MagiQuest

MagiQuest is a live action role-playing game in which players take the role of magic users. The game takes place in dedicated MagiQuest locations. Players, called Magi in the game, use an infrared (IR) emitting wand to interact with objects. These objects are scattered throughout the MagiQuest locations. By waving and pointing the wand at an object, referred to as "casting" in game, a player "activates" an object. For example, pointing a wand at a treasure chest will cause the chest to open, awarding an amount of gold to a player's account. At some locations, there are optional items available for purchase, unlocking secret areas or allowing a player to go on additional quests. Completing these additional quests or exploring these secret areas allow for even more in-game items, adding additional content to the game.

History

The first MagiQuest opened in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina at noon on June 15, 2005. The opening celebration included live appearances by actors featured in the quests. Additional MagiQuest locations have subsequently opened in East Hanover, New Jersey and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Great Wolf Resorts made an agreement with Creative Kingdoms in 2008 to install the game at all current Great Wolf Lodge resorts. In 2010, MagiQuest opened in the County Fair Games Gallery at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois. MagiQuest closed late-2010 and was removed from the park. On July 31, 2011, MagiQuest opened in Fun City at the Palisades Mall in West Nyack, New York. In Japan, there is a MagiQuest kingdom near Tokyo Dome. In December 2011 - January 2012, the first Canadian MagiQuest opened in a Great Wolf Lodge in Niagara Falls, ON.

On September 7, 2015, the Myrtle Beach MagiQuest closed permanently.[1] Other locations in West Nyack, New York and East Hanover, New Jersey were also permanently closed.

The Myrtle Beach location was owned by Creative Kingdoms (owner and developer of MagiQuest's technology and associated patents). When the Myrtle Beach location closed it was owned by Great Wolf Resorts, who bought out Creative Kingdoms in 2010 to make it cheaper to install MagiQuest in their hotels. Other locations are franchised besides the ones in Great Wolf Lodges, though many have also closed due to them cutting off support making it difficult to manage operation post-takeover.[2]

DinoQuest, a dinosaur-themed interactive game based on the same patented technologies is located in Santa Ana, CA.[3]

Announced at the IAAPA 2009 (International Association of Amusement Park and Attractions) trade show are plans for Creative Kingdoms (the parent company of MagiQuest) to create a spin-off company, 'AquaKingdoms' that will bring a new form of the technology used in MagiQuest to water based attractions. The first product of AquaKingdoms, SplashQuest, was introduced in prototype form to Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels, TX for the summer of 2009, though nothing else has come out of AquaKingdoms since the buyout.[4]

CompassQuest, a very similar game, can be found in some of the same locations as MagiQuest. It uses a compass as well as a wand, and there are no boss battles, unlike MagiQuest. At the Myrtle Beach location, after completing a Wayfinder Quest, the compass can activate stations to show you where items are for every quest and adventure in the game. At Great Wolf Lodge, in addition to the Wayfinder and Treasure Quests, it unlocks 7 other quests centered around certain lands (Piney Path, Tangled Woods, etc.).

In Fall 2013, a new game called ShadowQuest (now known as Journey to Save the Light), the first of projects to be created by Great Wolf post buyout, began to appear at six of the MagiQuest locations at Great Wolf Lodge. In its early version, it used pre-rendered videos for quest intros and success videos. However, encounters are now rendered in real time, allowing for dueling spells to immediately take effect.

When the Great Wolf Lodge in New England opened in 2014, it featured a new version of MagiQuest called "Guardians of the Realm Portals", with new characters, updated quest requirements, and different strategies/real-time rendering for the pixie, goblin, and dragon encounters. It would continue to use the same software as the older game until the lodge was upgraded.

In early 2016, the California lodge opened with a beta version of the new "MagiQuest Chronicles" which included a new version of Guardians of the Realm Portals, where all of the computer graphics (both at encounters and quest stations) are rendered in real time, as well as Journey to Save the Light (formerly ShadowQuest), and Rise of the Totem Masters, a Skylanders-esque game where you level up a totem figure by battling dark creatures. After the creation of MagiQuest Chronicles the original version and platform of the old game was dubbed as "Legacy MagiQuest" and Chronicles has also been given the fan name of "MagiQuest 2.0". It has since been expanded to all new Great Wolf Lodges that have opened in the past few years and the Williamsburg, Virginia location was also converted from the original game to MagiQuest Chronicles. The MagiQuest fan community has been quite critical of Chronicles as its quite different from the original gameplay and spirit of legacy.

Gameplay

The Ancient Book of Wisdom

At all MagiQuest locations opened prior to 2013, with the exception of the Williamsburg Great Wolf Lodge, players are provided with an "Ancient Book of Wisdom," a booklet containing hints and riddles to help locate necessary object for completing quests, game directions, requirements for adventures (more advanced quests that require the use of certain spells obtained by completing quests), and a map of the location. The book's contents are unique to each location, much like how the quests and adventures are also unique to each location. The Book of Wisdom's ShadowQuest counterpart is called the ShadowQuest Guide.

At the Williamsburg Great Wolf Lodge and all MagiQuest locations opened after 2014, in addition to a printout map of the game area, players also use the MagiQuest Book of Wisdom app on iPhone or Android.[5]

Quests and adventures

The objective of MagiQuest is to build and gain power by obtaining magic runes. These runes are awarded for completing certain tasks, using the wand to activate targets marked with a stylised Q. The runes available on Rune Quests are: Lightning, Enchant Creature, Music, Protection, Freeze, Distraction, Healing, Portal, Dazzle, Reveal, Ice Arrow, and Master Magi. While the Master Magi Rune does not grant any spells like the other Runes, earning it opens up new Rune Quests specifically for Master Magi. These Runes are the Fire, Shield, and Potion Runes. The Celestial and Great Wolf Runes are also available at some Great Wolf Lodge locations.

Outside of the kingdom of MagiQuest, a player can use their wand and the powers they have earned to duel each other for gold and experience points.[6] At the Myrtle Beach location, Magi could also participate in "Garden Quest", a special rune that took Magi around Broadway at the Beach, an outdoor shopping mall in Myrtle Beach.

MagiQuest Online

MagiQuest Online (MQ Online) was an online version of the game created by Cyan Worlds, the creators of Myst. The game ran on the same engine used in Cyan's own online game, Myst Online: Uru Live (Plasma engine). MQ Online was sold in chapters; but only the first chapter was developed and available for gameplay. While the game had a free trial mode, each "chapter" had to be purchased individually per player account. Players who completed chapter one online were allowed to access an additional quest, the silver dragon, that could be played at selected MagiQuest and Great Wolf Lodge locations in the United States.

On October 1, 2012 Creative Kingdoms announced it would discontinue MagiQuest Online on December 31, 2012. As of 2013, the game is no longer available, and the Silver Dragon quest was made available to all Master Magi who defeated Charlock, the red dragon.

Technology of MagiQuest

The MagiQuest wand is a battery-powered infrared (IR) remote control device with an LED at the tip. Motion sensors (a spring sensor and a ball-and-tube sensor) inside the wand detect movement and cause the LED to emit a brief series of flashes which is unique to that wand. These flashes can be seen by pointing the wand at the lens of any digital video camera in a dark room. The wand's range is several meters. There is no on/off switch; when the wand is left motionless, the circuit is not energized, saving battery power.

The Compass Quest compass is a plastic housing containing an embedded RFID device that doesn't require battery power. Like the wand, every compass has a unique numeric code that is transmitted when in the range of a detector, approximately 1-2 centimeters (about 1 inch).

No information is stored in either the wand or the compass. The player's name, birthday, and nickname are associated with the wand and/or compass ID number at the time of purchase. The exact names and date given are irrelevant. This association is stored in a central online database server, and can be transferred to a new wand if the original one is lost. The server tracks the current status (runes and gold acquired, current quest, etc.) of every player in the system.

In-game objects contained embedded IR sensors, plus a set of RFID panels shaped like the outline of the compass. Game objects can include pictures on the walls, statues, ceiling tiles, animatronic chests, and video kiosks and projection rooms. Most stations have lights and audio prompts which play briefly on activation and shut off automatically, but kiosks and projection rooms additionally contain touchscreen video displays which allow the player to interact with the system for a short session; no login is required other than the presence of the wand or compass.

Gameplay typically consists of using a kiosk to receive instructions for a quest or adventure, then finding and activating a series of game objects. The requirements for the initial quests are printed in an instruction booklet supplied with the wand, but some quests must be received from the kiosks and committed to memory. Informational kiosks throughout the complex can be used to find out what parts of the current quest have been completed and what is left to do, but these omit certain clues to the locations of the objects.

The database is nationwide. The player's status (current quest, number of gold pieces, etc.) for every location can be queried from any informational kiosk in the network. Within a complex, it is updated continuously—for instance, after activating one object, a time limit (e.g. 30 seconds) may be given to find and activate the next object in the series, and if the limit is exceeded by even a few seconds, the next object will instruct the player to return to the previous station.

Content creation

Blackmore's Night

The band Blackmore's Night performs some of the music for MagiQuest. Candice Night, the band's vocalist, plays the role of Princess Candice. She also plays the role of Princess Amora, who is seen only at Great Wolf Lodge locations.

Wand accessories

There are several different replacement "orbs", known as "toppers", available for purchase. There is also a rune keeper on which to keep purchased rune replicas. The orb toppers relate to the specific clans that the player can join. While the toppers relate to the clans, the player, or Magi, can choose any topper he wishes. The Clans are:

  • Warrior (red)- Warriors' strength is in their bravery. Clan members have the power of dueling. They wield the power of lightning in their wand. Only the Man in the Mist can grant other Magi this power.
  • Woodsy (green)- Woodsy's strength is in their relationship with nature. Clan members can summon any naturalistic element or enchanted creatures to help them in their quest. This power of creature enchantment can only be granted to Magi of other clans by Serena the Pixie.
  • Trickster (purple)- Trickster's strength is in their magic. Clan members often use jokes, magic, or music to distract their opponents. Only Glittertail the unicorn can grant this musical power to Magi of other clans.
  • Shadow (black)- Shadow's strength is in their power and deceit. Shadow can disappear from a place on cue and easily distract their opponents. The stone gargoyle is the only one who can grant this Distraction Rune to Magi of other clans.
  • Majestic (blue or pink)- Majestic's strength is in their healing powers. Members of this caste possess the power to heal themselves and others. Magi of other clans can obtain this power after an encounter with Princess Candice or Princess Amora.

Toppers, Powers, and Recharge Requirements (A list of these can also be found while creating a new wand; however, powers vary by location):

  • Red Dragon/Global Dragon: Using the power "Fireburst", Magi can instantly defeat the Silver Dragon, Wintera, the Goblin King, and the Dark One Who Dwells in the Crypt (Defeat Charlock to recharge this ability)
  • Ice Dragon/Wintera: Using the power "Iceburst", Magi can instantly defeat Charlock, the Goblin King, and the Dark One Who Dwells in the Crypt (Defeat Wintera to recharge this ability)
  • Skull/Dark Stone: Using the power of the "Laughing Skull", Magi can instantly defeat Wintera, Charlock, and the Dark One Who Dwells in the Crypt (Recover the Princess' Jewels to recharge this ability)
  • Pegasus/Unicorn Horn: Using the power of "Music", Magi can ask Esmeralda the Spider, the Old Man in the Stone, and the Unicorn for what the Magi seeks from them and it shall be given freely (Recover the Unicorn's Star to recharge this ability). At locations without the Unicorn, this power grants all Magi in the kingdom a great abundance of gold from the Chaos Chest (recharged by finding the Dazzle, Enchant, and Healing runes in a set)
  • Ice Crystal/Pixie: Using the power of "Nature's Favor", Magi can dazzle the Pixie's Crystal or Unicorn Star, or summon all of the Princess' jewels and return them to her (Accept and Complete the "Music Rune" quest to recharge this ability). In ShadowQuest, this power can manipulate time to your favor at any virtual environment (this never needs recharging).
  • Pink Gem/Majestic Crown: Using the power of "Healing", you can heal the Pixie's Crystal or Unicorn Star, or you can get an extra chance to defeat the dragons or Goblin King (Accept and Complete the "Healing Rune" quest to recharge this ability)
  • Armillary: Magi can summon the "Owl", who can provide valuable knowledge that will assist them during a quest (Accept and Complete both Master Magi quests to recharge this ability; this recharge power does not apply to Great Wolf Lodge locations)
  • Trickster's Crown: Using the power of "Laughter", Magi can make the kingdom smile by confronting he who put the spider in the queen's cider, or, at locations without Quivermore, the Chaos Chest (Pay a large amount of gold to the Trickster to recharge)
  • The Blue Claw: Magi can instantly summon Xavier into the kingdom (Accept and Complete all basic quests at the location in a set; Celestial and Great Wolf Runes do not count)

You can choose your clan and choose a topper and decorations that correspond with the clan that you chose.

Notes
  1. "MagiQuest closes Myrtle Beach location after 10 years". WMBF News. 8 September 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  2. Fleisher, Lisa (2007-11-14). "MagiQuest's creator franchises MB-first game in U.S., Japan". The Sun News. Archived from the original on 2007-06-11. Retrieved 2007-11-15.
  3. Colbourne, Scott (2006-07-19). "Lose those Dockers and pick up a sword". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 2009-01-16. Retrieved 2007-11-15.
  4. "Industry News". ScreamScape. 2008-11-24. Retrieved 2009-01-07.
  5. "MagiQuest Book of Wisdom". Great Wolf Resorts. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  6. "MagiQuest: Dueling". YouTube. Nicholas Nostro. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
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