Sierra adventure games

laffer · 17 August 2007, 10:49

Well, I posted this on another forum as well but I thought I might as well post it here as well and see what you people think

I've recently replayed quite a few Sierra games.. and I've also finished some games I had not yet finished for some reason. And I have to say, Sierra made some fantastic adventure games!

So I'm wondering what the concensus around here is when it comes to Sierra games. I myself am a big fan of the Lucasarts adventure games but I do think Sierra made adventure games that are just as good as the ones Lucasarts made. It's hard for me to pick a favourite here, I think both Sierra and Lucasarts were fantastic back when they were making adventure games.

Of course, there are some problems that reoccur in a lot of Sierra games that I hear people complain about quite often - deaths and dead ends. It's no secret that quite a few Sierra games have plenty of dead ends making it impossible to proceed since you've forgotten to do something at an earlier part of the game to where it's impossible to go back unless you load an earlier save. Personally I don't mind this much - I always keep a lot of saves and I find that in most cases it's not unfair as it's often pretty obvious that you should not proceed without figuring certain things out first.

And deaths I don't mind at all - I think it adds a sense of danger that some games benefit from.. and often deaths are pretty damn funny. I intentionally die in many games just to see the death sequence and/or the message I get after I die (lots of very dry jokes there!).

One good thing about Sierra - they made a lot more adventure games than Lucasarts ever did. Some might say "quality over quantity" but I think Sierra kept a consistant good quality in their adventure games. And they used some fantastic hand drawn backgrounds later on when they started using 256 colors (Kings Quest 5, their first 256 color game, still looks fantastic if you ask me!).

So personally, I like both companies equally.. they both created fantastic adventure games and they both screwed it all up later on.

If you're curious, the game I had waited too long to finish and finished for the first time just now is Kings Quest 6 - I was never too keen on the Kings Quest series in general but Kings Quest 6 is really awesome! Of couse, Jane Jensen helped write the story in this one which is most likely why it's better than the other Kings Quest games. It's a fantastic game.. the only fault I could find is that it might be a little too easy.. you never really get stuck anywhere in the game, it's always pretty obvious what you're supposed to do. But the storyline, the pacing, the locations, graphics, voice acting.. it's all great!

So do you like Sierra games? How do you think they compare to Lucasarts games? I know it's a pretty silly question but I hear it all the time - "I love Lucasarts adventure games but I never really got into the Sierra ones" which I find really weird.

Dizzy · 17 August 2007, 10:58

I love Sierra game, and I collect in them too

Lucas made really really cool adventure games, but they didn't make so many, while sierra, might have made some crueler looking games, but I like the stories, and I think they made so many that you can be entertained for a long time.
Then (from a collectors point of view) the sierra box where very cool, with some interesting booklets and other stuff in, while (those lucas games I got) is more ordinary.

I love my sierra collection, and still try to expand it

then sierra released one of the best games ever (Half Life

)

laffer · 17 August 2007, 11:03

I sort of collect Sierra games as well but I do not have a very impressive collection.. it's been kind of half-hearted so far

Well, I do have quite a few games in the original boxes (such as Quest for Glory 1-5, Space Quest 1-6, several Larry and Kings Quest games, Gold Rush, the Black Cauldron, Conquest of Camelot, Conquests of the Longbow, Colonels Bequest, Dagger of Amon Ra, Codename Iceman, Police Quest 1-4, Phantasmagoria 1&2, Freddy Pharkas, Gabriel Knight Mysteries (collection of GK1&2), Gabriel Knight 3, three copies of the Roberta Williams Anthology, Leisure Suit Larry Ultimate Pleasure Pack, Quest for Glory Anthology, Police Quest collection and some others). But there is still much stuff I'd like to have, I haven't really put much effort into it for some time.

Dizzy · 17 August 2007, 11:09

I guess you know this cool site http://www.vintage-sierra.com/index.php sadly not been updated for2 years

But still worth visiting to see what should be in the box

laffer · 17 August 2007, 11:10

Thanks

I do know in most cases what is supposed to be in the box already though as I've bought more than one copy of quite a few games over the times (since I wasn't happy with the condition of the first box and stuff like that.. happens too often, sellers are quite often dishonest

).

DamienD · 17 August 2007, 15:12

I think a poll is in order

LucasArts / LucasFilm for me

laffer · 17 August 2007, 15:13

Needs another option - like them both equally

DamienD · 17 August 2007, 15:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by laffer

Needs another option - like them both equally

Done

Ironclaw · 17 August 2007, 16:25

LucasArts / LucasFilm

eLowar · 17 August 2007, 16:54

I don't dislike Sierra, they have a bunch of nice games, but Lucas games just feel more polished and the graphics generally feel more... natural. I don't know how to explain, but Sierra graphics, animations and game play always felt subtly wrong to me. At least less right than Lucas. Okay, I'll shut up now.

Shoonay · 17 August 2007, 16:57

From back-in-the-days till now, it's LucasArts / LucasFilm for me too.
Never liked the story nor the gameplay behind Sierra games... not to mention the early, blocky Amiga graphics... but I did love to read and view the PC version's reviews/solutions in magazines!

The only Sierra game that I've actually completed and kinda "enjoyed" was Phantasmagoria 2, cause of the sex scenes

... Damn... I even got the original from a friend right after getting me first PC just to enjoy the "multimedia" phenomenon every PC mag screamed about.

Graham Humphrey · 17 August 2007, 17:03

Not a great adventure game fan but I always find LucasArts' games infinitely more entertaining.

Dizzy · 17 August 2007, 19:18

Damien I think it's stupid having a poll. This thread evolv into a thread about Lucas vs sierra, and that is stupid. I dont think you can compare these to company. and as this started as a Sierra thread I think it should be kept this way. Most of the post in this thread is crap, and is just someone saying I like lucas....
I love lucas adventure game, but I also like Sierra game, but I dont want to compare these 2 companys, as I said before they are 2 diff kionds of company. But without Sierra we might not have had any lucas (and adventure games

)

So please split the thread into 2, one with the poll, and the other as it was original intended

Ironclaw · 17 August 2007, 19:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dizzy

Damien I think it's stupid having a poll. This thread evolv into a thread about Lucas vs sierra, and that is stupid. I dont think you can compare these to company. and as this started as a Sierra thread I think it should be kept this way. Most of the post in this thread is crap, and is just someone saying I like lucas....
I love lucas adventure game, but I also like Sierra game, but I dont want to compare these 2 companys, as I said before they are 2 diff kionds of company. But without Sierra we might not have had any lucas (and adventure games

)

So please split the thread into 2, one with the poll, and the other as it was original intended

You are just sayig that because your beloved Sierra is getting its ass kicked!

Dizzy · 17 August 2007, 19:35

no

but polls are mostly stupid, and make a thread turn black&white, and often ending in flamewars

DamienD · 17 August 2007, 20:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dizzy

Damien I think it's stupid having a poll. This thread evolv into a thread about Lucas vs sierra, and that is stupid. I dont think you can compare these to company. and as this started as a Sierra thread I think it should be kept this way. Most of the post in this thread is crap, and is just someone saying I like lucas....
I love lucas adventure game, but I also like Sierra game, but I dont want to compare these 2 companys, as I said before they are 2 diff kionds of company. But without Sierra we might not have had any lucas (and adventure games

)

So please split the thread into 2, one with the poll, and the other as it was original intended

Well laffer did say the following and this is why I thought it best to add a poll

Quote:

Originally Posted by laffer

So I'm wondering what the concensus around here is when it comes to Sierra games. I myself am a big fan of the Lucasarts adventure games but I do think Sierra made adventure games that are just as good as the ones Lucasarts made. It's hard for me to pick a favourite here, I think both Sierra and Lucasarts were fantastic back when they were making adventure games.

Quote:

Originally Posted by laffer

So do you like Sierra games? How do you think they compare to Lucasarts games?

...but I can see the point you are trying to make.

I've PM'd laffer, if he wants it split then I will. I already have the plan in my head

Qun Mang · 17 August 2007, 21:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ironclaw

You are just sayig that because your beloved Sierra is getting its kicked!

I just gave Sierra a little help.

LucasArts games are good, but for some reason I tended to play Sierra more. Now if you're talking which had better ports for the Amy, I would have to rescind my vote. Most recently I tried playing Castle of Dr. Brain on WinUAE, and playing the jigsaw puzzle room on the intermediate level was an extreme test of patience- I had to give up.

I then tried the DOS version thru Dosbox, and was immediately reminded just how poor the Amiga ports were in comparison to the 256 color VGA versions, as I was back in the day when I had my A500.

pbareges · 17 August 2007, 22:11

i totally agree...most of pre-VGA amiga ports are pure CGA when VGA ports are really hideous (it seems like an automated graphics translation process : palette colours 0-7 mapped to 0, 8-15 to 1....248-255 to 32)...

laffer · 17 August 2007, 23:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dizzy

but polls are mostly stupid, and make a thread turn black&white, and often ending in flamewars

I like to think adventure game fans are generally mature enough not to start crap like flamewars

laffer · 18 August 2007, 20:41

I'm on a Sierra kick these days.. finished Kings Quest 1,2,3 and 6 the last few days. Well I started with Kings Quest 6 as for some reason I'd never finished that game before

Anyway, today I finished Larry 2 again.. been years and years since the last time I played that game. It's a pretty easy game but it's still a great game.
One thing about this game though - it has a TON of dead ends! I don't think I've played any other games with as many dead ends as this one. Most are easily avoidable but there are a few you might run into. Great game though, I like the Leisure Suit Larry series (as you might guess from my nick

).

View Poll Results: Which company is your favourite adventure game creator?
LucasArts / LucasFilm	29	72.50%
Sierra	5	12.50%
I like both equally	6	15.00%
Voters: 40. You may not vote on this poll

17 August 2007, 10:49	#1
laffer Zone Friend Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Norway Age: 43 Posts: 1,335	Sierra adventure games Well, I posted this on another forum as well but I thought I might as well post it here as well and see what you people think I've recently replayed quite a few Sierra games.. and I've also finished some games I had not yet finished for some reason. And I have to say, Sierra made some fantastic adventure games! So I'm wondering what the concensus around here is when it comes to Sierra games. I myself am a big fan of the Lucasarts adventure games but I do think Sierra made adventure games that are just as good as the ones Lucasarts made. It's hard for me to pick a favourite here, I think both Sierra and Lucasarts were fantastic back when they were making adventure games. Of course, there are some problems that reoccur in a lot of Sierra games that I hear people complain about quite often - deaths and dead ends. It's no secret that quite a few Sierra games have plenty of dead ends making it impossible to proceed since you've forgotten to do something at an earlier part of the game to where it's impossible to go back unless you load an earlier save. Personally I don't mind this much - I always keep a lot of saves and I find that in most cases it's not unfair as it's often pretty obvious that you should not proceed without figuring certain things out first. And deaths I don't mind at all - I think it adds a sense of danger that some games benefit from.. and often deaths are pretty damn funny. I intentionally die in many games just to see the death sequence and/or the message I get after I die (lots of very dry jokes there!). One good thing about Sierra - they made a lot more adventure games than Lucasarts ever did. Some might say "quality over quantity" but I think Sierra kept a consistant good quality in their adventure games. And they used some fantastic hand drawn backgrounds later on when they started using 256 colors (Kings Quest 5, their first 256 color game, still looks fantastic if you ask me!). So personally, I like both companies equally.. they both created fantastic adventure games and they both screwed it all up later on. If you're curious, the game I had waited too long to finish and finished for the first time just now is Kings Quest 6 - I was never too keen on the Kings Quest series in general but Kings Quest 6 is really awesome! Of couse, Jane Jensen helped write the story in this one which is most likely why it's better than the other Kings Quest games. It's a fantastic game.. the only fault I could find is that it might be a little too easy.. you never really get stuck anywhere in the game, it's always pretty obvious what you're supposed to do. But the storyline, the pacing, the locations, graphics, voice acting.. it's all great! So do you like Sierra games? How do you think they compare to Lucasarts games? I know it's a pretty silly question but I hear it all the time - "I love Lucasarts adventure games but I never really got into the Sierra ones" which I find really weird.

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17 August 2007, 10:58	#2
Dizzy Pirate Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Denmark Posts: 3,395	I love Sierra game, and I collect in them too Lucas made really really cool adventure games, but they didn't make so many, while sierra, might have made some crueler looking games, but I like the stories, and I think they made so many that you can be entertained for a long time. Then (from a collectors point of view) the sierra box where very cool, with some interesting booklets and other stuff in, while (those lucas games I got) is more ordinary. I love my sierra collection, and still try to expand it then sierra released one of the best games ever (Half Life )

17 August 2007, 11:03	#3
laffer Zone Friend Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Norway Age: 43 Posts: 1,335	I sort of collect Sierra games as well but I do not have a very impressive collection.. it's been kind of half-hearted so far Well, I do have quite a few games in the original boxes (such as Quest for Glory 1-5, Space Quest 1-6, several Larry and Kings Quest games, Gold Rush, the Black Cauldron, Conquest of Camelot, Conquests of the Longbow, Colonels Bequest, Dagger of Amon Ra, Codename Iceman, Police Quest 1-4, Phantasmagoria 1&2, Freddy Pharkas, Gabriel Knight Mysteries (collection of GK1&2), Gabriel Knight 3, three copies of the Roberta Williams Anthology, Leisure Suit Larry Ultimate Pleasure Pack, Quest for Glory Anthology, Police Quest collection and some others). But there is still much stuff I'd like to have, I haven't really put much effort into it for some time.

17 August 2007, 11:09	#4
Dizzy Pirate Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Denmark Posts: 3,395	I guess you know this cool site http://www.vintage-sierra.com/index.php sadly not been updated for2 years But still worth visiting to see what should be in the box

17 August 2007, 11:10	#5
laffer Zone Friend Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Norway Age: 43 Posts: 1,335	Thanks I do know in most cases what is supposed to be in the box already though as I've bought more than one copy of quite a few games over the times (since I wasn't happy with the condition of the first box and stuff like that.. happens too often, sellers are quite often dishonest ).

17 August 2007, 15:12	#6
DamienD Banned Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: London / Sydney Age: 47 Posts: 20,420	I think a poll is in order LucasArts / LucasFilm for me

17 August 2007, 15:13	#7
laffer Zone Friend Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Norway Age: 43 Posts: 1,335	Needs another option - like them both equally

17 August 2007, 16:25	#9
Ironclaw Banned Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: ... Age: 45 Posts: 3,313	LucasArts / LucasFilm

17 August 2007, 16:54	#10
eLowar Citizen of Elthesh Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: UK Posts: 949	I don't dislike Sierra, they have a bunch of nice games, but Lucas games just feel more polished and the graphics generally feel more... natural. I don't know how to explain, but Sierra graphics, animations and game play always felt subtly wrong to me. At least less right than Lucas. Okay, I'll shut up now.

17 August 2007, 16:57	#11
Shoonay Global Caturator Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Porando Age: 43 Posts: 6,105	From back-in-the-days till now, it's LucasArts / LucasFilm for me too. Never liked the story nor the gameplay behind Sierra games... not to mention the early, blocky Amiga graphics... but I did love to read and view the PC version's reviews/solutions in magazines! The only Sierra game that I've actually completed and kinda "enjoyed" was Phantasmagoria 2, cause of the sex scenes ... Damn... I even got the original from a friend right after getting me first PC just to enjoy the "multimedia" phenomenon every PC mag screamed about.

17 August 2007, 17:03	#12
Graham Humphrey Moderator Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Norwich, Norfolk, UK Age: 37 Posts: 11,167	Not a great adventure game fan but I always find LucasArts' games infinitely more entertaining.

17 August 2007, 19:18	#13
Dizzy Pirate Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Denmark Posts: 3,395	Damien I think it's stupid having a poll. This thread evolv into a thread about Lucas vs sierra, and that is stupid. I dont think you can compare these to company. and as this started as a Sierra thread I think it should be kept this way. Most of the post in this thread is crap, and is just someone saying I like lucas.... I love lucas adventure game, but I also like Sierra game, but I dont want to compare these 2 companys, as I said before they are 2 diff kionds of company. But without Sierra we might not have had any lucas (and adventure games ) So please split the thread into 2, one with the poll, and the other as it was original intended

17 August 2007, 19:35	#15
Dizzy Pirate Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Denmark Posts: 3,395	no but polls are mostly stupid, and make a thread turn black&white, and often ending in flamewars

17 August 2007, 22:11	#18
pbareges Registered User Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: montreal / canada Age: 47 Posts: 722	i totally agree...most of pre-VGA amiga ports are pure CGA when VGA ports are really hideous (it seems like an automated graphics translation process : palette colours 0-7 mapped to 0, 8-15 to 1....248-255 to 32)...

18 August 2007, 20:41	#20
laffer Zone Friend Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Norway Age: 43 Posts: 1,335	I'm on a Sierra kick these days.. finished Kings Quest 1,2,3 and 6 the last few days. Well I started with Kings Quest 6 as for some reason I'd never finished that game before Anyway, today I finished Larry 2 again.. been years and years since the last time I played that game. It's a pretty easy game but it's still a great game. One thing about this game though - it has a TON of dead ends! I don't think I've played any other games with as many dead ends as this one. Most are easily avoidable but there are a few you might run into. Great game though, I like the Leisure Suit Larry series (as you might guess from my nick ).

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