Gabriel Knight 4 - blog

Recently a script for the chat on this site was exploited as a vulnerability that allowed a hacker to hack the site. The actual hack was unsophisticated and probably the work of a kiddie scripter, but the real problem was that the vulnerability was there. And because of that, the GK site was down for maintenance while the website hosts checked through the logs to be absolutely certain they could identify where the vulnerability was.

After nearly two days, they confirmed that it was the chat script, and the site was back up again. The chat script was, of course, scrapped, and a new and safer chat script was utilised. (It looks better, too. It doesn’t have all the features of the other chat version, but safety first.) The guestbook, too, was upgraded (unfortunately we lost the former entries, but we’re already building up again with new signatures from fans. Thank you, everyone).

The end result: vulnerabilities are no longer available for exploitation, and the site has a better, more consistent look.

We can think of this as a metaphor - just as Gabe and Grace had the dying chicken experience in the first Gabriel Knight game, and yet were not intimidated by it into stopping their quest, so too do we forge onwards in our quest to make Gabriel Knight known, and to have an official Gabriel Knight 4 made. We will not be stopped, squashed, diverted or in any way discouraged. We can’t afford to be weak-willed… There’s a game waiting to be made, a story waiting to be told. You can’t keep a good legend down.

I didn’t get around to posting last week, but here is this week’s haiku. It is about the silver offerings at the pilgrimage chapel at Altötting.

We reflect the light
Our lives depend on a prayer
Grant us salvation!
—————
Altötting is a town in Bavaria. Its octagonal church is a site for pilgrimmage to many. It is also a landmark that is shown in Gabriel Knight 2, along with Ludwig’s castles and the Wagner and Lugwig II museums.

The pilgrimage chapel at Altötting has been called the shrine that has never been destroyed. It has survived through wars as well as other devastations.

People often visit Altötting because they are seeking a miracle. Silver replicas of body parts are often given as offerings to the shrine to heal the person who has that ailment. There are also gifts of gratitude that are displayed at the church from people and families who have been cured, receiving their miracle.

I think in a way that this campaign is our silver offering. It embodies our efforts in hopes that something good will come out of this. We are hoping to send out a message to others to join our cause by spreading the word about what is so great about these games. Maybe, just maybe, we can also appeal to the big guys over at Vivendi to give us our miracle because Gabriel Knight does give us joy.

For more information about the pilgrimmage chapel at Altötting, click here.