Saturday, January 1, 2022

Ports of Entry: Sierra On-line

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.

Ported to Windows 3.x and Windows 95 in 1995.

 

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.

One of the few SCI-engine games to have no DOS support!

 

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: 

All of these games are designed around the specifications of the Tandy 1000, and are PC compatible but with reduced audio capabilities. DOSBox and ScummVM can both emulate Tandy audio for the full experience.

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

2 comments:

  1. Hi, thanks for the blog; it's been a fascinating take on historical gaming.

    I 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.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 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.

      Delete

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