King's Quest (10) (aka as King's Quest X') was to be the follow-up to King's Quest IX by Roberta Williams.
Background[]
According to Roberta Williams following the previous adventure in (9), and defeat of Rasputris. The next game might turn out to be a love story, a love triangle between Rosella, Connor, and Edgar.
- And – you never know – maybe an affection will develop between Rosella and Connor? And poor Edgar? Hmmm….a struggle could commence between Edgar and Connor (but not in this game. In King’s Quest 10)![1]
Over the years Roberta Williams has brushed away questions about any future sequels in the series for the most part. However she did discuss an idea or two about what a future game might hold if she could have produced more games in the series... Some of these thoughts included;
- How much of a role will the royal family play in Mask of Eternity? Will Connor marry Rosella, or is she still dating Edgar from King's Quest 7?
- The only character from previous King's Quests will be a couple of cameo appearances by King Graham. I felt that it was time to feature a new character to the saga of King's Quest as long as we were updating the whole look and feel of the series. And--who knows? Perhaps in some future King's Quest game, Connor will at least meet Rosella! Don't worry, though. Connor is a very interesting character in his own right, and I'm sure he will win over many of the traditional King's Quest hearts.
- "What if Connor met Rosella? That would be good... We got that problem with Edgar... Love triangles are always interesting." Roberta Williams -Mask of Eternity Talkspot Interview, Part 1.
From Roberta Williams: “We never know, Rosella may be so grateful as to marry the new hero, in the end.”[2]
The idea that Rosella might start dating Connor (then "Brendan"?) appears to very early idea as early as 1995.
- "As far as King Graham, Alexander, Valanice, and Rosella are concerned -- they ARE in the game, but they are the poor victims of the evil sorcerer's spell. YOU -- as a "former" statue-turned-alive-knight -- are the main character of King's Quest 8. You can save the royal family from the evil spell they've been placed under. You -- as the knight -- can save them and then get the chance to become a "real man" in the end (a la Pinocchio). Princess Rosella might be SO grateful that he saved her and her family that...who knows?-1995 interview
While not specifically King's Quest related she has also said that the future of Adventure Gaming may have to rely on the multiplayer, and become something similar to MMORPG, but instead would be a Massively Multiplayer Online Adventure Game. In fact, she said originally there was a discussion for early on for KQ8 to have a multiplayer component, but it was something she had save for KQ9 instead (Talkspot Part I). Ken Williams had been discussing the idea of a Multiplayer King's Quest long in InterAction Magazine before or during development of KQ8. In KQ9 the multiplay may have included the three protagonists for that game (Rosella, Alexander, and Connor). If this idea had continued into King's Quest X, perhaps this would have allowed players to play the part of Edgar and Connor and compete for Rosella's attention. Or even allowed Rosella to get in on the puzzle solving action herself.
Behind the scenes[]
Another discussion for future game ideas in the King's Quest series (at the time of KQ6 between Roberta and Jane Jensen) was to include Mordack, Manannan, and Abdul Alhazred together as a group, KQ6 planted the hints of this future plot idea through the creation of the Society of the Black Cloak (but the series never went back to it). It is always possible it could have ended up as part of the greater plot line for KQ9 as well. Would Mordack still have been alive, or just mentioned as a past member, with Shadrack filling in the third position.[3] Assuming Rasputris and black cloaks hadn't figured into King's Quest 9 (and any loose ends hadn't been cleared up), its possible they could have been adapted into chapter X.
References[]
- ↑ KQ9 Design Doc, Roberta Williams via Ken Williams, pers.comm. 10/7/2020
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/19991007123625/http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/7412/Moenr.html
- ↑ "The "Black Cloak Society" was never an actual term that I instigated or thought up. I'm not actually sure where that came from. The closest thought that I have on that subject is that: when I was working with Jane Jensen on King's Quest 6, and we thought up the evil vizier, we talked loosely about the possibility of putting Manannan, Mordack, and the vizier together as group -- possibly -- in a future King's Quest. There was loose reference to the possibility in King's Quest 6, although nothing was set in stone at that time. I think that it's possible that Jane Jensen might have mentioned the possibility (perhaps) in subsequent interviews on the subject, although, I'm not sure about that. Later on, I heard about the Black Cloak Society and kind of wondered where that phrase came from, but, I never refuted it as I thought it was kind of cool and, probably, would have gone on with the idea in future King's Quests had I had the chance. And, one final thing: Hagatha was never part in any discussion of a Black Cloak Society. - Roberta Williams at SierraGamers (6-9-2003)