.SIERRA: "A miracle from the kitchen. " Mystery House, eventually sold over 10,000 copies. It was a hundred times more successful oday, I don 't work out of the spare ierra didn't start in a bedroom anymore (our first house garage like other software burned down in late 1982). 1 had to vendors. We weren 't born begin designing my adventures at the officeT in downtown Coarsegold. We hired some out of a marketing plan or staffed and funded by a major extra hands to help us out (about 77 pair at last corporation. My husband and I count) and now our little software company takes started Sierra on a rickety table, in up most of the town 's biggest office building. It 's the kitchen of our small family home. very different from working at home, but the office Our first software product began as an still has a very "homey" feel to it. We're all very evening project. Ken (my husband) and I Mystery House, casual (no neckties or shoes) and everyone gets our first adventure game, along. It sounds a little trite, but we really do try to worked on it together. It was kind of like when from 1980. we hung the pictures in the den or assembled the be one happy family. Every time 1 visit the Sierra family photo albums - I supplied the creative than we ever thought it would be! From that Before we knew it, we had occupied three otber offices, I think of a little line my mom used to say when she brought dinner to the table, ''Here comes design and Ken did the technical work. It wasn 't family project, we started a family business now buildings in town and we continued to grow. With another miracle from the kitchen." It was her until we saw the finished product that we ever known as Sierra On-Line, Inc. the house (and kitchen table) once again favorite joke. Sierra On-Line is our miracle from thought of trying to sell it. We placed a small ad available we created three more bestselling in a magazine and hoped for the best. adventure games (The Wizard and the Princess, the kitchen, and with every new product comes a That first software program, a game we called Mission Asteroid and Cranston Manor) over the new miracle. 1 hope you enjoy them ... IF'Z we ".,'ed Si,"~ we bad no next 18 months. W i::~ how big the computer industry Signed, f?~ was going to become. We thought computers and software would always be a small industry, of interest only to hackers and hobbyists like ourselves. Well, we were wrong. Our little Current Sierra offices. software business quickly outgrew --- the space available on our kitchen table, and the operations had to be moved into the den and spare bedroom. But that didn 't last for long. Soon, we had no choice but to move our business to a larger building above the local print shop. ------:.:.Id california. In coareago , 'flrat home l __--- -.Sierras "Our specialty bas· always been adventure games. " If you typed out a command to Graham, such as ' ~OW TO THE KING, " Graham understood what you told him. ver the last seven and a half years, we 've published bestsetting word processors, arcade games and programming utilities - but, from the beginning, Sierra 's biggest claim to fame has always been the adventure game. Back in 1979 when Sierra first got started, there was only one type of adventure game - the text adventure. I Scene from KIng's Quest. wasn 't surprised when I learned that Roberta had written Later, Sierra adventures would include games such her own adventure game. Ken sent me a few copies of it. A as poker and blackjack. clerk in the Computerland store helped me get the game working, .and I was stunned. I remembered att the text adventure stuff I'd seen Roberta play, but this game had pictures! The first screen showed this creepy, old house, and ifyou typed GO NORTH you got a close-up of its front porch! ince then, it's been one innovation after another for Sierra adventures. Initiatty Roberta:S- adventure games mixed graphics and text (a first). Next they Scene from Pollee Quest. Scene from Leisure Suit Larry. featured color graphics (another first). When there were tooS many innovations for Ken to handle alone, he hired programmers and Roberta put them to work on her new We have even adventure projects. incorporated arcade sequences into a few of In 1984, Sierra our games ...... debuted their latest adventure design, the "3-D Animated Adventure Game. " It became the first to ........ and the game feature a main character that could "maneuver through the graphics have taken graphics in a 3-dimensional perspective. " He could travel from another leap forward one scene to the next, frame by frame. in resolution. If he was in front of a Scene from King 's Quest IV . castle, he could walk At Sierra, adventure games have always been our speCialty. We directly inside the began our work when computers were young, and we intend to castle. remain the innovative force in adventures att the way through interactive video disks (but that 's Signed, "When I was a child, I read a lot of fairy tales, and would tell stories to friends. Now, I have the computer to help me tell stories, and the King's Quest saga is a story I want to share with everyone. " - Roberta Wi/Hams KING'S QUEST - Quest for the Crown KING'S QUEST IV Become Sir Graham, brave and noble knight. - The Perlls of Rosella eturn in time to the days of Search the kingdom for the lost treasures of Travel with Rosella, the beautiful brave knights, noble kings, and Daventry, and return them to King Edward. The princess and heroine of King's Quest evil wizards. Meet legendary journey will be long and treacherous, and you IV . Journey to a town far away. Search cbaracters both mystical and will meet many creatures from fable and folklore . for the enchanted fruit that will restore magical. Step into a 3-D animated Confront a wicked witch , a greedy troll, and a life to her father's lips, and safely adventure where you take on the lead ferocious giant, among others. return to her homeland. role. Become the main character in a story Many paths await you, and only your wit and Face creatures from ancient legend, that changes with everyl move you make. resourcefulness can guide you to success. The from beautiful unicorns to hideous Determine your own fate! more clever you prove yourself, the greater the ogres . Acquire treasures that are reward that awaits. necessary to ensure your safety. Save Genesta from imminent death by he legendary King 's Quest series continues KING'S QUEST II - Romancing the Throne destroying the evil Lolotte and to grow in its legacy. Retrace the lives of returning the sacred talisman which Journey along with King Graham, inheritor of the Daventry royalty, from Sir Graham , the once rested around her neck. Daventry throne. Search for the magic keys that brave and honest knight, to Rosella the fair KING'S QUEST III - To Heir is Human Multiple quests await you, and each is essential if Xprincess , in four epic quests. Whether completed in will lead to an enchanted land, miles and Step into the tattered shoes of Gwydion, a young you hope to ever see your father again. dimensions away. Explore underground caverns, order or out of sequence, each episode in the King's slave serving the powerful and evil wizard eerie towers, and ocean wonderlands. -A real time adventure with a complete day and Quest saga is an intriguing story and challenging Manannan. Use your wit to learn his magic spells. Help King Graham unlock the secrets that will night cycle. Encounter characters at night that you adventure. But be careful, for if the evil wizard catches you with can't meet during the day. lead him to the rescue of a princess locked away his magic he will surely kill you. FEATURES in a secret tower. Ride flying carpets . Meet and - King's Quest IV is the first 3-D Animated Adventure Embark upon perilous voyages to distant lands. to use Sierra's new , improved graphics system. • Animated characters that come alive. They walk, mingle with legendary characters like King Encounter beings , both mystical and mythological , talk, run, climb , and even swim. Neptune and Count Dracula. from fiction and fairy tales. With wisdom and • Optional joystick control. Use keyboard with - King's Quest II includes 14 musical tunes resourcefulness you will progress far , and perhaps optional joystick or mouse to guide the main throughout the game, with classics like discover your unknown destiny! character around a fantasy world. Tchaikovsky' s love theme from Romeo - Learn to use powerful magic spells. "The closest thing yet to a living game. " • Multiple solutions and variable scoring. Play again and Juliet. - Sierra's new self-mapping system helps you keep and again, each time uncovering interesting new track of where you 've been. - Roe Adams Ill, Adventure Game Expert twists. - Fifty percent larger than King's Quest I or II . "Space Quest is completely different from games we've SPACE QUEST SERIES - worked on before. It's satirical, it's in space, and it's funny. THE MOST FUN YOU CAN HAVE AT ZERO GRAVITY! We love it!" - Mark Crowe and Scott Murphy SPACE QUEST II Vohaul's Revenge artbtings ... you wanted sometbing different. You wanted unique.