Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!igor!rutabaga!mcuddy From: mcuddy@rutabaga.Rational.COM (Mike Cuddy) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.games Subject: Re: Question about graphics in Sierra games. Message-ID: Date: 6 Aug 90 22:33:11 GMT References: <1094@orange3.qtp.ufl.edu> <22930004@hpmtlx.HP.COM> <367@macuni.mqcc.mq.oz> Sender: news@Rational.COM Lines: 52 ifarqhar@mqccsunc.mqcc.mq.oz.au (Ian Farquhar) writes: >In article <22930004@hpmtlx.HP.COM> elaine@hpmtlx.HP.COM ($Elaine_May) writes: >>I've also got King's Quest I and Manhunter NY. Graphics and sound in those >>games are lame. >I just bought LSL III, solved it over a weekend, and then composed a >really critical letter to Sierra-On Line pointing out that I owned an >Amiga computer, expected the programs I buy to realise this fact. I do >not expect EGA graphics that are so poorly programmed that Larry often >takes ages to flicker his way across a screen, nor do I expect sound >that would make a VCS programmer blush. Gee, I just solved LSL III, and on my amiga, the music is fine; now. (let me explain...) When I first got LSL3, I had 1meg, 2floppies and a Hard drive. If I played off of the floppies, it ran just fine (except the music was terrible) If I played off of the Hard drive, it guru'ed. I called sierra (they were _Very_ helpful--some of the best customer service I've ever seen for a game company; they even called me back a coupla weeks after they had solved my problem to make sure that I hadn't had any other problems--oops, I digress) Sierra told me that it was probably memory; the hard disk drivers take up a good deal of memory (esp. if you have more than one partition -- mine had 3) and so the game (when run off the floppy) tried to be nice and let you play (with shitty sound) when I got more memory (and reformatted my HD to have 1 partition) it's sound improved alot (about 10 different instruments -- and the music is pretty addictive too ;-) >I urge all other Amiga owners (and Mac owners, and ST owners etc) to do As far as graphics are concerned, admittedly, they are not quite up to par with say, psygnosis game, but they are designed for a lowest common denomiator. (part of) the reason they are so slow changing screens (i expect) is that the graphics are 'object' based (vs. bitmap based) so each screen is 'drawn' while you're not looking; this saves alot of disk space. as far as movin larry around, I don't know what there excuse is, but all of the sierra games are pretty pokey with thier characters (watch the animation slow down when there is something going on -- like the fountain) Oh, well; just the ramblings of an old unix hack turned amiga hack.. >I await their answer, but I do not really expect one. You will probably get one (unless you sent them a real nastygram, in which case you deserve what you get--or don't get ;-) --Mike Cuddy "...He's a UNIX hack and he's okay, he works all night and he sleeps all day..." Ps: watch for the amiga version of 'hextris' comming soon with full amiga'ized graphics and sound; gee I hope spectrum holobyte will let me distribute it!