Forum Replies Created
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(re: re: AGI Interpreter Recoding)
You mean Peter Kelly? He did much of the reverse engineering for AGI and wrote AGI Studio but lost interest several years ago. I don’t seem to recall him doing an interpreter, although there may be one. His docs on the AGI format make implementing an AGI interpreter relatively easy. I used them to make my AGI interpreter in just over a week.
(Re: Spamming and possibly methods of avoiding, (plus homage to the Williams))
I think what our fellow Sierra fan here is trying to say is, we love you
and all, but please fix your mailing list as it is sending e-mails to
everyone who signs up, even if we said we don’t want to receive
e-mails. Or perhaps it is ONLY e-mail people who said they don’t want
to receive e-mails? Anyways its rather annoying as Im sure you
understand so please correct it, thanks!P.S. glad to find this site, glad to see you’re interested in keeping
computer gaming history alive, having been such a big part of it!Sierra On-Line Fan Site wrote:
>
> Hail Ken Williams,
> First I would Like to say that as a 21 year old who grew up
playing your
> games, I
> have to conglatulate you on everything that you and your fellow members
at
> Sierra did in
….
—
———————————————-
Howard Feldman, Author of The Search for Freedom
A Computer Fantasy Role-Playing Game
Visit its Homepage at http://home.golden.net/~feldman/SearchForFreedom/
Visit the Computer and Book RPG Museum at
http://vgmuseum.chaoticmonkey.com/ (re: re: Simply….ThankYou….)
tried to upload two quicktime files from the anthology disks but would not let me guess too long shucks they were cool….days2 and roberta were the file names if u remember them.
(re: Simply….ThankYou….)
nights at the kitchen table….hahaha …..
much Admiration and respect,
Michael
(re: AGI Interpreter Recoding)
You’re all forgetting [or just not knowing about] Peter Whatever-his name is’s [or was his name even peter?] AGI studio. With that, you can open old Sierra games, edit, excract, compile, and create your own coding, backgrounds, animations, etc. It’s the exact same enging Sierra used, according to the website, although since it was finished some odd number of years ago, nothing has been updated. It’s the program I used to make some of my first games, and helped me learn to program. Great program, try searching for it on google or somethin, cause I don’t remember the site. As for SCI Studio; I downloaded that I while ago, too, and was working on a game with it until I downloaded Adventure Game Studio, which is easier to use. I’ve still been waiting for B.P. to release the VGA version, cause his site hasn’t been updated in many months[last time I checked].
o_0
jimm(re: List of Sierra Products) Michael Scanlen asked me to upload this file as he couldn’t figure out how to. It’s an XLS file of Sierra games pulled from mobygames and sorted by name, year, platform and genre. But it doesn’t include the exact release dates that I mentioned Moby seems to have for some Sierra games.
Anyway, I suggest we take Josh’s document and convert that to an XLS format, and work from there.(Phanta 2 WinXP)
Hi,
I know there is a chance to play it in DOS Mode with VDM Sound etc. but is there really no chance (wih a patch !?!) to play it under windows ????
(Re: Major upgrades soon) Ah, Argentina… I used to live there for two years in Buenos Aires. I remember it as a beautiful city, although I was only in elementary school when I lived there (late 80’s).
Good luck updating the site!(re: List of Sierra Products)
Odd….I swear I had added that value pack to the list, but maybe I accidentally didn’t save it or something. Thank you so much for pointing that out, as well as the EcoQuest 1 dates! 🙂
JDHJANUS
Josh(re: Help me please, I’m desperate!)
Yes, Space Quest IV is my favorite as well. Such as shame to quit because of that issue!
(re: re: re: Help me please, I’m desperate!) I guess could call DOSBox a DOS virtual machine. That is to say it emulates an entire DOS based PC including the CPU, sound and video. There’s even a recent provision of an Epson based dot matrix printer!
It’s constantly evolving and improving with the most recent versions able to play 32bit protected mode titles. It needs a powerful host to be able to run some of the more complex titles.
More details can be found at their site :
Link: http://www.dosbox.cjb.net/(http://www.dosbox.cjb.net/) If you like your games to be 1) insert disc 2) play then don’t bother looking at DOSBox. Having read your unwarranted rant about SQIV and the [well-known] timer issue and your resolution to just give up I don’t think DOSBox will suit you. However, it’s a real gem of a tool and if you take the time to understand it, a few minutes tweaking per game can provide you with many hours of ‘retro’ gaming!
(re: Space Quest IV is horrible) Back when SQ4 was released, Bill Gates was just dreaming of Windows 95, Intel were dreaming of 266Mhz processors and the world had a set of different problems to contend with (well, maybe not but you get the picture!).
Sierra’s developers used two parts of the system for timing. Unfortunately, one of those parts kept moving with technological advances thus making a lot of Sierra adventures unplayable (or at least unbeatable) on new systems. No-one could forsee this happening although Sierra knew about it by the time the created the Collection Series packs – they included a slow down program with instructions on how to use it. *Why* they didn’t spend a few days/couple of weeks and solve the problems like NewRising sun has done (it would have been *much* quicker done with the source in hand!) god (or maybe Ken) only knows!
NewRisingSun’s patches are quite amazing – they work, they’re reliable and they’re free.(re: re: Help me please, I’m desperate!)
Rani, what is DOSBox and what exactly does it do?
As for “never stop playing SQ4,” I’m afraid I’ve done just that. I can’t get the laptop out of the glove compartment of the crashed shuttlecraft because by the time I have it in inventory, I’m dead via the “Droid-o-Death.” The interface is simply not set up to where I can run in and use the hand tool repeatedly to click on the glove compartment, open it up, grab the laptop and THEN switch to the ‘walk’ icon in time to walk off-screen. I simply can’t do it, I keep getting zapped, and the Droid shows up EVERY time. The problem is that the interface is a piece of…well, you know. If I try to manually click with the mouse to move from Hand to Walk icon, by the time I’ve got it, I’m dead. If I try to move the mouse to the top part of the screen and select the Walk icon from the drop-down menu, I’m still dead.
I know there’s a solution but I don’t care to find it. Space Quest IV is far too much trouble for me, I’m giving up.
(Re: King’s Quest Online)
[snip]
> As for the rating of a game, I would rather make a game like KQO that is
> rated “E” rather than “T” or “M” for the simple fact that KQ is about
> fairytale adventures and whimsical creatures. I would never even think
> of playing ANY game with the KQ name that was rated “M” because that is
> a debauchery of the franchise. KQO will not have blood in it. It also
> won’t have wanton killing. And above all (this is one of my main
> statements about describing KQO), it is NOT about just running around
> killing things.Reading your thoughts, I’m sure you won’t do a KQ mod for DOOM or Unreal Tournament. This is laudable.
> Just because everything else that has MMO attached to it is about
> killing things doesn’t necessarily mean that killing things is all an
> MMO is capable of.It is possible for a MMO not to include killing. You simply do not put
killing in. However, the BIG question is: how do you, as an author, manage to control the extent of interaction between multiple *autonomous* players? You still haven’t stated any core differences from the singleplayer counterpart.[snip]
>
> Forgive me if I sound a bit forceful, but it seems the prevailing
> opinion is I’m making an EQ clone and how dare I have the nerve to even
> think of mangling such a beloved franchise as KQ like that. Sadly,
> people who think this are only seeing what they want to see and nothing
> else, regardless of what I say……No, who told you “how dare you”? I think nobody has any negativity towards you here.
-Vesko
(Re: King’s Quest Online)
David,
While I admire what you are trying to do, it just doesn’t make sense to do it in the King’s Quest universe. I have had difficulty in coming up with an idea about how to make the game story-oriented and not a gorefest in such a way that the player doesn’t play for 4 hours, finishes all the story elements and then gets bored. Teaming up with other players, a big draw for most MMORGs, wouldn’t make sense in a non-violent KQO since that would take away the reason to team up leaving only “sharing the story”.
If you want an awesome story, and you want lots of people to share in it, then doing it the way it has been done before, i.e. in single player format, is the best way to achieve this. That’s exactly what we’ve all experienced with KQ so far, right? None of the games were multiplayer but we still reminisce and relate to each other’s experiences in a meaningful, fun way. I LOVE KQ6, it is my all time favourite Sierra adventure and I would love to play something similar, I love talking about it with the people I grew up
with who were as into Sierra games as I was. Nostalgia rocks!That aside, I don’t think your efforts have been in vain. You are a brave man to propose what you’ve proposed, however the KQ universe just isn’t the most fertile soil for a persistent, online version without corrupting what made the KQ series such a success in the first place. Not only that, but I realised what made playing the old games so special was that it was always a King’s Quest, not Joe Soap Quest… playing as royalty added something that an MMORPG just can’t offer, because it’s just not feasible to have 200,000 Princes, Princesses, Kings and Queens running around. Being just like everyone else just ain’t that special.
If you are keen to dust off the story you wrote however many years back, I think you’d do well to present it to people like the Anonymous Game Developers (who I secretly suspect are ex-Sierra employees doing what they love to do because they can) and see if you can make it into something that way. They’ve obviously got the talent, passion, time and the resources to
make your story come to life, so why not give them a try?And that is my two cents worth. I am honestly not trying to criticise you into the ground, just letting you know how I feel about an online KQ game. You’ve obviously got the passion for the genre, and I wish you all the best with it. If a single player game comes of it all, I will be first in line to buy it.
Regards,
Deon du Plessis
(Re: King’s Quest Online) “An RPG, as you know, is a game that stresses gameplay through building up a character through combat.”
Yet again, close, not quite. An RPG is a game that stresses gameplay through taking on a role, such as paladin, wizard or blacksmith, where ones character advances through either the ever popular combat, or completeing actions. Most good RPGs can be gotten through with a minimal amount of combat.
Torgak(Re: King’s Quest Online) You’re close, EQ is a MMOTG. Massively Multiplayer Online Treadmill Game.
Torgak(Re: King’s Quest Online) Actually, after giving this some serious thought, I have come to the following conclusion:
The people here who have been posting represent a measure of the target audience I am designing KQO for.
That said, it seems the prevalent opinion is “don’t do it”. Perhaps there is some logic to this. Perhaps not.
In any event, I am going to cease design on a KQO title. Maybe it’s time to pull out that story I wrote a couple of years ago and see what I can come up with that. Better to do something new than go against the grain and offend people.
Maybe one day you’ll see the game you want to play on the shelf. Maybe not. But learn something from what I have tried to do: If you wish to lament and/or complain about the state of the industry, then do so in a constructive manner and then try to do something about it. Otherwise, your words are just going to join in the chorus of lamentation that permiates the adventure game genre.
Enough said. Good night (I’m going to bed) 😉
-David ReeseLink:lordcorenair@netscape.net (mailto:lordcorenair@netscape.net)
(Re: King’s Quest Online) An adventure game, as you know, is a game that stresses gameplay through the means of story and puzzle-solving elements.
An RPG, as you know, is a game that stresses gameplay through building up a character through combat.
Ignoring MOE for a moment, the KQ games were adventure games.
Games from the D&D universe or even the Quest for Glory series where RPG’s (though QFG was more of a hybrid adventure RPG than a straightforward RPG).
So, an MMORPG is basically an RPG that takes place in a persistant state world. Players build up their characters stats. They kill monsters to get gold and experience to get better gear so they can kill stronger monsters (and repeat infinitely until they get bored)
An MMOAG is basically an adventure game that takes place in a persistant state world. It is actually a hybrid adventure RPG like QFG in that you have the ability to build up your character, but the emphasis is on puzzle solving and story elements along with combat. It’s a balancing issue, but ultimately, the game isn’t just about killing things.
KQO features combat and puzzle solving elements. MOE wasn’t that great of a KQ game, but it did do a good job of telling a story while infusing RPG-like qualities into it.
As for the rating of a game, I would rather make a game like KQO that is rated “E” rather than “T” or “M” for the simple fact that KQ is about fairytale adventures and whimsical creatures. I would never even think of playing ANY game with the KQ name that was rated “M” because that is a debauchery of the franchise. KQO will not have blood in it. It also won’t have wanton killing. And above all (this is one of my main statements about describing KQO), it is NOT about just running around killing things.
Just because everything else that has MMO attached to it is about killing things doesn’t necessarily mean that killing things is all an MMO is capable of. Thats just all people are playing right now because that’s the only thing on the market. People can talk about wanting to play something different, but the simple fact of the matter is there’s nothing else for them to play.
Naysaying aside, you can’t help but be at least the slightest bit curious and hopeful at what I am trying to accomplish. To say you (you as in people in general) are not is to sit behind your computer making idealistic judgements about how pathetic games have become while doing nothing about it but complaining and doing nothing productive to change the cycle.
Forgive me if I sound a bit forceful, but it seems the prevailing opinion is I’m making an EQ clone and how dare I have the nerve to even think of mangling such a beloved franchise as KQ like that. Sadly, people who think this are only seeing what they want to see and nothing else, regardless of what I say……
-David ReeseLink:lordcorenair@netscape.net (mailto:lordcorenair@netscape.net)
(Re: King’s Quest Online) Hello!
The future of gaming is indeed online. As technology improves and high speed internet connections becomes more of a norm rather than an oddity, the demands of players have increased. Players want to play games that enable them to play a game and have social interactions at the same time.
The problem with a lot of games though, is the simple fact that a lot of developers simply slap on a multiplayer component onto their game without really implimenting it properly. A lot of games that have multiplayer components suffer from the “follow the pack” mentality. They saw it work for game x so they figure they gotta have the same thing. Oftimes this isn’t even the developers decision. If a publisher (who slaps out tons of money to fund the development and distribution of a game) wants their game to have a multiplayer component, thats what they will get, otherwise they’ll pull the plug.
A Massively Multiplayer Adventure Game can be done, but it must be done right if it is to be fun and enjoyable entertainment.
To answer your question about buying an ebook that had a multiplayer component… In the mid 80’s there was a series of books called “Choose your Own Adventure”. The books were kinda small (only 100 pages or so), but as you read through the story, you had to make decisions (go left or go right) or (slay the monster or run) or (investigate the well or open the dusty book on the floor). Each branch led to a different outcome. So in a sense, the reader controlled the story and could re-read the story making different decisions each time and get a different story to
read each time.
That is the type of game I am trying to make (in it’s simplest form).
So imagine a scene from KQVI (since this was cited as an example). The player is in town at the bookshop. The genie is there as well, disguised as a hooded traveller, but keeps an eye on the player’s character. The player knows that it’s the genie, but the only option the designers gave the player is to ignore the genie. Eventually he leaves (after the player obtains the magic book).
Now imagine that same scenario only with different options. You can ignore the genie. You can confront him and prod him until he reveals himself. You can nonchalantly throw a book at him to get him to leave. You can wait and come back another time when the genie is not there. All of these options have the same goal of getting the genie out of the shop so you can conduct your business without him spying on you and reporting back to the vizor. Each option has it’s own pros and cons. Each option also has the opportunity to branch out into other areas.
You see where I’m going here, right?
😉
-David ReeseLink:lordcorenair@netscape.net (mailto:lordcorenair@netscape.net)
(Re: King’s Quest Online) Can you explain how MMOAG (Massively Multiplayer Adventure Game) is different from MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Role Playing Game)? How are you going to enforce a sensible, coherent story?
The rating is not related to the type of the game, it is related to the actual content of the game, so it is irrelevant to the single or multiplayer aspects.
-Vesko(Re: King’s Quest Online) Hi, Deon, and the rest of you,
I fully agree with Deon. Thank you for taking the time to tell us your opinion.
One of the participants on the forum said something along the lines that Ken Williams was a prophet regarding the multiplayer future of adventure games. That is not how I see things.
Some years ago I remember reading the actual interview with Ken Williams where he stated it, and I also remember thinking “Ken, this time you are plain wrong”.
Back during the times of the internet boom, and from what I gather from the current discussion, a lot of people thought and still think that multiplayer features can be slapped into every game.
My question is then, how about slapping multiplayer features in ebooks? What would this bring to the table? Nothing. By virtue of their stories, adventure games are like books, and you don’t want to be reading a book whose story has not been well defined by the author, do you? Imagine buying a 100 page book that has only 10 pages filled in by the author. Imagine such a book bearing an inscription asking the reader to gather as many friends as he/she likes to fill in the remaining 90 pages. That would fall into the “multiplayer” category. Would you buy such a book? If you did, would it be fun?
Think about it.
-Vesko(Re: QFG 4 1/2) I passed it.
Funny thing is if you don’t choose a magic user at the beginning of the game there’s no way to beat it.
Kalani
—(Re: King’s Quest Online) Reading this email was like reading my mind – I feel the exact same way. The only reason why online games are “kill-a-rama” affairs with no story is because that is what we as gamers have come to expect. It’s what we pay for month to month and it’s what the industry will continue to give us because marketing studies show thats what gamers want to play.
The main difference between KQO and games like EverQuest is in the genre.
Everquest = MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Role Playing Game)
Kings Quest Online = MMOAG (Massively Multiplayer Adventure Game)
KQO isn’t a kill-a-thon. I use the term “kill monsters” in the design document without even thinking about it, but truth be told, there won’t be any killing in the game. It is my hope that if KQO becomes a reality, it’ll come packaged with an “E” rating (Everyone). Players will combat monsters, but it won’t end up in death. Monsters will “poof” away as if by magic. And while the player may appear to “die”, they are actually becoming incapacitated and their “soul” is transported to the Underworld where more adventures and stories await. Death is something I want to stay far away from with KQO. Everything in your message states everything I am not doing with KQO.
It is as far away from EverQuest or other clones as the Earth is from the sun.
😉
-David ReeseLink:lordcorenair@netscape.net (mailto:lordcorenair@netscape.net)
(Re: King’s Quest Online)
While I usually hate naysayers, today I am going to be one of them.
Online games are not driven by stories. They are driven by the freedom
players are given to self-determine. Sierra games had heart because they
told a compelling story, which can only be done if the designer has complete
control over the player’s actions, ie where they have to go, what they have
to do, and the outcome. This to me implies scripted sequences aplenty, plus
almost forcing the player to do what the designer wants with little to no
freedom of choice in the matter.Frankly, I liked that about Sierra quest games. I think the Quest for Glory
series came closest to giving players enough freedom to believe they were
actually directing the story with little to no prompting from the designers
because they could fight for as long as they liked, steal if they were so
inclined, and indulge in story elements at their leisure. However this was a
very fine balance. Online games require not only the ability of the player
to self-determine at their leisure, but incentive to KEEP ON PLAYING as
well.And my point? Making an online King’s Quest game is not a good idea. King’s
Quest was about wholesome values, morals, fairy tales with a twist… well
it was untlil MOE came out where the player was suddenly forced to KILL
things en masse… I mean really, in a King’s Quest game?? Who among us
didn’t find that a major departure from the previous installments in the
series? I sure as hell did.Do you really want to make one of the most beloved game series of all time
(at least in my book) into a 24/7 kill-a-thon? How do you propose to use
story in an online game to keep things interesting when all most players
want is the freedom to do whatever they please… force the story onto them
and you will lose customers, guaranteed.If you want to resurrect the King’s Quest series, do it with a single player
game. Include some of the elements you’ve been talking about with regards to
King’s Quest Online, refine it into an awesome story that doesn’t involve
mass slaughter of anything, say by the use of a storyline that focuses on
political intrigue or even romance as KQ6 did, and maybe we’ll have a game
on our hands that is worthy of the King’s Quest title.I strongly believe that the reason a game like KQ6 was so popular and
successful is because the player got to fall in love, which is something
everyone wants to do, (yes, even hardcore gamers). It was a game with heart,
there was very little WOW factor on a technical level since it was a pretty
standard point-and-click affair (if you ignored the introduction which was
fantastic for its time). The game itself was all about the yearning of a
prince’s heart to find his true love, and who among us doesn’t have the same
yearning? I just don’t believe a story with heart can be easily translated
into an online game.So I now ask the question, are we as gamers so jaded that the only things
that appeal are mass slaughter, bigger weapons, stronger armour, deadlier
combat skills, higher levels? I don’t like to believe that, but that is what
game makers are catering for, so there has to be an element of truth to it.
That is why games that grab you on an emotional level are few and far
between. In actual fact, I would love to hear from the rest of you
sierragamers readers as to what games you’ve played recently which you’ve
actually felt GOOD about as opposed to be scared witless or held in suspense
or drained. I recently picked up the Painkiller demo and felt more than a
little ill a few minutes into it, play it yourself and you’ll see what I
mean. Or you won’t, there are a lot of gamers who eat stuff like that up.
Point is, a lot of games I’ve played, seen or heard about lately are all
about violence and blood and guts, held together by the most idiotic of
stories, and frankly that’s not what I am interested in.Anyway, now that I’ve taken up valuable work time composing this mail, I
will leave you with a final thought: Do you want to see another Everquest
clone, or do you want to see a decent, story-driven, character-rich single
player game like we know King’s Quest is capable of being? I know what I
want.Thanks
Cheers
Deon du Plessis
Gamer since ’89_________________________________________________________________
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