Hey Arcaders!
1984- the “great” video game crash was heating up. But- July 1984 is when it all hit the fan. Companies disappeared overnight. Magicom was no exception- They already had to change their name due to another company using the name. Cinematronics were in serious finical trouble. Their percentages from the Magicom weren’t helping their woes. Vector games were falling off in popularity, Cosmic Chasm was their last vector game- so they were trying to acquire other raster games for a quick turnaround. Later, in 1987, Cinematronics would be acquired by Tradewest and renamed the Leland Corporation.
Don Bluth’s team was working on Dragons Lair II- Time Warp. And the next games on Bluth’s docket- “The Sea Beast and Barnacle Bill” and “Devils Island”.
Unfortunately, Two of the three titles would never see the light of day due to the crash- and another issue we will get to- but Dragons Lair II Time Warp. And we will talk about that one in the next tale.
But, over at RDI Video Systems , Rick Wanted to finally realize his dream. To create a fully interactive world- where it was more that timed moves, but an actual laserdisc adventure- where you interact with other people, collect items in an inventory, and more importantly- use those items to react in that world..
And that was the genesis of Thayer’s Quest.
The player controls Thayer Alcanred, an apprentice magician and last of a magically-blessed bloodline. His mentor tasks him with finding the pieces of the almighty Hand of Quoid before the evil wizard Sorsabal. The game’s main goal, however, is to deal with Sorsabal’s pawn, Torlock, who killed the rightful king and queen and now sits on their throne. Under his despotic reign the land has become a place of chaos where where evil lurks around every corner.
As you could hear, the machine has voice synthesis, a pretty big deal back then. And it has substantial word library- and settings to keep cusswords out of names. The machine could save your progress and name up to five games ahead – giving you ample time to get more tokens! it had a membrane keyboard- instead of traditional controls- for managing everything- from movement- with the numbered shape keys- to special functions- like hints, replay a scene, saving you progress, and more. and on the keyboard itself- special buttons for special spells, and objects to use and trade.
Thayer’s Quest was also released on the RDI Halcyon- a home laserdisc system released in 1985.
Sadly- only three of the five Relics of Quoid could be obtained in the game ( the orb, the horn, and the mace). A second part was supposed to be released- but the crash happened. But- RDI went bankrupt before it could be completed.
But- the game finally had a sequel almost 10 years later.
Thayer’s Quest was released to home computers and CD-based consoles titled Kingdom: The Far Reaches, with the characters’ names changed (Thayer Alconred became Lathan Kandor, Sorsabal became Torlock, etc., because creator Rick Dyer thought the original character and names were “too 70’s”) and additional animation and puzzles. battle with Torlock.
The sequel Shadoan- finally completed the five relics. It was developed over nine months on a budget of over 3 million US dollars, with more than 300 animators working on the project. The character designs were altered- to age them in the story .
In 2005 the original Thayer’s Quest was released as a DVD video game by Digital Leisure, Inc. (true to the original Halcyon version) and could be played on an ordinary DVD player using the remote control. Thayer’s Quest was also released for the CD-ROM by Digital Leisure.
The first time I had the chance to play Thayer’s Quest was at an arcade called the Gold Mine. it was in October, 1985. And I fell in love with is game the moment I played it. It was DND brought to life. I loved it so much- I bout it a few months later- $900 during the Christmas sale. And it sat proudly next to my Space Ace/Dragon’s Lair machine. I had made friends with some people at Cinematronics during it’s shutdown in 1986- before the acquisition. they sent me a nice box- full of parts- new main PCB (with Dragon’s Lair roms installed) laserdisc, and artwork. So, I would switch games from time to time.
And that’s the history of Thayer’s Quest.
Did you ever get to play this amazing game?
Let me know in the comments.
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