@oneshorteye.bsky.social has put out a new #DaggerofAmonRa video! Get over there immediately!
youtu.be/Fj2tZsVpKjI?...

that one game that is impossible to beat

#DaggerOfAmonRa

Besides Space Quest IV, the only other Sierra game I know of at the moment with such severe palette reductions (and sometimes other big visual changes) in floppy vs. CD is EcoQuest 1. But there could be more!
#sierra #spacequest #ecoquest #laurabow #daggerofamonra #thedaggerofamonra #adventuregames

A screenshot of the closeup of Laura's newsroom desk in the Laura Bow 2 floppy version. As with many other backgrounds in both versions of the game, areas of solid color here are broken up by occasional visible streaks of slightly darker or lighter colors, in a stylized Art Deco manner.

A screenshot of the closeup of Laura's newsroom desk in the Laura Bow 2 CD version. In comparison to the floppy version, the background has been severely reduced in colors, and all flourishes of lighter or darker strokes of color that serve to that break up otherwise solid areas have been mercilessly painted out.

A screenshot of a closeup of Laura eavesdropping on a conversation at the museum in the Laura Bow 2 floppy version. Ziggy, Pippin Carter, Yvette Delacroix, Rameses Najeer, and Watney Little (impersonating Dr. Carrington) are all present. Rameses is brandishing a cigarette in a cigarette holder in his right hand, pointing upwards.

A screenshot of a closeup of Laura eavesdropping on a conversation at the museum in the Laura Bow 2 CD version. The number of colors in the midnight-blue/black hues of the men's tuxedos have been notably reduced, and the angle of Rameses Najeer's right arm brandishing a cigarette in a long holder has been redrawn.

This is apparently the result of the CD version including a Windows 3.1 port, and having to reserve around 20 colors or so for the Windows GUI, which required reducing the game palettes slightly.
#sierra #laurabow #daggerofamonra #thedaggerofamonra #adventuregames

A screenshot of the interior of Lo Fat's laundry in the Laura Bow 2 floppy version. The interior features some misshapen pots from the original painted background art.

A screenshot of the interior of Lo Fat's laundry in the Laura Bow 2 CD version. The number of colors in the background has been reduced, leading to notable palette artifacting on the floor of the room. However, the pots that were previously misshapen have been redrawn to look more well-made. A cart full of laundry on the right side of the screen has also been redrawn to remove some possibly distracting highlights.

A screenshot of the interior of Dr. Carrington's office in the Laura Bow 2 floppy version. The room features a large circular skylight, framed by a darker ceiling and with supporting pillars that are dim with shadow.

A screenshot of the interior of Dr. Carrington's office in the Laura Bow 2 CD version. The ceiling around the skylight and the pillars in the room have been noticeably brightened, and the skylight now features rim lighting illuminating its upper edge.

Turns out #LauraBow 2 has some wild differences in the floppy vs. CD backgrounds, on par with Space Quest 4 in some cases.

Almost all screens have at least some palette reduction on CD, but sometimes the changes are quite drastic.
#daggerofamonra #thedaggerofamonra #sierra #adventuregames

Pencil concept sketches for dialogue portraits in The Dagger of Amon Ra.

Color painting art for dialogue portraits in The Dagger of Amon Ra.

Some concept art & color paintings for dialog portraits in The Dagger of Amon Ra (InterAction v. 5 #1, Spring '92).

In image 1, I'm not sure who the person in the upper-right sketch evolved into.

In image 2, notice Dr. Myklos wearing a shirt & tie!
#sierra #laurabow #daggerofamonra #adventuregames

Text that says: "BTW, has anyone else noticed that AFAIK the murders are all meant to be ironic in some fashion? Pippin Carter, who found the Dagger in Egypt and brought it to the West: killed with a fake Dagger and his body put in an Egyptian sarcophagus, then moved to a European suit of armor; Ernie Leach, the museum maintenance man: drowned in preserving alcohol and put on display; Watney Little, posing as Dr. Carrington: killed in Carrington's office, using a stuffed porcupine from Carrington's own decorations there; Ziggy, the underworld lowlife mingling in high society: his severed head is with the life masks of various human ethnicities, but his body is with the beasts in the dinosaur exhibit; Yvette, the French receptionist: covered with plaster of Paris; the Countess, who deceives the museum and public with her forgery scheme and might also serially marry and poison her husbands: tied up (in "knots", like matrimony) and left to be bitten by Olympia's cobra"

Has anyone else ever noticed that all the murders in The Dagger of Amon Ra are deeply ironic, with their methods attuned to the victims? SPOILERS, obviously:
#sierra #laurabow #adventuregames #daggerofamonra

A scan of an early screenshot of Laura Bow 2. The GUI at the top of the screen is visible, including an inventory-item slot with dithering to convey that no item is currently selected. The dithering has black bars on either side, and the dithering itself has an aspect ratio reminiscent of 4:3 screens.

An early screenshot of Laura Bow 2. At this stage, the grayed-out "no item selected" dithering in the inventory slot had black bars on the sides, which (perhaps inadvertently) suggests the roughly 4:3 aspect ratio of old movies. #laurabow #daggerofamonra #amonra #sierra #adventuregames

An unused character portrait seen in the Laura Bow 2 hint book. The art shows the head of a bald man with a drooping mustache, wearing a tuxedo and a monocle in his right eye. The label says "Ralph Pulitzer".

There's also this (completely inaccurate) close-up of Ralph Pulitzer in the game's hint book. Maybe he was going to award Laura a Pulitzer Prize at one point? #laurabow #sierra #amonra #daggerofamonra #adventuregames

The same closeup in the published version of the game. Tut Smith's face has been replaced with a clumsily-drawn hood.

For some reason in the final game, Sierra decided to keep his incredibly obvious membership of this cult secret a bit longer, and covered his face up clumsily with a hood. #laurabow #amonra #daggerofamonra #sierra #adventuregames

A magazine scan of an early version of the closeup of Rameses Najeer and another Amon Ra cultist grabbing Laura Bow in The Dagger of Amon Ra. The other cultist's face is clearly visible, revealing him as Tut Smith.

An article on #LauraBow 2 in French magazine Tilt #102 (May 1992) shows an early version of the closeup of Rameses grabbing Laura in the underground Amon Ra temple, where Tut Smith's face is also clearly visible. #daggerofamonra #amonra #sierra #adventuregames

An unused character portrait seen in the Laura Bow 2 hint book. The art shows the head of a bald man with a drooping mustache, wearing a tuxedo and a monocle in his right eye. The label says "Ralph Pulitzer".

An unused portrait from the Dagger of Amon Ra hint book. #sierra #laurabow #daggerofamonra #thedaggerofamonra #adventuregames