Space Quest Slot Machine
About this walkthrough
Space Quest: Chapter I – The Sarien Encounter, commonly known as Space Quest I, is a graphic adventure game released in October 1986 by Sierra On-Line. It is the first game in the Space Quest series. It quickly became a hit, selling in excess of 100,000 copies. For playing Space Quest,. You've been most entertaining. This is the other one. Interestingly, this is very similar to two of the generic death messages in Space Quest II. Logic 110 - Spider Droid Logic 2 Not many tales are told of the spider droids due to a lack of live witnesses.
Space Quest Slot Machines
This is a complete walkthrough for Space Quest: The Sarien Encounter.
This walkthrough is for the EGA version of the game. It can be used as a general guideline for the VGA remake, but it won't cover the few puzzles that are different in the remake.
Using this walkthrough will get you through the game, but may spoil the game and fun of exploring.
Following this walkthrough exactly as it is written should result in the score with maximum points.
Items which can be picked up as inventory items and items which can be constructed by combining or using other items are written with bold text for emphasis. Input commands that are typed into parser are written with CAPITAL LETTERS.
Arcada
You are aboard the Arcada, being the only surviving member of the crew. The ship is full of hostile Sarien forces who will shoot you without questions asked. If you see the text 'You think you hear footsteps!' appearing, a Sarien trooper is coming towards you. Exit the room using the nearest door and then return to avoid Sariens. Note that Sariens can randomly appear and disappear even in dead-end corridors, so no place aboard Arcada corridors is safe.
- Go west. This is the data archive room, a puzzle takes place here, but it doesn't activate yet. Go one more room west, and then go back east to return to the data archive room.
- An injured man comes into the room and tells you critical information before he dies.
- SEARCH MAN
- Walk to the computer monitor.
- LOOK MONITOR
- The computer asks what the data search is about, type ASTRAL BODY and wait for the library computer to finish its work.
- GET CARTRIDGE (new inventory item: cartridge)
- Go west, and then one more room west to find another dead crew member.
- SEARCH MAN
- The man is carrying a keycard.
- GET KEYCARD (new inventory item: keycard)
- Go east, take the elevator down.
- Exit the elevator, go east, take the elevator down.
- Exit the elevator, go east. This is the central control area.
- There are windows showing the vehicle bay below, there is a control panel under the window, walk in front of it.
- PUSH OPEN BAY DOOR
- Go east, there is another elevator, but it is locked. On the left side of the elevator is a keycard unit, walk in front of it.
- USE KEYCARD
- The elevator can now be accessed, use it to go down.
The location of the keycard slot.
- This is the Flight Prep room with two closets on the same wall as the elevator. Go to the closets, there are also two white buttons on the wall that open the closet doors.
- PUSH LEFT BUTTON
- The left closet opens revealing a gadget inside.
- GET GADGET (new inventory item: gadget)
- PUSH RIGHT BUTTON
- There is a flight suit inside the closet.
- GET SUIT
- You will automatically change the crew uniform into a spaceflight suit.
- Walk to the console that is near the bottom of the screen.
- PUSH AIRLOCK BUTTON
- You can now safely enter the vehicle bay.
- In the vehicle bay is a control console close to the door. Walk to the console.
- PUSH PLATFORM BUTTON
- An escape pod rises from the lower level. Walk to the left side of the pod where the pod door is open.
- ENTER POD
- Now you are inside the escape pod, and you must operate it properly to escape from the Arcada.
- CLOSE DOOR
- FASTEN SEATBELT
- PUSH POWER BUTTON
- PUSH AUTONAV BUTTON
- PULL LEVER
- The escape pod will leave the ship and head somewhere in space.
Kerona
- You crash land on a habitable planet called Kerona. You must explore your surroundings here and make sure you survive the many dangers. There are some items that you should pick up before starting to explore the planet any further.
- UNFASTEN SEATBELT
- GET SURVIVAL KIT
- OPEN KIT (new inventory items: knife, water)
- EXIT POD
- Walk to the front of the crashed escape pod. The pod can't be flown or repaired anymore, but there is some broken glass which can be picked up.
- GET GLASS (new inventory item: glass)
The location of glass.
- Go east, and then go further east.
- Now you are in a place where a natural land formation has created a bridge. The next necessary step is to go on that bridge. It can't be accessed here, so go east.
- There is a chance to pick up an optional item under the bridge. Before going east, go north, and there are some plants under the bridge. Go to the one in the middle. GET PLANT (new inventory item: plant). This item is not needed and picking it up won't give any points. Go back south, and now go east.
- Here you can go up along the path that is next to the rock formation, do that, but be careful not to fall off the path. The path goes first north, so go first north, and then in the next screen the path turns to left, so go west.
- Now you are on the natural land bridge. You can cross from one side to another, but be careful, as every crossing weakens the bridge. And like before, it is possible to fall off as there are no railings. See the rock boulder on the bridge. You can't pick it up, as it's too heavy, but go stand behind the rock.
- There is a killer spider droid patrolling the desert. If it hasn't showed up already, wait for a while for it to show up. The goal here is clear, you should push the rock down on the spider droid to eliminate it. The problem is, there is only one rock available, so any mistake will mean that the one chance to destroy it will be gone.
- If you haven't already saved the game, save it now!
- Next, type 'push rock' in the parser, but don't execute the command yet. Wait until the spider walks right under the rock, and when that happens, simply hit enter to push the rock and destroy the spider droid.
- PUSH ROCK
Destroying the spider robot.
- After destroying the spider droid successfully, it is highly recommended to save the game again. There are dangerous areas all over, and redoing the spider part can be time consuming.
- Go west. In the following hazardous looking screen, go north. Keep on walking, this time go east, and then further east, until you come to a place where there are two halves of an arch raising from the rock.
- Go stand in between the arch halves, if you are standing in the right place, an automated elevator should appear and take you down.
- You are in a large underground cavern. Before going any deeper into the caves, see a rock that is close to the elevator. Walk near the rock.
- GET ROCK (new inventory item: rock)The location of the rock.
- Go west.
- You are in an area that has a metal grate on the floor. You need to get past the metal grate safely, so place yourself against the rock wall, and then cross the metal grate.
- There is a small geyser, releasing hot steam at short intervals. You need to block the steam in order to get further. Stand next to the geyser.
- PUT ROCK IN GEYSER
- A door in the backwall slides open, allowing you to go north.
- You come to a confusing looking area, which looks like it could be a maze, but really isn't. The upper pathway is where you will be eventually going, but it can't be accessed here. The only thing that needs to be done here is to find a place where you can go west. Navigating there is a bit tricky, as there are obstacles which you must go around, while the graphics really don't give much proper sense of depth. Basically you should enter the small access in the middle back, and from there go left and exit west. It may take a few tries to do this.
- This is a room with a laser beam blocking access to upper pathway.
- If you haven't already saved the game, save it now! There are several ways to die in the next few steps.
- First you need to get rid of the laser beam that is blocking your access further.
- PUT GLASS IN BEAM
- Now the laser is broken, and you can move on. Walk up and go east.The acid droplets and cracks on the pathway.
- This is the same place where you were earlier, except that this is the upper pathway. Unlike the lower area which was a safe area, the upper pathway is one of the deadliest areas in the game. There are small droplets that keep falling down, but they are deadly acid and even the smallest contact with them is deadly. The timing is random, but it is easy to see where they fall. Look for the cracks on the path, that's where the acid falls to. Look for a moment how this path is like before trying to go further. It is recommendable to wait for the two leftmost droplets to fall and immediately afterwards start walking. While the timing is random, there is a small interval between two droplets coming from the same place.
- Also notice that there is a wider area between the two rightmost cracks. Once you get past the first two, you can stop between the cracks, as it is a relatively safe area. No acid will fall there if you are standing between the cracks. Wait for the final droplet to fall and immediately after that start walking again and go east.
- Basically you just need to keep walking through here, with only one minor task to do. Before leaving this area pause for a moment. If you have visited this place before, you know that there is an alien in the next room who is trying to communicate with you. Unfortunately, you don't speak the same language, so you need to have the translator available.
- TURN ON TRANSLATOR
- Go east.
- After the conversation with the alien, you will be back on the planet surface. The goal here is obviously to do what the alien requested.
- Go south, then east and then east again carefully crossing the bridge you were on earlier.
- Go down, in other words south, and then when on the flat ground again, go north.
- There is a cave opening in the rock on the right side. It is a bit hard to see, but that's where you should be going next to fight Orat.
- If you haven't already saved the game, save it now!
- You should be carrying the survival kit already, but if you haven't opened it yet, do it now. Carrying the kit without opening it won't be enough.
- The way to kill Orat is by throwing water on it. There is very little time to act inside the cave, so it is recommended that you type 'throw water' in the parser, but don't execute the command yet.
- Go east to enter the cave.
- When Orat comes near you, immediately hit the enter button to throw water.
- If you are successful, Orat explodes but a part of it remains on the ground. You should pick that up.
- GET CHUNK (new inventory item: Orat part)
- Go west to exit the cave and then continue south.
- Now you are back in the place with a path leading to the bridge.
- The goal is to go back to the underground caves and talk to the alien, so follow the steps you took before, including avoiding the same dangers, to get back there. The only things that can be skipped is destroying the spider droid (there was only one), and picking up a rock and using it in the geyser (it should still be where you left it, keeping the door open).
- When you get back to the alien, it wants proof about Orat having been defeated.
- DROP ORAT PART
- After doing that, a door opens in front of you. Go through it to enter an alien installation with weird machines and aliens.
- One alien will appear, talk to you and give you a skimmer which you can use to travel.
- There is a computer console in the middle of the room, walk to it. This computer has a cartridge slot and a monitor.
- USE CARTRIDGE IN SLOT
- Read the data entries, and take note of the numeric code.
- GET CARTRIDGE
- Now walk to the skimmer on the right side of the room.
- ENTER SKIMMER
- Now you can leave the area, but it might be a good idea to save here, as the flight across the desert will most likely end up in (several) deaths.
- TURN KEY
- You need to fly the skimmer to a town in the desert. You need to avoid hitting the rocks. The skimmer can take few hits, with its damage report changing to worse after each it: minor -> moderate -> serious -> situation critical. After that, the skimmer will be broken and the game will be over.
- The rocks come randomly, so there is no way to give instructions that would help much here. It is possible to save game during the skimmer flight, so if you manage to fly a while without hitting anything, it might be a good idea to save there, so you don't need to start the entire sequence all over again, if you can't complete it successfully.
- It might give a bit more reaction time to set the game speed to slowest, but this will also slow down the skimmer.
Ulence Flats
- When you finally manage to cross the desert, you will come to a desert town called Ulence Flats. The ultimate goal is a charming rip-off from the Mos Eisley part of the original Star Wars, to search in bars and other places in order to find a spaceship to take you to your next destination.
- Before leaving the skimmer make sure no one will steal it.
- GET SKIMMER KEY (new inventory item: power key)
- EXIT SKIMMER
- If a man comes and offers you money (30 buckazoids) to buy the skimmer, simply answer 'NO', for now.
- You can walk around and explore the area, if you want. Basically the only thing that needs to be done is to leave and come back, so the fastest way is to enter the bar and then exit and return to the skimmer.
- Wait for the man to come again. If the man is making you a final offer for the skimmer (30 buckazoids and a jetpack), answer 'YES' to accept it. (new inventory items: buckazoids, jetpack)
- Now enter the bar.
- It is time to eavesdrop on the people on the bar. Go to the right side of the bar and wait for the bartender. (Note, in order to have the next sequence working as planned, you should take your place right next to the man with green hair, facing the same way as the other people, not at the end of the bar table.) Soon the bartender should ask what you will have.The right place for eavesdropping.
- BUY BEER (new inventory item: beer)
- DRINK BEER
- Repeat this twice, in order to overhear a discussion.
- BUY BEER (new inventory item: beer)
- DRINK BEER
- BUY BEER (new inventory item: beer)
- DRINK BEER
- You will hear someone talking about cruising in the sector HH previously. Take note of that.
- There is no need to buy or drink any more beer, in fact it would only waste your money, so go to the slot machine that is near the bar. The slot machine minigame should start automatically when you walk to the right place.
- The goal here is to win enough money to buy a spaceship by using the slot machine. As always, gambling is risky, so you can also lose all of the money you are carrying. It is highly advisable to save the game every time you manage to increase the money you have. The slot machine also has a special reward for three skulls, which is death!
- Depending on the game version you have, there may be a 'second chance' available, if you lose all your money and have forgotten to save. Go to the left side of 'Droids B Us' and search the ground there. You should be able to find five buckazoids, which you can use as a last resort to continue if you have lost all the money in the inventory.
- It is possible to play the slot machine more carefully using smaller bets, or be more risky by having larger bets. To get the game done as fast as possible, highest possible bets are recommended, but ultimately the end result will be the same.
- When you keep winning and have at least 250 buckazoids, the slot machine will break down. You will have all the money you need, and you can exit the bar using the door on the left.
- The next place to go is 'Droids B Us', so go first north, then east, and enter the droid store.
- You need to buy a droid here to navigate your spaceship.
- You can walk around the store and get descriptions of all droids, but the one you need to buy is the white one, which is upstairs on the right side.
- BUY DROID
- Now the droid is yours, and it will follow you where ever you go.
- The next thing to buy is a spaceship from 'Tiny's Used Spacecraft', so exit the store first, and then go west and then further west.
- This is the ship you want to buy. You can buy some other ships too, but they can't take you to your destination. If Tiny isn't here or doesn't show up automatically, walk south where the store really is located, wait for Tiny to come and talk to you, and then walk back north and Tiny will follow you.
- Walk next to the spaceship to get a sales speech.
- BUY SHIP
- Now you own the ship, and with few preparations can leave the planet.
- ENTER SHIP
- You still need to have the droid on the ship too.
- PUSH LOAD BUTTON
- The droid will ask for a sector to set as a destination, answer 'HH' and you will be on your way.
Deltaur
- After a flight through an asteroid field you will meet the Sarien ship, Deltaur.
- You need to find a way to enter the ship without being noticed by the Sariens. As you are going in space, you won't be inside a spaceship for a moment, so prepare for that.
- WEAR JETPACK
- EXIT SHIP
- You are outside an airlock, go towards the door. You need to find a right spot to open the door. It may take a few tries to position correctly, but there is a line that goes through the door, try to place yourself and your hands on the same level with that line.
- OPEN DOOR
- When the door is open, use it to enter the ship.
- Once inside the ship, wait for a maintenance robot to appear, and when it does, go through the door that it has opened. If you miss it, wait for another chance, the robot keeps coming and going.
- Now you need a place to hide for a while before you can do anything else. There is a trunk in the room you are in.
- OPEN TRUNK
- ENTER TRUNK
- You have been carried to a new location, which is laundry facilities.
- OPEN TRUNK
- ENTER TRUNK
- Now you need to create a disguise for yourself. There is a laundry cleaning unit on the wall.
- OPEN UNIT
- ENTER UNIT
- A Sarien comes in and starts the machine. After a while you have control again.
- EXIT UNIT
- When you come out of the laundry cleaning unit, your outfit has changed, and you can now walk anywhere on the alien ship undetected.
- Go east to exit the room.
- In the next room are two elevators and a guard standing nearby. You can simply ignore the guard, but for full points, you need to do two Answer 'YES' to get full score!interactions with the guard. Other guards on the ship can be used for these extra points as well.
- TALK ALIEN
- Keep talking until the Sarien guard asks if you own King's Quest II, answer 'YES'. (Note, at some point you can ask the Sarien if he owns Kinq's Quest III, this is a different conversation.)
- KISS ALIEN
- When the conversations with the Sarien are over (or if you chose to skip them), use the leftmost elevator.
- Go west and use another elevator there.
- Go east, and then twice more east to reach the ship armory.
- You need to get some weapons, but they are only handed out when showing a valid ID.
- LOOK SUIT (new inventory item: Sarien ID card)
- You will take an ID that was in your clothes.
- Go to the counter with the robot.
- SHOW ID (new inventory item: pulseray)
- The robot will go get a weapon, and during the short while it is gone, you should go to the end of the counter. There you will find some grenades, which you can't get with your ID.
- GET GRENADE (new inventory item: grenade)
- The robot will give you a pulseray gun when it comes back.
- Now go back west one room, and there will be a guard standing next to the Star Generator below you.
- DROP GRENADE
- If you miss the guard, you have a second chance available, as there is one more grenade in the armory. Whether you were successful with the first grenade or not, picking up the second grenade is needed for the maximum score. If you want to do this, go back to the armory, show ID again (SHOW ID), and pick up the grenade (GET GRENADE) when the robot is gone.
- Now that the guard is dealt with, go back west as far as you can. Just before the elevator you stumble and lose your helmet. Now the guards will shoot you if they see you!
- The easiest thing to do would be to avoid the guards entirely, but for passing the game with full points it is actually required to use the pulseray gun and shoot at least one alien. The game can be completed without doing that, but for the full points, you must do it. Firing the gun is easy, all you need to is press F6. Shooting an alien successfully is much more difficult, as they shoot the moment they see you. The best way to shoot an alien is to keep saving the game in every room, and when entering a new room keep hitting F6 in case there is a Sarien guard there. Once you have shot one alien, or decided to skip it, it is time to take care of the Star Generator.
- To get to the Star Generator from the place where you lost the helmet, take the elevator down, and keep walking east as far as you can. If you go after aliens, then you need to find your own way around, but it is a good idea to return the same way you went to avoid getting lost. As Sarien guards keep walking around, it should be theoretically possible just stay in the corridor leading to the Star Generator and wait for one of them to show up.
- In the room with the Star Generator, go to the Sarien guard lying on the ground.
- SEARCH GUARD (new inventory item: remote control)
- You now have a remote control that controls the force field around the Star Generator.
- PUSH OFF BUTTON
- Now the force field has been turned off, and you can access the device.
- Go to the Star Generator.
- LOOK PANEL
- This is the control panel where you need to enter the numeric code you saw earlier. In case you don't remember it, it is 6858.
- This will activate the detonation cycle, and you will now have only few minutes to escape before the Star Generator will explode and destroy the Sarien ship with it.
- Go west and enter the elevator there.
- Exit the elevator and take the rightmost elevator next to the one you came from.
- This is the Sarien shuttle launch bay, where you can steal a shuttle to escape from the exploding ship.
- Go to the shuttle, but be careful not to fall into the launch chute.
- ENTER SHIP
- PUSH LAUNCH
- The shuttle will fly away from the exploding Deltaur. You will return home and get a hero's welcome.
The hero returns.
THE GAME IS FINISHED. CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Deaths
There are many ways to die in Sierra On-Line adventure games. Some players want to explore these, as Sierra used to have humorous deaths. For this game, here is a list of deaths. Note, this list may not be complete, as some other walkthroughs have listed deaths which are not listed here, and which may or may not actually be possible to encounter.
| Failing to escape from the Arcada. | Get shot by the Sariens either aboard the Arcada or Deltaur. The difference is that getting shot aboard the Deltaur will disintegrate you. |
| Entering the vehicle bay without a spacesuit. | Enter the vehicle bay without a spacesuit. |
| Falling into the elevator shaft. | Fall into the elevator shaft in the vehicle bay. |
| Getting lost in space. | Don't activate the Autonav in the escape pod, and you will get lost in space. |
| Touching the 'don't touch' button. | Push the 'don't touch' button in the escape pod, and the pod will crash land in King's Quest!!! |
| Getting eaten by a Grell. | Walk too far out in the desert, and you will be eaten by a Grell. |
| Getting crushed by a meteorite. | Go to the northeastern part of the desert, after a short while you will be crushed by a meteorite. |
| Getting eaten by the hole. | Look into the hole in the desert and get eaten by whatever is inside. |
| Getting blown up by the spider droid. | Come to physical contact with the spider droid and you will be blown up. |
| Falling from a high place. | Fall off from a high place on the planet surface. |
| Breaking the bridge. | Cross the natural land bridge too many times and it will collapse under you. |
| Dying of thirst. | Walk in the desert without water and you will eventually die of thirst (there will be two warnings before this happens). |
| Getting eaten by a tentacled beast. | Walk over the metal grating in the caves and get eaten by a tentacled beast. |
| Drinking from the pool of acid. | Drink from the pool of acid and you will lose your head. |
| Getting cut by the laser beam. | Walk into the laser beam in the cave and you will get cut. |
| Getting hit by a drop of acid. | Get hit by a drop of acid in the caves. |
| Hitting too many rocks with the skimmer. | Hit five rocks with a skimmer during the skimmer flight minigame. |
| Losing with the slot machine. | Get three skulls with the slot machine, and the machine will reward you by firing a laser that will turn you to ashes. |
| Getting shot by a mugger. | When carrying 250 buckazoids, follow a suspicious alien who offers you a spaceship. After stealing your money, he will let you go, but trying to approach him will cause him to shoot you. |
| Buying a wrong spaceship. | Buy a wrong spaceship from Tiny and it will crash nearby soon after liftoff. |
| Leaving the spaceship without a jetpack. | Leave the spaceship without a jetpack and you will drift out into space. |
| Flying away from the airlock. | Use the jetpack and fly away from the airlock and you will be shot. |
| Getting killed by the armory droid. | There are reportedly several ways of getting killed by the armory droid. Two which have been tested to work are: - firing the pulseray gun twice inside the armory - getting caught when stealing a grenade. |
| Dropping the grenade in a wrong place. | Drop the grenade anywhere else but the passage above the Star Generator and you will be killed. |
| Getting disintegrated by a droid. | After losing the helmet of your Sarien disguise come to physical contact with a droid and you will be disintegrated. |
| Falling into the launch chute. | Fall into the launch chute in the Sarien shuttle launch bay. |
| Failing to escape from the Deltaur. | After the Star Generator detonation cycle has been activated, you have five minutes to escape. Failing to leave the ship in time will cause you to die in the explosion. |
Please report any issues on Discord.
| Space Quest: Chapter I - The Sarien Encounter |
|---|
Developer: Sierra On-Line This game has hidden development-related text. |
> LOOK ARTICLE
Say, there's a bunch of junk on here from Space Quest 1!
Strange, you don't recognize most of this. This conglomeration of curious content was clearly cut from the completed game.
Either that, or you've taken one too many whiffs from cleaning solvents.
> _
- 2SEARCH LOGICS
- 4CHECK OUT ITEMS
- 8INSPECT VERSIONS
ENABLE DEBUG
Press Alt+D to enable some debugging functions. These features are disabled upon entering a new room.
Here's the complete word list:
- TP: Teleport to the appropriate room.
- POS: Set Roger's X and Y positions.
- GET OBJECT: Puts the appropriate object by ID in the player's inventory.
- OBJECT or SP: Gives status on the appropriate object.
- SET VAR: Sets a chosen variable to a given value.
- SHOW VAR: Displays the value of a variable.
- SET FLAG: Sets the appropriate flag.
- RESET FLAG: Resets the appropriate flag.
- SHOW FLAG: Displays info on a flag (Can be either set or not set).
- CASH: Allows the player to set the number of Buckazoids they have.
- DRINK CLOTHES: Changes Roger's outfit to his excursion garb.
- BE ALIEN: Changes Roger's outfit to the Sarien disguise.
- DRINK JET PACK: Equips Roger with the jet pack.
- NO HELMET: Changes Roger's outfit to the Sarien disguise, sans helmet.
- SHOW MEM: Displays info on memory use.
- SHOW PRI: Displays priority settings on the current room.
SEARCH LOGICS
Code that's never called anywhere in the game.
Logic 4
If you return to the room you start in (logic 2) on the upper level, there's a 21% chance that three guards show up marching on the lower level. The same code exists in logic 4, but due to a coding bug they never show up (you'd have to enter from the right side with an Y coordinate less than 80; and in that room the exit is placed lower than that; and repositioning the player occurs after this step). It is possible to get them to show up anyway with the debug mode, by repeatedly teleporting from room 4 to room 4; at this point, they'll promptly get stuck behind one of the corpses.
Logic 118
This appears to be an early version of the wandering Sarien logic used on the Arcada. There are only two messages in this logic compared to the final logic's five. Notably missing are the footstep messages that are used to alert the player.
This logic was removed from the game's resources in Version 2.2.
| Message 3 | Message 4 |
|---|---|
| Unable to see anyone here, the alien leaves to search elsewhere. | The Sarien crewman stands over you radiating a chill you can no longer sense. His unblinking stare searches for confirmation of the kill. |
LOOK AT GRAPHICS
Three static Sarien guards. Their design here is a lot beefier than their finalized look.
The first three frames of Orat swelling up from eating the can of dehydrated water aren't used. It's a little animation of Orat actually examining the can before eating the thing. Apparently, at one point, you could GIVE CAN instead of throwing it at him.
Note the yellow eyes on Orat. He has green eyes in the final game, but these frames were never updated to match.
| Final (Picture 65) |
|---|
Picture 63 -- removed from Version 2.2 -- is an older version of the Star Generator keypad. The only difference is the lack of an enter button.
Wow! Exciting stuff.
CHECK OUT ITEMS
None of these items have descriptions or graphics. They're just kinda there.
Life Detector
Item ID: 01 (Versions 1.0x & 1.1a only)
This item was removed entirely from version 2.2. There's no code in the game that references it. All that was ever done (or is left in the code) is the object name and ID.
Own 1 Used Ship
Item ID: 0D (Versions 1.0x & 1.1a), 20 (Version 2.2)
Presumably this would be given to the player when they bought the correct ship. This is referenced once in the back lot of Tiny's Used Spacecrafts, where it would remove Tiny from the screen if it was obtained.
Control
Item ID: 14 (Versions 1.0x & 1.1a), 15 (Version 2.2)
This item actually has a unique use message!
When the player types PRESS BUTTON or PRESS CONTROL BUTTON with this item in their inventory, and the player is not in the Deltaur's Star Generator room, the following message is displayed:
You press the button on the
remote control but notice
nothing different.
It's possible that this item was accidentally created in the object list. There's a Remote Control item in the game, and its only use is in the Star Generator room. It probably should have used this code.
Pocket Lint
Item ID: 23 (All versions)
Probably a joke item. On the room to the right of the starting screen, you can type GET LINT and get a special message, but this item isn't added to the inventory.
In Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards, Larry starts the game with pocket lint in his inventory, with its description stating 'why is this stuff in every adventure game?', so it was probably an inside joke at Sierra.
EXAMINE TEXT
| ID | Message | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| General Logic | ||
| 9 | The can gives only one size of serving, 10 gallons. I don't think you're that thirsty. | This message would appear if the player tried to drink the entire can of dehydrated water. |
| 53 | You just had a drink. You'd better ration your supply. This place is hot! | At one point, there was a limit on how many times you could drink from the can of dehydrated water. The way it is in the final game, the player can drink from the can as many times as they want. |
| 114 | Sorry, you'll have to go back into the bar to do that. | This would likely appear by inputting the command BUY BEER outside of the bar. |
| Logic 1 - Data Archive | ||
| 4 | The screen says 'Type the word `find` followed by the first name of the desired cartridge title.' | This hints at an older version of the Cartridge Retrieval system. The final system has its own screen and prompt, so the 'FIND' command does nothing special in this room. |
| 16 | He certainly looks dead. Do you get off on checking out stiffs? | An earlier, alternate dialogue for typing LOOK BODY. |
| 38 | There is no time for that. The alien attackers are on their way. | An unused warning for trying to insert the cartridge into the computer? |
| 49 | I warned you, but noooooo! Did you listen?! | And here's the narrator mocking you for not obeying said warning and getting shot. |
| Logic 2 - Starting Screen | ||
| 2 | You recognize this as your sanitation supply closet. You have spent many hours sleeping in it. | At one point, LOOK CLOSET might have had a different response than 'LOOK DOOR'. |
| 9 | The doors here are not particularly interesting. | An alternate message for 'LOOK DOOR'. |
| 19 | The door is closed, fool! | Possible response from typing 'LOOK CLOSET' while the door is closed. |
| Logic 7 - Room Before Flight Prep Room | ||
| 8 | <word1> <word2>? I'm sorry, <name>. You can't do that. I question your mental fitness. | A humorous error message that could have been used for a multitude of things. |
| Logic 8 - Vehicle Bay | ||
| 5 | Sorry, <name>. You can't enter the Escape Pod when the Vehicle Bay doors are closed. | It's impossible for the escape pod to even be in the room while the bay doors are closed. |
| 7 | The Vehicle Bay Door is quite large. | A rather bland message that was replaced with a different bit of descriptive text. |
| Logic 9 - Flight Prep Room | ||
| 12 | Your sight isn't what it once was. Maybe mom and dad weren't kidding. Anyway, you'll have to get closer. | An amusing message that might have been prompted by typing LOOK SIGN a significant distance away. |
| 33 | The elevator door opens automatically and the others open by pushing buttons. | This was split into two messages in the final version. The message displayed depends on where the player is in the room. |
| Logic 19 - Mesa Center | ||
| This is one of the electronic barrier stations encircling Ulence Flats. Its force field keeps out anything or anyone traveling on or under ground. | This room shares some of its logic with Ulence Flats, i.e. a call to logic 107. This contains a number of default responses, including this one to 'look barrier'. Obviously there is no barrier at the mesa. | |
| Logic 23 - Mesa Southeast | ||
| Fortunately for you, the path here is not far above the ground. Your suffering is limited to a dull pain in the hindquarters. | This room contains logic for falling off the cliff, which is lethal in other rooms but only embarrassing here. However, due to the room layout, it is not possible to fall off the cliff. It was likely possible in an earlier version. | |
| Logic 26 - Grate Room | ||
| 1 | rock taken | Given their blandness and lack of capitalization, these are very likely placeholder or test messages. No messages are displayed for these actions in the final game. |
| 2 | geyser plugged | |
| 4 | geyser unplugged | |
| Logic 28 - Laser Machine Room | ||
| 9 | You are in a large room in the cavern. There is a level area below. Standing toward the bottom are two odd-looking units emitting beams of light. | This is displayed with the command 'LOOK AREA' on the upper path with the laser machine intact. This is impossible, since the player can't reach the upper path without destroying the laser machine. |
| Logic 30 - Pod Crash Site | ||
| 8 | Hold your breath! | Unknown. Probably response to inputting some stupid in the parser. |
| Logic 34 - Tiny's Used Spacecrafts | ||
| 5 | 'So whaddaya think? Is she a diamond in the rough, or what? And only 129 buckazoids.' | There's no ship that Tiny sells for 129 buckazoids in the finalized game. |
| Logic 35 - Outside of Bar | ||
| 26 | Ulence Flats is a typical example of some of the frontier settlements that sprang up in the early days of the Outer Zone exploration several years ago. Unfortunately, this attracted many unsavory individuals looking to make a quick buckazoid. Caution is advised. | Unlike most of the messages on this list, this is rendered unused due to an oversight. There are meant to be two descriptions: One for 'LOOK AREA', and one for 'LOOK CITY'. However, the check for the first message includes both 'LOOK AREA' and 'LOOK CITY'. So, because the first check catches both inputs, the first description is always used. Kind of a shame too, since this description gives the city more character. This is properly used, with a bit of minor rewording, in the SCI remake. |
| 28 | Turning the key does no good since the skimmer was programmed to get here and go no further. | An alternate explanation for why turning the skimmer key does nothing. The final game explains that the skimmer ran out of power. |
| Logic 36 - Behind Bar | ||
| 34 | 'I warned you, but, did you listen?' | Probably intended to be said by the mugger, right before he shoots you for trying to get away. |
| Logic 37 - Tiny's Back Lot | ||
| 20 | It won't do you any good to be in the ship without a droid to operate it. | A message for a check that's never performed in the final game. |
| 30 | 'Say what?' | An unused generic response to giving an invalid sector to the pilot droid, perhaps. |
| Logic 57 - Deltaur Storage Room | ||
| 10 | You hear strange voices coming toward you! | A line that would pop up before the trunk was picked up by the Sarien guards. |
| Logic 70 - Rocket Bar | ||
| 9 | You're not close enough to play. | Since you just have to walk up to the slot machine to play it, these aren't needed. Perhaps at one point you had to type PLAY GAME to activate the machine. |
| 10 | Sorry, someone is currently playing. Wait your turn. | |
| 43 | 'Whatever you say.' | A nondescript line for the barkeep. |
| Logic 73 - Daventry Zone | ||
| 1 | You have this strange sinking feeling. | This would be used after crashing into the Daventry moat. |
| Logic 100 - Death Parser | ||
| 7 | How about that darn artificial gravity, <name>. Just like the real thing, huh? | A message for falling from a great height in one of the spaceships. That situation never comes up. |
| 16 | You've been mowed down by a Deltaur crewthing. | Unlike the previous message this has a bit of coding associated with it. If the death value (Var 130) was ever set to 24, this message would be displayed. |
| 18 | Not being a very smooth thief you have been caught and dealt with appropriately. | An unused death message for trying to steal from the Deltaur armory. If the death value is set to 25, this text is displayed. |
| 31 | Alas, <name>, you have failed in your attempt to save the universe from the clutches of the Sariens. | Out of three generic death messages, only one is used. This is one of the two that's not. At one point, the generic death message might have been randomized like in Space Quest II. |
| 32 | Once again, you've demonstrated your inability to carry out a simple task like saving all of humanity. You quickly glance around the room to see if anyone saw your silly mistake. Thank you for playing Space Quest, <name>. You've been most entertaining. | This is the other one. Interestingly, this is very similar to two of the generic death messages in Space Quest II. |
| Logic 110 - Spider Droid Logic | ||
| 2 | Not many tales are told of the spider droids due to a lack of live witnesses. | This was replaced with a more interesting message that's stored per room. |
| Logic 119 - Pulseray Logic | ||
| 5 | Are you crazy? | Possibly used for trying to shoot something weird. Like yourself. |
| Logic 121 - Trunk & Grate Logic | ||
| 3 | You slide the trunk just beneath a wall vent. | This is done in the final game without text. |
| 8 | It won't do any good unless you PUSH TRUNK to the wall, so that you can CLIMB TRUNK, OPEN VENT, ENTER VENT. | This text, in all likelihood, was used for testing purposes. It gives away the entire grate puzzle! |
| 23 | With the chest open that act would be highly ineffective. | An alternate message for trying to stand on the trunk while it's open? |
COMPARE TEXT
| Early | Final | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Logic 4, Message 11 Good grief, man! You are a bit twisted, I must say.? | Logic 0, Message 65 Good grief, %s1! You are a bit twisted, I must say. | The early text is actually coded in the game through KICK BODY in Logic 4. However, it's overridden by the same command in the main game logic. |
| Logic 1, Message 7 You are suddenly startled by the sound of the ship's alarm coming from the hallway. | Logic 94, Message 1 You are startled by the sound of an alarm. It is followed by an urgent voice which warns that the Arcada has been boarded by unknown intruders. It ends abruptly. | This description was beefed up considerably. |
| Logic 2, Message 18 Looking into the closet you see nothing but darkness. | Logic 2, Message 21 It looks dark in there. | This description, however, was made more concise. |
| Logic 14, Message 8 You are inside the escape pod. It appears that the more fragile devices were damaged severely by the impact of landing. Got any bright ideas, Edison? | Logic 14, Message 1 You are inside the escape pod. It appears that the more fragile devices were damaged severely by the impact of landing. | The early description has a joke that was removed from the final text. |
| Logic 34, Message 16 'We have a motto. You don't mess with it - You don't die!' | Logic 37, Message 16 'We have a motto. You don't own it - You don't mess with it - You don't die!' | There's more to the motto in the main game. |
| Logic 36, Message 4 '<$> buckazoids? I guess it's better than nothing. Here, keep five for yourself. I gotta admit you look like you need it. Well, gotta run. Later, pal.' | Logic 36, Message 32 '<$> buckazoids? I guess it's better than nothing. Here, keep five for yourself. I gotta admit you look like you need it.' | The earlier text implies that the mugger would leave after robbing Roger. In the final game, it's the player who has to exit the screen. |
| Logic 50, Message 13 By pressing the button, you have deactivated the force field which surroundsthe generator. | Logic 50, Message 45 Suddenly, the force field protecting the Star Generator disappears. | The incorrect spacing of the earlier text has been left as-is. |
| Logic 50, Message 16 The gas grenade has done its job. The guard is now unconscious. Well done, <name>. | Logic 119, Message 15 The grenade drops to the floor releasing its poisonous gas on the unsuspecting alien. Good shot <name>! | The guard's just unconscious in the early script. He's dead in the final game. |
| Early | Final | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Logic 121, Messages 11-12 You climb into the trunk. The lid pounds shut above you. The voices, muffled now, grow louder. | Logic 57, Message 11-12 You climb into the trunk. The lid pounds shut above you. You hear voices, muffled, then louder.' | Just some rewording for the first two lines of this message. |
LISTEN SOUNDS
The sounds in this game are programmed with three sound channels and a noise channel. In most computers, only the first two are heard.
Both the two-channel and four-channel (Tandy) versions of these unused sounds are provided here.
Space Quest Slot Machine Machines
| ID | Basic | Tandy | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 06 | N/A | Plays exclusively on the noise channel. Possibly used for Orat's death. | |
| 08 | |||
| 27 | |||
| 28 | Something shrill and annoying. | ||
| 32 | N/A | Plays exclusively on the noise channel. Either a splash or an explosion. | |
| 35 | |||
| 38 | |||
| 46 | |||
| 61 | An unused celebratory jingle! |
INSPECT VERSIONS
Do you want an exhaustive (bordering on obsessive) look at the changes between versions? Here you go.
Droids R Us
| Version 2.2 |
|---|
The shop 'Droids R Us' was changed to 'Droids B Us' after Toys 'R' Us threatened Sierra On-Line with legal action.
Word Groups
Group 58 'Being'
Words Added: Crew Man, Crew Person, Crewperson, Man's, Scientist, Technician
Group 76 'I.D.'
Words Added: Sarien ID Card
Group 83 'Explore'
Words Added: Rummage
Group 87 'Scott'
Words Added: Scott Murphy
Group 233 'Belt'
Words Added: Belts
Group 251 'Box'
Words Added: Model DX Unit
Text Changes
| Command | V1.1A | V2.2 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main Game Logic | |||
| SCOTT | N/A | Hello, <name>. 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. | This easter egg referring to co-creator Scott Murphy only appears in Version 2.2. Scott's name appears in the word bank in the earlier revisions as well, but it's unused. The message in this slot in earlier versions is 'Don't snivel!' |
| Logic 8 - Vehicle Bay | |||
| LOOK IN CRAFT | N/A | You peer in through the open door but are unable to make out any detail. | One of a few lines added for Version 2.2. |
| Logic 26 - Grate Room | |||
| SIT GEYSER | N/A | Anything for a thrill, eh? That's a pretty darn interesting idea, but not the correct one. | A joke exclusive to Version 2.2. |
| Logic 35 - Outside of Bar | |||
| TAKE KEY (First arrival) | N/A | Do not remove the key while the skimmer is in motion. | Obviously this wouldn't make sense, would it? |
| Logic 57 - Deltaur Storage Room | |||
| LOOK TRUNK | The trunk is not of interest. It is only here because the sloppy Sariens never pick up after themselves. | There doesn't seem to be anything special about the container. | Strangely, Version 2.2 removes a joke here at the sake of puzzle clarity. |
| Logic 61 - Deltaur Airlock | |||
| (None) | 'Bleep, Gurgle, Pop!', apologizes the strange robot as he pushes you aside.' | 'Bleep, Gurgle, Pop!' apologizes the strange robot as he pushes you aside. | Just some minor changes in comma placement. |
| TALK ROBOT | 'Snap, Crackle, Murphy', responds the little robot. | 'Snap, Crackle, Murphy,' responds the little robot. | |
| Logic 70 - Rocket Bar | |||
| LOOK AREA | In the lower corner a sweeper is standing silent. | You notice a sweeper in the lower corner of the room. | Some random dialogue rephrasing. |
Parser Changes
Version 2.2 adds some additional word combinations for certain actions.
Logic 24 - Orat Cave
Action: Trying to give Orat the Dehydrated Water.
Version 1.1A: GIVE DEHYDRATED WATER, GIVE CAN, GIVE DEHYDRATED WATER CAN
Version 2.2 Adds: GIVE DEHYDRATED WATER ORAT, GIVE CAN ORAT, GIVE DEHYDRATED WATER CAN ORAT
Action: Throwing Dehydrated Water to Orat.
Version 1.1A: THROW CAN, THROW DEHYDRATED WATER, THROW CAN DEHYDRATED WATER, THROW DEHYDRATED WATER CAN
Version 2.2 Adds: THROW CAN ORAT, THROW DEHYDRATED WATER ORAT, THROW CAN DEHYDRATED WATER ORAT, THROW DEHYDRATED WATER CAN ORAT
Action: Obtaining the Orat Chunk.
Version 1.1A: GET ORAT CHUNK, GET CHUNK
Version 2.2 Adds: GET CHUNK ORAT
Logic 28 - Laser Machine Room
Action: Using the shard of glass on the laser machine.
Version 1.1A: USE GLASS, PLACE GLASS BEAM, BLOCK BEAM GLASS, HOLD GLASS BEAM
Version 2.2 Adds: PLACE GLASS LIGHT, BLOCK LIGHT GLASS, DROP GLASS BEAM, DROP GLASS LIGHT, HOLD GLASS LIGHT
Logic 30 - Pod Crash Site
Action: Looking at the shards of glass.
Version 1.1A: CHECK OUT FLOOR
Version 2.2 Adds: CHECK OUT GLASS
Action: Grabbing the shard of glass.
Version 1.1A: GET GLASS
Version 2.2 Adds: GET MIRRORED GLASS, GET CHUNK GLASS, GET WIND SHIELD
Logic 36 - Behind Bar
Action: Reading the graffiti on the wall.
Version 1.1A: READ LETTERS, LOOK LETTERS
Version 2.2 Adds: READ WALL
Logic 57 - Deltaur Storage Room
Action: Looking at the trunk.
Version 1.1A: LOOK TRUNK
Version 2.2 Adds: LOOK CAN, LOOK BOX
Bug Fixes
- In the Flight Prep Room, versions before 2.2 do not freeze the parser after a button is pressed. This allows the player to press the same button multiple times, which gives the error message 'No action taken.'.
- In the Laser Machine Room, in what's probably a copy/paste error, the LOOK AREA description will always say that the laser machine is on if the player is on the lower level, even if it has been destroyed. This was fixed in Version 2.2.
- When loading the droid in earlier versions, there's no check in the game to tell whether or not the droid is in the correct position. Loading the droid too soon leads to a minor graphical glitch.
Miscellaneous
Version 2.2 adds a way to cheat at the slot machine. Type in 'HOLY SHIT' (You can replace Shit with any other expletive the game recognizes) to bring up a slot machine menu. This will configure the next pull of the slots.
The text for this menu was present in earlier versions, suggesting that this was a debugging tool that got added back in due to player complaints.
| The Space Quest series | |
|---|---|
| DOS | Space Quest: The Sarien Encounter (Original, Enhanced) • Space Quest II • Space Quest III Space Quest IV (Prototype) • Space Quest V • Space Quest 6 |
| Windows | Space Quest IV • Space Quest 6 |