The Silver Lining (video game)

Last updated

The Silver Lining
Silver Lining logo.jpg
Developer(s) Phoenix Online Studios
Series King's Quest (unofficial)
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows
ReleaseJuly 18, 2010 – TBD
Genre(s) Adventure
Mode(s)single-player

The Silver Lining (TSL) is an episodic video fangame based on the King's Quest series, which was developed and released in free download format by Phoenix Online Studios for Microsoft Windows starting on July 18, 2010. [1] While five chapters were planned, the most recent release, Episode 4: 'Tis in My Memory Locked. And You Yourself Shall Hold The Key Of It, was released on November 8, 2011.

Contents

Although the game features 3D graphics, its gameplay departs from Sierra Online's last King's Quest release, The Mask of Eternity , which was mainly criticized for its RPG-like atmosphere, and settles into that created by the previous titles (for example, the setting returns to the land of the Green Isles, visited in King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow , while some recurring characters include Mannanan from King's Quest III: To Heir Is Human and Pan from King's Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella ). The plot itself revolves around King Graham as he desperately seeks the help of ancient druidic artifacts to undo the evil cast upon his children, Alexander and Rosella. [2]

The fifth and final episode for the series, A Thousand Times Good Night, remains in development in 2020 after multiple delays since 2011. [3] Since Phoenix Online Studios changed its name to Phoenix Online Publishing on 19 May 2014 in order to respecialize for publishing of independent quest games and focus on more profitable endeavors. The company soon made a statement of releasing all rights to the game to Activision upon request. In August the same year, Activision began to collaborate with its Sierra Entertainment division on new King's Quest game.

Episodes

Game development

Production of TSL began in October 2000. After a long period of limited production and loss of focus, the original team was reorganized under César Bittar, previously one of the project writers, in January 2002. Dividing the production crew into five departments (Art, Design, Audio, Programming, and Public Relations), he turned Phoenix into an efficient working unit. Little of the original plot was kept, so its resemblance to the original team's concept is limited.

The game was intended to be released as a trilogy, but later was altered to be released as a single game. The finished game was to contain Chapters 1 and 2 at first, but soon into the plot writing, a third chapter was added, and then the team has added two more. Although it has been originally proposed to end the game on a cliffhanger, the team has actually thought through a "decent" ending, but has yet to implement it due to delays and increased attention on commercial projects.

A short demo of Chapter 1 was released on July 30, 2006. A beta testing build containing 3 scenes from Chapter 1 was released on March 9, 2008. Later in June 2009 the team said that in the next couple of months they would be working to put the finishing touches on the game and submit it to Vivendi Games, Inc for approval. There was a delay in production from late 2009 to early 2010, when the first chapter was finally achieved and released on 18 July.

After releasing Chapters 3 and 4, many of the team workers have abandoned the project due to budget issues, and went on to perform paid work for their second game, Cognition. Bittar said in late 2011 that he has managed to keep 5-6 guys still working on TSL, basically for free, and that he was looking to split the studios into two divisions in order to retain interest in the game. Several files have since then leaked online on quest forums, but none amount to be sufficient to complete Chapter 5. In mid-2012, one of Phoenix's workers said a Telltale Games forum thread that the company has decided to release Chapter 5 for free to anyone willing to finish it. The sequence of events surrounding this statement remains unclear.

The initial project was titled King's Quest IX: Every Cloak Has A Silver Lining (or KQ IX for short). Due to legal issues with Vivendi Games, Inc in 2005, and parent company Activision throughout 2009—10, the title has been changed. [4]

From its inception, the TSL project's stated intention was to give closure to the King's Quest series with the belief and assertion that the project was legal under U.S. fair use copyright law, though acknowledging that this was a legal gray area. The developers maintained a notice on their site promising to end the project if confronted by Vivendi Universal, the owner of the King's Quest license. In September 2005, after over four years of development, and immediately after providing their first trailer and announcing a release date, Phoenix Online Studios received a cease and desist e-mail from Vivendi. Phoenix kept their word and immediately halted all development on the project as they entered negotiations with Vivendi. Once the news was made public, fans of the game and the series began a mass mailing and e-mailing campaign organized by the Save King's Quest IX team to persuade Vivendi to allow Phoenix Online Studios to complete the project.

On November 29, 2005, Phoenix Online Studios was granted a Fan License by Vivendi. The license allowed for resumption of project development with the requirement that the title be changed to remove the "King's Quest" reference. All characters, locations, art, story, plot, and script content were permitted to remain unchanged. [5] [6] According to César Bittar, the full title at the time was The Silver Lining: a game inspired by the King's Quest series. [7]

After Vivendi Games merged with Activision in 2008, the latter became the new owner of the King's Quest franchise. Subsequently, Activision revoked the non-commercial license agreement previously negotiated between Vivendi and Phoenix Online Studios. After several months of negotiations, Activision issued its own cease-and-desist to The Silver Lining team, requesting that they cease production and take down all related materials on the game website. [8] On June 26, 2010, Activision had changed its mind and decided to allow The Silver Lining to be released, which was agreed on condition of TSL remaining a free release and Activision still keeping the rights to all the content bearing resemblance to the original series.

Sometime in June 2014 Phoenix has turned over the rights to Activision, whose owners were looking to reboot the series, but keeping it a secret (this is why Phoenix has started with a statement of becoming a publisher first). On August 7, Activision has announced the opening Sierra Entertainment, which then presented the official reboot of the series in 2015. Sierra now legally retains the rights to TSL publication, but so far, the game is still available for free at Phoenix. In fact, TSL has always been the intellectual property of Activision, who once simply granted Phoenix the right to produce their game for freeware distribution, with all changes upon request (like removing "King's Quest" from the title).

Release

"Episode 1: What is Decreed Must Be" was released on July 10, 2010 as a free download and served as a "re-introduction" to the world of King's Quest. The chapter focused on setting the stage for the following episodes.

"Episode 2: Two Households" was released on September 18, 2010 as a free download. Marking a return to classic, Sierra-style adventure, Episode 2 sees King Graham investigate the mysterious curse upon his children as he searches for ingredients for an antidote. Taking into account criticism from the gaming community in response to Episode 1, Phoenix Online implemented numerous improvements to The Silver Lining for the release of Episode 2, including an option to toggle between shorter and longer narrations, improved pathfinding, a more realistic walking animation, the addition of a run/walk mode, and widescreen support. [9]

"Episode 3: My Only Love Sprung From My Only Hate" was released on February 18, 2011 as a free download. This chapter contains more puzzles than the last two episodes and features King Graham's continuing quest to free his children. As a return to the classic problem-solving of the older games, note-taking is recommended, as well as returning multiple times to certain areas to see what has changed.

"Episode 4: Tis in My Memory Locked and You Yourself Shall Keep the Key of It" was released on November 6, 2011 as a free download.

"Episode 5: A Thousand Times Goodnight": Development status unknown. [10] No release date has been announced. [11]

Reception

The first episode of The Silver Lining was met with both praise and disappointment often in the same review, with most criticizing the voice acting, the lack of puzzles, and the short length. [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] The reaction to the quality of the graphics and music was more mixed in nature. Most said they would be giving the future episodes a try. MobyGames calculated an overall aggregate score of 68 based on eight reviews, [18] while Metacritic was calculated an overall score of 66 based on five reviews. [19]

MobyGames gave the second episode an aggregate score of 73 based on six reviews, [20] and the third episode a score of 67 based on five reviews. [21] There is no score given on Metacritic for any but the first episode.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blizzard Entertainment</span> American video game publisher and developer

Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher based in Irvine, California. A subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, the company was founded in February 1991 as Silicon & Synapse, Inc. by three graduates of the University of California, Los Angeles: Michael Morhaime, Frank Pearce and Allen Adham. The company originally concentrated on the creation of game ports for other studios' games before beginning development of their own software in 1993, with games like Rock n' Roll Racing and The Lost Vikings. In 1993, the company became Chaos Studios, Inc., and then Blizzard Entertainment soon after being acquired by distributor Davidson & Associates early in the following year. Shortly after, Blizzard released Warcraft: Orcs & Humans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Activision</span> American video game publisher

Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one of the largest third-party video game publishers in the world and was the top United States publisher in 2016.

Sierra Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game developer and publisher founded in 1979 by Ken and Roberta Williams. The company is known for pioneering the graphic adventure game genre, including the first such game, Mystery House. It is known for its graphical adventure game series King's Quest, Space Quest, Police Quest, Gabriel Knight, Leisure Suit Larry, and Quest for Glory, and as the original publisher of Valve's Half-Life series.

<i>Kings Quest</i> Video game series

King's Quest is a graphic adventure game series, released between 1980 and 2016 and created by the American software company Sierra Entertainment. It is widely considered a classic series from the golden era of adventure games. Following the success of its first installments, the series was primarily responsible for building the reputation of Sierra. Roberta Williams, co-founder and former co-owner of Sierra, designed all of the King's Quest games until the series' reboot in 2015.

Police Quest is a series of police simulation video games produced and published by Sierra On-Line between 1987 and 1998. The first five were adventure simulation games, the first three of which were designed by former police officer Jim Walls. The fourth to sixth titles were designed by former LAPD Chief Daryl F. Gates. Both SWAT and the real-time tactics game SWAT 2 still carried the Police Quest name and were numbered V and VI in the series, respectively, although subsequent titles in the series would drop the Police Quest title altogether and were rebranded as SWAT.

Gabriel Knight is a series of point-and-click adventure games released by Sierra On-Line in the 1990s created by Jane Jensen. The titular character is an author and book store owner in New Orleans who is investigating a strange series of murders when he learns he is descended from a long line of Schattenjäger. After undergoing a spiritual trial, Gabriel becomes the new Schattenjäger, called on to stop those who use supernatural methods to threaten others. To signify this, he wears the Ritter Talisman, a protective medallion. Not having supernatural abilities himself, Gabriel mainly opposes his enemies with cunning and insight after investigation and research. In the first game, he is assisted by Grace Nakimura. In the two sequels, the two act as partners against evil, with Grace being a playable character.

Swordfish Studios Limited was a British video game developer based in Birmingham founded by Trevor Williams and Joan Finnegan in September 2002.

Radical Entertainment Inc. is a Canadian video game developer based in Vancouver. The studio is best known for developing The Simpsons: Hit & Run (2003), Scarface: The World Is Yours (2006), Prototype (2009) and Prototype 2 (2012), as well as entries in the Crash Bandicoot franchise. Radical Entertainment was founded in September 1991 by Rory Armes, Dave Davis, and Ian Wilkinson. It was acquired by Vivendi Games in 2005 and transferred to Activision in 2008. The studio faced significant layoffs in 2010 and 2012, with the latter causing it to cease development of original games and only support other Activision studios.

<i>Crash Bandicoot</i> Video game franchise

Crash Bandicoot is a video game franchise originally developed by Naughty Dog as an exclusive for Sony's PlayStation console. It has seen numerous installments created by various developers and published on multiple platforms. The series consists predominantly of platform games, but also includes spin-offs in the kart racing and party game genres. The series was originally produced by Universal Interactive, which later became known as Vivendi Games; in 2008, Vivendi merged with Activision, which currently owns and publishes the franchise.

<i>Made Man</i> (video game) 2006 video game

Made Man is a 2006 third-person shooter video game developed by the UK company SilverBack Studios and published by Mastertronic and Aspyr for PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Windows. The game is set in the year 1972 within the New York City underworld of organized crime in the Mafia. The storyline is written by crime author David Fisher with collaboration from former mafioso Salvatore "Bill" Bonanno.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Behaviour Santiago</span>

Behaviour Interactive Chile Ltda. was a Chilean video game developer based in Santiago. The company was founded as Wanako Games in 2002, by Esteban Sosnik, Tiburcio de la Cárcova, Santiago Bilinkis, Wenceslao Casares. The studio was first acquired by Vivendi Games in February 2007 and ended up under Artificial Mind and Movement in December 2008. When Artificial Mind and Movement was renamed Behaviour Interactive in 2010, Wanako Games was renamed Behaviour Santiago. Behaviour Santiago was shut down on 20 November 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">High Moon Studios</span> American video game developer

High Moon Studios, Inc. is an American video game developer initially formed in 2001. After nearly a year as an independent studio, the developer was acquired by Vivendi Games in January 2006 and placed under Sierra Entertainment. It is currently owned by Activision. It has developed multiple Transformers video games and assisted in the development of select Call of Duty games, as well as Destiny.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beenox</span> Video game developer, established in Quebec City, Quebec

Beenox Inc. is a Canadian video game developer established in 2000 in Quebec City. The studio became a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision on May 25, 2005.

Activision Blizzard, Inc. is an American video game holding company based in Santa Monica, California. Activision Blizzard currently includes five business units: Activision Publishing, Blizzard Entertainment, King, Major League Gaming, and Activision Blizzard Studios.

<i>50 Cent: Blood on the Sand</i> 2009 video game

50 Cent: Blood on the Sand is a third-person shooter video game developed by Swordfish Studios and published by THQ for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It serves as the sequel to 50 Cent: Bulletproof, and was released in February 2009. The game centers around a fictional 50 Cent and G-Unit concert, set in an unspecified location in the Middle East. After the group's payment, a diamond-encrusted skull, is stolen, they must fight to retrieve it back from the thieves.

A fan game is a video game that is created by fans of a certain topic or IP. They are usually based on one, or in some cases several, video game entries or franchises. Many fan games attempt to clone or remake the original game's design, gameplay, and characters, but it is equally common for fans to develop a unique game using another as a template. Though the quality of fan games has always varied, recent advances in computer technology and in available tools, e.g. through open source software, have made creating high-quality games easier. Fan games can be seen as user-generated content, as part of the retrogaming phenomena, and as expression of the remix culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Universal Interactive</span> Defunct American video game publisher

Universal Interactive was an American video game publisher. The company was established on January 4, 1994, and led by Skip Paul and Robert Biniaz of MCA. It was best known for producing the Crash Bandicoot and Spyro platform game franchises.

There have been several King's Quest fangames both original and retellings/remakes of the original games that have been released by various developers.

2015, Inc. was an American video game developer based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The studio is best known for developing Medal of Honor: Allied Assault.

Geometry Wars is a series of top-down multi-directional shooter video games developed by Bizarre Creations, and, later, Lucid Games. Originally published by Microsoft Games Studios, the first title was included as a minigame in Project Gotham Racing 2 for Xbox. An updated version was released in 2005 as a launch title for Xbox 360 and later ported to Microsoft Windows.

References

  1. Team Team section of official TSL website from July 26, 2007 Archived June 18, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  2. The Future of TSL Phoenix Online Studios Forums
  3. "The Silver Lining: Haunted Castle Experience Available Now! And Episode 5 Coming in 2017! « Phoenix Online Studios".
  4. King's Quest Lives Again article on IGN by David Adams from December 9, 2005
  5. KQIX: The Silver Lining -- A Talk with Phoenix Online Studios. Archived April 14, 2013, at the Wayback Machine GameSpy article by Allen 'Delsyn' Rausch from December 16, 2005
  6. Vivendi Games Agrees To Crown Fan-Created 'King's Quest' Sequel MTV article by Stephen Totilo from December 9, 2005
  7. "Oh, and by the way, we still get to use "King's Quest" in our title. The full name is "The Silver Lining: A game inspired by the King's Quest Series"".
  8. The Silver Lining Announcement Phoenix Online Studios
  9. "Kingdom Updates". Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved September 19, 2010.
  10. "The Silver Lining: Haunted Castle Experience Available Now! And Episode 5 Coming in 2017! « Phoenix Online Studios".
  11. "TSL Updates!". July 4, 2023.
  12. "The Silver Lining: Episode 1 Micro-Review: Absence Makes The Heart Grow Colder". Kotaku.com. July 13, 2010. Retrieved August 19, 2010.
  13. David Wolinsky (July 10, 2010). "The Verdict: The Silver Lining – Episode 1: What Is Decreed". G4tv.com. Archived from the original on March 1, 2018. Retrieved August 19, 2010.
  14. "The Silver Lining Episode 1 PC review | The Adrenaline Vault". Avault.com. July 12, 2010. Archived from the original on July 15, 2010. Retrieved August 19, 2010.
  15. "The Silver Lining Episode 1: What is Decreed Must Be Review: Just Adventure - Reviews Walkthroughs and AdventureNews!". Just Adventure. Archived from the original on August 21, 2010. Retrieved August 19, 2010.
  16. "Phoenix Online The Silver Lining Episode 1 review". IT Reviews. Archived from the original on November 23, 2010. Retrieved August 19, 2010.
  17. "The Silver Lining review: About 30 minutes of cut-scenes and little else | Gamekicker.com - All the latest video game and gaming news". Gamekicker.com. Archived from the original on July 11, 2011. Retrieved August 19, 2010.
  18. "The Silver Lining: Episode One - What is Decreed Must be for Windows (2010) MobyRank".
  19. "The Silver Lining - Episode 1: What is Decreed Must be". Metacritic .
  20. "The Silver Lining: Episode Two - Two Households for Windows (2010) MobyRank".
  21. "The Silver Lining: Episode Three - My Only Love Sprung from My Only Hate for Windows (2011) MobyRank".