[A NOTE ON DOSBOX SETTINGS]
This run was done on the GOG.com official release (i.e., 10,000 cycles), with two lines changed that do not affect gameplay other than in the positive sense. As with Quest for Glory I VGA, this game seems to suffer from random crashes. Once changing the "EMS" and "XMS" DOSBox settings to "false," these crashes went away. These settings were discussed during the Quest for Glory I VGA verification thread and were approved; albeit not for this game yet. Both Quest for Glory I VGA and Quest for Glory III run on the SCI1.1 engine, so I imagine this is the reason.

Also, the video output from "Overlay" to "OpenGL" to allow for FRAPS to make the recording.

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[CREDITS]
Of course, I want to thank SDA for hosting such a great service. It is always my first place to check for speed runs, and the community is always super friendly and helpful. :)

As far as I am aware, I am the only person (as of this run) to do a Quest for Glory III Fighter speedrun. Of course, there are not very many of us QFG-speedrunners to begin with, but it also meant coming up with the route with only a framework in mind. I would love to see if there are things I missed in this run, but am confident that this framework will stand.

Also, as a minister, I have to give credit to God for giving me a little extra leisure time to practice the series of games I enjoy.

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[KEYBOARD COMMANDS]
Unlike the other games in the series, pressing the TAB key DOES NOT open the inventory. No other keyboard command seems to either. However, I have attempted to optimize the INSERT key function, which switches from whatever icon you are on to the walking icon. Upon pressing INSERT again, you go back to the icon you were previously using. This is demonstrated to its fullest in the marketplace, as I can switch from running to the money bag as necessary to avoid conversation with the merchants.

Also, the arrow keys are used when fastest to move around. This is often a judgement call.

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[SCENE-BY-SCENE COMMENTARY]

[CHARACTER CREATION AND OPENING REMARKS:]
Everything goes into Throwing. The reason is that Uhura only appears at the spear range once you reach 150 points, and the competition with her is the trigger for the Leopard Prisoner to appear.

If it were not for this, all points would have gone completely into Weapon Skill, because there are three fights that the Fighter cannot avoid and must charge through. These fights are the biggest cost of time, and there is only a little rhyme or reason to why some strikes work and others do not.

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[EVERYTHING TARNA:]
I start with my icon on the door, and begin character movement as soon as possible, changing my movement type to Run. After this, I adjust the Game Settings sliders so moving to the door is already on auto-pilot. After that, I head down to the marketplace, and to the moneychanger area to watch the Thief. Staying at the left side of the screen will auto-transition back to the screen fastest, and the game thinks you have tried to apprehend the Thief (most points/fastest transition).

In the Rajah's room, right-clicking is the fastest way to make sure you skip all the screens. After that, you can speed up this dialog by not saying anything (just looking at myself over and over). When I exit, I reset my movement to run, head back to the moneychanger. We will not need more cash in this game. Here is our shopping list:

- 2 Waterskins
- 5 Zebra Skins
- 1 Fine Spear
- 1 Fine Robe

Where you click is important in the marketplace, as I am avoiding getting too close to the merchants and initiating dialog. After this, I am leaving Tarna, and get perfect RNG (when I am not even looking for it.) Sometime between now to when I am on my way back to the Simbani Village from getting the Dispel Potions, I need to get a Dinosaur Horn. So if I encounter a T-Rex, I will be fighting it. That is the hardest fight in the game, and I would love to get it done early.

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[GRAPES AND STONE AND WASTING TIME:]
There are two cutscenes here. One is optional, but I find it to be much faster to watch both rather than the alternative, which does not happen until the Lost City at the end of run, and requires precise timing. Even with the second cutscene skippable, I believe this is actually the faster route.

After freeing the Meerbat, I reenter a third time to get the Venom Grapes and the Fire Opal. Venom Grapes are for the Dispel Potion; Fire Opal for the door at the end of the game.

After that, it is a matter of RNG prayer. It is almost night, when it becomes night, you can sleep on the savannah until morning. There are three possibilities that can happen:

1) You have an RNG encounter, and have to run; once you escape you can sleep until the morning. That is what happens here, which I deal with because it only adds a few seconds.
2) The Earth Pig can appear, which doesn't require running, but you still have to say goodbye to him and then you sleep until morning.
3) Everything goes fine and you sleep until morning.

I am running back and forth on the savannah to waste time, as I will automatically return to the inn for the next scene at dusk. I get perfect RNG for the rest of the day.

When you are asked to swear an oath when Rakeesh does, you can say "yes" or "no." The only difference, I believe, is points. So you will not see me aim the mouse here because it does not matter. I again use the "eye" click to avoid all of his answers and having to dialog through the menu. There is a misclick here where I right-click which causes a dialog box to pop up. Right clicking through certain dialogs is usually faster. Here, however, it cost me a second or two to realize what had happened.

We travel across the savannah to the Simbani Village.

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[SIMBANI VILLAGE, ERANA'S POOL, GETTING THE FRUIT:]
Attempting to walk away causes the dialog screens to appear faster when you are on the hill, which gets you into the village fastest. Once inside the Laibon's Hut, I use the "eye" clicking skip again to get to the next scene MUCH faster.

In the next scene, you can either click "Say Goodbye" or walk to the door. I find the door faster, and if not faster then fail-safe. After that, you are expected to sleep through the night, which I do. I need to have a spear match with Uhura to trigger the apperance of the prisoner, which only happens in the daytime. I have tried; she will not appear immediately. Resting is the fastest way. Also, when having the competition, you MUST throw all three and she needs to get her turn. If you leave before, the trigger does not occur.
After that, I go to Erana's Pool.

I am here to fill two waterskins. One is for a Dispel Potion, the other is to give so I can get another ingredient for a Dispel Potions. I am headed, after this, to the Big Tree.

The tree itself is interesting on my machine (perhaps the GOG.com package). When I enter the second screen (the part where I am actually scaling the side of the tree) you will notice I do not move right away. Actually, you will notice NOTHING moves (even the waterfall). The more you click, the longer this lag lasts, so I make sure to only click when I see the waterfall move. It happens again once I have the Magic Fruit.

Also, if you just click at the bottom of the screen from the doorway, you run right back inside the top room, which is an obvious problem in a speed run where backtracking matters. Moving slightly down the stairs fixes this routing AI issue. Back to Tarna, and on the way, I get my T-Rex encounter, which nearly kills me. You would think something that big would be easy to hit, but it really is a matter of guesswork until you hit a rhythm (which I suspect means your Weapon Skill got high enough during the fighte to be more consistent).

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[REVISITING TARNA:]
I am here for the Dispel Potion, but there is a proper way to acquire it to maximize time efficiency. You want to enter the city at sunset, so you can talk to the hippy about the Dispel Potion, give him the ingredients, and then sleep and purchase them the next morning. If you arrive too late at night, it counts as the same morning even if you sleep until the next day, requiring a trip out to the savannah to waste time.

That is why I hang outside until sunset. After purchasing TWO Dispel Potions, I head back to the Simbani Village.

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[COMPETING FOR A BRIDE:]
You can only use the Dispel Potion and open the gate when the unnamed guard is there. If Yesufu or Uhara are there, they will not let you do anything, even if she is your bride.

You MUST do the competition as the Fighter, as the Laibon will not allow you to pay the bride price until you recognized as a full Simbani Warrior.

There is an extreme graphical glitch I am PRAYING does not happen here in this first screen of the competition with the ring and the spears. It will lock the game if it happens. It did not happen. Only one more catastrophic glitch to go (conviently located in the final screen of the game). What you are supposed to do to win this is climb the tree, and retrieve the ring that way. My Fighter has no climbing skill, so there is no sense wasting time.

The second event with the circle and the log is fast, and you'll win everytime as long as you do not click the other spear.

YOU MUST SAVE YESUFU!! IF YOU DO NOT, IT WILL GAMEOVER YOU AT THE END OF THE COMPETITION! The only way you can skip saving Yesufu is if you win the bridge competition, which is NOT going to happen at my skill level and having done no training with Uhura. To be honest, you want to lose that competition, because winning takes WAY too long. By saving Yesufu, you also do not have to ask the Laibon for the Drum; Yesufu requests it and gives it to you as his victory prize.

Once my bride is free, we are headed to the jungle.

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[JUNGLE, NON-PEACE-CONFERENCE, MONKEY VILLAGE:]
Finding your wife in the jungle is the same as an RNG encounter. This one happens near the Jungle Village, but suddenly the game FREAKS OUT, with my character going nuts and running across two screens before I can do anything! I manage to get that horse under control and luckily it does not result in a restart from leaving the screen. I tell her about the drum, and the trip last about two seconds.

You have to tell her about the drum and she will lead you to her village. Once there, you watch some magic, and then I get to present the drum and start the peace conference. Once the peace conference goes south, you have to run back to the jungle.

SOME AMAZING RNG HAPPENS HERE!!

Once you are on the third screen, you automatically enter a dialog with the monkey you freed, which kicks to another automatic travelling scene that ends at the Monkey Village. As the Fighter with no Climbing skill, you have to talk Manu through some dialog trees and then request the "swingladder." I talk to Manu about the Lost City, and then ask him to take me four times. With higher communication skill, I believe you only have to ask him once, but there is no good way to make that happen in this short of a run.

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[WATERFALL AND LOST CITY:]
I collect two vines, and tell Manu I need him to take the rope across. It fights me a bit, but I can spare the second or two (or ten) because of the fantastic map RNG I've had this run.

This last encounter is not RNG, but scripted.

You have to "Say Goodbye" to Manu to reach the next screen. After that, you open the door. There is another gem that can open the door in the eye of the statue. You can climb (even without climbing skill) to reach it, but it requires avoiding the Jungle Men and unescapable encounters if you fail to time it right. It also costs about 20 seconds, and I find using the Meerbat area for the gem to be failure-proof and faster.

There is nothing I can do to avoid this next fight, so I man up and make it happen. More battle RNG woes, especially with that last hit. Luckily, he does not start with full health (no idea why, but it happens every time).

Throw the Dispel Potion after heading into the next room.

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[ENDGAME:]
You cannot win the fight against your doppleganger. Fastest thing you can do is spam the attack key until you are almost out of health, at which point the Thief from the beginning of the game comes and saves you. You do have to be a little careful, because you can die if you are too fast.

The next area is the last. You have to win this last fight, which is actually the easiest. I believe it is because my Weapon Skill is around 200, which seems to be the magic number for this enemy. The last glitch is here. When you get grabbed and throw the spear, there is a chance that, for some reason, it will go right through the bad guy and it soft-locks the game. WHY, OH WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE AT THE VERY LAST SCREEN!?

Once the shield is clicked on the altar-thing, that is the last official input past dialog skipping.

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[AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT]

Better RNG during battle, obviously. The map RNG was about as perfect as any run for which I could hope. The Fighter is the middle-difficulty RNG game. The only thing you need hunt on the map is a T-Rex, and that is fairly common and should happen sometime (several times) as you travel. That being said, you SHOULD win every fight, but it doesn't mean it will go smoothly.