July 25, 1997 Dear Adventurer, Welcome to the fifth edition of the Famous Adventurer's Correspondence School! Please forgive this belated issue. First, it was late to begin with then I had to go off on vacation. Due to circumstances beyond our control (except for my going on vacation) the newsletter I had prepared never made it out. I guarantee you I won't be getting any time off before Dragon Fire ships! We've extended the deadline for the Monster Mania Draw-O-Rama contest to August 8, 1997. The entries I've received so far are great. You have great imaginations! However, I've received some entries from folks under 18 without the mandatory parent/guardian release form. Please read the rules very carefully. If you are under 18, no matter how great your entry may be, I can't accept it without your parent or guardians permission. This is outlined in greater detail in the rules. By the way, your entry can be a simple sketch or a full blown artistic triumph. Look for Erasmus's Riddle-O-Rama contest to begin soon. Look for more info coming soon at the Dragon Fire web site. It's a good idea to check the web site daily. Things are happening that fast. If I had my way the site would be updated at least twice daily. New links to the fan's QFG sites will be added every week - providing you send me your link. The News page can change any time. I'm still in the process of coaxing more art and story from Lori and Terry. It's way beyond time to update the music and actors page too. So, stay tuned! Game wise the art is on schedule and the team seems to grow every day. We're up to about 30 folks now! This is the largest team Quest for Glory has ever had at this point in development and has received the largest budget ever given to develop a QFG game. Larger than the previous four games combined! The game is scheduled for release in October. We're doing everything we can to release in time for the Christmas season. As it currently stands, we're still supporting a P/90 as the bottom line for single player and we're "toying" with the idea of a P133 min. for multiplayer. At this time this is how the SRL will read: Hybrid PC/Mac Power PC (same CD, same box) Requirement:    Single player: P5-90, 16meg, 4XCD-ROM, 50meg HD    Multi-player: P5-133, 16meg, 4XCD-ROM, 50meg HD    Mac: Power PC, 80mhz, 16meg, 4XCD-ROM, sys 7.6, 50meg HD Recommended:    PC: P5-166 16meg, 6xCD-ROM, 50meg HD    Mac: Power PC, 120mhz, sys. 7.6, 16meg, 6XCD-ROM, 50meg HD The music portion of the game has turned into a production all on its own. But, let's let Chance Thomas talk about that. The Conductor's Platform - Contributed by Chance Thomas What fun we're having with the music for this game! In all my years of composing and performing music, I've rarely enjoyed a project as much as this one. There is such diversity in the world that Lori and Terry have created, and my job (if you can even call it that) is to reflect this in the music. Thus, you'll find rich orchestral compositions to underline dramatic action and highlight key events in the game. Near Eastern and Mediterranean ethnic influences dominate in much of the background score, particularly in heavy traffic areas. You'll hear open-ended New Age offerings that provide subtle ambiance in some rooms, while other rooms heartily resound with the divergent tastes and influences of their owners. Did any of you happen to catch the announcement in Interaction magazine about the Soundtrack Album? For those of you that missed the article, Sierra has just announced that a Soundtrack CD of Dragon Fire's music will be offered as a separate product in September, in anticipation of the game's release in October. This CD will feature full length, linear versions of all the game's orchestral compositions (as opposed to the nodal, looping versions you'll primarily hear in the game). Of course all the room music will also be included, and as promised, many pieces will benefit from the overdubbing of live instruments. There will be a title song, plus two other tunes featuring a "mystery" vocalist that we hope to have under contract soon. As if all this weren't enough, the Soundtrack CD will also include (at no extra cost) a highly polished Dragon Fire demo! One final note - have you checked out the new Dragon Fire web pages? The team has done an outstanding job of putting them together. I found the site informative, entertaining, and extremely easy to navigate. Now as far as the music pages are concerned, you'll find the most dramatic differences on the music download page. There you can sample selections from 8 brand new pieces of music, as well as a handful of the more popular cuts from our previous web posting. These files are all done with Real Audio (I wanted MP3; management said no!), but they utilize Real Audio's highest quality compression scheme. The sound quality is actually pretty decent, but if any of you sonic purists really want an MP3 version of one of the samples, send me an e-mail at qfg@sierranet.net and I'll see what I can do. I look forward to hearing your comments about all the new music segments that have been posted. Until next time Chance Meanwhile, back at the game, or should I say the Demo: At this time the Demo will be available on September 15 and will be part of the Quest for Glory Collection CD. It will also be available for sale direct through Sierra On-Line, Inc. or via other products. I'll have more info on this when it becomes available. The Demo CD will include a sample of the soundtrack. This will also be a single hybrid CD containing PC Win95/PowerMac and Redbook Audio for your Audio CD player. A slimmed down 30 meg version will also be available upon QG5's release through the more popular gaming magazines. Once again about our contests: Check the Dragon Fire web site for our Contest announcements. You must read the rules before entering any of our contests. You may copy our rules from the web site or email me at qfg@sierranet.net. Or if you wish a written copy of our rules snail mail me at: QFG V "Monster Mania Draw 'O Rama" Attn: Robin Bradley, Sierra On-Line, Inc. 40033 Sierra Way Oakhurst, CA 93644 If you are emailing a contest entry, be sure to enter on the subject line: DRAW-O-RAMA CONTEST ENTRY. If you wonder why you never receive an answer to your email, or you signed up for the Famous Adventurer's Correspondence School but never receive a newsletter then it's time to make sure you are entering the correct return address. One simple typo in your email address will cause you not to exist on my mail list. I don't want that to happen and I'm sure you want to stay informed. Here's an example of a bad address and how easy it is to make this mistake:    JoeSchmoe@netcome.com. The address should be netcom not netcome. Just for your own peace of mind double check your return address for accuracy. 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 qfg@sierranet.net. 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.