King's Quest III

King's Quest III is a Sierra adventure game. It uses a parser interface, but you can also use the arrow keys to walk Gwydion around the map. You are Gwydion, a slave boy to the wizard Manannan who will kill you soon if you don't do something about him.

Debug Functions
Like most of the games that Al Lowe programmed for Sierra, King's Quest III has a giant amount of debugging functions.

Main Debug Commands
Press ALT+D or type FAST TALK to enable some debugging functions. These features are disabled upon entering a new room.

Here's the complete word list:
 * SET PRIORITY: Sets Gwydion's priority variable.
 * RELEASE PRIORITY: Sets Gywdion's priority variable to 0.
 * TP: Teleport to the appropriate room.
 * POSITION: Change Gwydion's X and Y positions.
 * SHOW POSITION or SP: Displays Gywdion's X and Y positions at the bottom of the screen.
 * GET OBJECT: Puts the appropriate object by ID in the player's inventory.
 * FIND: Gives the current status (X, Y, Priority, Stepsize) on the player object.
 * OBJECT or SP: Gives the current status on the appropriate object.
 * SET VAR: Sets a chosen variable to a given value.
 * SHOW VAR or SV: Displays the value of a variable.
 * SET FLAG: Sets the appropriate flag.
 * RESET FLAG: Resets the appropriate flag.
 * SHOW FLAG or SF: Displays info on a flag (Can be either set or not set)
 * AREA: Displays the current room ID.

Special Commands

 * WIZARD STATUS: Displays a screen full of useful stats for Manannan.
 * SLEEP WIZARD: Puts Manannan to sleep.
 * HERE WIZARD: Teleports Manannan to the curent room.
 * BYE BYE WIZARD: Turns Manannan into a cat.
 * DO CHORE: Completes Gwydion's current chore.


 * GIMME GIMME or SET UP SPELL: Puts every item (except for the ones obtained through spellcrafting) in the player's inventory.
 * GIMME SPELL: Puts every spellcrafting component into the player's inventory.
 * SET UP MOUNTAIN: Puts the player into "End-Game" mode on the shores of Daventry, and adds the appropriate items to the player's inventory.
 * SET UP BOAT: Puts the player on the pirate ship section of the game, and adds the appropriate items to the player's inventory.

Engine Debugging

 * Press F8 (Version 1.01) or ALT+M (Versions 2.00 and up) to display info on memory use.
 * Press F6 (Version 1.01) or ALT+P (Versions 2.00 and up) to display priority settings for the current room.


 * Press Scroll Lock to toggle the AGI engine's trace debugger. Press Enter to advance the debugger by one line.

Other

 * While debug mode is active, the text for handling unknown words is simplified.
 * In Version 1.01 only, the current room number is displayed on the bottom of the screen.
 * If player input is disabled, an 'H' is displayed on the bottom-right corner of the screen.
 * All roaming enemies (Medusa, Manannan, Bandits, Sharks) will have their coordinates displayed on-screen.
 * While debug mode is on, the player can't actually die from falling. Instead, the point of descent is displayed at the bottom of the screen and the player's position is reset.
 * If the player is on a looping screen (Desert or Ocean), the Exit Edge ID will be displayed on the bottom of the screen.

Unused Graphics


While generating the endless desert, the game randomly places four types of cacti. A fifth cactus type, the largest of them all, isn't referenced by the landscape generator.



More randomly placed elements that weren't. These vultures would, presumably, be placed on top of the cacti.



This battered yellow flag should appear atop Castle Daventry, but a purple flag is used instead.

Unused Items
One item in the game, the Empty Lard Jar, is unobtainable. Well, technically, you get the item through crafting the invisibility ointment, but since the jar is filled with the ointment, you never get to examine it in your inventory.

Use the debug command GET OBJECT with a value of 35 to get this item. Since the graphics for the object aren't in the game, trying to examine it through the F4 menu will cause a "View not found" error, exiting the game.

Unused Sounds & Music
Sound 14 isn't used. It's, uh...it definitely has the qualities of a sound. It has volume and length and you can hear it.

Bug Fixes

 * In Version 1.01, there's no cycle limit on the opening credits. As a consequence, the credits will go by at lightning speed on faster computers.
 * Three infinite score bugs were fixed for Version 2.00.
 * In Version 1.01, every time the player obtains the Purse & Gold Coins, they will get 4 points. Since the bandits can steal this item from you, this can be done an unlimited number of times.
 * In the pirate ship, getting all your possessions back earns you 3 points. Your possessions can get stolen again if you get caught In Version 1.01, you are rewarded points each time you get your stuff back. In Version 2.00 and up, you only get the points the first time.
 * It's possible to get the Treasure Chest (and the points) multiple times in Version 1.01.
 * You can open the front door and leave Manannan's house as a snail in Version 1.01. That makes no damn sense.
 * In the Llewdor village, the falling logic is never properly called. If the player falls, no falling sound is played, and they're simply warped to the next screen.

Miscellaneous

 * In Version 1.00, the chance of having a bandit in the hideout is 50%. In Version 2.01, this was increased to ~75%.


 * The priority settings in Manannan's Study were changed to limit the cat's movements.
 * In Version 1.01, the cat can move wherever it wants.
 * In Version 2.00, the cat is limited to moving in the teal-colored field.


 * The cat's initial position was changed as well.

Word Groups
Group 109 "Jar"

Words Added: Empty Jar

Group 129 "Cup"

Words Added: Empty Cup

Object Names
Several item names were changed in Version 2.14. Some names were shortened, and some ampersands were taken out. No big deal.

Text Changes
By far the biggest change between 2.00 and 2.14 is the ending text. All but one line of the ending were changed in some way.

Additionally, the plugs for other Sierra games were removed entirely.

Bug Fixes
An error with the rope ladder outside of the bandits' hideout was fixed.

In earlier versions, the player must be moving strictly left to land on the ledge by the ladder. Moving up-left or down-left will NOT work.

In Version 2.14, the player can go in any leftward direction and reach the ledge.