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(re: help for LSL 6)
Are you running the game in compatibility mode? Is this a Windows or DOS version of LSL6?
I wouldn’t take the error message to heart, it’s a standard message that indicates you hit a bug they never came across during testing.
-emily
(re: re: Re:)
I personally find this comment offensive. Please don’t tell me I don’t respect Sierra or Roberta and Ken. I could just as easily say you’re the one who doesn’t respect them by posting inflammatory comments such as this (directed at someone who did / said nothing wrong) on Ken’s messageboard.
I don’t want to start a flame war over this, it’s just not worth it. If you don’t like the remade games fine, stay away from them. But don’t say that people who do like them are disrespectful. Ken certainly hasn’t come forward and said that he doesn’t want us to talk about them here or that he is insulted by the fact that we like the remakes (which I highly doubt he is). Unless he does say something to that effect, there’s no reason not to discuss the remakes and give Tierra the praise that I (and clearly, a lot of other people) feel they deserve.
-emily
ps The KQ1 remake actually boosted the sales of King’s Quest 8, which was the only KQ game still available at retail when the KQ1 remake came out. That’s a lot more than you can say for abandonware.
(help for LSL 6)
I’m playing LSL 6 on an XP system and when i go to enter the cellulite drainage salon a window pops up saying “Oops,you did something we weren’t expecting,whatever it was you don’t have to do it to beat the game.Try a different solution.” How can I beat the game if I can’t repair the liposuction machine.Is there a patch or something to fix this?any help would be appreciated.
(re: Re:)
If you have any respect for the Williams, then avoid this site and these games like the plague. Obviously “Danny Desse'” and this Tierra company don’t have any respect, and now they want to flaunt it.
I’m all for emulating and redistributing old games when they aren’t available commercially (abandonware), but claiming that the puzzles in KQ2 have to be remade because in Roberta’s original “the puzzles were illogical and the storyline was too sparse”?!?!?!? What chutzpah! What amazes me the most is you have the nerve to post this link on one of the William’s websites, where they are hosting the site and paying for bandwidth.
If you think you can make a better game, then make one under your own name. Just don’t try to leech off of the spotless reputation of Roberta Williams.
(re: Sierra is gone) My non-compete with Sierra expired several years ago. There is no restriction whatsoever against my starting another game company.
That said….
I’m happily retired now. Roberta and I have a good life. We talk often about “dropping back in” but I doubt that we ever will. Roberta is working on starting a book, and I have a non-game software project going — but, that’s probably as far as we’ll go. We founded Sierra, and ran it for 18 wonderful years. I’m happy for those years, but it’s time for fresh blood in the industry. There are people who are on this site who can build great games, and hopefully they will.
I’ve been a bit of a bad sport about Sierra’s current problems. On dozens of occasions I tried to contact them to see if I could help. They refused to take my calls, or listen to me in any way. I feel sorry for the people who lost their jobs — but, also think that Sierra has an obligation to have good management — or, if it doesn’t, the people may be better off elsewhere.
-Ken Williams
(Sierra is gone) I suppose Ken, you have heard of Vivendi closing Sierra. It does not exist anymore. A sad day!
Does this affect your agreement when you sold Sierra. Can you start your own game company now, legally.
Sierra Gets Shutdown
By Mike Meikle — News Writer
Published 9:21 PM CDT, June 21, 2004The lights go out at old-school game company, Sierra, as Vivendi restructures its business.
More depressing news for the industry, Vivendi Universal Games has cut 350 staff and shut down Seattle-based Sierra. The venerable games company created some of the most popular action and adventure games in the 80’s. The Sierra brand will live on in name only and projects tied to the Sierra pipeline, Half-Life 2, Ground Control II and Tribes: Vengeance are already being developed by other teams within Vivendi. Also affected by the restructuring, the Hoyle brand of card and board games have been canceled.
“Restructuring the organization and reducing our cost base are necessary to improve our operating effectiveness and profitability,” said VU Games CEO Bruce Hack, in as terse a manner as possible. “This constitutes another important step in our turnaround plan aimed to better position the company for growth.”
Along with VU Games restructuring, the game company is prepping up for profitability with a powerful lineup for the second half of 2004. VU Games is looking for some higher revenues with titles like World of Warcraft, Spyro: A Hero’s Tail and the well-received The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay.
» Mike Meikle(Re:)
I thought they were excellent! They did a great job, I can’t wait for QFG2… I really couldn’t advise any remakes more than KQ1 and KQ2 by AGDI. I suggest you go to http://www.agdinteractive.com/ NOW, if you haven’t already.
(re: re: Can anyone tell me what this is?) It was probably included on more than one collection. I got it from the 15th anniversary edition released in 1994. The FSG directory on the CD contains exactly the same files as the posted zip file (only each file in the zip file is dated exactly two hours earlier). I will, however post the full readme.txt file as well as a directory and file listing of the CD’s root for reference.
Readme file from Space Quest Collection CD
Directories and files in Space Quest Collection CD(re: Sierra shut down) It isn’t a matter of whether or not Ken and Roberta “care” about Sierra. I don’t mean to sound insulting to anybody, but a lot of posters here don’t seem to realize what position “Sierra” (including games, licenses, characters, etc.) is in and what relation Ken and Roberta have to it.
Sierra has been assimilated into the machine of a corporate conglomerate. A cohesive whole was broken down into smaller parts and sucked into the beast called Vivendi Universal. The ironic aspect of this was the beast digested the property, the characters, the licences, etc. but spit out the most vital component – THE PEOPLE!
If Ken Williams wanted to restart Sierra, he could. It wouldn’t be called Sierra, and you would never see another Leisure Suit Larry or King’s Quest game under his name, but if he wanted to he could rehire the people – Al Lowe, Scott Murphy, etc. – and put their creative talent back to work creating new characters and franchises.
Now, here is the downer – Ken doesn’t have an interest in doing that. He and Roberta have already built one Sierra and, while they might have been interested in stepping back into an established organization, they don’t appear interested in starting a new company. Ken and Roberta are happy where they are, which is a damn pretty place to be. If all the newbies to this board keep pleading and berating Ken for not “saving” Sierra he may (if he hasn’t already) become annoyed enough to abandon this venture.
Now, here is the upper – Anyone, and I mean anyone, out there who has any interest in reviving Sierra should start their own Sierra. Do your homework, inspire others with small business experience to join your team, then find venture capital. Maybe the Williams would be interested in investing, or even being hired as consultants – you never know. Then when you have the money, the knowledge, and the will to succeed, you hire the talent. Hire Al Lowe. If Al is happy where he is, you find the next generation of Al Lowes and Scott Murphys. Then you make history. Again.
And when your games and your company becomes successful you make an offer to VU to purchase the Sierra franchises and characters. Then you’ve reclaimed and revitalized Sierra.
Now, someone, please get to work!(re: Sierra shut down) I just read this from crossroads….
“The Sierra office in Bellevue, Washington, is set to close within the next two months, and while Vivendi will reportedly continue to use the Sierra Name, the studio itself will blink out of existence.”
Ok, living in the past is one thing, but this makes me so sad I cannot bear it! When I first read “Sierra Shuts Down” I was under the impression that “Sierra”, name and logo, were gone… Now after reading this it seems clear that Vivendi (have they made a good game yet?) will continue to do what they have all along….rape the logo, and utilize the heritage as a means of profit.
“Sierra Shuts Down” should have been the headline back when Space Quest, King’s Quest, etc all went down the drain. Or maybe when Ken and Roberta decided to sell the company. (No regrets Ken, of course 🙂 But no, it’s just now after this latest news. It just seems so cruel, and I just can’t fathom the depths to which that logo, and my memories, have sunk.
Ken… Roberta… We just need to hear those words from you. Moving on just doesn’t seem right, unless we all get together and make games so damned great we can get the NAME and LOGO back. Trivial? Yes. Important still? Yes.
Ken, don’t stop caring about Sierra. You and Roberta’s creations will outlive us all, and hopefully, there will be one more good memory attached to that name, and logo… Sierra….
Best wishes to all those who are losing jobs through this!
(re: Ken – how did you manage such a successful marriage?)
I’ve renamed your thread. A brief reminder to everyone to name your posts intelligently! That way someone looking through the forum doesn’t see 100 posts titled “question for Ken” and have to look at each one when, if they were named better, they could find the ones they wanted to read much faster.
(re: Can anyone tell me what this is?) Simon, could you zip up the files from your CD, including the readme file, preserving any directory structures, and post them here? The underdogs link is now to one of those sites that you have to register for to access any content, and I hate registering to a hundred sites just to download one thing from each one. We’ll get this into the museum for sure, as you suggest. Do you know which Space Quest collection it is? (What is the name of the collection?) Has anyone else found this on any of their other Sierra CDs or know any other ways that it was distributed?
Oh… now I see that it appears to be attached to the first post (I thought it was just an image attached before).
(re: Sierra shut down) To me, I’m only sad for the employees who just lost their jobs. For some reason I felt a great weight lifted and a wonderful sigh… Finally Sierra can rest…
This is a silly thing to say, but remember the Robin Hood movie with Kevin Kostner in it? Well, remember when he finally makes it home from the crusades? He finds his home ruined and his father is dead in a cage that is hanging from the ceiling… THAT is what Sierra became. Thank God it was finally buried.
You know what they say, One door closes, another opens 🙂 (DREAMS)
(re: Ideas for Shivers 3)
http://www.shivers3.cjb.net Has BEEN UPDATED!!!!!!
Being the co-creator of Shivers 3 E-mailing me should prove to be alot more dignifying than emailing tyler.
I am the Animator. We also need more staff members, we already have a few ghosts. lol(re: re: Old pictures of Ken and Roberta)
I wonder who owns the original logo there…
It’d be neat to get an original (or re-design) of that logo and start selling them as mugs, t-shirts, etc, as part of a CafePress store. I’d buy one!
Dave
(re: re: Sierra shut down)
I’m sad to see it go, but I could see the end comming for a few years now. The company just has not been the same since Ken left. I too have very fond memories of Sierra games. Quest for Glory is still my favorite game series, and there were many good times playing Sierra games. Thanks Ken for the countless hours of entertainment that your company gave me over the years. Sierra had a good run, and all those involved have much to take pride in.
RIP Sierra On-Line.
(re: Sierra shut down) I posted this news today at Silven Crossroads (
Link: http://www.silven.com(http://www.silven.com)
) with much sadness. My very first PC role-playing game was Quest for Glory I. Had it not been so much fun, I might never had pursued this hobby – and never had the opportunity to experience countless hours of entertainment! Thank you, Ken, for many years of fun and top notch products. I know how sad I am to see what I consider an integral element of PC gaming disappear. And while I know you’ve been away from it for awhile, but I am sure that this must be sad news to you as well.(re: Vivendi Games Cuts Work Force (including former Sierra office)) This makes me angry… I really thing that lately corporations feel that they can just produce junk and think that we, the buying public, will just lap it up. I really miss the days when imagination counted for something in the computer game business but also when imagination counted for something in general.
Everything coming out of the computer game industry lately seems to be a clone there is very little inventiveness in the industry any more. I will say though that every now and then a great twist on an idea or a new idea comes out, like Knights of the Old Republic, but by and large everything seems to just be a clone!
Hopefully we’re just in a slow period and some real inventiveness and imagination will bleed back into the industry. In my opinion it is sorely in need of it!
I hope that some good ultimately comes out of the Vivendi decision. I know that we all are because I think Sierra deserves some good luck!
– Levi
(re: re: Ken – When you have more than a few minutes…)
I was hoping a genuine, fun question would lighten the mood, but when your company is finally leveled after being crapped on for years, I guess it’s hard to lighten anything.
I’m genuinely sorry for the hundreds of people in Seattle that are out of work, and I’m sorry an icon of my childhood has finally been crushed.Does anyone know Taps?
(re: Ken – When you have more than a few minutes…) Good question. I’ll give it some thought, and respond when I get to Gibraltar. I’m still 700 miles from shore, advancing slowly – and, my internet connection is being very flaky.
On a completely different topic: Here’s a quick comment on the Sierra layoffs today…
Roberta and I had a concious goal to create a company that would last forever, and thought we had done so. Unfortunately, through years of changing ownership, changing management, and bad management, they successfully screwed up a tremendous company. It’s a real shame, but I’m past caring. Most of the damage was done years ago, and it has taken years for the company to spiral downward. In a way I’m not too disappointed. I would rather not see the Sierra logo than to see it associated with bad product or huge financial losses. Most of the people who worked for Sierra during my reign left long ago to build games elsewhere. Hopefully they are building great games and having fun.
-Ken W
(re: Vivendi Games Cuts Work Force (including former Sierra office)) From http://money.cnn.com/2004/06/21/technology/vugames/index.htm
“Despite the closing, VU Games still plans to use the Sierra name, much like Infogrames Entertainment changed its name to Atari (ATAR: Research, Estimates) in 2003 to capitalize on its name recognition value. Top of page.”Capitalize on its name recognition value? That does make me sick. Why for once they don’t “capitalize” on REAL value, REAL quality without stress on the word “capitalize”… They would naturally get more customers if they did the right thing instead of pouring hundreds of millions down the drain.
-Vesko
(re: re: Vivendi Games Cuts Work Force (including former Sierra office)) I agree with you! I also think that the Sierra label may dissappear for good (hasn’t it already…). I also don’t think anybody, other than big Sierra fans, will buy back the “old Sierra”. If Vivendi is in that deep a trouble, they’ll probably ask too much for the rights to use the quest titles or GK etc… On the other hand BECAUSE they are in deep financial trouble they’ll be eager to sell the rights…
Hmmm, maybe there is hope after all… Ken take that boat home and buy back Sierra! 😉
