Game News Arcanum and Quest for Glory 1-5 released on Steam

[Infinitron]

Tags: Activision; Arcanum: of Steamworks and Magick Obscura; Quest for Glory; Quest for Glory I: So You Want To Be A Hero; Quest for Glory II: Trial by Fire; Quest for Glory III: Wages of War; Quest for Glory IV: Shadows of Darkness; Quest for Glory V: Dragon Fire; Sierra Entertainment; Troika Games

Activision have unexpectedly released a treasure trove of legacy titles on Steam, which were previously only available on GOG. Most of them are classic Sierra adventure games, but they also include Troika's Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura, which was published by Sierra back in the day, as well as all five games in Sierra's own wonderful Quest for Glory series of adventure/RPG hybrids. And yes, that includes both the EGA and VGA versions of Quest for Glory 1. The prices are the same as GOG's - Arcanum for $6 and the Quest for Glory Collection for $10. If you don't already own them on GOG, or if you're obsessive about your Steam game collection, these games come highly recommended. I wonder if these releases bode anything for the future of Activision's ill-fated nu-Sierra initiative.

 

[Delterius]

Arcanum 2 by Activision: Its Happening.

 

[Infinitron]

Heh it's just one of many games that they released. Might as well say they're making Caesar V.

 

[Delterius]

Hey, King's Quest 2015 still happened.

 

[deuxhero]

That actually got released? I heard shit about it when details were first announced and then nothing

 

[SerratedBiz]

Spoiler

It took me a while to find the damn opening in the original PC Speaker instead of the fugly MT-32 version, dang.

 

[Outlander]

They also released the Police Quest Collection:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/494740/

And all 3 Gabriel Knight games too

 

[Jaesun]

 

[SerratedBiz]

I saw you uploaded that on Youtube, but honestly the MT-32 is to the original music like applying that pixel softening (antialiasing?) is to EGA graphics - ie, it's just smudging, and it sucks.

 

[Black]

No cheevos and trading cards, what's the point of rpgs without those?

 

[Konjad]

I'll wait until it's out on PS4.

 

[eric__s]

Heh it's just one of many games that they released. Might as well say they're making Caesar V.

Caesar V confirmed.

 

[Konjad]

The link to Arcanum in the OP is broken, here's a correct one:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/373870/

 

[taxalot]

That's an alright move. Who needs a new game from Activision ?

 

[vorvek]

 

[PlanHex]

The link to Arcanum in the OP is broken, here's a correct one:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/373870/

Tsk tsk. They should have called it Arcanum Bloodlines of Elemental Evil just to get them all in there.

 

[Licaon_Kter]

No Linux? Why bother then...

 

[Outlander]

And now it's all bundled:

https://www.humblebundle.com/sierra-bundle

 

[Clockwork Knight]

I'll wait until it's out on PS4.

Trophy Unlocked: Avellone Is Your Bitch - Played past blimp crash site

Trophy Unlocked: Your Character Isn't Total Shit - Played past Shrouded Hills

Trophy Unlocked: Lets Play Ends Here - Played past Tarant

Trophy Unlocked: New Game - Reached Black Mountain Mines

 

[JDR13]

I'm actually playing Arcanum now for the first time. Well...the first time that I plan on finishing it at least. I just reached the Isle of Despair.

It's simultaneously one of the best and most aggravating games I've played in a long time.

 

[Jasede]

And now let's see what Amiga hackers can output on a PC SPEAKER beep boop device:



... well shit.

I know it's a bit off-topic but I had to share this... this isn't a joke, by the way. I had a PC speaker and Pinball Fantasies. It seriously DID THAT on your beep boop speaker thing. Hax? You bet. These Amiga coders were grade A hackers the likes of which we'll never see working on games again...

 

[Black]

http://steamcommunity.com/app/500810/discussions/0/352792037326221299/

 

[Unkillable Cat]

And now let's see what Amiga hackers can output on a PC SPEAKER beep boop device:



... well shit.

I know it's a bit off-topic but I had to share this... this isn't a joke, by the way. I had a PC speaker and Pinball Fantasies. It seriously DID THAT on your beep boop speaker thing. Hax? You bet. These Amiga coders were grade A hackers the likes of which we'll never see working on games again...

That is not a 100% accurate rendition of the PC Speaker output.

Sure, it sounded like there was a soundcard in the machine when there wasn't one, but with the speaker being a dented tin can attached to a string. It was muffled and slightly distorted, but it was still miles ahead of what the PC Speaker normally did.

A few other games used the same tech, like the Spellcasting series from Legend.

 

[Schizophrenic monolog]

I remember the first time i played Space Quest...

When i was stupid little kid, my older brother told me that my family have bloodlines of the royal Ninjas of north japan (or something like that shit!).

So... I believed him, Even when he told me that because of my bloodline, I have the power to move through walls.

One day, He locked me up in my room, So it was a great opportunity to try my new ability - Moving through walls.

I closed my eyes, tried to imagine my body float like a black ninja through the wall and land (safely) on the other side.

Then, I took a deep breath and ran as fast as i could toward the wall.

The collision was so powerful that I blacked out...

Two days after the hit, I was still unconscious... Floating in space.

WHAT A GREAT GAME!!!!

 

[Keldryn]

That is not a 100% accurate rendition of the PC Speaker output.

Sure, it sounded like there was a soundcard in the machine when there wasn't one, but with the speaker being a dented tin can attached to a string. It was muffled and slightly distorted, but it was still miles ahead of what the PC Speaker normally did.

A few other games used the same tech, like the Spellcasting series from Legend.

The early Access Software Tex Murphy games used it, too. Which was great except that I had a Sound Blaster card and Mean Streets ONLY used that patented RealSound through the PC speaker.

Dragon Wars also played digitized samples through the PC speaker.

 

[Desur]

Are there any differences between the Steam and GOG versions of Arcanum? I got the bundle for 20$ and am wondering whether there is any reason to install the game on Steam and import my save files rather than just stick with good ol' GOG.

 

[catfood]

Already have them on GOG.