Sierra Police Quest

[LarryTyphoid]

I'm playing Police Quest 1 right now, around the spot where you first get assigned to Narcotics. When this game is good, it's really good and does a solid job of making you feel like a cop, more than King's Quest ever made you feel like a fantasy hero. However, it often suffers from the biggest problem of early Sierra text-insert games, which is a limited vocabulary and nonsensical inputs. So much of the time, you'll know what to do but the game refuses to accept your inputs.

For example, there's a part where you have to yell at an armed criminal to get out of his car. You can't type "command driver to get out of car", or even "yell get out" or "command to get out" - you have to type just "get out". The text parser is for describing your actions, not inputting dialogue, so this is retarded. Same issue at the courtroom: you have to talk to the receptionist to get access to the courtroom in order to prevent a felon from being released on bail. You can't type "tell about Hoffman" (Hoffman being the alias of the felon), "ask to get into courtroom", or even "open door"; you have to type "emergency". The fuck? An even worse example during the same part of the story: in order to stop the criminal from being released, you have to prevent evidence to the judge. This evidence can be found in the Narcotics office. Taking Hoffman's file out of the drawer is intuitive enough, but there's a clipboard with evidence that Hoffman is on the FBI's most wanted list for murder. So you try to take the clipboard, but you can't; "The clipboard must remain in the office", the game tells you. So you try to take the page; game doesn't recognize it. You have to type "get list" or "get poster".
Seriously, this shit just shows a complete lack of common sense and it really spoils what would otherwise be a great adventure game. It's like trying to shoot the giant with the slingshot in King's Quest but ten times worse and more frequent. So far I haven't had to look up a walkthrough on account of my own stupidity or inability to solve puzzles, but on account of the game's ridiculously specific inputs.

This is a series that doesn't seem to get much discussion on the Codex, or elsewhere. I'm surprised, considering PQ's reputation for "racism". Police Quest 4 onwards were worked on by Daryl F. Gates, who served as police chief during the Rodney King riots, so you know the blacks hated this guy. And neither him nor Jim Walls (the original designer on PQ from 1-3, also an ex-cop) seemed to care much for our chocolate neighbors. I hear that blacks aren't portrayed very kindly in PQ4 (at least, this is what I've heard from some leftist critics, including The Digital Antiquarian in his PQ4 review). The very first black guy you see in PQ1 is in the jail courtyard; he has an afro and is dribbling a basketball.

 

[EruDaan]

And do not forget the timed puzzles, where you have to do either one action or several in a matter of seconds. You had to be an Sierra adventure game fan, knowing what kind of game&puzzles await you, to not chew through your keybord the first time you play these games.

 

[Fictive Cunt]

I wonder why Walls left Sierra. I played through Blue Force when I was a kid, it's basically Police Quest 4. It's ok but not as polished as a Sierra game. One of my first adventures was PQ3 and when I got stabbed by a drunk in his underpants I realized this was not like King's Quest, you actually had to read the manual for instructions, etc (which I was too dumb to do) and I never completed it.

 

[Infinitron]

The Digital Antiquarian is a dork. How many computer games in the early 1990s had you as the player character consoling the grieving mother of a slain African American child?

 

[Victor1234]

I played this back in the day but didn't wonder why it doesn't get discussed here (you guys like fantasy a lot...). A month or so ago I was wondering why nobody had remade these games, and found out Jim Walls did a kickstarter in 2013 that crashed and burned, so it's likely never happening. I also don't think it was racist. The early entries in the SWAT series were literally made by/with the LAPD and were absolutely professional as well despite the notorious reputation of them at the time (Rodney King, CRASH, etc).

https://www.pcgamesn.com/police-que...cancelled-crowdfunders-decide-it-isnt-any-cop

Jim Walls was a cop, but a California Highway Patrol cop...

 

[Fatberg Slim]

It's been a while but I can remember 2 black characters from Police Quest I:
- The aforementioned black guy who not only played basketball but was also a convict
- The janitor in the police station locker room who provided key insights like this:

Note that at this point your character has gone undercover as a playboy with a pimp cane and hat named "Whitey" . This game really should get more love...

I think the only black character in PQ2 was your supervisor who was angry all the time, which I assume was just based on common tropes from 80s cop shows and movies. Walls' other Sierra game, Codename: Iceman, didn't have any black people that I can recall unless you count the various Tunisians, many of whom were terrorists.
I never got the sense Walls was racist, just not a great writer. He did say he incorporated a lot of his real-life experiences in his games...

 

[Azalin]

It has been a long time since I last played them but I don't think the games were racist,probably Open Season used stereotypes a bit more than usual but by today's standards of course that''s RACIZM or whatever

My biggest problem was that they weren't that interesting as the other Sierra or in general adventure games of that era and had way too much annoying police procedural crap

 

[anvi]

I grew up with this game because it was all I had for a while. I loved it but I also thought it sucked for the text reasons. I played to the part where you stop a drunk driver and I managed to get him out the car after weeks of trying. But I couldn't get past that. I only found out years later when the internet came along that I needed to type, "Perform test" or something like that. I went back and did it and got a bit further with the game.

I always figured they did things like that because they knew the game wasn't very long so they had to create parts that you couldn't beat. But either way it was really stupid. There was an earlier part where you have to type quickly but that was ok. I skipped PQ2 but I completed PQ3 when it came out, I really liked it but only because of lack of stuff to play and it had cool music and I liked imagining what the game COULD be. But it was one of those games that I felt like the series had gone on too long and was starting to show its age. Like the SSI games or whatever, they are awesome in the 80s / early 90s but at some point they needed to evolve, go 3D or whatever. And most of them sadly never managed to do that...

PQ also felt like it needed action and there just isn't any... In PQ3 you get to shoot someone but it is really goofy, click briefcase icon to open it, click gun, click guy on the screen.. I remember reading the whole reason they created SWAT was because of PQ fans writing to them asking for some shooting. It's a shame that couldn't have come a bit earlier and maybe been part of PQ... My dream game since then has been an open world game where you play as a cop, like GTA but you are a cop and get calls on the radio to do stuff. But also with investigation where you go to homes and have to find clues and stuff. Again it seems I wasn't the only one to want this because the whole reason they made LA Noire was to make that kind of thing, but again I hated how they did it.

I think eventually there will be a game similar to what I have in mind. (There is a GTA mod similar to this but it sucks) But a cheaper option would be to make a new PQ type game but make the driving into a fun thing. Like 2d GTA or the original APB.

 

[Morpheus Kitami]

PQ also felt like it needed action and there just isn't any... In PQ3 you get to shoot someone but it is really goofy, click briefcase icon to open it, click gun, click guy on the screen.. I remember reading the whole reason they created SWAT was because of PQ fans writing to them asking for some shooting. It's a shame that couldn't have come a bit earlier and maybe been part of PQ... My dream game since then has been an open world game where you play as a cop, like GTA but you are a cop and get calls on the radio to do stuff. But also with investigation where you go to homes and have to find clues and stuff. Again it seems I wasn't the only one to want this because the whole reason they made LA Noire was to make that kind of thing, but again I hated how they did it.

I think there have been quite a few games like that over the years. The problem is that they're all kind of boring. Having to do stuff like issue people tickets or stop jaywalkers is...a job. Even with issuing speeders tickets it's be boring. This could just be a fault in the design philosophy of the people who make these kinds of games though, "I shall make the greatest and most accurate police simulation ever". There are also AAA kinds of attempts at this, but they abstract too much away from the whole policing aspect, just turning you into a general open world crime game protagonist who is allegedly a police officer.

 

[LarryTyphoid]

I think there have been quite a few games like that over the years. The problem is that they're all kind of boring. Having to do stuff like issue people tickets or stop jaywalkers is...a job. Even with issuing speeders tickets it's be boring. This could just be a fault in the design philosophy of the people who make these kinds of games though, "I shall make the greatest and most accurate police simulation ever".

Being a patrol cop is boring. I think that's why Police Quest eventually evolved into SWAT, because that element of policing can be semi-realistic while still being fun.

I haven't played them yet, but future Police Quest games have you as a homicide detective rather than a patrol officer, which is already more exciting, and better suited to the investigative style of adventure games.

 

[Victor1234]

I think there have been quite a few games like that over the years. The problem is that they're all kind of boring. Having to do stuff like issue people tickets or stop jaywalkers is...a job. Even with issuing speeders tickets it's be boring. This could just be a fault in the design philosophy of the people who make these kinds of games though, "I shall make the greatest and most accurate police simulation ever".

Being a patrol cop is boring. I think that's why Police Quest eventually evolved into SWAT, because that element of policing can be semi-realistic while still being fun.

I haven't played them yet, but future Police Quest games have you as a homicide detective rather than a patrol officer, which is already more exciting, and better suited to the investigative style of adventure games.

This is why I marvel at how many people bought and play Police Simulator: Patrol Officers. It's not even that cheap of a game. According to Steam, ~400 people walk around a fictional American city block, writing tickets for parking violations and jaywalking on a regular basis.

 

[mediocrepoet]

But in PQ2, you get to shoot terrorists and disarm a bomb!

 

[Korgoth of Barbaria]

My favorite is Open Season

 

[Outlander]

I remember there was an updated VGA release for PQ1, anyone played it?

 

[LarryTyphoid]

I remember there was an updated VGA release for PQ1, anyone played it?

I saw a playthrough. Like all of Sierra's VGA remakes, it seems inferior to the original, its only saving grace being somewhat better writing than the original.

 

[Keshik]

Not really sure what Gates added to PQ4, other than trying to shine up the LAPD, and it cost us Sonny.

I remember there was an updated VGA release for PQ1, anyone played it?

Got it as part of the PQ megapack, I enjoyed it, don't recall too many major differences between the original - other than being able to auto-win at the poker game, for some reason - but memory is fuzzy.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Those who know why Jim Walls left Sierra in the middle of making PQ3 have been silent about it to this day.

But if I were to hazard a guess: The PQ-games are too much about formality and sticking to procedures. Fair enough that a game takes on that topic in regards to law enforcement, but as is the case with the first game, it often boils down to figuring out the moon-logic swirling around in the coder's head at the time.

By contrast; Leisure Suit Larry 1 and 2. Al Lowe spent an extra two months doing nothing but updating the parser in LSL1 before its release, and the results show - it's never obtuse or harrowing like in PQ1. Being creative in typing lands some good responses. Then in LSL2 the opposite occurs: There are a few places where the parser is being a bother, but nowhere is it as bothersome as in the penultimate act of the game - crafting the bomb to drop down into the volcano. There is only ONE input accepted to get that command right.

 

[unseeingeye]

I remember playing Open Season as a kid at another kids house who was the local "bully" lol, I remember being terrified of him when I was in elementary school. But we became.. not quite friends, but would hang out sometimes, and he invited me over and showed me this game on his computer. How his mother even owned a computer is beyond me, we all lived in practically a ghetto and were raised in an environment by people more like the criminals in the game than normal people, but he had one and I remember being totally amazed by this game. This would have been around 1993 or 1994 when I was about 8 or 9 years old. The only adventure game I'd played prior to that was Loom, at least that I can remember though I have vague recollections of playing some other similar adventure games. I haven't yet played any of the other Police Quest games but have them installed and been meaning to get around to them, and this thread reminded me of it. It should be very interesting to see how my memory of Open Season matches the reality after 30 years.. I remember, I think, being at the police station and clicking on a desk? And I remember the game starting out with something like a dead body at a crime scene in the hood, but the rest is hazy.