September 15, 1997 Dear Adventurer, Welcome to the sixth edition of the Famous Adventurer's Correspondence School! This is a quick update on the contests and some general news. The Monster Mania Draw 'O Rama Contest results:    1st Place Winner is Chris Warren for his monster called 'Skeltch'. Congratulations Chris!   2nd Place runner up is Eric Seiler for a reptilian dragon type creature he didn't name. This was a tough decision.   3rd Place goes to Lee Konstantinou for his creature called 'Enturian'.   4th Place goes to Brian Cosmiano for a creature he didn't dare name.   5th Place goes to William Sosropartono for his MerMan entry    6th Place goes to Kayla Griffin For her Scarabae (kindofa butterflyTaur) Erasmus's Riddle 'O Rama Contest results:    1st Place Winner is known by his email name as Raevensong (I'm waiting to hear back from this person so we can know a real name).   2nd Place runner up is Arif Haque from Indiana.   3rd Place runner up is Len Myers.   4th Place runner up is Deborah McRann from Nevada.   5th Place runner up is Brad Albrecht from Alberta Canada.   6th Place runner up is Neal McIntyre from Ontario Canada. Congratulations everyone! I've posted an amended version of the contest rules at the web site again because it is important that all of the notified winners contact me in order to claim their prizes. If I don't hear from you by the deadline (September 30) you will be disqualified and the runner up will claim the prize and the honor. I have notified each winner by email. The Conductor's Platform - Contributed by Chance Thomas There was a surprising response to our comment in the last newsletter about making MP3 files available. And because so many of you requested these files, we have succeeded in our push to get them posted on the Dragon Fire music web page. If you check our site now, you should be able to select and download an MP3 version for all the usual music selections in the table. (Though you may find a couple of surprising new versions hiding within these files.) So thanks for making your desires known! We do our best to keep you happy... You won't believe how much music there is in this game. To begin with, there are 15 major thematic movements, which accompany key events and conflicts. Each of these has multiple versions, which are triggered by various gameplay situations - combat, discovery, thief mode, victory, defeat, etc.. Beyond that, there are over 100 variations of these themes for adventuring. These variations are programmed to fade in and out from time to time within the boundaries of certain places or activities. Combined with the ambient sound effects, this really keeps you in the feel of the game without having the music become redundant or annoying as you wander around at will. Finally, there are a handful of specialty pieces for games and puzzles, plus a variety of subtle background tracks to set the mood in specific rooms. Like I said, we do our best to keep you happy... And now I have a piece of BIG news to share with you. Do you remember the soundtrack album we announced earlier? It will be finished on September 25. It will feature full length, full blown, audiophile mastered, linear versions of the 15 major pieces from the game, plus a few bonus tracks - nearly an hour of music in all. It begins with the new Quest For Glory V Overture, and takes you through an entire story line of Dragon Fire, as if you were experiencing a game from start to finish. Lori Cole has personally added some liner notes, and each cut of music has its own story told in the descriptions. Your imagination will run wild! You won't need to depend exclusively on your imagination though. Track #1 on this enhanced CD will contain the fully interactive, Dragon Fire game demo. And as far as demos go, this one is unbelievable. Some lesser companies might be tempted to put it in a game box and sell it as is! The CD containing the music soundtrack, the interactive Dragon Fire demo, a 12 page booklet of liner notes, full panoramas, and screen shots will be available in October. If this interests you just a little bit, here are four ways you can get your hands on a copy: 1)  You can order the CD from the Sonic Images Record Company website ( www.sonicimages.com) in early October.2)  If you purchase the newly revised Quest For Glory Collection (I through IV), the CD will be included at no cost.3)  Many major record stores will carry it, though some details (i.e.: contracts) still need to be worked out.4)  You can order the soundtrack/demo direct through Sierra Sales. Well, I'd better get back to the studio. I've got an orchestra to record in mid-September, and a lot of work to do between now and then. Thanks again for all your input! Until next time Chance Here's some address and phone numbers for our sales department:  On-Line Sales:Compuserve: GO SI (CServe Mall) or GO SIERRA (Sierra BBS)  Direct Sales:Telephone: (800)757-7707, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. FAX: (408)644-2018Mail: Sierra On-Line, Direct Sales  P.O. Box 3404   Salinas, CA 93912-3404 Modem Support:Sierra UK BBS: (44) 1-734-30-4227 Compuserve: GO SIERRAAmerica Online: Keyword: SIERRAInternet:  http://www.sierra.com BTW, How's That Demo Coming Along????? Programming the Combat AI is the major critical path item holding up the demo. We want the combat sequences to be perfect. At this time the Demo will be available on October 15, 1997. Check out the News Page at the Dragon Fire web site for more details. Don't forget to check out our Dragon Fire web site at http://www.sierra.com/qg5. Last week all the contest winners were posted at the site along with their winning entries (except for the riddles - I'm saving those. This is the list as I have received it from you, the folks that sent in their entries. We need to hear from you by September 30 or you will forfeit. I've heard from most of the drawing winners but very few riddle winners have returned my mail - and that's why I'm saving the riddles. Well, that's about it for this edition of the Famous Adventurer's Correspondence School. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please feel free to email them to qfg@sierranet.net. Thank you for being a member of our F.A.C.S. newsletter, and we'll catch you in a few weeks with some more info on Dragon Fire. Until next time, Robin Bradley Web Boy /Quality Assurance Team Dragon Fire Sierra On-Line, Oakhurst.