Messages

Thanks so much for the birthday wishes, everyone!  I've tried to ignore the birthdays, but they just don't seem to want to go away.  

[We'd like to extend our best wishes to everyone for a very happy holiday season and prosperous new year!]

We'd like to extend our best wishes to everyone for a very happy holiday season and prosperous new year!

Tom & Dianne Lewandowski

I wholeheartidly agree with GuJiaXian's point-of-view with the racy content of Al Emmo in terms of its not being a "family game".  It is not, as far as I'm concerned.  I wouldn't want children to play it.  But then, I AM a confirmed prude.  Societal changes have evolved at different paces around the globe, however.  And my generation and its attitudes are far, FAR different than those of today's youth -- which make up the writing and programming staff for Al Emmo.

I'm curious ... what kind of behavior did you expect from Al at the end?  From my perspective, I saw Al maturing and becoming stronger as the game progressed.  When he leaves the mines, the cutscene that plays shows an Al with self-confidence, unlike he appeared in the first couple of Acts.  I interpreted it as character growth.

The prize package will be shipped within 12 weeks.

Is this a misprint...up to three months to ship?  What could possible take that long to do prior to shipping?  Maybe "allow up to 12 weeks for delivery" was what you meant -- to allow for 4th Class mail to some obscure location on the planet, where delivery requires traversing jungles and the use of carrier pigeons?

Wow!  I had no idea -- this is GREAT!  That's quite a big deal...probably the biggest kudos we could hope for.

On my P4 2.8 GHz system (48x CD drive), the entire install took 7 minutes...which I thought was reasonable.  I've recently had to re-install several other CD-based programs (WordPerfect, Flash Professional, etc.) which took about the same amount of time.  The only difference, really, is the progress meter; if you focus on the "7%" mark in Al Emmo's install, it 'seems' to take longer or get hungup.  

You certainly do -- and Al's voice is performed very professionally throughout the game.  It will become completely natural as you progress.

We really appreciate all the positive feedback.  Honestly, I'm not at all offended or affected by the Adventuregamers review of the music portion of Al Emmo.  I see it as someone who provided a very cursory look at the music with no real knowledge in that area.  My very frist response when reading his review was, "What game is he talking about?"  The soundtrack is 'typical or stereotypical' western music when it's purposely meant to be.  Just like Anozira is designed to be a typical old west setting, some things are meant to be.  

Not a real 'glowing review' all the way around, but interesting, nonetheless.  In regards to the soundtrack's "old west themes", I think that was the goal Dianne and I set out to accomplish.  Since we had never before composed 'old west' style music prior to AL EMMO, I'm going to take this reviewer's remarks as a compliment -- we pulled it off.

It must be falsely flagging it because of its limitations.  Anti Spyware software is by no means, perfected technology.  I assure you, there is no spyware embedded anywhere on the game CD.

The Al Emmo installation CD does not include spyware.  I've used any number of anti-spyware apps on my PC, and nothing's ever been flagged relating to AL EMMO.  I'm sure Microsoft's "Defender" should pick up any spyware as well, which it doesn't.  Your PC has more than likely been infected by something else.

It would seem to me, that ANYBODY who preordered that's living in the U.S. should have already received their copy.  Two or three days, max, to go through the U.S. mail service.  I'm surprised that Dianne and I haven't received our 'complimentary copy', yet.  Even if it's being shipped Fourth Class, that's pretty quick within the U.S.  But First Class mail...makes me wonder when they were really shipped.

Yippy-skippy, Zipitty-doo-da, and all the other clichés!!  It's a grand day, indeed!

The most interesting I've read to date.  Nice work.

[Happy birthday, Britney!]

 Happy birthday, Britney!

Tom & Dianne

[Lewandowski =]

Really?  As soon as I heard Al say his name, the 'Alamo' play-on-words immediately clicked.  

Lewandowski =
Lee-won-'dow-ski  (American pronunciation, which is how we say it - accent on third syllable)  The 'won' is pronounced like you would use in "magic wand".  "dow" as in "wow".

Lev-on-dos-ski  (Polish pronunciation - no accent on any syllable)
(Lev, as in LEVitate.)

The "Loo" pronuciation is often assoiciated with "Lew", which is why almost every male in our family has had the nickname "Louie" at some point in our lives.  Even my father, and his father, bore the nickname, "Lou", in the Army.

[mo]

I noticed that, too.  In the game, Al's emphasis is on the "mo" part of Emmo.  Others emphasize the "Em" part of Emmo.   He also states his name in the same manner as Larry Laffer does, by repeating his first name.  ("I'm Larry ... Larry Laffer.")   But, I didn't think that was an issue.  It's just like some southerners and African-Americans pronounce "POLICE" with the emphasis on "PO", instead of "LICE".  It's kind of a non-issue, as I see it.  In fact, I think it adds a little charm -- a natural, real-world flavor.  I also get any number of variations in how people pronounce my last name.  

[Himalaya]

You can simply download Sequencer Plus Gold (for FREE) from the http://voyetra.com FTP site, and convert the SNG files yourself.  Load the SNG files into the program, then resave in MIDI Type 2 format.

I don't see the relationship to Himalaya Studios support, either.  Maybe he thought he was at Quest Studios....where questions like this are common place.  

[Sequencer Plus Gold]

We record and mix with Voyetra's Sequencer Plus Gold MIDI sequencer, an old DOS-based software sequencer.  We do all of our recording, mixing, balances, editing through this software.  Then, when we feel everything is right, we use Cool Edit Pro 2.0 to create digital files.

Thanks, ryeguy!

We probably don't differ from any other composer or artist when it comes to creating.  We'll typically have an idea, then play around with that idea on a keyboard or guitar until it eventually developes into a song.  We then transfer those ideas to MIDI, and work from there.  Our game songs usually are a gradual buildup around a central theme or melody.  One of us will come up with a melody, and the other will help work it into a full song.  

For the Al Emmo soundtrack, we used Roland SC-8850, SC-8820, and MT-32 sound modules, along with a Yamaha SW60XG sound card.  There's also some 'live' Yamaha acoustic guitars, and Roland digital pianos being used.  And our MIDI keyboard controllers are a Yamaha CBX-K2 and Roland HP3000s keyboard.

As I mentioned in a previous thread, most of our musical ideas with Al Emmo's soundtrack were based on descriptions provided by Chris, and by reading the game's screenplay.  This differs from the KQ2VGA soundtrack, which was primarily composed after seeing completed scenes.

Strange, isn't it ---- made me feel the exactly the same way!  It's also a real inspirational addition to our studio; makes me feel musically creative.  

[AL EMMO II]

I forgot to mention; the poster is also signed by Eriq.    Can't wait 'til I can add the AL EMMO II poster alongside this one!

[only early mockup of the game artwork]

Thanks to Eriq, we can now proudly display a poster with the only early mockup of the game artwork in our music room!  Thank you, Eriq!

[RITA'S THEME]

Since the soundtrack was three years in the making, that would have the potential for making quite a long story.  

But some highlights...
Most of the music was composed before Dianne or I ever saw the scenes we were writing for.  The Introduction and Ending movies, and the four in-game comic scenes, are exceptions; we were able to compose for those as we watched the on-screen action.  The majority of in-game themes were based on descriptions supplied by the game designers; primarily, Chris.  We would also read excerpts of Daniel's screenplay to get a rough feel of some of the scenes.

Dianne and I work differently, as she's a pianist, and I'm a guitarist.  We both have no real previous experience with late 1800's style music.  So, you won't hear any late 1800's style music in the game.  I doubt anyone would really want to, either.  It's not what most of us are accustomed to hearing when we think of a "western" movie soundtrack.  The Saloon music (rag time diddies) are basically 1920's style pieces -- and so  anachronistic in their use.  But that's how the public has come to associate the old west saloon.  Thanks to Hollywood, we were able to take liberties with the entire soundtrack.  (Hense, electric guitars, synthesizers, etc. make their way into some of the songs.)  

Several songs are colaborations where Dianne would come up with melodies, and I'd come up with additional accompaniment.  We bounced ideas off each other throughout the soundtrack.  The game's title theme was composed just as King's Quest II VGA was being released, while  the last bit of music, the End Scene, was completed just last month.

In Act 8, you'll hear Frankie Mae Richards sing one of my favorite songs of the soundtrack...RITA'S THEME.  (A much longer version of this song is on the Soundtrack CD.)  I have two other favorites:  PAMMY'S OASIS and THE MULE RIDE, which is also Dianne's favorite -- and who is responsible for composing and performing the piano in THE MULE RIDE.

When we were asked about creating a soundtrack CD, we didn't simply want to put identical music from the game onto a CD.  So, there are a LOT of enhancements (alternative endings, new verses, etc.), and we included a few songs that never made it to the game.

Anyway....that's it in a nutshell.

I also didn't see anything about Shipping/Handling costs.  People are asking me how much shipping will be, and I don't know what to tell them?  What is S/H on the Soundtrack CD (no game)?

I'm sure they do trust us, but in retail...like when you pre-order a movie DVD, or something from a chain-store, you're told the expected release date -- when the product is expected to ship.  I just found it unusual that there's no mention of it.  Next week?  Next month?  By Christmas?  

Unless I missed it, I didn't see anything about a DATE when the game is being released.  If I'm going to pre-order something, I want to know WHEN my order is to be fulfilled.

[HAPPY BIRTHDAY, STIJN!]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, STIJN!  
Now, how about sharing a piece of that cake.  

We do have some interesting ideas for the soundtrack, as well as other game goodies...but nothing's been finalized at this time.

I don't care for the idea of relying on other users for distribution of our commercial product...or using up their bandwidth, for that matter.  If this were an AGDI product, something like BitTorrent might be practical.  But for a product that we're charging you money for, I feel we should offer a more definitive and stable means of obtaining it.

I know downloading the game might be less expensive for some, but it will also lack a lot of the niceties of the product -- like the game's beautifully printed box and manual, and other goodies included with the game.  Another question might be, 'do we really want to release only a portion and not the entire product?'  If it's available by download, I think the majority of sales would be done this way because most people don't want to wait for the game to be shipped.

That's only my two-cents.

Sure would be nice to buy a 15-second plug on television...which would eat up any profits we hope to see.  

I think everyone's just pleased to see the forum and is taking the opportunity to acknowledge it in this thread.    There's only been a few of us posting here for the past three years, so it's really nice to finally be able to have some more members on board to share in our excitement.

Hey, Brit...hope you brought doughnuts ... I'm starving!
  :rolleyes:

You betcha it's a nice place to call home!  Welcome, guys!  Let the game playing begin!!