King's Quest VII: The Princeless Bride

King's Quest VII: The Princeless Bride is an adventure game developed and published by Sierra On-Line on November 23, 1994, and it serves as the seventh game in the King's Quest saga, it was Windows 3.1 and Mac only.

It featured high-resolution graphics create by Animation Magic in a style reminiscent of Disney or Don Bluth animated films. It is also the only King's Quest game with multiple protagonists, and the only one to divide the story into "chapters."

King's Quest VII is the only game in the King's Quest series to feature Queen Valanice in a major role, and also the only one in which King Graham is not shown or mentioned at all. However, he is listed in the voice credits, so he may have been originally intended to appear in the game (the final game was much shortened from an earlier version). Despite the cartoonish graphics characteristic of family-friendly computer games, the game has several violent death scenes

Background
Unfolding in book-like chapters The Princeless Bride begins when the Princess Rosella is lured into a magical pool and the enchanted world beyond. Her mother Queen Valanice plunges in after her and they find themselves in a land beyond dreams.

The Realm of Eldritch is inhabited by delightful and fantastic creatures, talking stags, friendly trolls, a magnificent crystal dragon, and many others. But Eldritch is in the darkest peril. An evil enchantress plots to destroy the magic Realm, forcing Rosella and Valanice to use their courage, wisdom and heart as they battle for the survival of the entire world.

This epic story takes you through a series of magical regions; a mystic and ancient desert, the volcanic crystal caverns of the trolls, a delightfully spooky land of surprises, and and so much more. As Rosella searches for the beautiful Etheria, Land of Clouds, Valanice searches for her daughter, and both become caught up in the adventure of their lives.

Match wits with an evil enchantress bent on a kingdom's destruction...travel through a series of remarkable worlds, from a dark land below ground, to a mysterious land in the clouds. Every turn yields both secret and salvation and every mystery you solve brings you closer to the fiery confrontation that determines the fate of an entire kingdom.

CD Case
This epic story takes you through a series of magical regions; an ancient desert, the volcanic crystal caverns of the trolls, and and so much more. As Rosella searches for the beautiful Etheria, Land in the Clouds, Valanice searches for her daughter, and both become caught up in the adventure of their lives.

The Story
Note: This game didn't come with a prologue story or background information like previous and later King's Quest games did. The closest it has is on the back of the box, and on the cd case.

As the game opens, Queen Valanice is lecturing her daughter, Princess Rosella. Rosella is somewhat rebellious, and dreams of adventure rather than marriage. While listening to this lecture, Rosella sits down next to a pond to take off her comb and admire her reflection. Suddenly, a miniature dragon darts out of the water. After a few seconds of watching the dragonette, Rosella tries to grab it; unfortunately, she's too late and the dragonette dives back into the pond. Rosella's eyes dart to her mother and a mischievous smile spreads across her face. Rosella jumps in, determined to follow the magical creature. Valanice looks around, stunned to find her daughter nowhere, grabs Rosella's comb, and jumps into the pool after her. Valanice and Rosella both find themselves in a whirlwind of color, and traveling to another universe through the portal. King Otar's arm juts out from the side and Rosella is pulled out of the whirlwind.

Valanice lands in a desert in the land of Eldritch, while Rosella finds herself transformed into a troll and engaged to be married to the King of the Trolls. As the two characters attempt to find each other, they discover that all of Eldritch is in danger. The evil fairy Malicia has attacked or imprisoned the leaders of the different kingdoms of Eldritch, and plots to destroy the land.

Destinations
The game takes place in the land of Eldritch.


 * The Desert
 * Falderal (capital of Nonsense Land)
 * Bountiful Woods
 * Were-Woods
 * Malicia's Tower
 * Vulcanix Underground
 * Ooga Booga
 * Etheria

The Game
KQVII is very different from other King's Quest games in terms of structure. The action is separated into six chapters, each set primarily in a different region of Eldritch.

Aside from the multi-chapter layout, the most significant change in game structure was the introduction of the "smart" pointer. When playing the game, the pointer lights up when passed over an object that can be used. Players can get or use objects and talk to characters by simply clicking on them. Previous games required the player to choose their actions by selecting Look, Talk, Use, etc., from the icon bar, and did not reveal the location of usable items with the pointer.

Although less linear than earlier King's Quest games, KQVII does not include as many different endings or optional tasks and plot threads as KQVI. Some puzzles do have multiple solutions, and there are two possible endings - one happy and one sad - depending on whether Rosella manages to rescue her love interest Edgar (introduced in KQIV) at the very end of the game.

KQVII was met with mixed reviews by longtime series fans, but sales were high despite a number of technical bugs that plagued the initial release of the game. Many fans complained that the animation was choppy.

Playable Characters
Different from the previous games, in this one there are two playable characters who intersect pathways and plot-lines without meeting. The player alternates between Valanice and Rosella with each chapter. The two heroines travel through some of the same places during the course of the game, finally meeting up again in the end.


 * Queen Valanice
 * Princess Rosella

Endings
The game has two different endings: bad and good. For the good ending with celebrations and thanksgiving, you must use the extra life to revive the prince. If you use the flower (required to awaken King Otar), he will die, and will result in the bad ending (noted by the black chariot instead of the white victory chariot). This will also happen if you do nothing.

Behind the scenes

 * According to the backstory, and a few in-game references the game occurs in an alternate universe/dimension to that of the regular King's Quest series, to which the protagonists crossed over into via magical portal. This is similar to the Narnia series (or general ideas of 'world of Fairies' in some mythologies). Like in Narnia very little time is supposed to have passed back in Daventry while they were there. This was the original intent by the developers according to Lorelei Shannon.
 * KQ VII is the only game in the King's Quest series to feature Queen Valanice in a playable role, and also the only one in which King Graham is not shown or mentioned at all. However, he is listed in the game credits (in earlier versions of the game), and was originally intended to appear in the game. In fact there is a sound file for him in the audio resource file, where Graham states he had been waiting 15 minutes for Valanice and Rosella to return for lunch. He is also featured in the novelized account in King's Quest Companion. He was also briefly alluded to in a death scene in version 1.4 (death by crystal dragon tail), that was removed in version 2.0. Not specifically talking about Graham, the Mock Turtle has 'your father' jokes as well.
 * Many of the chapters in the game are not in linear order, and often simultaneous and parallel to the other character's chapters. For example: When Rosella reaches Falderal in chapter 4, Valanice had already helped Falderal out (as shown in Chapter 5) and had left for Ooga Booga. Before Valanice leaves town (chapter 5), the nymph statuette points out that Rosella is still in Ooga Booga (chapter 4). The novelization points out where the two chapters cross is at the point where both enter the Were-Woods. It is suggested that both entered into woods about the same time, and had passed each other without even knowing it, in confusing dark woods. Similarly chapters 1+3 and 2 occur more or less simultaneously to each other. That is Rosella is in Vulcanix, and making her escape around the same time that Valanice is in the desert, and making her way into the Bountiful Woods/Falderal.
 * In order to retrieve the moon from the fountain in Falderal, Valanice must trade the blank book for a sheperd's crook. Logically, one would simply lean over and grab it (or at least use the stick). This can confuse players as it is not explained in-game why Valanice cannot simply grab the cheese. The novelization describes the cheese as slippery and moving away from her everytime she tried to grab it for herself (thus why she needed the crook). In the game it kind of bobs away from her if you attempt to grab it.
 * According to the credits, the animations (particularly the cutscenes) were done by the same people who worked on the infamous CDi.
 * It is possible to play the game with subtitles by disabling the digital speech. It is not perfect however as some of the subtitles get cutoff at the side of the screen.
 * There is a common misconception that this game was only developed by Lorelei Shannon (and Roberta only had very little to do with it) as she has a somewhat more prominent listing as being the writer of the game, as well as 'story and characters'. However Roberta and Lorelei Shannon actually worked on the game together, creating the story, characters, puzzles, environments etc. Like the previous game, Lorelei Shannon did actual script writing. Roberta herself was very busy working on both King's Quest VII and Phantasmagoria at the same time.

Versions

 * King's Quest VII 1.4 (Win 3.1, very early versions Graham is mentioned in Credits)
 * King's Quest VII 1.51 (Win 3.1, Graham is removed from the Credits)

In a later release of the game, a few parts were omitted, deaths removed, and puzzles were changed. Another advantage that all Windows versions (early windows only or later windows 2.0b releases) has over the DOS is the intro and ending cutscenes. The Windows interpreter uses AVIs for cutscenes.

The game's credits screen in version 1.4 included a line referencing Graham in the game being played by Denny Delk, later versions removes this line, as there is no accessible scene with Graham in the game (there is an unused line from Graham which is of interest though).

The death from the dragon tail was removed. The timer-bug death involving Valanice and the firecracker was modified to make it easier to get through, as well as the time limit for the volcano scene with Rosella in peril which lead to some extra deaths.

In the first case, when Rosella is tasked to getting the scale from the sleeping crystal dragon, the dragon raises its tail occasionally as it sleeps, and then smashes it down. The scale could only be taken by timing the chisel when the tale first raises. If tail comes down while she is chiseling it would lead to this death message:

"(SIGHS)Father always told me to let sleeping dragons lie--or at least stay out of the way of their tails!"

2.0 version removes the extra puzzle element and simply lets Rosella take the scale, the tail remains stationary the entire time.

Another advantage that the all Windows versions (early windows only or later windows 2.0b releases) has over the DOS is the intro and ending cutscenes. The Windows interpreter uses AVIs for these cutscenes, while the DOS uses RBTs, which are not as of high of quality and have a jerky motion.

The 2.0 release added more saving and loading options than the original had, as well as a Dos mode (which adds more color cursors).

To summarize the 2.0 Version 's changes they are as follows:

The game can run in either Windows or DOS (the DOS version has neat colored arrows for the mouse when pointing at an exit)


 * The walking speed of your character can be altered by holding the +/- keys (the = key resets to default speed)
 * An improved, though somewhat awkward, save game menu (or "bookmark" menu) is added, as opposed to the Quit button simply saving the game and taking you back to the main menu.
 * In older versions, the mouse cursor jumps to the lower middle of the screen above the inventory window whenever it turns into a crown. This has been removed for the most part.
 * The crystal dragon tail puzzle, and related death has been removed.
 * The ambrosia-on-the-dog puzzle has been removed/modified. *(but may depend on from what chapter you start from) So if you haven't seen that puzzle, then you probably haven't seen the associated death sequences either.
 * Assorted timer puzzle deaths related to erupting volcano in the last act of the game were removed (digging out of the volcano, opening the gate in time).

Reception
KQ7 was considered one of the controversial King's Quest games, as the animation made a lot of people think the game was more geared toward kids than the King's Quest Games had been. It was criticized for choppy graphics (although this was probably a limitation of some of the systems that the game was played on), and having inconsistent graphics (due to the fact that different animation houses did the animation).


 * As you are aware, "King's Quest VII" received some negative reviews. Do you pay attention to those reviews or do you take them lightly?

I never take any reviews or opinions of game players lightly. If I did, I would have been gone long ago! I pay very close attention to these opinions. As far as "King's Quest VII" receiving "negative reviews" - I really don't know what you are referring to. Perhaps some people didn't like it as well as others, but overall it has done very well. Some people actually think it was the best. True, it got some negative reviews, but it also received many very positive reviews. Some "veteran" game players perhaps didn't like it quite as well as many of the older-style adventure games, but many of the "newer" game players loved it. Therefore, if you're me, who do you listen to? How do you interpret the opinions? With "King's Quest VII," I've seen everything from horrible reviews to the most glowing reviews I've ever received. I've heard from many who didn't like it at all to those who felt it was the best game they've ever played. Also, it sold very well, and is still selling! When it comes to interpreting reviews and/or opinions, it's a very delicate business, and even though I do pay attention to these things, I try to remain objective and never let the "bad news" get me down, or the "good news" get me too self-assured.

Once it's all said and done, however, and it comes to the next game, even though I always keep in mind everybody's opinions, it ultimately comes down to my opinion...and what I find enjoyable. I must enjoy the game I'm working on and to ultimately trust my own judgment.

General

 * Design: Lorelei Shannon, Roberta Williams
 * Writing: Lorelei Shannon
 * Directors: Andy Hoyos, Lorelei Shannon, Roberta Williams
 * Producer: Mark Seibert
 * Art Director: Andy Hoyos
 * Director of Animation: Marc Hudgins
 * Lead Programmers: Oliver Brelsford, Tom DeSalvo
 * Musicians: Neal Grandstaff, Dan Kehler, Mark Seibert, Jay D. Usher
 * Voice Director: Lorelei Shannon
 * Quality Assurance Lead	: Danny A. Woolard
 * In-House Animation - Chapter 6: Steven Gregory, Sherry Wheeler, Jason Zayas
 * In-House Computer Ink & Paint	: Darvin Atkeson, Maria Fruehe, Desie Hartman, Frances Anne Powell, Donovan Skirvin, Donald Waller, Phy Williams, Deanna Yhalkee, Karin Nestor, Christopher Willis
 * Background Layout: Darlou Gams, Terry Robinson
 * Background Illustration: Darlou Gams, Darrin Fuller, Dennis Durrell, Terry Robinson
 * Background Styling: Dennis Durrell
 * Background Color Keys: Darlou Gams, Terry Robinson
 * Character Designs: Marc Hudgins
 * Summer Interns: Nicole Berg, Steven Gregory, Karena Kliefoth, Neil Krivoski, Tracy Wagner
 * 3D Inventory Objects: Jon Bock, Richard Powell, Donald Waller
 * SGI Animation & Effects: Kim White
 * Programmers: David Artis, Vana Baker, Juan Carlos Escobar, Robert W. Lindsley, Randy MacNeill, Sean Mooney, Doug Oldfield, Kevin L. Ray, Henry Yu, Michael Litton, Arijit De, Jerry Shaw
 * System Programmers: Ed Critchlow, Dan Foy, J. Mark Hood, Ken Koch, Terry McHenry, Larry Scott, Christopher Smith, Greg Tomko-Pavia
 * Additional QA: Robin Bradley, Jon Meek, Leonard Salas, Judy Crites, Michael Brosius, Joe Carper
 * Music For Movie Sequences Scored By: Mark Seibert, Jay D. Usher
 * Configuration Group: Roger Clendenning, Dave Clingman, John Cunney, Bill Davis Jr., Lynne S. Dayton, Mike Pickhinke, John Ratcliffe, Sharon Simmons, John Trauger, Douglas Wheeler, Michael D. Jones, Ken Eaton
 * Sound Effects And Audio Work: Neal Grandstaff, Richard Spurgeon, Kelli Spurgeon, Jay D. Usher
 * Voice Auditions: Taylor Korobow, Casting Works
 * Voices Recorded at: Fantasy Studios
 * Studio Engineer: Eric Thompson
 * Dreams Software Operator: Dan Kehler
 * Documentation Design: Lori Lucia
 * Special Thanks to: Tammy Dargan, Casey Jones, Robin Kleeman, Al Lowe, Mie Salerno, Joni Williamson, Mom
 * German Translation: Johanna Wilhelm (Wusel), John Hugo
 * French Translation: Art of Words, Coktel Vision

Animation Magic Inc. - Chapter 1 And Global Animation

 * Animation: Kostya Biryukov, Anton Chizhov, Tanya Demidova, Ksana Giotova, Yekaterina Gorelova, Katya Kruglova, Ilya Maximov, Marina Mikheeva, Alexandra Naumova, Andrey Pugachev, Oksana Romanova, Elena Rumyantseva, Elena Savik, Katya Vassilyeva, Alice Vizirova, Natasha Yakovleva, Maria Yakushina, Irina Zheleznova
 * Digital Ink & Paint: Marina Aksenova, Oksana Bilan, Tanya Fedotova, Denis Goroshkov, Kristina Kim, Alexey Konkin, Vera Korolova, Tanya Krasavina, Alina Kudryashova, Alexander Myala, Sasha Sakov, Olga Sumenko, Tatiana Tavrueva, Ira Yershova
 * Technical Assistants: Tom Faiano, Denis Ivanov, Tanya Shalygina, Tanya Sirnova
 * Background Paintings: Volodya Karnaoukhov, Kostya Kossarev, Nadya Obedkova, Irina Shostik
 * Production Management: Igor Razboff, Boris Bigoulaev, Lena Beloborodova, Dale DeSharone, Alexander Makarov, Lyuba Nedeorezova, Alesy Yeseyev

LA West Film Production - Chapters 4 and 6

 * Director of Animation: Ivan Tomicic
 * Animators: Stjepan Bartolic, Zvonimir Cuk, Darko Krec, Neven Petricic, Esad Ribic, Goran Sudzuka
 * Inbetweening & Cleaning: Marina Hruskar, Damir Jurisic, Maja Surjak, Vlasta Zubcevic
 * Animation Checking: Esad Ribic
 * Scanning: Nenad Baljak, Rikard Blazicko, Bojan Hrabar, Jadran Zdunic
 * Digital Ink & Paint: Jadranka Brecak, Andreas Cogelja, Sandra Grgec, Marija Ivsic, Denis Lepur, Sinisa Matijasic, Lovorka Ostovic, Rober Seruga, Suncica Spriovan, Timomir Vlajic, Tatjana Trgovec, Zelko Vlajic

Dungeon Ink And Paint - Chapters 2, 3 and 5

 * Animators: Frank Barnhill, John Beam, Kellie Dover, Chad Frye, Preston Jones, Mike Knobl, Bill Morris, David E. Rogers, Stan White
 * Inbetween / Cleanup Artists: Tracy J. Blackwell, Kevin E. Davis, Jason Gammon, Jeffrey D. Hayes
 * Dungeon Ink & Paint - Digital Ink & Paint Unit: Lisa Ellis, David Ellis, Mary Fulton, Tony Lavender, Lori Pinera, Angelique Ruff, Traci Scruggs, Paula Stacy
 * Production Assistants: Michael L. Honeycutt Jr., Beth A. Hopping, Shane White, Kristi Wood
 * Thanks: Beth A. Hopping

Animation - Chapters 5 - Opening & Closing Movies

 * Director of Animation: David Hicock
 * Production Supervisor: Larry Royer
 * Creative Supervision: David Hicock, Larry Royer, Bob Switalski
 * Key Animation: David Gilbert, David Hicock, Larry Royer, Apryl Knobbe Young
 * Assistant Animation: David Bleich, James M. Burns, Donna Campbell, Mike Carter, Michael L. Feather, Marcus R. Gregory, Leslie Jaye, Joseph Larkin, Aaron P. McDowell, Alan Nash, Jennifer Robin, Johnny Robinson
 * Additional Animation: Dennis Kennedy
 * Technical Consultants: Steve Bogdanovich, Dick Moody
 * Digital Ink And Paint: Steve Bogdanovich, Ron Cleveland, Chip G. Hartford, Jonathan C. Parker, Robert Leonard, Aaron Moody, Dick Moody, Michele Moody
 * Paint Coordinator: Dick Moody

Voice Talent - Our Heroines, Heroes And Villains

 * Rosella: Maureen McVerry
 * Valanice: Carol Bach-y-Rita
 * Malicia: Ruth Kobart
 * Edgar / False Troll King: Jesse Moises
 * King Otar Fenris III, Lord of the Trolls: Denny Delk
 * Cuddles: Roger Labon Jackson
 * In the Desert: Roger Labon Jackson (The Kangaroo Rat), Fred Barson (The Desert Spirit), Jeffry O'Brien (The Jackalope)
 * In the Vulcanix Underground: Esther Hirsch (Mathilde), Jeffry O'Brien (The Rude Forging Troll), Joe Paulino (The Jeweler Troll), Jim Cranna (The Troll Cook), Don Robbins (Brutus the Bridge Troll), Ruth Kobart (The Crystal Dragon), Greg Walsh (Male Mud Bath Troll), Marcus Lewis (Male Mud Bath Troll), Maureen McVerry (Female Mud Bath Troll), Esther Hirsch (Female Mud Bath Troll), Greg Walsh (Male Mud Bath Troll), Carol Bach-y-Rita (Spike), Jeffry O'Brien (Spike's Mother)
 * In the Woods: Toby Gleason (Attis/Attis the Stag), Carol Bach-y-Rita (Ceres), Maureen McVerry (The Hummingbird), Joe Paulino (The Spider), Tim White (The Rock Spirit)
 * In the Swamp: Roger Labon Jackson (The Three-Headed Carnivorous Plant)
 * In the Falderal: Doug Boyd (The Obnoxious Gate Guard), Jim Cranna (Arch-Duke Fifi le YipYap), Esther Hirsch (Chicken Petite), Jim Cranna (Arch-Duke Fifi le YipYap), Jarion Monroe (The Bull in the China Shop), Roger Labon Jackson (The Snake Oil Salesman), Maureen McVerry (Treasure the China Bird), Toby Gleason (Ersatz the Faux Shop Owner), Simon Vance (Town Hall Door Guard), Simon Vance (Town Hall Door Guard), Ruth Kobart (The Magic Statuette), Denny Delk (Badger of the Jury), Jim Cranna (Arch-Duke Fifi le YipYap), Doug Boyd (The Obnoxious Gate Guard), Fred Barson (Badger of the Jury)
 * In Ooga Booga Land: Marcus Lewis (The Coroner), Roger Labon Jackson (Ghost Kid 1), Yukiko Yamaguchi (Ghost Kid 2), Marcus Lewis (The Coroner), Yukiko Yamaguchi (The Black Cat), Jesse Moises (The Black Dog), Joe Paulino (Count Tsepish - The Headless Horseman), Willow Wray (Lady Tsepish - The Woman in Black), Don Robbins (The Boogeyman), Denny Delk (The Shrunken Head), Jim Cranna (The Shrunken Head), Doug Boyd (The Shrunken Head), Fred Barson (The Mummy), Joe Paulino (Count Tsepish - The Headless Horseman), Jeffry O'Brien (Mr. Bugbear - Dr. Cadver's Patient)
 * In Etheria: Willow Wray (Lachesis), Carol Bach-y-Rita (Clotho), Yukiko Yamaguchi (Atropos), Don Robbins (Borasco), Willow Wray (Lachesis), Toby Gleason (Levanter), Timothy White, Carol Bach-y-Rita (Titania)
 * Paymaster: Talent Fund

Patches

 * King's Quest VII Patch (KQ7PAT): This patch fixes the lockup when Rosella walks through forest, the lockup when taking the wooden nickel from mockingbird, the stuttering mockingbird, the looping at the hummingbird / spiderweb scene, the wooden nickel not highlighting in Faux Shop, the lockup when interacting with the headless horseman or bogeyman, and the lockup in Malicia's house.
 * King's Quest VII DOSBox files (KQ7DOSBox): This ZIP contains the RESOURCE.CFG and KQ7.BAT files needed to run the game entirely from the harddrive, using this method.
 * King's Quest VII DOS Movies (KQ7_DOS_Movies): This RAR archive contains the intro and endding movies for the DOS version of the game. The DOS version of the game cannot use the AVI movies that the Windows version uses. These RBT movies are not included with the above KQ7 1.4 or KQ7 1.51 to 2 DOS upgrades or the King's Quest Collection DOSBox Updater below. Extract the three RBT files to the AVI sub folder in the installed KQ7 game folder, using WinZIP or WinRAR.
 * King's Quest Collection DOSBox Update (KQCollectionDBUpdate): This patch will allow the use of greatly improved latest DOSBox over the version 0.63 that shipped with the Collection. It will upgrade King's Quest 7 to version 2.00b DOS. Also includes the NewRisingSun patch for King's Quest 1 SCI. The patch also restores the missing install files to configure the games' settings. After running the update, you will find new shortcuts in the "Sierra\King's Quest Collection" folder in the Start Menu. The launcher will no longer be needed. NOTE: If you do not have the latest DOSBox installed in "Program Files\DOSBox" for 32-bit Windows or "Program Files (x86)\DOSBox" for 64-bit Windows allow this updater to download and install the DOSBox for you.
 * King's Quest VII DOS Movies (KQ7_DOS_Movies): This RAR archive contains the intro and endding movies for the DOS version of the game. The DOS version of the game cannot use the AVI movies that the Windows version uses. These RBT movies are not included with the above King's Quest Collection DOSBox Updateabove. Extract the three RBT files to the AVI sub folder in the installed KQ7 game folder, using WinZIP or WinRAR.