There is no "moniter" or "monitor.com" on original Sierra PQ disks, nor is there a SIERRA.BAT. Even if you have the original disks, asking for help with warez or abandonware here is a no no.

That aside, Tandy mode is not set at install time. The Sierra AGI install does little more than copy the files from the floppies to the hard drive, no configuration is done. It depends on the hardware when it uses Tandy or not. This is why if you set DOSBox to machine=tandy the game will run in Tandy mode with doing nothing more.

Great, that was what I presumed... thanks for the confirmation!

I think that any monitor.com program was included to bypass the disk-based copy protection of AGI games. Police Quest was Sierra's first AGI game that did not come with copy protection, an experiment in users' honesty.

You mean for warez releases? I have never seen it on any official Sierra release, nor have I seen a CPC protected PQ.

I should just add that my main interest is in getting the "original" experience of installing (and running) these games -- it's often that our old computers (whether personal or bought from eBay) contain a C:\SIERRA directory, with games that got there either using these batch install scripts or by mass copying the files from a disk...

Exploring the official _INSTALLH.BAT and _INSTALL.BAT files finally clarified some mysteries for me -- for example, how SIERRA.COM gets renamed to PQ.COM or KQ2.COM as part of the hard drive installation process. (I think we all have memories of running SIERRA.COM from disks, in non-booter situations...)

Edit -- thanks for the nerdlypleasures site; I've really learned a lot by reading it!

PQ.BAT

_PQ.BAT

2) execute PQ.EXE (the renamed SIERRA.EXE from the floppy) with up to five command line parameters: %1 %2 etc

Only if you have version 2.0A. Version 2.0A has no "loader" .COM file, instead, the "AGI" file that on other games is the encrypted (as part of the copy protection) executable is renamed SIERRA.EXE, which gets renamed to PQ.EXE by _INSTALL.BAT.

Version 2.0G reverts to the traditional loader .COM file plus (non-encrypted) AGI file, and it's the SIERRA.COM file that gets renamed to PQ.COM. The reason for this change is that the loader .COM file does not just include the copy protection (which in the case of PQ doesn't do anything), but also the memory management for the PCjr. Apparently Sierra had forgotten about that, which means that version 2.0A is not PCjr compatible.

I have encountered four versions of PQ : 2.0A/2.903, 2.0A/2.911, 2.0E/2.915, 2.0G/2.917 (version number/adventure game interpreter number). Assuming they are all pure, only 2.0A/2.903 uses SIERRA.EXE. The rest use PQ.COM or SIERRA.COM and have a decrypted AGI file. 2.0A/2.903 does not work correctly in DOSBox' PCjr. emulation, the rest do. I assume, without testing, that the same will apply for the other versions.

Yes, my 2.0A is with interpreter 2.903.

Instead of reincluding the entire loader, Sierra could just have done what they did for 1986's christmas card, which also has a nonencrypted executable: the batch file CARD.BAT calls something named CONFIG.COM before calling AGI.EXE. CONFIG.COM is just 110 bytes including only the PCjr memory management part.

The whole PCjr memory mess is also the reason why all SCI0 games except for the very first ones include both SCIV.EXE and SIERRA.COM - SIERRA.COM just making sure that SCIV.EXE is loaded above the first 128k if a PCjr is found, and doing nothing but execute SCIV.EXE on non PCjr systems. Early SCI0 games do not include SIERRA.COM, which is why they are not listed as PCjr compatible.

NewRisingSun wrote:

Yes, my 2.0A is with interpreter 2.903.

Instead of reincluding the entire loader, Sierra could just have done what they did for 1986's christmas card, which also has a nonencrypted executable: the batch file CARD.BAT calls something named CONFIG.COM before calling AGI.EXE. CONFIG.COM is just 110 bytes including only the PCjr memory management part.

The whole PCjr memory mess is also the reason why all SCI0 games except for the very first ones include both SCIV.EXE and SIERRA.COM - SIERRA.COM just making sure that SCIV.EXE is loaded above the first 128k if a PCjr is found, and doing nothing but execute SCIV.EXE on non PCjr systems. Early SCI0 games do not include SIERRA.COM, which is why they are not listed as PCjr compatible.

Wow, I always wondered why executing SIERRA.COM always seemed to function exactly the same as SCIV.EXE, and now I know that the answer is so close to my interests.

By the way, I really don't recommend playing an SCI0 game on an unaccelerated PCjr. Its no fun.

Police Quest V2.0A/I2.903 should be able to be fixed for the PCjr. by renaming SIERRA.EXE to AGI and using a .COM loader from another Sierra AGI game. The .COM loader will need to be cracked (Sierra cracked them for their their Slash Releases and Anniversary Collections) and probably should be from another game using a 2.9xx Interpreter Version. Use Alt + D in game to check the Interpreter version.

If the AGI file is decrypted and given an .EXE extension, outside the PCjr. there seems to be no need to use the .COM loader.