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That’s very nice!! I am happy you managed to go there even without our… assistance š
What do you mean there is no 313? Do you mean that the numeration stops on an earlier number?Personally, I’d be very interested to have a look at the pics
Dosbox works fine when you drag the exe or bat icon of the program you want to run (eg. larry.exe) on the dosbox.exe icon
Alistair, I wasn’t referring to Sierra games only. And I stand by my point – XP backwards compatibility is simply crap, bordering on the non-existant. Compatibility Mode is a joke.
“I’ve doled out tech support advice for Sierra games at various message boards for years now. I’m fairly knowledgeable about getting the games working.”
That’s exactly my point! I am sure that you know how to get the games to work but what you seem to forget is that you are not everyone.
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“…Nonsense. XP is a nightmare. Nowhere near as user-friendly as Win98 and slow as hell. Not to mention the near non-existant backwards compatibility….”
Now I’d disagree with that comment! XP’s sure as hell not the best OS to use. Like, duh- the games were designed for what, 486’s-> Win 95?
However, that said, XP will run a large proportion of Sierra games fine. All SCI1 (VGA) Sierra games will run fine under XP. A large proportion of others will as well! Most, even. Especially with new programs like DOSBOX. If you believe otherwise, you’re simply uninformed. I’m not recommending people play the games under Windows XP, far from it- I’m just saying it can be done, and is no “nightmare” that people such as yourself seem to believe.Quote:
“…You’d think so, but after selling a couple of hundred copies on eBay I think I can safely say that most people cannot do all those things themselves. Please keep in mind that not everyone is the 1337 H4X0R that you obviously are….”I’ve doled out tech support advice for Sierra games at various message boards for years now. I’m fairly knowledgeable about getting the games working. I’m not some random character purporting to know more than they actually do!
Ergo, surely you could tell people to do this?
Anyways, we’ve run this point into the ground, I think..
– Alistair
“No offence, but couldn’t people, say, copy the game from their LSL7 CD to their hard disk, and change compatibility settings themselves? Seems rather redundant to me.”
You’d think so, but after selling a couple of hundred copies on eBay I think I can safely say that most people cannot do all those things themselves. Please keep in mind that not everyone is the 1337 H4X0R that you obviously are.
Nonsense. XP is a nightmare. Nowhere near as user-friendly as Win98 and slow as hell. Not to mention the near non-existant backwards compatibility.
Today, anyone who’s serious about playing the best PC games is required to have at least two PC’s – a fast Pentium or Pentium II running DOS, and another PC running Win98/ME. On top of that, as the planned obsolescence in Microsoft products comes into effect, you will soon be required to own a fast XP-exclusive PC as well.
Depressing, isn’t it?
What we need now is an OS capable of running everything, that is also fast, FREE and reliable, and takes up little space. If only IBM hadn’t given up on OS/2 . . .
Where to begin? š At the beginning, I ‘spose..
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“…go to Control panel – Display settings (right click on the Desktop – Properties) and select the
Appearance tab. Change Style to “windows classic”. After the setup return it to XP-style, if you like.At least in my german WinXP it works. For more details you can visit Al Lowe’s troubleshooting site….”
I fail to see how this would achieve anything.. at least, anything remotely useful to the cause of running old games.Quote:
“…My recommendation to WinXP owners who want to play classic games (or any game older than four years, really) is simple:1. Buy Windows 98 Second Edition. It is still commercially sold by Microsoft. Then download and install the full Internet Explorer 6, as it comes with all the updates you’ll need….”
How about you recommend something that will actually be of benefit to them, rather than recommending they fork out more money to Micro$oft to buy outmoded software? What nonsense. If you want to play the games on an old PC, *buy an old PC*..I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again! WinXP is not a bogeyman OS. It actually runs almost all Sierra games without problems, if you have a clue as to what you’re doing! Simple fact is that most people don’t put any effort into solving their own tech-support problems. XP gets blamed a lot, but usually it’s people not having a clue. VDM Sound/Speedset, DOSBOX, the timer patch fixes by NewRisingSun.. are all you need.
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“…On my site you can find an installer for Larry 7 to install the game on Windows 2000 and XP. The installer can install the entire game to hard disk (so you don’t need the CD-ROM when playing) and automatically sets all compatibility settings. You can find it here:http://home.planet.nl/~harms646/larry7.html
There are also step by step instructions for those that want to do a manual installation. …”
No offence, but couldn’t people, say, copy the game from their LSL7 CD to their hard disk, and change compatibility settings themselves? Seems rather redundant to me.Win2K is a nightmare to run DOS games on. Don’t bother. Use DOS, Win 3.1, 95, 98 or XP, the 5 best OS’s to run Sierra games on. LSL7’s not too hard to get running, though. Any Windows game should be OK, even in Win2000.. thoguh I hate all Sierra Windows versions of DOS games. š
– Alistair
Actually I looked it up, and his address was 313 Bourbon Street. A couple of weeks ago I was in New Orleans, and it turns out there either isn’t a 313 or it didn’t have the number listed. At least I got pictures of the general area where St. George’s Bookshop would be if it existed.
http://www.woz.com Steaves new company. He creats GPS systems.
Hi Ken! Pretty cool you got to meet him and all, looks like you guys are having a blast =) I wonder what he’s doing nowadays…
“QFG has always been much bigger than the average KQ game”
I dunno, are QFG games really that much bigger? Of course, you can’t count the early King’s Quests because they were released before the first QFG game. The seemingly larger size of a QFG game comes from having extra puzzles / solutions for the different character classes, as well as the RPG elements such as combat.
“You must under stand that it may take 3 years fo an average KQ fan game and maybe 4 for a QFG fan game, it takes much more time to beta test and create.”
I’m not sure what you’re referencing there. I don’t know what the development time of QFG4.5 was, but I doubt it was 4 years. The only KQ fan games released have been the AGDI games, and they were in development for less than 2 years each I believe. The average SQ fan game, Lost Chapter and Replicated, I don’t think took 3 or 4 years, but I may be wrong, and both those games were created mostly by only one person. So in general I would say any average Sierra fan game with an average-sized team shouldn’t take longer than 2 years. I think most people know that Hero6 has had its share of problems, so it’s understandable that it’s not finished yet. As for KQIX, I don’t think you can call it an average fan game.
Hero 6 was one of the very first fan projects ever if I remember correctly, QFG has always been much bigger than the average KQ game. You must under stand that it may take 3 years fo an average KQ fan game and maybe 4 for a QFG fan game, it takes much more time to beta test and create. I’m sure Hero6 will finish soon. š
–> Player created. I donāt mean player submitted content. I mean role-playing. Yes, there are a few players out there that actually like role-playing. Itās a great way to escape the boundaries of a scripted story, but in existing MMOGs, the role-play is all about emoting things and pretending. Why hasnāt a game supported role-playing yet? Do you honestly think there are games that identify role-playing between players with game mechanics and choices geared specifically for that purpose? If you think making your character do an embarrassing “/dance” emote is role-playing, I think I need to explain this further.
Iām talking about interactions between characters. Perhaps I could actually, pour someone a drinkā¦ and it actually shows it happening. Maybe I could offer my hand in dance to a pretty lassā¦ she in turn has the choice to accept the offer or decline it. Accepting would result in a waltz for the duration of the song. If someone was injured, perhaps my character could actually offer to bandage the wound carefully wrapping the injured limb. I suppose what Iām basically getting at is that the game would visually support a much wider range of character actions and cooperative actions that lend themselves to role-playing. Imagine a fallen comrade is too heavy for you to carry, but with the help of another, you could both drag him to safety. I donāt think itās as complicated as it may sound, but then again, I do tend to underestimate thingsā¦ a little.
Another idea for player created stories is that you create a mission for yourself and others to complete. You could select a series of plot options such as, mission type (rescue, assassination, escort, etc.) and choose appropriate sub-options (setting, enemy, environment, etc.) and most importantly you could choose appropriate rewards for completing the mission. So if I wanted to role-play and have a cool adventure to support my characterās dilemma, I could run up to an unsuspecting person on the street and frantically explain that my brother has just been shot and needs to get to the hospital as soon as possible. Unfortunately, my brother happens to have been shot during a gang war and the firefight is still on. Again, it sounds like a tall order, but I donāt think it has to be as complicated as it may sound. Essentially, thatās how all the missions are in the typical MMORPG. Get this item, kill this person, etcā¦ how hard could it be to build simple missions with cool rewards by allowing the players to do it themselves?
Maybe Iām out to lunch, but I would think it would be so awesome in a game to lean in for a kiss and have the other player choose to return the favor or slap me in the face. I mean, wouldnāt it be cool to conclude a business transaction with a handshake between two characters? Or just to be standing on a street corner and light a cigarette and smoke it while gabbing with some schmuck? I donāt know, maybe itās just me, but Iād think that more people would role-play if the game actually supported it.
Anyway, I just wanted to thank those who have contributed to this thread thus far. Iām really enjoying it and hope to continue discussing this to a point where we think there might be a viable solution to the MMOAG conundrum.
Oh yeah, one last thingā¦ have you ever seen a cut-scene in a MMORPG? In a MMOAG, I think theyād be critical in advancing whatever plots there were for the player. You see them all the time in single-player games. They are there for a reason and MMORPGs donāt seem to understand the importance of them. My two cents.
— Cody
I must admit, this is a very interesting thread, though it may have drifted away from the initial postā¦ maybe just a little, eh? Anyway, Jason has brought up some very valid points regarding storylinesā¦
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“… (by Jason Artman) The major hurdle that would have to be overcome in order for a MMOAG to be successful is the fact that so far, nobody has really been able to translate a good storyline past the single-player experience – and an adventure game has nothing without a story….”
I believe the main reason why single-player games have great storylines is because, for the most part, everything is scripted. This allows the most fantastic happenings to develop. MMOGs are typically about a huge world to exploreā¦ where as single-player role-play and adventure games are typically about the story, in my opinion.Quote:
“… (by Jason Artman) So how do you take a story, make it massive, and be successful?…”
Iām so glad you asked that question, Jason. I think that is the most critical and most difficult question to answer. Iāll try and take a stab at it.Given the fact that everybody has to share the MMOG world, drastic world-shaping events cannot drive the story. The game has to be fair for everyone and not everybody can commit to witnessing scheduled server plot events. The story has to remain about the character and not the world surrounding them.
Sure, you can have interesting political situations that change as time goes on and catastrophic wars, but the player is merely an observer of the aftermaths of these events from their characterās point of view. However, I do see the trends of the player-base affecting the world generating new events and side-quests. What I mean by this is…
Imagine that a majority of the player base likes to cause trouble in a certain area of the game world. Perhaps news within the game could reflect where the most player activity is. For example, what if players were smuggling contraband between certain planets, more so than any other available places. āThe Gemini Sector is now under galactic military alert due to the recent surge of criminal activity.ā All of a sudden, the place is crawling with armed forces and there aināt no way youāre going to be able to make that big “run” anymore until things cool off. Youāre going to have to find an alternate way to make your illegal living.
What if players were killing innocent animals as the most common solution to obtaining resources in a certain region? Side-quests could be generated to help the fauna. Maybe your character might be given a quest to meet with the government and plead for a law to make it illegal to kill the creatures. If enough people (% of the player base) actually complete the “Save the Artic Toucan” quest then the game will understand that the action of killing those creatures is a crime, until the toucan population gets back to where it should be. Then people would have to think of another solution to get the resources or risk being captured by the authorities.
I think a hybrid MMOAGās story should consist ofā¦
–> A historical background. Giving purpose to the game’s setting.
–> A world story. Events shaped by the trends of the player base. These events give the world ebb and flow keeping things interesting, but never stopping the player from completing tasks and/or quests. It should never become a hindrance.
–> A character story. These could be the episodic stories that Jason mentioned. What ever they are, they should be meaningful to the player and the playerās character. Stories surrounding the characterās profession, interests, and personal life. Personally, I like the idea of episodes because then the story can be broken up into more manageable pieces. An episode might take only an hour and a half to complete, but there might be 30 of them in total. These would be the stories that allow the character to gain different abilities and grow during the game.
–> Optional stories. These would be side-quests that have no impact on the character, but allow the player to feel productive in their escape from the character story.
–> Cooperative stories. These, like the optional stories, are not integral to the character story, but require two or more persons to complete. Iāve always thought it might be neat to have puzzles that require two or more people to work together in order to complete. Maybe someone has to remain and hold the door open while the other retrieves the itemā¦ or maybe somebody has to distract the enemy in order for the other to overcome them. Again, they should be short and sweet and geared for a small group.
Brandon, I was under the impression that development on Hero6 had been discontinued.
And I agree with Barry, if you’re going to go to the trouble of developing a large, aesthetically pleasing and technologically sound game (even if it’s only for the sake of learning how to develop a game), then surely it would be best to go for the gold first time out.
I just browsed through their forums and they’re really vague about a release date. I get the impression that the final release date of KQ9 will most likely coincide with that of Duke Nukem Forever …
To really get a feel for the KQ9.org project, I advise you folks to check out their forums. They really highlight why the project won’t work.. or at least won’t be released for a long time.
– Alistair
I’m sorry to say this but working on a fangame seems like a complete waste of time to me. Why doesn’t the group at KQ9.org spend their time and energy (and talent, they obviously have some) developing a new and original game with a fresh story, characters and world. You don’t have to leech off someone else’s brand recognition to make a cool (adventure) game.
On my site you can find an installer for Larry 7 to install the game on Windows 2000 and XP. The installer can install the entire game to hard disk (so you don’t need the CD-ROM when playing) and automatically sets all compatibility settings. You can find it here:
http://home.planet.nl/~harms646/larry7.html
There are also step by step instructions for those that want to do a manual installation.
I gotta admit Neil it was kind of funny the way you jumped in with your “typical PR-type” answers. But keep up the good work. I don’t agree Johann that the presentation of what kind of game KQIX will be has been ambiguous, but I haven’t followed the project thoroughly. From all the concept art and screenshots and such that have been gradually released from the start, I always imagined it would be a true adventure. But I never got onto the forums or read any of the other updates. Anyway, I’m more excited about KQIX than any other upcoming fan game. I can’t wait to see it finished.
Hero6 has been “toing and froing” longer than KQIX has.
Oh, and how can you have an actor better at sounding like Graham than Josh Mandel since the sound of Graham is Josh Mandel?
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“… (by Bobby Chedie)I would like to know if you kept some kind of correspondance with him (Steve Wozniak) or if you even met him in real life.
…”
Roberta and I did meet Wozniak on a few occasions. He even helped me get a Apple 1! We once even went to a very fun party at his house.
One interesting note about this picture: it was taken on a very memorable night. We were at the Applefest in San Francisco. A few hours after this picture was taken we received a call that our home, in Oakhurst Ca had burnt down. Our children, and babysitter, had escaped, but essentially everything we owned was gone forever.
-Ken W
Hi Ken!
From time to time I (re)read the documentation of Sierra games. Mostly because they are fun to read but sometimes just to get a feeling for the good ‘ol days š I came across a piece in the Tenth Anniversary Catalog and wanted to ask you something about it. The piece is about Steve Wozniak, the original creator of the Apple computer. In the letter he talks about his plane crash and the time he spend playing Sierra games in the hospital. In the letter he also thanks you (Sierra) for the happiness that you brought in his life. You say in the piece that that letter came at a very important time in your life because you needed to know the company was taking the right direction. The letter was dated May 23, 1981.
I would like to know if you kept some kind of correspondance with him or if you even met him in real life. He was your hero after all š
Grtz,
Bobske
Sniping is wrong. Its happened to me before, I was really angry, when I was biding on a sealed version of SQ3 they snipped me. š
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“… (by Mkroelbeer9@hotmail.com ) I have the same problem, wanting to install LSL7 on my comp. I hear a sound and sierra online setup appears at the bottom of my screen but i dont see anythin Im running windows XP. Anyone who can help me?…”
this exact thing happened to me. for some reason the install window is just off the right of the screen. right click on the button on the bottom of the screen (on the toolbar) and then choose move. then use the press the left arrow until you see the window. other than that, larry 7 worked perfectly for me. i hope this helps.
