Adventure Game Studio

Community => General Discussion => Topic started by: vict0r on Thu 19/04/2007 15:51:19

Title: Sierra Classics are back, baby!
Post by: vict0r on Thu 19/04/2007 15:51:19
Sierra Classics here! (http://classics.sierra.com/)

I just thought I should show you this. Vivendi/sierra have released a series of old classics for pc!
Title: Re: Sierra Classics are back, baby!
Post by: Babar on Thu 19/04/2007 15:58:03
Sounds like great news! Although I hope they've fixed up the timing problems, or at least provided some way to have those games playable.
Title: Re: Sierra Classics are back, baby!
Post by: Raggit on Thu 19/04/2007 16:10:43
You know what would be totally awesome??  If they released each of the game's individually, in there original boxes and documentation.  (Of course, they'd probably have to replace the floppies with CD-ROMs.)

But this is just as well.  I'm sure there would be a distinct difference in holding a freshly made box that looked just like the old thing, and holding the original boxes, with that classic game smell, and 20 years of history.

Ah! 


P.S.  Vict0r, what exactly is your avatar??  I find it exceedingly watchable and amusing. 
Title: Re: Sierra Classics are back, baby!
Post by: AGA on Thu 19/04/2007 17:07:58
I doubt very much that the average gamer would pay for 10+ year old games if they were released individually. These collections give you 5 or more games for a low price, which is just about acceptable.
Title: Re: Sierra Classics are back, baby!
Post by: vict0r on Thu 19/04/2007 18:28:15
Quote from: Raggit on Thu 19/04/2007 16:10:43
P.S.  Vict0r, what exactly is your avatar??  I find it exceedingly watchable and amusing. 

Ah, you know...
(http://www.geocities.com/hollywood/lot/3178/neutral.gif)
Title: Re: Sierra Classics are back, baby!
Post by: LGM on Thu 19/04/2007 18:49:23
The only thing that bugs me about these collections is that nothing is changed. They're the same files as they were released originally, only now the collection comes with DosBox. Whoop dee frigging do, I have that already.
Title: Re: Sierra Classics are back, baby!
Post by: vict0r on Thu 19/04/2007 18:51:29
Well, there are those who don't have them. I've never played any of these games, except a small part of the first two Larry games.
Title: Re: Sierra Classics are back, baby!
Post by: LGM on Thu 19/04/2007 19:26:38
No, I'm glad they're released... But I mean, they should've taken the effort to update the engines for XP and provide full support, rather than just throwing in an emulator which won't necessarily work for everyone.
Title: Re: Sierra Classics are back, baby!
Post by: vict0r on Thu 19/04/2007 20:10:24
Huh? I haven't read too much about it, but it's not updated to work on XP? :-\
Title: Re: Sierra Classics are back, baby!
Post by: LGM on Thu 19/04/2007 20:30:47
As far as I know, they just run the games through DosBox.
Title: Re: Sierra Classics are back, baby!
Post by: vict0r on Thu 19/04/2007 20:33:09
Well... That's weird :-\ I see your point now then :)







And my avatar will remain my secret!


EDIT: Well, it sais that it runs on XP in the "requirements" field...
Title: Re: Sierra Classics are back, baby!
Post by: AGA on Thu 19/04/2007 20:47:17
While it may use DOSBox, I'd assume it's transparently done, not just they bundle DOSBox with it and assume you can work out how to use it yourself.
Title: Re: Sierra Classics are back, baby!
Post by: scotch on Thu 19/04/2007 20:56:17
Yeah I'm assuming it's much like the classic game packs you get on consoles sometimes, where the games are emulated (just because it's cheaper than updating some ancient source code that may not have been written in a portable fashion), but it's done so well you wouldn't know.

The only drawback is that the system requirements are higher for emulation than native code.
Title: Re: Sierra Classics are back, baby!
Post by: CodeJunkie on Thu 19/04/2007 21:21:22
Haven't played a single SQ, KQ, PQ or LSL game in my lifetime, but have so wanted to.  Wouldn't be surprised if I buy the lot.
Title: Re: Sierra Classics are back, baby!
Post by: R4L on Thu 19/04/2007 21:28:14
Heh, this is old news!  ;)

From what reviews I read, they said that the games are packaged poorly, and some even say that they don't even include all the disks!
Title: Re: Sierra Classics are back, baby!
Post by: Steel Drummer on Fri 20/04/2007 05:18:40
This is good news, but it's old news as R4L said. I never really liked Sierra's adventure game era. The games were bland compared to LucasArts, and the titles were even worse- I mean: Police Quest, King's Quest, Space Quest- Really generic. But if they had combined all three series' titles into one...
Title: Re: Sierra Classics are back, baby!
Post by: Radiant on Fri 20/04/2007 08:51:58
Quote from: Steel Drummer on Fri 20/04/2007 05:18:40
But if they had combined all three series' titles into one...
King of the Quest Space Police?
Title: Re: Sierra Classics are back, baby!
Post by: Moresco on Fri 20/04/2007 08:55:56
Awesome, but just looking at the Minimum Requirements for Police Quest Collection (which is my favorite),  I was surprised a little:

Pentium III 800mhz?!?!
128mb of ram
windows "XP"

So they must have altered them to work on the new systems obviously, does that mean when I get to the driving sequence in PQ3 that I won't cry and run away to load DFend?

Oh nevermind I just read Al's website:
http://www.allowe.com/Larry/collections.htm (http://www.allowe.com/Larry/collections.htm)

Apparently the collections may be incomplete - and they INCLUDE dosbox to play the games on XP.  So really if you've got the games already just download dosbox.
Title: Re: Sierra Classics are back, baby!
Post by: Steel Drummer on Fri 20/04/2007 15:26:50
Quote from: Radiant on Fri 20/04/2007 08:51:58
Quote from: Steel Drummer on Fri 20/04/2007 05:18:40
But if they had combined all three series' titles into one...
King of the Quest Space Police?


Or how about Police Kings' Quest for Space?
Title: Re: Sierra Classics are back, baby!
Post by: Darth Mandarb on Fri 20/04/2007 17:21:23
Quote from: Steel Drummer on Fri 20/04/2007 05:18:40This is good news, but it's old news as R4L said. I never really liked Sierra's adventure game era. The games were bland compared to LucasArts, and the titles were even worse- I mean: Police Quest, King's Quest, Space Quest- Really generic.

The LucasArts games tended to be different, but that certainly doesn't make the Sierra games bland.  Some of the best videogame memories I have are of Sierra games, not Lucas Arts (though I played both).  I still remember the incredible visuals (yes, incredible) the first time I played Space Quest I and how part III blew my mind.  I remember how immersed I got into Kings Quest ... walking around such a rich and lush computer generated environment.

And as for Titles??

King's Quest I - Quest for the Crown
King's Quest II - Romancing the Throne
King's Quest III - To Heir is Human
King's Quest IV - The Perils of Rosella
King's Quest V - Absence Makes the Heart go Yonder
King's Quest VI - Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow

Space Quest I - The Sarien Encounter
Space Quest II - Vohaul's Revenge
Space Quest III - The Pirates of Pestulon
Space Quest IV - Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers
Space Quest V - Roger Wilco in the Next Mutation
Space Quest 6 - Roger Wilco in the Spinal Frontier

Police Quest 1 - In Pursuit of the Death Angel
Police Quest 2 - The Vengeance
Police Quest 3 - The Kindred
Police Quest 4 - Open Season

I don't find anything bland or generic about those titles ... In fact I think they're very creative.

I don't know ... maybe it's that I was actually alive during the era? ;)
Title: Re: Sierra Classics are back, baby!
Post by: Domino on Fri 20/04/2007 18:47:10
I bought the Leisure Suit Larry Collection from GameSpot's Digital Download's for only 19.99 U.S. Seems to work like a charm on my Windows XP computer.

The only problem i had with it, was some of the copy protection at the beginning that used the manual. The manual came in a .pdf file so i had to switch between the game and the manual to look for hints. I don't have a printer, so printing the manual wasn't an option.  I bought the Kings Quest Collection back in 2000, which came on 3 compact discs. I wouldn't give that up for the world.
Title: Re: Sierra Classics are back, baby!
Post by: Radiant on Fri 20/04/2007 23:59:19
Quote from: Darth Mandarb on Fri 20/04/2007 17:21:23
I don't know ... maybe it's that I was actually alive during the era? ;)
I think that makes quite a difference, yes (then again, so was I).


So for the KQ1/SQ1/PQ1/LL1 games, does this have the AGI original? Or the hi-res remake? Or the VGA remake, if any?
Title: Re: Sierra Classics are back, baby!
Post by: CodeJunkie on Sat 21/04/2007 00:08:21
Radiant: According to reviews on Amazon I think they are the VGA remakes.

I also read bad things about these packages, that they are just thrown together very poorly, with an out-of-date verson of DOSBox that doesn't run the games very well.  The sounds seem to be altered a little, copy protection left in LSL, no physical manuals but pdfs instead, and the 'firecracker' bug in KQ6 is still there (of which I know nothing about).  It all sounds like Sierra have no care at all for their older games but just want a cheap sale, and well, I'll probably still be a sucker for that.
Title: Re: Sierra Classics are back, baby!
Post by: voh on Sat 21/04/2007 00:36:38
No, Vivendi wants easy money, Sierra's been dead for a couple of years. Don't blame the Sierra of yore for the mistakes the current puppeteered 'Sierra' does now ;)
Title: Re: Sierra Classics are back, baby!
Post by: Moresco on Sat 21/04/2007 01:01:07
Yah omitting the manuals, etc, all an effort to keep it cheap.  I for one have all these games already with everything backed up on a DVD.  The only thing that would ever compel me to purchase a new collection is if they improved them somehow.
Title: Re: Sierra Classics are back, baby!
Post by: Domino on Sat 21/04/2007 01:15:37
The Kings Quest Collection that I purchased 7 years ago, has the original KQ and the KQ remake.  I am not sure about the one they are selling now.  At least with the KQ Collection that i have, it did have a printed manual.

It also included the old Apple games like mystery house, which runs on an Apple emulator that came on one of the disks. Plus it had both Colonel's Bequests games. I don't they include that in the newer classics.
Title: Re: Sierra Classics are back, baby!
Post by: AGA on Sat 21/04/2007 02:05:20
That was the Roberta Williams Anthology, not a King's Quest collection. I have both, for some reason.
Title: Re: Sierra Classics are back, baby!
Post by: Domino on Sat 21/04/2007 02:16:42
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v472/skeith2572/kqc.jpg

This collection came with everything i mentioned.

Scanned my disk.

One of the best purchases i ever made.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v472/skeith2572/kqc2.jpg
Title: Re: Sierra Classics are back, baby!
Post by: earlwood on Sat 21/04/2007 08:00:05
I was eight when I purchased that very collection, and had been gently nursing a crush for Roberta Williams for quite a few years, and was a little disappointed when I discovered no pictures of the Softporn box art.

I wonder why this collection costs so much now.

On Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00001NFRB/ref=dp_olp_2/002-3489172-2500036?ie=UTF8&qid=1177136230&sr=8-4)

On Ebay (http://cgi.ebay.com/Kings-Quest-Collection-w-Manual-Collectors-Anthology_W0QQitemZ230039432347QQihZ013QQcategoryZ62053QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem)
Title: Re: Sierra Classics are back, baby!
Post by: AGA on Sat 21/04/2007 11:34:17
Quote from: Domino on Sat 21/04/2007 02:16:42
This collection came with everything i mentioned.

Scanned my disk.

One of the best purchases i ever made.


Huh. I have the Roberta Williams Anthology (http://www.mobygames.com/game/roberta-williams-anthology), and it includes:

the first seven King's Quest games,
Mystery House,
The Wizard and the Princess,
Mission: Asteroid, Time Zone,
The Dark Crystal,
The Colonel's Bequest,
The Dagger of Amon Ra, and
Mixed-Up Mother Goose

Which seems pretty identical to what you have.