Lucasarts or Sirrea{Adventure game wise}

[Leplaya]

Now during the games of adventure{Before they were slowly dying out when FPS games came around and before telltale games was around}. Two companies were at the heads of each other with adventure games, Sirrea and Lucasarts. Now who would you say was better with adventure games?

[Falanca]

Never played any Sirrea games. Are they as good as Sierra games?

LucasArts games were better IMO. Not only because you can't die, but they all were more appealing. Not to mention LucasArts' adventure franchises became a lot more respectable today. I mean, er, look at Larry's latest games. Eugh.

[wisp]

Not only because you can't die(...)

i see you never played maniac mansion...

anyway, i always liked the lucasarts or lucasfilm games titles a little better than the sierra stuff.

[jeeno0142]

I've already voted Lucasarts, simply because of Monkey Island. I am, however, interested to know what games Sierra released, because while I'm familiar with the name, I can't think of any of their games.

[Armakuni]

I love both, I can't decide.

But if I had to pick only one, it would be Sierra... mostly because they have a lot more adventure games than Lucasarts does.

And I feel so nostalgic about both of the companies too.

[der_ketzer]

I really like the King's Quest games and Phantasmagoria and all the LA Adventures. So I choose both.

[Guinea]

I tried a couple Sierra games, but I could never really get into those. And all the stories of Sierra games punishing the player for not picking up a particular item in the very beginning of the game don't help.

In Lucas Arts games, it's at least always clear that you can still proceed, no matter what mistakes you made (with some exceptions, but those are mostly the older ones, such as Maniac Mansion (which is also a quite short game, but solvable in many different ways)) or the Indy games.

Plus, the SCUMM engine runs a lot smoother than whatever the Sierra games use. King's Quest (as an example, because I recently played that from the Adventure Bundle) can't even compute paths, and you need to manually navigate around corners or narrow passages with the mouse.

So yeah, if LucasArts games are already not playable for people who never played them back then, Sierra games beat them in that department by far. :(

[Chyron8472]

I voted both.


Never played any Sirrea games. Are they as good as Sierra games?

This. Learn to proofread your posts, people come on.




I've already voted Lucasarts, simply because of Monkey Island. I am, however, interested to know what games Sierra released, because while I'm familiar with the name, I can't think of any of their games.

Sierra has made more adventure games than LucasArts (which I owe to LA's obsession with Star Wars,) but Sierra started out making games earlier than LucasArts did so most of the games Sierra was popular for are somewhat older and therefore more dated in graphics quality and interface than the games that LucasArts is famous for. This isn't to say that Sierra's games aren't fun. In fact, the King's Quest series ranks in my top favorites of any adventure game series. Most LucasArts fanboys pick on Sierra though because of how easy it can be to die or get permanently suck in a Sierra game.


But really... The King's Quest (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King%27s_Quest) series; the Space Quest (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Quest) series; the Quest for Glory (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quest_for_Glory) series; the Leisure Suit Larry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leisure_Suit_Larry_%28series%29) series; the Gabriel Knight (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_Knight) trilogy; Laura Bow 1 & 2; Phantasmagoria 1 & 2; these among many other games...

Really, you couldn't think of any games?

[Giant Tope]

I think this poll is a bit unfair given that this company is a spiritual successor to lucasarts, and thus there's a bias towards lucasarts.

[jeeno0142]

But really... The King's Quest (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King%27s_Quest) series; the Space Quest (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Quest) series; the Quest for Glory (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quest_for_Glory) series; the Leisure Suit Larry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leisure_Suit_Larry_%28series%29) series; the Gabriel Knight (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_Knight) trilogy; Laura Bow 1 & 2; Phantasmagoria 1 & 2; these among many other games...

Really, you couldn't think of any games?

Sorry, but no. I am unfamiliar with all of these. I only know of the name Kings Quest because it was one of the games in the Adventure Bundle, and I think I recall the name Space Quest because it's been mentioned in some other thread. Other than that, no. I guess it's because I grew up with the Lucasarts games. After all I was very young. (Hoping that makes a good excuse)!:o

[Ashton]

I seem to be the only one that's voted "Sierra is best!" of course I grew up on sierra Games (I honestly dont think I ever played a LA game untill recently with scummVM)

[holmja]

My first two computer games (after I bought a PC running Windows; I had other computers and other games before that) were King's Quest 6 and Interplay's Star Trek: 25th Anniversary. So, while I love Lucas Art adventure games and have played 99.9% of them and I love Sierra adventure games and have played 99.9% of those, I have to vote Interplay. Star Trek: 25th Anniversary and Star Trek: Judgement Rites were awesome.

[Rather Dashing]

No Infocom?

Anyway, that Sierra and "both" got any votes at all warms my fridgid, bitter heart.

[Falanca]

Phantasmagoria 2 sucked big time, by the way.

[OzzieMonkey]

I voted Lucasarts mainly because they are the ones I've played through my childhood and teenage years, and I haven't really played any Sierra games apart from a demo of Larry once. LEC games just seem to stand out more than the Sierra ones, mainly due to the better story and easier logic.

[GuybrushWilco]

I love both, but I voted for Sierra. Space Quest 1 and 2, Kings Quest 1 and 2, Hero's Quest, Police Quest etc.... :) These are the first games I played and so I have a special nostalgia for them. The Space Quest series in particular I like just as much as the Monkey Island games. But even though I lean toward Sierra more on the whole, Fate of Atlantis is still my fav adventure game.

[Chyron8472]

I only know of the name Kings Quest because it was one of the games in the Adventure Bundle, and I think I recall the name Space Quest because it's been mentioned in some other thread.

In that case:

I highly recommend:
King's Quest I: Quest for the Crown (http://www.agdinteractive.com/games/kq1/index.html) - VGA remake by AGDI
King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones (http://www.agdinteractive.com/games/kq2/index.html) - VGA remake by AGDI
King's Quest III: To Heir is Human (http://www.infamous-adventures.com/kq3/) - VGA remake by IA

These are free (and recent) fan remakes of the first 3 King's Quest games, remade in a graphics and interface style similar to King's Quest VI, complete with (good) professional voice acting. They are legal to download from the developers' websites.


I never did play much of the Space Quest series, but my understanding is that it's quite funny (eg. The main character, Roger Wilco, is a janitor on a space station.)

[der_ketzer]

Phantasmagoria 2 sucked big time, by the way.

I actually liked it very much. If only they had left out that alien planet though.

[Ashton]

In that case:

===links===

These are free (and recent) fan remakes of the first 3 King's Quest games, remade in a graphics and interface style similar to King's Quest VI, complete with (good) professional voice acting. They are legal to download from the developers' websites.


AWESOME! THANKS! *heads off to download them*

[der_ketzer]

AWESOME! THANKS! *heads off to download them*

The guys who did the remakes of the first 2 games also did a Remake of Quest For Glory 2. *hint**hint*

[Ashton]

The guys who did the remakes of the first 2 games also did a Remake of Quest For Glory 2. *hint**hint*

If you weren't such a scary clown I'd kiss you! (lol) *heads off to download*

[der_ketzer]

If you weren't such a scary clown I'd kiss you! (lol) *heads off to download*

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOUMIXbTM5U

[jeeno0142]

Links for free games

Thanks! I'll definately try these out. *Heads off to join downloading group*

[doggans]

I've said it before and I'll say it again: King's Quest VI is the greatest game ever made. Oh, it's not COMPLETELY flawless (as kids, we found it a little too easy to get stuck in the labyrinth), but every game has flaws. And every other game starts out with the default flaw of not being King's Quest VI.

I grew up with Sierra and didn't get into LucasArts until college. I think both companies do certain things very well. LucasArts games are less intimidating and more accessible for more people. I think LucasArts got a handle on storytelling earlier in their development than Sierra did, but LucasArts probably couldn't have done what they did without Sierra's innovations.

I guess I vote both. It's like trying to choose between Disneyland and Universal Studios.

[Jen Kollic]

I played both, but since the Lucasarts games involved far less instances of RAGEQUIT!!! then I have to go with Lucasarts. Admittedly I did only play the King's Quest series, the Lara Bow games and Phantasmagoria. The Space Quest and Quest for Glory series could be way better, but having never played them, I don't know. Having said that, KQVI is an awesome game, it's easily the best in the King's Quest series and IMO it matches up with any Lucasarts title. Unfortunately it happens to share a series with KQIV, which is probably the most frustrating adventure game I've ever played. Damn the whale, damn the unicorn, damn that BLOODY bridle, damn the worm, damn Rosella, damn that effing randomly-appearing troll and damn those spiral staircases in Lolotte's castle.

Infocom should definitely get a mention too though, on a whole I probably liked their games more than Sierra titles too, I loved Return to Zork (Want some rye? 'Course ya do!) and I thought that Zork Nemesis was way more unsettling than Phantasmagoria. Though I guess it helps that you don't really go into it expecting a Zork game to be unsettling. And Return to Zork had awesome music (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2vayDzPkHc&feature=related).

[der_ketzer]

I think KQ V is by far the best in the series and III by far the most frustrating since everything is on a timer...

[doodo!]

The golden age of adventure games is commonly associated with Lucas Arts, given the logo and greatest of their games.

Golden Age of Lucas Arts FOREVER!!!!

I'm not saying other company and studios weren't awesome , but I think Lucas Arts was more popular because it was Lucas Arts, and because it continuously had boxed sales of multiple titles at cheap prices.

Who played several LA games from one of those boxed sets of titles? I did.

[GuybrushWilco]

I think KQ V is by far the best in the series and III by far the most frustrating since everything is on a timer...

Only the first part of the game is on a timer to be fair :) And you end the timed sequence once you perform a certain action, which can be done pretty early in the game. I enjoyed the challenge. I liked KQV a lot, but I think KQVI is superior.

[Chyron8472]

KQV's biggest glaring flaw is the voice acting, mainly coming from Cedric.

[tabstis]

KQV's biggest glaring flaw is the voice acting, mainly coming from Cedric.

WHAT?! Cedric has the best voice actor of all time.

[Jen Kollic]

WHAT?! Cedric has the best voice actor of all time.

Graham, watch out! A poooooisonous snake!

What I really hated about KQV was the ending, where Graham is like "and this is my son Alexander who started this whole mess". Yeah, it's all Alex's fault he managed to escape from the evil wizard who'd kept him as a slave since he was a baby, and rescue your daughter in the process. You douche Graham.

[der_ketzer]

Only the first part of the game is on a timer to be fair :)

Well there are mean rumors that even after that there are timed events. I heard th pirate ship may actually leave if you do not get on board fast enough.

WHAT?! Cedric has the best voice actor of all time.

Right you are.

- No Graham don't...
- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHh
- Thanks for playing Kings Quest V.

[Steve2000]

Anyone go and play Space Quest 1,2, or 3, or Kings Quest 1, 2, or 3, or any of the text-parser based games recently? I did, and I noticed that those games were really short! I couldn't believe how fast I was able to beat them. Now, granted I remember a lot of the puzzles from playing them the first time, but it was about 20 years ago for me. I remember being 11 or 12 years old, and it took months to beat some of those games. No phone calls to the Sierra hint-line for me ;).

It is funny, because there were people who have complained recently that some of the Telltale episodes are too short, but I think honestly the length is pretty good unless you are just following a walk-through.

At any rate, as someone born in the 70s who played all those games at the time they originally came out, there will always be a special place in my heart for Sierra. They were first for me, and their games were so diverse and fun. That being sad, there is no question in my mind that the Lucasfilm (the LucasArts name came later) games were superior in almost every way. Maniac Mansion, Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle, etc are truly classics in a different way than all the "quest" games.

[der_ketzer]

Anyone go and play Space Quest 1,2, or 3, or Kings Quest 1, 2, or 3, or any of the text-parser based games recently? I did, and I noticed that those games were really short! I couldn't believe how fast I was able to beat them. Now, granted I remember a lot of the puzzles from playing them the first time, but it was about 20 years ago for me. I remember being 11 or 12 years old, and it took months to beat some of those games. No phone calls to the Sierra hint-line for me ;).

That is the main reason why they had so many dead ends and death-traps. So you will have to restart the game over and over to find something you missed etc. This really makes the gaming experience a lot longer. If you know everything you can go through all of those games in less than 2 hours.
And those were full price titles.

[thesporkman]

What I really hated about KQV was the ending, where Graham is like "and this is my son Alexander who started this whole mess". Yeah, it's all Alex's fault he managed to escape from the evil wizard who'd kept him as a slave since he was a baby, and rescue your daughter in the process. You douche Graham.

Haha. I've always felt the same way about that scene.

[KuroShiro]

Objectively, Lucasarts games were better designed. They did not contain endless dead-ends, had *significantly* better writing, and better designed interfaces.

That is all true (with the exception of Space Quest which rocks everything) until KQ6 and Gabriel Knight 1 were released, at which point Sierra took the proverbial cake for me. And then Lucasarts took it back with CMI and Grim Fandango. Ah, so hard to decide! I grew up with both and loved both companies' games.

[corruptbiggins]

I had to say LucasArts because they were the ones that got me into the genre and I've simply played & liked more of them. That is not to say that I don't like Sierra's games, I mean I love the Gabriel Knight series but the 90's LucasArts adventure games will always be my first loves.

[doggans]

What I really hated about KQV was the ending, where Graham is like "and this is my son Alexander who started this whole mess". Yeah, it's all Alex's fault he managed to escape from the evil wizard who'd kept him as a slave since he was a baby, and rescue your daughter in the process. You douche Graham.

Graham's kinda douchey all throughout KQ5. He practically yells at the gnome for not giving him a simple marionette.

[der_ketzer]

Graham's kinda douchey all throughout KQ5. He practically yells at the gnome for not giving him a simple marionette.

Well the gnome is a real jerk.

[Irishmile]

I really like both.... they really made completely different types of adventure games... Both were good at what they did.

[Ashton]

Anyone noticed how most of the old adventure games had very little direction? I just played KQI and none of the puzzles seemed particularly linked and the only plot direction your given in the game is "go find the 3 treasures" otherwise you had to all-but rely on trial-and-error to figure out what to do next (and this seems to be the case with all the older games, even LA which to this day has me stumped on what to do to progress in HtR (I'm still trying to refrain from using a walk-through but at this point I think it's the only option)

[doodo!]

ACtually Sierra games SUCKED. Couldn't beat them without a walk through...how the heck are you supposed to figure out rumple still skin as a password!?

!? !? There's puzzles like that, that are just truly go buy our book or call this number if you're stuck that makes the games fall apart and crumble so hard core before Lucas Arts solid golden adventures.

[Ashton]

L.A. isnt immune to this, I've never been able to complete Fate of Atlantis

I think the only sierra game I finished without help was Quest For Glory III which had a sligly more direct plot that wasn't as much guessing, though iirc there was one point where I literally had to just start doing random things to try and progress...

[doggans]

ACtually Sierra games SUCKED. Couldn't beat them without a walk through...how the heck are you supposed to figure out rumple still skin as a password!?

Everyone cites the Rumplestiltskin puzzle as an example of Sierra's cruelty...but they forget that even if you get it wrong, you still get the key to the mountain, which is actually less frustrating to deal with than trying to climb the beanstalk.

Basically, if you get that puzzle wrong, the game makes it EASIER for you. If you get it right, it rewards you with a frustrating one-false-move-and-you're-dead minigame.

[der_ketzer]

put gem in mouth.

Rumlestiltskin was easy to figure out. What was not so easy was the real solution for the puzzle they wanted. *spelling it backwards* // swapping a with Z, B with Y etc.

--> Ifnkvohgroghprm

[Chyron8472]

*spelling it backwards* // swapping a with Z, B with Y etc.


That's not spelling it backwards.

Literally you have to spell it backwards. Nikstlitslepmur.

Granted that's brutal, but I've heard Brits complain just as loudly about the monkey wrench in MI2.

[der_ketzer]

That's not spelling it backwards.

Well it was the solution in the first version of the game. In later versions Nikstlitslepmur was added.

[GuybrushWilco]

That's not spelling it backwards.

Literally you have to spell it backwards. Nikstlitslepmur.

Granted that's brutal, but I've heard Brits complain just as loudly about the monkey wrench in MI2.

The rumeplstiltskin puzzle is actually pretty easy if you happen to find the piece of paper in the witches hut first :) But if you don't stumble upon it first, it's pretty much impossible to solve my chance.

[der_ketzer]

Well you would still get the key but not full points.

[Ashton]

The rumeplstiltskin puzzle is actually pretty easy if you happen to find the piece of paper in the witches hut first :) But if you don't stumble upon it first, it's pretty much impossible to solve my chance.

Some of us didnt connect the two. There shoudl have been some reference to the paper made by the troll "oh I see you beat the witch, she was an old enemy of mine" or on the paper "sometimes dwarfs tend to think backwards" or something

[doggans]

I reiterate: regardless of how difficult or illogical the puzzle was, the game is easier when you get the gnome's name wrong. You basically get rewarded for losing that particular puzzle. The only reason to care about getting the name right is if you want full points.

And yes, the A=Z, B=Y, etc. was the solution in the original version; spelling it backward was the solution in the various remakes.

[Jen Kollic]

There's quite a few King's Quest 'puzzles' that have irritated the crap out of me, but the winner by far is finding that effing bridle in KQIV. Can anyone tell me if there are any clues regarding its location, or are you just meant to keep using 'look ground' everywhere until you stumble across it? (IMO, that's not much of a puzzle) I got so frustrated trying to get Rosella to ride that bloody unicorn, and the way I eventually 'solved' that puzzle back in the day (before I'd ever heard of the internet) was to go into my local games store, find a copy of the King's Quest Compendium and look up the solution.

Seriously, is there some sort of clue that I missed that will now make me feel really dumb for not being able to work it out?

[swedish_jedi]

I have to say Lucasarts, I just enjoy their games more than Sierras. And I do think that Lucasarts have been a bigger influence on the whole "adventure game industry". But I must admit that I haven't played many of Sierras games, so I could still change my mind.

[doggans]

And I do think that Lucasarts have been a bigger influence on the whole "adventure game industry".

Whoa, now, I'm not denying LucasArts had an incredible impact on the industry, but Sierra released the first game to include graphics, as well as the first adventure game with animated characters. Hard to have a bigger influence than that. :P

[doodo!]

Well...Lucas Arts is more my style. I can't think of any Lucas Arts games that had a dead end.

I don't hate Sierra games but I don't want to devote my time to them. You spend all that time trying to find the solution but at any given point you have to back track and see the infinite possibilities at some given point of time where you screwed up and possibly why you screwed up and in your current situation you examine the possibilties and realize you're stuck and the game isn't well enough designed to get out of the current jam and then you have to back track and try to find a point where you can find a solution to the problems in the game...

It's over complicated design and it isn't fair. You'd have to play the game several times or know the complete story before winning, it just isn't my type of game.

It takes too much on at once, without being able to really keep you on the straight and narrow path.

[taumel]

I never liked the Sierra adventures a lot, apart from a few pieces of Space Quest. I found it annoying that you could die and the tech, the story, the characters, the gfx, the sfx, all was worse than in Lucasarts adventures but now as an adult it might be interesting giving at least one a second chance as i sometimes enjoy games which don't yell at me.

[der_ketzer]

Well...Lucas Arts is more my style. I can't think of any Lucas Arts games that had a dead end.

Maniac Mansion. Get one kid killed and the game is unfinishable.

[Sarendor]

It is quite funny in my opinion that everyone claims that Sierra puzzles are more frustrating that the LucasArts ones. In fact, I remember many people, (in Israeli forums, at least,) who claimed that they prefer Sierra because LucasArts puzzles made no sense. (I believe that the most known example for this is Day of the Tentacle.) I guess the monkey wrench one was a famous issue too, since it is basically understood only by American audiences.
Anyway, I can't say I have much experience, since I didn't play so many adventure games. I am mainly familiar with Quest for Glory, King's Quest, Loom and Monkey Island.
Basically, the biggest difference I see between the game styles are the types of puzzles. In LucasArts games, there is a much greater focus on the dialogue, (Loom being more in the style of Sierra,) while Sierra games focus more on inventory and item use puzzles.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention: I voted for both.:)

[taumel]

That's interesting, never thought of it this way, most probably because i haven't played them all but this certain portion of weirdness is something i loved in Lucasarts adventures and which also made them special. Still, i think The DIG is the best adventure, *woohoohooo shaking hands like a voodoo priest*, mankind ever invented.

It would be awesome if someone would at least make the version they first wanted to make, from what i read about it and the graphics i have seen, it would have been quite a bit darker which i definately would have appreciated. There aren't many games which are this special to me. Beeing able to work on such a game would be fascinating and you could throw all you passion at it.

But ähm back to, Sierra vs. the better team...

[Mataku]

Sirrea
http://www.ims-consortium.org/blank.gif

[Scnew]

Quest for Glory remains my favorite adventure game series to this day. And Roger Wilco can go head-to-head with Guybrush Threepwood in a comedy competition any day.

[KuroShiro]

Maniac Mansion. Get one kid killed and the game is unfinishable.

Actually, you didn't even have to do that. I believe it was possible to start the game in an incompletable state if you chose all the wrong kids. Zak McKracken was also brutally difficult by the end.

Sierra definitely takes the cake for unfairly difficult adventure games though, if only because of Codename: ICEMAN.

[der_ketzer]

Actually, you didn't even have to do that. I believe it was possible to start the game in an incompletable state if you chose all the wrong kids.

No. Only the boy that you are forced to take does not enable any way to finish the game on his own.

[Rather Dashing]

....So, the reason people hate Maniac Mansion is that they've never played it and have no idea how it works? Because that would make sense.

[GuybrushWilco]

....So, the reason people hate Maniac Mansion is that they've never played it and have no idea how it works? Because that would make sense.

I played Maniac Mansion a long time ago. I never beat the game, and found it rather frustrating. The game really lacked direction, and it was pretty hard. I enjoyed Day of the Tentacle though :)

[Jen Kollic]

Isn't it possible to beat Maniac Mansion with any combination of kids? I always liked how you could go about the game in different ways depending on which kids you picked. And even though you could get killed, there were less dead ends than there were in the early King's Quest games. And once you found the key to the dungeon you never got stuck there again, no matter how many times you got thrown in there.

[Zilla]

I always thought that Gold Rush was the most brutal Sierra game.

[onionmaster]

I haven't played any Sierra games. I guess its because I like most Lucasarts games because there is no pressure to do things, and the game doesn't call you an idiot for making a mistake. The exceptions being both the Indiana Jones games which I love even though you can die.

I found the original Maniac Mansion and ZacMcKracken fun but frustrating. It wasn't so much that you could die, as it was they could lock you up and you could get out if you had an item that didn't exist in the game. This was made doubly frustrating by the fact that I was used to the bit in Monkey Island 2 where you can get out of prison by making use of what's around you.

However, I count these as some of my favourite games:

Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade
MI1
MI2
Loom
Sam And Max Hit The Road
Day Of The Tentacle
Indiana Jones And The Fate Of Atlantis
Full Throttle
MI3
Grim Fandango

Which means that Lucasarts win hands down.

[KuroShiro]

I haven't played any Sierra games.

You're not really qualified to say one way or another then are you?

[Hayden]

You're not really qualified to say one way or another then are you?

Exactly! Thank you for saying this!

I haven't actually voted yet because I haven't played very many Sierra adventure games, and I'm still yet to play all of LucasArts'. So, I don't feel that it's fair to select either option, which is why I haven't done so. And neither should any of you until you've played a significant amount of both.

[mgrant]

Agreed. The only Sierra games I've played are King's Quest IV and Laura Bow and the Dagger of Amon Ra, so I haven't voted yet either. Sierra adventure games just really haven't attracted my interest the way Lucasarts has, but I don't feel I can pass judgement on them as an adventure game company because of just that.