King's Quest 2 AGI

[Kaminari]

I know, I know... I've been laughing hard at the crazy idea myself... but let's not bury that game too fast! It's still a Sierra 'quest' in its own right which (hum) music was composed by Al Lowe, and as such it deserves a tad bit of respect I think :o)

I'd love to hear a MIDI cover of the (*gasp*) intro tune, in the same way as Tom did for KQ3's intro and end themes -- and those were great covers. I realize there's not much in that song to build upon, but at least the Sierra soundtrack page would be almost complete :D

Think about it...

[Marten]

Let me address the King's Quest II intro music question with a llittle bit of history, stepping back to the first King's Quest game.

The very original King's Quest had an opening tune similar to that of King's Quest III.  I believe Tom has a recording of it somewhere.  In a later release, Sierra changed the opening music to an old tune titled "Greensleeves."  

For King's Quest II, Sierra again used Greensleeves, only with a faster tempo.

Greensleeves' lyrics were originally composed as a poem in 1580, and the tune was added in 1652.   Around 1865, new words were put to the melody, creating the Christmas song "What Child Is This?"

You can find MIDI files of "Greensleeves/What Child" on the internet very easily with a websearch, and fully sung and orchestrated versions on compact disc; Loreena McKennitt did a version in 2001.

Reference:  http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/snd/greensleeves.html

[Caliburn]

The very original King's Quest had an opening tune similar to that of King's Quest III.  I believe Tom has a recording of it somewhere.

Really?  I'd never heard about that before.  Any idea why the original tune was replaced?

-Luke

[Tom]

The original King's Quest release....the one that came on a self-booting 5.25" 360k floppy...had a very short theme that I used when I did that "Quests Of The King" arrangement.  I'll make a little MP3 of the portion I used.  Although I do have the original 5.25" game disk (there was only ONE disk!), I don't know how to use it on today's computers.  Hmmmm...I have an idea.  If it works, I'll record the original, 'beeping' KQ intro.

Here's what the original theme sounded like -- the melody, that is.  It was only done on a PC speaker:

http://www.QuestStudios.com/temp/kq.mp3

I don't remember there being any other music in the original intro.

[Caliburn]

Ah, so that's where the fanfare elements of Quests of the King came from!  You know, now that I think about this it's ringing a strong bell in my memory, and I believe you actually said something about this portion being from KQ1 back around the time that Quests of the King was first posted to the site, but I didn't understand your explanation at the time.  Good to know!

-Luke

[Boogeyman]

Don't forget that it was also use for the credits of KQ1VGA(AGDI)

I think it was also used in KQ2VGA though I am not sure where.


BTW, Greensleaves is the national anthem of Daventry!

[Kaminari]

Thank you for the informative replies.

Greensleeves... I just knew that theme was ringing a bell. The first nine notes are used as one of the tunes you hear in Head over Heels when you enter a new room :-)

[Alistair]

Yes, i've still got a MP3 of Tom's ED covnersion of the KQ1AGI intro. Absolutely awesome stuff.

- Alistair