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Wow! I love the pictures! Did you draw them? Sorry the new ep. is taking so long, I’ve been busy this week. I promise, next week it will defintly be out!
And the pics are wodnerful! More would be awesome!
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“… (by King Rygar) Thanks Daniel! Is there anywhere I can get boot disks for the games? Which DOS should I get? Windows 3.1?Thanks again!
…”OS: If you can’t find a copy of DOS 6.22 (I’d be surprised if you couldn’t find the images on the ‘Net somewhere), there’s always freedos. I’d recommend a DOS/Win3.1 combo over Win95. I don’t recall any Sierra games requiring EMS, so you shouldn’t need to load anything fancy like QEMM on boot.
CPU: That DX2 is fine
Memory: Whatever you’ve got should work. If you are going to play Windows 3.1 based games though, have 4 megs or above.
On sound: The sound card should be a Sound Blaster, MediaVision, or Gravis – the big players back then. If you want to play the first SCI games in all their glory, the early ones supported the Roland MT-32, and there are some of those things on eBay. Keep in mind that the Sound Blaster’s MIDI port wasn’t a true MPU-401, so Sierra games won’t recognize an MT32 hooked up to it. However, the patch provided in this post will fix that problem. I am not sure if the MediaVision or Gravis had MPU compliant interfaces, though. But all of those old sound cards also had a daughtercard port (for Roland Sound Canvas, et al), but those generally comply with the GM standard of MIDI, whereas most of Sierra’s old stuff was sequenced exclusively for the MT-32. Eventually GM support showed up in a lot of their games, but I’m sure KQ4 doesn’t have it.
Sierra’s AGI games also had better music than what a PC speaker could provide, but they used a three-voice sound chip found in the Tandy and PCjr. I do not know of any program you can run on your legacy box to emulate that through the Sound Blaster. The only program I found that can do it is Dosbox when it’s in Tandy mode. Very slick, but I noticed that a few people here have complained about Dosbox being hard to set up. If you are somewhat technically inclined, though, I suggest you give it a spin.
Well my Sierra Computer aka Ye Olde Games Computer consists of the following:
Pentium 166
32 MB Ram
1.6 GB HD
2x 32 Speed CD-Rom drives
Sound Blaster AWE32 (Digital sound + MT32/GM emulation or Native AWE32 support)
Geforce 2 MX 32MB Video CardOperation System:
Windows 95If you know this little trick you don’t need a DOS install. There should be a file on your computer called MSDOS.SYS if you installed Windows 95. You need to edit this file. Find the line: BootWIN=1 Now if you change the 1 into a 0 (BootWIN=0) then when you restart the computer you’ll boot from DOS 7.0 (included in Win95). If you need to play a game in Windows just type WIN and Windows 95 will boot.
You’ll probably want to do multiple boot configs for different games. Before editing your config.sys file you’ll need to install a memory manager like QEMM386. If you don’t have just Google it. You’ll need to (auto)configer QEMM for your computer. If you don’t know how just let the program run it for you.
I included my config.sys to give you an idea. My QEMM config leaves me with 621 KB free memory so I can play any memory hungry DOS game.
Hope this helps 😉
CONFIG.SYSThe only saving grace about that list is that there are a lot of Nintendo games near the top of it – which deserve to be there as anyone who has played Mario, Zelda, Metroid etc can vouch for.
I’m a bit pissed off about the lack of respect Sierra gets in general on such lists, as it really did release some groundbreaking and wonderful games. The fact that there are far more Sierra fans, sites and projects around than LucasArts says a lot about the effect Sierra had on gamers. Whereas LucasArts games were pretty much a bunch of jokes and comedy situations strung together by a weak story, the Sierra games really focused on great story and great characters.
I wouldn’t seriously listen to the IGN opinions anyway – I’ve been reading it off and on for 6 years and for the most they are tech-whores who love flashy graphics and surround sound. They mark games down for not having features like widescreen and progressive scan support which is absolute rubbish.
Thanks Daniel! Is there anywhere I can get boot disks for the games? Which DOS should I get? Windows 3.1?
Thanks again!
Well really the only thing you need to do is get some sounds going. I would buy a Soundblaster 16 and (if you want to do it right) try to get ahold of a MPU-401 card and a Roland MT-32 and a Sound Canvas (SC-55 or SC-55MKII.) That will give you totally authentic, premium sound.
I hope I am posting this in the right place!
I recently got a very nice 486 DX2 66mhz PC and I am planning on fixing it up just for Sierra games. What would be some ideal upgrades for an old pc like this? Whats the best sound card, video card, amount of memory for playing Sierra games? I still have my PCjr but it can only play a few of the old games good. Switching disks didin’t bother me back in 1983, but no matter how nostalgic I get switching all those disks is unbearable these days!
Anyways, It has a CD-Rom drive, 3.5 floppy, but no OS installed. I was thinking of getting DOS 6 off eBay or something but any suggestions would be very much appreciated!
I also read that article and I was expecting at least one or two Sierra titles (Leisure Suit Larry I & Gabriel Knight). At least there were a few adventure games on that list. Althought I like LA games and not a big fan of Grim Fandango. My 2 favorite LA games are Fate of Atlantis and Curse of Monkey Island.
I think the problem with the bigger gaming websites is, IMHO, the new generation of gamers. A lot of game reviewers for the bigger gaming websites or gamers nowadays are mainly console gamers or FPS gamers. A lot of them never had or lost the connection with adventure games. Just take a look to the #1 game on the Readers list: Resident Evil 4!
Game genres have evolved in the years. Better graphics, better sound, better gameplay. Alot of “3D” and console games can rival the best adventure games storywise. I don’t blame the reviewers but when Magna Cum Laude got a 7.2 Rating on Gamespot I lost all respect for them. Games I also expected on the list were Lemmings, Diablo and even Tomb Raider. I think the list is more of a populairity list than a greatest game of all time list. Well at least Syndicate was on the list…
I’ll stop now because I feel a rant coming…
There appears to be a project that is attempting to re-create Yserbius:
It was designed to work under Windows 3.11.
I failed to make it run even under DosBox or VDMSound.
The only way I managed to run it was under VirtualPC with Windows 3.11 installed.I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it is extremely unlikely anyone will ever release Yserbius. I’m not even sure who owns it. My guess would be AOL. We sold it to AT&T, who sold it to AOL. Although, that said, I also heard a rumor that Electronic Arts may have some claim to owning it.
But, that’s only the beginning of the mess.
Sierra published Yserbius, and had an independent developer, whose name I’ve forgotten (for the moment) who we paid royalties to. Also: Sierra sold TSN, and the rights to operate Yserbius, but not the Yserbius name.
In other words, for AOL (if it is them) to ever re-release Yserbius, AOL, Sierra (if it exists) and the author (who I can’t remember) would have to be negotiated with – by a person who probably has never heard of Yserbius.
It’s really sad, but I suspect Yserbius is dead.
Now, that doesn’t mean a game couldn’t be created that captured what was good about Yserbius, and improves on it — that doesn’t infringe on the rights of the original.
The tricky part about this is that you need designers, programmers, musicians, qa people, etc. I do believe something great could be built with a small team, but it’s hard to put one together.
Last year, there was an attempt by people on this board to build a game. It is still going, but it has been a long tough haul, and may never go anywhere. I hope it does, but it’s hard to assemble a team of volunteers and keep them interested in a project and working hard. I’m impressed the team has made it this far.
Good luck – Ken W
It’s two years and change since you posted this, Danny, and I’m not sure what possessed me to google my way here early this morning, but alas here I am… I was one of the guys behind that Sierra Hint Club thing… We’re of the same vintage and I remember hanging out at your house in Queens some 15+ years ago. Wow, I can’t believe it was that long ago.
Gosh, what fun memories. Prodigy, the multi-page newsletters that wound up going out to thousands of people… Having to keep a legal firewall between us and Sierra so that Prodigy didn’t treat us a a corporate entity… I thought we were going to conquer the world. Then, of course, came Prodigy being unhappy for the large amount of quasi-commercia excessive e-mail culminating in their new 25 cent per e-mail policy and the bruhaha being covered on Larry King Live… Oy. Somewhere in my archives of SHC stuff I still have a letter from a Prodigy SVP. Maaan, I remember my parents not being thrilled about that! 🙂 Drama at the time, but gives me a good chucke all these years later. May also still have one of those t-shirt or Leisure Suit Larry towel giveaways, too.
You know, I’ve barely played any computer games since the SHC fell apart… 🙂
A warm shout out to Ken and Roberta. I hope you guys are enjoying your well-earned retirement!
I’m grinning ear to ear that I’m even typing this right now!
All the best,
Josh Gitlitz
Great work on the site! It’s good the have people still excited about Yserbius. Your site and http://www.Xensoft.com help keep my hopes alive. Thanks!
I thought I would add some graphics to the story. Hope this is OK?
Troubled Laura
The Axe
MurderNice job with the manuals Josh!! I scanned the pages of the Hero Magazine for backup and preservation of Nostalgia purposes, as well as the Shadows Tech manual, I haven’t figured out how to convert the pages to one pdf file tho.
Does anyone know if that Nifty map of Shapier is downloadable anywhere?
The site was probably Frans’ spacequest.net:
“An early release of Space Quest 3 is somewhat different. One obvious difference is that the Aluminum Mallard’s cockpit computer had the option “Lite Speed” instead of “Light Speed” as seen in later versions.”
It doesn’t list what version of the game it is, but perhaps in the Janitorial Times forums of spacequest.net you might find the original discussion.
I don’t think anyone has the THG release of SQ4. I’ve never seen it. I had a text file from THG at one point with all the info about the release, but I can’t find it right now.
I could have sworn an Ancient Art of War game came shortly after the last Manhunter.
(Rapid modem field trip to mobygames.com, where I’m not quite as hated as at 1up)
Okay, that clears it up. The Murrys worked on two Ancient Art of War games beforehand, and then Ancient Art of War in the Skies in 1992. So the answer is pretty much “both.”
The argument story could go either way, but it certainly could have been a matter of perception. If I were in Ken’s place I’d probably be a bit tweaked about how things went, which could easily translate into something more than it really is in the eyes of the Murrys. But really, all we have are guesses.
Any update on when she can reply? 🙂 I’m not in a hurry, it would just be nice to know if you’re ever reading this thread.
By the way, I just watched Predator 2 and the minute I saw the female doctor or whatever she is in the movie, I could swear that I’d seen her before, I just couldn’t remember where. I couldn’t stop thinking about it and then a few minutes later it occured to me that she also plays Ethel in Phantasmagoria. I checked it up on IMDB to confirm it 🙂
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“…Out of curiosity, how many of you feel that Sierra proved to be your greatest inspiration or motivation to pursue a successful career or hobby?…”Well I was into computers awhile before I played my first Sierra game. My dad bought our first “real” computer, a PCjr in 1985. Before that I was playing around mostly on borrowed Commodores and my Atari 2600. The first Sierra game I played was the Black Cauldron which I bought from a kid on the playground in 1986 who couldn’t run it because he had a Mac. My sister and I both really got into that game – I must have played it through dozens of times to date. After that I started snapping Sierra stuff up on a regular basis. When I ran out of current releases to play, I went out and got Lesure Suit Larry for my Sierra fix when I was 13. I can only guess the reason my parents didn’t mind was because it deflected their duty to explain the “birds and the bees” to me, but that’s another story. Oh and by the way, Al, those adult questions at the beginning of LSL don’t stand up to trial and error by ravenous 13 year old Sierra fans.
Like anyone here, I imagine, I thought it would be cool to one day work for Sierra to help makes the games I so enjoyed, especially since I have such an affinity for mountains and wooded areas. But reality doesn’t always play out the way you’d like it to in your dreams. As it turns out I found programming to be quite boring, the right side of my brain was turned off at birth, the greatest drawing I have ever done was three stick figures on the same piece of paper, and musically, I am practically tone deaf. So, no coding, creative, artistic, or musical ability – I would say the lack of these four qualities pretty much precludes me from ever working at any level of game design. But it makes me the perfect network engineer, as it requires raw logic without the tedium of programming. Happiness is a green light on your CSU/DSU, and it is something I very much enjoy doing. And so that’s how the cards played out, but that is not to say that Sierra did not influcence my computing career.
Sierra motivated me in the sense that it gave me a lot of machine time and kept me interested in the computer – even if it was a primitive hunk of garbage like the PCjr. King’s Quest IV was actually my primary motivator to push my dad to get a new system because of its insane memory requirements at the time. The new system was a 386/16 with 1MB of RAM, a 40MB HD, and one of those newfangled VGA cards with 256KB of memory on it. I learned a LOT on that thing, and eventually learned to upgrade it bit by bit until I practically had a new computer. I eventually took my learned skills to a local mom & pop shop, where I picked up IPX networking because I wanted to play Doom with three other people. From there it was Novell, then Windows NT, then the Internet, and then I learned how to build routed networks on my own. Through these transitions the thing that remained constant is that I had always played Sierra’s games – and still go back sometimes and play them to this day.
Gamespot is running an article on what it apparently takes to be a game designer. Thought it might be interesting for a few here.
http://manuals.legendsofglory.com/
I retyped the first 3 manuals, (scanned the images, and inserted them rather nicely too) and converted them to PDF for your downloading pleasure 🙂 Hope you enjoy!
Hope you enjoy those manuals 🙂 I know I enjoyed making them 🙂
I’ve currently misplaced my SoD manual (Hero Magazine, Issue 4), but once I do, I plan on finishing it for upload!
You need to move along a line so you will have to end up using some form of a linear equation. All of the standard line equations will always end up giving you rational numbers. This is a problem since you need to specify pixel cooridinates with integers only. If you want to use y = mx + b then you would always end up with at least a few rationals in between the endpoints. You could just round up or down with those cases, but that would make for very jerky line movement, especially when the slope is really close to 0 or undefined.
I think what you need to check out is something called “Bresenhams line drawing algorithm”. I am pretty sure it’s even what Ken used back when he made the first Sierra interpreter. You can find plenty of stuff on Google about it. It’s kind of difficult to understand at first, or at least it was for me anyway. All it does is gives a programmer a way to draw a line on the screen, or move an object along a line path, with only using integer numbers. It is pretty much the standard i think. i hope you find this helpful. let me know if you have any questions about it. good luck.
I am trying to create a web game in the Sierra style. I am using HTML and Javascript. I cannot figure out how to move the image of Chaplin to the point I click as a walk instead of a snap. The small Chaplin can be controled by the keyboard and the large Chaplin can be moved by mouse click. Note: this is designed in Internet Explorer not Netscape with javascript enabled.
It has something to do with breaking the steps in such a way that you end up at the point where the cursor was pressed down.
webgame
