My Ecoquest 1 playthrough

[notbobsmith]

So I just started my playthrough of the first EcoQuest. So far it's not too bad. It's intended for a younger audience, obviously. So it's really pretty easy. Based on the score I'm almost halfway through after just a few hours and I haven't gotten stuck anywhere. A few random observations:

- The game is called "EcoQuest 1: The Search for Cetus". So were they anticipating a sequel? And the funny thing is that the sequel is called "Lost Secret of the Rainforest". It's usually called EcoQuest 2, but "EcoQuest" doesn't appear on the box cover or the in-game title screen.

- There's a point in the game where you find a TV on the bottom of the ocean. The Narrator says "Holy HDTV!". ??? So I checked and I guess the usage of the term HD does go back a long time, but I didn't think it entered common usage until the 2000s. Weird.

- One thing that really kind of struck me as odd was the color choices made for the control panel and text boxes. Usually I don't notice these kinds of things, but there's something about it that, well, bothered me. "Bothered" is probably too strong a word. The control panel is this garish mix of purple and green. The icons use the same scheme too. And the text boxes also look strange. Blue on blue with a yellow, red and green border. Like I said, I usually don't notice things like this, probably because the color schemes usually make sense. Here... Is it just me or do these look strange to anyone else?

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[Collector]

The game is called "EcoQuest 1: The Search for Cetus". So were they anticipating a sequel? And the funny thing is that the sequel is called "Lost Secret of the Rainforest". It's usually called EcoQuest 2, but "EcoQuest" doesn't appear on the box cover or the in-game title screen.

There was more than one release of the game. Perhaps yours is one that was released after EQ2 was released or had started development? The Sierra Discovery Series release came out about a half year before EQ2 was initially released.

[Rath Darkblade]

- One thing that really kind of struck me as odd was the color choices made for the control panel and text boxes. Usually I don't notice these kinds of things, but there's something about it that, well, bothered me. "Bothered" is probably too strong a word. The control panel is this garish mix of purple and green. The icons use the same scheme too. And the text boxes also look strange. Blue on blue with a yellow, red and green border. Like I said, I usually don't notice things like this, probably because the color schemes usually make sense. Here... Is it just me or do these look strange to anyone else?

sierra_000.png
sierra_001.png

I've never played EcoQuest, but that control panel looks a little bit like CGA (I think? I haven't seen CGA in years). Compare and contrast:



All right, it's not quite as simple as CGA. It's just reminiscent of it - the purple especially.

[notbobsmith]

And done. So, yeah, pretty easy. Otherwise no real complaints. It's a perfectly fine adventure game from the early '90s with a younger audience in mind. There was some educational value discussing aquatic life and the dangers of trash ending up in the ocean (balloons, 6-pack rings, etc.). I was playing the CD-ROM talkie version and the voice acting is about what you might expect before the industry started to hire profession voice actors. The PC, Adam, was played by Dylan Skirvin who I assume is the son of Art Designer William D. Skirvin. Some of the other actors are from Sierra. And it was... fine. Actually, that probably sums up my impression of the game... fine.

Final score from this playthrough: 720 out of 725.

The game is called "EcoQuest 1: The Search for Cetus". So were they anticipating a sequel? And the funny thing is that the sequel is called "Lost Secret of the Rainforest". It's usually called EcoQuest 2, but "EcoQuest" doesn't appear on the box cover or the in-game title screen.

There was more than one release of the game. Perhaps yours is one that was released after EQ2 was released or had started development? The Sierra Discovery Series release came out about a half year before EQ2 was initially released.

Certainly possible. Though the screen captures I found from the Sierra Wallpaper page and Mobygames all have the EcoQuest 1 title bar on top. So they are probably using the same version as well.

I've never played EcoQuest, but that control panel looks a little bit like CGA (I think? I haven't seen CGA in years). Compare and contrast:

All right, it's not quite as simple as CGA. It's just reminiscent of it - the purple especially.

The purple does like the CGA purple. But the green wasn't part of that palette, which had cyan, magenta, white and black. But there was a red, yellow, green, and black palette. (and I guess 16 colors were possible but not commonly known).

It was bugging me where I saw these colors before and then I remembered: a few years ago my video card died and for whatever reason, when it did, it showed this purple and green screen. Total coincidence, but maybe that's why I found the control panel so off-putting.

[Tawmis]

- One thing that really kind of struck me as odd was the color choices made for the control panel and text boxes. Usually I don't notice these kinds of things, but there's something about it that, well, bothered me. "Bothered" is probably too strong a word. The control panel is this garish mix of purple and green. The icons use the same scheme too. And the text boxes also look strange. Blue on blue with a yellow, red and green border. Like I said, I usually don't notice things like this, probably because the color schemes usually make sense. Here... Is it just me or do these look strange to anyone else?

I think you nailed the reason why already - because it was clearly aimed at younger kids. They probably wanted outlandish colors (to give it a youthful feel - like crayon colors!) - and make sure to not make it black and white (traditional colors for Sierra text boxes) - because that would be too boring (and perhaps feel like too much like a book) - which is probably why they also have picture icons next to whomever is talking.

[notbobsmith]

- One thing that really kind of struck me as odd was the color choices made for the control panel and text boxes. Usually I don't notice these kinds of things, but there's something about it that, well, bothered me. "Bothered" is probably too strong a word. The control panel is this garish mix of purple and green. The icons use the same scheme too. And the text boxes also look strange. Blue on blue with a yellow, red and green border. Like I said, I usually don't notice things like this, probably because the color schemes usually make sense. Here... Is it just me or do these look strange to anyone else?

I think you nailed the reason why already - because it was clearly aimed at younger kids. They probably wanted outlandish colors (to give it a youthful feel - like crayon colors!) - and make sure to not make it black and white (traditional colors for Sierra text boxes) - because that would be too boring (and perhaps feel like too much like a book) - which is probably why they also have picture icons next to whomever is talking.

Possible. But EcoQuest 2 doesn't do that. Neither does something like Mixed-Up Fairy Tales.

And doesn't just about every SCI era game use pictures of the speaker?

[Tawmis]

Possible. But EcoQuest 2 doesn't do that. Neither does something like Mixed-Up Fairy Tales.
And doesn't just about every SCI era game use pictures of the speaker?

Well, they may have gotten feedback that the colors were jarring (was something to try in EcoQuest 1 - got feedback, OK, don't do it in the sequel)

And I don't think every SCI uses pictures - Space Quest III is SCI? And no talking picture next to the image? Police Quest III also? (Or does Police Quest III? I can't be sure now...)

[Collector]

The talking portraits started with KQ6

[notbobsmith]

Well, they may have gotten feedback that the colors were jarring (was something to try in EcoQuest 1 - got feedback, OK, don't do it in the sequel)

And I don't think every SCI uses pictures - Space Quest III is SCI? And no talking picture next to the image? Police Quest III also? (Or does Police Quest III? I can't be sure now...)

I think I may have used SCI incorrectly. From what I understand, the first iteration of SCI (SCI0) were KQ4, PQ2, SQ3, etc. SCI1 was for the 256 color point-and-click games like KQ5, PQ3, QFG3, etc.

And PQ3 did have portraits, along with the PQ1 remake.

The talking portraits started with KQ6

KQ5 had talking portraits.

[notbobsmith]

Just finished a second playthrough to get all of the points.

One other observation: the noises used for Delphineus the dolphin aren't actual dolphin noises. It kind of sounds like a person coughing. I'm not sure why they didn't use a stock dolphin sound effect which I would think they would have had access to.