Sierra Adventure Games Playthrough

Had an idea, not sure if I'll follow through with it.

Generally I have games of several genres in my Now Playing list. One of the slots is Classic Games.

The idea is to populate this slot with old Sierra Online Adventure games. Eventually play through every Sierra Adventure in their order of release.

I have fond memories of playing Space Quest and King's Quest when I was a kid and teenager. Indeed, these games are what got me into gaming in the first place.

I think this would be an interesting walk through the history of (adventure) gaming and the progression of technology as a whole. And it would be like experiencing those games all over again, hopefully with the same sense of wonder and fun, although now I'm 39 and perhaps a bit too jaded.

Acquisition shouldn't be *too* hard, there are -ahem- ways of getting ahold of most, if not all of these titles, many of them on the up and up!

What do you guys think of this idea?

There's a redonkulous number of old games available at The Internet Archive.

Here's a search of Sierra titles: https://archive.org/details/software...

Go for it! Although a lot of those games REALLY show their age, so i'm not sure I'd have the staying power for it personally.

There's actually someone out there trying to play through all released graphic adventure games in chronological order (yep, **ALL** of them, even some really obscure stuff that i didn't even know existed). I just checked and yep, he's still at it! Might be worth a look for some inspiration.

If you do it, make sure to report back with how you're getting on!

pyxistyx wrote:

Go for it! Although a lot of those games REALLY show their age, so i'm not sure I'd have the staying power for it personally.

So I found out after booting up Mystery House in an Apple ][ emulator last night. Boy, is it primitive.

I'll keep at it and post periodic progress updates. I might schedule this into my calendar so I make forward progress even when I'm on the poorer games. I'm doing this, not just for fun, but also for the historical novelty.

I'd definitely be interested in reading your updates, it's a great genre.

There are so many games, that should definitely keep you busy for a while. Maybe I’ll play the QFG along with you.

dpmedeiros wrote:

Acquisition shouldn't be *too* hard, there are -ahem- ways of getting ahold of most, if not all of these titles, many of them on the up and up!

Almost all of them are available on GOG or even Steam. It shouldn’t be too hard.

I've had an interest doing this, but having to replay hours of a Sierra adventure game because I picked up the wrong stick in Chapter 2 was infuriating when they were originally released and I was a kid with plenty of free time, so at my current stage in life I would lose it completely. Does anyone know of a resource that spoils all the dead ends in a game that doesn't require me to read an entire walkthrough?

kuddles wrote:

Does anyone know of a resource that spoils all the dead ends in a game that doesn't require me to read an entire walkthrough?

Thimbleweed Park

There are no dead ends in Thimbleweed Park.
You could use this Game FAQs.
Alternatively, just use the good old adventure game adage: save early and save often. And I usually "and in different slots" to that. None of the Sierra games are longer than one of two hours anyhow.

Edit: alternatively, just use a walkthrough. Nothing wrong with using a walkthrough. I find it enhances my experience, because I don't want to worry about what I'm doing wrong, and that way I can just relax and enjoy the ride.

Does the new Rouge U count as a “Sierra” style game?

Eleima wrote:

There are so many games, that should definitely keep you busy for a while. Maybe I’ll play the QFG along with you.

dpmedeiros wrote:

Acquisition shouldn't be *too* hard, there are -ahem- ways of getting ahold of most, if not all of these titles, many of them on the up and up!

Almost all of them are available on GOG or even Steam. It shouldn’t be too hard.

The Quest for Glory games were so good.

I keep hearing that! I really need to play them, and I've promised myself I will when Goodjer Billybob476 tackles the series on his podcast!

I am SO behind in that podcast it's not even funny!

But yeah, I need to play them too.

Eleima wrote:

Edit: alternatively, just use a walkthrough. Nothing wrong with using a walkthrough. I find it enhances my experience, because I don't want to worry about what I'm doing wrong, and that way I can just relax and enjoy the ride.

Yeah. I guess I just mean it would be nice if I could still take a stab at figuring out the puzzles for myself but also knowing what can't be missed. Multiple saves doesn't help much on the dreaded issues with those old adventure games where you can reach the end of the game and fail due to lacking an inventory item from the first ten minutes.

dpmedeiros wrote:

Had an idea, not sure if I'll follow through with it.

Generally I have games of several genres in my Now Playing list. One of the slots is Classic Games.

The idea is to populate this slot with old Sierra Online Adventure games. Eventually play through every Sierra Adventure in their order of release.

I have fond memories of playing Space Quest and King's Quest when I was a kid and teenager. Indeed, these games are what got me into gaming in the first place.

I think this would be an interesting walk through the history of (adventure) gaming and the progression of technology as a whole. And it would be like experiencing those games all over again, hopefully with the same sense of wonder and fun, although now I'm 39 and perhaps a bit too jaded.

Acquisition shouldn't be *too* hard, there are -ahem- ways of getting ahold of most, if not all of these titles, many of them on the up and up!

What do you guys think of this idea?

I think it's a great idea! And, I'd definitely follow along.

NathanialG wrote:
Eleima wrote:

There are so many games, that should definitely keep you busy for a while. Maybe I’ll play the QFG along with you.

dpmedeiros wrote:

Acquisition shouldn't be *too* hard, there are -ahem- ways of getting ahold of most, if not all of these titles, many of them on the up and up!

Almost all of them are available on GOG or even Steam. It shouldn’t be too hard.

The Quest for Glory games were so good.

If and when you pick up the QfG games, I'd think about playing along, too. Those were some of my favorites, growing up, and they would be a blast to revisit. I probably played through QfG 1 and 3 a whole bunch of times, and I really loved the settings in 4 and 5.

kuddles, if you ever play QfG 1, and decide to be a thief, don't steal from the herbalist / potions lady. That's one of the quickest ways to lock yourself out of being able to finish the game.

Spoiler:

She makes an item that is necessary for completion, but if you steal from her she'll bar the door to her hut, and there's no way to get back in. You can always steal from her after you get that item, though.

Eleima wrote:

There are no dead ends in Thimbleweed Park.
You could use this Game FAQs.
Alternatively, just use the good old adventure game adage: save early and save often. And I usually "and in different slots" to that. None of the Sierra games are longer than one of two hours anyhow.

Edit: alternatively, just use a walkthrough. Nothing wrong with using a walkthrough. I find it enhances my experience, because I don't want to worry about what I'm doing wrong, and that way I can just relax and enjoy the ride.

The "save early, save often" thing can take you far in a lot of adventure games, but if I recall correctly King's Quest V and VI (V especially) can really screw the player over. There are a lot of things that you can fail to do early in the game, or do in an incomplete fashion, which will set you on a path to a death scenario much later int he game later. And yeah, the games are short if you know where you're going, but KQV can be a serious labyrinth if you don't.

OK, I've prepared a total list of...88 games. BTW, this includes Dynamix and Coktel Vision games, I hear they are some great experiences, though I've never played anything outside of Willy Beamish.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

I will try and get through Mystery House...soon. Let's see how long I can keep this up.

kuddles wrote:
Eleima wrote:

Edit: alternatively, just use a walkthrough. Nothing wrong with using a walkthrough. I find it enhances my experience, because I don't want to worry about what I'm doing wrong, and that way I can just relax and enjoy the ride.

Yeah. I guess I just mean it would be nice if I could still take a stab at figuring out the puzzles for myself but also knowing what can't be missed. Multiple saves doesn't help much on the dreaded issues with those old adventure games where you can reach the end of the game and fail due to lacking an inventory item from the first ten minutes.

When I stop having fun - that's when I'll use a system such as UHS. It can become a crutch if you're not careful though.

Playthrough #1
Hi-Res Adventure Era

Game: Mystery House (Hi-Res Adventure #1)
Release Year: 1980
Platform: Apple ][

How Obtained: Got an Apple ][ disk image (which is now public domain) from archive.org. Apparently this game is also included on the Roberta Williams Anthology if you can get a hold of it.

How Played: Used an Apple ][ Emulator on PC - a pretty good one is here . I played in full-screen mode with visible scan lines on to try an authenticate the original Apple ][ feel. Note that it is also possible to play this on ScummVM, however in my case I found that the rendering engine messed up the graphics a little bit while in full screen mode.
Playtime: Probably two hours, with occasional reference of a walk-through to determine hard to guess phrases

Positives: I finished Ken and Roberta's first graphical adventure game.

Negatives: To say this game is primitive is an understatement. The game parser accepts two word commands, with a very limited vocabulary. The names given to objects are very specific, and you have to guess the names. This is worsened by the fact that the room descriptions don't describe the objects in them; the assumption was, since graphics were provided you don't need descriptions. However the drawings are crude and it is often hard to tell what you're looking at.

Don't try wasting a lot of time guessing the phrases. If you think you know what you need to do, reference a walkthrough or hint system. It's not worth it to spend more than a night on this curiosity.

One aid was the map I drew as I went along - here's a copy, but I think the main enjoyment I got out of the game was drawing this myself, so if you plan on playing Mystery House yourself, I'd recommend doing your own mapping.

Map: https://www.draw.io/?lightbox=1&high...

Next up: Wizard and the Princess (Hi-Res Adventure #2)

I'm really tempted to join in. Sierra games helped defined what games were for me, in that my besties and I all had scrounged up a few different Quests which we played over and over and over still, but I at least only beat those I actually had. Yes, we even had the cliche experience of finally scoring an illicit copy of Leisure Suit Larry and being let down.

Speaking of Quest for Glory, I'm not sure exactly how I came across this channel, but:

dpmedeiros wrote:

The names given to objects are very specific, and you have to guess the names. This is worsened by the fact that the room descriptions don't describe the objects in them; the assumption was, since graphics were provided you don't need descriptions. However the drawings are crude and it is often hard to tell what you're looking at.

This bit made me laugh. Really interesting read, I look forward to seeing how your impressions of the games change as the technology develops.

Eleima wrote:

There are no dead ends in Thimbleweed Park.

One of many reasons why I love that game. I wish there were more games like Thimbleweed on the Switch.

kuddles wrote:
Eleima wrote:

Edit: alternatively, just use a walkthrough. Nothing wrong with using a walkthrough. I find it enhances my experience, because I don't want to worry about what I'm doing wrong, and that way I can just relax and enjoy the ride.

Yeah. I guess I just mean it would be nice if I could still take a stab at figuring out the puzzles for myself but also knowing what can't be missed. Multiple saves doesn't help much on the dreaded issues with those old adventure games where you can reach the end of the game and fail due to lacking an inventory item from the first ten minutes.

Hard disagree. That's the whole point of of having several saves at different stages, it's to be able to roll back to a previous checkpoint in order to retrace your steps. That was the entire point of Sierra games back in the day. If that's something you're not comfortable with, then Sierra games aren't necessarily for you, and that's okay. But perhaps you're better off playing LucasArts games which were specifically designed to challenge the Sierra way of gaming (multiple ways to die, dead ends). Heck, they even made light of it in their own games (NPC says "funny, I didn't think you can die in a LucasArts game" when main character fakes his death). Trust me on this, I was raised on adventure games. You would fail over and over in Sierra games, and that was part of it. The games were short enough that getting back to where you were was fast enough that it wasn't frustrating (with the possible exception of KQ3).

Stevintendo wrote:
Eleima wrote:

There are no dead ends in Thimbleweed Park.

One of many reasons why I love that game. I wish there were more games like Thimbleweed on the Switch.

I don't know about the Switch, but Thimbleweed Park is the brainchild of Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick, veterans of LucasFilm games. You can basically play any game from them or Tim Shafer and find the same brand of humor: Day of the Tentacle, Full Throttle, Brütal Legend, Grim Fandango...

Grats dpmedeiros on playing Mystery House! I'll admit that's one I never played. To call it primitive is a bit harsh though, don't forget this is 1980! At the time, it was groundbreaking!! Also, hand drawn maps are the best kind of maps in these adventure games!

Eleima wrote:

You can basically play any game from them or Tim Shafer and find the same brand of humor: Day of the Tentacle, Full Throttle, Brütal Legend, Grim Fandango...

Grim Fandango Remastered is coming to Switch and I can't wait to play it again. I'm hoping that between that and Thimbleweed we'll start seeing more games like them making their way to the platform.

Eleima wrote:
kuddles wrote:
Eleima wrote:

Edit: alternatively, just use a walkthrough. Nothing wrong with using a walkthrough. I find it enhances my experience, because I don't want to worry about what I'm doing wrong, and that way I can just relax and enjoy the ride.

Yeah. I guess I just mean it would be nice if I could still take a stab at figuring out the puzzles for myself but also knowing what can't be missed. Multiple saves doesn't help much on the dreaded issues with those old adventure games where you can reach the end of the game and fail due to lacking an inventory item from the first ten minutes.

Hard disagree. That's the whole point of of having several saves at different stages, it's to be able to roll back to a previous checkpoint in order to retrace your steps. That was the entire point of Sierra games back in the day. If that's something you're not comfortable with, then Sierra games aren't necessarily for you, and that's okay.

Yeah, after spending time with the Hi-Res Adventures, I definitely agree with this. It can take a while to figure out what to do, but when you need to backtrack, repeating steps to get where you were doesn't take very long.

Eleima wrote:

Hard disagree. That's the whole point of of having several saves at different stages, it's to be able to roll back to a previous checkpoint in order to retrace your steps. That was the entire point of Sierra games back in the day. If that's something you're not comfortable with, then Sierra games aren't necessarily for you, and that's okay. But perhaps you're better off playing LucasArts games which were specifically designed to challenge the Sierra way of gaming (multiple ways to die, dead ends). Heck, they even made light of it in their own games (NPC says "funny, I didn't think you can die in a LucasArts game" when main character fakes his death). Trust me on this, I was raised on adventure games. You would fail over and over in Sierra games, and that was part of it. The games were short enough that getting back to where you were was fast enough that it wasn't frustrating (with the possible exception of KQ3).

I was raised in adventure games, and that's why I don't agree with you.

In fact, right off the top of my head, KQV, KQVI, and Space Quest IV all had tasks that you could do at the beginning of the game that give no indication they would leave the game unbeatable until the absolute final encounter. Multiple saves are useless because you have no other choice but to start from the very beginning again, and they were usually very slow and clumsy with you moving from screen to screen and skipping through essential dialogue that it was what eventually burned me out of playing anything else by Sierra. I would want to know about these things before trying to play any of the others.

That map drawing was really cool. I could see that being useful in a ton of old games. And even some newer ones that don't like maps.

KQ1 VGA (updated with KQ4 graphics) was one of the first PC games I got back around 89 or 90 when we got our first home PC. Eventually played the whole series.

While I probably won't join in, except maybe for KQ 5-6, this should be fun to watch.

Stele wrote:

KQ1 VGA (updated with KQ4 graphics) was one of the first PC games I got back around 89 or 90 when we got our first home PC. Eventually played the whole series.

Not to be pedantic, but that's KQ1 EGA actually, just higher res EGA than the old AGI games. They updated the game from the AGI to the SCI engine. I'm not sure why they chose to do this, the VGA version of SCI was right around the corner.

Playthrough #2
Hi-Res Adventure Era

Game: Wizard and the Princess (Hi-Res Adventure #2) aka Adventure in Serenia for its IBM PC release in 1982.
Release Year: 1980
Platform: Apple ][. The Commodore 64 version has better (more) colors, but I am playing these games in order of release. The Apple ][ version came out in 1980, the C64 version came out in ‘84. So the Apple ][ wins.

How Played: Used an Apple ][ Emulator on PC - see previous post.

Playtime: About six hours
Number of hints: 2
Positives: Much more expansive game than the previous entry. Some good puzzles that weren't too hard to figure out.
Negatives: Occasional dead ends and mapping issues.

Retconned later as a prequel to King’s Quest V (in which the land of Serenia was prominently featured), the story is classic good vs. evil: the wicked wizard Harlin has kidnapped...duh duh duh… the Princess of Serenia. Go and rescue her, but know that you will be affronted with all sorts of obstacles and nasty enemies in service to the Evil One(™) along the way.

A technological leap beyond Mystery House, this game is gigantic. Most of your time will be spent mapping - if this doesn’t sound fun to you, skip this one. The final map I drew is yuuuge (which I'm not sharing this time - there are much better ones online). Graphics are in color now, but the environments remain mostly static. There’s no animation, but the scenes do change when events occur or you pick up or drop objects.

Though mapping is the focus, there were some poor design decisions that make this frustrating at the beginning of the game. Your initial objective is to go north of town and get past a snake barring your way. To do this you need a key item that is found somewhere in the desert. So naturally, your first instinct is to map every location you visit in the desert.

However, it seems like most desert locations are random - go in any direction and you’ll get randomly transported to another desert location, or back to the village. Seemingly this was done in an effort to simulate what it might be like to become lost in a desert, but the inclusion of this feature makes the beginning of the game drag out way too long. There is One True Path that you have to stumble across at random in order to find what you need. I finally gave in and looked up a map online.

After this, the game became more enjoyable. Many of the puzzles I came across were fairly logical. It’s not too hard to figure out phrases the parser understands, and it helps that the game only accepts two word commands.

One really clever puzzle involves two notes you find in the desert. Instead of words, the notes contain a set of line segments. The solution is actually very original (in my experience).

Spoiler:

Draw out the lines from the two notes on a piece of paper, then place them above each other. You'll find that the lines draw out a magic word that you will need later.

The game is not without its dead ends. One puzzle actually has two solutions - but if you discover the wrong one, you won’t be able to finish the game, and will have to restore to an earlier save. I didn’t figure this out until frustration led me to look up a solution online. It’s clear that back in the day, before there were hint books, Wizard and the Princess must have taken quite a while to finish. YMMV.

Next up: Mission Asteroid (Hi-Res Adventure #0)

I'm going to take a one week break so I can make progress on some other games I'm playing right now.

Let me know what you think of the mini-summaries/reviews. Let me know what kinds of details and information you'd all like to see.

I think it’s great stuff. Keep it coming!

Great idea for a thread, really like what you’ve done so far. I’m interested to read your thoughts on some of my favorites like Quest for Glory and Space Quest. One question, will you also be playing through the AGD remakes as well?

Not likely. I plan on limiting this to solely Sierra original titles.