Thayer's Quest

Manufacturer: RDI Video Systems
Year: 1984
Class: Wide Release
Genre: Adventure
Type: Videogame

Monitor:

Orientation: Horizontal
Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
CRT: Color

Conversion Class: unique
Number of Simultaneous Players: 1
Maximum number of Players: 1
Gameplay: Single
Control Panel Layout: Single Player
Controls:

Membrane Keyboard

Sound: Amplified Stereo (two channel)

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Thayer's Quest Description

Thayer Alconred, last of the bloodline of the Elder Kings, searches five kingdoms in search of five relics which combine to form the Hand of Quoid. Thayer's adversary, Sorsabal The Twisted (assisted by his henchman, The Black Magician), seeks to use the Hand's power to take control of the land.

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Cabinet Information

The keyboard had four standard option keys, a full keyboard, plus keys for inventory and options. The full QWERTY keyboard was used to enter your name (which was spoken back to you) for high scores and in-game commentary. Each one of the keys had an object labelled on it and by pressing the corresponding key at the right time during the game, you could cast spells and pickup objects. The game was only available as a kit and it went straight into a Dragon's Lair / Space Ace cabinet, but did not fully utilize the LED score board. The keyboard had a flourescent tube under it, making it glow in the dark, so you could see what you were typing in the darkest of arcades. The control panel also had a headphone jack and a volume control so you could use headphones to hear the important commentary in a busy arcade.

Cheats, Tricks and Bugs

When prompted to type in your name, do nothing. After intervals of one minute or so, the game speaks out saying things like 'Do not be shy, enter your name', 'Have you gone to the toilet?', 'Do not be a stranger now, enter your name', 'Look lively now' and a whole host of other 'funny' comments.

Conversion

This game was part of RDI Video Systems' Halcyon technology. However, no other games were officially released as kits for the coin-op version of Thayer's Quest. New games would have required one new EPROM cartridge and a new disc to function.

Game Introduction

One of the drawbacks of the game is that it costs credits for time and lives. If you lose a life, you lose a credit, but even remaining alive costs credits. You start with a DIP switch-optional five credits and as time passes, the game will speak, informing you that your game credits are low.

Game Play

The player watches short animated story segments and makes gameplay decisions with keypad after each one. The computer uses synthesized speech to address players by name during the game.

Miscellaneous

This game's wiring harness was designed for immediate installation into a Dragon's Lair or Space Ace machine.

SOUND: Different dialogue was recorded on each stereo channel of the laser disc. Depending on the player's situation, the CPU appropriately chose which dialogue channel to play. Therefore, game sounds were heard in mono.

LASER DISC: Thayer's Quest includes switch settings to select LD-V1000 or PR-7820/Discovision disc players.

CABINET SERIAL NUMBER: Thayer's Quest was produced only in kit form for the coin-op market.

VAPS Arcade Census

GAMES OWNED, WANTED, or FOR SALE BY MEMBERS OF THE VIDEO ARCADE PRESERVATION SOCIETY

Uncommon - There are 6 known instances of Thayer's Quest owned by one of our 900 members. Of these, It is an original dedicated machine., 4 of them are conversions in which game circuit boards (and possibly cabinet graphics) have been placed in (and on) another game cabinet, and it is a set of circuit boards which a collector could put into a generic case if desired.

Of the 57,121 video games (3,420 unique) tracked by the Video Game Preservation Society, this game ranks a 7 on a scale out of 100 (100 = most commonly seen, 1=least common) in popularity based on ownership records.

Wanted - There is one VAPS member currently looking for Thayer's Quest.

Rarity is NOT necessarily an indication of value. Some common games show up as very rare here because collectors don't want them (they are common because arcade operators might be sitting on tons of them in warehouses), while some fairly scarce games are grabbed by collectors every time they show up. Additionally, some games made in the last 5 years are still making money for operators and are thus not yet affordable to the typical collector. For a clue to value, compare how many people have this game vs. how many people want this game and then click on the eBay links to help determine an accurate price range.

Trivia

This game was never finished. The game includes only three kingdoms. It was simultaneously produced for the Halcyon home system in 1984. The Halcyon's Thayer's Quest laser disc is double sided and it contains a great deal of material not found on the coin-op version disc. Sadly, this game will probably forever remain unfinished.

In 1995, Thayer's Quest was adapted and released for several common gaming platforms and CD-ROM under the title "Kingdom: The Far Reaches." Thayer's name was changed to Lathan and all the game sounds and dialogue were redone. In late 1996, Shadoan, a newly animated sequel to "Kingdom," was released. In 1997 Digital leisure released Thayer's Quest again under the title "Reaches."

Fixes

The keyboard is a flimsy membrane type, like those found in rubber-key 48k Spectrums or other early 1980's home computers. There were prone to failure and a pain to fix. A common problem is the keyboard data cables are folded over and crack over time, rendering whole rows of keys inoperable. Scratch back the thin track to expose the copper and solder them back up. Clamping them back up to ensure a decent connection.

eBay Listings

Click here to automatically search eBay's Arcade, Jukebox, and Pinball categories for the Thayer's Quest Videogame machine and items related to it.

Click here to automatically search eBay's Arcade, Jukebox, and Pinball categories for machines and parts made by RDI Video Systems.

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1. Thayer's Quest Coin-op Arcade Manual
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Foto-Finder™

The Encyclpedia of Arcade Video Games, Kurtz (ISBN 0764319256): Page: 177; Color photo;

Thayer's Quest - Title screen image

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