[ATMachine]

Toefur: You're welcome! I'll be posting some comparisons with KQ5 EGA and VGA soon, so keep reading.

Fov: I'm not saying the Mac intro is cut down compared to the PC CD... it's cut down compared to the PC disk intro, too.

That demo I linked to is the KQ6 PC floppy's introduction, and it still has a lot of dialogue and animation that the Mac version left out entirely. Check it out if you haven't already; you'll see what I mean.

[fov]

Originally Posted by ATMachine

That demo I linked to is the KQ6 PC floppy's introduction, and it still has a lot of dialogue and animation that the Mac version left out entirely. Check it out if you haven't already; you'll see what I mean.

I watched it last night (and realized that I'd seen it before). The dialogue still makes me wince.

Anyone know how many disks the PC disk version had, and how big it is on the hard drive when you do a full install?

[Aurebesh]

Originally Posted by ATMachine

Thanks for the info, Aurebesh. I added Rise of the Dragon to the list of EGA conversions on my SQ1 remake/SQ4 screenshots page.

Well, since you don't limit yourself to adventure games, you should add Jones in the Fast Lane to your list.

Originally Posted by ATMachine

(I'm not even going to touch Mixed-Up Mother Goose. That game had almost too many versions over time to count! )

It's missing from your list, though. Here's a rundown of Mother Goose PC versions:

- Mixed-Up Mother Goose AGI
- Mixed-Up Mother Goose SCI0
- Mixed-Up Mother Goose SCI1 EGA
- Mixed-Up Mother Goose SCI1 VGA
- Mixed-Up Mother Goose SCI1 CD-ROM
- Mixed-Up Mother Goose Deluxe

The only version that should appear on your list is the SCI1 version (I know there's three of them, but all you need to write is Mixed-Up Mother Goose SCI1 or something). Very simple, actually.

Originally Posted by Jeysie

Was it the CD version that had an EGA option? I remember when I was going through the game's sound files for my website I was puzzled by coming across several files that sounded like the Narrator describing the intro scene.

How did you find the WAVs? Did you extract them from the RESOURCE.AUD file, or did you actually find WAV files?

Originally Posted by ATMachine

**************************
Oh, here's the full text introduction for KQ6, typed out by me, with all sentence fragments and misplaced commas intact.
**************************

BTW, did you check to see if the text version of the floppy intro has identicle text?

Originally Posted by fov

Anyone know how many disks the PC disk version had, and how big it is on the hard drive when you do a full install?

Well, I got the game on 15 1.2MB (5.25") diskettes, and once installed the game takes about 15MB of disk space.

[RLacey]

I have an EGA version of Mixed Up Fairy Tales (not to be confused with Mother Goose). Did that also have a separate VGA version?

[Jeysie]

Originally Posted by Aurebesh

How did you find the WAVs? Did you extract them from the RESOURCE.AUD file, or did you actually find WAV files?

Yeah, I extracted them from the resource.aud file. There's a lot of neat stuff in there. (There's also the resource.sfx file which, in addition to the expected SFX, has alternate voice files for the intro, read by Sierra employees, I'm guessing.)

Peace & Luv, Liz

[fov]

Originally Posted by RLacey

I have an EGA version of Mixed Up Fairy Tales (not to be confused with Mother Goose). Did that also have a separate VGA version?

Yes.

[BerserkerTails]

Oh man... Mixed Up Fairy Tales. I used to have the VGA version of that, I'd actually forgotten completely about that game's existance until right now. I wish I could find my disks for it... But I haven't been able to find them in years.

[RLacey]

It's a shame that the game has one of the most inexcusable bugs of all time. Though you can attempt the tales in any order, you have to do them in a particular order or they become impossible ...

Just another example of the magic of Sierra .

[Aurebesh]

Originally Posted by RLacey

I have an EGA version of Mixed Up Fairy Tales (not to be confused with Mother Goose). Did that also have a separate VGA version?

Oh right, I forgot about that one. ATMachine, add this one and Hoyle Book of Games 3, and you got yourself a complete list

Originally Posted by Jeysie

Yeah, I extracted them from the resource.aud file. There's a lot of neat stuff in there. (There's also the resource.sfx file which, in addition to the expected SFX, has alternate voice files for the intro, read by Sierra employees, I'm guessing.)

So where did you extract the "narrator reading the EGA intro" files that you mentioned a few posts earlier? from the SFX or AUD? And can you please direct me to the extracting tool that you used? Thanks.

[Jeysie]

Originally Posted by Aurebesh

So where did you extract the "narrator reading the EGA intro" files that you mentioned a few posts earlier? from the SFX or AUD? And can you please direct me to the extracting tool that you used? Thanks.

From the AUD file. At least, I think they match... they certainly sound familiar, although it'll be a while before I really get to go through things. (Be warned that there's over 6000 files, though... )

As for the tool I use, it's called Game Audio Player. It's a very awesome freeware program that can extract audio from a wide variety of games.

Peace & Luv, Liz

[Aurebesh]

I'm sorry, but I was wrong earlier when I said the Mother Goose also belongs on ATMachine's list. The SCI1 version of Mother Goose never had a seperate EGA release. Sorry for the disinformation...

So, here's the real Mother Goose PC versions list:
- Mixed-Up Mother Goose AGI
- Mixed-Up Mother Goose SCI0
- Mixed-Up Mother Goose VGA CD-ROM
- Mixed-Up Mother Goose VGA floppy
- Mixed-Up Mother Goose Deluxe


On a different subject, I thought I'd post two screenshots that I took that will show the difference between the EGA version of KQ5 and the VGA version when it uses an EGA driver:

EGA version (driver EGA320.DRV)


VGA version, using driver EGA640.DRV

[RLacey]

I find it interesting just how different those backgrounds are, and I'm not talking about the visual quality. The flowers are different, along with the dimensions of one of the trees and of the chimney. And I'm sure those aren't the only differences ...

[amitavc]

Quest for Glory I: So You Want to be a Hero? (named Hero's Quest: So You Want to be a Hero? upon it's release) started as a 16 color game. Later upon the release of Wages of War; Sierra also announced a 256 color remake with Claymation enemy art and its color pallete as its main shift in design. Also more blatant references to actions in Quest for Glory II appeared as well if I remember correctly.

[After a brisk nap]

A bunch of EGA games were remade in VGA. That's not the same thing as being published in both formats on release.

[Aurebesh]

Right. The SCI1 rerelease of QFG1 is so different from the original SCI0 release, that it's almost like they're two different games. This is not the topic of this thread.

[amitavc]

BAH. pays to read completely.

[ATMachine]

All right, I've been promising it for days, so here it is: The King's Quest 5 EGA/VGA screenshot comparison page.
This one is even more massive than the SQ page: Dialup users are warned.

A sampling:

EGA


VGA disk


EGA


VGA disk


VGA CD

EDIT: If the pictures don't all work at first, keep refreshing the page: some of them have an odd tendency not to show up. Dang Photobucket.

[Toefur]

Man, this is so awesome. Keep it coming if you've got any more...

[hwm]

Just for the record (since most of the information in this thread is accurate), the games that have a seperate EGA release are SCI1. Later Sierra switched to what seemed a small step (both visually and version number wise) SCI 1.1, mostly called SCI11. However, internally, both systems are way different.

When SCI11 was being used, Sierra stopped releasing seperate EGA versions. SCI11 games were released with the "dither" driver EGA640.DRV. This technique was already used in older games, even Sierra's own Gamearts collaboration-games. However, this video-mode uses 64K video memory, instead of the 32K used in the "normal" EGA mode and most CGA/EGA systems probably didn't have that back then.

Anyway, some time ago I ran into the EGA versions when compiling this Sierra games version list... Anyone interested can find it here, among with some other Sierra stuff (debug modes, etc.) :

http://sierra.8bit.co.uk/

[ATMachine]

hwm: Thanks for the info!

Toefur: I don't have any other Sierra EGA releases of VGA games, so I can't make any more pages.

I have, however, greatly expanded my page comparing EGA to VGA for the Space Quest 1 remake and SQ4. The previous number of images has about doubled, so if you're still interested, go see the new ones.