THE KING'S QUEST COLLECTION Thank you for your purchase of The King's Quest Collection. We hope you will find it an enjoyable addition to your software library. RUNNING FROM WINDOWS (and who hasn't wanted to at some point!): You should have at least 3 megabytes of hard disk space free to setup the King's Quest Collection. WINDOWS INSTALLATION: 1. Place the King's Quest CD into your computer's CD drive 2. Start Windows 3. Click on "FILE" and select "RUN". 4. At the command bar, type the letter of your CD drive, followed by "\SETUP.EXE", press "OK". For example, if the letter of your CD drive is "D", type "D:\SETUP.EXE", press "OK". 5. Follow the on-screen installation instructions. You will be able to play all the adventures, peruse video interviews, explore archives and collections we've put together for your viewing pleasure. We have also included some information about the history of Sierra, and some of the people who have been so large a part of this little place in the foothills of Yosemite. All of the adventures in Windows must be installed to the same drive and directory as the CD has been installed to. All game installations should be made to the same drive you selected during the initial setup process. For example, if the KQ Collection CD was installed to C:\ when you install KQ1, it also should be installed to C:\. If the games are placed on a different drive than the one selected during the initial setup the program will not be able to locate the game files. If you need to exit during the Windows Installation process, click on the exit button located on the bottom right side of the screen. DOS: For those hearty souls who enjoy the freedom, not to mention the lack of Windows overhead, of operating from the DOS command line and wish to play the adventures or arcades, insert your CD into your computer's CD-ROM drive and at the prompt type the letter of your CD drive, followed by a colon. Example, if your CD-ROM drive letter is "D", you would type: d: and then press [Enter]. At the prompt type: INSTALL and press [Enter] To play the trivia games type: TRIVIA [Enter]. To view the archive of magazine articles type: CHEST [Enter]. To view the archive of developer's doco type: SHIELD [Enter]. The video sections and hypertext history of King's Quest can only be run from Windows. Please consult the documentation for running the various King's Quest games. If you have problems running some programs from DOS, go to the root directory of the CD by typing CD D:\ (where d: is the letter of your CD drive) and try again. INN On this CD you will also find an introductory ImagiNation Network offer in the INN directory. Type INN from the main directory for more information. It will take approximately 14.8 meg of hard disk space to install. TECHNICAL NOTES You may not have more than ONE of the King's Quest CD Programs activated at the same time. The CD cannot look at 2 places at the same time. SOUND CARDS Because many of the sound cards sold today weren't developed when the original products were made, not all sound cards will work with all games on the Kings Quest Collection CD. The older games only have PC Internal Speaker support, if you do not want to listen to the internal speaker sound you can turn off the music by using the games menu bar or by pressing F2. MEMORY Some of the games require a pretty good chunk of memory to run properly. The more memory you free up, the better the game will run. If a particular game is having memory problems, you may need to use a Bootdisk. Some of the King's Quest games have this option in the DOS Install program. Signs of low memory or overtaxed hardware include slow animation and/or sound breakups, these problems may be solved by increasing memory (its worth a try). If you need to create a boot disk and the boot disk maker supplied with the game does not function properly you will need to consult the owners manual that was supplied with your computer system. We also recommend that you not run this product while attached to a network, especially from within Windows. Some DOS 6 and above users may experience problems with bootdisks made from the install program. In that event, we recommend they use the bootdisk program in the root directory of Disk 1. Type BOOTDISK -C. If you need technical help, please refer to the back pages of your game documentation for the Customer Support contact numbers. IMPORTANT INFORMATION ON THE CARE AND HANDLING OF DIGITAL ANTIQUES Dear Customer; This is a collection of software spanning the first 10 years of the King's Quest series, the pinnacle of adventure games. This anthology not only presents the compiled tales of the King's Quest saga, but also provides an example of the evolution of computer entertainment software over the last decade.. As you review early works of the King's Quest series, please remember that you are looking at what might be described as "digital antiques" from the early days of personal computing. Innovations such as mice and music cards, which are widely used today were not yet available in the early and mid 1980's. Thus early King's Quest games will not support them. We hope that you will enjoy them in the same nostalgic spirit as you would a classic black and white movie. While they may lack some modern day technological flair, we think you'll agree that they do have a unique quality all their own. It is also important to note that the Windows operating system was not in homes during the 80's. While we have attempted to adjust our software so that it may be accessed within Windows, some of the early games simply cannot run in Windows on some computer system configurations. If you are experiencing trouble with any adventure game while running within the windows environment, we recommend that you exit Windows and instead access the adventure game from MS-DOS. We sincerely hope you enjoy the enchanted land of Daventry and beyond as you explore the King's Quest collection. Sincerely. John Williams Resident Historian Sierra On-Line, Inc. THE EPIC ADVENTURES OF THE KING'S QUEST SAGA KQ I The Original King's Quest July 1983 (DOS COMMAND) The first game to fully support the newly introduced EGA color card, King's Quest clearly demonstrated its superior 16-color capabilities on this $400 optional video card.The player directs game action by way of text based commands (example:"OPEN DOOR") and use of the keyboard arrows keys to control the heros onscreen movements. Please note that sound cards and mice are not supported, as they did not exist. King's Quest VGA King's Quest I: VGA September 1990 (DOS COMMAND) This 1990 project to revamp the original King's Quest was widely viewed by many reviewers and gamers as an attempt to "destroy the classics", and the project was often compared to the controversial practice of "colorization" of classic movies. In comparing this version to the original, it is interesting to note how much the addition of the music soundtrack adds to the "mood" of the game. Also, the addition of the mouse-based player interface provides an interesting comparison to the original design. King's Quest II King's Quest II: Romancing The Throne May 1985 (DOS COMMAND) This extension of the original King's Quest game provided not just a second look at the life of King (formerly Sir) Graham of Daventry, it also began a tradition of using King's Quest as a training ground for future designers. Future Space Quest series designer Scott Murphy joins the development team, and co-Space Quest designer Mark Crowe acts as art director on the games packaging. This game does not support sound cards or mice as they did not yet exist at the time of the products introduction. King's Quest III King's Quest III: To Heir Is Human October 1986 (DOS COMMAND) It was as a programmer for this project that Al Lowe, future designer of Sierra's Leisure Suit Larry series, learned the internals of adventure game programming. Note the "automagic mapping feature" of the game. This feature was widely promoted on introduction of King's Quest III, but was not included in future "Quest" games as feedback from players was that it reduced challenge of play. This mapping feature was later built into Roberta Williams "Mixed-Up Mother Goose" adventure game for children, where it was better appreciated. Sound cards and mice are still not supported in this release. King's Quest IV King's Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella September 1988 (DOS COMMAND) From a technical standpoint, King's Quest IV scored big as the first commercial entertainment product to support optional music cards. Successful Hollywood composer William Goldstein (Fame) provided the stereo soundtrack which added new dimension and emotion to the presen- tation. One game scene, which placed young Rosella at what might be the deathbed of her aging father Graham, featured music so touching and soulful that it reduced more than a few players to tears when it was shown at a prominent industry tradeshow. Future advertising for the product would feature headlines asking "Can a computer game make you cry?" King's Quest V King's Quest V: Absence Makes The November 1990 (DOS COMMAND) Heart Go Yonder Led by Emmy award-winning producer Bill Davis, "King's Quest V" made a leap in graphics resolution to full 256 color VGA, and animations and backgrounds advanced from "computer art" to true handpainted, lifelike scenes inhabited by life-like and fluid animated characters. Over 50, different actors provided voices to the effort, making it the most elaborate and cinematic game in history. King's Quest VI King's Quest VI: Heir Today Gone Tomorrow Oct. 1992 (DOS COMMAND) Continuing in a long tradition, Jane Jensen, who would go on to design the industry bestselling "Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Father" assisted Roberta Williams in game design of this epic. The state-of- the-art "floating camera" sequence that opened the game gave gamers the world over a real view of what the new age of multimedia computers could bring to classic storytelling. THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE KING'S QUEST SERIES (and Other Fun Stuff) The Royal Scribe Through the wee hours of the night, The Royal Scribe's pen scratches out a chronicle of Sierra On-Line and the King's Quest series. Read her words with pleasure but be foretold that a mere touch on text of a different hue will transport you to another domain. In more modern terms, this is a hypertext document. You will be able to click on highlighted text, thus accessing additional material about that particular topic. Use the icon menu to move from topic to topic and back again. Behind The Developers Shield This archive "slide show" holds a treasure-trove of original King's Quest pencil sketches, background and game art, as well as a few surprises. The button interface allows you to go between different screens and sections. Inside The Chest This archive contains an assortment of reprints of magazine articles published during the King's Quest years. Topics range from King's Quest game reviews to designer interviews to in depth studies of the game development process. Click the button icons to move from page to page or from article to article. A View From Inside The Mirror Step through the looking glass for a unique View From Inside The Mirror. In this "made for the computer" video, Roberta Williams reflects upon her role as the designer of the award winning King's Quest series. Hold On To Your Adventurers Cap What will Roberta Williams think up next? Hold On to Your Adventurers Cap and prepare yourself for a video sneak preview of the amazing and enchanting experiences that are awaiting you in the near future. King's Questions Put on your thinking cap and play this trivia game based on the King's Quest series. You'll be challenged, intrigued, enlightened, and amused by this grab bag of profound, esoteric, and just plain silly multible choice King's Questions. Each game consists of twelve randomly selected questions so that it's never the same game twice! The rules are explained at the start of the game, so sharpen up your wits and test your knowledge of King's Quest trivia. Nick's Picks Presented for your additional entertainment, herein lies a collection of computerized board games hand picked as King Grahams personal favorites. To run Nick's Picks from DOS, go to the \SIERRA\ARCADES directory on your hard disk and enter PLAY.