Hello, I Made Chex Quest 4

[Notiswas]

That's right, I'm the guy responsible for Chex Quest 4 and Chex Quest Fighting.

It's been a while since I've thought about it.

First of all, I'd like to say it is a great feeling to come online to find such a large Chex Quest fanbase... It is much larger than the days with Richie, Froghawk, Chex Warrior, and myself.

I realize there are some people that have been curious as to what Chex Quest 4 and Fighting were like.  I suppose now is the time to tell my little story.  What I am about to talk about is a matter that is quite humiliating, so please take it with a grain of salt.  I was young.  (Sigh) Here it is....

I must have been 14 at the time. 

One day I decided to look into Chex Quest, having been curious as to finding Chex Quest 2 available for download.  I was never successful in finding it until that day when I stumbled across Chex Quest Mania.  I joined the forum, as did Wayc and Richie a bit later on.  We were a small group of devoted fans.  At the time, I enjoyed Chex Quest, but I didn't think it would have such an impact to people in the future.  Of course, as you can see, I was wrong.

I had been messing around with a program called Game Maker, back in the vers. 3.0 days.  It bothered me that Chex Quest always stated that the "Mission Continues" but where was the continuation?  It was sort of like a movie that doesn't reveal the outcome, and I would have bet some serious money that it would never be continued (it was, afterall, a piece of promotion that at that time never reached any heights as it does now.)  I thought to myself "Okay, so are we to be stuck in limbo here, or should somebody take the initiative to continue the series unofficially?"  At that time, Chex Quest 3 was available, but I personally felt it was more of a fan modification as opposed to something that could stand up as a natural sequel with a different scope from the original games.

That's when I stepped in to try my hand at a fan game.

The following is an embarassing account and in no way reflects my current nature.

I just wasn't any good with Game Maker at that time.  Sure, I attempted to begin a Chex Quest game, but with little programming knowledge, it just fell flat.  I downloaded some game editables from the official Game Maker website, and yearned to figure out how to make such great games.  I just didn't get it.  The concept of programming was far ahead of my vision.  It was the initial stages of my introduction to programming.

One game, of which I do not recall the name anymore, was really interesting.  It was a shooter game with a point-and-click interface.  It had a backround image with sprites of aliens running toward you from the horizon and you'd have to shoot them before they got to you.  I then thought "Bingo! That is a great style to incorporate into the Chex Quest universe!"

So I did something that I have never done before nor repeated since:  I stole it.

I cannot justify my decision by any way other than I stole it.  I knew what I was doing, and I kept it a big secret.

I replaced the sprites with my own.  The only difference in the game to the original was that it had an intro with voice acting, the art was all mine (REALLY shabby), and I had created a boss enemy called "The Slime Guard" at the entrance of a pyramid that contains a button to shut off the portal to the flemoids' home planet.  I also had an ending of sorts, again with monotone computer voice-acting.

I did not credit the creator of that engine.

I released Chex Quest 4, and people generally enjoyed it, but I began to absolutely despise it fast.  The creator may have stated it was fair use to anyone (I don't recall), but regardless, I knew what I had done was a reflection of FAKE.  The same goes with Chex Quest Fighting.  I used a fighting-game engine that again, wasn't mine.  With my current knowledge of making games, I could easily recreate a fighting engine that dwarfs that of the one for Chex Quest Fighting, but still, it does not justify my action.  Fortunately CQF was never finished... they were simply demos.

I hated the fact that those games were out there.  I was too much of a coward to fess up to it.  I was afraid I would eventually be caught, and my reputation would suffer.  Remember, I was young and dumb and all I wanted was to continue the Chex series.  Unfortunately, I was impatient and had no real objection to borrowing another man's art to create my own.  Since then, I have NEVER gone that route again, and I scoff at those that do, including myself.  It is one thing to ask permission from the original author and credit them... or at the very least just credit them... but to take someone's brain child, repackage it, and say it is yours is WRONG!

Eventually my guilt was so strong that I made mistake number 2: Censorship... also WRONG in my humble opinion.  I requested Richie make Chex Quest 4 and Chex Quest Fighting unavailable on his website and request that others refrain from spreading it around.  I felt it was a plague that would eventually come around and get me one day.  The main reason for this though was because I felt sorry for what I had done to the guy that did the programming.  All the blood and sweat from this programmer in vain because I stole it.

So I say now: I am sorry for what I have done.  I am 21 now, and it is finally off my chest regardless of how I am perceived by other people.  It was some time ago.

If I still had Chex Quest 4 and Fighting, I would give them back to the community with a disclaimer that gave full credit to the as of now anonymous game developer, along with a brief variation of the story above without all the ridiculous passion.  Can't help the passion though    it actually is a big deal to me, especially now that I see the state of the Chex Quest community.  I feel you all deserved an explanation as to why I made the immature move in the first place.  If anybody has Chex Quest 4 or Fighting, let me know, and we'll do this proper *crickets* lol

Richie followed my lead and made "The Return Of The Chex Warrior," I withdrew to other projects, and here we are now!  I'm back.  I am anxious to meet you all and see what others have up their sleeves as far as the continuing of the Chex Quest legacy.

Thanks for listening to my sad story, sorry for all the tears     

I am considering making a new Chex Quest fangame, and this time it will be 100% me.  My art, my programming, my music, all that good stuff.  It would be a pity if all one sees of my art is the terrible past work... I really am much better than that.

-Tyler

[The Green Avenger]

Welcome.  I can't say I agree with what you did, but neither do you, so that's good.  You did the right thing, though, coming in and setting the record straight about the games we rookies hear about but never have seen. 

I hope you do get around to making a new mod.  This community thrives on mods, so it would be nice to have another.

Good to have you here, hope you get settled in real quick. 

[Atariangamer]

Hmm...I get ya. Me being new to the community, I kinda asked richie what it was...He couldn't remember much, but anyway...

The past is past! The present is now. Lets forget all this and carry on with our community.
[/weird politeness]

Welcome, Notiswas! Nice to have you here on the CQFF once more! Check out the Fan Projects, General Discussion is down the hall. Enjoy your stay.

[Richie]

Welcome back to the community, Tyler!  Don't worry - there's no hard feelings.  This was a long time ago.

I did a quick Yahoo! search.  So many people have searched "Download Chex Quest 4," it autofilled it in for me.  I couldn't find a download, but I did come across the icons.  How somebody got ahold of these, I will never know.  They're up for download on Manny Cav's website.  http://chexquestgallery.webng.com/downloads/

I hope to see you around! 

[brain candy]

I remember you, but only barely. 

I'm happy to see you back here! Seriously no hard feelings on what happened in the past. We all did stupid stuff when we were kids.

[Manny Cav]

Welcome to the Chex Quest Fan Forums, Notiswas! Read the Board Rules, and, uh, I kinda think you know the drill here, so I'll leave it at that.

When I first got the internet, I made a frantic search for Chex Quest 2 and Chex Quest 3. I found both of them through perseverance (Chex Quest 3 requited some more digging, though), but then, I heard of Chex Quest 4. I wanted it so badly, but I couldn't find it. Then, I heard things about it, like "the author won't distribute it any more", so I just gave up and went on with my life.

I also heard about Chex Quest Fighting, but I wasn't quite as interested in that one. Still, I looked for it, but couldn't find it.

A few years later down the road, I learned more about the game, like why you stopped distributing them. I heard that they were bad games.

Regardless, a lot has changed since then. Why don't you go by the Fan Projects forum and check out the various fan projects there?

I believe our member Dacicus knows something about where we might be able to find Chex Quest 4, though he doesn't stop by very often.

[The Slimeinator]

Welcome! It's good that you cleaned the slate after that; no hard feelings, OK?

[xbolt]

Ah... Now I understand. Until now, I've never heard the whole story behind CQ4 and CQF. I just thought that they were just really terrible games, and you were ashamed of them. (Not really that far off, I suppose...)

I've heard about them for years, and have been looking all around the internet with no success. You certainly did a good job of erasing all traces of them.

But where's my manners? Welcome back to the new-and-improved Chex Quest Fan Forums! I'm actually quite glad to meet the mysterious guy who made those mysterious games...

We have a whole Fan Projects section for you to browse, and catch up on the happenings in the mod world.

[ChexCommander]

Hello there! I'm glad you feel sorry for what you did, and I think you did the right thing afterwards.
As we have stated, check out the Fan Projects section for some cool mods that we have made.

I happen to be a player on Skulltag, a multiplayer Doom/CQ client, and if you ever wanted to try setting it up, I'm here.

Hope you have a nice stay! 

[Loremaster]

Welcome to the Chex Quest Fan Forums, Notiswas! Read the Board Rules, and, uh, I kinda think you know the drill here, so I'll leave it at that.

When I first got the internet, I made a frantic search for Chex Quest 2 and Chex Quest 3. I found both of them through perseverance (Chex Quest 3 requited some more digging, though), but then, I heard of Chex Quest 4. I wanted it so badly, but I couldn't find it. Then, I heard things about it, like "the author won't distribute it any more", so I just gave up and went on with my life.

I also heard about Chex Quest Fighting, but I wasn't quite as interested in that one. Still, I looked for it, but couldn't find it.

A few years later down the road, I learned more about the game, like why you stopped distributing them. I heard that they were bad games.

Regardless, a lot has changed since then. Why don't you go by the Fan Projects forum and check out the various fan projects there?

I believe our member Dacicus knows something about where we might be able to find Chex Quest 4, though he doesn't stop by very often.

I believe I have a copy of CQ4 on my old computer. I'll post it up when I get on that machine next.

Welcome back Tyler, it's been a spell.

[Josh]

oh yeah your the nomen guy is chex quest 4 still up for download?

[Dacicus]

Welcome back, Tyler! It's great to see old members join again. Please check your e-mail.

I believe our member Dacicus knows something about where we might be able to find Chex Quest 4

I think that resource is gone now, but I'll tell you what I knew if Tyler gives me permission.

[Kuwabara]

Welcome.  I have heard about your games, but in name only.  Nice to see a 1st gen member return!

[Notiswas]

Thank you everyone, I really appreciate the kind words and understanding.  Yeah, they really weren't good games at all, but I guess we all make mistakes... heh   

I am blown away by the large span of fangames!  I never realized it was so big!

Thanks Dacicus... I'm glad to have it back in my posession.  The question is... do the gamers that have yet to play it wish to do so?  I cannot rightly hord it away if you all are curious.  But firstly I must try and track down the original author and gain permission, and somehow implement credit... that's the only way.

Hey Rich!  Long time no speak... well, unless you count a couple days ago, but that was brief.

Thank you all for welcoming me.

Tyler

[Notiswas]

Oh, and not to mention giving it a more appropriate title... Heh heh.  Something along the lines of: "Chex Quest: The Chapter Best To Be Forgotten."