me, and I've not responded by now, please send it again.

Meanwhile, we're in the process of fine-tuning the music programming and sound effects for the demo. It should be an excellent demo. I think you will all be very pleased with how the project is moving along!

Until next time...
Chance

Well, that's about it for this edition of the Famous Adventurer's Correspondence School. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please feel free to email them to feedback@qg5.com.

Thank you for being a member of our F.A.C.S. newsletter, and we'll catch you in a few weeks with some more info on Dragon Fire.

Until next time,

Robin Bradley
Web Boy /Quality Assurance
Team Dragon Fire
Sierra On-Line, Oakhurst.