Police Quest II: The Vengeance

Police Quest II: The Vengeance
Developer: Sierra On-Line Publisher: Sierra On-Line Platforms: DOS, Atari ST, Amiga, PC-98 Released in US: November 1988 This game has a hidden developer message. This game has unused graphics. This game has unused items. This game has unused text. This game has debugging material. This game has regional differences. This game has revisional differences. This game has a notes page This game has a bugs page

This page contains no introduction. What makes this game notable or what is it about? Are you a bad enough dude to save this article?

To do: Move the region/revision differences to a separate page. Eventually there will be too many to hold on the main page.

Sub-Pages

Notes

Bugs

Debug Mode

SCI Internal Debugger

Version 1.001.000	Version 1.002.011

At any point during the game, hold down both Shift keys and press the - key on the numpad. To exit this mode, press Shift and D.

Key(s)	Action
Q	Quit.
B	Set Breakpoint.
O	Show objects in heap.
Shift + O	Show objects with address.
A	Inspect ID in accumulator.
C	Inspect Current Set of Objects. Press C to see all of the object within that set. Press I to inspect the selector. Press E to edit that selector.
I	Inspect Object/Memory - The player can also press Up/Down to go up/down through the memory by 16 bytes and Left/Right to go up/down the memory by 2 bytes.
F	Show Free Heap.
S	Show sends.
G	Change Global Variable.
L	Change Local Variable.
T	Change Temporary Variable.
Enter	Single Step through Script.
Tab	Step across Send.
C	Show objects in heap.
R	Show resources loaded.
Shift + S	Shock stack usage.
Shift + /	Show an incomplete list of shortcuts.

(Source: HWM, ScummVM Wiki)

In-game Debug Actions

Type in kiss angel of death to access this mode.

These controls become available in the game:

This needs some investigation. Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page. Specifically: Alt-M may not do anything.

Keys	Action
Alt + E	Get stats on the player character.
Alt + S	Show cast (info about all on screen objects).
Alt + M	Show memory.
Alt + T	Teleport to another room.
Alt + I	Give an inventory item to an actor (usually ego). Pressing escape without a value will bring up an oops and crash the game,forcing the player back to the DOS prompt.
Alt + V, Alt + P, Alt + C	Show layers of a room (Visual, Priority and Control respectively).

(Source: HWM, ScummVM Wiki)

Hidden Developer Message

The control layer in Picture #026 (Motel Room 108) has a message along the top of the screen where a player cannot normally walk along.

THIS IS MICKIE'S ROOM..

Unused Items

Name: car registration
Description: Registration papers for the car.

In both instances where a registration can be picked up, Sonny returns it to the glove box. It is not possible to obtain one permanently.

Unused Text

Near the end of script.044, there an unused string

Jim is terribly disappointed, and says:

text.025, line 69 has a line in reference to the browning found in Room 108 that Keith obtains once the room is accessible. However, the game will always use line 68 "You don't need to take it out of the trunk", regardless of it's status.

There is no shotgun

These lines are supposed to be appear if the player hasn't met certain requirements when Keith tries to get tickets to fly to Houston or Steelton. However, the script for Keith to call the captain for said tickets requires those conditions to be active in order to even run, leaving these lines unreachable.

"Hey, man," Keith tells you, "Fletch said that we don't have near enough evidence booked to justify authorization from him to go flying off anywhere."
"I guess we'll just have to continue our investigation right here in Lytton."

Marie in the control room has two different look messages, one for when she is tied up and another for when Bains is preparing to enter the room. There are also two more conditional lines, neither of which can be accessed by normal means. The last one is supposed to be seen after Bains is killed, but the game disables typing once that occurs.

Marie is nervous, but also excited to see you.
Marie is overjoyed to see you and excited that both you and her are safe.

Unused Graphics

Bains is found walking in the sewers and uses his side and back views, but his front view is never used.

Normally Bains shoots his gun from a side view. Inside the Sewer Control Room, it is possible for him to shoot using the back view, but there is no situation in the game where Bains will shoot from the front view.

When the jogger flees, she uses her side and down views. Her running upwards view remains unused.

Captain Hall has a full set of walking sprites, but are never used in-game. He is only ever found sitting behind his desk and the occasional cutscene close-up.

   
These people all have sprites for walking up and down. Only the side views are used.

The SWAT team has a unique sprite sheet for the motel scene, leaving the walking sprites unused.

The mugger runs up to (and away from) Sonny, leaving the walking sprites unused.

The lady at the mall who had her car stolen has another set of sprites where she is carrying around a bunch of stuff in her arms (rather than empty-handed).

An unidentified man with a full set of sprites. Given the placement of the sprites and the palette used, this set could have been intended for Don Colby, since the hair and shirt colour match his mugshot.

Marie Wilkins has a full set of walking sprites, but are never used in-game. She is seen twice in the game, either sitting down or standing up, never walking. There is an additional sprite with her hair all ruffled up.

Marie Wilkins has a sprite with her legs apart.

The waiter does not serve an empty tray and he does not return to the kitchen with a full tray.

Luis Pate's car has a set of animations for opening the door. In the final version(s), the scene skips this and goes right to the car closeup.

The maintenance hole in the sewer has a closed version that remains unused.

Unused image for unused inventory item #34.

Several door sprites for all the motel doors are left unused. Room 206 requires a door, since the picture background leaves it empty, like 108. There are also walking frames for the motel owner, but are unused since the owner stands in the same spot the whole time. It should be noted that the 'kid' who runs the desk at the motel uses the same sprite sheet as the owner, but is shifted down to make him appear smaller.

Attached to the sprite sheet used for the Warehouse district is that of a damaged sign.

Attached to the sprite sheet used for Sonny's Glove box is an additional item that could be found inside.

Marie Wilkin's door is mostly covered by a tree. This view includes a version with a broken window.

The scene after Sonny blows himself up in the sewer has a full set of sprites for an animation. In the final version, only the first frame is used.

The airport clerk has a set of walking sprites. Since only the upper half of his body is shown (and has its own set of sprites), this part of the sheet remains unused.

Version / Regional Differences

Menu Content

Version 1.001.000 & 1.002.011	Version J1.000.052

Two additional features were included in the JP version: Language and Subtitles. Changing the language setting affected your input commands. Turning off subtitles removes the Japanese text that appears under the English text.

Version 1.001.000	Version 1.002.011

An option to enter in the speed was added to the final version. Players can set the game's speed from 1 (fastest) to 16 (slowest). This updated carried through to the JP version.

Version 1.001.000	Version 1.002.011	Version J1.000.052

The final version shifted the box down slightly. The JP version raised the box even higher, widened it and replaced Keith smoking with Sonny's wallet. For some reason the resources for Keith sitting back in his chair were removed from view.999.

Version 1.001.000	Version 1.002.011	Version J1.000.052

The credits were split into 2 pages for the final version, adding a Development System section and giving the full names of those involved Quality Assurance.
The JP version made a number of changes:

• Moved the 1st box up.
• Re-ordered the names in Programmed By.
• Changed Music By to Original Music By.
• Made the 2nd box much larger to make room for additional credits.
• Adding Japanese Executive Producer, Japanese System Development By and Japanese Translation By with suitable credits.
• Removed several names from "Quality Assurance".
• Sonny's Wallet was used instead of the SWAT team member post. The resources for SWAT character were removed from view.999.

Game Mechanics/Engine Changes

For the JP version:

• The American flag no longer animates.

Cotton Cove

English 1.000.001	English 1.002.011
Player starts along the very edge of the screen, making the trigger point for Bains' appearance a little closer to the right side.	Player starts several more pixels into the room. It also affects the trigger point for Bains' arrival, making it a little difficult to escape the room without returning fire (Not impossible, but certainly more difficult).

Airplane

English 1.000.001	English 1.002.011	Japanese
Bomb timer starts at 140 seconds.	Bomb timer starts at 120 seconds.
When cutting a wire, you only need to specify a colour, not what you are cutting. 'Cut yellow'		When cutting a wire, you must state you are cutting a wire and it's colour. 'Cut yellow wire'