Quest for Glory V: Dragon Fire

Quest for Glory V: Dragon Fire is an action role-playing adventure game developed by Yosemite Entertainment and it was published by Sierra FX on November 30, 1998 for Windows 98 and Macintosh. This fifth entry is the sequel to Quest for Glory: Shadows of Darkness and it serves as the final game in the Quest for Glory series.

Background
The King of Silmaria has been assassinated, and a new king must be chosen. The Council has set before its heroes the seven Rites of Rulership to determine who is worthy of the crown. Triumph, and you'll save the kingdom and win the throne. Fail, and Silmaria is toast. This very popular game is back with a vengeance; Quest for Glory V: Dragon Fire combines the best elements of role-playing adventure with pulse-pounding, real-time action. It takes you on a journey fraught with peril, mystery, and enchantment, creating a visually stunning 3D world; yet it succeeds in remaining true to the tradition of the QFG series. Play the demo again and again to prove your mettle. Seize your destiny, and pursue your Quest for Glory.

Story
Erasmus introduces the Hero to the Greece-like kingdom of Silmaria, whose king was recently murdered. The Rites of Rulership are about to commence, and the victor will be given the crown. The Hero enters the contest with the assistance of Erasmus, Rakeesh, and many old friends from previous entries in the series. The Hero competes against competitors Kokeeno Pookameeso, Magnum Opus, Gort, and Elsa Von Spielburg (who returns from the first game.)

As the Rites commence, however, an unknown assassin begins systematically picking off each of the contestants. Each contestant is murdered by a poison dagger, and they all are murdered near Dragon Pillars, the objects used to keep the Dragon of Silmaria locked up. After completing the third Rite, defeating the Hydra, Rakeesh is attacked by the assassin and, depending on the course of action chosen by the player, either lives or dies. The conspiracy is eventually unraveled and the Dragon, having been released due to the destruction of the Dragon Pillars, is defeated.

The characters Katrina and Erana make a return in this installment, as vital assistance for defeating the Dragon.

This installment also marks the return of Bruno, a character from the first Quest for Glory game. He is revealed to be the assassin who has been terrorizing the streets of Silmaria, characterized as a quiet, shady character until he reveals himself to the player.

Game Comparison
The first four games were intended to indicate the four elements and the four wind directions: in the first game, the player is the Hero from the East, in the second, the hero from the North, etc. Dragon Fire was always planned to be part of the series (whereas Wages of War originally was not), but it would not have been produced if not for the pressure that fans put upon Sierra Entertainment.

Because of deadline issues and financial pressures, several features were dropped from the fifth game before release, such as the ability to use a bow, the ability to play as Elsa von Spielburg or Magnum Opus (two prominent non-player characters from the game), and multiplayer capability. Interestingly, a demo released in late 1997 contained a multiplayer game, but Sierra decided to remove it from the final product. Rumors about a post-release patch containing the multiplayer game abounded on the internet, but such a patch was impossible after the entire Quest for Glory programming team was laid off when Yosemite Entertainment was closed on February 22, 1999.

The fifth game is arguably a different genre from the first four; while the first four are mostly adventure games incorporating role-playing elements; the fifth game is a role-playing game incorporating some adventure elements. For instance, the fifth game has a wide variety of weapons, armor and magical items, whereas the first four do not. Also, in the fifth game nearly every major mission consists of going to some place and defeating some monster in physical or magical combat. Additionally, the controls and battle system are substantially different from those of the first three games and have taken the variations of the fourth game even further.

Also differentiating the fifth game from the first four were an impressive soundtrack by Emmy-winning composer Chance Thomas and a new graphics engine programmed by Eric Lengyel.

Staff Roll

 * Executive Producer: Craig Alexander
 * Producer/ Project Manager: Jay D. Usher
 * Technical Producer: Mark Zechiel
 * Project Coordinator: Shannon Haynes
 * Designer: Lori Ann Cole
 * Art Designer: Terry Robinson
 * Software Design Engineer: Eric Lengyel
 * Composer: Chance Thomas
 * Sound Designer: Craig Denny
 * Art Director: Jon Bock
 * Assistant Art Director: Mike Troup
 * Character Design: Tim Loucks
 * Background Design: Terry Robinson
 * 3D Graphics Engine Technology: Eric Lengyel
 * Director of Technology: Larry Scott
 * System Software Engineer: Corey Cole, John Harris (courtesy of Pulsar Interactive), Mike Haynes, Robert Eric Heitman (courtesy of Triton Interactive), Frank Kane, Eric Lengyel, Larry Scott
 * Additional System Software Engineers: Jason Hickingbottom, Bryan Waters
 * A.I. System Software Engineer: John Harris (courtesy of Pulsar Interactive)
 * RPG System Engineer: Corey Cole
 * Particle and Light Effects: Eric Lengyel
 * Applications Programmers: Michael Brosius, Joseph Clark, John Cunney, James R. Gisler, Scott Howell, Gary Kamigawachi, Jim Katic, Selva Kumar, Doug Oldfield, Matthew Ross, William Shockley, Christopher Smith, Srinu Tulluri
 * Technical Assistants: Chris Jacobs, Jim Matson, Sean Phillips, Sterling Scott, Warren Woodward
 * Background Illustrations: Darlou Gams, Richard Hescox, Richard Powell, Terry Robinson
 * 3D Background Modeling/ Animation: Renee Dunlop, Brian Judy, Becky Kosuge, Brandee Prugh, Donald Waller, Kent Yu
 * 3D Background/ Inventory Modeling (3D Studio Max): John Lindemuth, Mike Troup, Kevin Wright
 * Character Illustration: Tim Loucks, Richard Powell, Terry Robinson
 * 3D Character Modeling (SoftImage): Mark Aro, Karen Lewis, Greg Poulos
 * 3D Character Modeling / Animation ( 3D Studio Max): Mark Aro, Jurgen Brenkert, Darrell Johnson, Tim Loucks, Karin Nestor, Mike Troup
 * Opening Movie Sequence: Mark Aro, Jon Bock, Renee Dunlop, Darrell Johnson, Becky Kosuge, Tim Loucks, Karin Nestor, Brandee Prugh, Mike Troup, Donald Waller
 * Game Movie Sequences (SoftImage): Greg Poulos
 * Movie Sequences Scoring: Chance Thomas
 * Movie Sequences Sound: Tim Larkin
 * Post-Production Artists: Ananda Linde, Jim Matson, Daryle Smith, Kevin Wright
 * Additional Post-Production Art: Gloria Garland, Dana Moody, various artists at Spotted Pony Productions
 * Sound Effects and Sound Editing: Craig Denny, Tim Larkin, Jason Ramirez
 * Audio Engineering and ADR: Craig Denny, Ron Lawson
 * Lip-Synch Editors: Robin Bradley, Craig Denny, Jim Matson, Marsha McCarty, Jason Ramirez, Cindy Romero, Chad Schnittjer
 * Voice Directing and Casting: Charles de Vries
 * Voice-Over Audio Engineer: Al Johnson
 * Quality Assurance: Jeremy Rosenthal
 * Yosemite Entertainment Support Team For Localization: Craig Denny, Gary Kamigawachi, Jason Ramirez, Jay D. Usher
 * Quality Assurance Management: Michael D. Jones
 * Quality Assurance Assistent: Steve Deckert
 * Quality Assurance Lead: Judy Crites, Robin Bradley
 * Quality Assurance Analysis: Rich Robinson, James R. Gisler, Marsha McCarty, Scott Howell, Ron Milbrandt, Chad Schnittjer, Michael Brosius, Douglas Wheeler, Joe Carper, Nathan Clark, Bobby Steele, John Ratcliffe, Jeremy Rosenthal, Jerry Green, Ben Kennedy, Kevin Williams, L. Arbon Wilson
 * Quality Assurance Technician: Jillian Leonard
 * Data Management: Jim Matson
 * Website Design: Terry Robinson, Lori Ann Cole, Chance Thomas, Guy Welch
 * Website Production: Tony Hernandez
 * Webmaster: Robin Bradley, Jon Meek
 * Website Programming: William Shockley
 * Creative Support Management: Lori Lucia, Nathan Gams
 * Creative Support: Richard Powell, Terry Robinson, Guy Welch, Kevin Lamb
 * Documentation: Guy Welch, Lori Ann Cole, Susan Frischer
 * Product Marketing Management: Tom Craven
 * Brand Management: Kate Kloos, Brad Bethune
 * Brand Management Assistance: Esmee Williams
 * Public Relations Lead: Monika Moulin
 * Public Relations Assistance: Kristen McIntyre
 * Marketing/Public Relations Assistance: Shelly Sischo
 * Project Maintenance: Tony Hernandez
 * President & CEO Cendant Software: Chris McLeod
 * President Sierra Online Inc.: David P. Grenewetzki
 * Vice President Consumer Products: Todd Coyle
 * Vice President Sales: Danny Kearns
 * MIS Systems - Support Management: Bruce Hammerich
 * System Administration: Jeff Kreis
 * System Support Engineers: Robert Fischer, Mark Budge, Jared Davis
 * Office Manager: Polly Starkey
 * Administrative Assistants: Barbara Eicker, Melinda Koontz
 * Controller: Beverly Lexvold
 * Accounts Payable: Alicia Hood
 * Payroll and Purchasing: Margie Walling-McFee
 * Human Resource Managers: Lorraine Guerra, Sandi Clickner
 * Recruiter: Christine Cicchi
 * Additional HR/Reception: Georgia Doolittle, Susan Chudy
 * Special Thanks to: All the fans who flooded our executives' email accounts and made Quest for Glory V possible, Ken Williams, Jerry Bowerman, Scott Fasser, David Landis, Barbara Dawson, John Williams, Rich Thumann, Thom Dirkson, Stephanie Hooper, Lynn Schaeffer, Robert Wharton, Jennifer Norberg, Chris Crilly, Joey MacArthur, Kelly McElroy, David Gehringer, Shelly Sischo, Travis Leonard, Richard Starkey, Rick Culver, all the Producers and teams at the Yosemite Entertainment development site that stepped aside from their projects in the final stretch supporting us when we needed it, and finally a special thank you to all the spouses and families that sacrificed their own time with their loved ones, giving their undaunted support in allowing this talented and innovative group of developers to create Quest for Glory V Dragon Fire

Voice Cast

 * Abdim: Steve Bulen
 * Abduel: Steven Jay Blum
 * Abdull: Doug Stone
 * Abdum: Michael Sorich
 * Andre: Steven Jay Blum
 * Ann Agrama: Mari Devon
 * Arestes: Doug Stone
 * Banker: Michael Carvin
 * Bruno: Steve Bulen
 * Budar: Diane Michelle
 * Cereberus #1: Michael Sorich
 * Cereberus #2: Steve Bulen
 * Cereberus #3: Stephen Apostolina
 * Cloud: Roy Lee
 * Elsa: Ariana Weil
 * Erana: Wendy E. Cutler
 * Erasmus: Steve Bulen
 * Head of FACS: Ian Ruskin
 * Fenris: Stephen Poletti
 * Ferrari: Michael Sorich
 * Gort: Doug Stone
 * Guards: Michael Sorich
 * Guardian: Michael Sorich
 * Julanar: Joyce Kurtz
 * Katrina: Joyce Kurtz
 * Kokeeno: Steven Jay Blum
 * Logos: Larry Moss
 * Magnum Opus: Steven Jay Blum
 * Marrak: Stephen Poletti
 * Minos: Steve Bulen
 * Mobius: Greg O'Neill
 * Nawar: Elisa Gabrielli
 * Parrot: Steven Jay Blum
 * Pretorious: Marc Blancfield
 * Queen of Atlantis: Carol Baxter
 * Rakeesh: Beau Billingslea
 * Salim: Steven Jay Blum
 * Sarra: Wendy E. Cutler
 * Shakra: Beau Billingslea
 * Sibyl: Marabina Jaimes
 * Toro: Greg O'Neill
 * Ugarte: Doug Stone
 * Weaponer: Roy Lee
 * Wolfie: Doug Stone
 * Narrator: Greg Tomko-Pavia

Trivia

 * A CD soundtrack to Quest for Glory V was released, and some tracks were made available for free download from Mp3.com for a short time.
 * To run this game under Windows XP, the compatibility mode can either be set to Windows 98, or a fan-made QFG5Win2k.zip patch can be applied. There's also an official qfg5up12.exe patch for the game itself.
 * One of the other contenders for the throne is named Kokeeno Pookameeso, which is Greek and literally means "red shirt," obviously a bilingual Star Trek joke.
 * There are actually two official versions released. The first is the original US pressing and the second is the GOG release. At least one difference is noted a line of text near the Coliseum either days 'the Danesmark' (original release, updated to 1.2) or 'Finelandia' (GOG release, version unknown). Any other differences are unknown.
 * A mission pack expansion was in the works to include new and expanded content, but it was cancelled when the studio was closed down.

Manuals and Guides

 * Let's Play Archives, Quest for Glory V by by Bobbin Threadbare
 * Instructions for installing Quest for Glory V on Windows 2000 and XP
 * Edenwaith Blog, Quest For Glory V and Mac OS 9: Rite of Passage

Patches

 * Quest For Glory 5 Update 1.1 (QFG5UP11): The first patch for QfG5. Updates Quest For Glory 5: Dragon Fire versions 1.0 to 1.1. Note: The fixes in this patch included with the latest patch (below) and is no longer needed.
 * Quest For Glory 5 Update 1.2 (QFG5UP12) : This patch will update all previous versions of Quest For Glory V to version 1.0.0.2. For a complete list of issues addressed by the patch please read the readme file.
 * Quest For Glory 5 Update 1.2 for Windows 64 (QFG5UP12_64): This patch is the same as the QFG5UP12 above, but will run on 64-bit Windows.
 * Quest For Glory 5 Win2K&XP Compatibility Patch (QFG5Win2k): This third party patch (written by C.P.Groenveld) helps QfG5 run under Windows 2k or XP. Apply the above 1.2 patch. Then copy QfG5(QFG5Win2k).exe to your Quest For Glory V installed directory (typically C:\SIERRA\QFG5) and run it.