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(re: re: re: re: Larry is going to college!)
I think there would be a copyright issue (if they wanted to persue it), although Im not certain. I’ve DLed a copy, so if they do remove it we can look at that as a possibility. Hopefully they’ll leave it up and it won’t become an issue…
-Mongoose
(re: re: re: Larry is going to college!)
Would it be illegal for you to post that picture on your website? That way if they take it off, it will not matter.
(re: re: Larry is going to college!)
We’re not entirely sure that link will remain valid – I don’t think CGM expected anyone to find the image (since it isn’t linked to anything on their site yet). There’s a small chance they may pull it until they are ready to use it on the site – so I would recommend anyone interested look at it ASAP (just to be safe).
-Mongoose
(re: Larry is going to college!) Here is a link to the magazine cover.
(re: re: re: re: Sierra and Half-Life 2) Valve haven’t lost any source code (i.e. it has not been deleted). Valve have to slip the release date so they are able to rewrite the code to ensure the game is not compromised on release. The Half Life brand is a major cash cow for all companies involved and if it’s unplayable online (due to cheats/hacks) it will quickly die out and not generate the massive revenue that Half Life 1 has. Although HL1 has cheats/hacks – none are at the level of the source code and so (given a little time) are circumventable with a patch or other means. HL2 could have had cheats created at the engine level that would be nigh on impossible to identify/prevent running.
Posted by: Adam Hearn on 10/18/2003
Adam:
OK – that makes sense. I suspect you are right.
-Ken W(re: re: re: Sierra and Half-Life 2) Valve haven’t lost any source code (i.e. it has not been deleted). Valve have to slip the release date so they are able to rewrite the code to ensure the game is not compromised on release. The Half Life brand is a major cash cow for all companies involved and if it’s unplayable online (due to cheats/hacks) it will quickly die out and not generate the massive revenue that Half Life 1 has. Although HL1 has cheats/hacks – none are at the level of the source code and so (given a little time) are circumventable with a patch or other means. HL2 could have had cheats created at the engine level that would be nigh on impossible to identify/prevent running.
(re: Kq9)
How would Sierra be hurt by KQ9 being successful when Sierra has basically abandoned KQ. If Sierra decided to continue the KQ series, would a fan based KQ with a different story line hurt the official game. I can see how Tierra’s games would hurt sales of KQ games if they started selling them again. But a game with a completely original storyline can’t be hurtful to business, can it? I think creating this game is exactly like creating fan fiction. Technically, its copyright infringement but Sierra doesn’t get hurt by it, considering this product isn’t actually competing against its products.
(re: RPG’s as opposed to Adventure Games)
Another game that I would recommend is Neverwinter Nights. There are some people that cannot stand the game, but I think it is fun. There are multiple ways to play the game. You can play the official campaign, which is a 40 hour “adventure” with a story line. The campaign for the expansion pack is better than the one with the regular game, in my opinion. There are also many user made mods that feature good story lines and quests. Persisitant worlds are what I normally use. It is more like Ultima On-line if you have played that. A big world where you basically find people to party up with and then explore the various areas. Some servers also have houses you can buy, and tradeskills you can develop such as blacksmithing, tanning, mining, and gemcutting. You can then sell your wares to other players by setting up a vendor. I have been playing it a lot lately and it is pretty cool. You just have to find good mods or servers.
(re: re: re: RPG’s as opposed to Adventure Games)
i know, i know… avoiding the text parser makes me feel like such a sellout!
i played the VGA remake of QfG1 when sierra released it on the mac… so for me, playing the original QfG2 would be a step backwards. plus (and i hate to admit this) — although i was good at the text parsers when they were ubiquitous, i don’t know if i have the patience for them now. i don’t know, maybe i would. i recently played part of LSL2 for the first time and was doing okay with it…
of course, if i were to play the original QfG, i could do it NOW…
oh, the decisions!
-emily
(re: re: RPG’s as opposed to Adventure Games) emily, you didn’t play the rest of the QFG series yet?? wow, am I envy you! you are expected to experience some great games! But: as I understand, the QFG2 remake won’t be with a text-parser. I strongly recommend to play QFG2 with a text-parser. The plot and story are very good; the whole point is to truly understand what’s happening and think what to ask, what to do. You can ask any question to anybody. Unlike in non-text-parsing games, in which you just click “talk” and see the possibilities. The text-parsing is making the game harder, but also much more entertaining and fun. You feel that’s YOU have actually traveled there ! The graphics also discourged me at first, but QFG 2 (which was the last Sierra game in 16 colors) gets you into the story so much (thanks to the text-parser as well) that it seems to be 32-bit color or so… [but really, being the last EGA game, QFG 2 utilize the full and most rich effect an EGA screen can get!]
As a QFG veteran (and one of the webmasters of
Link: http://www.geocities.com/qfgs(http://www.geocities.com/qfgs)
), I truely recommend you to play the original QFG 2 !
It’s up to you!
-Eyal(re: RPG’s as opposed to Adventure Games)
Here’s a list of a few PC RPGs that you might like:
Baldur’s Gate I and II (Each has an expansion)
Fallout I and II (Two VERY cool games)
Planescape: Torment (Already mentioned but I’d like to
recommend it again. It starts off slow.. but has a VERY interesting plot. The NPCs are also top notch and I found it to be a lot of fun. The game actually has two or three books worth of text in it. Very deep game.)Here are a few other PC games that you might like as well:
Deus Ex (A very fun hybrid. The game is in first person but has RPG, FPS, and even Adventure game elements. Very cool plot and a very rich game world.)
Thief I and II (These are not adventure games but both have VERY cool plots. The game is first person but the goal is not to kill everything.. but rather to be stealthy. Play the games on the hardest setting. Opens up new areas you only get to play on the hardest difficulty.
Console RPGs you might not have heard of:
Everyone has heard of the Final Fantasy series.. but there are a few non FF RPGs worth taking a look at.
Sukidon (SP?) 3 (PS2)(Can be hard to find seeing as it was D/C four months after release. My fav console RPG of all time. You play three different parties throughout the entire game.)
Skies of Arcadia Legends (Gamecube & Dreamcast)(Fun RPG with a nice cast of NPCs and fun game world.)
Knights of the Old Republic (Xbox and PC)(If you’re a SW fan.. get this game. One of the best RPGs ever made.. period.)
Oh, on a final note.. there are a few adventure games that have come out on the Gameboy Advance and Gameboy Color.
Dejavu I and II for the GBC
Broken Sword: Shadows of the Templars for the GBA.
Also, there is a new Broken Sword adventure comming out for the major consoles this year. Who knows, maybe adventure games will find a new home?
JQ
(re: re: re: re: re: Police Quest Collection)
ack! i’m sorry to hear that site was hacked.
you should still be able to find the manuals on the internet if you poke around. try the links below.
the copy protection in the original PQ1 is easy. walk around the car every time before you get in (it ensures you don’t have a flat tire, or something). then when you pull over the drunk, there’s a specific set of things you need to get him to do — you can find walkthroughs online that tell you exactly what to type.
on PQ2, the copy protection is to ask you to identify a mug shot. keep trying Jesse Bains until you get it right (i don’t know any other names, but eventually his picture will come up…)
i’m pretty sure PQ4 doesn’t have copy protection.
-emily
(re: RPG’s as opposed to Adventure Games)
i like RPGs with a good storyline and character development. the first RPG i ever played was sierra’s Quest for Glory 1. I didn’t realize it was in its own category… i just thought of it as an adventure game with fighting!
i enjoy the final fantasy games. those are the only RPGs i’ve really gotten into. i’ve played through some of Planescape: Torment and i enjoy it in small doses, but haven’t gotten invested like i do in adventures. i think there’s actually too much going on in that game. i prefer a game that has a strong storyline to follow, and there are so many different things going on in P:T i start to lose track (so the story is not as strong and engaging for me).
i am planning to play the other Quest for Glory games (so far i’ve only played the first one) but i’m waiting until after Tierra’s VGA remake of QfG2 comes out.
-emily
(Ken, please read this message) I was practically raised on Sierra games, and I really loved them. They were the reason why I bought a PC in the first place. It’s hard to tell quite how much Sierra has meant to me. I know this sounds kind of geeky, but I have to get it out 🙂
I used to fantasy about going to the Sierra HQ in Oakhurst and kept bugging my parents to go there on vacation, but since I live in Norway, it would be quite expensive so we never went to America. I’ve always wanted to meet Ken and Robera in person (and Al Lowe, the two guys from Andromeda etc.) and I still think about it from time to time. So if you read this, Ken, you have to know that you and your wife have meant very much to me through the years.
– Øystein(re: re: Another Suggestion (requirements for browsing this site)) Roberta is gonna write a novel? wow! that’s just like Lori Cole just finished writing a (QFG-world based) novel (“How To Be A Hero – By the Book”)
Lori Cole has got a website at
Link: http://www.howtobeahero.com(http://www.howtobeahero.com)
involving a on-line adventure in this spirit.(re: re: Kq9) I guess it’s up to me to ask to most evil question ever. After reading about how Al Lowe and Freddy Pharkass are working on SQ7. Is there anyway Mrs. Williams can slip some storyline tips and puzzle suggestions to the KQ9 team? Of course, I don’t want you guys to get in trouble with Sierra or anything. I guess this game could be called fan fiction.
Posted by: skcll on 10/17/2003
I’ve tried to talk her into this MANY times, but she always refuses. The problem is that it never works to have multiple designers on a project. If she were kicking in “some ideas” – it would just confuse the project.
-Ken W(re: Another Suggestion (requirements for browsing this site)) I was wondering if it was possible to have guests browse this site rather than forcing them to register. However, I believe that you should still require them to register in order to post.
Posted by: skcll on 10/17/2003Good question!
I require registration because I am trying to build an email list. The fact is that on most message board systems the ratio of “lurkers” to “posters” is at least 20 to 1. In other words, if I didn’t demand registration to read, I would receive 20 times fewer people registering.
Why is registration important to me?
The answer is that, sooner or later, Roberta or I will do something interesting and want to tell people about it. I’m trying to build a huge email list. Currently, this site has just over 2,000 registered users – which isn’t a bad start. This count will grow radically once I fix a few things, the biggest of which is that I need to write a bit of code to allow this site to be indexed by the search engines. For now, I’m not in a hurry to dramatically grow the number of visitors. The code behind this site is still “shaky” – it’s better to solve the code and design issues before opening it to the public.
And now, here’s something REALLY interesting:
Roberta has made the decision to start writing a book. It’s a fictional novel – but, beyond that I can’t say more. She would kill me if I gave away what it is about. She won’t seriously start writing until December, so I’m guessing it won’t be published for at least a year or more.
-Ken W(re: re: Sierra and Half-Life 2) Some evil hackers stole the source code for Half-Life 2. It won’t be coming out until April at the most.
Posted by: skcll on 10/17/2003
This reminds me – there was a question here I forgot to answer, about what we used to do to protect our source code.
In this particular case, it would be fun to have more details. Something about it is strange. It’s tough to believe that someone both STOLE, and DELETED the source code for Half-Life 2, and that NO BACKUPS existed.
That said…. it did happen one time during my days running Sierra. One of our developers, John Harris, lost his source code to Frogger, and fell into such a funk over it that it took me MANY months to get him motivated to write the code over again. In those days (early 80’s) source code wasn’t on central servers – it was on a floppy. I think John lost it due to a floppy read error.
In modern times, source is usually stored in a source library, on a central server, and backed up every night. For someone to steal the source, they would have had to get past the firewall at Valve, figure out the password to the source archival system, download the source, and then delete it. Then, to really have an impact, they would need to find the backups, and delete all of them. Possible – but, not likely.
-Ken W(re: re: re: re: Half Life) Has she played half-life?
Posted by: skcll on 10/17/2003
Roberta played Half-Life for a couple of hours, and saw it a few times during development. She could see the quality, and could tell that it would sell, but it wasn’t something that she personally would play.
-Ken W(re: re: Kq9) LOL Freddy Pharkas is a fictional person, you mean Josh Mandel who’s creating SQ7!
(re: Kq9)
I guess it’s up to me to ask to most evil question ever. After reading about how Al Lowe and Freddy Pharkass are working on SQ7. Is there anyway Mrs. Williams can slip some storyline tips and puzzle suggestions to the KQ9 team? Of course, I don’t want you guys to get in trouble with Sierra or anything.
P.S. I guess this game could be called fan fiction.
(re: Kq9)
I guess it’s up to me to ask to most evil question ever. After reading about how Al Lowe and Freddy Pharkass are working on SQ7. Is there anyway Mrs. Williams can slip some storyline tips and puzzle suggestions to the KQ9 team? Of course, I don’t want you guys to get in trouble with Sierra or anything. I guess this game could be called fan fiction.
(Another Suggestion (requirements for browsing this site))
I was wondering if it was possible to have guests browse this site rather than forcing them to register. However, I believe that you should still require them to register in order to post.
