King's Quest - The First Adventure

[@PowerPakGames]

Fun fact, this video has technically been in production since April, just been on the back burner whilst I did other projects. This also means I did not time this to coincide with any news related to any particular monarchy whatsoever. I hope to do more adventure games in the future. This more LP format is fun to do and there's some adventure games worth looking into. Good, Bad, and... weird. Next video likely won't be a review, but an announcement and update. Stay tuned. Edit: Slightly adjusted the title.

[@showtheshow3397]

I was going to say, which charles? The one that had his head lopped off, or the one who's just INCREDIBLY unpopular that any reference to the past is just that? gskhgfkjbnfgds

[@GeneralTaco155555a]

You know, there is a new Monkey Island™ game that just released... 6 games in the franchise now

[@BigDickDamage]

Missed you bro

[@Annon517]

Awesome video. Really brought back memories. Also btw glad you were determined to not resort to a walkthrough (which for this genre more than any other ruins the game). That "dark night of the soul" when you've hit a total dead end with the puzzles is what makes it so satisfying when you finally make a breakthrough. So awesome. Subscribed for more classic adventure games in the future. Long live the king.

[@Sigismund697]

oohhh check The Ring one for ps2 as in the game based on The Ringu books

[@ultimateninjaboi]

Worst part of the gnome puzzle is that, on top of having to figure out that its a backward alphabet cipher, you also have to misspell Rumpelstiltskin, because they used a misspelling when setting it up

[@Erich_sea]

This is a crude copyright protection that owners of the game could discovered in the manual. Which was tough to photocopy be being dark text on a dark paper.

[@kennethfharkin]

@@Erich_sea BINGO! Back in the day there were often copywrite protections which were incorporated into the physical manual. I played this on my IBM PCJr and had other games over the years with similar protections.

[@ultimateninjaboi]

@@Erich_sea oh shit, for real? Like, i know manual-based copy protection was a thing (and there are some legitimately interesting ways ive seen it implemented) but this always felt like one of those shitty puzzles in the series where they just expected you to know what the fairytale reference was, and figure out the specific moon-logicky way they implemented it. Especially with the in-game hints. If it was copy protection, then its a little less egregious. XP

[@JStryker47]

Actually, the *worst* part is that when you do solve the puzzle, you're given access to the harder means of getting to the cloud land, while failing it gets you access to the easier way. In the remake, it's the other way around, like it should be. The player should be rewarded for their hard work, not punished.

[@TheSeptet]

@@JStryker47 The point of succeeding taking you to the harder path was so you could get more points. In these games, you didn't just want to finish the game, you also wanted to get a high score. It's a part of adventure game design that never really caught on.

[@Athlynne]

Many years ago, I was basically penpals with some people at Sierra, sending them letters about being stuck on a riddle or whatever, and they'd send me very nice, upbeat, hinting replies, all through snail-mail, mind you. I loved the games, and the employees were so friendly, I still have a nostalgic fondness for these old games of my childhood.

[@SpaceMissile]

aww, that is so wholesome

[@Pootie_Tang]

Woah! Do you still have the letters?

[@idontwantahandlethough]

that's adorable

[@anonamatron]

I think they were supposed to tell you to call the hint line or buy a hint book.

[@quercusquercus532]

I guess I should've followed up more, never got to the pen-pal level. But I got an absurdly generous response when I wrote them saying "My grade 7 project is to learn about a career, I wanna make computer games".

[@sussybussy1]

The PgUp, PgDn, Home, and End diagonal directions thing can probably be attributed to the Num Pad on some keyboards having those also bound to 9, 3, 7, and 1 when Num Lock is turned off

[@dtester]

You are exactly right, it's a based on numpad of a full size keyboard.

[@kyleolson8977]

Any full numpad on a PC Keyboard has this same layout to this day. But here's the odd part: this game wasn't developed for a PC with a full keyboard. IBM funded Sierra's development of the game and published it for the failed PC Jr. in 1984, The gold package is from Sierra's re-release in 1985. I Unlike the other IBM PCs, the PC Jr. did not have a numpad, either in the PC Jr.'s infamous "chiclet" version or the regular switch "enhanced" version. Of course, it's likely that the Williamses did not have that new keyboard when developing the game and assumed the design would be like the older keyboard.

[@SlideRSB]

@@kyleolson8977 If you were playing on a PCjr, then the odds are that you would use a joystick to control Grahm's movements. I originally played these games on a Tandy 1000 EX back in the day and that computer had a numeric pad which also functioned as arrow keys with numlock turned off.

[@thrash2429]

@@kyleolson8977 You're correct, but the PC Jr did have a joystick, which worked with this game. I know because that's how I played it back in the day. Also with the joystick, you'd stop moving when you released it instead of keeping moving like the keyboard.

[@R.B.]

AGI wasn't just for the PC Jr though and it was updated for other systems. I don't remember the keys for jump, and swim either. Ctrl-d, tp (teleport), was more my style anyway. I think f6 guy have been the hotkey to show the depth bands to identify triggers and let you see what objects you could walk in front of and what you'd walk behind. Amazing game full of memories.

[@jasonblalock4429]

The funny thing is, as rough as KQ1 is today, it was *by far* the most player-friendly adventure game at the time. A big open world, non-linear quest, detailed faux-3D graphics (lol really), and alternate solutions to pretty much every puzzle? That was peak UX in 1984. BTW, if you're still looking for Sierra games to try, I highly recommend the "Quest For Glory" series. It's a genuinely unique mashup of Sierra adventuring and an ARPG, with multiple classes and alternate paths for every class. Age aside, I honestly think they're among the very best-designed games that Sierra ever released, and are still reasonably playable today.

[@KopperNeoman]

"Reasonably playable" he says about a quintilogy that tapped such an excellent genre blend that miserably goes unappreciated by everyone except Quest for Infamy and Heroine's Quest, which are explicitly trying to be QFG homages. (And the Blade Runner game to a certain extent) Just the ability to FIGHT THINGS takes the worst elements of adventure games and Old Yeller's them. Also, the VGA version of Trial by Fire has a genuinely great combat system that makes you forget there's a full-blown adventure game underneath. There's also a superboss and unlockable cheats.

[@thrash2429]

Yeah this is something that people these days don't understand. This was relatively user-friendly for its time. Older text adventures usually had harder puzzles. Also the graphics blew my mind as a kid in the 80s

[@b0gster]

@@KopperNeoman the fourth one, Quest for Glory: Shadows of Darkness is awesome. The previous ones are a bit dated let's be honest.

[@GodwynDi]

Hero's Quest, one of the best game series of all time

[@Schadrach42]

@@GodwynDi Which then had to be rebranded as Quest For Glory over trademark arguments with the makers of the Hero Quest board game.

[@JonHuhnMedical]

I was a kid in the mid 80s. These games were beyond magical to a young brain like mine. I'd look at those screens and my imagination would run wild, wondering was was just around the bend. Now middle aged, divorced, and dealing with accumulating health issues as everyone does, I find myself jaded with photorealistic, high poly games. Pixel art seems to touch something deep inside me. It suggests an interactive, living world, without spoon feeding your brain all the details. You still have to fill in the gaps, as if you're reading a book.

[@ghostifacation]

Well said my friend!

[@armandogavilan1815]

I hear you, same generation as you and deeply believe the same, but is funny back in the day, older folks criticized us for a similar reason, "better read a book!" "use your imagination!"

[@JonHuhnMedical]

@@armandogavilan1815 That is a very good point!

[@armandogavilan1815]

@@JonHuhnMedical but I still agree with you, I cherished each new generation of games partly because the "better" graphics and NOW I like mostly indie retro influenced games, there is a charm and a real aesthetic value to pixelated graphics.

[@b0gster]

A-MEN!

[@characterofyours]

I played this game after my dad downloaded the final game for us to play a few years ago. Spoilers but the last game delves into themes of dementia and death and to this day it has been one of the most impactful narrative experiences of my life. Afterwards I played the 1st and 2nd game and was so happy to see Graham alive and well ;-;

[@notsyzagts7967]

The last game is simply called King's Quest. Nothing confusing about that at all lol. If you know the story of the series, it's not a sequel to part 8 but rather a cap on the original core story surrounding the royal family. Unfortunately, the chapter-based release schedule turned off many players after the 1st one. Not a lot of people actually took the time to collect and play through all the chapters as they were released. Great cap on the series but a sloppy roll-out honestly. FYI, KQ 6 is generally considered the high point of the original games. You should try that one.

[@picahudsoniaunflocked5426]

Wow I kind've want someone to deep dive the series now...

[@DrakusRecords]

@@picahudsoniaunflocked5426 I loved the 2015/16 King's Quest, such a great and impactful story and the puzzles were really well designed too. The only thing I didn't like about it was that it doesn't really fit in with the original games stories as they changed some things.

[@harrylane4]

Final game SO FAR (coping)

[@nosferadu]

The diagonal controls were designed for the keypad. PgUp/PgDn and Home/End are the corner buttons there.

[@todesziege]

And quite common in PC games of this vintage.

[@GreenShark4]

It's a real shame this video isn't getting even half the views of your Iron Lung video. You have a very earnest yet calm way of discussing games, and I really enjoy your work!

[@SandwichGlitch]

At least My House Doom mod is another big hit for him

[@ShadowAngel-lt8nw]

Why should it get views? Already the claim "first adventure game" is completely wrong and shows that the video producer is completely clueless about the subject. He doesn't deserve to be seen, that would just lead to this lie being spread by clueless people.

[@ewanb1086]

@@ShadowAngel-lt8nw did you watch the video? he explains himself in the first minute

[@ShadowAngel-lt8nw]

@@ewanb1086 Bullshit is still bullshit, regardless of a wonky "I'm a clueless millennial who shits out worthless videos on youtube"-'explanation' All the videos i looked over are filled with numerous false claims and lies.

[@kermit74]

​@@ewanb1086dont worry this is probably rage bait or just someone with too much time on their hands

[@drmathochist06]

19:58 the controls *were* standardized. Back in the '80s, your keyboard would have a "numeric keypad" with your numbers 1-9 on the right in addition to the row at the top of your keyboard. Some people were used to that layout for entering a lot of numbers, so it was useful, but also kind of redundant. Enter.... NumLock! Pressing this key would toggle the keypad from numbers to arrows! 8 was up, 4 and 6 were left and right, and 2 was down. But there are 9 keys (and 0 below), so the corners could also have functions to move the cursor around. 9 and 3 were page-up and page-down to skip up and down a long document, while 7 and 1 were home and end to jump to the beginning or end of a line. So yes, those are natural keys to use for diagonal movement *given the keyboards of the time*.

[@dudarino666]

TBH I find Space quest 4 and 5 to be some of the best of Sierras work. The art, comedy, story just has so much love and heart. Theres some moon logic to some of the puzzles but goodness if I dont play them every few years for a good laugh.

[@calsavestheworld]

Hey 16 colours was MIND BLOWING in 1984. Most monitors had 1.

[@Dr.TJ_Eckleburg]

You really have to remember the target audience for this game back in the '80s. The only people playing computer games were going to be hardcore nerds, mostly adults, and very likely already active in some kind of technology space. Learning curve wasn't much of a factor -- these were going to be relatively well-read people who appreciated the challenge and detail of the stories. People coming from games like Zork which didn't even have the benefit of any graphics at all. I played ALL the original Sierra games when I was a kid -- I was about 12 years old and my dad's friend from IBM installed them on my Tandy 1000. It was absolutely fascinating to sit there and explore those worlds for hours and hours. I never managed to finish King's Quest as a kid, but that was part of the fun... the game seemed endless, and every time I discovered something or figured something out, my points went up by one or two and I felt like I conquered the world. It's impossible to relate to nowadays, but at the time it was really something. Back then there were no cheat guides and the internet didn't really exist. And nobody in my school knew what the hell any of this was. Eventually I got a 2400 baud modem for Christmas and found some BBS communities and got some help from grownups. The challenge was always there though. Also, some of the keyboard commands seem insane now, but when playing on a standard IBM keyboard of the era the layout makes a lot more sense. You had a numpad in which all those keys were grouped together and you barely had to move your hand to execute any movement. If you're gonna take a stab at the rest of the Sierra games -- and you should! -- maybe look for a modern keyboard with that original key layout to make your life easier.

[@revengeofthelolin]

20:00 Early keyboards tended to not have independent arrow keys, instead all keyboards had the number pad where the arrow keys were on the numbers in a circle, with the end, home, page up, and page down between them like a ring, so it made sense back then to put diagonal movements on them

[@-taz-]

Yep, and I always liked that layout better.

[@nwalsh3]

One things to mention as one who has the original release: the manual is printed on what you might call 'old-style' book paper. quite thick and coarse. The front and back manual envelopes are printed with a relief effect, very noticable on the titile.

[@LMC764]

That's really cool actually

[@DecayingReverie]

This was an awesome video. I've never played any of the King's Quest games. They're classics but I imagine I would lose patience with them really quick. This was a great way to showcase the game and have it be entertaining.

[@SandwichGlitch]

There's a nice little "Reimagining" on modern Hardware... (OGs say it's shite, but they lie)

[@Tinkerer_Red]

19:40 when numpads arent toggled to type numbers, they are instead arrow keys, home, end, and page up/down. it was pretty standardized at the time to the point most keyboards today still follow that same layout if they have a numpad.

[@logans.7932]

“You don’t want to get caught by the dwarf. It’s worse than a game over.” I played a game called “Fear and Hunger” recently. My mind went to the WORST place. 😂

[@haileyturner3309]

This. This right here is exactly why you don't play fear and hunger and then go play a different fantasy game for at least a day, you can't play any fantasy games without getting taken out by a generic fantasy enemy without thinking - oh God it's gonna do something to my corpse!- and then nothing bad happens and you respawn. P.S sorry for the tangent

[@zachtwilightwindwaker596]

I am not familiar with that game. Does it involve rape?

[@logans.7932]

@@zachtwilightwindwaker596 among other things that are very dark and edgy 😭

[@thatguymatt5816]

@@zachtwilightwindwaker596it does but it’s not shocking and for no reason. It’s weird to say “it fits”, but… it fits

[@NoAffinity]

I remember Sierra inserting adverts in their games for sierra online which didnt yet exist at the time. They talked about a future of playing online, group gatherings online, even online classroom environments. It seemed so foreign, even a bit scary to my 8-year old self. Would love to see one of those adverts again and compare what they envisioned to what has resulted some 30+ years later.

[@jennyvlogs7160]

If you get the magic shield first, you can use it to protect you from the giant, you can also use the ring the elf gives you. You just wait until he goes to sleep. That way you don't lose points killing him. You can use the fairy's spell, the ring, or the shield to get past the thieving dwarf. You can also use the dagger to kill the dragon, but you lose points in these games if you do anything violent. I had no clue you could bribe the troll! I always wondered what the all the treasure laying around was for.

[@KopperNeoman]

Contrast Quest for Glory, where you're encouraged to kill monsters, and Fighters even GAIN points for doing so.

[@jennyvlogs7160]

@@KopperNeoman I love Quest for Glory. So much fun!

[@daemonofdecay]

Criminally underrated channel. I was drawn in by your Iron Lung video, but I’m staying for content like this: simple, funny, well written - and with good voice quality to boot. This is the kind of stuff I can put on while painting or doing work. And it honestly earned an audible chuckle from me a few times.

[@MopeyN]

Then I would like to recommend "Noah Caldwell-Gervais" to you 😊 You will like him, too.

[@1wngdngl]

This video is so entertaining and well-made I keep coming back to it. Would love to see you cover other Sierra games in the same style :)

[@PowerPakGames]

Certainly plan to! I really want to talk about the odd parallels of Space Quest 3 and Leisure Suit Larry 3 at the very least.

[@zachtwilightwindwaker596]

@@PowerPakGames Don't forget King's Quest IV and the original Leisure Suit Larry.

[@PerpetualDaydreamer]

Great vid! And thanks for being someone who acknowledges a game hasn't aged well, *why* the game hasn't aged well beyond "it's old," and for genuinely still giving it a go. I respect that. This was super fun to watch. I seldom played computer games as a kid, so missed out on these back then. Still, I have a lot of respect for what they are and what they did. There's a surprising amount of detail to them, too. They could have just not programmed *anything* for commands like trying to kill the king, but they took the time to give a unique text box. I love those types of things.

[@ZILOGz80VIDEOS]

@20:00 to be fair the IBM XT class PC the game was designed for had the arrow keys as part of the number cluster like when you turn off numlock, so page up and down and home and end would have corresponded to diagonal directions.

[@clray123]

I'm still using a keyboard from around 1999 which has these functions on the respective keys of number pad. Are today's keyboards any different?

[@rynobehnke8289]

Well my rather recent Keyboard that I bought new just 2 years ago also has all of these keys as second options on the numblock of Numlock is off. So I guess I would still play Kings quest as intended with it.

[@cleverlyblonde]

It is also relevant to point out that the function keys on those keyboards tended to be a column on the left side of the keyboard and a lot of software and some games came with a cardboard cutout that you could put over those keys to see what functions they did in your program or game.

[@HowDoIMakeAUsername]

This is like a comfort video for me. I love watching people experience older games for the first time. I'd love to see more of this type of stuff in the future.

[@Spekktre]

I definitely would love to see Kings Quest 7 particularly. Sierra definitely set a trend here, but they were also the ones that really refined it. I played a few of these as a kid and the one that really sticks out to me (in child memory) is #7

[@0meAcat1]

Kq 7 was so well voiced hahaha, remember, eat a grain of salt before entering the faux shop

[@jeffpadilla9891]

Being an older gamer my friends and I played all of the Sierra games. Great times, lots of fun.

[@dtester]

With no internet and faqs you would just walk around for days, weeks, or months trying to figure this stuff out back in the day. There was a Sierra help line which was probably your only option if you got stuck. ^_^

[@KrGsMrNKusinagi0]

yup had to call a few times but not on kings quest.. Literally played till i figured it out.. and yes i even figured out the gnome name took me a few weeks

[@From_A_Diverging_Timeline]

I completely forgot about game hotlines. But now I remember seeing a hotline number in old Gameboy carts. Edit not carts the manuals

[@todesziege]

Yeah, you would put the game down for days or week, then pick it back up. I never played adventure games in 'one session'.

[@kryptonite5315]

In case anyone might be interested in more obscure mythical references: I believe the entire leprechaun scene takes inspiration from the 1959 Disney title "Darby O'Gill and the Little People. There's a scene where the old man plays a rousing hunting tune in the lair of leprechauns, causing them to dance til they mount horses and magically open an exit for him to sneak out.

[@donoteatmikezila]

Did you just deadass casually drop that you "don't have" Steam?

[@TheAssassin642]

Yeah or the game on Steam

[@Zhuk-zc8es]

Hes based

[@300IQPrower]

the last time I heard someone on youtube say they didn't have steam was....holy shit at least a decade ago.

[@r.p.7174]

...I guess GOG's always an option?

[@Dorraj]

Pretty sure he meant he doesn't have the game

[@gabby3036]

20:07 Gotta love trying for the friendly "hello" only to be met with "The dwarf is not here for idle conversion." No, I'd say this is about to be some active - even aggressive - conversion.

[@bodhidaruma2824]

An unmentioned music credit: around 12:38 it's playing a tune from trails in the sky series, it's "A cat relaxing in the sun".

[@Dreamprism]

I grew up on the King's Quest series. I remember my family playing VI a bunch when I was very young. I also played Quest for Glory and the adventure series Eco Quest that they made for kids.

[@Radwar99]

Removing the typing commands and replacing it with a point and click interface with different icons in King's Quest V was a very good change, it got me more interested in the series, even though I had done King's Quest III prior.

[@todesziege]

@@Radwar99 It made the games more accessible, but at the same time I feel something was lost in the process. There's something special about just how _wide open_ for exploration a text interface game is.

[@thatstoryshow]

I'm 49. I played this back in the day along with several other Sierra games. I'll just say that the same HAS aged well... because it was just as confusing and random back in the day as it is now! I remember randomly getting something right (like your condor find) and ripping my eye muscles with such a huge eye roll. I wouldn't even have faulted you for using a guide. Lord knows we were picking for scraps of what to do next from friends and rumors. Hats off for finishing the game. You're the first person I've ever known to have done it!

[@ElanoreHour]

I love that you made this so much! Kings Quest is my fav game series, my first game I ever played, and am still a huge fan still to this day.

[@chessoc7799]

Colossal Cave Adventure game in about 1972 is the earliest adventure I can think of. I used to play a load of text adventures on the Spectrum still do occasionally as they still work well and no graphics needed :) .

[@dono42]

I fondly remember playing King's Quest at my neighbors house when I was in early elementary. I played through a number of the sequels too following that. My friend's dad also had Leisure Suit Larry which he tried to hide, but of course we found it and had fun playing it. The Space Quest series were quite awesome, too. Someday I hope to replay some of these again.

[@spoonfulof]

I grew up playing this game and other Sierra classics. It was magic to me as a teenager. Thank you for covering it in such an entertaining way, I had a blast revisiting it with you!

[@cartoonjeff]

The first version of this did not have the ability to save the game. At 11 years old, my best friend and I were allowed to play this once a week on a Saturday. So every Saturday we'd start the game all over, get stuck on the same puzzles, and never figure it out.

[@williamm.1608]

OMG I lost it when “the dwarf appears in a random field and robs me…” lol. Please think about doing the other Kings Quests!

[@МаксимХавро-ч4ы]

This format is awesome! Like your vids very much. Keep on rocking!

[@learrus]

I remember some of my friends older brothers going insane trying to beat this game way back when. Your video reminded me of different dramatic arcs they went through

[@Stu8025]

I remember playing this when it was new-yes new, I'm that old. I like seeing how the series grew over time, from graphics and typing commands, to point and click with actual voices for the characters and stuff. What a trip.

[@MartijnFrazer]

Well done on completing the game without hints! The way to enjoy these old games I think is not to approach them as a gamer who's looking for a good time, but rather to try and summon the inquisitive nature of a scientist and poke at the game from different angles to see how it responds. Just like an archeologist isn't thinking "wow this old vase I just dug up would look great in my house", a video game historian also isn't really thinking about how the game is fun to play, but more about its contemporary context and how it influenced later games. That way any old game is fun to look at!

[@kimrogers9315]

This game has this good sort of vibes and stuff, zero uncanny stuff I feel like. The only sort of weird part is how dead the whole place is, only about 10 characters…wait a minute this whole place is uncanny

[@namemycactus]

Im so happy this was made. My hyperfixation is sated for now. I can rest

[@MopeyN]

Thanks for playing this and your patience. My monitor would have magically "stopped working" if I had played this. What a chore :(

[@bbluekyanite]

In Minecraft, one of the paintings is a reference to this game, with Graham's sprite on it :)

[@rickpgriffin]

Often on let's plays I'm such a backseat gamer who's always like "oh come on how could you not see that!" but with an old sierra game I'm only ever gonna be sympathetic. "Yup... you're gonna get that..." KQ1 was just slightly before my time, but when we got our first CD-ROM drive we got the King's Quest collection with it, and it was only ever bullshit. The collection came with a strategy guide, which was TBQH more edifying than the actual games were (save 5 and 6 which are ALMOST fair, at least in comparison). The funny part though is that the walkthroughs came in two styles: a straightforward Do X To Process list of tasks and warnings, and also a narrative in the form of an interview. I know Roberta Williams was inspired to make adventure games after being stuck Colossal Cave Adventure (or some other game) for like, an entire year of her life, so the obtuseness was built-in and purposeful because she expected everyone to play it as meticulously as she did. But it sure FEELS like the games were designed to sell hint guides.

[@KopperNeoman]

Quest for Glory's strategy guide used a similar style (albeit without the clinical walkthrough part) where it would describe the game for all the classes as though telling the Hero's story. It's also where you found out that his canon name is Devon Aidendale, and that he came from a peaceful town called Willowsby. (Corey and Lori tried to retcon everything, but they disrespect their own lore so I don't care.)

[@rustyshackleford1910]

worthikids does a really fantastic animation about these old sierra games that really hits home

[@kennethfharkin]

Don't you dare give this game shit! This game was amazing when it landed. KQ and KQ2 were incredible experiences when I had them on my IBM PCJr. I was born in 1970 and even my parents were sucked into this game, it became an event where my sister and I played with our parents watching and giving input.

[@lifekraft]

Honestly these old adventure game are some of my favorite playthrough to watch. Thx for your work , i really appreciate it.

[@jschap712]

To really simulate gameplay look away from the screen when you go to the next scene and wait a minute for it to "load" before looking to see what's on the next screen. Seriously, what people didn't like about the VGA remake is that it replaced the typing interface with a point and click interface that made gameplaying through pure guesswork more possible (via random clicks), and you lost some of the easter eggs you could get for typing unorthodox commands like "kill the king". Keep in mind the people playing this originally were people who grew up on text adventures.

[@cosmicrdt]

The thing about the rumplestiltskin puzzle is that back in the 80s we didn't have the internet or even much TV to stimulate our brain. These kinds of cryptic puzzles were very popular especially amongst kids. Our thought process was very different to what we have today and we spent a lot more time reading books as well as writing with pen and paper doing crosswords and other word games. Between me 11 and my 9 year old brother we worked it out fairly quickly.

[@BinaryBolias]

19:45 Those buttons (alongside insert and delete) are useful for rotating blocks in Space Engineers.

[@DrummondsPoint]

I played this in 1988(?) on a friend's 286 with (gasp) a 16 colour EGA monitor. Amazing stuff at the time. Played all the early Sierra stuff, but it was QFG2 that really stuck with me, was just something magical about that game.

[@Bluesit32]

"Something magical"? Might have something to do with W.I.T. being in Shapier.

[@ryanb.4869]

i'd love to see more adventure games, you cover them in a really fun way

[@dpollitz]

The keys for diagonal movement (page up, etc.) were the diagonal keys on the NumPad on the PC1 and PCjr. PCjr was the first IBM PC with a 16 color monitor and King's Quest was designed for it.

[@respecttheyoshi]

Well this is a good time! Love the Madworld nod at the beanstalk segment, very much looking forward to watching the sequel after

[@namemycactus]

I think a playthrough of all the kings quests would be very cool but I am extremely biased

[@rathelmmc3194]

I played King's Quest as a kid and couldn't beat it. So good job doing it without a guide. King's Quest 6 was the first one that I pushed through as a teenager.

[@jessicabunny6984]

Another brilliantly entertaining game, was brought in by your MyHouse game… which I watched the entirety of an had a great time, then existential dread, then a great time again 😂. I had kings quest 7 as a kid, would defo recommend. Still some insanely obscure puzzles, one I remember involving a dog… but a great time and story ☺️

[@arronbrown7753]

I used to buy their games straight from their office in Oakhurst when I was a kid back in the 80s and played on an Amiga 500.

[@1wngdngl]

The editing and humor were really on point in this video, and I loved your music choices. It's always great to see a "classic" filtered through modern sensibilities.

[@bengmo64]

I remember those diagonal stairs and the struggle to make it up with many saves. Eventually i found the diagonal keys, which kind make sense if you remember that the number pad doubled as cursor keys, and the pageup key was in the diagonal spot

[@eddieking6723]

I was huge Sierra fan growing up, Space quest being my favorite series. I'm so glad to see people still taking about them!

[@inthefade]

What is cool is that the graphics aren’t just bad pixel art. There wasn’t enough storage for that on any medium. It was programmed as vector art.

[@Blake_Stone]

Roberta Williams maintains that puzzles like the infamous "Rumplestiltskin" one were common back in the day. But she's clearly an evil witch. P.S. If I remember right you actually need to demonstrate the function of the magic bowl to the peasants so that they know how to use it, a spin on the "teach a man to fish" parable. If you just give it to them they don't know so they eat one meal and then presumably starve to death, you can't demonstrate it after giving it over. Yeah, games used to be extremely sadistic. P.P.S. The PgUp/PgDn/Home/End buttons are also on the numeric keypad in between the arrows, ie diagonal controls. I think they don't always print them on those keys anymore since nobody uses them for that. It made perfect sense on an old keyboard.

[@Exaar]

I'm a bit older (born inn 1982) so I grew up on these early Sierra games. I have very fond memories of playing the first 3 Kings Quest and first 3 Space Quest games as a 5-8 year old. Obviously I had no real clue what I was doing, but even back then guides existed. And these old, very simple graphics just hold a nostalgic charm for me that make me happy every time I see them.

[@TRAMP-oline]

Cruelty Squad music is perfect for wandering aimlessly slowly losing your mind. Essentially waiting to accidentally see the one pixel you need to find to move on.

[@hakonseiness4679]

your videos are absolutely brilliant. Keep it up!

[@ArcticAirUltraPro]

I was so young when I tried this game, I got scared of the witches and unsure if I could even read at the time. I randomly remembered this existed today and I’m glad I could finally see it through. Thank you!!!

[@quercusquercus532]

"You have to be careful when you get so high on the foliage!" (21:38) I feel like Sierra On-Line Christmas parties in the mid 80's would've been a pretty good time. Glad there's video of someone else finding this, I will never touch that beanstalk again.

[@R.B.]

I remember solving the gnome's name when I was a wee lad. I played this game in 4 color CGA for hours on end for months. I never used the hint guide until Kings Quest III. It is possible, but not probably for today's attention spans. Number pad has the arrow keys AND the Home/End/Page Up/Page Dn are the diagonals.

[@LMC764]

generation hate, you love to see it...

[@R.B.]

@@LMC764 I don't know about that. Choices were fewer. Knowing that there were 152 or so points, and with this as my best game for my computer at the time, I invested the time. I might have gone days before I figured out something. I figured out that there were multiple ways to solve puzzles and that rewarded different points. I used all 10 of the save slots and might have to "rewind" to an earlier save to do something a different way. It was a valuable technique to learn when playing LSL and gambling at the casino. Basically, I learned to game the game. It was fine for that era, but it isn't a format which keeps gamers interested today.

[@star-not-moon]

​​​​​that format compared to games now is the reason why it's not around anymore, it sucks compared to something like Skyrim or another fantasy game for example. People want to quest for a good story/gameplay not quest to just get points you know? Attention spans didn't get worse games just got more complex i feel like. And that process you described is not unique to that era of gaming, ever hear of a quicksave/quickload?

[@R.B.]

@@star-not-moon Again I think that goes with what I was saying that I learned to game the game. I liked the story elements that I knew from fairy tales which I grew up listening to, and this was a chance to act that out. I never read Skyrim, which is because the format has evolved. Instead of acting out out a story I've seen before, Skyrim is an opportunity to explore a completely different realm. That isn't to say that some games aren't still ports of other media, but there's a lot more to choose from today.

[@ComfyCherry]

it's almost certainly been said but, pg up, pg dn, home, and end being the diagonals is because arrows weren't standard game controls, many games used the numpad with numlock off (or on whatever makes it not work as numbers) and those sat in the corners of the numpad neighbouring the arrows.

[@timloss87]

Please do more!!! I love this and the follow up video is just as good. I know it dont have the views as others but its really good work

[@northwestpassage6234]

As an Alberta I would appreciate the rat warning before hand. I panicked and had the rat patrol call centre typed into my phone before remembering I’m watching a KZbin video.

[@HarrIock]

King's Quest III is one of the best old school Sierra games, just for the scope and size alone. Albeit very frustrating.

[@-taz-]

It had the best story too.

[@crimester]

19:56 keypad home up pgup left 5 right end down pgdown

[@florenmage]

This game will have a special place in my heart for as long as I live. It was one of the first few games I ever played.

[@difquin]

First game I ever played. Horrible gameplay, but it had an immense effect on my childhood. My brother and I even continued to act out the core mechanics after we'd turned off the computer - made up items to pickup and scenarios for them to be used. It's a powerful concept, the which-item-goes-where, and it most likely trained our problem solving skills at a young age. Thanks for the video!

[@Dae-D-Ellis]

Mad Respect for including Mad World's Mad Music

[@Blake_Stone]

The rest of Sierra's catalogue is more merciful than KQ1... er... mostly. It was the roughest one - they all have the notorious old-school adventure game "moon logic" and the trademark Sierra sadism where the slightest misstep on a staircase will kill you, but nothing comes close to the mercilessness of that "Rumplestiltskin" puzzle.

[@irvingwashingtonable]

One of my core memories is being probably about 10 and trying out a thousand different variants of "unlock door" over the course of several days. When I finally typed the right answer, I was the most excited I've ever been before or since.

[@kingcrimson3039]

Nice Mad world music at 21:06

[@TheGeoff]

Knowing about the diagonal keys now makes stairquest 1000x funnier to me

[@Barakon]

I guess Sierra will forever be mist. Forever better tasting than sprite.

[@jeremyacicale]

excellent playthrough, never even heard of this game and you kept my attention for the full runtime 8)

[@SofaJusticeWarriors]

Home, PgUp, End, and PgDn are at the top left, top right, bottom left, and bottom right of the number pad. The diagonals of the numpad's arrow keys.

[@LordMoku]

I assume you must have a compact keyboard like me, because if you didn't, you'd see that on the full-size numpad arrangement, PgUp, PgDn, Home and End are in the diagonal spaces around the arrow keys. So that's why that's like that. I can also see why functions would be on 0, - and +, since you'd be using backspace a lot in a typing game like this. Surely shortcuts are listed in the manual?

[@mikeswat3465]

The game was such a hit at this time becouse it was the first open world exploring game, before you had games with straight paths like jump and run. Okay there were text adventures that give a feel of free choosing a way but you had to follow a straight path of doing things. Kings quest was a graphic game like highend games jump and runs but as a adventure that let you freely choose your way and when you explore what. That was never before in this way the interact with nearly everything on screen but with graphics action. That was something really new and all this possible to interact with everything was like „wtf“ moment at that time. It bring a huge success to sierra and they release and sell many games of this type. I think only people who buy a guide see the end, it was more running around and look at everything. Today games like rust etc. have no ending too, so it was not so terrible if you not finish the game.

[@Tau_Zyrillion]

Loved the video, great work - very entertaining! King's Quest (an older boot-disk version) was one of the first games I ever played on my first PC (an XT with CGA), and I've loved adventure games ever since. I remember using a hex editor to scour the disk in the hopes of discovering the gnome's name, and lo and behold there it was in plain text - now forever etched in mind. It worked of course, but made no sense to me and it wasn't until later I discovered it was derived from reversing the alphabet, crazy stuff. Regarding the diagonal movement keys, I'm guessing you don't have a number pad on your keyboard? It makes much more sense when you use them there, where they're positioned diagonally between each of the number pad arrow keys. If I remember correctly you can also use the 5 to stop walking. And yes I'd love to see you do a playthrough of Loom. 😉

[@Edenwaith17]

I'm glad when I made King's Quest 1 - Redux (effectively an updated version of this game) that it addressed a couple of the issues pointed out in this video, such as an intermediate speed between the Normal and Fast modes, and I also updated the mushroom icon so it is colorful like the one you initially see.

[@aortaplatinum]

I appreciate the MadWorld/Max Anarchy/Anarchy Reigns music during the beanstalk climbing attempts

[@blumrich1970]

I remember that - always wanted to play it, back in the day.

[@JanDahl]

Look at your numeric keyboard. It has arrows on 2, 4, 6, 8. PgUp/Dn, Home and End are diagonals to those. Hope that helps 😊

[@jonw8694]

I used to love the old PC game manuals. Some of them were literally over 100 pages long. They were just as much a part of the experience as the video game itself.

[@MeanderBot]

Y'all, if you're browsing and typing at length without using home, end, page up and page down, you're making your life harder than it needs to be.

[@petez1130]

On older PS2 keyboards we couldn't press 2 buttons at the same time other than buttons designed to modify other keys (ctrl, shift, alt), and page up is diagonally up and right on the numpad. So the multiple button press was a hardware limitation, so there's no software coding for it, but if you had a numpad, which almost everyone did, you could use that button to move diagonally.

[@SnowyFoxFox]

Congrats for managing to beat King's Quest without resorting to a guide! Also, excellent music choices throughout. ...Except, perhaps, for the beanstalk sequence.