King's Quest II

King's Quest II: Romancing the Throne is the second installment in the King's Quest series of graphic adventure games by Sierra On-Line. It uses the same AGI game engine as King's Quest I: Quest for the Crown and features King Graham as the player character. The title is a spoof of the 1984 film Romancing the Stone.[1]

King's Quest II:
Romancing the Throne
King's Quest II - Romancing the Throne Coverart.jpg
Amiga cover art
Developer(s) Sierra On-Line
Publisher(s) Sierra On-Line
Designer(s) Roberta Williams
Ken Williams
Scott Murphy
Artist(s) Doug MacNeill
Mark Crowe
Writer(s) Roberta Williams
Annette Child
Composer(s) Al Lowe
Series King's Quest
Engine AGI
Platform(s) PC, Macintosh, Apple II, Apple IIGS, Amiga, Atari ST, PCjr, Tandy 1000
Release May 1985, 1987
Genre(s) Adventure
Mode(s) Single player
Gameplay Edit

King's Quest II resembles King's Quest I in appearance and interface. Like in King's Quest I, the game world has 'wrap around' allowing player to travel infinitely in the directions of the north or south. (The King's Quest Companion which represented a novelized walkthrough explains that the western side of Kolyma folds back upon itself to both the north and south, forever bringing travelers back to where they started.) This was the first King's Quest to include an introduction cutscene, just past the credits. It also is the first game in the series with a linear story progression. The world actually changes as the story progresses,[2] new characters appear in the world, areas are opened up to the player, and closed off when no longer needed.

Puzzles involve trading these or using these items to receive new items or to get past obstacles, allowing the player to progress. The game in general honors non-violent solutions, offering more points for them. Many puzzles have more than one solution, but only one optimum solution to earn maximum points. Alternate solutions will net less points or in some cases cause the player to lose points. Examples of alternate solutions are taking more violent approach to getting past an obstacle such as killing or stealing. Some choices may lead to dead ends or death.

All puzzles in the game are solved through a parser. The player may type a phrase with a verb and noun, for example 'Look at' or 'Pick up', the word list in the parser is fairly robust and understands quite a lot of non-important verbs which will result in unexpected replies. For example, you could type, 'dig', or 'dig the beach' and receive messages about how pointless it is to be digging. Sometimes even illogical verb/noun combinations will net unique comments, such as typing 'Pick up horse' will mention that the flying steed is too fast to catch. With this system the player is able to collect many items using 'pick up' placed into the games inventory. The items in the inventory have close up pictures giving an idea what the item looks like, or in some cases offering clues about the item. In a rare few examples an item may be manipulated in some way.

Plot Edit

Moonbase Alpha is a fictional Moon base and the main setting in the British science fiction television series Space: 1999 (1974–77).

Moonbase Alpha
Plato, Moon
Moonbase alpha.jpg
Moonbase Alpha
Coordinates Lunar 51.6° N, 9.3° W
Type Moon base
Height Up to 1 kilometer
Site information
Owner International Lunar Finance Commission (ILFC)
Controlled by International Lunar Finance Commission (ILFC)
Site history
Built February 3, 1983
Built by International Lunar Finance Commission (ILFC)
In use 1983–present
Materials Quarried rock and ores
Battles/wars
1999+ – Bombing against Sidon warships
* 1999+ – Battle against alien apparitions
* 1999+ – Betha-Delta conflict
Events
September 13, 1999 – Moon blasted out of Earth's orbit
* 1999+ – Alphans condemned to death by Sidons
Garrison information
Current
commander Commander John Koenig
Past
commanders Commander Anton Gorski (8th?)
Occupants
Alphans (humans from Earth)
* Maya
Primarily a scientific research station, at the start of the series, Moonbase Alpha houses 311 personnel including scientists, astronauts, medical personnel, and security officers. It is under the command of John Koenig. Four kilometers wide and up to one kilometer deep, it is a totally self-sustaining facility, with the different areas connected by a series of high speed "travel tubes". Alpha also has a fleet of Eagle Transporter spaceships, used for a variety of purposes throughout the series, which are housed in underground bunkers and then raised on launch pads for take-off.