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(PDFs) just curious, how are you making your PDFs? do you have Acrobat, or are you saving them as PDFs in Photoshop or another application? i ask because it makes a difference in filesize. in my experience, Acrobat makes PDFs more efficiently and saves them as much smaller files than PDFs made with another method. (Acrobat also gives you options to tweak the files and make them even smaller, while Photoshop or another app just does a straight coversion and doesn’t allow you to edit.)
i looked at your KQ7 interview and it looks great, it also printed out fine (on my b&w laser printer at work). i tried messing with it a little in acrobat and photoshop but wasn’t able to; i’m not sure if this is due to how the PDF was made or if you copy protected it or something.
so, i saved a copy of the scanned page from interaction magazine that’s at the top of this therad. the .jpeg was 344k. i tried saving it as a PDF in Photoshop and it spiked up to 616k. when i exported the same file to a PDF using Acrobat, the file size went down to 316k. (this was without any tweaking on my part.) it’s possible that if i messed with it some more, i could make the file even smaller without sacrificing quality. i printed out both PDFs (again, in black and white) and there isn’t a noticeable difference between the two.
just seems like transcribing the text of the articles would be a lot of work for you, plus you’d lose graphic elements and layout from the original spreads (and trying to replicate them would be even more work for you). i believe acrobat looks at text and graphics equally, so i’m not sure that transcribing all that text is really giving you a smaller file size. not sure about this, though.
i’d be happy to email you the two PDFs i made so you can see the difference (or lack thereof!) in the files. just let me know.
-emily
ps you’re probably right about the dpi and my scanner… my scanner is pretty low end.
Processing time: 0.06 seconds
(Re: Old page / Interaction / PDFs) Alright, Ken split some of this up and I just deleted a lot of the PDF / interaction discussion. Emily and I were just going back and forth and it became more of a mess once the new BBS function was added and there were a few bugs in there.
We can continue any remaining discussion now (hopefully nicely) on this one page. Ken, can you move this posting to the previous post “PDFs”? Emily made that post before the new system was there.(re: List of Sierra Products) Whatever happened to Leisure Suit Larry 7: Lust for Sale, i wonder? It was published in 1996, i believe, and was the glorious Final of my beloved Serie!!!
Thnaks!(re: re: The Colonel’s Bequest-Poster)
Fixed the Laura Bow ‘game-extras’ post. And, thanks, I’m glad you like the stuff I’m uploading. I did the first one to see how this works here, and now I’m having fun!
(re: The Colonel’s Bequest-Poster)
Thanks to everyone else who is posting stuff. Elsa, this is great stuff, thanks so much! The poster is really cool, and you’re doing a nice job scanning this stuff too, the large version is really appreciated! However, somehow my image got into your game extras post, so I guess you’ll have to delete it and upload yours again, and Ken, you’ve got another bug 😉
(re: List of Sierra Products)
How sadly, I never got my hands on a copy on the Official B5 Guide (amongst many other Sierra products as well, of course, but I am a B5 fan) and so very sad that the B5 game was canned. All the preview stuff looked fabulous.
(re: re: Old page from Interaction)
Cool to hear Brian. Hopefully between a number of us we can eventually add lots of stuff from the magazines. By the way, if you find that you have any double copies, I’d be very interested to buy from you or to trade you (I have double copies of V4N2 and Summer 1996).
(re: re: re: List of Sierra Products) “This list was put together to represent games that were developed out of the Oakhurst offices of Sierra”
Hence a listing of the Better titles out of Sierra. 🙂
(re: re: List of Sierra Products) …or that you or Roberta didn’t personally have a hand in making…
I was involved in Half-Life. It, and Homeworld, were the last couple of products that we started on prior to the sale of the company.
-Ken W(re: re: List of Sierra Products) This list was put together to represent games that were developed out of the Oakhurst offices of Sierra. Half-Life was produced in Seattle by Valve, and published by Sierra.
(re: List of Sierra Products)
Not being one to question the memory of one who’s in a way changed computer gaming, but I do believe Half-Life is missing from the late-90’s in the list… Unless you’re not counting games that Sierra published, or that you or Roberta didn’t personally have a hand in making.
(re: What’s your attitude towards fan-projects?) As part of the sale of Sierra I gave up all rights to all games, as did Roberta. Neither of us has the right to do anything with any Sierra product – even Kings Quest (which Roberta wrote).
When I ran Sierra, I loved these kinds of projects. I don’t know the people that are running Sierra now, so I don’t know how they feel about them.
Personally, Roberta and I wouldn’t get involved in one, but mostly because of creative issues. I always think that games should be designed by one person. If Roberta were involved in a project, she would want to have total control. It would have to be something that wasn’t connected to any Sierra game (or, they would sue us). With all that said, if she (or I) were to ever do a game again (which I doubt) it would be through some game company assigning us a development team.
-Ken W
(re: What’s your attitude towards fan-projects?)
Or fan-made games of those old games that’re not based on one of the series?
I know that Al fully supports the idea.Oh, andeh… good to see that none of you guys have turned your back on these games.
(re: re: Ken Williams – Powerpoint)
I find it very funny that you live in Seattle (well, not at the moment) I’ve heard of all these places –Digipen, Seattle, etc. Probably because I live here and I’m a game developer myself. Although, I don’t have any goals in markets like Sierra did.
(Suggestion on New Area)
A technical depository for files and fixes for the games. An example being the audblast.drv file that allows extended compatibilty for certian games, The last patches that were released, links common programs used to assist in running older games on newer hardware and OS’s. I mean, What good would haveing the information about the game without some kind of help in getting it to run? Just a thought.
(re: re: Love for Police Quest)
Conquest of the Longbow is an exellent classic Sierra game. Don’t forget Freddy Pharkas.
(re: Love for Police Quest) Evan,
Actually, I’m the one who’s been setting up the Museum areas. I knew someone would shout out about PQ sooner or later! Actually the original PQ is one of my favorite Sierra games, of course the whole series in general I love as well. I will get to adding that area right away!
Which other games or game series need their own area?(re: re: Why we’re not doing anything) While I have the chance, there’s a question that I’ve always wanted to ask. In the original Kronder game, I believe it was Betrayal in Kronder did I not see Roberta in one of the pubs?
Hmmm…. Roberta did appear in the ads for Mother Goose, but I think that’s the only game. Well, actually, she did appear in the ads for Softporn, but, that’s perhaps better left unsaid. I’ll ask her if there were any others.
-Ken(re: Why we’re not doing anything) Another example of Corporate America and the “bottom line” outweighing creative and artistic endeavor. It is a shame that you had a vision and that vision got completely and irrevocably destroyed by Big Business and corporate takeovers. (I’m talking about the subsequent takeovers after your initial sale).
You, and I speak in a plural sense, were the pioneers in Graphic Adventures and your company, Sierra On Line, was the most honest and dependable company in the business of game making. Your guarantee of completely satisfied or your money back (or replacement of equal value) was proof of that and you put your actions where your mouth was. Also your tech support was friendly and unconditionally helpful. You made a quality product and wanted your customers to be completely satisfied with an unconditional guarantee. I applaud you and your company and mourn the loss of the company and such honest business practices.
Your games got me started playing Graphic Adventures. I started with Kings Quest II and got hooked I then proceeded to purchase any and every game that came out by Sierra On Line as I knew they would be enjoyable and I could depend on the quality. Also if there was a problem you would go out of your way to fix it.
I feel honored to be able to relay my feelings to the actual owners and creators of these great Adventure Games and would be the first in line to buy another effort should you so decide.
While I have the chance, there’s a question that I’ve always wanted to ask. In the original Kronder game, I believe it was Betrayal in Kronder did I not see Roberta in one of the pubs?
I sincerely hope that the old Sierra On Line gang make a comeback.(re: re: re: re: Why not do something new?)
I really enjoyed QFG5 (as I did with all the others), I never played MOE. My mom did, But I just couldn’t see myself playing a 3D KQ.
(re: re: re: Why not do something new?) You’re exactly right. Adventure games were the people and the time of when they were made. For Sierra to try and make one now just wouldn’t work. There is even the possibility of a discussion as to the merit of KQ:MOE or QFG5, which frequently does occur.
As a similar example, though not the same situation, there is a simultaneous dread and excitement to see what LucasArts makes of sequels to Full Throttle and Sam & Max.(re: Why not do something new?) I wonder how you guys can be so cool about things, or is just those years of golf n’nothin’? I mean it was YOUR company and somehow THEY kicked you out, didn’t they?
Well … actually, they didn’t kick us out … they paid us to go away. We’re happily retired now as a result of the sale. That said, neither Roberta, nor I, would have sold had we known what was going to happen. We personally were well taken care of, but, we had a good life anyhow. Our life was good, and continues to be good. The problem is that the company wasn’t just comprised of JUST Roberta and I. The sale hurt hundreds of people.
