Episode 5 – Space Quest
May 25, 2012Greetings Blockers!
Welcome to episode 5! This week I’ve got a big topic to cover, the Space Quest series by Sierra Online!
Since we have six games to cover in a single show, the news is quick this time: Firstly, Jane Jensen’s kickstarter funded, exceeding their 300,000 dollar goal. Secondly, I came across news of a Tex Murphy kickstarter. Tex Murphy isn’t a game series I played, but go check out their project page if you’re interested!
We then get into the main topic, the Space Quest series. I cover how Sierra’s adventure game paradigm differs from the LucasArts one we already covered and then I get into Space Quest’s development story. The bulk of the show is going through each of the six games talking about plot, technology and some fun facts and features of each.
I play a great audio comment from Rick Moyer where he interviews a friend that he used to play Space Quest with. Thanks Rick!
With regard to the future of the Space Quest series I talk about the new SQ2 remake and remind everyone about the Two Guys kickstarter.
To close out the show, I came across a really great cover medley of Space Quest 4 music by Brandon Blume, you can go grab it and see his other work at his site, http://brandonblume.com/ and his YouTube channel.
Next week: A bit of a different show, I won’t be covering a game. I’m going to talk about ways to get old games working on modern systems. General talk about virtualization, DOSBox, ScummVM, etc. Should be interesting! Hope to see you!
Buy Space Quest on GOG or Steam.
Stream the show live:
Direct download:
http://umbcast.com/podcast/005-UMBCast-Space-Quest.mp3
Hello, I am a long time Space Quest fan, and so I enjoyed listening to your podcast 🙂 Thanks for posting it! I’d Say Space Quest 4 is my personal favorite, but I enjoy all of them, and they each have their own unique strengths. I can’t wait for the new Two Guys game, Space Venture!
Thanks! I’m really looking forward to the new game as well.
Although I was a major Sierra fan, I never quite clicked with Space Quest, for some reason. The first game I tried to play was Space Quest 4, I think, because it came free with some other software or Sierra game. My sister and I tried it, and had no idea what was going on, kept getting killed by a bunch of robots, got frustrated and went back to playing King’s Quest 6 or Torin’s Passage, or whatever. We may also have been too young to grasp the humor. I don’t think I could go back today, and endure all the trial and error (or at least, not without a walkthrough), so unfortunately, the Space Quest shop may have sailed for me. 🙁 Definitely enjoyed the podcast though, and hearing the development story (I think that’s quickly becoming my favorite segment!).
The later games in the series were coming out when I was getting more into PC gaming. I never payed much attention then, but I sure am now. It is unfortunate that the VGA remakes didn’t make it over to GOG with the originals, but at least we can still get the fan remakes over at infamous adventures. For those like me that don’t always have time to play through the first ones in the series, there are plenty of ‘let’s play’ youtube videos to experience the games in 10-15 minute chunks.