King's Quest Omnipedia
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http://tcrf.net/King%27s_Quest_III

In the final version of the game, Alexander and Rosella automatically walk into the castle hall into the throne room for the family reunion. It cannot be explored manually without using cheat codes to teleport into the hallway in (tp code 73) earlier versions of the game there are actually a description for the hallway which describes the further state of the Castle Daventry since the troubles began.

Looking at the "light" offers the description, "Cobwebs have not cleaned from the overhanging chandelier."

If you look, "castle" it says; "You and Princess Rosella have entered a hallway of the dilapidated castle. Cracks mar the walls and dusty floor. Cobwebs drape an overhanging lamp. Sadly, your sister remarks, Alexander, I wish you could have seen it in better days. It wasn't always like this, you know."

If you teleport into the two halves of the castle screen (tp 71, 72) when the doors are open will allow for a couple more hidden descriptions as well;

Looking at the castle from the right side of the castle;

"Atop the castle, the banners are freely waving. The heavy feeling of oppression is gone; hope has at last returned to Daventry!"

Looking at the banners from either screen,

"The worn banners atop the crumbling castle proudly wave".

If teleported into screen 71 (castle entrance), you can also manually look at the castle doors (it pops up the same notice as if you entered the room at started automatic cutscene).

QA Staff[]

The QA staff begins playing the game using the programmers' maps and notes. Even with this help, it takes at least two eight-hour days for them to complete the Quest. The testers are looking for inconsistencies: places where Ego is visible through a tree, where he can't leave a room, where he is carrying the wrong object. Errors are reported to the programmers, who decide whether they are valid. In King's Quest III, for example, when the wizard demands a meal, Ego must leave the dining room and then reenter in order for the wizard to sit at the table and eat. The QA people thought this was an error; the programmers said no. So if you put food on the table but the Wiz won't sit down, try leaving and returning.

The QA staff also makes aesthetic suggestions. They felt the antlers in the dining room in the Apple version of King's Quest III were the wrong color. The color was changed. Another color problem in the same game was not so easily resolved. There's a spider that gets carried out over the ocean and dropped into the water (if he doesn't get Ego first). The spider and the ocean were the same color in the 16-color version. The QA people, the programmers, and the artists had a meeting to discuss the problem of the invisible spider. Unfortunately, all the alternate colors were also in use and just caused the spider to disappear somewhere else. This colorful matter was bucked to the top: Roberta decided the spider and the ocean would remain the same color, and the spider's splash was enhanced.

Design Notes[]

A Peek At A Sequel From the designer's notes: "I'm going to try to make KQ3 more difficult to solve…I'd like it to be able to do its own mapping, but Ken and Jeff will have to be talked into this...I would like to try to add more arcade-type action, but still retain the flavor of an adventure game." The notes also indicate that there will be a new routine to draw the screens because some players (including myself) are getting important clues by watching what is drawn last in a scene.

"Included in the documentation will be the magic spell book, Sorcery of Old." The notes mention numerous spells, including one to transform someone into a cat and another to brew up a storm, It also mentions an invisibility ointment made from toad spittle, and the new cast of characters: Medusa, a huge spider, bandits, pirates, and an abominable snowman who lives in the mountains and will drag you into his cave and devour you for dinner. The notes indicate that the best way to deal with the snowman is to use a protective spell.

Here is the designer's description of Room 25: "Ocean side. Looks like north Calif, coastline. All, part, or none of the town will be in this picture, depending on how you draw it. There will be a dock or pier going out into the ocean from the town. Later on in the game, there will be a pirate ship that is tied to the dock, The pirate ship will probably be two screens long. You can get ocean water from this room for a spell...I'm not sure yet. Maybe, we will see a pirate walking around on the deck while it is tied to the dock and his mates are in the tavern. Or maybe we'll see an old man sitting outside the tavern, or maybe a woman coming out of the store or something. Just to make the town look like it is inhabited."

The notes also indicate that Room 38 (scene 38) is inside the bandit's hideout, and that a bandit will always be there to protect a bin. What the bin contains is unclear.

Credits[]

Manual[]

Written and designed by Roberta Williams Programmed by Al Lowe, Bob Heitman and Bob Kernaghan

Graphics by Doug MacNeill and Mark Crowe

Music by Margaret Lowe

Story by Annette Childs

1986[]

m2 = "Adventure Game Development System"; m3 = "(C) 1986 by Sierra On-Line, Inc."; m11 = "Viewmaster:"; m12 = "Dale Carlson"; m21 = "Quality Assurance:"; m22 = "Larry Weissenborn"; m23 = "Bob Ballew"; m24 = "Andrea Monsalve"; m25 = "Russ Truelove"; m31 = "Packaging and Documentation:"; m32 = "Annette Childs"; m33 = "Greg Steffen"; m41 = "Gaffer:"; m42 = "Ken Williams";

1987[]

= "Adventure Game Development System"; m3 = "(C) 1987 by Sierra On-Line, Inc."; m11 = "Viewmaster:"; m12 = "Dale Carlson"; m21 = "Quality Assurance:"; m22 = "Larry Weissenborn"; m23 = "Bob Ballew"; m24 = "Andrea Monsalve"; m25 = "Russ Truelove"; m26 = "Kim Covert"; m27 = "Linda Bye"; m31 = "Packaging and Documentation:"; m32 = "Annette Childs"; m33 = "Greg Steffen"; m41 = "Key Grip:"; m42 = "Ken Williams";

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