King's Quest: Quest for the Crown

Debug Functions#

Being based on the same engine, the DOS version of King's Quest shares a set of debugging features with King's Quest II.

Main Debug Commands#

Press ALT+D (or Command-D in the Mac version) to enable some debugging words. These features are disabled upon entering a new room.

Here's the complete word list:

TP: Teleport to the appropriate room.
POS: Set Graham's X and Y positions.
GET OBJECT: Puts the appropriate object by ID in the player's inventory.
OBJECT or SP: Gives status on the appropriate object.
SET VAR: Sets a chosen variable to a given value.
SHOW VAR: Displays the value of a variable.
SET FLAG: Sets the appropriate flag.
RESET FLAG: Resets the appropriate flag.
SHOW FLAG: Displays info on a flag (Can be either set or not set).

Additional Functions#

When debug mode is active, the text for handling unknown words is simplified.

Word not known:

Numbers organized in a window for your convenience.
Press F10 to display info on memory use.

Your pink castle is hideous. I don't want to be king anymore.
Press F6 to display priority settings for the current room.

Unused Graphics#

An animation of King Edward spinning. This is used in the original PCjr release - right before Edward falls over dead - but not from the Apple II version onward.

This frame, however, is specific to newer versions and recycled from King's Quest II. When Graham looks at the throne in the ending sequence, he looks left, not up.

(Source: Original TCRF research)

Unused Text#

ID	Message	PCjr	Notes
General Logic
2	Where do you think it could be?	No	An alternate message for trying to FIND something.
12	You need to be closer to the water if you want to swim.	No	Unused message for trying to SWIM at an insufficient distance from the water.
22	You do not have a bowl.	No	This is the first of several error messages that went unused because they spoil content in the game.
95	With disappointment, you see that nothing happens.	No	From where it's placed in the code, this is a generic message for the magic ring failing to work.
Logic 6 - Stump & Pouch Field
4	You could get a much better look at it if it were in your hands.	Yes	Should be triggered by LOOK POUCH, but it's not.
11	You need to get closer to look at the log.	No	A more specific message for trying to look at the log from far away.
Logic 10 - Goat Pen (West Side)
1	There is no reason to jump or duck here.	Yes	The first of several messages for failing to jump / duck in a specific room.
8	That is not something the old goat wants to eat.	Yes	Probably meant for trying to feed the goat something other than a carrot.
17	The goat is following you.	Yes	Possibly triggered by typing LOOK GOAT after getting him to follow you.
Logic 11 - Goat Pen (East Side)
2	It's not nice to tease the goat. You're not leaving without him.	Yes	Could have been used after showing the goat the carrot a second time.
16	You have nothing the old goat wants to eat.	Yes	(See above).
29	Why would you want to do that? There is a gate.	Yes	Trying to jump over or break the fence might have provoked this text.
Logic 13 - Wolf Field
11	Now that the goat is gone, you'll have to take care of yourself!	Yes	If the player killed the goat while the wolf was on the screen, this text could have popped up.
Logic 21 - Witch Area
5	Your protection is gone and you best look out for the witch!	Yes	A message meant for when the Fairy Godmother's protection disappeared while the witch was still on-screen.
6	With the goat now dead, you are fair game for the witch.	Yes	Another message for the goat dying, opening the player to danger.
18	Oh NO!! She's back!!!	No	Maybe the witch could leave the screen and come back again?
Logic 22 - Condor Area
8	You would hit your head on the top of the cave if you jumped now!	Yes	More room-specific jumping messages! Woo!
Logic 25 - Troll Bridge (North)
19	You have no treasure to give the troll.	Yes	Attempting to GIVE the troll something with no items, most likely.
20	'''You can't give it if you don't have it.	Yes	Trying to give the troll a treasure that you don't actually have would display this message.
Logic 28 - Outside Witch's House
10	The goat is suspicious of this witch's house and refuses to go in.	Yes	When Graham tries to enter the witch's house with the goat by his side, the goat would leave him.
20	The path is around the corner.	No	Typing LOOK CORNER with the path not in view?
Logic 29 - Sorcerer Area
3	'''You're so afraid of the sorcerer that your knees are locked.	Yes	Yet more room-specific jumping / ducking failure text.
8	You are immobilized! You can't jump or duck now!	Yes	Whoa, two in the same room.
Logic 36 - Leprechaun Cave Entrance
9	There are several pretty trees in the area and a few rocks. One rock has a small hole in its base.	Yes	A nice description of the area that's never referenced in the room logic.
Logic 39 - Troll Bridge (West)
20	'''If you don't have it, how can you give it to the troll?	Yes	(Please see Logic 25).
Logic 41 - Troll Bridge (South)
20	You don't have any.	Yes	(Please see Logic 39, which will direct to you Logic 25).
Logic 46 - Ogre Area
6	The ogre can see you now!	No	A message for the magic ring's invisibility wearing off with the Ogre still on the screen.
Logic 51 - Dragon's Lair
28	You don't have a dagger.	Yes	Another message deleted for spoiling of a game item.
29	You don't have any water.	Yes	See above.
37	You are too busy looking around to even think about that.	Yes	This is a pretty nondescript message, so it could have been used for any number of things.
Logic 53 - Daventry Throne Room
1	Even as you are reaching for your medevial flamethrower, the King's agents descend upon you. You are taken away to be torched at dawn.	No	A humorous Easter egg that seems to have been removed from the game entirely. It was added first in the Apple II version; it doesn't appear in the original PCjr game at all.
7	You bow, but you are the only one who knows it.	Yes	This appears in the PCjr version for bowing to the king after his death. This isn't possible in the newer versions of the game.
11	Before exposing your flamethrower, you decide the King is just beyond the range of your obsolete flamethrower.	No	Oh that Graham, always traveling through time to get weapons for regicide!
15	He bids you to approach so he can hear you.	Yes	This can be triggered in the PCjr version by typing LOOK KING from far away.
17	Your heart also aches with pain as you watch the King.	Yes	Even in the PCjr version, you can't look at the King in the middle of his heart attack.
18	The King is lying motionless on the ground.	Yes	Another message left over from the PCjr version. There, it's possible to type LOOK KING after his death, but before taking the throne.
31	As you are leaving, your agents remind you that you must remain here now, where it is safe.	Yes	This is the last message specific to the PCjr game. This is triggered in that version by trying to exit the room after the king's death.
Logic 58 - Giant's Room
17	You have no sling!	Yes	A message revealing the existence of an item in the game? Right out.
19	You have no dagger!	Yes	Another one? Get that out of here.
Logic 65 - Witch's House
4	This is not a good place to give up your protection!	Yes	Unknown. It's not possible to voluntarily give up your protection...
5	There is no reason to jump or duck here.	Yes	I heard you like room-specific jumping and ducking messages. Here's one now.
51	The note was here at one time, but now you can`t seem to locate it.	Yes	Trying to TAKE NOTE a second time would produce this message.
Logic 70/71/72 - Beanstalk Climb
1	If you were to jump or duck here you might fall.	Yes	Okay, this exact string appears in three rooms, so it's not really room-specific. Still, though!
Logic 75 - Rat Cave
11	It is already open.	Yes	You can't open an open door. That's not how doors work, (wo)man.
13	The door appears to be stuck and won't close.	Yes	If for some reason the player tried to close the door, this message might have been displayed.
17	You have no treasure to give the rat.	Yes	Remember the troll message similar to this one? Yeah. Same deal.
23	You do not have any.	Yes	Trolls, like rats, hate adventurers who give them the absence of objects.
Logic 77 - Leprechaun King's Chamber
3	It is very difficult to play a fiddle if you do not have one.	Yes	It is indeed. Also, this message spoils the existence of the fiddle, so out it went.
20	The shield is already in your pocket.	Yes	Typing TAKE SHIELD a second time would prompt this error message.

(Source: Original TCRF research)

Early Draft#

Early	Final	Notes
'''Logic 0, Message 25 There is no reason to drop it.	'''Logic 102, Message 3 There is no reason to do that.	Verily, there is no reason at all to drop any item in this game.
'''Logic 0, Message 26 You are already swimming.	'''Logic 101, Message 4 You are already swimming!	Emphasis!!
'''Logic 12, Message 26 The old bucket vanishes into the depths of the well.	'''Logic 12, Message 19 The old bucket disappears into the darkness.
Logic 12, Message 28 The old bucket is already at the top of the well.	'''Logic 12, Message 21 The bucket is already at the top of the well.	Commenting on the age of a bucket at the top of a well is poor form. Everybody knows that.
'''Logic 12, Message 31 The old bucket is lifted from the well.	'''Logic 12, Message 22 The old bucket emerges from the depths of the well.
'''Logic 12, Message 51 Sorry, all the water is at the bottom of the well.	'''Logic 12, Message 50 All the water is at the bottom of the well.	The final text is notably less apologetic.
'''Logic 79, Message 5 This is the woodcutter's fiddle.	'''Logic 79, Message 37 The fiddle is a beautiful instrument made of polished wood.	This bland description of the fiddle was thankfully improved.

(Source: Original TCRF research)

Word Dictionary#

Present only in the booter versions of the game are the following words:

greg
rowland
ken
macneill
doug
hal
schwab
arthur
abraham
charles
tingley
chris
teresa

These refer to staff members Greg Rowland, Ken MacNeill, Doug MacNeill, Hal Schwab, Arthur Abraham, and Charles Tingley along with two whose meanings are unknown:

Arthur Abraham was responsible for programming what eventually evolved into the game's engine.
"chris" most certainly is Chris Iden, who was not involved originally but worked as a programming department manager around this time.
Hal Schwab, according to Bob Heitman (who had recalled from Greg Rowland), was the game's director.
"teresa" may refer to Teresa Baker, who appears in the 1988 Christmas Card.

This Easter egg of sorts must have been certainly implemented by Greg Rowland himself, as it is used in the logic for the well as an individual command, meaning that the game will register "greg rope" as a valid statement.

(Source: Lance Ewing)

Unused Sounds#

Standard PC	Tandy PC

Sound 03 is never used. This is actually the nightingale call from King's Quest II. The new version of King's Quest was built off of King's Quest II, and this sound was mistakenly left in.

The old versions also have their own as well:

ID	Sound	Description
06		Cut from the game entirely.
08		Cut from the game entirely.
26		Noise.
27		More noise.
28		Very alluring. Possibly related to being immobilised by the sorcerer?
29		Maybe intended for when underground?
30		Same as above.
31		Short and mischievous.
32		No clear purpose.
34		Sounds similar to sound 09 (fairy godmother).
35		Connects the above two.
36		Duplicate of sound 16 (opening doors).
37		No clear purpose. Very turbulent.
38		Most likely a placeholder.
39		Most likely a placeholder.
40		Most likely a placeholder.

(Source: Original TCRF research)

(Source: NewRisingSun)

Uncompiled Source Code#

The very first IBM PC release for CGA (not the PCjr release) with a MAIN.EXE dated May 30, 1984, has uncompiled 8088 assembler source code in the thirteen 512-byte sectors starting at cylinder 7, head 0, sector 3:

 
         mov     [di+saveptr],ax         ;save buffer pointer
         mov     ax,[si+word ptr outxpos]
         mov     [di+word ptr xpos],ax   ;positions
         pop     bx
         call    setcel
         mov     al,[di+steptime]
         or      al,al
         jnz     stepok
         mov     al,1
 stepok: mov     [di+steptime],al        ;set default steptime
         mov     [di+stepclock],al       ;set stepclock
         ret
 setcel: mov     al,[bx]                 ;loop count
         mov     ah,0
         xor     bx,bx                   ;if 1 loop, get loop 0
         dec     ax
         jz      stcel
         inc     bx                      ;if 2 loops, get loop 1
         dec     ax
         jz      stcel
         inc     bx                      ;if 4 loops, get loop 2
         xor     ax,ax
 stcel:  push    bp
         mov     bp,sp
         push    ax                      ;pass cel #
         push    bx                      ;pass loop #
         push    di                      ;pass table pointer
         call    getstcel
         pop     di                      ;get table pointer
         pop     bx                      ;get loop #
         mov     sp,bp
         pop     bp
         mov     [di+celcnt],al          ;set cel count
         mov     [di+curl],bl            ;set loop #
         ret
 trashem:lea     si,objtab               ;animation table pointer
         lea     di,chuck                ;object table pointer
         mov     ch,outlen               ;object table entry length
         mov     cl,4                    ;nibble shifter
 t0:     add     si,grplen               ;point to next animation table
         mov     dl,[si]                 ;get room entry
         cmp     dl,0                    ;not terminator?
         jz      t1
         mov     byte ptr [si],0
         cmp     dl,flags.roomflag       ;in this room?
         jne     t0
         mov     al,[si+disknum]         ;get this object's #
         mul     ch                      ;offset of this obj's table entry
         mov     bx,ax
         mov     dh,[di+bx+outroom]
         and     dh,80h
         or      dl,dh                   ;maintain ego possession
         mov     [di+bx+outroom],dl      ;set this obj's room # entry
         mov     ah,[si+curl]
         mov     al,[si+curcel]          ;combine loop & cel values
         shl     ah,cl
         or      al,ah
         mov     [di+bx+outlupcel],al    ;set loop & cel entry
         mov     ax,word ptr [si+xpos]
         mov     word ptr [di+bx+outxpos],ax      ;set position entries
         jmp     t0              ;process the 3 non-ego animation tables
 t1:     add     di,inobjtab     ;point to 1st object table's anitbl entry
         mov     cx,110          ;object count minus 1 (ego)
 outlup: add     di,outlen       ;point to next object table
         mov     byte ptr [di],0 ;clear all objs' animation table entries
         loop    outlup          ;process all objects' tables
         mov     chuckptr,0              ;clear loaded objects count
         lea     di,objtab
         mov     byte ptr [di+grplen],0  ;terminate animation tables
         mov     ax,curact
         mov     objptr,ax               ;reset free memory pointer
         mov     cx,40-9
         lea     di,soundpos
         add     di,18
         lea     ax,stopsnd
 ;        rep     stosw                   ;set all non-res. sound ptrs to silence
         ret
 loadego:call    wtprt
         mov     al,0
         call    load_obj                ;get ego
         lea     di,objtab               ;object table pointer
         mov     [di+lgrpptr],ax         ;set loop group pointer
         lea     bx,alterego
         mov     [bx],ax                 ;ditto
         mov     al,0
         mov     [di+disknum],al
         mov     [di+objnum],al
         mov     [di+curcel],al          ;disk #, obj # & cel # = 0
         mov     [di+curl],al            ;loop # = 2
         mov     [di+stepclock],1        ;stepclock = 1
 
         lea     bx,chuck                ;out table pointer
         mov     ax,[bx+word ptr outxpos]
         mov     [di+word ptr xpos],ax   ;set positions
         mov     ax,savetab
         mov     [di+saveptr],ax         ;set save buffer pointer
 
 
         mov     [di+celcnt],8           ;cel count = 8
         push    bp
         mov     bp,sp
         mov     ax,6
         push    ax                      ;pass cel #
         mov     al,0
         push    ax                      ;pass loop #
         push    di                      ;pass table pointer
         call    getstcel                ;set step sizes, cel pointer & stepclock
         mov     sp,bp
         pop     bp
         mov     flags.roomflag,1
         mov     dx,0
         call    dwt
 
         lea     ax,objtab
         mov     tabptr,ax
         cmp     cpyseq,0
         jnz     ldgrtn
         call    ers
 ldgrtn: ret
 
 clearscrn:
         push    ax
         mov     ax,600h
         jmp     sc1
 scroll: push    ax
         mov     ax,601h
 sc1:    push    bx
         push    cx
         push    dx
         mov     cx,1500h
         mov     dx,1827h
         mov     bh,0
         call    wtprt
         int     10h
         mov     dx,1800h
         jmp     short stcr
 
 
 
 
 
 
 setcsr: push    ax
         push    bx
         push    cx
         push    dx
 stcr:   mov     curchar,dl
         mov     ah,2
         mov     bh,0
         call    wtprt
         int     10h
         pop     dx
         pop     cx
         pop     bx
         pop     ax
         ret
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 term    equ     0ffh
 skip    equ     0feh
 psn     equ     0fdh
 flag    equ     0fch
 always  equ     0fbh
 ignore  equ     0fah
 unknown equ     0f9h
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ;                              Say-what?
 ;           Scans the text logic table ( @texptr or @texany ) 
 ;       for true sequences of conditions [ text, flag & position ]
 ;   then passes a pointer for the action table [ @actptr or @actany ]
 ;  to ACTMODUL to execute the action string for the matched conitions.
 
 saywhat:
         mov     lgcflg,1        ;flag text table checks
         mov     si,txtptr       ;get text logics table pointer
         jmp     chklup
 
 ;                             Check-mate!
 ;         Scans the position logic table ( @posptr or @posany )
 ;        for true sequences of conditions  [ flags & positions ]
 ;   then passes a pointer for the action table [ @actptr or @actany ]
 ;  to ACTMODUL to execute the action string for the matched conitions.
 
 chekmate:
         mov     lgcflg,0        ;flag position table checks
         mov

(Source: NewRisingSun)