October 2009

Quickie Retro Notes
Submitted Friday, October 30, 2009 - 1:12:37 AM by Klaitu

Now that I've got my collection almost done, I thought I would go through and share a thought or two about the specific games in my colletion:

- 221 B Baker Street

I've never been able to do much in this game.. but then again, I haven't really tried. I like Sherlock Holmes though, and I look forward to beating it.

- Apollo 18

This game is nearly impossible to complete, even for me, a bonafide space nerd. You've really got to know your stuff.

- Below the Root

It's fun to play around with, but I've never beaten it. I'm not actually sure exactly what I'm supposed to be doing in it.

- Betrayal at Krondor

I could best describe this game as "mediocre" but better than Neverwinter Nights.

- Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure

This game is horrible, I keep it around because hearing Bill and Ted scream "EXCELLENT" via low quality PC speaker is worth every penny.

- Buck Rogers Countdown to Doomsday

The Genesis version is better, but this version isn't bad. Tactical/Strategic Gameplay.

- Buck Rogers Matrix Cubed

More of the same.

- Buzz Aldrin's Race into Space

More like "Buzz Aldrin's incredibly difficult space race simulator". I have yet to beat the Russians to the moon.. but I will! Oh, yes, I WILL!

- Castle of Dr. Brain

A puzzle game for kids, never beat it.

- Castles

A game where you build castles and defend them against attackers. Castles has 2 difficulty modes: Easy and Impossible.

- Castles II: Siege & Conquest

It's not much like the first castles game. Could be great, but with no manual, I am not exactly sure how to play it.

- Civilization

Where it all began. I have to admit though, Civilization has less appeal than Civ 3 or 4.

- Codename: Iceman

An underrated Sierra game by the creator of Police Quest. This game has the most insidious document copy protection ever.

- Colonization

It's like Civilization but suckier.

- Conan the Cimmerian

An action game that really isn't all that great, but features scantily clad females.

- Conquests of Camelot

The only game where if you don't offer money to both Jesus and Baal the pagan god, you get smited by one or the other.

- Conquests of the Longbow: The Legend of Robin Hood

The game is not as cool as the opening sequence.

- Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf

The Genesis version is better, though this version is higher resolution.

- Donald Duck's Playground

One of Al Lowe's first games. Al Lowe you might know better as the creator of Leisure Suit Larry. This game is mainly for completeness of the Sierra collection, because it blows.

- ecoQuest: The Search for Cetus

An adventure game about cleaning dolphins. Nice music though.

- ecoQuest 2: Lost Secret of the Rainforest

Once you've cleaned the dolphins, it's time to hug some trees.

- Elite

The original and still king of the Space Life Simulator.

- Elite 2: First Encounters

Technically superior, but practically inferior to the original.

- Elite 2: Frontier

More of the same.

- Elite Plus

A graphically updated version of the original.

- Flashback: The Quest for Identity

The Genesis version is better, but the PC version has longer cutscenes.

- Flight of the Amazon Queen

It came about 4 years too late as an adventure game, and it's inferior to those of the golden age. Still worth a playthrough if you've never played it though.

- Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist (CD Version)

A twist ending worthy of M Night Shylaman.

- Future Wars

Still can't find the manual for it, and thus can't play it.

- Gabriel Knight 2: The Beast Within (Windows 3.1)

It may be the most difficult Sierra game ever made. Also, being stuck on Windows 3.1 doesn't help.

- Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers (CD Version)

I've already reviewed it. Suffice to say: it's a masterpiece.

- Gobliiins

Boriiing. It's there to complete the Sierra collection.

- Gold Rush!

Sierra's version of "The Oregon Trail" It's not easy, but it makes sense until the very end, where it uses cheap tricks to kill you. If you beat this game, you deserve it.

- Heart of China

Amusing romantic comedy locked camera adventure game.

- Heroes of the 357th

A decent P-51 flight simulator.

- Hoyle Official Book of Games Volume 1

Provides the novel experience of playing cards vs Sierra characters.

- Hoyle Official Book of Games Volume 2

Do you like Solitaire? There are 20 different kinds here! Snore.

- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Probably Lucasfilm Games' best constucted and least obscure adventure games.

- Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis

A respectable Indiana Jones game on par with Last Crusade.

- Jones in the Fast Lane (CD Version)

Teaches kids how to make money by working a job.

- Karateka

Prince of Persia with karate and no jumping.

- King's Quest I: The Quest for the Crown

The original version makes more sense than the 1990 re-release. Not particularly difficult. The AGD Interactive remake is free, and pretty much identical. agdinteractive.com

- King's Quest II: Romancing the Throne

Compared to the first one, King's Quest 2 is mega hard. AGD Interactive remake is available, but is completely different from the original.

- King's Quest III: To Heir is Human

Very liberal and exacting use of copy protection here. The first section is quite difficult because you have a time limit. After that, it's pretty easy. Very freeform for a Sierra title of this era.

- King's Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella

This is probably the longest Sierra game. I'd say it was "somewhat difficult" but not impossible. Some cheap tricks in the waterfall cave though.

- King's Quest V: Abscence Makes the Heart Go Yonder

Sierra's first point and click adventure, and it shows. It's a good blend of the old technology and mouse technology though.

- King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow (CD Version)

My favorite King's Quest contains a plethora of "good" endings in addition to all the "death" endings you would normally get.

- King's Quest VII: The Princeless Bride (Windows 3.1)

The best word to describe this game would be "vomit-tastic". This is the last adventure game King's Quest game.

- Leisure Suit Larry 1: In the Land of the Lounge Lizards

The art style of the original is better than the remake.

- Leisure Suit Larry 2: Looking for Love

One of the hardest Sierra games ever made. Hard, but funny.

- Leisure Suit Larry 3: Passionate Patti in Pursuit of the Pulsating Pectorals

Also not particularly easy.

- Leisure Suit Larry 5: Passionate Patti Does A Little Undercover Work

The first Leisure Suit Larry game to actually contain pixelated nudity, though not much.

- Leisure Suit Larry 6: Shape Up Or Slip Out

A solid Larry game, but does not continue the story of the first 4 games.

- Les Manley in the Search for the King

A lamer version of Leisure Suit Larry. Also very hard.

- LOOM CD

Another game I would describe as a masterpiece.

- Manhunter New York

An attempt to capitalize on Blade Runner. It's meh.

- Manhunter San Francisco

Also Meh.

- Master of Orion

You can't call yourself a nerd unless you own MOO. Trouble is, it's really not all that fun to play anymore.

- Mixed Up Fairy Tales

No other game will reveal your complete lack of knowledge of Fairy Tales. You think you know them? You're wrong, and this game.. made for 5 year olds.. will beat you into submission with that lack of knowledge.

- Mixed Up Mother Goose

You thought you had it bad with Fairy Tales? Well guess what. This game will kick your butt with obscure Mother Goose knowledge. I'm not kidding. Try it if you dare.

- Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge

The most annoying thing about this game is the title. It's the sequel to "The Secret of Monkey Island" which is in the S's.

- Oregon Trail Deluxe

Have you died of Dysentery yet? You will.. you will.

- Out Of This World / Another World

It's like flashback with lasers and less plot.

- Phantasmagoria (Windows 3.1)

A good halloween game that consumes 8 CD's of space. It's also CRAZY HARD. It's also pretty gross.

- Pirates

Yarr, the original ye be nearly unplayable now that there's an Xbox version out.

- Police Quest 1: In Pursuit of the Death Angel

The original is better than the remake. Pretty easy game if you can make the same decision a police officer would make.

- Police Quest 2: The Vengeance

A solid Police Quest game that has some cheap tricks at the end that really knock it down a peg.

- Police Quest 3: The Kindred

I'm going to spoil the cheap trick in this one: your partner will kill you just before the credits if you don't investigate her from the very beginning of the game. If you miss one little bit of that investigation, you're going to lose.

- Police Quest 4: Open Season

Doesn't continue the plot of the first 3 Police Quest games. Very hard, but complex storyline.

- Prince of Persia

Karateka, with swords and jumping.

- Prince of Persia 2

An even harder version of Prince of Persia with better graphics.

- Princess Maker 2

A pretty good game from Japan. 40 some different endings.

- Quest for Glory 1: So You Want to Be A Hero (VGA Version)

The remake is better than the original.. it's got monsters carved out of clay!

- Quest for Glory 2: Trial by Fire

An otherwise excellent game that contains tons and tons of maze running. There's an AGD Interactive version available. agdinteractive.com

- Quest for Glory 3: Wages of War

This game is awesome because it's rare that an RPG is set in Africa.

- Quest for Glory 4: Shadows of Darkness (CD Version)

An RPG set in Transylvania.. or its equivalent. Clever plotlines and plenty of humor. John Rhys Davies is in it. It's good!

- Rex Nebular

An extremely buggy game I've never been able to beat.

- Rise of the Dragon

Blade Runner vs the Chinese Mafia. Thumbs up for style, but the game is difficult.

- Scorched Earth

The best version of "artillery" ever made.

- Sentinel Worlds 1

A space based RPG so complex that there was never a sequel, despite the 1 on the end of the title.

- Shuttle

I'm convinced that in order to beat this game, you must actually know how to fly a shuttle.

- Silpheed

Meh. It's there for the Sierra collection.

- Sopwith

Biplane WW1 game where you bomb tiny buildings with enormous bombs. Simple but difficult.

- Space Quest 1: Roger Wilco in the Sarien Encounter (VGA Version)

The remake is better than the original.

- Space Quest 2: Vohaul's Revenge

The quintessential Space Quest.

- Space Quest 3: The Pirates of Pestulon

Solid game throughout.

- Space Quest 4: Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers (CD Version)

The most epic version of Space Quest there is. solid plot, Solid gameplay, solid puzzles.

- Space Quest 5: Roger Wilco and the Next Mutation

A solid game in its own right, but doesn't have the epic feel of SQ4.

- Space Quest 6: Roger Wilco in the Spinal Frontier

The highest quality Space Quest game, but probably not the best. Still solid. Lots of Space nerd jokes.

- Star Control 1

Like being concerned about your space fuel? Here's a game for you!

- Star Control 2

More of the same with better graphics.

- Star Control 3

Take the already difficult Star Control series and make it even harder, and then make it hard to control.

- Star Trek 25th Anniversary

Probably the best Star Trek game ever made.

- Star Trek Judgment Rites

More of the same, except better graphics.

- Star Trek The Next Generation A Final Unity

Very very hard game with the voices of the original cast and crazy resolution for a DOS game. Visual Effects are top notch.

- Starflight

One of the very first Electronic Arts games. Also not easy.

- Street Rod 1

Racing for pink slips in the 1950's.

- Street Rod 2

Racing for pink slips in the 1970's.

- Super Offroad

You've probably played the arcade version. The PC version is pretty much the same thing.

- Syndicate

A neat 4 player tactical sim that is very buggy and crashes a lot.

- Tales of the Unknown Volume 1: The Bard's Tale

Not as good as it's reputation.

- The Adventures of Willy Beamish

The best Dynamix game ever made. The CD version is a must-have.

- The Bard's Tale II: The Destiny Knight

RPG. Bard's Tale. What else do you want?

- The Bard's Tale III: Thief of Fate

More of the same.

- The Black Cauldron

Sierra/Disney movie tie-in. It's.. ok.

- The Colonel's Bequest

Mystery adventure. I've reviewed it before. One of the hardest Sierra games.

- The Dagger of Amon Ra

Classy mystery adventure. Not as hard as Colonel's Bequest, but still hard.

- The Legend of Kyrandia

I haven't played it all the way through, but it's a cool mix of Adventure and RPG. Looking forward to beating it.

- The Secret of Monkey Island

A solid game. Solutions to puzzles are a little ridiculous. There's an xbox live arcade version.

- Thexder

Impossible to beat game from Japan.

- Thexder 2: Fire Hawk

An even more impossibler game from Japan.

- Torin's Passage

Meh.

- Ultima 0: Akalabeth

Awesome in it's day, now painful to play.

- Ultima 1: The First Age of Darkness

More of the same.

- Ultima 2: Revenge of the Enchantress

Again, more of the same.

- Ultima 3: Exodus

Getting closer now.

- Ultima 4: Quest of the Avatar

The first truly playable Ultima game.

- Ultima 5: Warriors of Destiny

Probably my favorite Ultima plot.

- Ultima 6: The False Prophet

Good plot, good graphics, we're getting somewhere.

- Ultima 7: The Black Gate

There we are. The Perfect Ultima game.

- Ultima 8: Pagan

Whoops, we went a little too far.

- Ultima Underworld 2: Labyrinth of Worlds

Ugh.

- Ultima Underworld: Stygian Abyss

More Ugh.

- Ultima Worlds of Adventure 2: Martian Dreams

The Avatar on Mars? I am not sure I want to go there.

- Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?

Only a keen knowledge of Geography will stop her.

- Wing Commander

Awesome.

- Wing Commander 2: Vengeance of the Kilrathi

Less Awesome, but still good.

- Wing Commander 3: Heart of the Tiger

Awesome.

- Wing Commander 4: The Price of Freedom

The best Wing Commander game.

- Wing Commander Academy

Lame.

- Wing Commander Armada

Way better multiplayer than singleplayer. Hope you have an IPX network.

- Wing Commander Privateer

Good, but not as good as people say.

- Wing Commander Privateer Righteous Fire

Pretty much the same as the first one.

- Worlds of Ultima: The Savage Empire

Meh.



The Childhood Gaming Project
Submitted Thursday, October 29, 2009 - 11:55:11 PM by Klaitu

So, a few years ago I began to collect all the old PC games that for whatever reason, I no longer had the disks for. Today, we are used to games on disc, but these games are pre-CD. Many of them are on floppy disks.

I've written about my struggles in getting the games to play, and how DOSbox and D-Fend have solved my every DOS gaming problem.. but I've never written about all the work that I've put into it. Now that I've spent over 6 years doing it and I'm almost done, I figured now is as good a time as any.

When I was a wee nerdlet in Jr High school, some friends and I started up a computer club at school. We got together with other kids and we would trade games around at lunchtime. My best friend at the time and I began to be the kingpins of the video game trade, as it were. Thinking about it now, we were pretty much a miniature software piracy ring.

My friend and I had a large assortment of PC games personally, and we started out with only trading.. but we didn't want to give out our original disks to someone else in case they didn't get returned.. so we made copies, and we lent those out to the other kids.

As software companies are apt to do, they tried to copy-protect the games. They would format the disk with an exactly specific number of bytes, and if your copy didn't do that too, the game wouldn't work. They had other methods too, but the number 1 primary copy protection was document copy protection.

Document copy protection is when the game asks you a question, and the only answer is in the manual.. so in order to get around that, you had to have a copy of the manual. All this did was make it harder because we went so far as to make copies of the manuals as well.

Some developers would get sneaky and require you to look through colored cellophane to read the answers in question. When that happened, we merely wrote the information out longhand and copied that. Heck, what else were we supposed to be doing in study hall? Study? Sheesh. We copied entire manuals longhand at times. Codewheels? Please, it's just a fancy way to draw a table.

At any rate, we overcame all of these issues, and we lent our games out in exchange for a game that they had.. and since they gave us their original disks most of the time, we just made copies of those just as if they were our own. Of course, we also tried to exchange manuals whenever possible, but that document copy protection did foul us up from time to time if the other kid didn't give us the manual.

Once we had the game copied, we returned their original disks, and eventually we got our copies back from them as well, ready to be lent to some other kid with a game.. and there were plenty of kids in the school to trade with. By Christmas we had 20 kids in the group.. so many kids that I had to make membership cards and keep records of who had what, because we also facilitated trade between kids and other kids if we already had the game they had to offer up.

Sometimes we would be locked with the older members because we had all their games, and they had all our games, so we would trade kid 1 to kid 2 in order to get his game to trade to kid 3 to get his game that we didn't have, so that we could trade it to kid 4 and get another game that neither of us had before.

It was just one year, but in that year we amassed a ridiculous number of games, and we went through hundreds of diskettes. We had so many games that we nearly completed the entire Sierra library as it was in 1991. Kids were bringing out their ancient old games like Karateka, Sopwith, and Ultima 2 so they could hook up with some of our more recent games.

This was the year that I was transferred out of public school and into Christian schools, where the software piracy rings were virtually nonexistant. My friend, however, stayed in the public school and I still helped him do the copies. We even made a copy of the CD version of Police Quest: Open Season which took up 50 diskettes when we were done and took hours upon hours to reinstall and construct properly on a hard drive.

The invention of CD's and our seperation in schooling led to the downfall of our little league software piracy ring.. but I still retained all the games I had from that era.

That was in the early 1990's.. even before Windows 95 was invented. Fast forward to 2003!

Did you know that diskettes have a shelf life? Well, they do. They say it's 10 years, but it's not, because many of my original diskettes still worked, despite being more than 15 years old.. though nobody knows exactly when a diskette might go bad, I decided to pull all the games off them and put them onto hard drives, and then burn them to a sequence of DVD's. Little did I know what I was getting myself into.

At first, it was a boring and repetitive task of copying the contents of a diskette onto my hard drive. Each one in it's own directory. This became a problem because many of the games are multiple disks, and some of the disks had gotten too old to be used. In many cases, I was able to get data off a few of the originals, and a few of the copies I had made. A few games were unrecoverable (sadly, X-Wing was one of those) and a lot of the pirated copies didn't work either because we bought the cheapest diskettes we could find at the time.. and to top it all off, most of the manuals were missing anyway.

On the internet, this was the age of the dawn of abandonware, before the ESA started combating it, so you could get just about any DOS game you wanted online, and I used this to my advantage in "filling in the gaps" of my old diskettes.

Once I had amassed the bulk of my collection, I went about trying to get the games to work on modern computers.. a struggle that I have previously written about. This went on as a hobby for another few years until I started working for Hertz, at which point I finally had the money to buy originals for most of the old games I was missing, including the ones that were pirated from those other kids of long ago.

Then it was a matter of getting them all together in a unified directory structure and customizing DOSbox configurations for all of them, which took a long, long, looong time. I'm still not completely done with that part, but I am now to a point where all the games run flawlessly, and I have fixed all soundcard and timer issues with the games.

The last step in the process is importing all the box art, manuals, and title screens into D-Fend.

Now that I've explained all that out, I think it's time I stepped back and took a look at my work.. BEHOLD the export of my D-Fend Data File!

221 B Baker Street
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Intellicreations
Publisher : Datasoft
Year : 1987
Language : English
Internet address :

Apollo 18
Genre : Simulation
Developer : Artech
Publisher : Accolade
Year : 1988
Language : English
Internet address :

Below the Root
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Windham Classics
Publisher : Windham Classics
Year : 1984
Language : English
Internet address :

Betrayal at Krondor
Genre : RPG
Developer : Dynamix
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1993
Language : English
Internet address :

Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Off The Wall Productions
Publisher : Capstone
Year : 1990
Language : English
Internet address :

Buck Rogers Countdown to Doomsday
Genre : RPG
Developer : Strategic Simulations Inc
Publisher : Strategic Simulations Inc
Year : 1990
Language : English
Internet address :

Buck Rogers Matrix Cubed
Genre : RPG
Developer : Strategic Simulations Inc
Publisher : Strategic Simulations Inc
Year : 1992
Language : English
Internet address :

Buzz Aldrin's Race into Space
Genre : Simulation
Developer : Strategic Visions
Publisher : Interplay
Year : 1993
Language : English
Internet address :

Castle of Dr. Brain
Genre : Puzzle
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1991
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/castle-of-dr-brain
Notes:
Castle of Dr. Brain is the first in a two-part series of educational puzzle-games from
Sierra. This brain-blasting game is set, how surprisingly, in Dr. Brain's castle, where you
will have to beat Dr. Brain's traps and puzzles in order to fulfill the assignment you were
given.

Castles
Genre : Strategy
Developer : Quicksilver
Publisher : Interplay
Year : 1990
Language : English
Internet address :

Castles II: Siege & Conquest
Genre : Strategy
Developer : Quicksilver
Publisher : Interplay
Year : 1994
Language : English
Internet address :

Civilization
Genre : Strategy
Developer : MicroProse Software
Publisher : MicroProse Software
Year : 1991
Language : English
Internet address :

Codename: Iceman
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1989
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/codename-iceman
Notes:
Written by Jim Walls, Codename: ICEMAN was to be the first game in a new
adventure game series by Sierra. A sequel was never released, although it was
mentioned in Sierra's news magazine. You control Navy officer Johnny Westland, as
he takes on a secret mission dealing with the oil reserves in Tunisia. The game is a
traditional adventure, with interesting James Bond-esque spy elements. A large
portion of the game is also played in a (perhaps overly complex for some players)
submarine simulator.

Colonization
Genre : Strategy
Developer : MicroProse Software
Publisher : MicroProse Software
Year : 1994
Language : English
Internet address :

Conan the Cimmerian
Genre : Action
Developer : Synergistic Software
Publisher : Virgin Interactive
Year : 1991
Language : English
Internet address :

Conquests of Camelot
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1990
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/conquests-of-camelot-the-search-for-the-grail
Notes:
Sierra graphic adventure game from the 16-color era. Guide King Arthur as he
searches for the Holy Grail in Britainnia and the Holy Land. Merlin's spirit is an ever-
present guide as Arthur travels throughout Britainnia, and to Gaza and Jersulem.
Along the way, Arthur will meet Gwynhyver, the Black Knight, and the Lady of the
Lake, and he'll rescue Sir Launcelot and Sir Gawaine from danger. Finally, he must
pass the tests of the six goddesses to prove his worth and receive the Grail.

Conquests of the Longbow: The Legend of Robin Hood
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1991
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/conquests-of-the-longbow-the-legend-of-robin-hood
Notes:
This game is set in medieval England. You play as Robin Hood. Your objective is to
free King Richard from the French by raising money for his ransome. There are many
different endings depending on the score you get. The game uses a mouse interface.
There are arcade sequences built into the story, but their difficulty can be adjusted, or
they can be completely turned off.

Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf
Genre : Action
Developer : Gremlin Interactive
Publisher : Electronic Arts
Year : 1994
Language : English
Internet address :

Donald Duck's Playground
Genre : Educational
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1984
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/trs-80-coco/donald-ducks-playground
Notes:
Donald Duck's Playground won several awards from educational software magazines as
best educational game of the year. In it, you are Donald, working to earn money, which
you then spend to buy playground equipment for your nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie
to enjoy.

ecoQuest 2: Lost Secret of the Rainforest
Genre : Educational
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1993
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/ecoquest-2-lost-secret-of-the-rainforest
Notes:
In EcoQuest 2: Lost Secret of the Rainforest, you play the role of Adam Greene who,
along with his father Noah - doctor of ecology, arrives in a country in the middle of the
rainforest in order to make some ecological studies.

ecoQuest: The Search for Cetus
Genre : Educational
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1991
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/ecoquest-the-search-for-cetus
Notes:
Your job is to find Cetus, the whale king of Eluria with the help of your friend
Delphineus, a dolphin that Adam and his ecologist father rescued from an abandoned fish
net.

Elite
Genre : Flight simulator
Developer : Microplay
Publisher : Microplay
Year : 1991
Language : English
Internet address :

Elite 2: First Encounters
Genre : Simulation
Developer : Gametek
Publisher : Konami
Year : 1993
Language : English
Internet address :

Elite 2: Frontier
Genre : Simulation
Developer : Gametek
Publisher : Konami
Year : 1993
Language : English
Internet address :

Elite Plus
Genre : Simulation
Developer : Microplay
Publisher : Microplay
Year : 1991
Language : English
Internet address :

Flashback: The Quest for Identity
Genre : Action
Developer : Delphine Software International
Publisher : Strategic Simulations Inc
Year : 1993
Language : English
Internet address :

Flight of the Amazon Queen
Genre : Action
Developer : Interactive Binary Illusions
Publisher : Renegade Software
Year : 1995
Language : English
Internet address :

Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist (CD Version)
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1993
Language : English
Internet address :

Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmicist
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1993
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/freddy-pharkas-frontier-pharmacist
Notes:
Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist is a humorous point-and-click side-scrolling
adventure game from Al Lowe. As such it has many similarities to other Sierra adventure
games including Leisure Suit Larry (Al Lowe's previous work) and King's Quest.

Future Wars
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Delphine Software International
Publisher : Interplay
Year : 1990
Language : English
Internet address :

Gabriel Knight 2: The Beast Within (Windows 3.1)
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1995
Language : English
Internet address :

Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1993
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/gabriel-knight-sins-of-the-fathers
Notes:
Step into the world of Gabriel Knight, a wise-cracking bookstore owner and would-be
author. Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers {GK} is an adventure game set in present-
day New Orleans.

Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers (CD Version)
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1993
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/gabriel-knight-sins-of-the-fathers
Notes:
Featuring Tim Curry, Michael Dorn, Mark Hamill, and Leah Remini.

Gobliiins
Genre : Strategy
Developer : Coktel Vision
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1992
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/gobliiins
Notes:
A voodoo doll has turned King Angoulafre mad. You control a team of three Goblins
- Oups, Ignatius and Asgard (Hooter, Dwayne, and BoBo in the US release), who
must find four magic components to track down Niak the Wizard, who is the only one
who can put things right. They all have different skills - one can cast powerful but
erratic spells, another can collect and use objects, and the last can hit things. You
switch between them to solve puzzles in this point-and-click game.



Gold Rush!
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1988
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/gold-rush
Notes:
In Gold Rush!, Jerrod Wilson (the player) receives a letter from his long-lost brother
(who fled the city years before when was hastily accused and convicted of a crime he
didn't commit) asking him to join in Sacramento, California. If that's not enough for
Jerrod sell everything and give his hometown Brooklyn a fond adieu, under the stamp
was one of the first nuggets of Californian gold seen in the Atlantic shores of the
United States. So, Jerrod bids farewell to his peaceful life as a newspaper editor, and
becomes a fore-runner in the the great Gold Rush of 1849, hoping to find his brother
and "strike gold" (literally).

Heart of China
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Dynamix, Inc.
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1991
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/heart-of-china
Notes:
This romantic adventure is somewhat reminiscent of films such as "Raiders of the Lost
Ark". Guide former WWI ace Jake Masters through 1930s Asia as he attempts to
rescue the beautiful Kate Lomax, the kidnapped daughter of a ruthless American land
baron. The game uses a point and click system for interaction and object
manipulation. The storyline twists and turns throughout the game's 72-hour timespan,
and many puzzles have multiple solutions. There are also optional short arcade
sequences.

Heroes of the 357th
Genre : Simulation
Developer : Midnight Software
Publisher : Electronic Arts
Year : 1992
Language : English
Internet address :

Hoyle Official Book of Games Volume 1
Genre : Cards, Board Games
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1989
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/hoyle-official-book-of-games-volume-1
Notes:
There are 18 available computer opponents, including characters from other Sierra
games (Colonel Henry Dijon, Shelly LeBlanc, Officer Sonny Bonds, Larry Laffer,
King Graham, Roger Wilco and Princess Rosella), Sierra employees (Warren
Schwader and Jerry Moore) and their children, and others. The different opponents
play the different games at different skill levels, and are broken up into "Serious" and
"Not-So-Serious" categories. All the opponents will taunt you (in character) as you
play (though you can turn off in-game conversation if it's too distracting).

Hoyle Official Book of Games Volume 2
Genre : Cards, Board Games
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1990
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/hoyle-official-book-of-games-volume-2
Notes:
The sequel to Hoyle's Book Of Games. There are lots of games in this edition, but all of
them are Solitare games. So if you like playing many different versions of solitare, buy
volume 2 of hoyles book of games!

Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
Genre : Adventure
Developer : LucasArts Entertainment
Publisher : LucasArts Entertainment
Year : 1992
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/indiana-jones-and-the-fate-of-atlantis
Notes:
"Fate of Atlantis" is not a movie spin-off, but an independent adventure with a brand
new story. The gameplay utilizes LucasArts' famous SCUMM system, with action
verbs the player chooses from a menu; the objects that can be interacted with are
highlighted. The game contains many puzzles of various kinds (mostly inventory-
based) and dialogues with multiple choices. There are also a couple of hand-to-hand
fights against the Nazis. The middle part of the game can be played in three "modes":
co-operation (Indy and Sophia), adventure (Indy alone), and action (Indy alone, with
less puzzles and more action). In each mode there are different locations to visit,
different puzzles to solve, and different characters to meet.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Lucasfilm Games
Publisher : Lucasfilm Games
Year : 1989
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/atari-st/indiana-jones-and-the-last-crusade-the-graphic-adventure
Notes:
It is 1938 and adventurer Indiana Jones is joined by his father on this quest, preventing
Adolf Hitler from capturing the Holy Grail. He will have to deal with Nazi guards, the
Luftwaffe and enemy spies as he tries to stop the tyrannical Nazi leader.

Jones in the Fast Lane
Genre : Educational
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1991
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/jones-in-the-fast-lane
Notes:
You will have to go it in this game against your friends and / or your internal CPU. Go
for eternal hapiness, great fortune and get as smart as Einstein while beating the
competitors in this insane run against time. You start as a living-being with nothing but
your brains and, luckily, a few cloths. From here you will have to look for a job to pay
for your food / expenses. But you will also need to study if you ever want to get out of
that work-to-pay-my-food cycle. Ultimately, you'll need a kickass job to pay for all
the things in this simplified life.

Jones in the Fast Lane (CD Version)
Genre : Educational
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1991
Language : English
Internet address :

Karateka
Genre : Action
Developer : Broderbund
Publisher : Broderbund
Year : 1986
Language : English
Internet address :

King's Quest I: The Quest for the Crown
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1984
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/pc-booter/kings-quest
Notes:
In King's Quest, you play Sir Graham, a brave knight who is sent on a quest to
retrieve three treasures that were stolen by deception and stealth: a shield that protects
its bearer from invaders, a mirror that foretells the future, and a treasure chest that is
forever filled with gold. If Graham takes these treasures back to the royal castle, then
the ailing King Edward the Benevolent will hand over the crown. During his travels,
Graham will meet characters that will either help or hinder him.

King's Quest I: The Quest for the Crown (SCI Remake)
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1990
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/roberta-williams-kings-quest-i-quest-for-the-crown
Notes:
A complete rework of the original King's Quest, using Sierra's 16-color SCI game
interpreter. Graphics were remade, and new music was added.

King's Quest II: Romancing the Throne
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1985
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/pc-booter/kings-quest-ii-romancing-the-throne
Notes:
After having recovered the three treasures, King Graham has been crowned king.
Now having needing a queen for companionship, Graham searches the land for a
maiden, but to no avail, so he turns to the magic mirror for help. The mirror shows him
a beautiful girl locked away in a quartz tower in a faraway land of Kolyma, and must
find three keys that are used to unlock the door that will lead to her. To get through
the game, players perform actions by typing commands in the interface, which are
usually a verb/noun sequence. Like the first game, a good knowledge of fairy tales is
required to solve some puzzles.

King's Quest III: To Heir is Human
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1986
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/kings-quest-iii-to-heir-is-human
Notes:
The king and queen gave birth to two children, Alexander and Rosella, and the kingdom
was once peaceful. It wasn't long until Alexander was snatched from his crib and things
started to take a turn for the worse. A three-headed dragon threatens the ever-peaceful
Daventry, and requires a maiden to be sacrificed every year. Rosella is the chosen one.

King's Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1988
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/kings-quest-iii-to-heir-is-human
Notes:
King Graham and Queen Valanice were glad to have their children back. Graham
thinks that it is time to pass onto them his old adventurers' hat. When he throws it
across the room, he suffers a heart attack and collapses on the floor, and he is carried
off to bed. The only way that Graham's health can be restored is by retrieving the
magic fruit in the faraway land of Tamir. A beautiful fairy called Genesta offers Rosella
the chance to be transported to the land, and find the fruit. But once she gets
transported, she cannot be sent back unless she helps the fairy regain her talisman that
was stolen by the evil witch, Lolotte.

King's Quest V: Abscence Makes the Heart Go Yonder
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1990
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/kings-quest-v-absence-makes-the-heart-go-yonder
Notes:
While it was a beautiful sunny day, King Graham decided to go out for a walk in the
woods and hope that everything is normal when he got back. However, while he was
gone, an evil wizard called Mordack uses a spell to warp his castle out of Daventry,
along with the royal family. Soon after, Graham came back, only to realize that the
castle is gone. After he wonders why, an owl called Cedric speaks to him about it and
transports him to the land of Serenia, where his boss Crispin helps him get ready to
face up to Mordack. Cedric is asked to go with him to make sure that Graham does
not get in trouble.

King's Quest V: Abscence Makes the Heart Go Yonder (CD Version)
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1990
Language : English
Internet address :

King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1992
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/kings-quest-vi-heir-today-gone-tomorrow
Notes:
In King's Quest VI, you play the role of Prince Alexander, as he desperately searches
for Princess Cassima of the Land of the Green Isles, who is being held against her will
by her captor, Vizier Abdul Alhazred. To successfully help him, he must travel
between the Land's four islands and encounter strange beasts that will either help or
hinder him. There are many alternate paths you can take, as well as different endings
you can watch. Like its predecessor, actions are performed using a point-and-click
interface. The CD-ROM version of the game includes both DOS and Windows
versions, full speech, a 50-meg introduction, and the Girl in the Tower theme song.

King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow (CD Version)
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1992
Language : English
Internet address :

King's Quest VII: The Princeless Bride (Windows 3.1)
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1995
Language : English
Internet address :

Leisure Suit Larry 1: In the Land of the Lounge Lizards
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1991
Language : English
Internet address :

Leisure Suit Larry 2: Looking for Love
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1988
Language : English
Internet address :

Leisure Suit Larry 3: Passionate Patti in Pursuit of the Pulsating Pectorals
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1989
Language : English
Internet address :
Notes:
The age verification can be skiped by pressing Ctrl+Alt+X.

Leisure Suit Larry 5: Passionate Patti Does A Little Undercover Work
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1991
Language : English
Internet address :

Leisure Suit Larry 6: Shape Up Or Slip Out
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1993
Language : English
Internet address :

Les Manley in the Search for the King
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Manley and Associates
Publisher : Accolade
Year : 1990
Language : English
Internet address :

LOOM
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Lucasfilm Games
Publisher : Lucasfilm Games
Year : 1990
Language : English
Internet address :

LOOM CD
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Lucasarts
Publisher : Lucasarts
Year : 1992
Language : English
Internet address :

Manhunter New York
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Evryware
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1988
Language : English
Internet address :

Manhunter San Francisco
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Evryware
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1989
Language : English
Internet address :

Master of Orion
Genre : Strategy
Developer : SimTex
Publisher : Microprose
Year : 1993
Language : English
Internet address :

Mixed Up Fairy Tales
Genre : Educational
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1991
Language : English
Internet address :

Mixed Up Mother Goose
Genre : Educational
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1987
Language : English
Internet address :

Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge
Genre : Adventure
Developer : LucasArts Entertainment
Publisher : LucasArts Entertainment
Year : 1991
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/monkey-island-2-lechucks-revenge
Notes:
This is a sequel to Secret of Monkey Island game=Secret+Monkey+Island>. Guybrush Threepwood, the mighty pirate who can
hold his breath for ten minutes, could have lived quietly and happily with his
sweetheart Elaine, the governor of Melee Island. But the restless pirate spirit won't let
Guybrush in peace! Things don't go very well with Elaine, and Guybrush (now with a
beard) embarks on a new adventure: searching for the legendary treasure of Big
Whoop! However, the evil ghost pirate LeChuck hasn't left the stage yet. His
subordinates are trying to bring him back from the dead one more time. Will Guybrush
be able to defeat his archenemy again?..

Oregon Trail Deluxe
Genre : Educational
Developer : MECC
Publisher : MECC
Year : 1990
Language : English
Internet address :

Out Of This World / Another World
Genre : Action
Developer : Delphine Software International
Publisher : Interplay
Year : 1991
Language : English
Internet address :

Phantasmagoria (Windows 3.1)
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1995
Language : English
Internet address :

Pirates
Genre : Strategy
Developer : Microprose
Publisher : Microprose
Year : 1987
Language : English
Internet address :

Police Quest 1: In Pursuit of the Death Angel
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1987
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/police-quest-in-pursuit-of-the-death-angel
Notes:
Sonny Bonds is a small town policeman who must fight against the rising tide of drugs in
his city. The game is based on real police procedure and adheres carefully to following
the rules of police work. Beginning as a patrol officer and working into detectives, Sonny
will chase down the infamous Death Angel and put an end to his criminal underworld.

Police Quest 1: In Pursuit of the Death Angel (VGA Version)
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1992
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/police-quest-in-pursuit-of-the-death-angel-
Notes:
A remake of the original Police Quest game, the
new version uses VGA graphics and a mouse-based point and click interface to guide
police officer Sonny Bonds through the investigation of the criminal the Death Angel.

Police Quest 2: The Vengeance
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1988
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/police-quest-2-the-vengeance
Notes:
Little time has passed since the events of Police Quest game=Police+Quest%3a+In+Pursuit+of+the+Death+Angel>, when Sonny climbed
the ranks of the Lytton police department and became the key element in the arrest of
Jesse Baines, the notorious Drug Lord. After the trial, Sonny's application to the
Homicide division was accepted and proposed to Marie, who had her prostitution
charges dropped and started a new life away from the streets. Life was good... until
Baines escaped, taking advantage of a low-security prison and an inexperienced
correctional officer. Sonny is now in danger from a vengeful Baines and is saddled
with his new chain-smoker partner Keith. Sonny goes to the field again to capture
Baines, but things are about to get awfully personal...

Police Quest 3: The Kindred
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1991
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/police-quest-3-the-kindred
Notes:
The third police quest game opens as Sonny Bond's wife is brutally attacked by the
brother of Jessie Bains. Combined with ritualistic killings in the city and his wife clinging
to life in the hospital, Bonds must catch the killer and find the attacker of his wife.

Police Quest 4: Open Season
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1993
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/daryl-f-gates-police-quest-open-season
Notes:
As a LAPD homicide detective, you must find the serial killer loose on the streets. The
killings seem randon and clues, some valuable and some not, must be collected with true
to life police procedure.

Prince of Persia
Genre : Action
Developer : Broderbund
Publisher : Broderbund
Year : 1990
Language : English
Internet address :

Prince of Persia 2
Genre : Action
Developer : Broderbund
Publisher : Broderbund
Year : 1993
Language : English
Internet address :

Princess Maker 2
Genre : Simulation
Developer : Gainax
Publisher : Gainax
Year : 1996
Language : English
Internet address :

Quest for Glory 1: So You Want to Be A Hero
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1989
Language : English
Internet address :

Quest for Glory 1: So You Want to Be A Hero (VGA Version)
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1992
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/quest-for-glory-i-so-you-want-to-be-a-hero
Notes:
One of Sierra's classic VGA remakes, "Quest for Glory" is a 256-color version of the
RPG adventure Hero's Quest with a brand new interface.

Quest for Glory 2: Trial by Fire
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1990
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/quest-for-glory-ii-trial-by-fire
Notes:
The sequel to the first Quest for Glory game takes place in the town Shapeir and the
desert surrounding it, in a Middle East-like environment. It seems that the powerful
elemental spirits have been troubling the Shapeir folk recently. Something, or
someone, is behind those troubles. It is your task to find out what is going on, to get
acquainted with the many inhabitants of Shapeir and to prove once more you are
worthy of your heroic title!

Quest for Glory 3: Wages of War
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1992
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/quest-for-glory-iii-wages-of-war
Notes:
The third game in Quest for Glory series is set in the Africa-like world of Tarna,
where you travel with your new liontaur friends you have met in the second game.
Shortly after your arrival, you learn about the conflict between the liontaurs and the
neighbor Simbani village, populated by the leopardmen. It is now time for our hero to
become a skillful diplomat and to prevent an upcoming war between the two nations.

Quest for Glory 4: Shadows of Darkness
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1993
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/quest-for-glory-iv-shadows-of-darkness
Notes:
Sierra's fourth Quest For Glory game is a journey into the land of Mordavia, a
Transylvania-like setting. Our Hero had just begun to enjoy his victory in Tarna, when
a spell zapped him into parts unknown, without a weapon, items, or even a source of
light. Life has never been quite so dangerous for our Hero. He'll discover his quest
soon enough; that is, if he lives!

Quest for Glory 4: Shadows of Darkness (CD Version)
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1993
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/quest-for-glory-iv-shadows-of-darkness
Notes:
Sierra's fourth Quest For Glory game is a journey into the land of Mordavia, a
Transylvania-like setting. Our Hero had just begun to enjoy his victory in Tarna, when a
spell zapped him into parts unknown, without a weapon, items, or even a source of light.
Life has never been quite so dangerous for our Hero. He'll discover his quest soon
enough; that is, if he lives!

Rex Nebular
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Microprose
Publisher : Microprose
Year : 1992
Language : English
Internet address :

Rise of the Dragon
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Dynamix, Inc.
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1990
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/rise-of-the-dragon
Notes:
A futuristic adventure game that borrows graphical elements from Blade Runner (in fact,
the title character's name is "Blade Hunter"). You must find out what is killing--by
horrible, spontaneous mutation--inhabitants of the city, before it's too late. An oriental
cult, drugs, and street informants are among the places you find clues.

Scorched Earth
Genre : Strategy
Developer : Wendell Hicken
Publisher : Wendell Hicken
Year : 1991
Language : English
Internet address :

Sentinel Worlds 1
Genre : RPG
Developer : Electronic Arts
Publisher : Electronic Arts
Year : 1988
Language : English
Internet address :

Shuttle
Genre : Simulation
Developer : Vektor Grafix
Publisher : Virgin Interactive
Year : 1992
Language : English
Internet address :

Silpheed
Genre : Action
Developer : Game Arts
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1988
Language : English
Internet address :

Sopwith
Genre : Action
Developer : BMB Compuscience
Publisher : BMB Compuscience
Year : 1985
Language : English
Internet address :

Space Quest 1: Roger Wilco in the Sarien Encounter
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1986
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/space-quest-the-sarien-encounter
Notes:
Roger Wilco is one of the most important men on the starship Arcada: he is the
janitor! Just when he was doing what he does best (dozing off in a closet), the shrill
sound of an alarm penetrated the air. Arcada is attacked by the evil Sariens! Before
you realize what is going on, you discover that you are the only survivor. The Sariens
have killed the entire crew and stolen the valuable Star Generator. Your immediate
task will be to find a way to leave Arcada, that is about to explode in fifteen minutes.
And then you'll have to show the Sariens why they should never mess with brave
intergalactic janitors!

Space Quest 1: Roger Wilco in the Sarien Encounter (VGA Version)
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1991
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/space-quest-i-roger-wilco-in-the-sarien-encounter
Notes:
Poor Roger Wilco, while our ace-janitor was taking a nap in the utility closet the evil
Sariens attacked the starship Arcada, murdered the rest of the crew and stole the Star
Generator. This is a tool that can turn a barren moon into a blazing sun, but I bet I the
Sariens' intentions are a lot less noble. Now it's up to Roger to stop them. The future
of the galaxy lies in his, rather clumsy, hands! But first you'll have to find a way for
Roger to get off the Arcada before it explodes. You have fifteen minutes...

Space Quest 2: Vohaul's Revenge
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1987
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/space-quest-ii-chapter-ii-vohauls-revenge
Notes:
So you thought you'd seen the last of Sludge Vohaul? Think again! Like every evil
scientist is supposed to, Vohaul returns with an even meaner scheme. This time he
intends to infest the planet Xenon with thousands of genetically engineered door-to-
door life insurance salesmen. The last thing he wants is you, ace-janitor Roger Wilco,
messing things up and so you are captured and brought to the planet Labion to spend
the rest of your days working in Vohaul's mines. Fortunately the shuttle that takes you
to the mines crashes and you're the only survivor.

Space Quest 3: The Pirates of Pestulon
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1989
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/space-quest-iii-the-pirates-of-pestulon
Notes:
Space Quest 3 is a graphical adventure. The mouse is functional for movement and
inventory access, however the game primarily relies on a text parser for specific
commands and manipulation of objects on screen. In addition to the regular game, there
is also a simple non-scrolling Astro Chicken game that's playable, as well as a radar
screen representation for ship-to-ship space combat.

Space Quest 4: Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1991
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/space-quest-iv-roger-wilco-and-the-time-rippers
Notes:
Space Quest IV is the first in the Space Quest series to feature Sierra's SCI interface
(better known as "VGA icons"). Sierra's standard icon set, used here, includes icons for
Walking, Looking, Using/Pickup, Smelling, Tasting as well as inventory access. Roger
Wilco is shown on the screen from the exterior in multiple viewpoints.

Space Quest 4: Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers (CD Version)
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1991
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/space-quest-iv-roger-wilco-and-the-time-rippers
Notes:
Description Following his humorous adventures in Space Quest III: The
Pirates of Pestulon , Roger Wilco is
relaxing at his favorite pub somewhere in time and space when heavily armed soldiers
enter the room. Carrying a parting message from Roger's old nemesis, Sludge Vohaul,
they plan to get rid of the janitorial hero, execution style. That is until a man with an
over-sized hair dryer helps Roger escape through a time rip into the future.. Now
Roger Wilco has woken up on his home planet, sometime in Space Quest XII. The
series has gone to ruin without it's hero, Vohaul rules all.. Roger must quickly hotwire
a time pod and undo Vohaul's plot. The most logical way to do this is to run amok
through past, future and the end of the universe, having a few laughs along the way. If
there's a few spare moments, he might swing by the galaxy's biggest mall, charm his
ex-girlfriend whom he knows nothing about and provoke some brawly monochrome
bikers living in the original graphics of Space Quest I encounter>. Space Quest IV is the first in the Space Quest series to feature Sierra's
SCI interface (better known as "VGA icons"). Sierra's standard icon set, used here,
includes icons for Walking, Looking, Using/Pickup, Smelling, Tasting as well as
inventory access. Roger Wilco is shown on the screen from the exterior in multiple
viewpoints.


Space Quest 5: Roger Wilco and the Next Mutation
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1993
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/space-quest-v-the-next-mutation
Notes:
After travelling back and forth through time on Space Quest 4 iv-roger-wilco-and-the-time-rippers>, Roger Wilco is back in the Starfleet Acadamy,
serving as both a cadet and a janitor (so what else is new?). Cheating his way through
the Starfleet Aptitude Test, Roger is finally given the rank of captain, his own ship (a
garbage scow) and a mission: to explore strange new worlds (which no man in his
right mind would explore), to seek out new life and new civilizations (that grew out of
the massive amounts of trash Roger will collect on his way), to boldy go where no
man has gone before (fortunately for him)!

Space Quest 6: Roger Wilco in the Spinal Frontier
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1995
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/space-quest-6-roger-wilco-in-the-spinal-frontier
Notes:
Roger Wilco, the brave interstellar janitor who has already saved the universe from
many great dangers, is now in a very embarrassing position. His commanders show no
respect for his courageous actions in Space Quest 5. Instead, he is being accused of
all kinds of violations against the galactic law, is deprived of all the honors he got in the
previous game, and as a token of mercy, is allowed to return to his old job - cleaning
closets... But those unfortunate events are just the beginning of much bigger troubles
Roger will get into. Once again, the future of galaxy depends on him!

Star Control 1
Genre : Action
Developer : Accolade
Publisher : Accolade
Year : 1992
Language : English
Internet address :

Star Control 2
Genre : Action
Developer : Accolade
Publisher : Accolade
Year : 1992
Language : English
Internet address :

Star Control 3
Genre : Action
Developer : Legend Entertainment
Publisher : Accolade
Year : 1996
Language : English
Internet address :

Star Trek 25th Anniversary
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Interplay Productions
Publisher : Interplay Productions
Year : 1993
Language : English
Internet address :

Star Trek Judgment Rites
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Interplay Productions
Publisher : Interplay Productions
Year : 1993
Language : English
Internet address :

Star Trek The Next Generation A Final Unity
Genre :
Developer :
Publisher :
Year :
Language :
Internet address :

Starflight
Genre : RPG
Developer : Binary Systems
Publisher : Electronic Arts
Year : 1986
Language : English
Internet address :

Street Rod 1
Genre : Racing
Developer : Magic Partners
Publisher : California Dreams
Year : 1989
Language : English
Internet address :

Street Rod 2
Genre : Racing
Developer : Local Design Works
Publisher : California Dreams
Year : 1991
Language : English
Internet address :

Super Offroad
Genre : Racing
Developer : Leland Corporation
Publisher : Virgin Interactive
Year : 1996
Language : English
Internet address :

Syndicate
Genre : Action
Developer : Bullfrog Productions
Publisher : Electronic Arts
Year : 1993
Language : English
Internet address :

Tales of the Unknown Volume 1: The Bard's Tale
Genre : RPG
Developer : Interplay
Publisher : Electronic Arts
Year : 1987
Language : English
Internet address :

The Adventures of Willy Beamish
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Dynamix, Inc.
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1991
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/adventures-of-willy-beamish
Notes:
The Adventures of Willy Beamish is a point-and-click graphical adventure. You play
Willy Beamish, an eight year-old kid who is just trying to get through life without losing
his lunch money. But he'll have to deal with parents, teachers, babysitters and bratty
sisters. The player must solve different puzzles to ensure Willy can progress, get out of
trouble and generally avoid ending up grounded.

The Adventures of Willy Beamish (CD Version)
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Dynamix
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1991
Language : English
Internet address :

The Bard's Tale II: The Destiny Knight
Genre : RPG
Developer : Interplay
Publisher : Electronic Arts
Year : 1988
Language : English
Internet address :

The Bard's Tale III: Thief of Fate
Genre : RPG
Developer : Interplay
Publisher : Electronic Arts
Year : 1990
Language : English
Internet address :

The Black Cauldron
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1986
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/black-cauldron
Notes:
Based on the Disney movie of the same name, The Black Cauldron focuses on the
story of Taran, who is an assistant Pig-keeper in the land of Caer Dalben. One day
Taran notices that one of his pigs, Hen Wen has magical powers. The Evil Horned
King wants the pig so that he can locate the Black Cauldron and ultimately rule the
world. Taran must now embark on a mission to rescue Hen Wen and defeat the Evil
Horned King before his can discover the Cauldron's location.

The Black Cauldron is a side-view adventure game. Gameplay is similar to other
Sierra adventure games of its day (such as Space Quest II or King's Quest III) but
does not use a text parser. Instead the function keys are used to initiate actions.
Players control Taran and can make him walk, run, swim and interact (talk) with other
characters in the game. Puzzle-solving and advancement in the plot requires item
manipulation of using the right item at the right time or at the right location.

The Colonel's Bequest
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1989
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/colonels-bequest
Notes:
A murder mystery, taking place at a spooky plantation in the 1920's. College student
Laura Bow is invited by her friend Lillian to come along to what has to be the most
dysfunctional family gathering ever. The only problem is, various members of the family
begin to mysteriously disappear! Done in the traditional Sierra adventure game style.

The Dagger of Amon Ra
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1992
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/dagger-of-amon-ra
Notes:
Sequel to The Colonel's Bequest. Laura Bow, fresh out of college, is hired by a New
York newspaper and told to investigate a museum theft. The item is a priceless ancient
Egyptian artifact, and possible suspects prove plentiful. During a party to celebrate the
opening of the museum's new section, someone is murdered and Laura, after asking to
be allowed to investigate, is locked in. This sets the stage for a series of murders,
much in the same vein as the original game.

The Dagger of Amon Ra (CD Version)
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1990
Language : English
Internet address :

The Legend of Kyrandia
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Westwood
Publisher : Virgin Interactive
Year : 1992
Language : English
Internet address :

The Secret of Monkey Island
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Lucasfilm Games
Publisher : Softgold Computerspiele
Year : 1990
Language : German
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/secret-of-monkey-island
Notes:
Deep in the Carribean lies Melee Island, ruled by the beautiful governor Elaine
Marley. The cruel pirate LeChuck is deeply in love with her - so deeply that he
refuses to accept his own death! As a ghost, he dwells with his undead crew
somewhere near the mysterious Monkey Island. You are Guybrush Threepwood, a
young man whose only wish is to become a real pirate. At the Scumm Bar you meet
three pirates who tell you'll have to complete three difficult tasks in order to be worthy
of this title. Could Guybrush ever suspect that while trying to complete those tasks, he
will encounter the governor Elaine Marley, fall in love with her, and face the anger of
the dreadful ghost pirate LeChuck?! This is when Guybrush' adventure truly begins!


Thexder
Genre : Action
Developer : Game Arts Co., Ltd.
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1985
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/thexder
Notes:
A platform shooter from Japan, Thexder offers many levels and diverse enemies that
gradually increase in difficulty. You pilot a Battletech-style robot capable of switching
from a 'mech into a jet at any time. Your weapon auto-aims, but uses up a fixed
amount of rechargable energy; if you run out of this energy, you'll have to wait a few
seconds before you can fire again. Your 'mech also contains a shield that can be
activated to protect you from harm, but this lasts for a few seconds and uses up some
of your life energy.

Thexder 2: Fire Hawk
Genre : Action
Developer : Game Arts Co., Ltd.
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1990
Language : English
Internet address : http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/firehawk
Notes:
The official sequel to Thexder, Fire Hawk has more of everything: More weapons,
more enemies, more music, more levels... more everything. Some of the main
improvements include the ability to save your game at certain points, multiple special
weapons, the ability to switch between special weapons during gameplay, and a
greatly expanded high-quality soundtrack.

Torin's Passage
Genre : Adventure
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1995
Language : English
Internet address :

Ultima 0: Akalabeth
Genre : RPG
Developer : Richard Garriott
Publisher : California Pacific Computer
Year : 1980
Language : English
Internet address :

Ultima 1: The First Age of Darkness
Genre : RPG
Developer : Richard Garriott
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1983
Language : English
Internet address :

Ultima 2: Revenge of the Enchantress
Genre : RPG
Developer : Richard Garriott
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1983
Language : English
Internet address :

Ultima 3: Exodus
Genre : RPG
Developer : Origin Systems Inc
Publisher : Origin Systems Inc
Year : 1985
Language : English
Internet address :

Ultima 4: Quest of the Avatar
Genre : RPG
Developer : Origin Systems Inc
Publisher : Origin Systems Inc
Year : 1985
Language : English
Internet address :

Ultima 5: Warriors of Destiny
Genre : RPG
Developer : Origin Systems Inc
Publisher : Origin Systems Inc
Year : 1988
Language : English
Internet address :

Ultima 6: The False Prophet
Genre : RPG
Developer : Origin Systems Inc
Publisher : Origin Systems Inc
Year : 1990
Language : English
Internet address :

Ultima 7: The Black Gate
Genre : RPG
Developer : Origin Systems Inc
Publisher : Origin Systems Inc
Year : 1992
Language : English
Internet address :

Ultima 7: The Serpent Isle
Genre : RPG
Developer : Origin Systems Inc
Publisher : Origin Systems Inc
Year : 1993
Language : English
Internet address :

Ultima 8: Pagan
Genre : RPG
Developer : Origin Systems Inc
Publisher : Origin Systems Inc
Year : 1994
Language : English
Internet address :

Ultima Underworld 2: Labyrinth of Worlds
Genre : RPG
Developer : Looking Glass Technologies
Publisher : Origin Systems Inc
Year : 1993
Language : English
Internet address :

Ultima Underworld: Stygian Abyss
Genre : RPG
Developer : Blue Sky Productions
Publisher : Origin Systems Inc
Year : 1992
Language : English
Internet address :

Ultima Worlds of Adventure 2: Martian Dreams
Genre : RPG
Developer : Origin Systems Inc
Publisher : Origin Systems Inc
Year : 1991
Language : English
Internet address :

Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego
Genre : Educational
Developer : Broderbund
Publisher : Broderbund
Year : 1985
Language : English
Internet address :

Wing Commander
Genre : Simulation
Developer : ORIGIN Systems
Publisher : ORIGIN Systems
Year : 1990
Language : English
Internet address :

Wing Commander 2: Vengeance of the Kilrathi
Genre : Simulation
Developer : Origin Systems Inc
Publisher : Origin Systems Inc
Year : 1991
Language : English
Internet address :

Wing Commander 3: Heart of the Tiger
Genre : Simulation
Developer : Origin Systems Inc
Publisher : Origin Systems Inc
Year : 1994
Language : English
Internet address :

Wing Commander 4: The Price of Freedom
Genre : Simulation
Developer : Origin Systems Inc
Publisher : Origin Systems Inc
Year : 1994
Language : English
Internet address :

Wing Commander Academy
Genre : Simulation
Developer : Origin Systems Inc
Publisher : Origin Systems Inc
Year : 1993
Language : English
Internet address :

Wing Commander Armada
Genre : Simulation
Developer : Origin Systems Inc
Publisher : Origin Systems Inc
Year : 1994
Language : English
Internet address :

Wing Commander Privateer
Genre : Simulation
Developer : Origin Systems Inc
Publisher : Origin Systems Inc
Year : 1993
Language : English
Internet address :

Wing Commander Privateer Righteous Fire
Genre : Simulation
Developer : Origin Systems Inc
Publisher : Origin Systems Inc
Year : 1994
Language : English
Internet address :

Worlds of Ultima: The Savage Empire
Genre : RPG
Developer : Origin Systems Inc
Publisher : Origin Systems Inc
Year : 1990
Language : English
Internet address :



Deconstructing Bioware
Submitted Thursday, October 29, 2009 - 6:15:32 PM by Klaitu

The next game in my Gamefly list is Dragon Age: Origins, which releases November 3. Dragon Age is made by Bioware and I'm on the fence about it, because I have a strained relationship with Bioware.

So, I decided to take a look at Bioware's history with games to see if I could predict if Dragon Age will be any good!

- Shattered Steel

A Mech game for DOS that I never played.

- Baldur's Gate

Considered the bread and butter of Bioware, it was published by Interplay. A lot of people liked it.. however, I was not a fan. The music was great, though.

- MDK2

Never played it.

- Baldur's Gate 2

It was like Baldur's Gate 1 all over again. Good music again, though.

- Neverwinter Nights

This game suffered from horrible controls and bad graphics, but had a level editor that was interesting, if pointless. I originally bought this game, and I was very disappointed that I wasted my money on it. This is probably one of the worst games ever made in the history of mankind.

- Knights of the Old Republic

It had a good story, but the gameplay was complete trash. The camera angles were abysmal.. and who runs around with their weapons drawn alllll the time? For a game supposed to have depth, it didn't have any. When I
reviewed it here on special K, I gave it a 4.

- Jade Empire

An xbox exclusive that I never played because I never owned an xbox.

- Mass Effect

Mass Effect is a totally awesome Xbox 360 game that was a total departure from Bioware's pattern of suckitude. I look forward to its upcoming sequel.

I can only come to the conclusion that Dragon Age will most likely suck butt. Bioware has a proven track record of creating medival fantasy games with bad controls and even worse camera angles. I suspect that Dragon Age will have excellent music, and maybe an excellent plot, but may be too painful to play through.

We'll see though, because Mass Effect was so good, I'm not prejudging Dragon Age.



Battlestar Galactica: The Plan
Submitted Tuesday, October 27, 2009 - 8:31:43 PM by Klaitu

Uh oh, I'm going to spoil the plot!

This movie proclaims to reveal the secret Cylon plan. What's it all about? What's the uber secret?

The Plan was for the Cylons to kill all the humans.

Are you shocked by that? I wasn't. Didn't we already know this plan?

Anyways, the movie covers the first season and a half of Battlestar from the Cylon perspective, and it's alright. Nearly half of the movie is stock footage from the episodes of the show.

Still, if you're a BSG fan, it's worth watching. Otherwise its pretty boring.

Overall Score: 7 of 10
Quality Rating: 4 of 5
Rent it.



Science Saturday: The Most Distant
Submitted Monday, October 26, 2009 - 3:07:04 AM by Klaitu

We humans like to explore things. We sailed across the Atlantic to discover the Americas. We sailed around the world.. and then later we flew around the world. Why? Just to say we did. So, just how far have we gone? Who holds the record for the most distant journey?

The current recordholder for the person who travelled the farthest away from Earth is Astronaut Captain Jim Lovell. The name might not ring a bell with you.. you might know him better as the Tom Hanks version from the movie Apollo 13.


Astronaut Captain Jim Lovell, who never made it to the moon.


During the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission, Jim Lovell and his two fellow astronauts were scheduled to land on the moon. Unfortunately, there was an explosion aboard the spacecraft, and instead of landing they flew around the back side of the moon on their way back to Earth. Other missions had done this before, but Apollo 13's course was messed up from the explosion, the end result pushed them farther than any other humans have ever gone. Nobody is exactly sure how far they went, but it's somewhere in the neighborhood of 300,000 miles from Earth.

There is, however, something much more distant.. the space probe Voyager 1.

Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 are probably the first super-important space probes we humans have ever launched. Voyager 1 was launched on September 5, 1977. It's mission was to explore Jupiter and Saturn.. which at that point had never been studied up close. Voyager ended up being lucky, because the planets at that time were lined up just right so that it would only take 12 years for them to complete their mission, instead of the 30 years that would normally be required to travel the distance.


In 1979, Voyager 1 passed Jupiter, taking this pretty awesome video as it approached the planet.


As it passed Jupiter, Voyager picked up some speed by falling toward the enormous planet, and began its journey to Saturn, where it arrived in 1980.


Not bad for a digital camera built in the 70's.


As the probe approached Saturn, Scientists had to make a decision. Saturn's moon, Titan was known to have an atmosphere. Voyager could maneuver in for a closer look, but the course change would mean that Voyager would miss it's next stop: Pluto. Ultimately, they decided that Titan was more important. So, Voyager flew by Titan, and bent its course away from all the planets on a course that would lead it out of the solar system entirely.

Voyager 1's companion probe, Voyager 2 was on a similar mission, but it stayed on couse and eventually explored Uranus and Neptune too.. and in doing so, it stole all the thunder of the Voyager project, and pretty much everyone forgot about Voyager 1.

The probe was designed to last for a long time, powered by a nuclear power plant called a Radioactive Thermoelectric Generator.. so it still worked, it merely had nothing to do. It drifted without purpose for 10 years until science fiction writer Carl Sagan came up with an idea to have the probe look back at Earth and take a picture:


The most distant photograph of Earth ever taken, 3,781,782,502 miles from Earth.


The picture, called "Pale Blue Dot" was taken in the year 1990. It's one of a series of 60 photos that the probe took of the entire solar system.. from outside the solar system.

Today, Voyager 1 is still alive. It's going so fast that it's the most distant man-made object in the universe, and will likely keep that record for a long, long time. It's presently about 10.4 billion miles away, travelling at 38,000 miles per hour.

Scientists still communicate with the distant spacecraft, as it seems that it's become useful again. Nobody really knows where the solar system ends, and interstellar space begins. Voyager will be the first spacecraft to reach that point. They're hoping that the probe will make it before the year 2025, when the little probe that could runs out of power.



Science Saturday: Smells like the Moon
Submitted Monday, October 26, 2009 - 3:06:08 AM by Klaitu

You've all heard the stories of Neil Amrstrong landing on the moon, and of the other moon missions. People like to imagine what it would be like to walk on the moon.. after all, only a dozen humans have ever been there. Few people though, wonder what the moon smells like.

As the astronauts bounced around on the moon doing their astronaut work, their space suits collected moon dust. They tried to brush the dust off before returning to their lander, but the dust was remarkably sticky and difficult to remove. As a result, the lunar landers became covered in moon dust, which allowed the astronauts to actually smell it in the air.

So, what does moon dust smell like? Burnt gunpowder.. and now things are going to get a little strange. Nobody is really sure why moon dust should have any odor at all. In fact, the government has spent a lot of money trying to figure it out.


Apollo Astronaut Gene Cernan, covered in moon dust.


The surface of the moon is essentially one giant, ancient desert. The top layer of dirt on the moon is called the regolith. It's soft like snow, but very abrasive. The dust was formed by asteroids impacting the moon, and there is no erosion, so the little dust particles were never worn down by wind or water.

The Regolith is made primarily out of silicon dioxide, the exact same stuff that makes up sand on Earth. It is absolutely nothing like Gunpowder in any way.

During the later Apollo missions, NASA sent astronauts up with a special thermos-like container to collect a sample of moon dust, and seal it up so that it would never be exposed to air.. but when they sealed the container, the moon dust was so abrasive that it cut through the seal and air leaked in anyway.

Today, all the samples of moon dust on Earth have been exposed to air, and have lost their smell. Scientists did determine, however, that the surface of the moon is made primarily out of the same kind of stuff that you find on the Earth.

So, now you know what the moon smells like.



Better than I Thought
Submitted Thursday, October 22, 2009 - 3:10:43 PM by Klaitu

There are two reasons why Stargate Universe is better than I thought:






That is all.



Overheard on MSN Messenger
Submitted Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 4:43:00 PM by Klaitu

(4:30:56 PM) Klaitu: oh, did I tell you I met gandalf
(4:30:57 PM) Klaitu: ?
(4:31:47 PM) Elleawyn: no you didn't. How did the encounter go?
(4:31:55 PM) Klaitu: He let us pass



Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Submitted Friday, October 16, 2009 - 1:24:28 AM by Klaitu

I was a huge fan of the original Uncharted. Will Uncharted 2 live up to the original?

I'm glad to say that it does! Uncharted 2 has all that same run-and-gun action from the first one, but it kicks it up a notch. The entire game is pretty much nonstop action, and the game forces you to keep moving along at a pretty good clip, so there are no lulls.

Graphics here are top notch, slightly better than the original. I could describe how everything is in perfect detail, but you've got to see it to believe it. Uncharted 2 really shows you what next generation graphics can do.. and that's something that you can't say about most titles these days.

Audio is also awesome, the soundtrack is fully orchestrated, and has a movie feel to it.

The acting is a big part of the game as well. This time Claudia Black and Rene Auberjonois are along for the ride.. and their digital performances are so exact that you can instantly tell their personal mannerisms even through the game animations.

Aside from the best single player experience ever devised by man, the game has some pretty colid multiplayer as well, though I haven't fully delved into it.

What more can Is say other than it's awesome?

Overall Score: 9 of 10
Quality rating: 5 of 5
Buy it!



The Quest for the Haunted Castle
Submitted Sunday, October 11, 2009 - 8:20:10 PM by Klaitu

I did something this weekend.

Well, I wouldn't normally mention it, but it was a truly strange experience, and so I feel that I should retell the tale.

It all began with Branwen asking me if I wanted to go to a Haunted Castle. I figured.. heck, why not? I've never been to a castle, haunted or otherwise. It turns out that this Castle is in Muskogee, Oklahoma.

I don't know if you all are familiar with Muskogee, but it's a farm town in northeastern Oklahoma. There are lots of cows, lots of fields, and lots of.. nerds apparently.

As it just should happen, it's Branwen's roommate's birthday as well, and so we also were scheduled to make a few other "Birthday stops" along the way.. the most primary of which being the Hard Rock cafe.

So, we headed out on the highway around 10 AM, planning to be in Tulsa for lunch.. but as luck would have it, our "birthday lunch" was not going to take place at the Hard Rock Cafe as you might expect.

We stopped at a place in Jenks, Oklahoma called the "Riverwalk Crossing" which is a strange mall made of stone facade buildings. Essentially a glorified outdoor strip mall.. an almost deserted glorified strip mall, as the temperature was probably 60 degrees.

Many of the stores were shut down, and many of them were restaurants.. including a fondue restaurant. I was beginning to suspect that Bran's roomie was one of those people who think caviar is fine dining.

At any rate, we didn't find any restaurants that anyone liked at the Riverwalk crossing, and so Bran's roommate spotted a bar that we could eat at.. a franchise called Louie's apparently.

It wasn't too bad of a place, but it was jam packed because of a football game, and the food was quite expensive. I spent 8 bucks on chicken strips that I could have cooked myself for 3 bucks. As I don't consume alcohol, and their selection of non-alcoholic beverages was nonexistant, I went ahead and enjoyed an icewater.

The real awesome part of this bar was the 5 Deloreans that were parked outside it. Now, just to clarify here.. aside from these 5 Deloreans, I have only seen 3 other deloreans in my entire life. 4 of them were restored stock Deloreans, and one of them.. the most awesome one was fitted as the Time Machine delorean, complete with Mr. Fusion and Flux Capacitor. This in many ways made up for the horrible food.

The next "birthday stop" was going to be at some famous architects house in downtown tulsa, but Bran overrode this and we came up with a plan to split up and meet at the Hard Rock cafe.

We decided to check out Tulsa's Vintage Stock store, because old stuff is awesome. I came away with an original vinly LP of Janet Jackson's Obsession for my sister, and 2 CD's of recordings of music made before 1920 for my mom. Branwen cashed in on.. I don't know how many DVD's, probably 10 or so.

After Vintage Stock, it was time to meet up at the Hard Rock.. which I was curious to see, as it was now after 6 PM and we had originally planned to eat there for lunch. I later learned that Bran's roommate doesn't like the food there.. but it's hard to imagine it could be worse than that abysmal bar food.

We arrived at the Hard Rock Cafe (and hotel) to discover that it was also an Indian casino, and also still under construction. They had constructed a 15 story megarise hotel in Catoosa, Oklahoma. There is absolutely nothing in this area, and I would be suprised if they ever filled even half of that hotel.

We decided not to go in, as we just spent a lot of money at Vintage Stock, and had no interest in gambling, eating, or drinking. We pushed on to the "Muskogee Castle".

Now, I've long suspected that Tulsanites are a little bit more.. frivolous than Oklahoma City people. While Oklahoma City was building a canal for their downtown district, Tulsa's community project was to plant trees everywhere it possibly could.. in medians, on the side of the highway, on road shoulders.. wherever there was public space, they planted trees.

As a result, some 20 years later, no matter where in Tulsa you are, it seems secluded.. but in Oklahoma City you're always in a grassland.

Tulsa is also home to Oklahoma's largest comic book store, Every Star Trek convention since 1999, and a bi-annual Anime convention which even I couldn't consider attending.

So, as it turns out, someone decided that they would build an entire, enormous medival castle in the middle of a field, and surround it with 60 acres of "medival kingdom and village" complete with jousting arena.

... and apparently this castle was haunted.

At any rate, we arrived at the Muskogee Castle, whose parking lot was not paved. It had several dozen parking areas.. and we parked in "Henry I" which I thought was clever.

You'd expect that someone who spent over a million bucks building a castle in a field would throw some money into things like signs and so forth, but it turns out they are all crappy.

In other words, the Muskogee Castle is pretty much the Oklahoma Mecca for LARPS players.. complete with a foam sword armory.

Did I mention that it is also haunted?

When we arrived, we quickly became disinterested in the haunted castle, because it had an enormous line.. and because Branwen found oddities like a can of ghost farts in ye olde general store. We began to explore the place.

We walked for what seemed like forever.. there was a candle maker, a beef jerky vendor, and the all important Turkey Leg deep frying guy. There was a booth for "discount surgery" which would hose you down with some fake blood and so forth.

We decided to check out the "Ultimate Haunted Maze" which was essentially a grove of trees who had been cleared in a path that wound around the area in confusing ways.. and occasionally a guy in a bear suit would jump out and go "grrr" at you.

Thanks to my video game skills, I was able to spot all the "scary guys" and navigate my way out of the maze with minimal effort. I was apparently so adept at doing so that I had a multitude of people following me out.

We milled about "Castleton" some more, and picked up some Kettle corn that a witch had brewed in a cauldron. We checked out "Ye olde Rememberences" store and Bran hooked up with a wooden beer stein, and I scored an unlicensed lightsaber.

Along the way we had a short conversation with Gandalf, who was on-hand to give directional advice to.. adventurers. We also saw a sluttly little red riding hood, Dorothy, the wicked witch, and a scarecrow.. not to mention all sorts of pirates and undead guys.

Then, it was time to make the return trip home. Nearly 150 miles one way.. but strangely, it was worth it. When I got home, I checked out the mysterious castle, and it turns out we only saw about half of the 60 acres of Castleton.

Oh, and there's a Renaissance faire in May. I'm just thinking I might have to show up again and check out the rest of it.

Pictures from the adventure are here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=137392&id=571642789&saved#/album.php?aid=137392&id=571642789

You can read more about the Muskogee Castle here:
http://www.okcastle.com/



Search Keyphrases
Submitted Friday, October 9, 2009 - 4:18:25 PM by Klaitu

You know, I'll occasionally peruse the Special K server logs, just to see what kind of audience we've got going on here.. and I always find the search terms pretty entertaining.

Search terms, are of course, what people used to locate the site from google, or other inferior search engines. People are coming up with some weird ones:

Of course, my arch nemesis Punky Brewster is at number 1.. and now having mentioned... HER my page will now be more relevant in searches for.. her.

"if you’ve adopted a lot of pets on the same account and have found it very slow to log in we’ve got good news. the first in a series of updates has already been completed - now you can see the progress as your pe" is in number 2. Pretty specific search if you ask me.

"indeed said the merchant. you call my concepts airy but where is the substance to your own? how do the virtues apply in the simple equations of daily survival?" is number 3. Why are people searching for this exact phrase?

"uo pics town of old magincia before destroyed" Okay, I can see the relevance here.

"linda simensky idiot" I didn't remember who she was, but turns out she's the lady that cancelled reading rainbow.. so this search makes perfect sense (though if you search for just her name, you can come to the idiot part on your own)

"occlo is buccaneer s den" I see the relevance here, even though occlo is not buccanneers den.

"fruit loops bird microsoft windows" Why in the world would anyone search for this?

"patricia heaton topless" Sadly, not on this site.

"ultima online great lakes roleplay" ahh yes, where it all began.





Overheard on Twitter.
Submitted Tuesday, October 6, 2009 - 6:53:23 PM by Klaitu

NathanFillion: Johnathan Frakes is directing. Yesterday, he called me Number One. My heart made a noise that sounded like awesome.



Stargate Universe
Submitted Friday, October 2, 2009 - 10:25:36 PM by Klaitu

Do you remember the days when people played Star Wars Galaxies? Well, there was such a time. Then, World of Warcraft was released and everyone just "loved" it and it became the world's most popular MMORPG. Star Wars Galaxies decided that it needed to be more like World of Warcraft to be popular, and so it changed into a completely useless shell of a game in an attempt to steal a portion of WoW's audience.

Similarly, there was a time when the Stargate franchise was original. It didn't follow any real pattern. It didn't rip off Star Trek or other Science Fiction shows. It came out with its own flavor.

And then Battlestar Galactica came out, and everyone just "loved" it.. and just like Star Wars Galaxies, Stargate decided that it needed to change everything around to be as similar to Battlestar as possible.

Stargate Universe is about a group of people who escape an attack on a secret planet and escape just in time. They wind up on a half-broken old ship that doesn't work quite right. Everyone on the ship is in conflict with everyone else.. nobody is really sure who is in command. Oh, and there's a scientist who may or may not be a good guy (the same scientist who is responsible for their situation to begin with)

Have you seen this show before? Perhaps when it was called Battlestar Galactica?!?!

It may seem like I am harping on the show too much, but the story is not the only thing from Battlestar Galactica. The show is shot with the same "shakycam" style of camera movement, the costuming for the military is black with bright insignia, and the post-production color saturation also directly matches Battlestar Galactica. It even has completely irrelevant sex scenes like BSG.

Now, Battlestar Galactica was an awesome program.. but the writing for Stargate Universe pilot is nowhere near as good as the writing for the Battlestar Galactica pilot. The writing isn't even particularly good for a Stargate episode.

Only the pilot episode has aired, and it's probably unfair to judge the series based on this first episode. The pilot episodes for SG-1 and Atlantis were pretty lame as well, so it's entirely possible the series could get better over time.

Thing is, Universe has the same problem that Atlantis did. There's no Earth. There's no SGC. All of those interstellar races and continuity they've built up just sit on the sidelines, unused.

So, no rating yet, but my feeling is that I'll watch this show primarily because it's the only science fiction show on the "syfy" channel at the moment.

Ironic, no?