Lumpy
August 21, 2012, 10:23pm
1
When the machine was in display mode it would read a narration while showing various scenes from the game. One of the scenes was of Dirk dodging some tentacles while crossing a drawbridge. When the actual game started it showed a view of the wizard’s castle by night and then Dirk entering the castle while the “you succeeded” fanfare played. Was there originally going to be a level where Dirk had to get into the castle in the first place, that didn’t make the final cut?
Moved Cafe Society --> the Game Room.
Well, here’s a run-through which might help when specifying certain scenes, though I don’t really understand your question.
As an incidental note, that game was always more fun to watch than to play.
Cliffy
August 22, 2012, 2:41pm
4
I understand your question!
But I don’t know the answer, sorry. I did always think it sort of weird, on the few occasions that I played the game.
–Cliffy
From this link , evidently the drawbridge scene was to have been included, and was included with the European game.
A few scenes were not shown or played in the game, including the drawbridge, the “Ye Boulders” sign before the rapids, and the scene after the battle against the Knight. The European release of this game differed in gameplay. The scenes were played in the order they are stored on the laserdisc, and the game started on the drawbridge scene that was cut from the North American version. However, in a laserdisc classic trilogy pack for home computers entitled “The Dragon’s Lair Deluxe Pack” that contained Dragon’s Lair, Dragon’s Lair II, and Space Ace, the missing scenes where put back in.
There’s also this site , which appears to be dedicated to Dragon’s Lair and laserdisc games in general.
Also, from this site explains the differences this way:
With any new product, many urban legends seem to have been created by LAIR. Letters to gaming magazines and Don’s studio asked about supposed secret rooms and commands. One rumor alleged there was a point in the game that Dirk could use his sword and accidentally kill Daphne. Another rumor was the possibility of repeating certain rooms if enough rooms were won. The random accessibility of the computer code could mean anything might be on the laserdisc, but not seen in the normal game.
Most of these rumors seem to come from two facts. First, the use in some publicity of a sequence not found in the game, the other was the missing opening when Dirk enters the castle. Easiest to explain is the missing opening. Many arcades found the opening too slow so the program was shifted so that the game would generally start with Dirk just running into the castle. This bypassed the draw bridge and monsters sequence, which was in the attract mode.
As for the publicity material, when the game was first being tested and shown at the gaming conventions, a few test scenes as well as test discs were produced. For the same reason some films have scenes cut (they’re too slow, not what was hoped for, too long, etc.), Starcom dropped some scenes.
This first test disc featured the standard Attract Mode, but some changes are found. First, the characters’ names are not superimposed over the characters. Another is a scene of a one- eyed, pig-like creature throwing a spear.
Actual gaming sequences found on the disc are the entrance to the castle with the moat monsters and the fire room pretty much as seen on the game. The open and shutting door is shown by itself, without the lead in of the magnetic force. Next is the laboratory, with no green stuff on the ground. However the monster does flash out of the pot but Dirk merely puts the lid on and leaves the room, not using his sword as he would in the real game.
The corridor with crumbling floors, knives, snake pond and spider also features some different animation, mainly with the pond. Rather than the snakes coming out from the walls, the snakes are already in the pond and blocking Dirk’s exit. He exits the side of the pond as seen in the final game.
There might be an explanation for this one; the one version of DL I saw when it first came out (at the old “underground” arcade/bowling alley - now the textbook store, I think - at UC Berkeley) first ended the game with a static shot of the prince and Daphne when you completed it, but later it put you back into the middle of the game (just before the rapids, I think).