Police Quest 1 EGA Play Through.

[Tawmis]

So the SQ6 commentary is rendering so I jumped into PQ1 (EGA)....

And have crashed now, already like 10 times.

And I hadn't even made it to the first scene yet.....

Yes, my seething hatred for this part of the game emerges once more....

[MusicallyInspired]

I was wondering how an AGI game could crash....and then I got what you meant.

[Tawmis]

Just finished PQ1. Total time, just over 5 hours. 2 hours of crashing. 2 hours of gambling. 1 hour of cop business.

(A ever so slight exaggeration)

[Rath Darkblade]

Eh? I don't understand. How does PQ1 crash? *puzzled*

[Tawmis]

Eh? I don't understand. How does PQ1 crash? *puzzled*

Crashing while driving.

That's what this picture I made is referencing.

[Rath Darkblade]

Gotcha. Hmm ... still, wasn't it easier to drive by turning the speed down?

[Tawmis]

Gotcha. Hmm ... still, wasn't it easier to drive by turning the speed down?

More often than not it was just me overcompensating when I needed to park next to the few places (park, Carol's, Blue Room, etc) - I'd over correct and hit the wall.

[Tawmis]

Police Quest 1 EGA Non Commentary Playthrough ....

[Tawmis]

Commentary version -

[notbobsmith]

I have to go through your play through when I get a chance. I did skim it and happened upon the 45:00 mark where you get the memo in the in basket. In all the times I've played it, I have never gotten a memo there. And I'm pretty sure I looked. And I've gotten a high score of 249 out of 245.

[Rath Darkblade]

NBH? How on earth did you get 249 points, when the highest score is 245? *shrug*

Here's my reaction to the commentary playthrough ... (Warning, long)

Yes, that scene where Sonny waves his nightstick around always confused me. It does look like he's practicing some kind of martial art ... on thin air.

There are plenty of euphemisms for people in Marie's position. Among the more "polite" is courtesan, companion, "lady of the night" etc. but the word "prostitute" is also acceptable.

One of the more unusual I've heard was "seamstress". After all, the definition of a 'seamstress' is a woman earns her living by sewing things ... *stands back, rocks on heels, whistles an innocent tune*

@ how erratic the car was handling (especially when chasing the drunk guy). I can see why it was always crashing. I always slowed down to "Slow" or "Very slow" to avoid the car jumping around like that -- though maybe PQ1 wasn't designed for how fast computers are these days?

Pull the drunk guy over next to a park ... and when you get out of your car, it's a couple of houses. *shrug*

The drunk guy's license? Sort of looks like Al Lowe, but when he gets out of the car, he's clean-shaven. Then again, lots of people are bald with moustaches-and-beards.

One of the ways to die here is to cuff him in front, like he asks. Turn around to lead him to your car, and ... *BAM* *sings ... "Dumb ways to die, so many dumb ways to die"*

It's a bit weird that at the jail, the same black guy does nothing but dribble a basketball but never takes a shot (until those two drug dealers show up). I guess the jail can't afford a basketball hoop?

I also found it funny that the jail only has three cells. It reminds me of those olde-tyme jails from one-horse, wild-west towns in other computer games (e.g. Freddy Pharkas). I guess that's why the other guy never stops playing basketball.

Why does the nightstick have to stay in the car? *puzzled*

Spoiler: the Gremlin is Laura Watts, the detective who tells you about the opening in narcotics. I thought the chicken was funny -- just really over-the-top.

I agree with you - I don't know many cops, but I can't imagine many beat cops would own a corvette. Maybe it was a present from Sonny's parents when he graduated from the police academy? (Oh, great -- now I can't stop picturing those stupid movies. "MAHONEY!")

I'm sorry, but listening to "...and I crashed ... and I crashed ... and I crashed" made me giggle. I can just imagine how frustrating it is - you sound very frustrated with it. (Yes, now I remember how many times I crashed when I tried to park at the hotel).

It's funny that, when the hoola-girl (Hoochy Coochy Hannah? Seriously?) comes into the Blue Room, no-one except the cops react. At all.

Check the car every single time ... after all, some terrorist might've hidden a BOMB under the car! </sarcasm> Or maybe not. I never understood why it is, if you don't check your car, you get a flat tire.

It's funny how the other cars, when they drive around, can turn anywhere-and-anytime they want ... even INTO YOU ... and it's always your fault. I guess no-one in Lytton has to obey the road laws, except for you?

I love how your voice went up a notch when you mention the jail clerk saying "Oh man, that lawyer was sooo pissed..."

Also love the stage whisper on spoiler alert -- he's about to escape. And now I'm wondering: how does he escape? Is someone helping him, and if so, who - the jail clerk? Aaaaaaahhh - it's a conspiracy! "Here, clerk, I got a cool half-a-million you can have if you let me out." / "Sure, Mr Not-at-all-a-serious-murderer-Tasselli, let me just open your cell for you. Hope you enjoyed your stay at our wonderful jail. Please consider us whenever you next break the law."

I love it how the game lets you say that you're bringing in the drug-dealers for drugs. Then the clerk says ... "All right, put 'em in the slammer, I'll get you the codeine" (or whatever).

Parking at the police station (or anywhere) is tricky. Slowing the game to the slowest speed helps.

Setting up the sting ... what. Marie shouldn't even be party to any of the details of this. No civilian should. If any bad guys capture her and decide to "persuade" her to talk (as they do with brass knuckles and so on), it'd blow the whole operation.

Speaking of which, the whole operation thing doesn't make sense. Sonny's been running around and being a pain in the proverbial for the drug-dealers. Presumably they know what he looks like. So the solution is to ... dye his hair and dress him up like Leisure Suit Larry. Now it makes sense why he's calling women names like "Sweet Cheeks" and "Hoochy Coochy".

(Also, I wasn't aware that calling a woman "Sweet Cheeks" was legal -- sexual harassment, and all that -- but since PQ1 was created in 1987, maybe things were different then?) *shrug*

Lt. Morgan tells you to call him, but doesn't give you a phone number unless you ask for it. How helpful.

Another ridiculous bit: at the hotel, Sonny tells the bartender that he's unemployed and just got out of jail for embezzlement. Again, the bartender doesn't bat an eyelid ... and neither does anyone else. Um ... everyone in the room is a crook!

Hmm .. can Sonny use the hotel phone to call 911? Just wondering. Oh, and you mentioned you missed 20 points ... I think one of the things you missed was to call Jack and express your condolences because his daughter passed away.

"Jim Sent Me." I like that. Yes, I haven't played poker (or gambled) IRL either -- just in computer games.

Hmm - when you go to the hotel bathroom, there's nothing there? Not even a shower? Or toilet? Or - you know - a sink?

How did you do the voice-change on the words "The Death Angel"? It's cool, but I just wonder how it was done.

Nicely done. Thanks, Tawm

[Rath Darkblade]

Oh, one last thing. (Sorry!) Another funny-weird moment: you go to the Blue Room for Jack's birthday and talk to him. He tells you how his life is falling to pieces because he's getting divorced, his daughter's on drugs, he's becoming an alcoholic etc. and bursts into tears.

Then Keith comes in. You ask him how he is, and he says ... *drumroll* "Good, Sonny."

Mood whiplash?

[Tawmis]

I have to go through your play through when I get a chance. I did skim it and happened upon the 45:00 mark where you get the memo in the in basket. In all the times I've played it, I have never gotten a memo there. And I'm pretty sure I looked. And I've gotten a high score of 249 out of 245.

It was pure luck, I guess? I only went in there because the Lt. wasn't there - and each time as the street cop, I checked for messages each time I went in; so I did the same with this. Every "event" - I checked for messages.

Here's my reaction to the commentary playthrough ... (Warning, long)

Pfft! Honored you sat through it!

Yes, that scene where Sonny waves his nightstick around always confused me. It does look like he's practicing some kind of martial art ... on thin air.

Yeah, it looks silly - and the idea that he's OUTNUMBERED by BIKERS (not just your average Joe) - and the bikers back down?

There are plenty of euphemisms for people in Marie's position. Among the more "polite" is courtesan, companion, "lady of the night" etc. but the word "prostitute" is also acceptable.

I had fun saying the different "titles" of her profession.

Pull the drunk guy over next to a park ... and when you get out of your car, it's a couple of houses. *shrug*

I thought that was weird.

It's a bit weird that at the jail, the same black guy does nothing but dribble a basketball but never takes a shot (until those two drug dealers show up). I guess the jail can't afford a basketball hoop?

Also - why does it gotta be a black guy dribbling and the black guy in the jail cell? To be fair, at least the drug guys are all white, as well as the murderer. So I guess it balances out.

Why does the nightstick have to stay in the car? *puzzled*

Beats the hell out of me (see what I did there?)

Spoiler: the Gremlin is Laura Watts, the detective who tells you about the opening in narcotics. I thought the chicken was funny -- just really over-the-top.

How do you figure that out?

I'm sorry, but listening to "...and I crashed ... and I crashed ... and I crashed" made me giggle. I can just imagine how frustrating it is - you sound very frustrated with it. (Yes, now I remember how many times I crashed when I tried to park at the hotel).

I wasn't frustrated at all. Actually laughed.

I love how your voice went up a notch when you mention the jail clerk saying "Oh man, that lawyer was sooo pissed..."

Also love the stage whisper on spoiler alert -- he's about to escape. And now I'm wondering: how does he escape? Is someone helping him, and if so, who - the jail clerk? Aaaaaaahhh - it's a conspiracy! "Here, clerk, I got a cool half-a-million you can have if you let me out." / "Sure, Mr Not-at-all-a-serious-murderer-Tasselli, let me just open your cell for you. Hope you enjoyed your stay at our wonderful jail. Please consider us whenever you next break the law."

I do the "spoiler alert" whisper in a few of my videos.
I thought it was funny when I saved the game (after his body is found) as "I guess he should have stayed in"

Setting up the sting ... what. Marie shouldn't even be party to any of the details of this. No civilian should. If any bad guys capture her and decide to "persuade" her to talk (as they do with brass knuckles and so on), it'd blow the whole operation.

Well, Marie probably has a ... reputation... so including her in the sting to "validate" your cover story makes sense.

Speaking of which, the whole operation thing doesn't make sense. Sonny's been running around and being a pain in the proverbial for the drug-dealers. Presumably they know what he looks like. So the solution is to ... dye his hair and dress him up like Leisure Suit Larry. Now it makes sense why he's calling women names like "Sweet Cheeks" and "Hoochy Coochy".
(Also, I wasn't aware that calling a woman "Sweet Cheeks" was legal -- sexual harassment, and all that -- but since PQ1 was created in 1987, maybe things were different then?) *shrug*

That's probably her... uh, street name.

Hmm .. can Sonny use the hotel phone to call 911? Just wondering. Oh, and you mentioned you missed 20 points ... I think one of the things you missed was to call Jack and express your condolences because his daughter passed away.

Where do you get the phone number for that? Do they ever say his last name?

How did you do the voice-change on the words "The Death Angel"? It's cool, but I just wonder how it was done.

Just me, changing the pitch of my voice. No effect.

I am on an upcoming podcast called Unpacking the Power of Power Pack - where they have synopsis of comic issues dealing with (Alex Power, of Power Pack) - and alternate between who reads them - and on one of them, "death" was in the title - so I did the same voice - and the two hosts were like, "Whoa! How'd you do that?"

I even make mention of it when I retweeted them from my New Warriors Twitter Account.

Oh, one last thing. (Sorry!) Another funny-weird moment: you go to the Blue Room for Jack's birthday and talk to him. He tells you how his life is falling to pieces because he's getting divorced, his daughter's on drugs, he's becoming an alcoholic etc. and bursts into tears.
Then Keith comes in. You ask him how he is, and he says ... *drumroll* "Good, Sonny."
Mood whiplash?

That's why every time I see Keith, I type "Thanks a lot Keith."

[Rath Darkblade]

It's a bit weird that at the jail, the same black guy does nothing but dribble a basketball but never takes a shot (until those two drug dealers show up). I guess the jail can't afford a basketball hoop?

Also - why does it gotta be a black guy dribbling and the black guy in the jail cell? To be fair, at least the drug guys are all white, as well as the murderer. So I guess it balances out.

Well ... this was made in 1987 -- and note the dribbling basketball player's 'fro. So ... maybe they were modelling him after Dr J's photo from 1976? (Thanks, wikipedia). Regardless of who he's modelled after, I just thought it was funny (so ridiculous).

As for the black guy in the jail cell ... dunno. Cliché, probably. But yes, everyone else you catch (Helen Hots, drunk guy, drug guys, Tasseli (sp? guy with tattoo over his nipple), Bains) are white.

Why does the nightstick have to stay in the car? *puzzled*

Beats the hell out of me (see what I did there?)

Ah yes. Your pun has me rooted to the spot. What a sticky situation!

Spoiler: the Gremlin is Laura Watts, the detective who tells you about the opening in narcotics. I thought the chicken was funny -- just really over-the-top.

How do you figure that out?

I didn't - it's revealed in PQ2. Don't read the spoiler if you want to figure it out: It's in her file in the station computer.

Hmm .. can Sonny use the hotel phone to call 911? Just wondering. Oh, and you mentioned you missed 20 points ... I think one of the things you missed was to call Jack and express your condolences because his daughter passed away.

Where do you get the phone number for that? Do they ever say his last name?

I can't remember if they say his last name. But when you're a detective, you can use the station computer to look up his file. His number is there. Just call the number from the office phone, and Sonny does the rest.

How did you do the voice-change on the words "The Death Angel"? It's cool, but I just wonder how it was done.

Just me, changing the pitch of my voice. No effect.

I am on an upcoming podcast called Unpacking the Power of Power Pack - where they have synopsis of comic issues dealing with (Alex Power, of Power Pack) - and alternate between who reads them - and on one of them, "death" was in the title - so I did the same voice - and the two hosts were like, "Whoa! How'd you do that?"

I even make mention of it when I retweeted them from my New Warriors Twitter Account.

That's very cool. I've tried changing the pitch of my voice, but all does is go up to tenor territory (not yet all the way up), then through baritone, and then down to bass (not yet all the way down). I can still tell that it's me ... I'm not sure if it changes how it sounds.

Tell you what: can I try a little experiment? I'll record a few bars of tenor, a few bars of baritone, and a few bars of bass, and put them up here. Can you tell me if it sounds like different people? Or different pitches?

[Tawmis]

Spoiler: the Gremlin is Laura Watts, the detective who tells you about the opening in narcotics. I thought the chicken was funny -- just really over-the-top.

How do you figure that out?

I didn't - it's revealed in PQ2. Don't read the spoiler if you want to figure it out: It's in her file in the station computer.

Ah ha! I don't remember that. But PQ isn't a series I frequently replayed because of always needing the map or the manual for the procedures to do things.

About to go into that next, however now that I finished PQ1.

Hmm .. can Sonny use the hotel phone to call 911? Just wondering. Oh, and you mentioned you missed 20 points ... I think one of the things you missed was to call Jack and express your condolences because his daughter passed away.

Where do you get the phone number for that? Do they ever say his last name?

I can't remember if they say his last name. But when you're a detective, you can use the station computer to look up his file. His number is there. Just call the number from the office phone, and Sonny does the rest.

Ah, that makes sense!

How did you do the voice-change on the words "The Death Angel"? It's cool, but I just wonder how it was done.

Just me, changing the pitch of my voice. No effect.
I am on an upcoming podcast called Unpacking the Power of Power Pack - where they have synopsis of comic issues dealing with (Alex Power, of Power Pack) - and alternate between who reads them - and on one of them, "death" was in the title - so I did the same voice - and the two hosts were like, "Whoa! How'd you do that?"
I even make mention of it when I retweeted them from my New Warriors Twitter Account.

That's very cool. I've tried changing the pitch of my voice, but all does is go up to tenor territory (not yet all the way up), then through baritone, and then down to bass (not yet all the way down). I can still tell that it's me ... I'm not sure if it changes how it sounds.
Tell you what: can I try a little experiment? I'll record a few bars of tenor, a few bars of baritone, and a few bars of bass, and put them up here. Can you tell me if it sounds like different people? Or different pitches?

Sure, or message me the file. Either way.