Who better to clean up space than Janitors? Space Quest I, II, III

Leaving the safety of the Arcada and hurtling through the vacuum of space only exposes Roger to more ways to end his life

Forgetting to buckle up:



Forgetting to open the space bay doors:



Not pushing the autonav button fast enough:



And I've already show'd you what happens if you push the "Do Not Push" button so let's get back to Kerona and Roger

Okay well somehow I managed to miss getting a screen capture of Roger exiting the escape pod or picking up the piece of glass (which is now plainly visible) or the survival kit (which was also visible in the interna shot of the pod and once you get out of it). Picking up said items - Roger heads east and shortly after doing so we get a glimpse of some of the native fauna, friendly looking, no?



Roger reaches the sole outcrop on the planet, which has been transformed into a giant skeleton of some sort of beast... The exterior decorators that the Kerona Chamber of Commerce hired to redesign this place went all out! Roger picks up some of the local flora which now comes in extra sticky flavor (no, Roger can't eat it.)



Roger heads south and then east again making his way around dem bones, de.. No, I'm not going to make that joke. Roger eventually makes his way to the end of the bones and a strange symbol encarved on them



It looks like Roger isn't alone on the planet anymore... Having been joined by a (now much shinier) Sarien Spider Droid, I imagine its just as unfriendly as its 16-color counterpart. Roger steps up to the weird symbol and finds himself falling!



Once at the bottom he notices the stalagmite has some purple on it and grabs it



If, we hadn't already grabbed some purple plant we could have grabbed it here, we move westward to find ourselves obstructed by a grill and several tentacles, trying to hug a wall doesn't seem to be an option in this game... So what could we possibly use? How about some sticky plants?



That did it! With the grate monster dealt with it's safe to walk across the grill and further into the cave, using the rock we just picked up we plug the steam and open the door into this room:



We move further back into the room and once again find ourselves blocked, this time by LASERS!



The death scene for this area is one of the best in the game (you'll see it in the Death part) Roger uses the glass and redirects the lasers back into the unit and moves once more further into the cavern.

I also want to apologize for the sparsity of pictures, I'm currently at a loss as to what happened to the lion's share of them... This might warrant going back and recapturing a bunch... Let me know what you think?

At the end of the cave complex Roger has an encounter with a Giant Head!



The Giant Head informs me that they can help me but instead want to extort my position and have me do work for them, of the violent type... Which is odd, it's not as if Roger's physique or intelligence inspire confidence in doing tricky wet work such as assassinating large bipedal alien carnivores... Eh, I guess you take whatever washes up on your shores, right? Roger is dumped back out into the wild with an order to kill Orat



Where do you find said Orat? If I was an evil alien I'd live in the giant skull of an extinct carnivore!



Roger gingerly picks up one of that jelly and head back to the Head



Only to find out the aliens don't have giant heads at all!

Old 4 arms blathers on about how the have to live underground because of the Grell (which also live underground...) and how they use steam... Blah, Blah, Blah man aliens talk a lot. Finally he gives me leave to get to FlatUlence on a kiss ass sky blue skimmer, but first:

Let's see what's on that disc



Unlike the original this code randomizes each playthrough. With the know-how to destroy the star generator Roger hops into the skimmer and turns the key



Also, unlike the original you can choose not to play this arcade sequence (which can be played on different difficulties. Easiest only has small rocks, normal has large (one hit kills) and small, and difficult only has large. The music here is pretty fun though.

I take the easy way out and skip it:



And in no time we're safely in the town that ugly made. It doesn't take long for the hideous occupants of Ulence Flats to introduce themselves:



Roger, knows a bad deal when he sees one, which is why he'll continue getting into the most absurd predicaments for at least 5 more games, so he tells the guy no, grabs the keys, and heads into the bar:



The Blues Brothers?! They really get around! After scoping out the dive bar Roger exits once more:



Roger takes the money and the jetpack and hands the keys over to the purple mafioso before heading, again, into the bar. Let's get to know our new "friends", none of whom would be caught dead talking to Roger:

Mr. Kitty:


Roger thinks about licking Mr. Kitty:



The sexy green lady at the bar:



Not realizing his pariah status Roger attempts conversation with the over-endowed "woman":



Will Roger make a new friend? Will this one be his first lady friend? Will he finally know what its like to be kissed? Find out next post!

No he will not

I'd forgotten they changed up some of the puzzles (the tentacles, frex). I think I like the EGA bar tunes better, though... probably because they're simpler, and thus have stuck in my head for longer.

I'd have to agree with that. those short 4-bit(?) sounds really get inside your head

We last left Roger as he was trying to converse with an overly endowed green woman. Hopes were high that Roger might be able to successfully navigate the tricky waters of interacting with the opposite sex. Let's see how he did:



Way to blow off that rejection Roger, it's not your fault, its hers! Women just can't seem to see the nice guy beneath you're incompetent loser exterior. Failing to talk to the female alien Roger attempts to engage some of his other senses:



Damn, nothing seems to work on these folks! Oh what's that the guy playing the slot machine was just vaporized? Sweet, now I can play!



But first, roger attaches the doo-hickie he found on the Arcadia where the Star Generator was being kept to the slot machine, now he can't lose!



Flushed with cash Roger decides to mingle at the bar, where not a single person acknowledges him, he orders booze anyway



A few more drinks and:


Again, like the destruction code, the coordinates are no longer the same each time but change. They're also part of the Copy protection scheme. Before we leave the bar forever though let's check out the other two acts:

ZZ Top:


Madonna:


Let's go see what else Ulence Flats has to offer the intrepid tourist:

A Droids B' Us? I here they have the finest Droids in the galaxy!

Nice looking place! Hey whose head is that?



I didn't want to buy an Ultron-17 anyway... Let's see what else this bug has to offer:




nah, next:




nope, next:





uh-uh:

cute, but it would be able to go up stairs, deal breaker, next:




next:




That's a little too much droid, what else ya got?



NEXT:



That one might do it, but you look like you've got some more, let's see
em:






hmmm... So many choices... Do any of them transform into ships capable of intersteller travel, no? Decisions, decisions. Maybe I should wait til I find a way off this planet? No use getting a robot if I don't have a place to put it, huh? To Tiny's!

Holy crap, Five Star Stories reference!

(Of course the Laputa one is totally awesome too, but FSS is more unexpected.)

Challenge Time: Can you identify each robot and from what media it is from?

Well, now that Kirin pointed it out, HA-Y-AO is the Laputa thing... I think?

DALICK is easy.

DEF-TECH is from BattleTech, and is specifically a Warhammer, although that design was borrowed wholesale from Macross and I can't recall what it is in that series.

I recognise both FB-001 and YX-10, and one is from Lost in Space, but I couldn't tell you which one, or what the other one is from.

The rest I either don't know, or don't think are references (i.e. SUX is just a vacuum cleaner and minor Space Quest 4 joke).

YX-10 is from Lost in Space. FB-001 is from some classic 50s Sci-Fi movie, but I'm blanking on which one.

Forbidden Planet

In addition to the ones mentioned, is there one of the robots from The Black Hole in there? I might be hallucinating, though.

And yes, HAYAO is a Laputa bot, and MURAGE is a Mirage Knight from FSS.

MAX-42 is from Black Hole. Anyone know what ROC-2000 is from?

I didn't catch the reference itself, but I knew right away that the HA-Y-AO bot had to be inspired by one of Miyazaki's movies. There aren't a lot of other famous "Hayao"s out there. Also, that reminds me, I still need to see Castle in the Sky (and most of his works, actually).

The NAV-201 looks a lot like Johnny-5 from Short Circuit.

Any guesses at what the HU-1D is?

It seems there is still some interest in figuring out where all those droids come from so before I get back into the meat of the game I cover the deaths that have happened so far.

Exploring the vast boring surface of Kerona:



Exploring the nooks and crannies of the the fossil outcrop:



Interfacing with hostile Sarien technology:



Dickering around with the Bridge:

HU-1D looks suspiciously like Huey (or Dewey, or Louie...) from Silent Running. He even appears on the movie poster. Unusual movie, but not bad.

Failing to Deal with Orat:



Forgetting basic survival skills:

More interaction with local fauna:



Don't Drink the Water:



Or sniff it:



Take an acid shower:

Don't touch the acid either, I guess:



Walk through lasers:

Skimming into small rocks multiple times:



Skimming into a big rock:



Losing at Slots:

Trusting the locals:



Interfacing with Ulence Flat's protective barrier:



Now that that is over with lets get back to the story...

The acid and laser face deaths are delightfully gruesome~

I'm missing some screenshots of Tiny's etc. So, I can't do the update for today. Hopefully, I'll have them tonight and will have a new post by tomorrow

We last left Roger (alive) leaving Droids B Us on his way to check out Tiny's Used Spacecraft, but on his way he encouters:



A friend! Roger immediately tries to ingratiate himself with the droid, which he sadly cannot afford:



Maybe this is a droid that appreciates action:



Hmmpff. That robot looks dumb anyway... When was it designed, the 1950's?

Finally Roger makes his way over to Tiny's lot:




I'll buy it!



Roger has a good feeling about this!

Roger turns the key to his new spaceship and prepares to escape this backwater planet:









So, Roger is out 19 buckazoids... But he caught a glimpse of the center of the earth!

Tiny informs Roger that he needs a nav droid if he wants that slick ship up there... So he heads back to Droids B Us to pick one up:



Now with a droid he purchases the ship and heads into the green blue yonder:







Arg! Cursed copy protection again!



Good thing a little google-fu or the PDFs that come with the CD SQ collections you can pick up now have the charts in them. With the co-ordinates entered Roger is on his way to a rendezvous with destiny and those gross Sariens



*SEIZURE*

The ship that kills:



Buying the wrong droid (Part 1, Sux-9000):