Unknown lead platform:
The Incredible Machine
Mobygames lists this as a 1992 release for Macintosh, but a 1993 release for DOS, suggesting a Mac->DOS port. However, there are credits for Mac and Windows programmers, as well as Mac / Windows art, Mac music, and Windows sound and music, while the DOS version simply has credits for "programming," "artwork," etc. This suggests a DOS->Mac port, in contrary to the release order. Curiously, there is no Windows version, though there is one for The Even More Incredible Machine.
Outpost
Released for Windows 3.x and Macintosh in 1994.
The Incredible Machine 2
Released for DOS and Macintosh in 1994.
Roberta Williams' King's Quest VII: The Princeless Bride
Version 1.4, released in 1994, supported Windows 3.x.
Version 2.0, released in 1995, supports DOS, Windows 3.x, and Windows 95. Mobygames incorrectly lists the DOS version as a 1994 release.
I do not know which version first supported the Mac. Mobygames lists the Mac version as a 1994 release but it could easily be mistaken. ScummVM source code is not helpful here.
Roberta Williams' Phantasmagoria
Released for DOS, Windows 3.x, Windows 95, and Macintosh in 1995.
Shivers
Released for Windows 3.x and Windows 95 in 1995.
Ported to Macintosh in 1996.
Daryl F. Gates' Police Quest: SWAT
Released for DOS, Windows 3.x, Windows 95, and Macintosh in 1995.
Torin's Passage
Released for DOS, Windows 3.x, Windows 95, and Macintosh in 1995.
Space Quest 6: Roger Wilco in the Spinal Frontier
Released for DOS, Windows 3.x, and Windows 95 in 1995.
The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery
Released for DOS, Windows 3.x, Windows 95, and Macintosh in 1995.Demo version is Windows-only.
Lighthouse: The Dark Being
Released for DOS, Windows 3.x, Windows 95, and Macintosh in 1996.
Leisure Suit Larry: Love for Sail!
Released for DOS, Windows 3.x, and Windows 95 in 1996.Quest for Glory V: Dragon Fire
Released for Windows 95/98 and Macintosh in 1998.Select chronology:
8-bit era:
| Title | Lead platform | Date | Contemporary ports |
| Hi-Res Adventure #1: Mystery House | Apple II | 5/5/1980 |
|
| Hi-Res Adventure #2: The Wizard and the Princess | Apple II | 1980 | 1980 port to Atari 8-bit by Yosemite Software |
| Hi-Res Adventure #0: Mission Asteroid | Apple II | 1980 | 1980 port to Atari 8-bit by Yosemite Software |
| Crossfire | Apple II | 1981 | 1981 ports to Atari 8-bit and VIC-20 1982 port to PC |
| Hi-Res Adventure #4: Ulysses and the Golden Fleece | Apple II | 1981 | 1982 ports to Atari 8-bit and PC |
| Ultima II: The Revenge of the Enchantress... | Apple II | 1982 | 1983 ports to Atari 8-bit, C64, and PC |
| Oil's Well | Atari 8-bit | 1983-10 | 1983 port to C64 1984 ports to Apple II, PC, and ColecoVision |
| Donald Duck's Playground | Commodore 64 | 1984 | 1985 ports to Apple II and PC |
| King's Quest | PCJr. | 1984-10 | 1984 port to Apple II |
| King's Quest II: Romancing the Throne | PCJr. | 1985-6 | 1985 ports to Apple II and Atari ST |
| The Black Cauldron | PCJr. | 1986-4 | 1986 ports to Apple II and Atari ST 1987 ports to Amiga and Apple Iigs |
AGI era:
| Title | Date | Contemporary ports |
| Space Quest: Chapter I - The Sarien Encounter | 1986-10 | 1986 ports to Amiga and Atari ST 1987 ports to Apple II, Apple IIgs, and Macintosh |
| King's Quest III: To Heir is Human | 1986-11 | 1987 ports to Amiga and Atari ST |
| Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards | 6/4/1987 | 1987 port to Apple II 1988 ports to various computers |
| Mixed-Up Mother Goose | 1987-12 | 1987 port to Atari ST 1988 ports to Amiga and Apple IIgs |
| Police Quest: In Pursuit of the Death Angel | 1987-12 | 1987 port to Amiga 1988 ports to various computers |
| Space Quest II: Chapter II - Vohaul's Revenge | 1987 | 1987 ports to Apple IIgs and Atari ST 1988 ports to Amiga, Apple IIgs, and Macintosh |
SCI0 era:
All of these games are designed for DOS-era PC's with EGA graphics and have soundtracks optimized for the Roland MT-32.| Title | Date | Contemporary ports |
| King's Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella | 9/23/1988 | 1989 ports of AGI version to Apple II and Apple IIgs |
| Leisure Suit Larry Goes Looking for Love (In Several Wrong Places) | 10/27/1988 | 1989 ports to Amiga and Atari ST |
| Police Quest 2: The Vengeance | 1988-12 | 1989 ports to Amiga, Atari ST, and PC-98 |
| Gold Rush! | 12/23/1988 | 1988 port to Apple II 1989 ports to various computers |
| Space Quest III: The Pirates of Pestulon | 1989-3 | 1989 ports to Amiga and Atari ST |
| Hero's Quest: So You Want to Be a Hero | 1989-10 | 1990 ports to Amiga and Atari ST |
| The Colonel's Bequest | 1989-11 | 1990 ports to Amiga and Atari ST |
| Leisure Suit Larry III: Passionate Patti in Pursuit of the Pulsating Pectorals | 1989-11 | 1990 ports to Amiga and Atari ST |
| Code-Name: Iceman | 1989-12 | 1989 port to Atari ST 1990 port to Amiga |
| Roberta Williams' King's Quest I: Quest for the Crown | 1990 | 1990 port to Amiga |
| Conquests of Camelot: The Search for the Grail | 1990 | 1990 ports to Amiga and Atari ST |
| Quest for Glory II: Trial by Fire | 1990 | 1990 port to Amiga |
SCI1 era:
These games target DOS-running PC's with VGA and use point & click interfaces.
| Title | Date | Contemporary ports |
| King's Quest V: Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder! | 1990 | 1991 ports to various computers |
| Space Quest IV: Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers | 3/4/1991 | 1991 port to Macintosh 1992 ports to Amiga, PC-98, and Windows 3.x |
| Space Quest I: Roger Wilco in the Sarien Encounter | 8/27/1991 | 1991 port to Amiga 1992 port to Macintosh |
| Police Quest 3: The Kindred | 1991-10 | 1992 port to Amiga |
| Castle of Dr. Brain | 1991 | 1992 ports to Amiga, Macintosh, and PC-98 |
| EcoQuest: The Search for Cetus | 1991 |
|
| Jones in the Fast Lane | 1991 |
|
| Conquests of the Longbow: The Legend of Robin Hood | 1991 | 1992 port to Amiga |
| Leisure Suit Larry 5: Passionate Patti Does a Little Undercover Work | 1991 | 1991 port to Macintosh 1992 port to Amiga |
| Leisure Suit Larry 1: In the Land of the Lounge Lizards | 1991 | 1991 port to Amiga 1992 port to Macintosh |
SCI 1.1 era:
Windows 3.x support becomes a lot more common with SCI 1.1 games than previously, and multiple games are available in CD-ROM format.
These are still VGA-based, but Windows and Macintosh ports are converted to SVGA using nearest-neighbor scaling. Some games have partially redrawn graphics for SVGA mode, most notably King's Quest VI.
General MIDI support is added, and most games are optimized for the Roland SC-55.
King's Quest V, Space Quest IV, and EcoQuest were re-released in this engine with CD-ROM enhancements, but Mobygames does not list them as separate games.
The Incredible Machine isn't an SCI game, it just came out during this era.
| Title | Date | Contemporary ports |
| The Incredible Machine | 1992 | Released for DOS and Macintosh |
| Jones in the Fast Lane: CD-ROM | 1992 | Simultaneous releases on DOS and Windows 3.x |
| The Island of Dr. Brain | 1992 |
|
| Police Quest: In Pursuit of the Death Angel | 1992 |
|
| Quest for Glory I: So You Want To Be A Hero | 1992 |
|
| The Dagger of Amon Ra | 1992 | 1993 port to Windows 3.x |
| Quest for Glory III: Wages of War | 1992 |
|
| King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow | 1992 | 1993 ports to Macintosh and Windows 3.x |
| Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist | 1993-7 | Simultaneous releases on DOS, Windows 3.x, and Macintosh |
| Leisure Suit Larry 6: Shape Up or Slip Out! | 1993-10 | 1994 ports to Macintosh and Windows 3.x |
| Lost Secret of the Rainforest | 1993 | Simultaneous releases on DOS and Windows 3.x |
SCI 2.0 era:
As with SCI 1.1, Windows runs in nearest-neighbor upscaled SVGA, but DOS now has the option of playing in SVGA or VGA. Gabriel Knight and Police Quest 4 have extensive SVGA enhancements, though the majority of the graphics are still VGA-based. For this reason, I assume that all SCI 2.0 games were still developed primarily for DOS.
All SCI 2.0 games are available in both floppy and CD-ROM formats.
Leisure Suit Larry 6 was re-released in this engine with SVGA and CD-ROM enhancements, but Mobygames does not list it as a separate game.
| Title | Date | Contemporary ports |
| Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers | 12/17/1993 | Simultaneous releases on DOS and Windows 3.x 1994 port to Macintosh |
| Daryl F. Gates Police Quest: Open Season | 1993 | Simultaneous releases on DOS, Windows 3.x, and Macintosh |
| Quest for Glory: Shadows of Darkness | 1993 | Simultaneous releases on DOS and Windows 3.x |
SCI 2.1 era:
All SCI 2.1 games are SVGA-only and CD-ROM-only.
At this point, I am no longer confident that DOS was Sierra's main development platform, considering that King's Quest VII was initially Windows (and Mac)-only, and Shivers never got any DOS support.
Outpost and The Incredible Machine 2 aren't SCI games, they just came out around this time.
| Title | Lead platform | Date | Contemporary ports |
| Outpost | ??? | 1994 | Simultaneous releases on Macintosh and Windows 3.x |
| The Incredible Machine 2 | ??? | 1994 | Simultaneous releases on DOS and Macintosh 1995 ports to Windows 3.x and Windows 95 |
| Roberta Williams' King's Quest VII: The Princeless Bride |
??? | 1994 | Simultaneous releases on Windows 3.x and Macintosh 1995 "2.0" version supports DOS and Windows 95 |
| Roberta Williams' Phantasmagoria |
??? | 1995 | Simultaneous releases on DOS, Windows 3.x, Windows 95, and Macintosh |
| Shivers | ??? | 1995 | Simultaneous releases on Windows 3.x and Windows 95 1996 port to Macintosh |
| Daryl F. Gates' Police Quest: SWAT |
??? | 1995 | Simultaneous releases on DOS, Windows 3.x, Windows 95, and Macintosh |
| Torin's Passage | ??? | 1995 | Simultaneous releases on DOS, Windows 3.x, Windows 95, and Macintosh |
| Space Quest 6: Roger Wilco in the Spinal Frontier |
??? | 1995 | Simultaneous releases on DOS, Windows 3.x, and Windows 95 |
| The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery |
??? | 1995 | Simultaneous releases on DOS, Windows 3.x, Windows 95, and Macintosh |
SCI 3.0 era:
| Title | Lead platform | Date | Contemporary ports |
| Lighthouse: The Dark Being | ??? | 1996 | Simultaneous releases on DOS, Windows 3.x, Windows 95, and Macintosh |
| Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle of Flesh |
Windows | 1996 | Same-year DOS support patch |
| Leisure Suit Larry: Love for Sail! |
??? | 12/5/1996 | Simultaneous releases on DOS, Windows 3.x, and Windows 95 |
Late era:
| Title | Lead platform | Date | Contemporary ports |
| Police Quest: SWAT 2 | Windows | 7/25/1998 |
|
| King's Quest: Mask of Eternity | Windows | 1998 |
|
| Quest for Glory V: Dragon Fire | ?? | 1998 | Simultaneous releases on Windows 95 and Macintosh |
| Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned |
Windows | 10/30/1999 |
|
| SWAT 3: Close Quarters Battle | Windows | 11/23/1999 |
|
Hi, thanks for the blog; it's been a fascinating take on historical gaming.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how thorough you care to be, but a few early Sierra ports are missing in this list.
Hi-Res Adventure #2 was ported to the IBM PC by Sierra's Jeff Stephenson, with it published by IBM under a different title, Adventure in Serenia (c) 1982. In Ken William's recent book, he said he didn't know why IBM renamed it. It also made it to the PCJr in 1984, with updated graphics to use a better than CGA palette.
Bobbit (Robert Bobbio) did several Commodore 64 ports. Ultima 2, The Wizard and the Princess (c) 1982, Mission Asteroid (c) 1983, and Ulysses (c) 1984.
Sierra ported Kings Quest III and Leisure Suit Larry to the Tandy CoCo3. The Coco-specific reference material gives them a copyright 1988.
Kings Quest 1, 2, 3 all had ports to Amiga, Apple IIGS, Atari ST, and Mac.
Donald Duck's Playground was also on the Amiga and the ST.
I've only been listing ports that came out within a year of the first release. Any longer than that and the port becomes a lot less informative with regards to which platforms the company thought were important at the time of making the original game.
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