The KQ8 Product Description was an article included on the World of Krondor Sierra Studios Promo CD included with hardcover copies of Krondor: The Betrayal novels. It was part of the Sierra Studios 1998 Product Lineup included on the CD- this information is viewable in your Web browser either from within the "World of Krondor" program or by loading "index.html”.
The book and cd was released on a November 1, 1998 (23 days before KQ8 November 24 release date). It is interesting to note that cd came with concept art and information related to some material that was removed or changed in final release version. Such as concept art for mermaid or a weird blind snake that didn’t make it into the game. Or the late (possibly the last) reference to “Connor Mac Lyrr” name before the game’s release, and other early place names or race names (submen, mummies in the Swamp, City of the Dead, Well of Respite, Swampland, The Barrens, Frosty Mountains, the Temple, etc), The overview (product description) file appears to be dated to 1998-07-09 (July 1998). While concept art files are dated to as early as May 1998.
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION[]
Roberta Williams' King's Quest series is the best-selling game series of all time, with over seven million copies sold worldwide. Each release in the series introduces revolutionary game technologies and features wonderfully immersive story-telling and opportunities for explorations.
It's only natural the eighth King's Quest installment pushes the series - and computer games as we know them - beyond the brink of traditional gaming. One look at The Mask of Eternity™ and one realizes that this is unlike any game before it.
The previous games' animated characters and 2D environments are gone, replaced with immersive 3D environments and characters that combine the reality of an action game, the open-ended sense of adventure and exploration that comes from within a 3D world and the captivating storytelling talents of Roberta Williams.
King's Quest: Mask of Eternity™ returns players to the Kingdom of Daventry, the majestic setting of the King's Quest series, where myths and legends are the stuff of daily life, and magic is both a ticket to survival and a passage to death. A destructive magical storm overtakes the kingdom of Daventry and turns its habitants, including King Graham, Queen Valanica and every farmer, merchant, scribe, smith, and handmaiden to stone. Assuming the role of Connor Mac Lyrr, a young resident of Daventry, players must muster their strength, bravery and aptitude and set out on the grandest quest of his life.
To unravel the spell that binds this land blighted by a mysterious sorcerer, and discover why he alone has been spared, Connor must undertake a quest of legendary proportions and recover the five scattered pieces of the ancient Mask of Eternity™, destroyed by an Archon's greed for power. But when all the heroes of the land sit silently encased in stone, this one young peasant, Connor, untutored in the arts of war, must become the warrior and hero that Daventry so desperately needs. This search will reveal the monumental importance of finding the world's most powerful, sacred object...the Mask of Eternity™, the key to the restoration of his land and inhabitants.
Playing from either a first-person or third-person perspective, explorers travel through seven different lands experiencing over 70 characters, some good, most evil. Gamers guide Connor through Daventry, now a dark mystical land filled with stone inhabitants and dangerous Henchmen, goblins, spriggins and zombies. They venture through the Swampland, where the weeds whisper and the mummies caw; to the Gnome Underground, where players meet shop-keeping gnomes who mine tunnels and fight past bat mantas (half bat, half manta ray-looking creatures), and rock demons who -- as part of the earthen and rock walls -- pelt rocks at the players as they pass. The City of the Dead is the dwelling place of the Shadow Monster, a dark, amorphous creature with fiery eyes, sword and mace-wielding skeleton guards.
Also in the City, there are Weeper souls with life-draining gazes and a mysterious, beautiful winged sylph guarding the Well of Respite and offering words of advice. Lava flows through The Barrens and pyro demons, fire ants and tunnel-dwelling submen threaten with fiery defenses. In the Frosty Mountains, players visit the inside of a volcano cone, where frost nymphs and Gryphs (avian-type creatures) dwell. The Temple is the ancient home of the mask and the land of the Archons, who now rest in marble slabs of death. Finally, the Realm of the Sun is a spiritual locale offering the promise of success as well as the threat of defeat at the hands of the Water Demon, Shadow Monster and Viscious Beast.
Mask of Eternity™ is based on Sierra's proprietary and very powerful ThreeSpace 3D game engine, developed by Sierra's Dynamix division. A flexible 3D tool that can be used to create first-person adventure games, flight simulators, and ground combat simulations, ThreeSpace 3D is used in six other Sierra titles, including Front Page Sports: Skiing, Red Baron II, X-Fighters and Earthsiege 3. ThreeSpace 3D offers stunning achievements in 3D technology, including: highly-optimized polygonal rendering, allowing for ultra-high detail and speed even without a 3D graphics accelerator; advanced physics modeling, creating realistic movement of characters and objects; seamless transitions from indoor to outdoor environments and between levels; advanced terrain modeling for extremely realistic topography; and support of graphics accelerator cards.
PRODUCT FEATURES[]
- 7 immense worlds with unique characters to battle and interact with, objects to collect and elements to explore
- ThreeSpace 3D engine allows fluid real-time movement never before seen in an action/adventure game
- Complete real-time 3D rendering of all game worlds and characters
- Hot Keys allow complex movements and activities to be conducted with one key stroke
- Easy-to-use interface developed with novice players in mind - interface disappears to allow full-screen gameplay
- Toggle between 1st-person and 3rd person views
- Seamless integration of interiors and exteriors in real-time 3D