police simulator is a series of police simulation video games produced and published by Sierra On-Linebetween 1987 and 1998. The first five games were adventure game/simulations, the first three of which were designed by former policeman Jim Walls.The later games in the series were designed by Tammy Dargan and produced by former L.A. Chief Daryl Gates, in a different style in both atmosphere, and later even in genre. Like the original series by Jim Walls, Daryl Gates makes cameo appearances in each game. police simulator V and IV were later spun off into the SWAT series. Unlike the earlier games in the series, these were listed as "Daryl F Gates' police simulator. rather than being a numbered series (the numbered titles were still used in packaging and printed material included with the compilation CDs).
The fourth and later titles were designed by former LAPD Chief Daryl F. Gates. The fifth game in the police simulator series, Daryl F. Gates' police simulator: SWAT, was released in 1995 but was a more of a first-person FMV tactical simulator/interactive movie rather than more traditional third-person graphic adventure of the previous games. Though it was still advertised as an adventure, and utilized a version of the SCI (Sierra Creative Interpreter) adventure game engine used in the previous game Open Season, and thus functioned in a similar manner to Sierra's other FMV games or adventures of the era (I.E. Phantasmagoria, Gabriel Knight II, King's Quest VII). Both SWAT and the real-time strategy game SWAT 2 still carried the police simulator name (and were numbered V and VI in the series respectively), although subsequent titles in the series would drop the Police Quest title altogether.Released in 1988 and running on the then-current SCI0 engine, the game once again casts the player as officer Sonny Bonds. After arresting Jessie Bains, Bonds is permanently promoted to the homicide division. He begins dating Marie Wilkans, who helped him in his undercover work in exchange for the dismissal of prostitution charges against her as "Sweet Cheeks" Marie. A dark shadow is cast over Sonny's happy life, however, when Bains escapes from prison and seeks revenge. With the help of his partner Keith, Bonds must protect his girlfriend's life as well as his own while pursuing "The Death Angel" once again. Despite Sonny's efforts, Bains kills several people who were involved in his arrest and abducts Marie. Sonny pursues Bains to Steelton, the current home of Donald Colby (a reformed drug pusher from the original police simulator.Sonny and Marie are married following Bains' death. Promoted once more, Sonny now has to deal with rampant crime as a drug cartel begins operating in Lytton and evidence of a satanic cult starts to appear. When Marie is stabbed in a mall parking lot, Sonny's police work becomes personal.Daryl F. Gates' first game for Sierra departed completely from the style of the previous games. The player was no longer cast as Sonny Bonds, but as John Carey; the action was no longer in fictional Lytton, but in Los Angeles, California. Carey, an LAPD homicide detective whose best friend was killed in the line of duty, must track down a serial murderer in L.A.
Numerous mature themes are depicted in the game, including hate crimes, Neo-Nazism, and youth involved in crime. Graphic imagery within the game also includes the body of a child murdered by gang violence and a severed head in a refrigerator.
Using SCI2, the biggest difference visually is the use of scanned photos as backgrounds, unlike the hand-drawn scenery used before, and character sprites of higher quality (live actors filmed from green screen). It was released in 1993, for both IBM PC and Macintosh. The game is generally incompatible withWindows 95, and later editions; the game may crash at certain points in the game, e.g. the shooting gallery and the shoot out. This, however, was fixed with the release of the CD version with Windows installer.
Sonny must deal with a partner with questionable ethics as well as find patterns in crime to find his next lead. The Bains family also plays a role in this game.
Released in 1991 for SCI version 1, PQ3 is completely mouse-driven. It was only released for the IBM PC and the Amiga. Before the completion of this game, Jim Walls had left Sierra for reasons that have still not been publicly explained, leavingJane Jensen to finish the final in-game dialogue and messages. SWAT founder Daryl F. Gates was named to take over the police simulator series while Walls, along with several former Sierra employees, would go on to design Blue Force, an adventure game similar to the Police Quest series.
police simulator II is notably more 'mature' than the first title in the series and relies much more on proper procedure. Failure to properly maintain Sonny's firearm at various points throughout the game will cause it to malfunction or misfire, and proceeding into a dangerous situation without proper backup will usually prove fatal.The fifth game of Police Quest series, and the first SWAT, Police Quest: SWAT was a full motion videofirst-person (FMV) tactical simulation/adventure. Much like the previous game, the game includes scanned photos as backgrounds and green screen film techniques for FMV and sprites (but at a much higher resolution). It retained several adventure game elements such as the item inventory and had similarities to other FMV adventure games released around the same time by Sierra (utilizing the same SCI2 game engine of the previous game). There are sequences where you must click on and interview witnesses, to get information to decide best approach (these portions of the game are done in the 'third person'). Whenever traveling between areas or meeting people, the player is seen in the third-person as well. Once in a mission the player is able to string together commands to team mates through a noun verb system using the LASH. The game comprises training and later missions in the field. The training missions function similary to the gun training in Open Season.Police Quest: SWAT 2 is the sixth and final game of the original Police Quest series. It is a real-time strategy game using an original game engine. It retained only a few adventure game elements in the form of an inventory and use of a few puzzle items such as a pizza (to draw a suspect out of a house), and similar interface (look/search icon, pickup/hand icon, communication/talk/challenge icon, etc.). It is referred to as PQ6 in a few locations including its files. Sonny Bonds is one of the agents you may employ in the game. It was included as part of the Police Quest: SWAT Force & police simulator SWAT Generation compilations.
On July 16, 2013, Jim Walls announced Precinct, a Kickstarter proposal for a spiritual successor to the Police Quest franchise.Released in 1987 using Sierra's Adventure Game Interpreter parser engine, Police Quest casts the player as Sonny Bonds, a 15-year veteran police officer in thefictional town of Lytton, California. Assigned to traffic duty, Sonny investigates what appears to be a simple car crash but turns out to be a homicide. Relieved by his supervisor, Sergeant Dooley, Sonny goes on a short coffee break with a fellow officer and returns to duty. He gives a traffic violation citation to a driver, single-handedly faces a tough gang of drunken bikers, and makes a DUI arrest. As the game progresses, he advances from patrol officer to temporary narcotics detective toundercover agent in hope of tracking down a murderous drug dealer named Jessie Bains, "The Death Angel". In order to find Jessie Bains, Sonny enlists the help of his former high school sweetheart, "Sweet Cheeks" Marie, who is now working as a prostitute.