Silly Clowns is a menu option in the Quest for Glory 2 interface. It was proposed by Brian Hughes as a useless option to parody the disabled menu items "for future enhancements" in productivity software. However the programmers decided to include some useless humor with it.[1]
The Silly Clowns in the Shapeir Desert seem to appear from Day 3 onwards. There are three options of the Silly Clowns window: Off (disabled), On and Auto. It is not known what is the exact function of Auto, or what is the difference between On and Auto.
The Silly Clowns are mentioned in Quest for Glory 3. Randomly, a clown might be seen sitting in the Welcome Inn. Examining him, the game will reply that he must be one of the silly clowns from QfG II.
More Silly Clowns can be found in Quest for Glory 5 in the form of a useless menu option which appears after the Hero dances in the inn.
List of Silly Clowns[]
Signs[]
- Albuquerque 152,700 cubits
- Hours: Mon - Fri 8:00 - 5:00
- Maxium Speed 1.5
- Keep off the grass
- Desertside litter removal crews next 3 dunes
- Downtown Shapeir next exit
Death messages[]
Some generic death messages might show the Hero dead. When the Silly Clowns are ON, these will be accompanied by cute animations, like the Hero kicking a stone which lands on his head, or falling into a coffin.
Hero's replies to Aziza[]
- "Right!"
- "Just the facts, ma'am"
- "What's a pomegranate?"
Behind the scenes[]
Corey Cole posted this message on CompuServe[2] (July 19, 1996):
- The 'silly clowns' option came up because the programmers were sitting around late one night and someone mentioned how all the productivity software (spreadsheets and stuff) always seemed to have at least one menu item that did absolutely nothing. (I guess the idea was that they would implement those features in later versions.)
- So we resolved to have a menu option in QG2 that did nothing. I fear I spoiled the purity of the concept a bit by making some of the sillier encounters and death animation dependent on whether Silly Clowns were present. :-)"
According to the readme file in the Anthology/Collection:
- Question
- What is that "Silly Clowns" menu item?
- Answer
- Random funny stuff that won't affect gameplay. You'll see King Arthur (from the "Conquests of Camelot" Sierra game) facedown in the desert sand. You'll see the "Persian golfer" in the desert. You also might see Harpo wandering the hallways on day 3.