FAQ

[Brassfire]

This thread will be kept for important and recurring questions about The Hero6 Project.

What is the Hero6 Project, and why was it started?
The Hero6 Project is a volunteer team creating an old-style Adventure/RPG similar to the Quest for Glory series by Sierra. The Hero6 Project began shortly following Sierra's cancelation of the Quest for Glory series after the fifth game, Dragon Fire.

However, it must be stated that Hero6 is NOT Quest for Glory VI. It is a similar game in the same genre, but Hero6 is an original game, and not a sequel in any way to Quest for Glory. Furthermore, no characters, settings or other intellectual property from the Quest for Glory series will be used.

How did Hero6 start and who started it?
Hero6 was born June 1st, 1999. It was Te'ja Laymind's idea to start the project. Te'ja is a very good programmer, and we thank him very much for starting Hero6.

PHattiE provided the original web page, in addition to his talents as an Artist, Programmer, and Writer. In fact, PHattiE is the one who wrote the main plot outline for Hero6.

Why the name Hero6 if it's not a sequel?
The name Hero6 was chosen because there are five Quest for Glory games. This game is also about an adventurer's quest to become a Hero. Since we hope to continue the "spirit" of Quest for Glory, we have chosen the name Hero6 for our project, though it is the first game in the Hero6 series, not the sixth game in the Quest for Glory series.  

The full name of the game will be "Hero6: Rite of Passage".

When will it be finished?
Oooohh, this question comes up a lot.

We don't know. We do this in our spare time, spare time is an oxymoron, yadda yadda...

How much will the game cost when it's finished?
Nothing. Nada. Nichts. Niks. Rien. The game will be completely freeware, and downloadable from the Internet. But keep in mind that the game is getting huge, so expect a large download split into parts.

There is a chance that the game will be put on CD, and that you may get a copy of it for the price of the CD and shipping. However, this has not been decided upon, and we will not know until the game is very close to release.

Will there be a recognizable tune?
Yes, there will, but it will not be the Quest for Glory March...

Will there be a sequel to Hero6?
We hope to develop a "Hero7" as a continuation of the Hero6 series. However, this depends upon the success of our first game, and the willingness of our members to work on the project.

How can I join Hero6?
Once you decide to join, you will be expected to help the team. Do not expect to see your name in the credits only because you joined the project! You need to work at Hero6 to make it in the credits list! (Yes, it is hard, occasionally boring, but very satisfying WORK.)

If you are still interested, contact the administrator of the section(s) you're interested in by looking up their contact information in the member list. They will ask you for a sample of your work, and the number of hours per week that you estimate you can help out.

Alternatively, click here and fill up the application form.

How is the plot department organized?
The full plotline of Hero6 is located in the Members section. Once something changes, that version is updated. This is to make sure no false events sneak into the plot.

We will not be releasing the plot to the public, it would spoil the game.

How is the art department organized?
When a certain piece of art is needed, it is posted at the members art forum. People can then volunteer for the job and create a post with a link to their art when they have finished it.

Most art pieces are worked on by more than one member. The concept is drawn, then coloured or created in 3D and rendered to 2D. Then it is critiqued, then edited, then critiqued again, then re-edited... on and on.  

Finally, there is a version that most members agree on, and it is made final and passed on to the programmers.

How is the music department organized?
When a piece of music is needed, it is posted in the forums or assigned to a specific member, along with a description of the "mood" the piece needs to be in to match the artwork and plot events that may happen.

Music pieces are sometimes worked on by many different members. First, there is the composition, usually in midi format. Then, the piece is critiqued and arranged with soundfonts or other instrumentation. Then, the piece is recorded, sometimes in several versions by different members, to get the best sound possible. Once a final piece is selected, it is input into the final music database so we can keep track of what is done.

Once all the music is final, it will be edited to make sure the general volume is consistent, then passed on to the programmers.

How is the programming department organized?
The programming department of the game will only create the scripts for the engine we use, MAD. Should you want to help developing the MAD Adventure Game Engine, visit http://mad-project.sourceforge.net

Scripting jobs are assigned in the member forums.

How is the team organized?
The team is very loosely knit, there is no specific project administrator, and each section administrator (art, music, plot, programming) has to work with the others to create the game.

Members look to the administrators to set standards and keep track of assignments and finished work.

The website administrators make sure the forums are working, etc. The PR team socializes and makes a "buzz" about the project.

How many civilized locations will there be?
There are two civilized places: the town called Albion and a hamlet called Helmsdale. The size of Albion will be like that of Spielburg in QFG1, with maybe a few more villagers.

There are a few more places in the forest, but we'd like to keep them a secret for now.

Why is it taking so long?
This is because of one major reason: no one from the team is getting paid to work on Hero6. This means we all do this in our spare time. (Hahahahaha.)

The downside of this is that it'll take a lot longer, but the upside is that we will make a very fine product, since we don't have any managers that state the game *must* be finished before a certain date. That'll mean no more Error 52's!

Will we be able to import our old QfG char?
Our game starts with a newbie Hero, and it is not the next Quest for Glory, so you will not be able to import a QfG character into Hero6.

What time of year will it be in the game?
Hero6 will take place in early to late summer. (Yes, it was previously said to be in spring, we have a very important plot point at harvest time and not enough time elapses before that to justify starting the game in the previous season.)

What sort of music can we expect?
The game will feature very nice MP3 music. Check out our downloads and comment!

You will be able to download a sound effects pack and a music pack separately from the game download, however if you do not download either pack, there will be no sound.

What art quality can we expect?
The game resolution is in 320x240x16-bit to emulate oldstyle Sierra games. However, the intro movie will also be available in 640x480 for your enjoyment.

Have a look at our gallery and comment on the artwork!

Will there be a multiplayer option?
There will not be a multiplayer option for Hero6, however it is being considered for the sequel.

Are there any familiar NPCs from QfG?
No. Due to copyright restrictions there will be no familiar NPCs. Hero6 has to be a completely original game.

Which classes will be implemented in the game?
The classes will be the same as the ones from QfG, the Fighter, the Mage, the Thief, and the Paladin.

How is fighting handled?
The fighting will be similar to QfG2.

What are the minimal system requirements?
The game will most like need only a Pentium 100, with 32 megs of RAM. However, the DOS demo requires a Pentium II 300 or alike processor. Remember, since MAD is in development, we cannot be sure exactly what you will need. We are aiming to make it work on a Pentium 100.

Hero6 runs on Windows 95, 98, 2000, ME, NT, and DOS. The MAD engine team is currently working on XP compatibility.

Can I port the game to Linux or Mac?
Yes, indeed, although I'm not sure if it's possible. Please contact Daemious about the capabilities of the MAD Engine.

Will weak enemies get tougher?
Well to keep this game a fair challenge the enemies will get tougher once the Hero builds up his skills. Since he starts out as a true rookie and ends the game as a victorious adventurer you can expect a great range of enemies.

Size of the final game?
Since there will be an intro movie and also quite a few mp3's, the total game size would be anywhere from 300-400 MB.

The music will be approximately 110 MB in total, and will be available for download in two separate packs: sfx and music.

The intro movie will also be available as a separate download, you will be able to choose a 640x480 version or a game res version. We do not have any estimate of the size for the intro yet.

We do not have a size for the game itself yet.

When we know a more exact size we will update this to let you know.

What format is the music?
The music will be high-quality 128 kbps mp3.

How large will the music pack download be?
The music will probably be around 100 minutes in length, and 100-120 MB in size, which is why it will be a separate pack to download.

Will there be a midi version?
No. Some of the best music made for Hero6 was made by members who have now departed the team, and who didn't make their pieces in midi to start with.

midi to mp3 = difficult to do with the very high quality that we want, but possible and reasonable to do.
mp3 to midi = could delay the game five more years just to get a midi version.

Will there be a voice pack?
The music team is currently focusing on getting the game music done so that you have a game to play, voice pack or no voice pack.

Voice packs, great as they can be if done well, are not necessary to a game, and if done badly or rushed too much, would totally ruin the game.

If someone wants to come forward after the game is done, and administer a team of volunteers to make a voice pack, then please contact the music administrator.

Will there be a soundtrack CD?
Yes, we will possibly release a soundtrack CD to raise money for project web hosting and future projects.

If so, it will definitely be a reasonable price and will contain extra files - ones that are beautiful but just didn't make it to a particular place in the game. It might also contain other extras.

Also, you WILL be allowed to make copies of the CD for friends.  

I've got a question that isn't covered in the FAQ!
You can ask your question right here!  

Admins will also occasionally add questions and answers that come up regularly at the forums.

[Jafar]

*Raises his hand*
Do you think Hero6 will be finished this year?

[Kailkay]

Answer: Get out of our livingroom, for the LAST time!

Hahaha, just kidding.
This is definitely a recurring question, and it can be answered only with 'we hope so, we want it to, and if all goes well, then yes', but it's very likely it will not be released until first or even second quarter of next year.

*nods, feeling official*

Edit Valiant: This thread is only for recurring questions and will have to remain on-topic. The rest of the posts are therefor deleted

Edit Kailkay: Yay! I win! I am the wiener!

[Louisiana Night]

What versions of Windows will the game work on(9x/NT/XP/etc)?

and more importantly... Will it be available on other OSs(like Linux)?



I haven't seen these questions before, but I think the OSs a program will be avaiable for, should be in any FAQ.

P.S. If it will only be available in Windows, I'll try it on some emulators, and post the results(after the game is released).

[Brassfire]

The game is for windows 98/XP.

Louisiana Night, thanks for your offer of testing on emulators. I'm sure Daemious will love that. I'm not sure if we could use a programmer to port the engine to Linux or not, you could always contact him. Hero6 has never had a mac programmer so there will definitely not be a mac port.

[Jarrod]

The game is for windows 98/XP.

Not to ask the stupid question, but why not 2000 as well since it is basically XP without the eye candy.  I would be willing to help test on Windows 2000 if needed. Is this because the development team only has Win 98 an XP?  

[Pwincess]

Windows 2000 was designed as an upgrade of Win NT, thus is primarily focused on ensuring that the platform is secure, rather than catering for computer games.  The operating system is actually slowed down to ensure that the system is more stable.  For this reason, don't be suprised if for sound on some games doesn't work, etc.  Win XP on the other hand caters for both security and gaming.

[p]

Actually, WinXP runs on the same kernel as 2000.  They are practically the same OS, except winXP is about 60% slower because of the new skinable GUI (which can be disabled).

MAD should also run in 95 and ME.  Any windows platform that has directx capabilities should be able to handle it fine.

 

[Louisiana Night]

I never heard them claim it wouldn't work.

It looks like they simply said they don't support/recommend it(to me anyways).

P.S. They might have the same kernel, but the odds of getting a game that works in Win2000 to work in XP, is much higher than the odds of getting a game that works in XP to work in Win2000. Most of it's due to the 9x emulators(and thus 9x games), but Win2000 can also cause problems with XP games not designed for Win2000(an oddity, to be sure, but they exist). On the other hand, I've never seen a Win2000 game/program that didn't work correctly with XP(I've used both OSs, so I'm basing what I say on experience).

[Pwincess]

Questions from the June 2005 Chat Session 1 (with slight modifications)

1.  How is this game comparing in length to the original Quest for Glory games?
Originally Hero6 it was planned to be much longer than Shadows.  In order to try and get it done, we've cut back a bit.   It would have taken at least twice the time of Shadows, but that plot fell apart and was eventually condensed into a much firmer plot.  So, Hero6 should now be longer than QFGI but not longer than QFG4.

2.  What about plot/character development?  I always felt in a lot of respects the QFG series was sometimes weak in this department, with the exception of QFG4.
Hero6 has a lot of NPCs, so naturally we can't expect to offer deep fulfilling relationships with all of them.  ATM we're going through a major revision of the dialogues for the NPC's. The originals were not up to the standards we wanted to see. The new dialogues should make the NPC's a lot deeper than original.

3.  There IS a tavern, right? Half the QFGs failed in that department.
Well... we had a specific bar scene, but it was shut down due to health code violations...

4.  On a scale from 1-10, how pleased are you with how the development of the game is progressing?
Definitely 10.  I love what the game is going to be.

5.  Will you have any 3D elements in the game?
There have been some talk of 3D portions, but we can't say one way or another at the moment.

6.  Will you have a speech pack? I saw the auditions vote @ the forums…
If we have a speech pack, it will not be with the initial release, it would come later.

7.  How large is the town going to be?  Larger than Spielburg?
The town in Hero6 is about twice the size of Spielberg.

8.  What about the overall tone of the game? Ligh-hearted? Darker? Are there going to be some QFG4 style 'I can't believe they just did that to that character' moments?
How dark will our game be?....hmmm…  The tone is closer to qfg1 than 4.  I mean, it is darker than 1, but it was still pretty lighthearted.

9.  Does anyone important get killed?
That would be ruining a potentially great surprise, lol.  By the way, the hero gets killed if you don't play well enough

10.  So how does the money work?
You exchange it for goods and services *grin*  I think we are using silver and gold pieces, but I could be wrong.

11.  Will your sunsets and sunrises reesemble QFG1/3 or QFG4 (reddish, love red)?
We’re working on this at the moment…

12.  How does the element of game mechanics (stats, battles ect) compare to the other QFG titles?
Stats compare pretty closely I'd say. We've changed a few things, but overall it's very similar.

13.  Are you using the customary 500 point scoring system?
I'm not sure if we're going to bother with points.  Battle mechanics are something we've gone from one system to another on, so I don't think we can really give an answer on that.  Ie.  We're still working on tweaking the battle system so that it works best for this game, but there is no scoring system in place at this time.

14.  I remember vaguely a few years ago a technical demo of a scene involving a waterfall, I think there was a woman there as well...is that still in the game, or was it just for promotional purposes?
The scene and the woman are still in the game.  However, that particular event isn't from the game, but the background, music, and character are from the game.

15.  Has there been any particular mythology or legends that have had an influence on the games storyline or setting? I suspect a basis in Celtic history, but will Celtic legend play any part in the story?
Yes.  Hero6 is based on Celtic lore, but it isn't celtic history in a nutshell.

16.  Is this gonna be another one of those with an Evil Wizard with a crony who is a fighter?
Yeap.

17.  What about the sense of peril, is it like QfG's 'this valley sucks', or 'the world is doomed', starting the adventurer on a steep learning curve?
More like "this valley is doomed"…

18.  Are you really thinking about later chapters? Is this a one-off? If it's successful, do you think you'll start another game under a different name like AGD and Himalaya Studios?
Yes, we do want to continue the game on after hero6. Not all members, of course, but many.  To some, like myself, this has become a permanent hobby. As for name change, I don't know if we would change it. I think we like hero6 too much.  I think that the hero6 team, at least in part, will move onto the next game. However, there are relatively few of us who have actually been here from the beginning

19.  Will there be hot chick in the game?
Hrmm lets see... we have a few hot chicks.  I think some of the hottest one(s) might get scrapped.  We don't want to share, I’m sure you understand ;-)

20.  Is this game a little more thief-friendly than the QfG series became? I'm not sure if it was down to the whole 'way of the paladin' view the Coles were emphasising, but it seemed the thief started to become a neglected character class...almost like a more agile fighter, with a knife instead of a sword… and an easy way of making cash.
We're doing what we can to balance all the classes. The thief is really the hardest to write for, since all of his solutions require wits.  Which means that not only do we have to plan elaborate ways for a puzzle to be solved, but we also can't make them so outrageous that the player won't figure it out.  That being said, I think there is plenty in the game specifically tailored to the thief.

21.  So no ninja-esque crawling across the ceiling, dropping behind the guard, and slitting his throat?
Good god, no… this isn't "Splinter Cell".

22.  Is there ANY slitting of throats?
There used to be quite a bit more for all the classes, but due to time constraints we had to pull a little out.

23.  Is the making of this game democratic? Are cuts, plot changes etc decided by majority or consensus, or are there a few main decision makers who need to call the hard shots?
It used to be much more democratic, but that led to too much beurocracy.  Essential decisions that needed to be decided were dragged out for months as members debated over the correct course of action.  Now the power rests in a few peoples hands. The final say is theirs, but we all act with the input of the other members.  None of us admins are tyrants. We try to be democratic, be all of us know there is a point where we have to say, "debate over, this is what is going to happen".

24.  Had any major tantrums or walkouts?
Yes.  Two that I can recall recently.  After all, people grow very attached to their work. It's understandable that people who spend hours doing something just to see it get thrown out would be upset.

25.  what's the average age of the people involved in the project? are a lot still in school? you'd think that those with careers and life in the real world would realise that things don't always run exactly as you want them to.
I think for the most part college or post college.  Most of us joined when we were in highschool, and that was 6 years ago.

26.  Do you still need members, or are things at the point where its the core crew putting in the majority of the work? This is a backdoor 'what percentage is complete' question.
Both. The core crew is putting together the game, but we are looking for some members.   Problem is, our applicants have to be skillful. We all started pretty unskilled and learned over time. Unfortunately, we can't afford that at this point. Applicants have to be up to the standards we currently hold.

27.  What sort of positions are you looking for? Are you looking for technical programming now?
I've reviewed dozens of plot applications from enthusiastic fans who I'd love to have as members. Unfortunately, they would have to be tough how to write to the current dialogue standards, which isn't going to happen practically.  Positions currently open- Skillful programmers, experienced artists who can submit work for review, and dialogue writers experienced in creative writing.  I think we need to wait closer to release to get a good beta tester though.

28.  So what part of game creation are you at? Bug testing?  Still programming it?
We're constantly writing, programming and bug testing it.
 
29.  So, how far are you into the game?
We have probably 90% of the artwork completed for the rest of the game, we just need the 10% to be done before it can be implemented.  Also, all the music is already written.  Basically, the first 1/3 of the game represents more than 70% of the total effort.

30.  What about sprites?
We need a lot of quest related sprites still.  I'd say the last 2/3 of quest related sprites aren't done.

[Striker]

3. There IS a tavern, right? Half the QFGs failed in that department.
Well... we had a specific bar scene, but it was shut down due to health code violations...

Actually, there were two taverns at one time.  Well, one was just an inn with a bar.

[Gronagor]

For some reason our artists were spending too much time working on the bar.
We had to close it down until further notice.   <_<

[Guest]

That's a good way of putting it!  

[Swift]

These Questions were taken from the Anniversary Chat, session 2, with some modification.

So, is there any room in any of the departments for hiring?

Yes, all sections except for music have opening. However, in each case you'll have to submit work for review. We need experienced members.

How is the 3d intro movie going?

Bromios was working on a 3D intro, but I'm not sure how far along it is. If he can finish it, it will be in the game. Otherwise we'll have to do without it.

So...will there be any more work releases before the final product?

There probably will be something. However, to make a playable demo takes programming time away from the programmers who could be working on a finished game. So until they have more free time, they have to devote all their time to the finished product. That way the game is released 6 months earlier.

What ways do you plan to offer for people to obtain their copy of Hero6 ?

That’s an issue that we've discussed quite a bit. We plan on releasing via several methods. BitTorrent definitely looks best at the moment. We've also discussed hosting on several sites to cater to people who don't know how or can't use bittorrent. People will be able to download the game from www.hero6.com. I'm sure we could also submit to download.com or the like.

What about those at college behind firewalls?
 
Most colleges actually don't ban BitTorrent, they just monitor your upload and download speeds or block the ports I should say.

What's a general overview of the game for a newbie like me that's simply lurking and has never heard of this before?

Hero6 is based on QfG style gaming. The atmosphere of the game is influenced by celtic mythology. Each QfG game had a different location and atmosphere, whether it was african, german, greek, or Arabian. Hero6 is longer than QfG 1, with better graphics, and an awesome soundtrack. I can't reveal the plot, but the style follows QfG. It’s also more realistic than KQ in plot. QfG strayed from KQ in that it was not based on fairy tale, and followed a more realistic style, even if it did have demons and magic users. Also, the games were sometimes quite dark (not so much for QfG1, but the rest were).

Estimated release date time?

It will be released when it is done and we are happy with it. If you want something more concrete... It could be finished in as little as 3 months if we had a period of hard work. However, that isn't going to happen, so it will take significantly longer than that. Real life pulls away from our members ability to put in work. I'm hoping by the end of this year, but who knows. It all depends on how things go with our real lives.

Anything being done on Hero7 yet?

Hero7 hasn't even started yet, although it has been talked about for the last four years. Some VERY basic plot has been done for Hero7, but it is up in the air. It might be thrown out and we have some music and art that may or may not be used. Anything for Hero7 that we have, however, is pretty much things that we couldn't fit in Hero6 or wouldn't work. We don't have the time to work on 2 projects simultaneously

In your opinion what is the best area of the game? (graphics, sound, that kind of stuff)

BigRyan: Yes, I'll say graphics and sound...
Erasmus: I think the music is outstanding, and I might have to go with that. I'm proud of my plot, but I think Brassy did a great job with music. I think the game, all of it, is impressive. Of all the things, however, music is probably best

What's the word on mini games?

There will be a few. I don't want to name specifics, but yes. There are about 3 right now, and there are more mini games in development too

I know imports from QfG will not be supported, but will Hero6 contain the option to export your character for use in a (possible) future game, aka Hero7?

There should be an opportunity to export. We haven't implemented it yet, but it is something we definitely plan on doing.

How far has Hero6 progressed?

Progress - 70% done I'd say. That’s overall.

Are there any plans to translate the game into different languages?

No, we have none. However, if after it is done we have someone who can translate, it might be possible. We haven't really put much time into worrying about translation. If after everything is said and done, there is an opportunity, we'll take it. However, right now it's hard enough to write original dialogues, let alone creating decent translation. We have members from all over the world, however, so it might happen in the end.

How much artwork, writing, and plot has been kept from the first two years of Hero6's life?

There wasn't much writing the first couple years. There was plot, but most of the plot has been reworked.

Will you guys reduce the scope of the game in order to get it released in the somewhat near future? Or I should say, have you guys had to reduce the scope of the game?

It's already been reduced, but it won't be reduced further. Even if it does get further reduced, only very minor things will be affected.

So do you know what the current scope would be? Like how large is this game compared to QFG4 in terms of NPCs, replay, rooms, length, etc?

More NPC's than 4. Less length I think. More scenes. Replay- I don't know, probably same. There are class-based quests and dialogue, but the game doesn't change too much on class.

[Glenn]

Hi there.

Just stumbled across this page, and I'm really glad you guys are doing this.

I've always loved QfG, and I know your vision will surely be a wonderful game as well.

You mentioned that you weren't sure about including a voice pack or not, but I just wanted to offer to lend my services as a voice actor to your project.  
I have voice acting experience, including experience playing multiple roles.

You can contact me at BrotherGlenn@gmail.com if you're interested.
I'd love to help out.

--Glenn