Space Quest: The Sarien Encounter (AGI)

Space Quest: The Sarien Encounter (aka Space Quest: Chapter I: The Sarien Encounter and simply Space Quest I) is a sci-fi adventure game designed by Mark Crowe and Scott Murphy. Developed and published by Sierra On-Line in October 1986 for DOS.

The game would be followed in 1987 with Space Quest II: Vohaul's Revenge.

General Information
Space Quest 1 AGI was released in October of 1986 and was a big hit, selling in excess of 100,000 copies, believed to be around 200,000 to date, not including the many compilations it was packaged in. The game was programmed using Sierra's AGI and featured a pseudo-3D environment, allowing the character to move in front of and behind background objects. The game, like many other AGI games, was operated by a text parser, with the Amiga and Mac versions offering basic mouse support for movement. The game had a 160x200 resolution displaying 16 colours. Sound cards were not available in 1986, so sound was played through the PC's internal speaker; owners of Tandy 1000 and PCjr computers would hear a three-voice soundtrack.

Players of the original game are never told the hero's name, but are instead asked to enter their own. The default name of "Roger Wilco" became the de facto name of the hero in the later games of the series.

This version of the game lacks the pull down menus implemented by later 1987 versions of AGI games. Instead all options have to be typed manually or accessed through Function keys, or other combo keys.

The earliest version did not support VGA, only having CGA 16-color composite support. 16-color support came with a later 1987 release. The later versions are often referred to as SQ1 EGA in collections, though there is an EGA version of the SCI remake that is much rarer)

Synopsis
Roger is a member of the cleaning crew onboard the scientific spaceship "Arcada", which holds a powerful experimental device called the "Star Generator" (a thinly-veiled reference to the Genesis Device from Star Trek 2). Roger emerges from an on-duty nap in a broom closet to find the ship has been taken over by the sinister Sariens. He must make his escape, survive a crash-landing on the desert planet Kerona, and ultimately sneak aboard the Sarien starship Deltaur to stop the vicious aliens from using the Star Generator against Roger's home planet of Xenon.

At the end of the game his efforts are awarded when Roger receives the Golden Mop as a token of eternal gratitude from the people of Xenon and becomes an instant celebrity.

Development
There are two known versions of the 1986 release.


 * 1.0x (has Ken Williams easter egg, but does not have EGA support).
 * 1.1a (removed the Ken Williams easter egg, but adds in EGA support).

The 1987 rerelease (versions 2.2 PC/Tandy/PCjr Dos release) adds in bells and whistles added from 1987 releases of King's Quest II, and other newer AGI games of that year. This included the drop down menus.

The Apple IIgs is the same as the PC version but it contained an improved music score and sound effects, including new music not present in the original game. The colors are different.

This was the first Space Quest game to contain digitized voice in the form of the alarm system at the beginning of the game, blaring out "battle stations" as Roger awakens.

Easter Eggs

 * By pressing the "Don't touch" button in the escape pod, Roger ends up inside another Sierra adventure game, King's Quest. Unfortunately it's not possible to continue the game from there, you have to restart/restore instead. (See Image)
 * You can step around the left side of Droids B Us. Walk as far north from there, and then step partially behind it. Type "take leak" and you'll get one of three funny messages. Sorry, no graphics. There are also 5 buckazoids for you there. The buckazoids aren't there in version 1.0X though.
 * Try typing "scott" in the game. This will work in any screen. The game will output: "Hello Roger Wilco, I've been expecting you. You're obviously a person of dubious taste. Drop me a line at Sierra and let me know if you've enjoyed playing." Looks like this does not work in version 1.0X. (See Image)
 * From the escape pod screen, go East, East, North, North, East, East, then stand in the middle of the screen and wait. A meteor will crash-land exactly on top of your head. (See Image)

Trivia

 * In Space Quest IV: Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers, Roger returns to Ulence Flats in his Time Pod.

Credits

 * Game by: Two Guys From Andromeda
 * Design and Writing: Mark Crowe and Scott Murphy
 * Graphics / Artwork: Mark Crowe
 * Programming: Sol Ackerman, Scott Murphy, Ken Williams
 * Interpreter / Development System: Chris Iden, Jeff Stephenson
 * Atari ST Version: Corey Cole
 * Amiga Version: Jeff Stephenson
 * Apple IIgs Version: John Rettig
 * Macintosh Version: Mark Langbehn of Fairfield Software