[After a brisk nap]

As we discussed in this thread, and since there seemed to be no objections, I hereby announce the third AG Community Playthrough!

The subject of this playthrough: Conquests of the Longbow - The Legend of Robin Hood (Sierra, 1991). This game was designed by Christy Marx, and was a sort-of sequel to Conquests of Camelot - The Search for the Grail. It's a true Sierra classic, and one of my personal all-time favorites.



What we do
We play the game, together, one chunk at a time. Then we talk about it here. It's a way to get a bit of community into our gameplaying, and also take a closer look at the games. You can have a look at the first and second playthroughs, as well as the underground playthrough to see how it goes.

How to participate

1. Get a copy of the game. You can download it from Christy Marx's website. You will also need the manual, which you can download from replacementdocs.
2. Install and set up the game. You may have to use DOSBox, in which case a DOSBox frontend (e.g. D-Fend) will come in handy. You should also install the patch. If you need help, you can ask on the Technical Forum.
3. Start the game, watch the (beautiful) intro, listen to the music.
4. Play!
5. Stop at the breakpoint (and save!). I'll make a post when it's time to move on to the next chunk.
6. Post your impressions, thoughts and comments in this thread.

The current breakpoint is the beginning of Day 2. We will move on to the next chunk next week, on or around July 9th.

[After a brisk nap]

Day 1

In which Robin Hood an outlaw's life does lead.

Stop and save after the cutscene that ends Day 1, at the beginning of Day 2.

[bresto]

Nice!! I've been meaning to play this!!

[Kurufinwe]

Ooh, great!

An important note, though: people will definitely need the manual. Replacement docs has it for those who don't.

Oh, and save early and save often. It's a Sierra game, after all.

[mrdriller]

Cool. I actually own a copy of this.. and have it installed. I've only started it and watched the intro though. This could be a good time to actually play it.

[Melanie68]

I actually got this game running. I used D-fend which I have tried using before with no success but it worked this time.

I played a bit and the interface takes some getting used to. I talked to some of his merry men and went off and promptly got lost (boo!). Then I looked in the little booklet that came with the game and saw a map (yay!) but I was too lost to find my way back (boo!) so I'll have to start over.

[Kurufinwe]

Melanie, there's an in-game map to automatically move between places (though you might still want to wander in the forest at times).

[After a brisk nap]

Yup. The in-game map helps you get back to places you've already visited, but in order to find locations you haven't been to you'll often need to slog through the forest.

Mel:

Spoiler:

The directions your men head off in are hints. Try following them.

[MoriartyL]

The intro is gorgeous. Can you imagine how cheesy it would have been with voice acting? But with the combination of MIDI and text, I can hear him singing while keeping the voice in my imagination. The troubador brings the player back to the time period (what time period is this again?) without getting bloated with little details from the time. The story is communicated entertainingly, and quickly- it does not drag on any more than it has to. All in all, a wonderful opening.


Now, I've been wandering around for around twenty minutes now, and I still personally don't have a clue what I'm supposed to be doing. I didn't understand what Robin's teammates were talking about, and now they've run off to someplace or other. Speaking of which, the pacing is interesting. When you're in an area, time practically stands still. Leave and return, and they've moved. So the mundane activities of NPCs are always offscreen. It's an interesting technique for plot progression.


I'm not fond of the interface, but hey- it works.


I like the ewe's monologue. Cute.

[MoriartyL]

I've checked out the road, the landmarks, the marshes, I travelled along the border for a while, I spoke to the ewe... and I'm still no closer to having an inkling of what Robin wants to do or what direction the story progresses in. The graphics are nice, but it's a shame the forest screens are so similar to each other. I understand that this was sort of necessary, but when I've got nothing to do but wander around a forest, I don't think it's so unreasonable to want that forest to be designed well. I have gotten very very bored. What was the story supposed to be about again? After all that travelling, I barely remembered I was playing as Robin Hood anymore.

[Kurufinwe]

Mory, look at After a brisk nap's spoiler above.

(and yes, that's a bad start for the game; never made much sense to me)

[insane_cobra]

Originally Posted by MoriartyL

The graphics are nice, but it's a shame the forest screens are so similar to each other. I understand that this was sort of necessary, but when I've got nothing to do but wander around a forest, I don't think it's so unreasonable to want that forest to be designed well.

The same gripe I had with the first Kyrandia game.

[Cellardoor]

I decided to join this community playthrough. Longbow is one of my favorite games, and it's been years since I last played it.

Personally, I enjoyed walking through the forest. It seems to me that even if you wander around in no particular direction, you automatically make it to the outlook anyway.

Since this day is rather short, I decided to experiment a bit. As many of you know, Longbow is rather open-ended and non-linear. During Day 1, did you...

Spoiler:

...make it to the outlook without taking your horn with you? Or without visiting the Widow first? Both will trigger alternative dialogue from little John.

Also, when facing the Sherrif's man, did you blow your horn before shooting him? Did you try to leave the sherrif's man and the woman? It's in fact possible to return to them later on. It's also possible to approach the man. Doing this too often will result in him killing the woman. I'm pretty confident it is possible to complete the entire game even though you had let the woman die.

[MoriartyL]

Originally Posted by Kurufinwe

Mory, look at After a brisk nap's spoiler above.

I did! (Incidentally, I don't see how it's a spoiler.) I looked all over the road to see where Little John could have run to. And the other guy seems to have just disappeared. These merry men aren't very loyal- they've abandoned me!

[farsta]

I must admit that the intro really blow me away. The midi together with the song lyrics worked real good as story teller. The graphics are fabulous.

It seams like I did everything right from the beginning. Cause the first day seamed very short. Played it through in like 10 minutes. But still it was kind of a slow start. I like when you are being thrown right into the action like in Broken Sword 2 or Beneath a steal sky for an exampel.

Really looking forward to play this together with you all!

[MoriartyL]

Originally Posted by farsta

It seams like I did everything right from the beginning. Cause the first day seamed very short. Played it through in like 10 minutes.

[jaw hits floor]


Bu..bu... but... I've been playing for two hours already, and I've gotten nowhere! Are you lying?

[farsta]

Originally Posted by MoriartyL

[jaw hits floor]


Bu..bu... but... I've been playing for two hours already, and I've gotten nowhere! Are you lying?

Ha ha... No I dont lie but I did...

Spoiler:

...start with following my two friends. And when you find them the rest is mostly selfexplaning. Then I did go to the old widdow and suddenly the story mode took over. And that was it.

[MoriartyL]

I tried following those guys- I couldn't find them! Back into the game, then...

[After a brisk nap]

Mory:

Spoiler:

Will Scarlett said he'd go do some target practice, and headed North. If you go North two (if I remember correctly) screens from your hideout, you should find the practice area. Little John was going to scout out the road. Head a few screens West from your hideout, and you'll reach a hill overlooking it. You have to walk to the crest of the hill for John to show up.

[Junkface]

It's about time I gave this great game another playthrough. Random thoughts follow: I'd forgotten just how absorbing its atmosphere is, and immediately spent at least half an hour just reexploring the forest. I find it amusing that there've already been several references to the strangeness of the interface, as in my early time playing games it was always such a welcome and familiar one for me; it somehow never occurred to me that someone might have to actually at some point accustom himself to it.

I'd planned to be as miserable, inept a bastard of a Robin as possible this time, but couldn't bring myself to be anything but the dashing hero when the time came. It sort of disappoints me that, for all the game's open-endedness,

Spoiler:

when the Sheriff's guard threatens to kill the woman

you can't simply shoot her in a Keyser Soze, "don't even try threatening me, you pricks" sort of way. Maybe it's just me who thinks like that though.

Another thing I've noticed is how lonesome and melancholy so much of the music sounds; maybe it's a combined effect of the quiet, melodic sort of style and the sparseness of the midi sound, but it's something I don't really encounter in many games (Quest for Glory IV and maybe parts of King's Quest V, which I haven't played in years, come to mind.)

I was also surprised by how little the non-interactive dialogue and uniformity of the forest screens irritated me (i.e. they didn't at all, whereas I expect I'd crucify a modern game for the same things) and how much the game reminds me of the Quest for Glory series while retaining a unique style and feel. It saddens me that noone seems to even try at making these kinds of adventures anymore, and I wonder if we'll ever see their like again. I must admit, it was very difficult to stop playing at the nominated time, and not simply rush through the game to the end. Maybe I can keep myself occupied by trying some of the variations Cellardoor posted about.

Did anyone else notice (very minor spoiler)

Spoiler:

Little John carries drunken Robin off in the opposite direction of Robin's cave, then suddenly materialises there?

I feel strange using spoiler tags for such insignificant, early events, but I suppose that's the nature of this sort of thing.