While I agree the quality of the voice acting in KQ5 could have been (a lot) better, it's a matter of nostalgia for me. I played the CD version of the game as a kid so I can't help but have a fondness for them.

Well it's great that many of you are nostalgic for the voices, but I'm nostalgic for the really well done (honestly!) text boxes and gameplay.

The voice acting just ruins the game for me since I had the disk version of the game as a kid. I view the voices as massively intrusive, not nostalgic.

I would just like to add that this also really disappoints me. Almost makes me want to learn how to program just so I can create a patch for KQ5 that combines the high quality audio of the CD version with the textbox speech of the DOS version.

hmmm...

I wonder how much trouble it would be to make a fanpatch to the game, made from the script from the floppy version, and add some kinda toggle into the game.

On a related note, people are missing out on some the cool closeups like the rat, bee and ants that were cut in the CD version. It would be cool if those could be added back in. The assets are still in the files as far as I know.

What are you talking about? I have the CD DOS & CD Windows versions and they both have the closeups of those characters. There is no difference between the games except that the CD versions have an updated interface at the top & they use speech instead of text

[url=][/url][url=][/url] I'm sorry to say, but you seriously don't know what you are talking about in this instance...

In the original floppy version of KQ5, the Ant, Rat, and Bee, each had a unique closeup. Much bigger than any other character portrait in CD game. It showed most of their body and their animated hands, and in case of Beetrice you can see her wings, and her sceptor, and arms were fully animated. Antony will at one point lift up the gold needle to you, and this is largely more animated in the original (you do see a shot in the CD version with him holding the needle, but its not as animated).

Whereas all other characters in the game just had a facial close up.

In the cd version they cropped the images to just around the heads of the three animal characters, thus their bodies and arms are cut out, and you basically only see their faces.

Here is the Rat from the floppy version;

http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/kingsquest/images/5/5f/RatKQ5floppy.png

Here is Beetrice;
http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/kingsquest/images/e/e4/BeetriceKQ5floppy.png

http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20091212155617/kingsquest/images/2/26/Kingantony.jpg

Here are the cropped (less animated) CD versions;

http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/kingsquest/images/4/43/AntonyKQ5cd.png

http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/kingsquest/images/6/6d/RatKQ5cd.png

http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/kingsquest/images/a/a3/BeetriceKQ5cd.png

Some other interesting differences between the cd and floppy version include the 'spell system' used for copy protection. Where you had to occasionaly cast a 'strength spell', an 'open spell, or some other spell type, to get past certain obstacles. For example having to cast "open spell' on the door to the witch's hut to enter it because the 'door was locked', or cast strength spell in order to push the boat out (since the boat was too heavy for him).

Also you can't talk to the snake, and get an alternate message. You also cannot talk to the random towns people, and also get an alternate message there as well. "they are too busy', or some such. There are other script differences here and there... Like a different description for the cow outside of the town.

Actually It would be kinda cool for completeness sake if GOG could add the floppy version to their collection!

Thank you for clarifying your post. You made it sound like the cd versions didn't have the close-ups at all. You're just upset that they are cropped. Personally I don't think it makes much of a difference. I own every pc version of KQ5 that was ever released. Never really noticed it before. Can't say I really care now. It's a small difference that most people wouldn't notice or really care about. I can't agree that they should try to implement the small differences into the cd versions. But that's just my opinion

Agreed. I really don't mind the cropping at all.

I also don't mind the voice-acting. It's not as horrible as a lot of people say it is (well, except Cedric and maybe the narrator a little bit).

But, of course, it's far away from KQ6 which had really great voice acting - especially the narrator.

inability to turn off speech in this game ruins the game, and makes it unplayable as someone who grew up on this game's floppy version.

outrageously bad voice acting. clearly totally untrained people doing the work. like getting your mom or dad on a mic and telling them to read some lines, and telling them it's for an audience of kids


PLEASE GOG ADD THE FLOPPY VERSION.

The best option would probably be to use the french version that was included on the 1994 King's Quest Collector's Edition. It has all the benefits of the floppy disk version (real MT-32 midi files instead of recordings, character portraits, text, etc.) with the benefits of the CD-ROM version (updated interface, sound effects, bug fixes). Though realistically, GOG will never add this as an option.

For those of you with this version, I forgot I made this last year... it's a set of patch files to set the game's default language to English and also adds the missing English intro text. Works with DOSBox and ScummVM.

http://www.mediafire.com/download/ggjjesuo5b99s98/KQ5FRNCH.7z

Cool, I'll have to check that out someday, when I get access to my cds again. Too bad you can't create a patch that will patch up other versions to include thise featuers :).

BTW, do you have a video of the patch in action? Or could someone 'Let's Play" it?
Actually as far as I know the only trained actor doing the work was Josh Mandel, who did the voice of King Graham. He could have given more personality to Graham, but Roberta told him to tone it down.

http://www.adventuregamers.com/articles/view/24002

However, that being said he's probably my favorite part of KQ5CD and I was glad he reprised his role in KQ6. However, I don't know if he was a member of the Screen Actor's Guild and that was why he didn't reprise his role in KQ7 (a scene that was cut) and in KQ8. Which set requirements on those games, and who could star in them.

I believe this is the worst speech acting I have ever heard

Gods damn it not here too!

I too played KQ5 as a kid without any of the heinous speech, and wasn't even aware that there was a speech version until I bought the King's Quest Collection on Steam a few years back. The speech was so unbearable that I couldn't play the game.

KQ5 was/is my favorite King's Quest game, and I had the floppy version still in box up until about 10 years ago when my parents sold it without consulting me. (which is why I no longer keep any of my classic games at their home)

It's an absolute absolute shame that the supperior floppy version seems to have been abandoned by the major classic game retailers. I'd go so far as to scout a copy out on ebay, if there was any way it would even work on modern operating systems.

At least King's quest 6 has the option of text or speech. I don't understand why this simple option was left out of the later versions of KQ5. I was hoping that GOG unlike steam would carry a version of the game with both...but apparently not....sigh...I wonder if I'll ever be able to replay the game as I did when I was younger, it makes me sad...like the original cut of a classic movie you used to love being lost to time.

I would pay good money to have a (no speech) version of this game that could run on modern OS's

I suffered through the speech version about a year & half ago. Suffering it was.
USB floppy drives work well enough. It is straightforward enough to install in DOSBox. Ideally, you work make a floppy image backup, but that's not necessary to install the game. I tried this a few years ago with my copy, but floppy #3 was corrupted beyond repair. :(

Wishlist: Floppy Version