The Silver Lining (game)
Encyclopedia
The Silver Lining is an amateur five-chapter episodic fangame
based on the King's Quest
series, which was developed and released in free download format
by Phoenix Online Studios for Microsoft Windows
on July 18, 2010. 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.
The game follows the atmosphere of the King's Quest titles. The plot revolves around King Graham as he desperately seeks the help of ancient druidic artifacts to undo the evil cast upon his wife Valanice and children Alexander and Rosella. Along the way he learns the dark secret that his wife is actually a member of the Black Cloak Society and also a Druidess, facts that she had tried to supress. At the same time, Graham uncovers his own secret lineage and reveals his destiny to save the world.
The game had received criticism for its length, lack of puzzles, and quality of narration, but reviews were generally positive, and Phoenix Online Studies continued its development. The most recent release, Episode 4: ‘Tis In My Memory Locked. And You Yourself Shall Hold The Key Of It, was released on 8 November, 2011. The final episode is scheduled for released in early 2012.
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. The development team said that "Chapters 3 – 9 will most likely never be released non-commercially, because without funding, it would take us 10 or more years to complete them." They have since stated that they intend to complete the story in five episodes and offer a true ending as opposed to a cliffhanger
.
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. On June 1, 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.
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.
After Vivendi Games
merged with Activision
in 2008, Activision became the new owners 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. On June 26, 2010, Phoenix Online Studios announced that Activision had changed its mind and decided to allow The Silver Lining to be released.
"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.
"Episode 3: My Only Love Sprung From My Only Hate" was released on February 18th, 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.
The remaining two episodes will be released as free downloads later in 2011.
Reviews for the first episode were generally positive, but with some criticism of the length and the lack of puzzles. The reaction to the quality of the graphics and music was more mixed in nature.
Fangame
Fangames are video games made by fans based on one or more established video games. Many fangames attempt to clone the original game's design, gameplay and characters, but it is equally common for fans to develop a unique game using another only as a template...
based on the King's Quest
King's Quest
King's Quest is an adventure game series 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 installment, the series was primarily responsible for building the reputation...
series, which was developed and released in free download format
Freeware
Freeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee, but usually with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the...
by Phoenix Online Studios for Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
on July 18, 2010. 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
Vivendi Games
Vivendi Games, formerly known as Vivendi Universal Games, was the holdings company for Sierra Entertainment and Blizzard Entertainment. Vivendi Games was founded as Vivendi Universal Games after Vivendi bought Universal Studios in the early 2000s...
in 2005, and parent company Activision
Activision
Activision is an American publisher, majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA. Its current CEO is Robert Kotick. It was founded on October 1, 1979 and was the world's first independent developer and distributor of video games for gaming consoles...
throughout 2009—10, the title has been changed.
The game follows the atmosphere of the King's Quest titles. The plot revolves around King Graham as he desperately seeks the help of ancient druidic artifacts to undo the evil cast upon his wife Valanice and children Alexander and Rosella. Along the way he learns the dark secret that his wife is actually a member of the Black Cloak Society and also a Druidess, facts that she had tried to supress. At the same time, Graham uncovers his own secret lineage and reveals his destiny to save the world.
The game had received criticism for its length, lack of puzzles, and quality of narration, but reviews were generally positive, and Phoenix Online Studies continued its development. The most recent release, Episode 4: ‘Tis In My Memory Locked. And You Yourself Shall Hold The Key Of It, was released on 8 November, 2011. The final episode is scheduled for released in early 2012.
Episodes
- "Episode 1: What is Decreed Must Be" (10 July, 2010)
- "Episode 2: Two Households" (18 September, 2010)
- "Episode 3: My Only Love Sprung From My Only Hate" (17 February, 2011)
- "Episode 4: ‘Tis In My Memory Locked. And You Yourself Shall Hold The Key Of It" (8 November 2011)
- "Episode 5: A Thousand Times Goodnight" (Early 2012)
Game development
Production of TSL began in October 2000. After a long period of limited production and loss of focus, the original TSL 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 made POS 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
Trilogy
A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected, and that can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, or video games...
, but later was altered to be released as a single game. The finished game was to contain Chapters 1 and 2. The development team said that "Chapters 3 – 9 will most likely never be released non-commercially, because without funding, it would take us 10 or more years to complete them." They have since stated that they intend to complete the story in five episodes and offer a true ending as opposed to a cliffhanger
Cliffhanger
A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma, or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of serialized fiction...
.
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. On June 1, 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
Vivendi Games
Vivendi Games, formerly known as Vivendi Universal Games, was the holdings company for Sierra Entertainment and Blizzard Entertainment. Vivendi Games was founded as Vivendi Universal Games after Vivendi bought Universal Studios in the early 2000s...
for approval.
Delays and legal issues
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 useFair use
Fair use is a limitation and exception to the exclusive right granted by copyright law to the author of a creative work. In United States copyright law, fair use is a doctrine that permits limited use of copyrighted material without acquiring permission from the rights holders...
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
Cease and desist
A cease and desist is an order or request to halt an activity and not to take it up again later or else face legal action. The recipient of the cease-and-desist may be an individual or an organization....
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.
After Vivendi Games
Vivendi Games
Vivendi Games, formerly known as Vivendi Universal Games, was the holdings company for Sierra Entertainment and Blizzard Entertainment. Vivendi Games was founded as Vivendi Universal Games after Vivendi bought Universal Studios in the early 2000s...
merged with Activision
Activision
Activision is an American publisher, majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA. Its current CEO is Robert Kotick. It was founded on October 1, 1979 and was the world's first independent developer and distributor of video games for gaming consoles...
in 2008, Activision became the new owners 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. On June 26, 2010, Phoenix Online Studios announced that Activision had changed its mind and decided to allow The Silver Lining to be released.
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.
"Episode 3: My Only Love Sprung From My Only Hate" was released on February 18th, 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.
The remaining two episodes will be released as free downloads later in 2011.
Reception
The series has garnered generally fair reviews, and criticisms center on the convoluted plot and poor quality of narration.Reviews for the first episode were generally positive, but with some criticism of the length and the lack of puzzles. The reaction to the quality of the graphics and music was more mixed in nature.
External links
- Phoenix Online Studios
- The Silver Lining at deviantArtDeviantArtdeviantART is an online community showcasing various forms of user-made artwork. It was first launched on August 7, 2000 by Scott Jarkoff, Matthew Stephens, Angelo Sotira and others. deviantArt, Inc...
- The Silver Lining at MySpace
- The Silver Lining at WikiaWikiaWikia is a free web hosting service for wikis . It is normally free of charge for readers and editors, deriving most of its income from advertising, and publishes all user-provided text under copyleft licenses. Wikia hosts several hundred thousand wikis using the open-source wiki software MediaWiki...