NewRisingSun wrote:Where do people get this crap that Sierra didn't ship SQ3 with a driver with sample playback functionality? It routinely pops up on message boards and on ill-informed websites. Sierra did ship version 1.0P with a "Tandy 1000 SL/TL" driver, which can play back digital samples, and Sierra did ship the original floppy version 1.018 with a SNDBLAST.DRV on its 3.5" diskette.
Well, I only have 1.018 from the SQ collection, but I do have what appears to be a proper copy of 1.0P. I tried the Tandy SL support (I assume you mean the driver TANDY.DRV) both on MESS and DOSBox, and they both didn't play the speech line "where am I". Apparently, neither emulator has a proper support for this device (in DOSBox it even causes the game to freeze right after Roger jumps from his pod). For some reason, I have a driver called BLASTER2.DRV in my 1.0P copy, and it works fine in 1.0P and in 1.018. I haven't seen this driver anywhere else, did you encounter it? The two SNDBLAST.DRVs from spacequest.net and the one from KQ1SCI also work fine.
Early KQ4 versions (1.000.111, SCI version < 0.300) display the green-red-brown palette with a blue background, at least on a VGA card.
Really? Well, I used v1.006.003 for the screenshots, have to find a copy of the earlier version one day... but isn't the green/red/brown palette ("the AGI palette") is what you get by using CGA320B.DRV? Are you sure that's the palette produced by using CGA320C.DRV in this version of KQ4SCI?
You can also get the brown palette witht he -r command line option. If you didn't do that either, you either didn't use a CGA but maybe a Tandy/Jr (which uses the same kind of RGB monitor that the CGA uses), or your memory is betraying you. AGI games boot up in composite 640x200 mode, which appears in B&W on a CGA with RGB monitor, period. That's what the AGI reference card says as well.
No, I didn't know about any command line options then, and I definitely didn't use a Tandy or a PCjr... only option left is that our memory is betraying us... 😒 I can't believe I played them in b&w... so you're saying there's no way the pink/cyan/white/black palette would be displayed on a CGA? So maybe we did use Ctrl-R, but I don't think I typed on a blue background... is there a possibility the AGI RGB palette won't have a blue background?
Servo wrote:The Maniac Mansion screenshot should be accurate; it really does use the white/cyan/pink/palette on a CGA card.
Well, at least I remembered my very first adventure correctly 😀 too bad I can't remember the ones that followed.
I didn't think keeping the "CGA on VGA" shots around was worthwhile as it's not really accurate, just caused by a VGA card not being fully CGA compatible.
Yeah, but that's a unique palette. The least your screenshots could do would be to explain this palette to people who think it's a legitimate palette or for those that saw it in NAGI.
NewRisingSun wrote:SQ3 was released on March 24th 1989, version 1.018 in April 1990. The Sound Blaster was released in November 1989. Version 1.018 fixes a lot of other stuff, not just adding Sound Blaster support. Version 1.0P's samples were probably originally intended for the Tandy DAC chip, as I wrote.
Whatever the 1.0P samples were intended for, once this version is provided with a proper SNDBLAST.DRV they sound just like 1.018's samples (at least the "where am I" line), so they didn't actually "add" SB support, they just added the driver. As for the other changes, I don't know what they are. By the way, when I run v1.018, it says 1989 in the title screen, and there's no date in the "about" window.
I remember there was also version 1.052, what's the deal with that?
It didn't; I have the original 16-color version disks. Whoever put it on some "Abandonware" site probably just put in whatever driver he could find;
Well, that's the only place I saw the blue and AGI drivers. For some reason they work on EGA versions of SCI1 games.
HunterZ wrote:I later tried a driver from - I think - QfG2 on a whim and was surprised to hear the "where am I?" in the intro. However, I haven't since been able to get this working. Has someone written a FAQ or thread on this that you can point me to?
The SNDBLAST.DRV from QFG2 (v1.105) causes both version 1.0P and 1.018 of SQ3 to crash. The one from KQ1SCI (v1.000.051) works fine on both of them, perhaps you took it from there.
spacequest.net provide support for this subject; it has two SNDBLAST.DRV that you can download and use with SQ3, and it works fine under DOSBox.
Great Hierophant wrote:Hear hear, a noble suggestion. Now all we have to do is buy the hardware and software! For myself I am looking to start with an IBM PCJr. I also am always on the lookout for a late-model IBM PC AT or XT 286 with a fully upgraded IBM EGA card. Also, I would seriously consider buying a PS/2 Model 35 or 40.
Heh, I was so happy to give away my XT+CGA when I upgraded to AT+VGA, but now it doesn't seem like it was a very wise decision... 😖
The 16 color Version of King's Quest V I downloaded has no less than five CGA graphics options in its install menu! I have seen all of these graphics options in SCI0 games, but not all five at once. Here is the title screen from each:
Nice, I like stuff like that... you should repost your CGA modes summarizing but this time with screenshots 😀
By the way, screenshots #3 and #4 (from the top) of your KQ5 screenshots will look different on a VGA.