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A really fascinating article on Police Quest 4

Started by garbed_attic, January 19, 2018, 08:51:33 PM

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garbed_attic

https://waypoint.vice.com/en_us/article/a3n8ea/how-sierra-and-a-disgraced-cop-made-the-most-reactionary-game-of-the-90s

I always knew that Sierra wasn't really wholesome!

QuoteSierra developed into a lucrative haven for brash, idiosyncratic hackers and artists, with a relaxed—even intrusive—corporate culture. As documented in Steven Levy's book Hackers, pot-smoking was permitted and drinking encouraged; employees were invited into Ken's hot tub and out on the town for a weekly "Men's Night"; and Ken took an active and unseemly interest in getting his young star programmer laid, even going so far as to hire a sex worker on his behalf.

They were such a deeply weird company.

Mister Six

If only they'd made any good games.

(That's a very interesting article - thanks for that.)

Replies From View


biggytitbo

#3
One of the ladies in the jacuzzi is of course Roberta Williams, legendary creator of Kings Quest, Laura Bow etc -

NWS https://68.media.tumblr.com/7209ef5aac6cf7c73a820fb93d4ab61a/tumblr_inline_o8vxnydK1a1spc8o6_1280.jpg

Replies From View


madhair60


St_Eddie

The best that you could come up with, in terms of dirt associated with Police Quest 4; was pot, hot-tubs and prostitutes?  Pfft!  What about the heavy involvement of Daryl GatesPolice Quest 4 is full of questionable ethics and morality, regarding race relations.  That's entirely due to irredeemable prick, Mr. Gates.

Quote from: Mister Six on January 19, 2018, 09:20:41 PM
If only they'd made any good games.

I'd argue that King's Quest I-VI are all classics and so too are a great number of the Space Quest games.

What is indisputable however, is that the Gabriel Knight series constitutes as being more than "good".

Quote from: Replies From View on January 19, 2018, 09:46:40 PM
Leisure Suit Larry?

FUN FACT: The aforementioned Softporn Adventure is a text adventure, written and designed by Al Lowe, whom went on to create the Leisure Suit Larry series.  In fact, the first game in said series, Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards, is in essence, a remake of Softporn Adventure.

biggytitbo

Kim Justice has a great video on police quest and how mad a game it is.

St_Eddie

Quote from: biggytitbo on January 19, 2018, 10:22:47 PM
Kim Justice has a great video on police quest and how mad a game it is.

I've completed Police Quest and it's a ridiculously obtuse and frustrating experience.  Having said that, I kind of love it for just how anal it is, in terms of police procedure.

madhair60


Shay Chaise

Zak McKraken was good, but could have been improved by some whoring.

garbed_attic

Quote from: St_Eddie on January 19, 2018, 10:19:26 PM
The best that you could come up with, in terms of dirt associated with Police Quest 4; was pot, hot-tubs and prostitutes?  Pfft!  What about the heavy involvement of Daryl GatesPolice Quest 4 is full of questionable ethics and morality, regarding race relations.  That's entirely due to irredeemable prick, Mr. Gates.

That's what the whole article's about! I only used that quote cause it struck me as illuminating Sierra's odd conflux of conservatism and late hippie culture!

Replies From View

Quote from: madhair60 on January 19, 2018, 10:37:42 PM
Sierra > Lucasarts

I have a nostalgic relationship with King's Quest 3 as it was already installed on the first second-hand computer my parents ever bought.  But it didn't come with the manual, so I had no idea there were specific spells you needed to type out in order to complete the game; I just assumed I hadn't picked up enough objects yet, and it drove me mad.  I was also unaware that there were timed elements, such as a point during the game when a pirate ship would appear in the harbour before departing for good, whereupon the game would be incompleteable.

These things make me prefer Monkey Island and Day of the Tentacle to what I've seen of Sierra games, along with the fact you can easily die in the latter.  In Lucasarts games you can spend all your time on the puzzle-solving and don't have to worry that a slightly misplaced step on a narrow path might cause you to fall to your death.

St_Eddie

Quote from: gout_pony on January 19, 2018, 11:00:24 PM
That's what the whole article's about! I only used that quote cause it struck me as illuminating Sierra's odd conflux of conservatism and late hippie culture!

Oops.  My apologies.  I should have checked the article first.

Quote from: Replies From View on January 20, 2018, 12:06:52 AM
I have a nostalgic relationship with King's Quest 3 as it was already installed on the first second-hand computer my parents ever bought.  But it didn't come with the manual, so I had no idea there were specific spells you needed to type out in order to complete the game; I just assumed I hadn't picked up enough objects yet, and it drove me mad.  I was also unaware that there were timed elements, such as a point during the game when a pirate ship would appear in the harbour before departing for good, whereupon the game would be incompleteable.

If you haven't already, then be sure to check out AGD's remakes of King's Quest I-III.  They're free and among other things (VGA graphics, full voice acting), they offer two modes of play; original and a new mode where you can't find yourself in a fail state (although you can still die, so save early and save often).  You don't require a manual either (although one is included with the download).  As far as I'm concerned, they're the definitive versions of those games.  I'm undecided which I prefer more; AGD's King Quest III remake, or King's Quest VI.  Both are head and shoulders above the other entries in the series.


Quote from: Replies From View on January 20, 2018, 12:06:52 AMThese things make me prefer Monkey Island and Day of the Tentacle to what I've seen of Sierra games, along with the fact you can easily die in the latter.  In Lucasarts games you can spend all your time on the puzzle-solving and don't have to worry that a slightly misplaced step on a narrow path might cause you to fall to your death.

I definitely favour LucasArts over Sierra too.  I love both companies adventure gaming output though.

madhair60

I prefer idiosyncratic and rustic to Lucasarts really unfunny comedy. Full Throttle is amazing though.

biggytitbo

I have a soft spot for the Dagger of Amon Ra as it was one of the first PC games i played, but find most of Sierras 'classic' adventures to be hideously obtuse even by the standards of adventures games from that era, and obviously cynically designed to sell hint books.

Replies From View

Quote from: madhair60 on January 20, 2018, 10:26:27 AM
I prefer idiosyncratic and rustic to Lucasarts really unfunny comedy.

You just love the feeling you get when everything you type delivers a response like:



One of my favourites in King's Quest 3, you'd try to examine something on the screen - a fixture or feature that looks vaguely relevant, for example - and get told "It doesn't look interesting."  BUT WHAT IS IT THOUGH I WANT TO KNOW WHAT IT IS.

Famous Mortimer

This thread got me to go back to gog.com for the first time in ages, and see there was a recent Carmageddon game which they're selling for 50% off. Cheers CaBbers!

madhair60

Quote from: Replies From View on January 20, 2018, 11:42:17 AM
You just love the feeling you get when everything you type delivers a response like:



One of my favourites in King's Quest 3, you'd try to examine something on the screen - a fixture or feature that looks vaguely relevant, for example - and get told "It doesn't look interesting."  BUT WHAT IS IT THOUGH I WANT TO KNOW WHAT IT IS.

Yeah, you pick up how the parser works really quickly if you're not, you know, stupid.

Replies From View

Quote from: madhair60 on January 20, 2018, 05:04:25 PM
Yeah, you pick up how the parser works really quickly if you're not, you know, stupid.

Look at picture.  "It doesn't look interesting."

Look at tapestry.  "It doesn't look interesting."

Look at bookshelf.  "It doesn't look interesting."


I would have been doing this after collecting all the available items, but didn't have the manual to appreciate I needed to cast spells to progress.  So I was trying to 'look' at everything I could see and it was instead telling me how uninteresting everything was.

Mister Six

Quote from: biggytitbo on January 20, 2018, 10:56:41 AM
I have a soft spot for the Dagger of Amon Ra as it was one of the first PC games i played, but find most of Sierras 'classic' adventures to be hideously obtuse even by the standards of adventures games from that era, and obviously cynically designed to sell hint books.

Aye, yeah, exactly. Matey up there was right about The Incredible Machine though.

Still I was always slightly fascinated with Sierra games, as badly and frustratingly designed as they were. Something about the way the basis for each game was so mundane.

Even the non-LucasArts developers usually tried to come up with some unusual hook for their adventure games (Lure of the Temptress had its characters walking around the map, living their lives; Innocent Until Caught was about a space thief; Nippon Safes Inc had you following three separate plotlines in any order; the Elvira games had cleavage and blood; the Gobliiins games were like interactive cartoons; Rex Nebular and the Gender Bender was fucking weird), but the Sierra games just took a vague genre or concept (fantasy, police, being a kid at school, space) and built these long, rambling, aimless games around them.

The Leisure Suit Larry ones stood out a bit because Larry seemed more like a character and his world more off-kilter than the usual blandness.

But there was something about that - people with enthusiasm but no clear creative vision making games anyway - that I always found charming and intriguing.

Does this make sense? I only just woke up.

Anyway I fancy playing Willy Beamish again now I don't have enough to swap 25 floppy disks around.

Replies From View

Quote from: St_Eddie on January 20, 2018, 01:48:13 AM

Thanks for this.  Unfortunately I'm using a mac, and after spending all of today attempting to get Winery to work, I've decided life's too short.  Which is a shame, as I'd really like to try these games out.

madhair60

Quote from: Replies From View on January 21, 2018, 12:03:17 AM
Look at picture.  "It doesn't look interesting."

Look at tapestry.  "It doesn't look interesting."

Look at bookshelf.  "It doesn't look interesting."


I would have been doing this after collecting all the available items, but didn't have the manual to appreciate I needed to cast spells to progress.  So I was trying to 'look' at everything I could see and it was instead telling me how uninteresting everything was.

Oh you didn't have the manual? Sounds like you're a fucking idiot, or thief. Not the game's fault you're an imbecile or yegg, is it? Honestly, leave CaB.

Replies From View

Quote from: madhair60 on January 21, 2018, 07:10:51 PM
Oh you didn't have the manual? Sounds like you're a fucking idiot, or thief. Not the game's fault you're an imbecile or yegg, is it? Honestly, leave CaB.

Well, I can read a thread before writing in it, at least.

Quote from: Replies From View on January 20, 2018, 12:06:52 AM
I have a nostalgic relationship with King's Quest 3 as it was already installed on the first second-hand computer my parents ever bought.  But it didn't come with the manual, so I had no idea there were specific spells you needed to type out in order to complete the game; I just assumed I hadn't picked up enough objects yet, and it drove me mad.  I was also unaware that there were timed elements, such as a point during the game when a pirate ship would appear in the harbour before departing for good, whereupon the game would be incompleteable.

These things make me prefer Monkey Island and Day of the Tentacle to what I've seen of Sierra games, along with the fact you can easily die in the latter.  In Lucasarts games you can spend all your time on the puzzle-solving and don't have to worry that a slightly misplaced step on a narrow path might cause you to fall to your death.

I was about 12 or 13 years old at the time, and the only games I could play were already installed on my parents' second-hand PC.  Not sure if that counts as theft or idiocy on my part; the computer's previous owners didn't provide the manual so either they copied it off someone or they lost the manual or thought it wasn't needed.

St_Eddie

#24
Quote from: Replies From View on January 21, 2018, 07:06:45 PM
Thanks for this.  Unfortunately I'm using a mac, and after spending all of today attempting to get Winery to work, I've decided life's too short.  Which is a shame, as I'd really like to try these games out.

Oh no!  I feel for you, man.  Is there a Windows emulator available?

EDIT: I take it that 'Winery' is a Windows emulator?  In which case, I can't do anything other than be sympathetic.  Sorry, my friend.

Quote from: Replies From View on January 21, 2018, 12:03:17 AM
Look at picture.  "It doesn't look interesting."

Look at tapestry.  "It doesn't look interesting."

Look at bookshelf.  "It doesn't look interesting."

Sim Disinterested Person 1986

Published by Sierra.

Quote from: Famous Mortimer on January 20, 2018, 12:04:15 PM
This thread got me to go back to gog.com for the first time in ages, and see there was a recent Carmageddon game which they're selling for 50% off. Cheers CaBbers!

GOG is a fine thing indeed, as is Carmageddon.  Purchasing old games and running over old grannies is fun.  Psychotic fantasies.  Yay!

Quote from: Mister Six on January 21, 2018, 03:49:22 PM
...Lure of the Temptress had its characters walking around the map, living their lives...

+ All the karma, for mentioning Revolution Software's Lure of the Temptress.  It's a terrible, albeit innovate game and you're a massive geek.  As am I.

MojoJojo

Quote from: St_Eddie on January 21, 2018, 09:02:47 PM
EDIT: I take it that 'Winery' is a Windows emulator?  In which case, I can't do anything other than be sympathetic.  Sorry, my friend.

Nerd pedantry kicking in: WINE is a recursive acronym, short for "Wine Is Not an Emulator".

But yes, without the pedantry Wine is a Windows emulator - it lets you run Windows programs on Linux and Mac (although I've never tried that).

Replies From View

It's a pain in the arse, is what it is.

Thanks for your sympathy St_Eddie.

Mister Six

Quote from: St_Eddie on January 21, 2018, 09:02:47 PM+ All the karma, for mentioning Revolution Software's Lure of the Temptress.  It's a terrible, albeit innovate game and you're a massive geek.  As am I.

Dunno about terrible, but it's certainly not great. I always ended up just aimlessly wandering about the town, not really sure of what I was supposed to be doing. But those pretty graphics kept drawing me back...

Follow-up Beneath A Steel Sky was much better.

St_Eddie

Quote from: MojoJojo on January 21, 2018, 10:22:10 PM
Nerd pedantry kicking in: WINE is a recursive acronym, short for "Wine Is Not an Emulator".

But yes, without the pedantry Wine is a Windows emulator - it lets you run Windows programs on Linux and Mac (although I've never tried that).

Well, consider me told.

Quote from: Replies From View on January 21, 2018, 10:36:52 PM
It's a pain in the arse, is what it is.

Thanks for your sympathy St_Eddie.

Sir, I believe that you meant to type...

Quote from: Replies From View on January 21, 2018, 10:36:52 PM
St_Eddie is a pain in the arse, is what he is.

You have my sympathies, St_Eddie.

Quote from: Mister Six on January 22, 2018, 01:34:39 AM
Dunno about terrible, but it's certainly not great. I always ended up just aimlessly wandering about the town, not really sure of what I was supposed to be doing. But those pretty graphics kept drawing me back...

That's the thing though, everyone ends up walking around town, not knowing what to do (it's a bit of a life simulator, in that regard).  I made a real concerted effort to complete Lure of the Temptress a few years back but even with a walkthrough in hand; it's frustratingly aimless.  The interface is horrible an' all.

Quote from: Mister Six on January 22, 2018, 01:34:39 AMFollow-up Beneath A Steel Sky was much better.

I love Beneath a Steel Sky.  A little bird told me that a sequel is due to be announced this year...

Famous Mortimer

Quote from: St_Eddie on January 21, 2018, 09:02:47 PM
GOG is a fine thing indeed, as is Carmageddon.  Purchasing old games and running over old grannies is fun.  Psychotic fantasies.  Yay!
I was about to agree with you, until I saw this massive list (which, for some reason, GOG haven't just taken down).

https://www.gog.com/mix/games_that_treat_gog_customers_as_second_class_citizens