28th July 2004, 3:17 PM
Yes, Sierra's early Win 95 games lacked a lot of really basic display features. Namely, many couldn't go true full screen (stupid window bar at the top), and they couldn't automatically set the display to what's needed for the game (meaning quickres is pretty much required unless you normally run your system in 640x480x256c).
This is due to them designing Win95 games like they made Win 3 games. That is, not all that well. KQ5-7 for example have black and white cursors. It's annoying... They EVENTUALLY got their act together regarding OS support, but by that time, other companies had already figured out exactly how to do things right, and hence why Monkey Island 3 is very "native" compared to most Sierra adventure games from the same time.
And oh yes, due to these weird half-recycling OS components that weren't really meant to be used for but the simplest games, you get a large chunk of problems running these things in XP. Now, their DOS games worked just fine, but in making stuff for Win 95, they were stuck in a Win 3 mentality for too long.
This is due to them designing Win95 games like they made Win 3 games. That is, not all that well. KQ5-7 for example have black and white cursors. It's annoying... They EVENTUALLY got their act together regarding OS support, but by that time, other companies had already figured out exactly how to do things right, and hence why Monkey Island 3 is very "native" compared to most Sierra adventure games from the same time.
And oh yes, due to these weird half-recycling OS components that weren't really meant to be used for but the simplest games, you get a large chunk of problems running these things in XP. Now, their DOS games worked just fine, but in making stuff for Win 95, they were stuck in a Win 3 mentality for too long.
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)