Ideas to get this started again...

[PauloftheWest]

Wow, this is sad.  So how far did y'all get?

It might help to release source code and any tools you used.  When I was looking for a project to help with (programming wise), I first looked here. When I noticed that things seem very tight-lipped and not open, I looked elsewhere.

Okay that last sentence came off bad... No malice was intended.

~PauloftheWest

[JackofAllTrades]

I too was inquiring in hopes that I could help out as a writer.  I hate to toot my own horn but I'm a very good writer who excels in plot development and dialogue.  If deltamatrix's response about plot management being the death of the game, I'd love to help get things back on track.

[PauloftheWest]

It seems the consensus is we need a reboot, and we need to get organized.  I can do organizing and programming.  So, from this post we have the following people:

JackOfAllTrades: Writer
UndergroundJazzman: Music
PauloftheWest: Organizer/Programmer

Paladin0707077 has some very good points.  First, we need people that have skills to help with the project.  I've been a software developer for many years with projects including websites, device drivers, security, and some games. I've seen the software life cycle from creation through maintenance.  So, I know many tools and can keep the project (programming side) on the right track.

Now, that being said we shouldn't dissuade people from helping--there are many things people can help with.  Simply summarizing discussions, proofreading, and giving opinions on ideas are all helpful.  So, if anyone is interested, even in 'just helping', speak up!

The other thing Paladin said that I wanted to touch base on was getting people to stick with the program.  What I've learned is to keep people interested is to keep communication and discussion going.  I mean, if you look at how dead the forums have been recently, it shows that the lack of discussion leads to lack of work.  So we need to keep ideas flowing in a friendly environment.  What this also means is that we should put out a very simple demo ASAP.  That way people can see something happening, which generates more interest, which leads to more discussion, etc, etc, etc...

What should this demo be? Well, I think it should incorporate the basic elements that made Quest for Glory so much fun.  For me it was parallel to mythologies, good puzzles, amusing characters, and the lightheartedness of the whole thing.  (Including those wonderfully horrible puns.)  So, the demo could be something very simple: three screens where hero meets some character taken from Celtic Mythology, but has the personality of a Rock Star.  His problem? His Hammered Dulcimer was stolen by a fairy troll.  I don't know, I'm a programmer, not a writer.  So, I'd need some help from JackOfAllTrades on this one.

Some other questions:
What else caused Hero6 to be put on hiatus?
Who on the dev team is still active/might become active if we get things going again?
What about QFG make it so much fun for you?  How can we SIMPLY incorporate that into a demo?
How can we organize a large team of: writers, artists, musicians?  (I've organized programmers before.)
What parts of the old game do we have, and where can we get them?

One thing I don't like is the visitor/member split on this site.  From reading past posts, and my personal opinion, it has created too much of a 'us' and 'them' situation.  Can we get that removed?  Will it be easier if I just create a new forum?  Or am I the only one that feels this way?

So, lets first see who is interested and flesh out some of the requirements of project.  Then we can do a quick demo while starting on the overall design of the project.

~PauloftheWest

[JackofAllTrades]

As the writer of a failed project.  I can easily say that what kills a project is a lack of dedicated team members.  I wrote an insane amount of plot and dialogue for a different project whilst directing the work-flow, and generated a fanbase by psuedo-blogging, sharing artwork, and talking about plot.  I got a TON of people interested which helped the recruitment process significantly.  The problem is that most of those people are only interested in helping superficially.  They want to be a part of the project until they realize that its actual work. 

By the way.  I'm not interested in trying to accomplish all three of those roles myself.  It stifled my creativity so much; not that I didn't have other things to do for the other project while I wasn't writing.

If this is going to happen we need to look at a few things.

1. We need to try to salvage what is left of the existing game and to do that we need permission from the original creators. 
2. I need to see a plot synopsis.
3. I need to bone up on Celtic Mythology.  I know nothing of it.
4. I want to know who is willing to honestly spend a few YEARS working on this.

[Helio]

Well, i`m really want to help, but i doubt my ability do so. My only somewhat useful skills - some knowledge of mythology and writing skill (i, in end, IS writer, but this position already taken and my native language is Russian). Howewer, with full heart i wish for rebirth of project.

[TheNarwhal]

I've been watching this project for years now. Mostly just in terms of checking the front page to see if there was any major news, but I've lurked through the forums once or twice as well. I doubt I'd be any use working on it, mostly because I'm lazy and unreliable, but I might hang around and be part of the community since things are hopefully starting up again. Maybe I can at least give some useful feedback here and there.

For starters, something I liked about QfG that you didn't mention: the stat system, and all the mechanics (fighting and diverse interactions with the environment) that went with it. The actual stat system is probably way too big and complicated to get into a demo, but maybe you can throw in one item/ability from each class or something. To me, this is the element that set QfG apart from other adventure games, so hopefully someone can figure out a way to wedge a taste of it into the demo.

[Helio]

For starters, something I liked about QfG that you didn't mention: the stat system, and all the mechanics (fighting and diverse interactions with the environment) that went with it.

Yes, i`m agree. This equal-parted mix of Quest and RPG with many posibilities quest-solving from class skills... It`s was wonderfull.

[JackofAllTrades]

To this day, I've never played the original hero6 demos.  So I know nothing of the engine or the progress made.  What I do know is that AGS is a fantastic engine.  Depending on where we have to start from, we may want to consider using AGS instead, and since QFG2 has all ready been released on it.  I bet we could get Erpy to help us get the stats up and running with relative ease.

[PauloftheWest]

JackofAllTrades,

Ya, I totally agree.  So, here are some comments.

1) Yes, we totally need to salvage the project.  What are the positions of the devs on this?  Are they cool with releasing their work?
2) & 3)  I was just making an example with Celtic mythology.  We can use whatever works the "best".
4) I agree that a lot of new people's help is superficial, because once people find out that it is work a lot leave.  I don't know the best way to handle this.  What I usually do is basically give new people tasks that aren't immediately needed.  That way they can "prove" if they are sticking around.

Hello/TheNarwhal,

Two of the most overlooked and important jobs are PR ("Public Relations") and Accountant/Organizer/Secretary.  The PR person knows what is intricately occurring in the project and can explain the status in "layman's" terms.  Also, PR is on the lookout for acquiring new people to help with the project. The Accountant/Secretary first job is to ensure everyone knows what their highest priority task is.  One example of this is to attend all meetings and e-mailing everyone what jobs they agreed to do.  Furthermore, they keep records of past meetings and forum posts so that everyone can stay on task.  Those things may sound remedial, but it is amazing how much it helps move the project along.

If you don't want either of those two jobs then simply proofreading, listening to music, and testing software is always helpful!

TheNarwhal makes a good point, the stats system was enjoyable.  I think we should implement one stat in the demo.

AGS may very well be the system we use.  Before we can decide I think we need to look at what we have (people-wise/salavage) and list the requirements for our game.  That way we can see if AGS fits our needs (which it probably will.)

So, can anyone get in contact with the old devs and ask for copy of the source and/or media?

~Paul

[JackofAllTrades]

Well, I sent a PM to Deltamatrix but its not in my outbox anymore so I'm not sure if it actually went out... 

[Helio]

Hello/TheNarwhal,

Two of the most overlooked and important jobs are PR ("Public Relations") and Accountant/Organizer/Secretary.  The PR person knows what is intricately occurring in the project and can explain the status in "layman's" terms.  Also, PR is on the lookout for acquiring new people to help with the project.

Well, count me in, then.

[JackofAllTrades]

All right.  That's one more.  Woohoo.  I'm going to start boning up on my Mythology. We really need to get some artists on board though before we can accomplish anything.

[TheNarwhal]

I think I'll stick to just generic helping out, such as being involved in discussions, and probably testing things once they get made. I don't handle responsibility too well, and I'd hate to be a drag on the project. I'm also in college, and summer's ending in a few weeks. This way I can probably be fairly useful, but if I get distracted or lazy it won't throw a wrench in the works.

On the topic of testing things and discussions, how open do you think things will be this time? Paul mentioned disliking the 'us' and 'them' split of the past. Some things probably need to be kept to the development team (plot details, for instance), but once the game's getting done, how early will testing be open to the community at large? How much of the behind-the-scenes discussion will be hidden from people not working on the game, and how much will the developers be listening to community suggestions/ideas? I guess these are things that will be figured out along the way, mostly, but I thought I'd bring them up.

[JackofAllTrades]

I think I'll stick to just generic helping out, such as being involved in discussions, and probably testing things once they get made. I don't handle responsibility too well, and I'd hate to be a drag on the project. I'm also in college, and summer's ending in a few weeks. This way I can probably be fairly useful, but if I get distracted or lazy it won't throw a wrench in the works.

On the topic of testing things and discussions, how open do you think things will be this time? Paul mentioned disliking the 'us' and 'them' split of the past. Some things probably need to be kept to the development team (plot details, for instance), but once the game's getting done, how early will testing be open to the community at large? How much of the behind-the-scenes discussion will be hidden from people not working on the game, and how much will the developers be listening to community suggestions/ideas? I guess these are things that will be figured out along the way, mostly, but I thought I'd bring them up.

I'm really glad you are being honest about this.  People who can't help out a project like this who take on more responsibility then they should cause problems and due more harm then good to the project in the end. 

I don't really think we should worry too much about the website until we actually get a real start on the game.  I personally like the way this website is set up.  Having a separate visitors area lets the visitors in on everything but the plot.  I don't want my story being spoiled before its done.  We have to keep some mystery.

[PauloftheWest]

Helio,

Cool!  Well, we first need to get more people involved with this project.  So your first task is to advertise and try to find as many other people interested as possible.  Programmers, musicians, artists, writers (JackOfAllTrades?), organizer's, etc...  Make sure people know that the current plan is for a reboot and we are in the beginning stages.

If you need help writing the advertisment, write something first and Jack/I will help improve upon it.

TheNarwhal,

Thank you for the honesty, that means a lot.  If at some point you believe you have more time, tell us.

You do bring up a good point about the 'us' vs 'them'.  I'm an Open-source type of guy.  Although, I believe in the BSD, not the GPL, side of things.  In my mind we should always give out the running game so people can provide as much feedback as possible.  On the other hand, I understand that keeping some things a surprise is very important to the health of the project.  This is why I'm pushing the demo idea so hard.  With it, we can experiment with many things while we iron out the plot of the story.  Furthermore, I'd like to give out some ideas of the story and some character info, but I don't know how well that will fly with the devs.

So, instead of a Visitor's and a Members area, I'd prefer just one forum, but the section that discusses sensitive plot ideas or whatever of the game can be hidden from non-devs.

Anyways, you are right in that this is something that will be discussed for awhile.

~Paul