King's Quest VIII: Mask of Eternity

King's Quest: Mask of Eternity (aka King's Quest VIII), was a "3D Adventure" released in 1998, it is the eighth and final official computer adventure game in the famous King's Quest series. It is the only game in the series where the main character is not King Graham or a member of his family (though Roberta previously had tried to trick people into thinking Gwydion was not a member of the family which worked too well, as she received letters from people that hadn't completed the game and were upset at her change in direction for the series).

The game is described as KQ8 in the King's Quest Collection 2, Roberta William's Anthology, and in issues of Interaction Magazine. However, it is the only game to not be given roman numerals or a number on the box artwork, title screen or the material packed in with it (other than a sticker on the outside of the shrink wrap describing it as the eighth game of the series).

The Story
Above the kingdom of Daventry is the Realm of the Sun, where magical beings called the Archons guard the Mask of Eternity. Their chief (Lucreto) turns evil and shatters the Mask into pieces. Daventry's inhabitants turn to stone and the land sickens.

Connor, a common tanner, is protected from the blight because a Mask shard fell on his feet. Connor is then appointed by a wizard to travel through different lands and collect all the Mask pieces, eventually arriving in the Realm of the Sun where he must repair the Mask and bring life back to his land.

Official Game Description
In a time long ago, magic and myth is embodied in every living creature roaming the world. Unicorns graze in forest meadows, wizards concoct mystical spells and kings and queens manage thriving kingdoms. In the kingdom of Daventry, inhabitants enjoy peace and prosperity under the rule of the majestic King Graham. But one day, the kingdom's serenity turns to disorder. An evil being takes up quarters in the sacred sanctity of the Mask of Eternity - the global icon of truth, light and order. With arms thrust upward, he summons a dark spell. The skies darken and bolts of lightning converge on the temple. With a powerful burst, the mask explodes into pieces that fall to the world below.

Meanwhile, in Daventry, a young townsperson named Connor is about to become the most important person in the world's history. As the Mask of Eternity rains down on the land, one piece lands at Connor's feet. Just as he picks it up, the supernatural spell reaches ground. In a flash, every inhabitant of the beloved kingdom turns to stone. That is, every inhabitant but one. With the sacred mask piece in hand, Connor is somehow protected from the consequences of the omen.

Playing the role of Connor, you must gather strength and courage and set out on the ultimate quest: reseat the Mask of Eternity and restore law, light and order to your world. Only then can global order be restored!

Journeying beyond Daventry, you will visit otherworldly realms filled with unimaginable characters, brain-twisting tests of courage and incredible challenges. But the spread of evil has created an extra challenge - dark creatures roaming free across the land are ready for a fight. It'll take perfect marksmanship and a sharp sword to keep these from ending your quest!

Key Features
Millions of fans have been drawn to the world of Daventry since designer Roberta Williams first introduced the King's Quest series over a decade ago. Providing the ultimate interactive storytelling experience, the series has received global acclaim for pushing gameplay technology past the limits of traditional adventure game design to deliver an ever-more interactive, expansive and innovate experience.


 * Revolutionary 3D action engine gives you complete freedom of movement.
 * Experience all seven worlds through either a 1st or 3rd person point of view
 * Real-time combat! Heft your broad-sword and mete out punishment in a purely medieval manner.
 * Intricate mental challenges require you to use your mind as well as your might.

Complete Camera Control
Unlike traditional 2D adventure games of the past, Mask of Eternity Mask allows you to peek around any corner, push and pull objects, open doors, wade into rivers and lakes and even fight with other characters. But make no mistake, Mask of Eternity is not a shoot-em-up game. On the contrary, Mask of Eternity's gorgeous, open environment allows you to live the unfolding story, even if you need to fight your way past evil characters to advance the story.

Easy-to-use Interface
Sierra's newly-designed game interface makes exploring and controlling your character a breeze. An on-screen cursor, carried over from traditional adventure game engines, allows you to 'point and click' to retrieve objects, open doors and use weapons on evil creatures. An alternate mouse click changes the angle of the "camera" looking over Connor's shoulder. And if you really feel like getting into Connor's head, one keystroke switches the game from third to first person perspective. In third person, the camera moves with Connor and you watch as he walks runs and fights. In first person, you view the world through Connor's eyes.

Real-time Combat
So what's this you hear about combat? Mask of Eternity's 3D virtual world is filled with living characters, both good and bad. And since you control Connor's every step and jump, you also control use of his hand and range weapons as well. But don't worry - you don't need to learn special skills to survive your battles. We've created a combat system that is easy to learn and use. With a combination of keystrokes and the mouse, you will have complete control over Connor's actions during battle.

Mind-bending Puzzles
Combat is a certainly a fun new twist on 3D adventure gaming, but it's the puzzles that will twist your brain in delight! Mask of Eternity's game environment allows for thought-provoking puzzles that are not possible in 2D adventure games. You'll love the new puzzle styles!

The new styles include physics based puzzles, and environmental based puzzles, such as box pushing, cutting down a tree, using your weapons to interactive with the environment etc.

Point System
Like earlier King's Quest Games (1-6) there is a point system in the game. The points are calculated throughout the game and can be viewed at the very end of the game after the end of the credits. It shows how many points were earned out of the number of points possible like in earlier games.

There are actually 6631364 points possible, and may be tied into the experience system, and other things. Points are given for various objectives such as solving puzzles, killing enemies, killing animals (chickens, pig, bats, rats, and vultures), etc. Obviously the extremely large number makes it nearly impossible to tell how many points each action in the game gives. Nor is it known if it is is possible to get all the points in a single game (and if more or less points are awarded base on the game difficulty). It is also unclear if there are alternative ways to collect points that are easily missed (for example if rats escape).

Reception
There was a mixed response to the game, although most reviews tended to be positive, with the majority of ratings 70% or higher, some reviews dipped as low as 10%.

King's Quest: Mask of Eternity was released to generally positive, but mixed reviews,. However, it sold comparatively well to other adventure games at the time; for example, it outsold Grim Fandango 2 to 1. , and was the best selling King's Quest game. However, the adventure game genre as a whole was not successful in comparison to other video games at the time, which effectively bringing about the end of the King's Quest series. Some reviewers were accepting of the rpg/action sequences, but others felt it took away from the Adventure genre.

Some reviewers have criticized Mask of Eternity for deviating from the graphic adventure style in favor of an action/adventure style. Also criticized is the fact that the game has almost nothing to do with the first seven games. In some cases they criticized its darker style. However, several of the previous KQ games are meant to be stand alone, and have little to do with the previous games in the series (with only a few passing references to elements of the previous games), or reimagined and reused elements (Crystal Dragons, Ice Queens, Unicorns, Wizards & Witches, etc). Mask of Eternity is similar to the previous games in that it builds on the Kingdom of Daventry as a starting point (or in KQ3 an ending point); with standard King's Quest themes such as Castle Daventry, Magic Mirror, & King Graham (and Valanice), and explores original lands outside Daventry (the pattern of the series as a whole). The story follows a lowly knight (much like young Sir Graham), who is set a quest to save the kingdom (ala Quest for the Crown). Along the way he encounters creatures of mythology, legend, and fairy tale. Thus Mask of Eternity returns to the roots of the series, but takes things in a more epic direction. Even portion of Daventry explored in the game is a new area, the town of Daventry, which had only previously been mentioned in the early manuals and books. Many of these details are pointed out in the more positive reviews.

The game earned Adventure Game of the Year at Digital Entertainment On-line

Behind the scenes
KQ8 is largely listed as King's Quest 8: Mask of Eternity or King's Quest VIII: Mask of Eternity on video game websites and some online stores such as Amazon.com. Activision currently publishes the game under the name King's Quest VIII and King's Quest 8: Mask of Eternity through GoG.com.

Roberta Williams and Mark Seibert called the game King's Quest 8/VII in interviews and promotional material and the game was marketed as such in Interaction Magazine and other places.

Some of Sierra's European boxes also include the title 'King's Quest 8: Mask of Eternity'.

The released game's box and title screen in the American release makes no reference to numeral 8 (other than being described as the eighth title in the series on a sticker placed on shrink wrap of the original release. Additionally, a folder in the King's Quest Collection 2 contained a preview video for the gome that was entitled, KQ8AVI.

Davidson and Associates were apparently upset at the content in Roberta's King's Quest: Mask of Eternity, that they were simultaneously developing there own version of the game (between 1996-1997 or so) purged of violence or possibly Christian themes, see King's Quest VIII (Davidson & Associates). This may have lead to Roberta believing she had lost control of the game, removal of her name from the product, and even a lawsuit towards the parent companies.

"Oh gosh, My favorites are...obviously the latest one I just did, I gotta mention that one, King's Quest: Mask of Eternity. Beyond that, Phantasmagoria, I really just enjoyed working on that. King's Quest V, King's Quest 4, and The Colonel's Bequest. If I had to name any of them those would be them." -Roberta Williams

The combat was inserted into the game partially inspired by the sword fighting at the end of KQ6 between Alexander and Abdul Alhazred.

Roberta Williams is listed as the writer and main designer for the game in the credits. Mark Seibert is listed as producer, director, co-designer. They are both listed as voice directors and voice casting. Roberta, Mark and Cheryl Sweeney worked on the documentation for the game. However, her level of influence over the game is unclear as Ken Williams (Sierra CEO from 1979 to 1996) has stated that "The game became a mish mash of different people's good ideas, but clearly not a Roberta game. There even was a period where Sierra wanted to release the game, and Roberta wouldn't allow her name on it. After a bunch of negotiation and changes to the product, to mosey it back towards what she designed, it finally did release." It should be noted that the game went through three main designs, two which can be classified under 'Connor mac Lyrr' phase. Based on several quotes made in interviews and making of videos, it seems that the problems between those involved, and the technology began during second design, and possibly continued into the early part of the third design ('Connor of Daventry' phase). At some point during the design she had regained control of the project and moved it back towards her design. While it is unclear how much of a role Roberta had in the final design in all aspects of the game, more details and quotes from Roberta herself, can be found in Mask of Eternity Development, which shed light on the design process and her involvement can be found in the game.In the talkspot interviews, for example, she mentions that she wrote the script and dialogue for the game, and she discusses the process she went through to write the final script. In another interview with JustAdventure, in 1998, when asked about her involvement in the design process, Mark Seibert stated; "She has been the designer from day one. She's still very much involved in the process."

Its interesting to note that similarly KQ1 SCI was apparently mainly the product of Josh Mandel's influence he was not only the producer for the game (he also rewrote and expanded the script). At the time Roberta was too busy making King's Quest V to finish the game herself. Josh says Roberta played his finished game, and had asked that he remove a humorous ending he had inserted into to the game which she felt was inappropriate, see The Royal Scribe. It's also said that in the case of KQ6, that although Roberta and Jane Jensen are listed as the writers in the credits, Jane Jensen is listed as having being the one behind the "Text & Diologue"--she apparently did most of the writing for that story--Roberta was not even able to recall that the Black Cloak Society had made it into the released version of the game; She only recalled the idea coming up briefly during the early phase of KQ6's development. Roberta herself even admitted that KQ6 did not fit her own style since she had no involvement in writing the story, and that Jane Jensen had a completely different style than her. Apparently Jane had written much of the game's text while Roberta was gone for two months on vacation. There are also comments from Lorelei Shannon that suggests she did most of the dialogue and development for KQ7, as Roberta was busy working on Phantasmagoria at the time (In fact, Roberta is in the end credits of the game not listed as the writer of the game--The game is listed as being written solely by Shannon, and that the game is based on characters created by Roberta Williams.") Roberta's name also comes third on the list of directors in the game booklet, with Shannon and Andy Hoyos ahead of her, and her name comes second behind Shannon's as "Designer" in the same booklet, again suggesting that KQ7 was more a Lorelei Shannon game. So there has been debate on how much influence Roberta actually had on those games as well.

KQ8's dialogue is written in a more conservative style rather than the modern English style of King's Quest VII: The Princeless Bride. According to Mark Seibert, Graham's voice was chosen in order to have a member of the Screen Actors Guild, and although he doesn't remember exactly, he thinks it was likely changed to make it more consistent with the accent chosen for Connor. Roberta was also the designer, and also in charge of voice casting, and voice directing along with Mark Seibert. A point of trivia is that a few characters in previous games including the Fairy Godmother (KQ1AGI) and Elf (KQ1 SCI) used limited amount of old english, "Ye best be careful..." . Graham and Rosella both spoke in old English in Hoyle I as well, see Graham quotes (Hoyle I) and Rosella quotes (Hoyle I). Even Alexander's style in KQ6 is conservative to a lesser extent with archaic epitaphs such as Zounds.

In KQ8, Connor visits Dimension of Death rather than the Land of the Dead shown in King's Quest VI. However, as noted in the manual for King's Quest 6, Guidebook to the Land of the Green Isles, the Realm of the Dead is a legend specific only to the Green Isles. Derek Karlavaegen was the first outsider to learn of the legend when he traveled to the islands. According to the legend, It is the place where Green Islanders believe they go when they die. They journey to Samhain (Death) to be judged and end up in the Sea of Souls in preparation for the next stage of the afterlife. Whereas according to Mask of Eternity's Manual, the Dimension of Death is specific to Daventry's legends. It is a kind of limbo ruled by Azriel where souls are judged before being moved to their rightful afterlife. Furthermore, in KQ7, it's suggested that Ooga Booga is effectively the Land of the Dead for the people of Eldritch (is the place where people who die there continue their existence). According to KQ6, death fascinates men the world round, and there are as many philosophies about what comes after this life as there are, it seems, lives which end. Even in KQ6, it is hinted, that not everyone who dies or travels into the afterlife necessarily ends up before Samhain, as was the case with Orpheus. KQ8 just takes what was said in KQ6 further, and even more of the various afterlives in the world.

According to the game's producer Mark Seibert, "Roberta's point of view was that the Dimension of Death was not the under world (KQ6). It was a unique and different place." Thus both places are considered separate locations. Although at least at one point during development the land was called the Realm of the Dead, and the river was called the River Styx.

It is the second game in the series (after Quest for the Crown) that does not directly spoof a common idiom, unlike most of the games of the series, where titles and sayings such as "Romancing the Stone", "Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder", "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow", "The Perils of Pauline", and "The Princess Bride" were changed to parodies such as "Romancing the Throne", "Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder!", "Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow", "The Perils of Rosella", and "The Princeless Bride". Quest for the Crown, may be a reference to "Quest for the Grail".

The title may be a reference to concepts mentioned in Joseph Campbell's The Power of Myth, Volume 6: The Masks of Eternity.

Technical Support
The game can be played on Windows XP in its its native Glide support with the use of a Glide Wrapper (most of these program contain both emulator and emulation components and are thus more than just a "wrapper"). There are still areas that lock up however (usually in cutscenes, see first henchman for example), and require multiple attempts to get past often by lowering the graphics, or turning off certain effects, or switching in and out of first person/third person mode. If this doesn't work you may have to use save games set just after the lock up points.

On September 7th 2010, GOG.com released a Windows Vista and 7 compatible version of Mask of Eternity for purchase. Note there are still buggy aspects such as the game title not showing on the menu screen, and some of the lockup issues.

There is also a fan patch for the older version to get the game running on modern systems."XP/Vista/Win7 compatible. Works on 64-bit Windows. Includes the official MOE13FG Patch. Can install the entire game to the hard drive for CD-less play. Optional Glide Wrapper for dramatically improved graphics." 


 * The windmill is an area that often locks up during the cutscene of the first henchman appearing. Turning off all extra graphics (no shadows, play in software mode, etc) will raise the chance of getting past the cutscene.


 * Note that Dimension of Death is particurarly buggy, especially in first person mode. Make sure to save often, as it can lock up at any moment (especially around the edges of wide open areas).


 * The Realm of the Gnomes suffers from lag, first person can alleviate the problem somewhat. However the game is more unstable in first person mode and may crash. The weapon, apothecary and armor shops are another area that may potentially lock up. Try turning off all the extra graphics and changing resolutions if you have a problem.


 * The Weirdling Weapon Shop is another particularly buggy area, that locks up after the initial cutscene. Best way to get past it may be attempting to enter the building while walking backwards, or trying to come back after doing other things in the land. If that doesn't work the only other option is using a save game past the spot.

The game requires a cd drive to play, even if you are playing the GoG.com version. This causes a problem with computers, laptops, or netbooks with no cd drives. To get past this problem you will need to use a virtual drive such as daemontools to trick the software into loading.