Sierra: An Overview of the company's Amiga Adventure games
Title Sierra: An Overview of the company's Amiga Adventure games
Game Type Adventure
Company Sierra
Players 1
HD Installable Yes (by hand)
Compatibility various
Submission Joachim Froholt Profiled Reviewer
Seppo Typpö (groucho@pp.inet.fi) Profiled Reviewer
Overview
What is the significance of Sierra to the Amiga game playing community?
Were they simply the software house behind a collection of average
adventure games with 'Quest' in the title, and suspect graphics that
looked as though they had been badly ported from their PC origins? The
enthusiasm and dedication of far too many Amiga games players belies this
viewpoint. Sierra have left an indelible mark on the Amiga's development,
and indeed, on the development of computer games in general. The following
overview, by AGDB veteran reviewers, Joachim Froholt and Seppo Typpö, and
inspired by a usenet post from Matthias Puch, looks at the Sierra
adventure games converted to the Amiga and how they evolved as time went
by and technology improved.
In 1979, Ken Williams was programming an income tax program on a mainframe
computer 3000 miles away from his home. To be able to do this, he had to use
a teletype machine (essentially a typewriter with a modem and a printer),
from which he could access this computer. It turned out that somebody had
installed Adventure (See Note 1) on this computer, and when Ken found this
game, he and his wife, Roberta, were immediately hooked. Three weeks
later they had completed the game. Desperate for new challenges, they
borrowed a TRS-80 computer from Ken's workplace, and started playing some
games from Scott Adam's Adventure International series. While Roberta
loved these games, she felt they would be better if, instead of describing
the scenery, the games would display a picture of it. For Christmas 1979,
she and Ken gave each other an Apple II, and shortly after this, she asked
her husband to code a game that she had designed. In 1980, Mystery House
(See Note 2) was released - the first Sierra game ever, and the first
adventure game to use graphics. The game was a murder story featuring a
simple two-word text parser and basic black and white drawings, but it
became a success.
Roberta Williams proceeded to design four other text and graphics
adventures: Wizard and the Princess, Mission: Asteroid, Time Zone and The
Dark Crystal. Eventually however, Sierra got into financial problems, and
seemed to be heading towards bankruptcy, like so many other companies
involved with adventure games. They were saved when a group of men from
IBM came along and asked them to create a game especially for their latest
computer project, the PC junior. They would fund the development and
feature the game in their advertisements, all Sierra had to do was to
create a ground breaking title for them to launch with their new system.
Over a year later, in 1984, Sierra released Kings Quest to an awe-struck
computing world. This was the first adventure game ever that allowed the
player to actually move freely around the screen. The rest, as they say,
is history: Sierra became one of the largest software companies around,
and they released countless games which are considered classics.
Note 1
Adventure (the game) is generally credited to be the first adventure game
ever (hence the name of the genre). Hunt the Wumpus is older, but its not
a true adventure game - it's really a puzzle game using a text parser.
Anyway, Adventure was created by William Crowther and expanded upon by
Donald Woods way back in the early seventies. By today's standards, it's a
fairly average game, but remember that this is the original.
For more information, and different versions of the game visit this site:
http://people.delphi.com/rickadams/adventure/index.html
Note 2
Mystery House is available for free, from the Interactive Fiction
archive. It needs an Apple II emulator, and it's highly recommended,
especially if you're a fan of the genre and wish to see one of the games
which shaped it in a major way. If you're looking for a fun, playable
adventure game, however, you might want to look elsewhere. There is a
direct link to Mystery House at www.ifarchive.org.
Adventure Game Interpreter and SCI
----------------------------------
The earliest Sierra adventures were created using an advanced scripting
language. To run these games, one needed a program called AGI (Adventure
Game Interpreter). The games themselves were platform-independent, so any
platform which had a version of AGI was able to run these games. The AGI
games were in a very low resolution, 160 x 200, and they were in 16
colours. The games were controlled by text input (the Amiga version of AGI
features mouse support, though), using commands such as GET FRUIT. The
characters were controlled with the cursor keys or joystick. Examples of
AGI games are Kings Quest I-III, Police Quest I and Larry I.
The next landmark in the history of Sierra adventures came when they
started employing SCI (Sierra Creative Interpreter) instead of AGI. The
SCI0 system uses a much more advanced parser than AGI, a higher resolution
(320x240) and much better sound (the PC version of AGI used the PC Beeper
for sound, and the other versions emulated this). Mouse support is also
improved, and games pause when the player types something. Quest For Glory
I and II, as well as Police Quest II are examples of SCI0 games. SCI1 was
where Amiga owners got into trouble. SCI1 games on the PC used a 320x240
resolution and 256 colours, but the Amiga versions only used 32 colours.
This lead to a lot of ugly graphics, because Sierra didn't put enough
effort into converting it properly. SCI1 also removed the text parser, and
introduced the icon system which became standard with Sierra games. Most
later Sierra adventures for the Amiga are SCI1 games.
There has been a lot of development on the AGI front lately. On the PC, a
program called AGI Studio has allowed fans to create their own AGI games,
some of which are quite good. The good news is that these games seem to
work on the Amiga as well. The bad news is that there's not been much
testing done on this, so we can't say for sure how compatible the games
are with the Amiga. To run an AGI based game on your Amiga, unpack the AGI
archive into the data dir of, for instance, a copy of your Police Quest
installation (removing the contents except the executable). Then run the
Police Quest executable (which is the AGI interpreter), and cross your
fingers.
Why not take a look at the following AGI resource?
A Failure to Sparkle
--------------------
While few could dispute the classic status of many Sierra games there are
many Amiga owners to whom the games never appealed. Some people,
reasonably enough, are simply not interested in adventure games,
preferring to use their Amigas for other game genres. Others still, failed
to be won over by Sierra because of the low standard of graphics and audio
in many of their games, that look (and are) the result of a quick and
cheap conversion from the original PC code.
This attitude is easier to understand when you remember that many Amiga
users had become angry and frustrated during the late eighties by the
common practice of game developers porting across Atari ST games, making
no enhancements for the superior Amiga hardware. In fact the ST which ran
slightly faster than the Amiga often enjoyed a better product. When a
company like, Cinemaware or Rainbow Arts for example, developed their
games on the Amiga and succeeded in 'pushing the hardware' to deliver some
jaw-dropping results, it inspired great approval and loyalty from their
customers, and the attitude of "let's see you do that on an ST" was common.
Now with that mind-set fairly widespread, imagine entering your local
games shop to see a new title being demonstrated on the Amiga, running in
what looked like 8 rather horrible colours, straight out of the diabolical
PC pallette. It is not then difficult to understand why many people
refused to look beneath the often drab surface of the Sierra product list.
Things did slowly improve with their Amiga conversions, but never to
the point where the games looked or sounded as good as they deserved to.
What follows is Matthias Puch's breakdown of Sierra's gradual evolution.
The Four Phases of Sierra's Amiga Games
---------------------------------------
For Sierra games, there were four phases of Amiga conversions:
Phase 1: Space Quest 1 and 2, King's Quest 1-3, Police Quest 1, Leisure
Suit Larry 1, Gold Rush, Manhunter 1: New York, and Manhunter 2:
San Francisco. 1:1 conversions of the original IBM-PC ports, with
Space Quest's squeaky sound and EGA graphics.
Phase 2: Space Quest 3, King's Quest 4, Police Quest 2, Leisure Suit Larry
2 and 3, Quest for Glory 1 and 2, Colonel's Bequest, Codename:
Iceman and maybe other games. 1:1 conversions of the original IBM
graphics, but very enhanced sound which gave you samples and a
kind of "midi emulation", resulting in better sound quality that
PC people only got if they bought a sound card which would have
been twice as expensive as a complete Amiga.
Phase 3: Space Quest 4, King's Quest 5, Police Quest 3, Leisure Suit Larry
5 and others. While still quite good in the music department,
these conversions really had ugly graphics, resulting from the very
sloppy conversion of the original VGA 256 colour graphics.
Phase 4: Kings Quest 6 was actually converted by Revolution, and while
still using only 32 colours this was done so skilfully as to
create the impression of a much larger palette. The sound was
also of a higher standard.
LET THE GAMES COMMENCE
----------------------
Kings Quest: The story of Daventry
----------------------------------
The epic of Kings Quest was Sierra's flagship series, designed by Roberta
Williams herself. The first six episodes were converted to the Amiga, and
playing through them is like taking a trip through time, from the most
primitive beginnings of the graphic adventure genre to one of the most
advanced adventures which would ever run on an A500.
The adventures are set in the magical kingdom of Daventry. Faerytales and
folk stories seem to be the main inspiration for the series, and you'll
encounter pretty much everything from witches and magical beanstalks to
trolls and minotaurs. You'll be rescuing damsels in distress, searching
for valuable magical treasures, escaping the clutches of evil wizards and,
well, doing just about everything those folk story heroes ever got to do.
The first game in the series, Kings Quest I, is a straight port from
the PC version, and it suffers from this. Very poor graphics and (if
it is possible) even worse sound effects and music do not detract from
what is a very average adventure game. Character interaction is very
limited, and so is pretty much everything else. Kings Quest II seems to
continue this trend, though it is a larger game than the first one, thanks
to the fact that more memory was available for it's creators to play with.
While the first two games were more or less simple treasure hunts, Kings
Quest III features an elaborate plot where the player has to escape the
clutches of an evil wizard, and this makes the game more interesting to
play, as the puzzles are tied in with the story. Some puzzles must be
solved with the aid of magic spells - a new element to the gameplay.
The poor graphics and sound remains, though, and so do the instant
deaths and enemy monsters.
Kings Quest IV is a bit better again. This time, the player's character is
(for the first time in a Sierra adventure) a woman, namely Rosella, the
daughter of King Graham (the hero of the two first Kings Quest games). The
graphics, music and control system takes an important step forward with
this adventure, as it's the first game to feature Sierra's SCI0 system.
The game design remains very similar to it's predecessors, unfortunately,
with great amounts of instant deaths and enemy monsters chasing the player
around. Important locations are also (as in the first two games)
scattered around the landscape in a very unconvincing manner.
The fifth game in the series drops this text parser altogether and uses
the icon-driven control system which Sierra would from then on use in most
of their adventure games. This game was originally produced in 256 colours
for the PC, and the Amiga version suffers from a sloppy graphics
conversion. Kings Quest V puts you in the shoes of King Graham once again,
and this time you have to find nothing less than the missing castle and
royal family of Daventry.
The sixth and last Amiga installment of the Kings Quest series wasn't
converted by Sierra at all, but by Revolution, of Beneath A Steel Sky and
Lure of the Temptress fame. These guys knew how to utilize the resources
of the Amiga, and little can be faulted on this game. While it displays
the graphics in 32 colours instead of the PC's 256, the Revolution team
made the game look just as attractive as the PC version (probably thanks
to clever use of dithering and the slightly higher resolution on the
Amiga). The game itself is also fairly good, with a decent backstory and
reasonable puzzles, though there are some dead ends which will force you
to replay large portions of the game if you've missed an important object
early on. The prose is very good in Kings Quest VI, perhaps better than
in any other game in the series.
While the Kings Quest games represented Sierra's flagship series, it was
never their best. The earlier games suffer from average puzzle design and
poor character interaction, and while other designers advanced the puzzle
side of things significantly, Roberta Williams failed to advance from the
instant deaths, dead ends and illogical puzzles right through to the last
Kings Quest game for the Amiga. None of the games in the series, however,
are especially poor, they just haven't aged well. That said, there are
always those who like treasure hunts, and if you're that way inclined, you
may get a lot of fun from this series.
Leisure Suit Larry: the Man in Polyester
----------------------------------------
One of the first Amiga conversions Sierra did was Leisure Suit Larry.
Already a cult figure on IBM compatibles, this legendary game character
appeared on Amiga screens back in 1987, making an impact with Amiga games
players worldwide. Some hated Larry, some loved him - but he certainly
always raised strong emotions whenever conversations turned to his games.
Programmed by former school teacher Al Lowe and drawn by Mark Crowe (who
also worked on the Space Quest series), "Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of
Lounge Lizards" was distinctly different to any other Sierra offerings.
First, its plot and language were aimed towards adults (which ironically
made it very popular amongst younger male game players). Secondly, it was
more of a comedy affair than the traditional 'serious' adventure -
ridiculing in many ways some of the cliches found in other adventure
games, for example, Sierra's own Kings Quest games.
Four Larry games appeared on the Amiga before Sierra left the platform.
The first Leisure Suit Larry game revolved around the age-old problem;
finding true love. Like James Bond though, Larry could not resist sleeping
with (or actually, trying to sleep with) every woman he encountered.
The player had to guide Larry through these 'situations' and watch through
some of the most hilarious (or obnoxious, depending whether you like
'toilet humour') scenes in the computer game history.
The second Larry tamed the adult themes a lot - infact of all the games in
this series "Leisure Suit Larry 2: Looking for Love in Several Wrong
Places" is probably the most traditional adventure game of all. It is not
a bad game (some say it is the best of the series) but it lost some of the
charm of the original when Sierra tried to bring Larry to a wider (and
younger) audience.
The third in the series (subtitled "Passionate Patti in Pursuit of
Pulsating Pectorals") introduced another main figure of the series -
Passionate Patti, a woman with similar ambitions to Larry's (finding true
love). This game is divided into two different plots - the first part is
in many ways the best Larry adventure yet (with a much stronger adult
theme than in the first two games) while the second part forces the player
to see things from "the other side of the table" as he (or she) is
controlling the female figure, Passionate Patti.
The confusingly named fourth game (Leisure Suit Larry 5: Passionate Patti
Does a Little Undercover Work) is in many ways different to the three
other titles. First, it does away with the parser user interface in favour
of an icon driven one. Secondly the plot, while being promising at first
- is duller than in the other games. The graphics were greatly enchanced
(allthough Sierra's poor Amiga conversion does its best to ruin the
achievement) and the animation is better. Whether you like the new looks
of the game (or Larry himself) is a matter of opinion, but somehow the
game feels very different to the other three and is generally considered
the worst of the series.
While being a controversial character, Larry Laffer is without doubt one
of the finest game figures in the computer game world. Some people may not
like the games but even then they cannot dispute the value of the Larry
series or its tremendous impact on the history of adventure games. Larry
may otherwise be a born loser, but his games certainly struck gold.
Police Quest Protecting the Streets of Lytton
---------------------------------------------
In the Police Quest series, designed by former police officer Jim Walls
(*), you play the part of Sonny Bonds, a police officer in a city called
Lytton. Unlike the other Sierra adventures, these games aim to be as
realistic as possible, something which fascinated many players back when
the games were released. You really had to act like a proper police
officer, and do everything by the book.
While this attention to detail was originally one of the series main
selling points, it tends to make the games a little frustrating to play.
The player has to follow the police procedures strictly to the letter,
and even a slight deviation from these rules is usually punished harshly.
While this offers additional challenge it also creates some frustration as
the player can quite easily end up in situations where restoring the game
is the only viable option. Every game in the Police Quest series come with
a comprehensive manual where the proper police procedures are outlined,
and playing these games without manuals is next to impossible.
Police Quest I follows Sonny Bonds in pursuit of a particularily
hard-boiled drug dealer known as the Death Angel. While catching the Death
Angel is the ultimate goal of the game, Sonny comes across plenty of other
things in his quest. Drunk drivers, sexy traffic violators and renegade
bikers are just some of the obstacles facing the player. This makes the
game quite interesting to play, as you can never be sure what's behind the
next corner. It has to be said though, that the text parser in Police
Quest I leaves something to be desired, especially as you'll need to type
in some pretty complex commands in the course of the game.
Police Quest II sees the return of the Death Angel, and this time he's out
for revenge. The design of Police Quest II is quite similar to that of the
first game, with a strong background story and several smaller encounters
during the course of the game. There are a couple of important changes
though. First of all, the driving sequences have been radically changed.
In the original, you had to manually drive from location to location, and
this frustrated a lot of adventure players, because it was very easy to
suffer an accident and end up dead. In this game, you just have to tell
the game where you want to go, and the computer takes care of the rest.
However, the second game introduces a new, equally frustrating, gameplay
feature: Gunfights. Prepare to save and restore a lot...
The third episode uses the same game format as its predecessors, but with
a couple of notable exceptions. First, the user interface changed into
Sierra's own icon-driven one and secondly, the graphics and sound were
greatly enhanced. The poor colour scheme makes the Amiga version look
pretty ugly but the sound effects and especially the music (written by Jan
"Miami Vice" Hammer) are much better than in earlier Police Quest games.
The gameplay benefits from the easier interface, although it still suffers
from the same problems the earlier episodes did. Still, the gripping
storyline which unravels as player progress through the game, together
with well thought-out puzzles and an exciting 'who dunnit' atmosphere are
enough to make this game a worthy addition to the Police Quest series and
also to the collection of any serious adventure game fan.
In fact, this is true for the entire series. If you're used to modern
adventures, you'll find plenty to get frustrated over in the Police Quest
saga, but if you persist, you will definitely enjoy your stay in Lytton.
(*) Jim Walls didn't design the entire PQ series, Daryl F. Gates (former
Los Angeles Police Chief) took over with Police Quest 4: Open Season, though
this and later games were never converted to the Amiga. Police Quest 3 was
the last Police Quest game starring Sonny Bonds.
Space Quest: Beam me up, Scotty!
-------------------------------
The Space Quest series is the brainchild of Mark Crowe and Scott Murphy
(The self proclaimed 2 Guys From Andromeda). It tells the ongoing saga of
Roger Wilco, Space Janitor Extraordinaire. This true anti-hero finds
himself (again and again) in the middle of galactic crises, somehow
always managing to squirm his way out of them.
If the Larry series were aimed towards adults (and Benny Hill fans) and
the Kings Quest series lured in the kids, the Space Quest games were very
much targetted towards Science Fiction fans. Not the so called 'serious'
fans who only read Clarke and watch Kubrick, but those who also watch Star
Wars and Star Trek and get their kicks from reading Douglas Adams (RIP).
The Space Quest games borrow their gags freely from these successful SF
movies and books - and then make a mockery of them. The more you know
about 'essential' SF TV series and films the more you enjoy the subtle
hints and innuendo the Space Quest games contain. All is not lost,
however, for those players who do not know George Lucas from Ridley Scott
- the humour in these games is still quite universal and manages to
provide a laugh even if you don't have the slightest idea what a 'phaser'
or 'light sabre' is.
The main character of the series is a young man called Roger Wilco. In the
eyes of the adventure games players, Roger has become a similar cult icon
to Sierra's other big star, Larry Laffer. Roger, while being a similar
social underachiever to the Man in Polyester, is closer to an ordinary
man than the Buck Rogers' and James T. Kirks of this world. Therefore it
is very easy for the player to relate to this lovable character who,
despite being a humble janitor, seems to drift into trouble wherever he
travels or whatever he does.
Like all the Sierra's game series, the Space Quest game graphics and sound
were pretty poor in the first games (Space Quest One and Two) but were
enchanced in later episodes (Space Quest three and four). Sadly, Sierra
never really bothered to push the technological boundaries in their
Amiga conversions which meant even their very last Amiga Space Quest
conversion (the remake of Space Quest I) was not really an audiovisual
masterpiece. Considering the popularity of the series on the Amiga, this
is somewhat sad.
Still, it is the humorous plot that really matters, and the stories the
Space Quest games tell are all highly entertaining. The virtual universe
these games create (complete with excellent characters) is astonishing;
witnessing Roger's deadly encounters with characters like Arnold the
Annihilator or the dreaded Sludge Vohaul, or seeing him dining out in
places like the Monolith Burgers space station (whose logo will be very
familiar to fans of fast food) really draws the player into a world where
nobody,
and I mean Nobody (okay, except your family and neighbours),
can hear you laugh.
Colonel's Bequest
-----------------
While Roberta Williams and Jim Walls are best known from their Kings Quest
and Police Quest series these two Sierra old-timers have also designed
some not so well known games which also found their way to Amiga computer
screens.
Colonel's Bequest was a gallant attempt to convert a mystery story
(reminiscent of those Agatha Christie novels) to a computer game. In some
ways this gamble succeeded - the game has all the marks of a classic Sierra
adventure but the complicated gameplay (complete with irritating dead-ends
if you failed to pick up the critical clues) just did not inspire the
typical Sierra adventure fans.
Codename: Iceman
----------------
Codename: Iceman is a typical Jim Walls game - in fact if the game did
not include an in-built submarine simulation, Sierra could have changed
the name of the game to 'Police Quest XXX' and punters would not have
noticed. The intriguing spy story is riddled with action sequences where
you need to follow the exact procedures as laid down in the manual. Failing
to do so results in sudden deaths and other annoyances - all of which
continue to frustrate the impatient player. People who likes Police Quest
games will adapt to these gameplay features much quicker that others -
nevertheless, the game remains quite good if you can endure these "reading
ability tests".
Goldrush
--------
Three of the lesser know Sierra Amiga games are Goldrush and the two
Manhunter games. Goldrush, as an adventure game, goes down in gaming
history as an interesting experiment - it was one of the first games which
allowed multiple storylines - there were three different routes to
complete the game which certainly added some lastability. The plot is not
bad either - telling an intriguing story of a young man who decides to go
West during the big Gold Rush in California. Although the graphics and
sound leave a lot to be desired this game is without doubt one of the
finer Sierra titles.
Manhunter
---------
The Manhunter, games (namely Manhunter 1: New York, and Manhunter 2:
San Francisco) are quite an odd couple amongst the other Sierra titles.
Their icon based user interface is completely original and the graphics
(which use first person perspective!) contain lots of visual violence -
players have to deal with close-ups from brutally butchered corpses and
other hideous things.
Designed by Dave, Barry and Dee Dee Murry, the puzzles in these games
needed much more logical thinking than those usually found in Sierra
adventures. The games also contain some arcade sequences that are somewhat
frustating. The stories these two games tell will instantly appeal to
science fiction and hardcore adventure fans - ordinary gamers will
probably be put off by the crude graphics and tough puzzles and find the
games much less appealing.
The Quest for Glory
-------------------
The Quest for Glory series, designed by Lori Ann Cole, is a unique blend
of adventure, action and roleplaying. Instead of controling a pre-defined
character, like Larry Laffer or Sonny Bonds, you get to create your own
character at the beginning of each game. You can select from three
different classes (Fighter, Thief and Magic User), and the gameplaying
experience will vary according to the choice you make here. Also, you will
be able to distribute a number of experience points on a selection of
skills and abilities - again, the way you will make your way through the
games will vary according to your character's strenghts and weaknesses.
The first game in the series, subtitled 'So You Want To Be A Hero?' is set
in the germanic valley of Spielburg. The people are growing poor as rogue
brigands ambush traders and other travellers on their way to and from the
valley. The baron of Spielburg lacks the power and will to rectify the
situation. There is definite need for a hero.
As you start playing the game, you notice how the roleplaying and action
elements enhances the gameplay. Your character will need to eat and sleep,
preferably in a safe place - dangers are found almost everywhere, and you
will have to fight to survive if you plan on exploring the forest around
Spielburg village. Time passes as in the real world, and the gameworld
changes accordingly. People can be found at different places at different
times, and at night, the dangers of the wilderness are an even greater
threat than during the the daytime. Getting stuck outside the village
gates when darkness sets in is definitely a bad idea unless you've got a
powerful character.
Quest for Glory I is a non-linear game. This means that you can select
what to do and when to do it. There are several smaller quests for you to
perform, few of which are neccessary, but completing them will always help
you out in some way or other. Money play an important part of the game,
and there are a variety of ways for you to earn it, ranging from
cleaning the baron's stables to selling herbs to the healer. A character
with good fighting skills will find that enemies often carry gold, and a
thief will have other opportunities to 'earn' his living. The freedom
which you're given in Quest for Glory I is remarkable, and very few
adventures offer anything even remotely similar.
Other characters inhabit the valley as well. They all feel real, and it is
possible to talk with them about a large variety of subjects. Since the
game employs a text interface, the conversations are entirely created by
you - there are no preset choices to select. This works remarkably well in
Quest for Glory I, and it works even better in the sequel.
Quest for Glory II: Trial by Fire continues the story of your hero, but
this time it's set in the sprawling city of Shapeir and it's desert
surroundings. Shapeir's sister city, Raseir, has been taken over by an
evil wizard, and it is feared that the same will happen to Shapeir unless
someone can stop him. Quest for Glory II is a better game than it's
predeccessor in most ways - it's bigger, the plot is richer and the game
world is even more detailed. Quest for Glory II contains some of the most
interesting characters ever seen in an adventure game. The game is much
more linear than it's prequel, though you still have an impressive amount
of freedom.
Both the Quest for Glory games were groundbreaking when they first came
out, and they still feel totally different from most other adventure games
out there. Not everyone likes the mix of roleplaying and adventure
elements found in these games, but those who give them a fair chance tend
to end up very satisfied indeed.
_______________________________
What we have covered in this article is a decade of Amiga games, from
Kings Quest in 1986 to Kings Quest VI in 1994 The story of Sierra didn't
end with Kings Quest VI, their final Amiga title, the company is still
active on other formats, publishing and developing top quality titles.
Unfortunately, very little remain of the Sierra that we once knew - Ken
and Roberta Williams sold it in 1996, and the new owners got rid of most
of the old Sierra staff in 1999, when Yosemite Entertainment was closed
down. Yosemite had, in the Williams' years, been the centre of Sierra's
project development, and most (all?) of the titles discussed in this
article were created there. The modern Sierra seems uninterested in the
adventure genre though, perhaps because the resources needed to produce
adventure games these days, coupled with their performance in the market
place, make them less profitable than action and strategy games.
While Sierra continues to hold a strong position as a software house,
sadly the real heroes aren't a part of the company any more. Roberta and
Ken Williams, Lori and Corey Cole, Al Lowe, Jim Walls and all the others:
Thanks for everything.
Further Reading:
Category list.
Alphabetical list.