Eco Quest 1 EGA
Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 5:08 pm
As some of you may know, back when Sierra first switched from 16-colour EGA parser games to 256-colour VGA P&C games (the transition from SCI0/SCI0.1 to SCI1.0) Sierra created alternate 16-colour versions of these games that you could fill out a form for and send back your VGA version disks and they'd send you back the EGA version disks. This was for people who still had older computers like Tandys and whatnot that didn't yet support VGA. They also supported the Tandy 3-voice sound system which sounds really nice in DOSBox.
Anyway, I have collected almost all of these alternate versions which include SQ1 Remake, SQ4, PQ3, KQ5, Hoyle Volume 3, Mixed Up Fairy Tales, LSL1 Remake, LSL5, Conquests of the Longbow, The Castle of Dr. Brain, and Jones in the Fast Lane which is actually an SCI0 game with a VGA driver so having an EGA driver is a given anyway. I also have EGA versions of the Dynamix games Willy Beamish, Rise of the Dragon, and Heart of China. I'm also not referring to the SCI1.1 games that are bundled with EGA640 drivers along with the VGA320 drivers, the former of which dithers the already VGA graphics in 16 colours at twice the game's original resolution (640x400 as opposed to 320x200). Games that used this were games like SQ5, PQ1 Remake, QFG1 Remake, QFG3, LSL6 (the lo-res disk version), KQ6, LB2, Island of Dr. Brain, Gabriel Knight 1, Eco Quest 2, and Freddy Pharkas to name a few (actually, almost all of them). I'm talking about alternate games with their graphics converted down from 256 colours to 16 colours and use an EGA320 driver to render the already EGA graphics in 320x200 resolution (it doesn't dither existing VGA graphics in twice the resolution).
But there's one more game that is rumoured to exist and I've heard this from reliable sources so I'm pretty sure it's not just a myth and that is Eco Quest 1. I have already located 3 different versions of the game; two disk versions and a CD version. One is a disk version made with the SCI1.0 engine and has an MT-32 soundtrack. Another is a disk version that's made in the SCI1.1 engine, has a General MIDI soundtrack, and contains an EGA640 dither driver. The third is the CD-ROM version which is made in the SCI1.1 engine, has a General MIDI soundtrack, contains an EGA640 dither driver, and supports speech. The fact that this game has a SCI1.0 version without an EGA640 dither driver leads me to believe that an alternate send-away-with-disks-and-a-form EGA version exists. I've been long searching for this gem and found nothing. I'd much love to get a hold of a copy so if anybody has it or anything leading to it or its existence I'd much appreciate it.
Anyway, I have collected almost all of these alternate versions which include SQ1 Remake, SQ4, PQ3, KQ5, Hoyle Volume 3, Mixed Up Fairy Tales, LSL1 Remake, LSL5, Conquests of the Longbow, The Castle of Dr. Brain, and Jones in the Fast Lane which is actually an SCI0 game with a VGA driver so having an EGA driver is a given anyway. I also have EGA versions of the Dynamix games Willy Beamish, Rise of the Dragon, and Heart of China. I'm also not referring to the SCI1.1 games that are bundled with EGA640 drivers along with the VGA320 drivers, the former of which dithers the already VGA graphics in 16 colours at twice the game's original resolution (640x400 as opposed to 320x200). Games that used this were games like SQ5, PQ1 Remake, QFG1 Remake, QFG3, LSL6 (the lo-res disk version), KQ6, LB2, Island of Dr. Brain, Gabriel Knight 1, Eco Quest 2, and Freddy Pharkas to name a few (actually, almost all of them). I'm talking about alternate games with their graphics converted down from 256 colours to 16 colours and use an EGA320 driver to render the already EGA graphics in 320x200 resolution (it doesn't dither existing VGA graphics in twice the resolution).
But there's one more game that is rumoured to exist and I've heard this from reliable sources so I'm pretty sure it's not just a myth and that is Eco Quest 1. I have already located 3 different versions of the game; two disk versions and a CD version. One is a disk version made with the SCI1.0 engine and has an MT-32 soundtrack. Another is a disk version that's made in the SCI1.1 engine, has a General MIDI soundtrack, and contains an EGA640 dither driver. The third is the CD-ROM version which is made in the SCI1.1 engine, has a General MIDI soundtrack, contains an EGA640 dither driver, and supports speech. The fact that this game has a SCI1.0 version without an EGA640 dither driver leads me to believe that an alternate send-away-with-disks-and-a-form EGA version exists. I've been long searching for this gem and found nothing. I'd much love to get a hold of a copy so if anybody has it or anything leading to it or its existence I'd much appreciate it.