Don't forget the 'The Wizard of Id'! Yeah, I like Johnny Hart's characters too. I can't believe he died this year. I didn't know 'Sierra Online' was just the publisher on that game...but now I do! I know it wasn't really an "adventure" game I just thought of Sierra and BC came to mind. BC's Quest For Tires was the very first computer game I had ever bought for my C64 way back in 1983 when I was..uh..-gulp-...'10'!!!
I think my first real game was ultima II.. or something of that nature. First sierra game was kings quest before the sierra label... came with a keyboard insert... different front than most know about
I played Ultima 1-4 on my C64. Sadly the only Kings Quest game I've ever played was 'King's Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella' for my Atari ST and I loved every minute of it!
yea that guy is awesome but rude all at once.. Ive asked him if he needed anything and he does but he is willing to pay nothing to get em. Ive seen my ultima in bad condition..(this is 2 not 3) and it goes for 140$ sometimes.. he offered me 30.. haha. Anyway great reference but its not complete! Closest thing we have though other than the old lucasarts museum.. sigh. If anyone knows the reason that guy sold all his junk lemme know. I woulda bought it all if he gave me more time. So I just got the sam & max stuff. Course this was years ago now... I think.
After you have a kid whoooosh time goes by.
Gabriel Knight was great, except for the third game. I tried so hard to like it but it wouldn't let me. Oh, and everyone should love Space Quest, especially the fourth one. I still think it's one of the cleverest and funniest games I've ever played. However, as Old Man Murray can tell you, Roberta Williams is the reason I don't particularly like Sierra adventure games. I kind of always thought the Kings Quest games were pretentious and irritating, and the Police Quest games were nothing special.
I loved all the gab knights .. even part 3... sue me :P
HEY now roberta was the most kindest person on this planet.. least that ive met. When I was a kid I lived right next to oakhurst. I kept writing her letters saying how much I loved sierra and kings quest etc. Ended up doing nothing work (since as a kid you cant get paid officially) Sometimes she would say here is the new kings quest.. take it home and tell me if any errors pop up, if they do write down what you did, where it happened and the error(does that make me like gamma tester?) . But I would get these lil certificates with a letter saying.. GOOD FOR ANY FREE SIERRA GAME signed with love roberta williams.
Later in life yea her and ken just sorta ditched gaming and went to books and travel. Sigh...
But dont ever say she is pretentious... I never saw that in her, well other than the master control work she had to do to keep people working right :P
She was always the kindest person.. ken was a bit well, he was a hacker in the day so lets say hes a bit of a nerd. But thats ok.(unless you are talking about how she changed drastically during the later stages of sierra :P I wasnt around then and yea Ive heard quite a few stories from al lowe weee!
I sooo wish I would have framed one of the certs but alas all I have is one of the letters that came with it.. and I cant even find that anymore ackk!
Common williams .. make one last game.. call it travel with me and the hubbie or some lame thing just dont leave forever sigh.
(trust me they arent comin back)
I'm sorry I didn't bother to read the entire thread, but I just wanted to comment some.
I am very fond of Sierra games in general, but I must admit that LucasArts make better adventure games. (of course this is my opinion, you're free to disagree)
One of my favorite Sierra adventure games is, as many have said before me; Gabriel Knight. But I must be the only person alive that actually liked GK3 better than the previous ones. The way they made the 3D world and controls was brilliant if you ask me. The story is amazing and thrilling, and the puzzels moderate to hard, depending what score you aim for. I have also noticed that many preferred GK2, and I must admit that I didn't like that one at all.
But the best adventure games is Monkey Island series (I even liked the 4th one) and Grim Fandango by Lucas Arts
The humor is very important in adventure games even if you are making/playing a serious one, (like GK) and I feel that LucasArts games have better dialog and humor than Sierra adventure games.
And I also feel that LucasArts manage to use the potential in the games and the genre better than Sierra.
To me, GK1, GK3 and GK2 in that order.
The only bad thing about GK1 was pixel hunting in day 10 (If you played, you know what I mean).
On GK3, I loved the transition to 3D but believe some was lost. I particalrly liked all the extras (including the ExtractAll(); command and the dozens of eastern eggs)
GK2 was a mixed bag to me, I liked the story and the music but it felt a bit dettached, I mean in the other games you were inmerse in the game world, but on GK2 you always knew that it was a game.
But the best of the best is GK4...well one day perhaps.
However, as Old Man Murray can tell you, Roberta Williams is the reason I don't particularly like Sierra adventure games. I kind of always thought the Kings Quest games were pretentious and irritating, and the Police Quest games were nothing special.
I thought I was the only one who thought the KQ games were overrated. Happy to see there is another on here who has a similar opinion on the games. I mean, the KQ games were popular since they were the first adventure games, but her story telling wasn't so good imo. Most of the games lack a detailed storyline and seems to add in fairy tale stories randomly. Part KQ6 had the best storyline, but that is probably because the story was done by Jane Jensen of Gabriel Knight fame.
However, I do like Roberta's The Colonel's Bequest and I heard the first Phantasmogoria was good.
It's like an amalgam of everything that was bad about Maniac Mansion, without any of the good parts.
EDIT: And yes, I know Maniac mansion was released AFTER King's quest.
I agree. I played the KQ games ever since I was little and I liked it until I gotten older and realize how there is really no story in the game and when they do have an actual storyline, it is corny for the most part. I mean, I find it odd that in 7 of the 8 KQ games has the Royal family of Draventry as the main characters. Just seems too coincidental.
I think all the kq games had dumb storylines, though part 7 is understanble, being a game for kids who are into those disney musicials and all. Part six has the best storyline, but as said earlier, it was written or co-written by Jane Jensen; best as in turning a series with crappy stories into someone that is logical. The last official game was clearly a Quest for Glory ripoff without all the fun GFG had.
wow... I cant say your wrong since its opinion, but just knowing the team and seeing how kq1 came out. Roberta told me once she just wanted a few pages from every fairy tale she could think of while keeping to a minimal base plot. The goal wasnt really storyline at that point! Sigh... Actually Ive made my piece in a lucasarts vs sierra comment and that sierra was more of a teacher... and lucasarts more of the joker with a solid build. But man sierra is where it was at, course I hate.. and still hate point and click.. many people at sierra died in their heart in that merge, but we all knew it was a comin.
As for later kings quests I feel the plots only got better... soo yeaa not sure where your going. Lucasarts games had little to no plot either... or about as much.
KQ3 made me run around making potions out of girlfriends girly things (scents,powders)
I even once cut hair off a cat lol... yeaa
Anyway long story short.. Kings quest is far from devoid of being a beautiful adventure. In fact its everything adventures should be for its era, it reads like a dream state book... with hints of wonder and magic while staying true to that sierra core.
Go check out hero quest.. oh ahem .. quest for glory sorry.
Now... later ... sierra got baaaad and if you know your sierra history you would know why. I wont print it here, the people that wanna know do or will. So yea :P
But then again everything after the dig in lucasarts is pure shat, and sierra on average pushed many more games.
In the end I love sierra more but im biased half working for them and that they helped in the early years with typing and stirring my imagination .. lucasarts kept my funny bone in tact and lowered my IQ by forcing all games to use a horrid point click reference much line dos to windows(yes I know the change had to come, but I dont have to like it)..
but in the end, nothing really comes close to those classic lucasarts game moments lol .. just great.
I guess that is the problem with opinions. When one person's opinion is different with another, it starts tension unless one person sucrumbs to the other's opinion. I mean, no harm to it and I apologize if my opinion is different. I repect other ppl's opinions if they differ, just that some ppl like apples and others like oranges. Regardless, my opinion in regards to kq stays the same.
no no!
It's perfectly fine and honest that you state you don't like it! I can't and wouldn't force that on ya! Just maybe trying to dig out the real reason why was all. Seems storyline was the main issue as well as Roberta.. so I thought I would help clear things up with a little know-who.. (wordplay on know-how)
Truly im a nobody..well in relation to the gaming industry, just a lucky joe in the right places at the right time. Also being bothersome in a constructive manner helps sometimes too.
(kids dont flood peoples email or pm boxes XD)
Roberta took my imagination with her kings quest vision, which was already waay in place when I was there...
but over a little time I met most of the sierra crew though most worked in different places then I did(only met mark once, scott a handful never met the gold rush crew etc).
Please dont think I was apart of the sierra team in any way, I soo wish. More like where do you want this box Ken? Oh play these games and write the errors .. ok! Pfft id redo that job in a heartbeat even with it being zero pay. Sigh the golden years..
PS
KQ8 would have and could have been awesome... I loved the idea but it was on the border of game engines where games were just horrid. If it waited even just for say the quake engine it could have been made quite well! In fact ive been hammering requests to redo the whole thing with the quake 2 engine. This would make it look like anachronox.. for those that have played that game, if you havent, check it out.(ive actually met tom too :P but this was waaaay later and unrelated to sierra, tom is friggen hilarious!)
Haha yep :P
It was funny to hear tom say that commander keen was himself as a kid.. I mean I had heard that before but thought it was just rumor. Nope.. thats tom age 5-7 ish.. running around with a helmet and a lil football LOL.
and yea dopefish rocks... watch out for his new super secret mmo... though I hate mmo's I cant wait to see his input.
Comments
http://www.vintage-sierra.com/kq/kqv1.php
looks just like that.. sadly my keyboard overlay is torn in half.. but I still have it.. and the original box.. sigh.
I played Ultima 1-4 on my C64. Sadly the only Kings Quest game I've ever played was 'King's Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella' for my Atari ST and I loved every minute of it!
Cool website! Thanks for the link!!
After you have a kid whoooosh time goes by.
HEY now roberta was the most kindest person on this planet.. least that ive met. When I was a kid I lived right next to oakhurst. I kept writing her letters saying how much I loved sierra and kings quest etc. Ended up doing nothing work (since as a kid you cant get paid officially) Sometimes she would say here is the new kings quest.. take it home and tell me if any errors pop up, if they do write down what you did, where it happened and the error(does that make me like gamma tester?) . But I would get these lil certificates with a letter saying.. GOOD FOR ANY FREE SIERRA GAME signed with love roberta williams.
Later in life yea her and ken just sorta ditched gaming and went to books and travel. Sigh...
But dont ever say she is pretentious... I never saw that in her, well other than the master control work she had to do to keep people working right :P
She was always the kindest person.. ken was a bit well, he was a hacker in the day so lets say hes a bit of a nerd. But thats ok.(unless you are talking about how she changed drastically during the later stages of sierra :P I wasnt around then and yea Ive heard quite a few stories from al lowe weee!
I sooo wish I would have framed one of the certs but alas all I have is one of the letters that came with it.. and I cant even find that anymore ackk!
Common williams .. make one last game.. call it travel with me and the hubbie or some lame thing just dont leave forever sigh.
(trust me they arent comin back)
I am very fond of Sierra games in general, but I must admit that LucasArts make better adventure games. (of course this is my opinion, you're free to disagree)
One of my favorite Sierra adventure games is, as many have said before me; Gabriel Knight. But I must be the only person alive that actually liked GK3 better than the previous ones. The way they made the 3D world and controls was brilliant if you ask me. The story is amazing and thrilling, and the puzzels moderate to hard, depending what score you aim for. I have also noticed that many preferred GK2, and I must admit that I didn't like that one at all.
But the best adventure games is Monkey Island series (I even liked the 4th one) and Grim Fandango by Lucas Arts
The humor is very important in adventure games even if you are making/playing a serious one, (like GK) and I feel that LucasArts games have better dialog and humor than Sierra adventure games.
And I also feel that LucasArts manage to use the potential in the games and the genre better than Sierra.
Of course; you are all free to disagree.:)
It's like an amalgam of everything that was bad about Maniac Mansion, without any of the good parts.
EDIT: And yes, I know Maniac mansion was released AFTER King's quest.
The only bad thing about GK1 was pixel hunting in day 10 (If you played, you know what I mean).
On GK3, I loved the transition to 3D but believe some was lost. I particalrly liked all the extras (including the ExtractAll(); command and the dozens of eastern eggs)
GK2 was a mixed bag to me, I liked the story and the music but it felt a bit dettached, I mean in the other games you were inmerse in the game world, but on GK2 you always knew that it was a game.
But the best of the best is GK4...well one day perhaps.
Yay... 300th post
I thought I was the only one who thought the KQ games were overrated. Happy to see there is another on here who has a similar opinion on the games. I mean, the KQ games were popular since they were the first adventure games, but her story telling wasn't so good imo. Most of the games lack a detailed storyline and seems to add in fairy tale stories randomly. Part KQ6 had the best storyline, but that is probably because the story was done by Jane Jensen of Gabriel Knight fame.
However, I do like Roberta's The Colonel's Bequest and I heard the first Phantasmogoria was good.
I agree. I played the KQ games ever since I was little and I liked it until I gotten older and realize how there is really no story in the game and when they do have an actual storyline, it is corny for the most part. I mean, I find it odd that in 7 of the 8 KQ games has the Royal family of Draventry as the main characters. Just seems too coincidental.
I think all the kq games had dumb storylines, though part 7 is understanble, being a game for kids who are into those disney musicials and all. Part six has the best storyline, but as said earlier, it was written or co-written by Jane Jensen; best as in turning a series with crappy stories into someone that is logical. The last official game was clearly a Quest for Glory ripoff without all the fun GFG had.
As for later kings quests I feel the plots only got better... soo yeaa not sure where your going. Lucasarts games had little to no plot either... or about as much.
KQ3 made me run around making potions out of girlfriends girly things (scents,powders)
I even once cut hair off a cat lol... yeaa
Anyway long story short.. Kings quest is far from devoid of being a beautiful adventure. In fact its everything adventures should be for its era, it reads like a dream state book... with hints of wonder and magic while staying true to that sierra core.
Go check out hero quest.. oh ahem .. quest for glory sorry.
Now... later ... sierra got baaaad and if you know your sierra history you would know why. I wont print it here, the people that wanna know do or will. So yea :P
But then again everything after the dig in lucasarts is pure shat, and sierra on average pushed many more games.
In the end I love sierra more but im biased half working for them and that they helped in the early years with typing and stirring my imagination .. lucasarts kept my funny bone in tact and lowered my IQ by forcing all games to use a horrid point click reference much line dos to windows(yes I know the change had to come, but I dont have to like it)..
but in the end, nothing really comes close to those classic lucasarts game moments lol .. just great.
Man, you've met everybody! I'm jealous...
...then crashes into a brick wall with KQ8...
It's perfectly fine and honest that you state you don't like it! I can't and wouldn't force that on ya! Just maybe trying to dig out the real reason why was all. Seems storyline was the main issue as well as Roberta.. so I thought I would help clear things up with a little know-who.. (wordplay on know-how)
Truly im a nobody..well in relation to the gaming industry, just a lucky joe in the right places at the right time. Also being bothersome in a constructive manner helps sometimes too.
(kids dont flood peoples email or pm boxes XD)
Ken was a god to me from his hacking days, its how I found Sierra games in the first place, way before my time but
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackers:_Heroes_of_the_Computer_Revolution
Good reading...
Roberta took my imagination with her kings quest vision, which was already waay in place when I was there...
but over a little time I met most of the sierra crew though most worked in different places then I did(only met mark once, scott a handful never met the gold rush crew etc).
Please dont think I was apart of the sierra team in any way, I soo wish. More like where do you want this box Ken? Oh play these games and write the errors .. ok! Pfft id redo that job in a heartbeat even with it being zero pay. Sigh the golden years..
PS
KQ8 would have and could have been awesome... I loved the idea but it was on the border of game engines where games were just horrid. If it waited even just for say the quake engine it could have been made quite well! In fact ive been hammering requests to redo the whole thing with the quake 2 engine. This would make it look like anachronox.. for those that have played that game, if you havent, check it out.(ive actually met tom too :P but this was waaaay later and unrelated to sierra, tom is friggen hilarious!)
:O Lucky! :P I'd step on heads to meet the creator of the beloved Dopefish
Edit: I just realized that the fact that I instantly knew who you were talking about, even in lieu of a last name, proves that I need to get out more.
It was funny to hear tom say that commander keen was himself as a kid.. I mean I had heard that before but thought it was just rumor. Nope.. thats tom age 5-7 ish.. running around with a helmet and a lil football LOL.
and yea dopefish rocks... watch out for his new super secret mmo... though I hate mmo's I cant wait to see his input.