Exposing Decades-Old Secrets in The Colonel's Bequest 

04:13 Source: Colonel's Bequest Design Document, page 11 www.sierrachest.com/gfx/games/LB1/making/CB2V3.pdf 20:40 Source: davidn.dreamwidth.org/627914.html 27:18 This is actually an alligator. Julia is from Canada. We’ll forgive her. 24:49 Douglas Herring was kind enough to answer a few questions over DMs. 31:15 RU-vid has been overzealous recently about age-restricting videos for no reason. I felt I was safe with the other deaths, as they were environmental. We’ll see. 32:53 Many Let’s Players will remember this death from their childhood, but have forgotten (or never noticed in the first place) that you can’t get pulled into the closet until Act 2. So, they’ll repeatedly open the closet in Act I, frustrated that they can’t show it off. 35:10 I’ve seen at least one Let’s Player claim this death was random. I don’t blame them, though. It certainly FEELS that way. 38:27 Another side effect of the crack is that the characters all blink and fidget in the same way every playthrough. This means that in the final scene of the good ending, Laura, the Colonel, and Celie all blink at the same time. 40:25 You’re welcome, FlamingBee. :) 40:31 Every single bullet point under “people with a telltale scent” is wrong. For “People Romantically Involved,” you get Col. Dijon and Fifi for free, because you have to see her kiss him to advance time. You do not have to spy on them. The game doesn’t bother to check *anything,* you just automatically get those two. www.benshoof.org/blog/super-sleuth#people-romantically-involved 45:15 SantaClaus points out that "technically, only the act 5 condition requires you to enter Fifi's actual room. To get the perfume credit in act 2, it's enough to enter the screen Fifi's room is on; so just visiting the stairs leading up there will qualify." 48:10 To make things even wackier, there IS a different notebook entry that requires you to look at a cigar. To get the “cigar butt” under “objects requiring close scrutiny,” you have to “pick it up in the secret passage and also look at the Colonel's or Clarence's cigar. It doesn't matter whose you look at but due to script bugs it does matter when. You can look at the Colonel's cigar at any time but you only get credit for looking at Clarence's during Act I in the parlor and Act II in the dining room. The scripts for Act III in his room and Act V in the parlor are missing the line of code that gives you credit. You have no way of knowing this from their responses.” www.benshoof.org/blog/super-sleuth#items-requiring-close-scrutiny 48:14 One of my favorites is “Took Object From Suitcase Of: Lillian”. You don’t get it for taking anything from Lillian’s suitcase. Instead, you get credit for reading her diary, or examining it with the monocle. “Get diary” and “take diary” don’t do squat. www.benshoof.org/blog/super-sleuth#took-object-from-suitcase-of

Sierra's legendary attention to detail is only matched by it's ability to make the most absurd mistakes and never catch them like programming messages backwards.

The choice to present the story like that was absolutely perfect since that's exactly what a mildly interested viewer would have done: play through it blind just making reasonably smart decisions. That said, the framing did make me expect a lot more crazy plot revelations than simply '[SPOILER] did it'!

I'm always absolutely floored by the complexity and attention to detail behind these at first glance "simple" games. These people were wizards!

THIS game is why I love well designed dithering patterns, even when they aren't on "composite" video.

This was fantastic. Loved learning these new details about one of my favorite games, particularly the changing coffee pot. Details like that really do excite adventure game lovers.

I’ve been working on building a replica of the Dijon Manor in The Sims 4 for over a year now. So, so, SO many little details that I want to get JUST right. It’s a labor of love; I’ve been playing Sierra games all my life, and The Colonel’s Bequest was one of my absolute biggest challenges. I can’t even fathom how many hours I must’ve put into this game as a kid to try and reach past that P.I. status!

Fantastic video! This game was a huge design and art inspiration for me. Thanks for telling its story (the actual plot AND the game design) so beautifully. So many new things learned. Well done! And thanks for letting me come along for the ride! :D

The references to old movies are usually missed. The boat ride to the old manor is from The Cat and The Canary. The gathering to tell what the will says, even though the Colonel isn't dead, is from The Thirteenth Guest. The murders happening one by one while everyone is in an isolated mansion is from numerous movies. My favorite is The Seven Keys of Baldplate, so I'll mention that one. That movie also features bodies disappearing and reappearing so it works.

There's also a glitch in the game I found accidentally. There's a point when Lillian is sitting on her bed, but she refuses to respond to you about anything. If you go into the secret passage and look into the room, the game says she's not there.

The density of details reminds me of something Errant Signal said in his _Children of Doom_ episode on...I think it was the Duke Nukem one? Anyways, he pointed out that it was practical for old games to include countless little details; it might only take an afternoon to create the assets and code needed to let Duke flush a toilet or play with a light switch. When the details are half code and 40% text, you could probably implement one or two on your lunch break; all you needed was a good idea and the willingness to spend your lunch break working. (Time estimates assume professional skills, familiarity with the tools, and access to the stuff a game-in-progress is built from.) Making the models, textures, rigs, animations, and so on for little Easter-egg-level details to the fidelity standards of even modern B-tier games takes _way_ longer and _way_ more specialized skills. You need to dig pretty deep into the indie scene before you reach games where this kind of detail can be added so _casually,_ and if your game isn't _about_ mundane details, it's not worth having a few artists devoted to making all the little assets you need to make them work. Modern technology brings a lot of possibilities to gaming, but it brings new restrictions with it.

This popped into my feed, so I took a chance and 50 minutes later I've been thoroughly entertained by your retelling of an '80's Sierra classic I'd never heard of. You have a kind of Frederik Knudsen vibe to your voice and your witting complemented the plot nicely. Subbed, looking forward to hearing more from you.

My sister and I always talked about the statue floating by in the background, but thought that we were either delusional or had a once in a lifetime glitch... I can't believe you covered this!!! Thank you!!!!

This game really got under my skin as a 11yo kid. Playing it gave me a lot of stress and yet I couldn't help myself. My memories of it aren't exactly 'fun' but they are vivid.

What makes a great detective: -Who was there? -Who did it? -Why? -What does everyone smell like?

the increasingly silly ways to get "used crackers more than once" feels like one of them Expanding Brain memes in the making. never played this game, but WOW this was a wild ride, thank you so much for making a video on this!

Great video, and great research from sluicebox! Nice to see the Crimson Diamond getting boosted, too :) Pedantry alert regarding 45:15: technically, only the act 5 condition requires you to enter Fifi's actual room. To get the perfume credit in act 2, it's enough to enter the screen Fifi's room is on; so just visiting the stairs leading up there will qualify.

I loved this video! I don't know much about The Colonel's Bequest compared to The Dagger of Amon Ra, but both games are so chock full of detail that I learn something new every time I play. That's probably what makes Laura Bow my favorite series. :)

Just wanted to say I really enjoy this experimental immersive narrative style. It's very effective at immersing the listener in the actions and narrative of the game. I wouldn't want this for every one of your videos, but if this is meant as a sort of stylistic adventure, I'd say it's largely successful. Thanks for making so many great videos.

LOVE the story-telling aspect of this video! I was so enraptured as you took us through a playthrough of this game, and I loved learning all the smaller secrets (both fascinating and silly) this game hid! Amazing video as always!

That 'simulated', narrated playthrough was so cool, I couldn't pull my eyes away from the start to the end. I'm a little familiar with Sierra games but never really played them, never found them to be my cup of tea... but I think if I had played The Colonel's Bequest when I was more impressionable, I would have been utterly fascinated by it. The sandbox nature of it, the advancing of time, movement of the npcs, the attention to detail... it'd have been a cornucopia of imagination for a younger me. And the environments and art look so good! I'm a sucker for that kind of high-fidelity pixelated look.

Amazing video as usual, never played this one before, and loled at the "we don't use score in this game", but you still get a hidden score at the end of the game. Will wait for something like this, applied to Fate of Atlantis

21:00 And if you're not familiar, four-ball carom is a form of billiards that, as the name implies, uses four balls (and no pockets). The object of the game is to make your cue ball hit two other balls in the same shot however many times you're playing to. Really neat that they specifically drew a table without pockets for that. And for the record, I only know this because Yakuza 0 has it.

It's likely that Lillian was named after actress Lillian Gish, whose film career spanned from 1912 to 1987(!). Great video btw, I'd never even heard of this game before this popped up in my recommendations.

The Interview with Julia was so cool, I love hearing stuff like this. People can be so talented and create some great stuff. I'll definitely be checking out The Crimson Diamond now.

I remember playing this at school in the 90s. My teacher brought in a copy and some of us would play it. I didnt get it at the time so i just wandered around. A couple years ago I came across a copy of the game, and meant to play it, but havent gotten around to it. This video really makes me want to go get it from my moms place and play it on my old 486.

God, I remember playing this game as a Kid until my parents lost the manual with the copy protection chart. Loved it though I had NO idea what I was doing, Laura bow has some of the best death animations of the Old Sierra games.

This is the first time I have heard of this game and I was shocked by how good it looks. Will definitely play it soon, because you sold me the game, amazing video!

I'm so glad you made this video, truly. The Colonel's Bequest is a really fascinating game, and probably the biggest surprise hit with me in the King's Quest Collection CD set I ordered so many years ago (along with the sequel, the Dagger of Amon-Ra).

This is so fascinating, I honestly want an even deeper dive into this games secrets and story now

Being someone who's had no proper experience with point and click adventure games and similar genres. I am just completely fascinated by the level of detail, story, and how graphically impressive these games can look!

Thank you. I played a number of Sierra games when I was younger but this one is a bit before my time and I don't have the time to sit down and explore games like I used to so this is the next best thing. The crack destroying the RNG is absolutely fascinating, does anyone else know other games that this has happened in? I am reminded of the 'peperony and chease' line from Oregon Trail being in the widely distributed pirate version.

The Colonel's Bequest does have some great EGA art, and it along with Larry III are probably some of Sierra's best. My absolute all-time favourite cannot be beaten standard for EGA art though, is Loom.

It truly is impressive how intricately programmed this game is; despite its bugs, it’s really quite the technical marvel for 1989. Then again, given how dependent the game is on event flags, that makes a lot of sense. Even after doing a few 100% playthroughs of my own (albeit with my eyes glued to a guide the entire time), there are so many things I didn’t know about the game; I had no idea about Jeeves feeding Blaze and lighting the candles in the chapel or the coffeepot cooling down over the course of the game. Similarly, one detail I like is that the fires in the fireplaces burn brightly at the beginning of the game, but are reduced to embers by later acts. As you say, details like that really go a long way in making the world come alive. I also heard that if you smell the perfume in one of the secret passages, the odds of Laura being accosted by the killer increases if she goes too far into them. I wonder if that’s true though? Anyone who knows feel free to chime in!

I've been waiting weeks for this! One of my all time favourite games when I was a kid, my friends I would run home every day to play it after school. I'm still eternally proud I was the first one to figure out the bell puzzle after we'd been stuck on it for weeks. Can't wait to watch this!

I wish company's would make games like this nowadays. So much detail in one game. Keep up the great work OneShortEye! Another great video.

1:08 I don't believe I ever noticed the threatening shadow before now. I only ever noticed the silhouette and never thought to look at the shadow on the floor.

The statue thing turns the airplane sound into some otherworldly noise of terror

never in my life heard of this game before now, but this is insanely ahead of its time. sierra adventures were already punching above their weight in details, but this is an entire game based on the idea of punching above one's weight in sheer detail. something like this wouldn't be replicated until at most like, shenmue in '99, a full ten years after. genuinely crazy to do something like this, let alone make the base story still compelling, let alone make the art gorgeous, let ALONE make a complex and interesting map on top of it all. crazy good video, too; the narration gives me the vibe of someone chatting casually about a subject they're very wise about. you're enthusiastic, but you're seasoned too, there's a worldliness to your speech, if that makes sense. you sound like you've explained stuff like this a hundred times, but you never, ever get tired of it. massive kudos.

Hey, this commentated playthrough of these classic games is so much more valuable than just watching a longplay. I really appreciate all the work you do. This is such a pleasant way to have nostalgia for these games I love without actually having to bother to play them. Love it, keep up the hard work.

god, The Colonel's Bequest is a hell of a game. awesome video, lotta stuff i didn't know and the interview was actually really cool as somebody who wants to do interior scenes, lot of good tips

Those death animations are hilarious - might be the best Sierra has done

I would love to see a deep-delve of the code of Hero's Quest (QFG1 EGA) and Quest for Glory 2 like this! I've often wondered about stuff like how many times you have to throw a rock for your skill to go up by 1, or by what formula your strength goes up (if it's done indirectly by climbing, for example,which is another skill). We all know about the Paladin points and disqualifiers by now, but there is still a great amount to be learned by code-mining.

Also, thank you for highlighting @hercrabbiness, truly a reference person (and a personal inspiration) in adventure Let's Plays, along with @LateBlt and @Resulka ^^

I love the way you've done this. Using the classic music and adding your own to build the tension. It's great. I'm glad there are people like you out there that keep bringing these games up and keep them alive.

Loved your video, extremely in depth!! Of all Sierra On-Line adventure games, The Colonel's Bequest remains my favorite, no doubt due to its attention to dettail, its commitment do storytelling and its mysterious setting. Thanks a lot for it.

This was a delight to watch! All of your videos have shown extreme care and love and this one is no exception! The research put into finding everything about this game is astonishing and I always look forward to more!

Didn't realize I had missed this one! Thanks for providing the timestamp to avoid spoilers, this looks like a gem and I never played it back in the classic era.

It is so tough to get super sleuth. The first time I got it, I was sure I didn’t. It is so easy to not sniff somewhere or look at something. Heck, Polly can screw you too. The second time we got it on the channel I had to reload because I didn’t look at something in the inventory that I did in a previous load up. Oops. Still, this is a magnificent game and one of my favorites. Great job on this video!

30:57 "The pioneers used to ride these babies for miles!"

For a lifelong fan of this game, this was incredible!! Thank you

You sir are a Sierra hero! Never stop making these!

Back when I was a child, my sister and I used to give ourselves the creeps playing this game. Idk how old we were, but remember it was a struggle to spell "refrigerator". 😅

This was a fun alternative to Speedrun videos. It's nice to get in depth in a lesser known game's story and especially the secrets in the code.

You're seriously talented. The presentation of this video was top notch!

I can't believe I just found your channel today. I will be watching every single one of your videos. Sierra games were almost all of my gaming experience as a kid and I always had a love/hate relationship with this game. excited to watch.

It's always a good day when you upload! I've never even considered playing older adventure games before I discovered this channel. I'm in love with your videos and currently obsessed with adventure games!

Thank you for this lovely bit of memory. I only barely managed to squeak up to Seasoned PI by shooting Rudy instead of letting him kill the Colonel. Thank you again for leaving a healthy chunk of mystery in the game for future players.

This is an incredible video. I have played this game dozens of times and I am surprised on how many new things I saw here (i.e. the elevator animation and Jeeves’ “hideaway” sequence). You have a new subscriber!

How have I never heard of this game? I played every "quest" game as a kid in the 80s and 90s and every lucasarts game yet this slipped me by... looks fantastic.

Julia’s passion for pixel art is infectious

Man I love the attention to detail here. Even a lot of modern games don't have as much secrets and hidden events going on. Also this video is fantastic

Dude so thorough and entertaining. I even overheard something in this game I'm gonna put into my D&D campaign. Awesome video great job

I love your speedrun videos but I enjoyed this video even more. I find your videos very relaxing. *Having a murder/mystery video for Halloween was a nice touch too

I've listened through an essay or two of yours before, and honestly the production is consistently on point, especially the vocal delivery. Worth a sub imo, cheers mate

damn, this is great stuff again. I've never played adventure games like these, but I might check out Crismon Diamond! You can pull so much art from such a tiny screen and 16 colours. The interview with Julia was really cool and highlighted something that easily gets overlooked by a lot of people.

I love that you focus on obscure niche of games. Sure the company used to dominate in its day but I’m not sure many people even know about this or conquest of the long bow but great stuff

That statue easter egg would've scared the piss out of me if I played this when I was younger, holy crap. So damn fascinating to learn more about games like this that were pretty ambitious given the hardware that they were on.

Fantastic video, as usual! I've played the game a few times, one of them using a walkthrough to try and see all the secrets (there's so many!) and still I've seen things in this video I've never seen in any of my playthroughs. Also I remember the first time I played, just walking out of Laura's room, going south and immediately dying because if you walk into the railings under the chandelier, they break and you fall down and die. Funny stuff.

Absolutely adored this video. It came on automatically while I was doing dishes and I was so riveted I got so many chores done while I listened. I love your voice and how you present things.

Wow that music is soooo good at 16:00. The suspense built up so beautifully. Excellent movie!!

I love these videos! So much nostalgia for The Colonel's Bequest ever since I first played it on the King's Quest Collection CD sometime in the 1990s.

I really wish these games were being produced again. I have played every one of Sierra's mystery games. When my daughter was around 8 years old I bought this game and she played it for hours. I will have to make sure she sees this.

The Musical setup you've done within the first Spoiler section is AMAZING especially when it continues to go towards the climax.

I remember the statue flying across the top of the screen! Haha...classic from my childhood in the 90s. I love your coverage of the amazing Sierra game.

For me personally, this game has the most beautiful 16 color graphics of them all. Absolutely stunning with the dithering and the detail.

This has quickly become one of my favorite channels! Keep it up! Awesome work ❤

Spectacular artwork in the game. And that spiritual successor too.

I loved this game when it first came out and I was in Jr. High. Got me into murder mysteries. Yet didn't know much at all as you said, and don't remember as much as I thought! Thanks for this!

I thought I hallucinated that statue flying. Told my friend who was also playing the game extensively at the time and he said I was nuts. Thank you for validating me 30 years later.

Yet another fantastic video! As a DOS nerd, I had no idea this game existed -- it looks and feels so much like a whodunnit movie! Thanks for bringing these games to light!

"There's a lot of dithering but you can't really notice..." It's the first thing I noticed are you kidding me?! It's everywhere!

Seeing what makes old school adventure games tick is just as interesting as seeing them done quick. I'd love to see a video like this on The Dagger of Amon Ra, though I am aware that they're structured vastly differently, especially since the game both requires you to find evidence as well as quizzing you at the end to determine your ending.

Your channel singlehandedly made me interested in adventure games, which are, like, the exact opposite of "my" genre

I have watched this video 10+ times now, I just love everything about it

At 23:18 just wanted to point out that a hideaway is a room in a house or mansion. The scene would be Jeeve’s room the hideaway. Not implying he is hiding an object which is why we don’t know what he put in the drawer. They probably had him put something away so it looks like he’s naturally doing something like in films. Awesome vid and love the channel!

Having never heard of this game before (at least not that I can recall, other than your announcement to making a video of it), I found this to be fascinating to watch. I'd love to try it out myself sometime! Also, thanks for linking the page for Crimson Diamond. I wishlisted it right after finishing the video. =)

This was so fascinating. I've always loved the KQ games since I was a kid and had never heard of this game. Thanks for all your work on these videos. They're some of my favorite.

Man this is so cool. I've loved this game since the 90s when I was young and it seemed full of possibilities, and nobody I knew had internet to look up hints. I never made it close to Super Sleuth back in the day. So glad to see this game explored.

This is my favourite video of yours! Dagger is my favourite retro game, and this one is so good too. I would love more of this style of video!

Just played this game for Spooky Month! What a fantastic game

That voice acting of robin was really well made and fitting

Man, I haven't played any of these PC adventure games but every time I see one of your uploads I'm immediately enraptured and it lives in my brain for weeks. Thank you so much for this great stuff.

Captivating ! I really enjoyed the video structure : narrated lets play (I felt like I was there!), then the more technical stuff like interviewing an artist after letting us a chance to absorb by ourselves the atmosphere... I wonder; has any modern game had charm in your eye/finger ?

I LOVE how ShortEye's lowkey calling out people who pirated the game XD splendid video, sir! Love coming back to it

another absolute banger!! this one gripped me through and through despite never having played the game before

Okay, I'll admit, I did not expect this kind of complexity for a point-and-click game released in 1989.

This was great!! There's probably countless people who played this game from BBS and other places who played the hacked together version and didn't get the full experience bc of the way the protection was bypassed. Another awesome video :D Great hard work again! Thanks :)

I am gobsmacked at some of these details! I love how they even thought about paradox-proofing in the code. Fantastic documentary!

Literally saw the notification and clapped- I’ve been waiting for this one!!!