King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones

King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones (aka King's Quest II+) is a fangame

Fangame

Fangames are video games made by fans based on one or more established video games. Many fangames attempt to clone the original game's design, gameplay and characters, but it is equally common for fans to develop a unique game using another only as a template...

remake/retelling of Sierra Entertainment

Sierra Entertainment

Sierra Entertainment Inc. was an American video-game developer and publisher founded in 1979 as On-Line Systems by Ken and Roberta Williams...

's King's Quest II: Romancing the Throne

King's Quest II: Romancing the Throne

King's Quest II: Romancing the Throne is the second installment in the King's Quest series created by Sierra Entertainment...

by AGD Interactive

AGD Interactive

AGD Interactive , LLC. is a non-profit company given a fan license to remake Sierra Entertainment's popular classic adventure games from the 1980s and early 1990s.-History:...

produced through a fan license by Activision

Activision

Activision is an American publisher, majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA. Its current CEO is Robert Kotick. It was founded on October 1, 1979 and was the world's first independent developer and distributor of video games for gaming consoles...

. It was followed up by King's Quest III Redux. In 2009, the version 3.0 Enhanced Edition was released, with improved graphics and full-speech narration. The game earned the AGS award for best music and game in 2002.

Background

King Graham travels to Kolyma to find a bride. Daventry's new prime minister Gervain convinces Graham to look outside of Daventry for a bride, based on an image Graham saw in the magic mirror. While there he must overcome the Black Cloak Society, and stop the witch Hagatha and The Father, and save both his Kingdom and Kolyma. He learns that Gervaine is really The Father, who had planted the image in the mirror, to lead Graham to Kolyma in an attempt to kill him there. This was done in hopes of him becoming the new King of Daventry, as the next in line to the throne.

AGD Interactive development

King's Quest II was unofficially remade in 2002 when AGD Interactive, then known as Tierra Entertainment, released the fan-made King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones[2] under a fan license by Vivendi. The remake uses a point-and-click interface functionally identical to an advanced SCI game engine, VGA graphics and digital sound, including full speech for all characters. Notably for an unofficial, fan-made project, the game's protagonist King Graham is voiced by Josh Mandel, who also voiced the part in Sierra's official CD-ROM full-speech versions of King's Quest V and VI. In contrast to the group's remake of King's Quest I, a content-wise identical presentation upgrade, King's Quest II VGA redesigns the original game to adding a rewritten plot expanding on the 1985 version (although it changes several points of the plot, 'Dracula' is now 'Caldaur' a character who redeems himself with Graham's help, and the 'Monk' is now 'Llowh'wof', the leader of a werewolf clan who plots to keep Kolyma trapped in a dark age), a number of puzzles, new characters and locations including a town, and references to future King's Quest games. In March 2009, AGD Interactive released version 3.0 of this remake. This version showcases redrawn backgrounds and dialogue pictures; the voice-acting was also dramatically improved and, thanks to fan feedback, many problems were attended to.

King's Quest II VGA was never meant to be anything other than a "retelling", or a fanfic with a soundtrack and an interface attached to it. One of AGDI's developers even mentioned on the forums he'd probably have kept the game more 1:1 if he had known Vivendi was going to grant them official permission so people wouldn't think they were trying to create an alternative canon. He said he was personally happy that that didn't happen.

Notable are references to Graham

Graham

-People:*Graham , an English language masculine given name*Graham , an English language surname*Graeme , an English language surname*For people with "Graham" as a surname see Graham...

's past and also future, showing his dilemmas and thoughts during King's Quest III Redux, while his infant boy had been lost, his daughter abducted and Daventry

Daventry

Daventry is a market town in Northamptonshire, England, with a population of 22,367 .-Geography:The town is also the administrative centre of the larger Daventry district, which has a population of 71,838. The town is 77 miles north-northwest of London, 13.9 miles west of Northampton and 10.2...

was ravaged by the three-headed Dragon

Dragon

A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...

. Notable is the appearance of Connor from King's Quest: Mask of Eternity

King's Quest: Mask of Eternity

King's Quest: Mask of Eternity is a "3D Adventure" written and designed by Roberta Williams and released in 1998 by Sierra Studios, is the eighth, and at present remains the final, official computer game in the famous King's Quest series...

, meeting King Graham for the first time.

The character of The Father is introduced. He is the leader of the Black Cloak Society, a group of evil mages, wizards, and the archnemesis of Graham, but his role is not revealed in full.

The game is more of a retelling of the story than a simple remake, in many ways an all new story.

Geography

Kolyma: This is a forested nation once ruled by the Counts of Kolyma and is the main setting for the game. The Wierwood Forest and the swamp shadow the kingdom, and the Kolyma Town lies to the north. The the ocean borders the kingdom to the west, and tall mountain range raises above the land to the east. Most of the kingdom has fallen into ruin, and is secretely controlled by the Black Cloak Society, by the likes of the witch Hagatha, and to a lesser extent the last of the counts, Caldaur. The evil Brotherhood of the Pack control much of the eastern edges of the kingdom within the dark sections of the Wierwood Forest with plans to increase their rule by taking over the entire nation.

Neptune's Kingdom: The underwater kingdom ruled by King Neptune, that lies just off the coast of Kolyma. It lies between Kolyma and the depths of the Underwater Realm of the Sharkees. It is a exotic land with a shining underwater city. King Neptune lives in the grand palace.
Underwater Realm of the Sharkees: The Sharkee's Realm is a dark underwater realm in the depths of the sea. It lies adjacent to Neptune's Kingdom, but at a much deeper depth. Sharkee and sharks patrol the waters. This is a realm with sunken ships. Most of the light that reaches this depth comes from strange glowing fish, that feed off the few bits of sea weed that try to survive in the depths. The King of the Sharkees rules from their dark fortress on the western edge of the realm.
Tower Realm: The tower realm is an enchanted realm kept inside of a small snow globe on a table in Hagatha's cave. The pocket realm consists of a couple of islands in the center where the quartz tower is located. In this world there is no sun, as the only light shines in from the cave outside, making the sky appear brilliant orange. If one can ascend high enough, the sky can be touched. There is no wind in the surreal world. There is a tranquil magenta-colored sea, fed by magenta waterfalls. The magenta sea's calm hides the swift undercurrents at work there. A land of blue cliffs circles around the edge of the snowglob. In the center of the world is the Enchanted Island. The island is made of quartz rocks and topaz sand. Strange multi-colored palm trees dot the landscape. The only way out of the realm is through a magical portal on a smaller island of the coast of the island.

Characters

KQ2 includes many new characters, and in some cases characters from the original were replaced with new characters. Two characters from the original were cut entirely (a fairy and a genie).

Graham: Graham is the new king of Daventry. He recently took the throne, but he finds the job a lonely one, and is looking for a Queen to share it with. While there are many lovely maidens in the Kingdom, none interest him. After viewing a lovely maiden in the Magic Mirror, he leaves the kingdom in the hands of Gervain, and travels to Kolyma to to rescue her. While there he must avoid being killed by the Black Cloak Society. His voice was reprised by Josh Mandel (the developer/producer of King's Quest I: Quest for the Crown remake) who did the voice of King Graham and other assorted voices in King's Quest V and King's Quest VI.
The Father: The infamous black cloak society is led by a mysterious being known as "The Father". His true identity is unknown, but he's well informed about what's going on in Daventry. He's looking for a certain something to become powerful beyond imagination and in order for him to obtain it, Graham must die. The only other thing that's known about him is the fact that he's already more than thousand years old. The player can figure out his original identity through various documents in the game. It is learned he was once Morgeilen the brother of Legenimor, the First King of Daventry.
Gervain: Gervain is Graham's prime minister and chief of security. He runs the show in Daventry while Graham is off questing. Gervain is based on a character mentioned in the background story in the manual of the original game, and in the King's Quest Companion, but never appeared in the original game itself. The role of Gervain is very different than it was in the official lore, as he turns out to be The Father in disquise.
Cauldaur: The vampire lord of Kolyma and member of the Black Cloak Society.
Hagatha: Hagatha was mentioned as the one who imprisoned Valanice in the quartz tower in the enchanted realm. She is the sister of Manannan and Mordack from other games in the KQ series.
Lavidia (grandmother): The wife of Caldaur. She was kicked out of Kolyma Castle by the Brotherhood of the Pack.
Possum/Anastasia: the granddaughter of Caldaur, she goes by the nickname possum, but is really Anastasia. She lives with her grandmother Lavidia in a small house by the sea in Kolyma. Her basket was lost in the woods. She is often seen skipping about the woods. Later sensing that they endangered Caldaur 'rescues' them bringing them back to his castle, transforming them into vampires. She helps Graham out by helping him find a book in the castle library.
Angelina: The owner of the antique shop is based on the stereotypical little old lady Milvia from the original, whose only companion in life was a nightingale named Precious. When dealing with her at first, the player is given the impression that not much has changed. Angelina's role is altered quite a bit in the remake however.
Baby Pumpkin:
Mama Pumpkin:
Connor: Mask of Eternity's protagonist presents another choice for Graham. Connor earned his title as first knight, but being the protector of the mask, he may not be around when Daventry needs him most. Connor believes that he can attend to both responsibilities, but the final word will be spoken by the player... In related information given on AGD Interactives website this character is given the name Connor MacLyrr a prototype name given for the character during MOE's development, but dropped in the final release.
Valanice:
Edward: Edward was the former king of Daventry as seen in KQ1 VGA. His spirit appears at Graham's royal wedding in Castle Kolyna to wish him a long and fulfilled life.
Cloud Spirit: This wise spirit resides high in the air and has the ability to judge the worthiness of those who appear before him. The tests he gives you will certainly be very interesting for those who played certain other King’s Quest games. If you are judged worthy, he will entrust you with the Growth Gem of Air.
Door of Destiny: This mysterious door is actually an ancient being who was imprisoned in a mountain by his fellow "Ancients" because he abused his power. The only way for him to find rest is to learn about the balance of nature and the order of life and in order to do so he needs to obtain the gems of nature, which were created for that very purpose. In the original, there were actually three "ordinary" doors standing in the middle of nowhere. Each of these doors had an inscription with clues on how to find the golden key needed to unlock it.
Malvolio: He is the childhood friend of King Graham. He was a little trouble maker, who liked to play bat and ball with Graham in the castle garden.
Merchant: This person is the living representation of the stereotypical con artist. Talks with a fake accent, accidentally drops it at some point, sells junk he calls valuable, charges too much for his items and doesn't obtain all his items in a legitimate way.
Neptune:
Ferryman: The Ferryman was once a human who ferried people across the lake; the very lake he died in. He is smart, and cannot be fooled by a simple thing like a ruby ring and a cloak. He is based on the Boatman from the original KQ2.
Sharkee King: The king of the Sharkees is a fierce and cruel person, but his ability to solve riddles could use some improvement. He's the typical warlord with a taste for blood and more brawn than brains.
Town Librarian: She's a grumpy, snobby old woman whose way of thinking exceeds the term narrow-minded. Following all the petty rules to the letter, this person can be a major pain for any would-be member who tries to get access to the wealth of information stored in Kolyma's library.
Lady Lillian and Lord Herbert: The parents of Anastasia. They were murdered by the Brotherhood of the Pack. They now haunt the graveyard of Kolyma castle and guard the castle from intruders. Graham must appease them I'm order to find the crown tiara of Kolyma, and gain a wedding band for Valanice. His actions allow the spirits to find rest.
Llowh'wof/Big Bad Wolf: He is a composite character
Composite character
A composite character is a character composed of two or more individuals, appearing in a fictional or non-fictional work. Two fictional characters are often combined into one upon adaptation of a work from one medium to another, as in the film adaptation of a novel...

based on the monk, Brother Fragola and The Wolf, from the original King's Quest II, but the similarities end there.
Old Man: The old man was former beau of Hagatha's. She cursed him turning him into a lion to guard the Tower Realm after his eyes started wandering after better looking women.
Enchanter: The enchanter lives in a magically furnished cave at the top of the mountains in Kolyma. This evil sorcerer is not the same person who appeared in King’s Quest I VGA (as King’s Quest I's sorcerer is in the audience at the endgame). He's even more dangerous. Like he did in the original King’s Quest II, he appears in certain screens as a random "monster" and turns Graham into an animal if he catches him. Of course, if the dwarf can have a cozy home to return to after a long and hard day of giving others a hard time, so can this guy. In the lore of the official series, it was hinted that Enchanter and the Sorcerer are actually one and the same character.
Deciple of the Cloud: He's a servant of the Cloud spirit and cannot be commanded by any mortal being.
The Dwarf: This sneaky little pest is the same dwarf who already roamed Daventry's countryside in King’s Quest I. In the original King’s Quest II, he was a random monster of some sort. He appeared in certain places and stole stuff from you. In the remake, he has become an even bigger pest than he was before.

Tierra

1.0: Released December 3, 2002, this marked the development team’s second completed remake achievement after King's Quest I: Quest for the Crown (AGD Interactive).
1.1: This build fixed some small bugs and issues that had been reported in the first public release
2.0: Voice pack for Romancing the Stones was released on April 2, 2003, alongside another updated version of the game.

Romancing the Stones Enhanced Edition (AGD Interactive)

3.0: Released on March 14, 2009. This now includes the music and speech packs as part of the game download, as well as adding a plethora of touch-ups, enhancements, improvements, and many other new features to the game.
3.1a: Released September 1, 2010, the first Apple Mac version. This build also addresses several minor bugs and oversights in all versions.
3.1b
3.1c (Latest build)

Reception

This game has received positive reception by the press. Games Rader had it listed as one of the top thirty free downloadable games.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.