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(re: Preserving Ultima: Escape from Mt. Drash)
I just found this site with the map from Ultima II on it.
(re: HELP: King’s Quest Collection on Windows XP)
Just go into each game’s folder on the CD and run the setups from there. To have sound with the DOS games, download VDMSound http://vogons.zetafleet.com/ndldownload.php?filename=VDMSound2.1.0.exe and install it. Open each DOS game’s folder on your hard drive and right click on the games executable (usually SIERRA.EXE) and choose “Run with VDMS”. This version of KQ7 should run with no problems. You will have to do more to get the Windows version of King’s Quest 5 and 6 going. KQ5 needs 640×480 resolution and 256 colors to run. The problem is that XP hides this resolution from the user and the game checks for this resolution before Compatibility Mode can change it, so it just quits. You will have to change your resolution in the advanced display settings before you start the game. An easy work around is to make a batch file to replace the Windows’ shortcut to launch the game with. Just right click on your KQ5 shortcut and copy what is in the targetbox and paste it into Notepad. Save this as KQ5.bat (be sure that it has the ‘.bat’ extension) and set it to run in Compatibility Mode – 640×480 and 256 colors. Now just launch the game with this bat file. The Win version of King’s Quest 6 takes the most to get going on XP. You’ll need to have VDMSound and the VDMS Launchpad installed on your system to do it, but you will need it to play the older KQ games with audio, anyway. 1) Download VDMSound and install it. 2) Go to the KQ6 shortcut in your stary menu and right click on it and choose “Properties”. Copy what is in the “Target:” box and paste it in Notepad. Save it in the games folder as KQ6.bat. 3) Copy the file “RESOURCE.AUD” from the CD to the installed game folder on your hard drive. 4) Open your game’s installed folder on your hard drive and delete the file “HDLOGO.AVI” and open the file “SIERRA.INI” (it may be in a sub-folder named “WIN”) in Notepad. Look for the lines: audpath=D: audio=D: movieplayer=1 (Note, yours may be different, depending on what letter drive your CD-ROM is.) Chang this to: audpath=. audio=. movieplayer=0 EDIT: Note that the audpath= and audio= lines should each be =dot back slash, but this board does not allow a back slash 5) Right click on the file in the installed folder, “SCIWV.EXE” and go to the Compatibility tab and choose Compatibility mode for Win 98 or Win 9, 256 colors. do the same for the file you made earlier, “KQ6.bat” 6) Now all you have to do is right click on the .bat file you made and choose “♫ Run with VDMS” (the one with the musical notes) and the game should run. You will find a new file in the installed folder — “KQ6.VLP” When you want to play the game after this, just double click on this file. You can copy this file to your desktop, your start menu or where ever you fid easy to get at to run the game. If you have any trouble with this, just post any questions here. This method can be used to get LB2 running, too. Also you can try the DOS versions of the games as well.
(re: Preserving Ultima: Escape from Mt. Drash) Wow, it sold for $3,605!!! Incredible.
I wonder who spends that much money on a game? Especially since I bet the guy’s not even going to play it. Actually, when I got ULTIMA 3 for $91, I thought that’s incredibly expensive. I remember the guy I bought it from also sold ULTIMA 1, but that sold for $125. You’d actually have to sell 28.84 copies of ULTIMA 1 to be able to afford MT. DRASH …
see, that’s one of the reasons I gave up being a collector: you’ll never have a complete collection because there’s always stuff you can’t find and/or afford.(re: QG4 Manual?)
Here you go:
Alkazotz: Pizza Pizza Fire Water Water
Betazene: Water Fire Water Earth Fire
Cranomeal: Earth Water Fire Pizza Earth
Desertix: Earth Fire Earth Fire Water
Elkorn: Pizza Earth Pizza Air Air
Fliegnitz: Air Pizza Fire Air Pizza
Gargoil: Pizza Water Water Earth Earth
Hintline: Earth Air Pizza Air Earth
Ickyuckgoop: Water Earth Earth Water Pizza
Jollene: Pizza Pizza Air Pizza Pizza
Kickaptui: Water Air Water Pizza Earth
Laxabiff: Earth Earth Water Earth Water
Mexacalish: Fire Earth Pizza Fire Pizza
Noxipyu: Air Fire Earth Air Earth
Ossipye: Earth Fire Pizza Earth Fire
Pentickle: Air Pizza Pizza Air Water
Quixoat: Water Air Fire Pizza Air
Romburn: Fire Earth Fire Air Earth
Sumthin: Water Pizza Earth Air Air
Tamlin: Pizza Water Air Earth Water
Ultimo: Fire Air Pizza Pizza Pizza
Voltoffen: Air Fire Earth Fire Air
Whammbo: Earth Fire Earth Air Fire
Xasparil: Air Air Water Air Water
Yammer: Air Pizza Air Water Pizza
Zotzbrue: Water Fire Fire Air WaterRani
(re: Preserving Ultima: Escape from Mt. Drash) I remember that Richard (Garriott) forced us to put a cloth map in every box that cost me a fortune – like $2.50 and up per map. They were expensive, but very cool – and, a part of the success.
It’s interesting that you put it that way, Ken. Of course we all know, the “extra” items that were included in almost every Sierra game were part of what made them so special.
The book “High Score” (a book I highly recommend) describes this: “When California Pacific went out of business, Garriot found that many companies wanted to publish Ultima II, but only Sierra would package it the way he wanted, with a colorful box and cloth map” (122).(re: Re: QFG 4 1/2)
pirates like to drink, perhaps a generous offering could help you out of a situation that proves to be fatal.
(re: re: The Realm – An Sierra Online Online Adventure!)
I’m still on it! Say hello to me sometime. I found it years ago on AOL and then it was packed in Sierra games. Went through all the various versions first as HeavenlyOne and MaMaggie. I stopped for a year, but I’m back say hello to me “MaMaggie” maybe we can do the Maze together!
(re: re: re: Am I just a wimp?)
Fraggin’ Alone in the Dark 1 . . . damn effin’ right about that monster in the window, the dogs in Resident Evil (pick a version), or that giant alligator on the N64 version of RE2 (I assume it’s in all versions).
I used to have nightmares about the bosses in Wolfenstein 3d (the normal looking 3-D FPS), though they’re not scary.
I jumped when Kim Chee shot me in PQ4, though it just unexpected, that’s all. In Lethal Enforcers on SNES, I kept getting scared at something, one of mobsters when he shoots, I haven’t played the game since. Weird.
I’d have to say that Phatasmagoria is up in the top 3 of scary. Gross is some of the stuff in Castlevania (and ugly is the PC version of Castlevania), but never scary. Almost. As a kid (like 6 or 7) I was (still am) scared of those purple zombies that just glide towards the Simon!
And the scene in LSL2 where the KGB captures Larry has always scared me that I play exactly the way Spear’s book suggested. Tragic is Mr. Spear died in ’98. Too bad. He never got to update the Larry Companion for Larry 6 and 7.
(re: Playing old games on new systems)
Today you can enjoy AGI games even on the mobiles!
Check this link: http://opentrap.narod.ru I wonder will any publisher be interested in that…
(re: re: Am I just a wimp?) There has been only one game to truly scare me! And that is Alone in the Dark 1. I had just installed AitD and called a friend of mine to come over and play this game. While waiting for him to arrive I read the manual, got some coke and chips and put up the second chair. The bell rang, I opened the door we settled behind the computer cranked up the speakers and booted up the game. After the amazing intro (with truly amazing music) we selected a character and started the game. Remember the beginning? You start at the attic and you have to move a crate or box or something… The next scene scared the living hell out of us both!!! After you move the box , you hear some glass break and a creature flies in the attic which you have to fight. That scene scared us so much that we couldn’t even find the right to to kick the damn thing. Yeah we died… Man, that scene still scares the sh*t out of me!!! Amazing! That game was great! No other game had scared me since that game. There were some scenes in other games that made me jump out of my chair…
SPOILERS:
Remember the first time you enter the barn in Phantasmagoria 1? Damn that cat to hell! Yeah there is still a dent in my ceiling… I also jumped another hole in the ceiling when Curtis gets slapped the first time when he’s working behind his computer… There have also been games that didn’t scare me but had a really great and terrifying atmosphere: Heretic and HeXen. These games had amazing music but also an amazing creepy atmosphere. Same goes for Undying. There haven’t been a lot of games that were succesfull in that department…
Ow there was another scene in a game that had me disgusted! Another SPOILER ahead. Anybody remember ACT II of Sanatarium? You have to play hide ‘n seek with the kids there. You find one of them hiding under rotting corpses… After a while you found every kid you met except for one… One guys little sister is no where to be found… Guess what… You have to dig her up! Great game…(re: re: re: re: re: Wanted: Lost Sierra shows on TalkSpot)
Hello,
Regarding the Sierra Reunion files, I find them almost impossible to understand due to the low quality. Does anyone have higher quality versions, preferably in .mp3 format that I could download? I’d love to listen to them!
– Murray Lorden (muzboz at hotmail.com)
(re: The Realm – An Sierra Online Online Adventure!)
The game is still going, Codemasters had it for a while, now it’s Norseman Games and it’s at version 3.156! I still enjoy dungeon questing, but get little time to find other oldtimers. There is new content, and progress (el bet SSSLLOOOWWW! progess) in changing things to keep interest. I know chat boards don’t like it when you post links. So you’ll have to google to find it, or e-mail me.
(re: Couple Questions (Sprite and Interpreter related)) I know for a lot of your later games, you used video capture and rotoscoping to create animations and the like, but what about the first few VGA SCI games like Space Quest IV? Did animators make every single frame by hand, much like I do now? Also, how did you handle schedules for animators and the like? Was it a list, with specific due dates from certain animations, or was it a bit more leniant?
Also on the topic of your original engines, AGI and SCI… Who holds the rights to those now? Say for instance, you created a new game using SCI and sold it. Would VU be able to sue?
————————————Most of our animation was done cell by cell. For most games, we did good old fashioned paper pencil sketch animation, and scanned it into the computer — then did the ink/paint on the computer.
Scheduling artists was always a nightmare. Artists don’t work well when you put them on a deadline. Sierra’s artists never wanted to release a piece of art until it is perfect – they didn’t react well when you would say: “give me the best version of Graham swimming that you can do in 7 hours” … our art schedules were always “soft”.
As to your last question – about the rights to SCI and AGI – I have no idea. My sense is that distributing Sierra’s copyrighted code would be a problem. I doubt they would ever notice or care. I wouldn’t do it though…..
Good luck!
-Ken W(re: re: re: Talkspot – or, life after Sierra)
You can download the “Sierra Reunion” Talkspot segment from Al Lowe’s sight here:
http://www.thedierks.com/allowe/audio/SierraReunion.mp3 – Murray Lorden
(re: Sierra Intellectual Properties)
Amen to that! The only media I’ve discovered that can be done at a small scale is comics. To go national with it isn’t that hard. Sierra did have a Roger Wilco comic by Adventure Publishing.
The most trouble with publishing a form of media is the video game. So much corporate baloney rules the scene now. Very few unique or fun games are created today, mostly from Nintendo, Sega, Namco, and EA. Maybe it’s me, but I’m sick of Wolfenstein 3d clones that have been made in the last 12 years.
If anybody ever gets a chance, ask Al Lowe about how sound was impossible to do on older computers, and how Sierra found a way to do it!
(re: Am I just a wimp?)
The first Phantasmagoria scared me, along with (dont’ ask) Alone in the Dark 1 and Resident Evil 1 (on the Saturn). Strangely, there are a only a handful of games that scare me (The 7th Guest, and it’s not scary), most of which aren’t scary at all. It usually has something that disgusts me. But the first Phantas . . . oh man . . . it gives me the willies!
(Sierra Intellectual Properties)
It’s great to see that people are excited about the idea of making films in the Sierra worlds. I too am getting into filmmaking, and the idea of making a movie revolving around the story and characters of King’s Quest 3, and numerous other games is really exciting.
Perhaps as the fans get older, and move into positions of opportunity as filmmakers, such films may be made, and hopefully made well!
Of course, it would be fantastic just to see more games made that live up to the great values and inspiration that grew out of the original games.
Here’s hoping!
The Sierra games were certainly the inspiration for my working towards a position in the computer game industry. I’ve been working in the industry for 3 years now, and I can see why it is so difficult to create truly great games, both because of the difficulty of such a task on it’s own, and then the added difficulties of the business and marketing things that come afterwards.
A big thank you and congratulations must go out to Sierra for their amazing achievements through the 80’s and 90’s.
– Murray Lorden
(re: Am I just a wimp?)
No, not a wimp at all! I waited with baited breath for Phantas to arrive, I had to get it the DAY it came out. The day it did my new computer came in as well. I remember well the thrill of opening the box and installing the game.
Here is what happened: I played it all night. From 7:00PM until 6:00 AM mainly because I DIDN’T want to go to my bedroom until it was becoming light. The day before my then 6 year old daughter had had a party and one of the balloons had sort of deflated in my bedroom. I had just finished disc 5, figured the light was coming up enough so I could at least sleep a bit, walked into my bedroom, STEPPED on the balloon and in my demented mind it felt like a squished head and I let out a scream that woke my daughter AND the next door neighbors!
No, you aren’t a wimp! Was the best horror I ever played. Truly terrifying. How wonderfully satisfying! (I also would rate the FIRST Shivers up in the category of incredibly eerie as well… the night after playing THAT game I dreamed of ixupi pots!)
(re: installing Alien Legacy on WinXP)
never had any of these on XP Pro, just XP Home.
try Virtual PC or partition a part of your HD (risky, that’s why I recommend VPC) and install Win95/98 and it should work just fine.
remember XP (all versions) in NT, and has many normal Win things missing.
wish I could help you easier
(re: installing Alien Legacy on WinXP)
Did you install it in the default location? Gabriel Knight 3 can do this too, if you install it other than its default location.
(re: re: re: Sierra Site and History)
Half Dome is one of the most beautiful sites on Earth.
I used to get lost in National Parks a kid all of the time.
The only thing I remember of Fresno is a drive-in movie theater near I-40.
The only thing I remember of Oakhurst is a Subway where I once ordered a sandwich.
(re: re: re: re: Kings Quest 4 AGI etc..)
MobyGames.com usually has all kinds of either information or pictures of classic games.
also check cdcovers.cc or Home of the Underdogs for more stuff.
(re: re: Sierra Site and History)
Ciao Ken,
I saw only now your reply. Well, we were in fact going to Yosemite (great place indeed) and I got a picture with the… guess what… Sierra logo over my head !
Well, apart from yokes, I can understand you feel homesick sometimes, the area has a wonderful nature all around.
We did not see the hotel, and we went to sleep on the other side of Yosemite, but I was tempted to stop and inquire a few people at random about Sierra, if / how they remember it…
Giovanni(re: re: re: Kings Quest 4 AGI etc..)
How did you find it ! So rare…
I have the software but not the original box & stuff.
Giovanni(re: Problems with KQ V —-> Dark Forest) I have the oldest floppy copy I’ve ever seen (it’s like in the old Sierra style of discs, and disk one is a 5.25 inch floppy).
The copy protection in this version is in four locations (if I recall), and I think the witch’s house in one of them.
This’s is also why I was happy to buy it on CD!
