Since Sierra have actually linked to the GK3
site now, you can ignore all the
bumpf I wrote yesterday! 
Unfortunately, I have had to remove all traces of the infamous GK3 site, due to the fact that it is still being worked upon! It doesn't make sense to direct people to a site which is not yet finished, so at the request of the maintainers, I have decided to remove all traces of the incomplete site until it is officially released in August. I urge all other GK site maintainers to do the same, and to respect Sierra's wishes.
Ok, time for everyone to change their bookmarks. Sierra have modified the location of the GK3 site, and you can now find it at http://www.sierra.com/titles/gk3/. In all likelihood, this will be the final location.
Almost a full 24 hours have passed, and it would appear that the now legendary
GK3 Site link is now operational again, this time with a great deal more items of interest available.
The site now contains the following sections:
Its unknown how long this one will be up for, but one thing is for sure, someone at Sierra is taking an awful lot of interest over the GK site, which can only be a good thing.
By the way, don't look at the javascript source for the email subscription page if you're either an AOL or COMPUSERVE subscriber, unless you take a joke!
Well, Sierra decided to pull the GK3 link very quickly, probably due to contractual obligations with Computer Gaming World, since they have exclusive dibs over any and all information regarding GK3. If you didn't get to see the page, it consisted of a very nice looking GK image, which had (what I presumed to be) GK himself as a red/black silhouette, surrounded by various obscure words and symbols. It then proceeded to play a midi file, while displaying an animated GIF of various words culminating the many rumours that had been mentioned over the past few months. A javascript countdown box gave a date (as below) of when the site would become live.
As the date gets ever nearer to the long awaited GK3, information has (and will continue to) fly in thick and fast. The latest news (purportedly direct from Jane herself) follows:
Not much, but I have been given assurances about its validity. More information when I have it. Thanks again to Paula and her little elves for this info!
Just a very quick note to let everyone know that Sierra have made available the long awaited GK3 site. Not much there yet, but that will change soon! The current scheduled date for the site going live is August 15, 1997. Huge thanks to Paula Kutvonen for letting me know!
Jane Jensen has recently responded to some of the more intense speculation about the forthcoming GK3 title, regarding the significant use of 3D as the new game engine..
There's two things that are relevant. One: art style, which could be FMV, 3D or animated. Two: game play still which means either it is still an adventure game or it becomes an action/adv. hybrid.
As for the first, GK3 is still in preliminary art-setting stages, but the characters are not going to be live actors unless something drastically changes. There's just no way at present to do FMV on 3D models and have it work. What 3D provides is a way to have complete control over an environment and to move the camera anyway you want. To do this, everything on the screen must be modeled. You might be able to shoot an actor with a bunch of cameras and make this work or, like in Phantas 1, reshoot the same scene from a bunch of angles but this is just too expensive at present.
As for the second, I have just seen a demo of KQ8 and the previous poster was correct, it will be an "action/adventure" meaning that they will add combat, etc. to the gameplay. Tomb Raider is the closest example I can think of, but then I don't play many games like that. And, hence, I certainly have no expertise to design them nor any desire too. The story for GK3 is done and it is as "serious" (i.e. large) as 1 and 2 and there's not a lot of room for 'dumbing it down'. We are going to attempt to '3Dize' the puzzles which I think is valid and will add more novelty and fun to the game. However, the story will remain and will not be sacrificed on the altar of arcade.
Everyone on the team, including myself, is committed to this one being as good as and not too great a departure from the last two. As always, your letters of support for ADVENTURE GAMES to the brass are helpful and appreciated and help us stave off the pressure of the twitch monsters.
Jane
It certainly makes a lot of sense, and a lot of people (myself included) will be pleased to read about the reluctance to pursue the incorporation of extended arcade sequences ("Rise of the Dragon" platform shenanigans anyone?). And of course, there is the moot point about the development team being committed to give as strong and powerful a story as the previous 2 GK games have already shown.
Recently, I have had the chance to see what one of these new fangled 3DFX cards (Orchid Righteous 3D) can actually do, and was left stunned by the speed that these things can shift screen graphics. Anyone who was previously content with their 25 fps in 320x200 resolution screens in Quake/Tomb Raider will be gobsmacked at seeing what a difference 640x480 in 16 bit colour can making. Additional lighting effects, anti-aliasing and other wonderful buzzwords which help pitch the card more easily in the consumer market actually make a real difference when you see them up on the screen, doing its simultaneous stuff.
Then I got thinking about what the implications would be for 3D adventure games (well, ok, GK3 specifically! ). While the speed of screen update has obvious advantages when using them properly in anything remotely 3D, its the potential for realistically rendered environments, generated characters, coupled with realistic sound effects, which will make the real difference.
Picture the following scene... You're just outside Rittersburg Castle, birds twittering in the air, along with a suitably sombre Holmes soundtrack. You wish to go to the study. You smoothly walk (or instruct your onscreen character to move) towards the door, whereby you can interact with the handle (upon the first time, subsequent attempts would be "learnt", meaning opening doors would be automatic. "Quick-moves" should also be allowed to easily get to locations with one action, via a map, without having to go through the same route for the thousandth time.). You then glide up the stairs, making your way into the Schattenjäger Library, looking for a specific book. After select the spine of the tome you wish to read, your character automatically takes it, goes to sit in his/her chair, all accompanied with an appropriate voice-over which starts to read the book aloud.
Now, if you break this whole affair down into what it would constitute in terms of storage space when comparing FMV, you will realise that only the sound, textures, and objects will require any space, which in itself are drastically reduced when compared with single, static video clips. The potential for virtual, realistic-looking actors which can be directed in any way required (ahem), a lot more space is left to the things that really matter, rather than having to face the horror prospect of cutting to shreds your story, because it needs an extra CD in its current form.
The future's bright, the future's 3D. Maybe.
New information will be posted (and credited) as and when I can get it. If you have some news related to anything Schattenjagery, contact me at raymond.chitolie@tesco.net.