 
 
PROTOTYPE GAME BOX COVER ARTS Unreleased, Alternative and Early Concept Art 
 ~ ~ ~ Mission: Asteroid (Hi-Res Adventure #0) (1981) 
 The left picture is an ad for Mission: Asteroid from back of Sierra's Time Zone poster (thanks for the picture to H. Feldman's Computer Game Museum). It was also featured on back of an old On-Line Systems magazine. This is one of the times that the art was abandoned for pretty obvious reasons; it doesn't stand out and looks quite unfinished. Mission: Asteroid was released in many different packaging: On-Line Systems Apple-folder (1980), On-Line Systems Atari-folder (1980), SierraVenture Large Folder (1982), Sierra On-Line Inc. Box (1983), plus the budget releases (U.S. Gold, Impulse Software). On the right is the cover of 1980 Atari-version. ~ ~ ~ 
 On the left is King's Quest IV with unreleased cover art from a Sierra catalog. The game was never published with this art. Even the rare AGI-version has the same cover as SCI0-version; the difference between those box versions is in the info sticker on front (which isn't seen on these pictures). For once the hero of a game was female. ~ ~ ~ 
 Here's a very unfinished version of the King's Quest VII cover from Sierra Multimedia Catalogue 1994-1995. Also notice the spelling: "Prince-less" in the unfinished one. KQ7 was released with the other two covers on right. There's a US one-piece box and also a European slip cover box version of the middle cover. ~ ~ ~ 
 Here's an interesting alternative early cover (with the 90s Sierra logo style) as opposed to the new 3D rendered art. ~ ~ ~ Quest for Glory I: So You Want to Be a Hero (1989 & 1990) 
 The first cover is the prototype cover, the second is the first release and third is a re-release with new name. Sierra had to change the original title because Hero's Quest was to be confused with Hero Quest board game. ~ ~ ~ 
 Prototype box cover for Gold Rush!, that has many differences, like a different logo (which is also missing explanation mark), layout, background pattern and the flags and characters. ~ ~ ~  Here is one rare piece. The box shot is from a Sierra/Disney Personal Computer Software -ad. Here's what it reads on the ad:
that suggest the game would have been available for purchase: Apple II ($29.95), Commodore 64 ($24.95) and PC ($29.95). Odd, because Al Lowe worked on this game, whom I talked to via e-mail in 2004, told the game was cancelled back in the 80s. Before this page, I've found only one other reference for this game in the web, here (in the half section). The actually released Sierra's Walt Disney Personal Computer Software games are covered after this game. If you know anything more about the Goofy game, please mail me. ~ ~ ~ Mickey's Space Adventure & Winnie the Pooh in the Hundred Acre Wood (1984) 
 
 Sierra's and Disney's educational game series for children included Donald Duck's Playground, Mickey's Space Adventure and Winnie the Pooh in the Hundred Acre Wood. There were two releases of each game: plastic clamshell box (1984) and cardboard flip box (1986). At the top are drawn prototype covers and at the bottom are the released covers from clamshell-releases. Even all the texts and logos are drawn in the unreleased covers. They appeared in a Walt Disney Personal Computer Software ad that came with the clamshell-releases. Colors, characters and their positions and expressions, details etc. are different on these versions, and of course the style itself. Winnie the Pooh has the most differences (can you spot them all?-). ~ ~ ~ 
 The Black Cauldron was based on the Disney movie of the same name. Only differences in these game covers is the background color. ~ ~ ~ 
 This fantasy role-playing game was available for Apple ][ and Commodore 64. The original logo had "The" in the title. The game was released in a flip box, like The Black Cauldron, King's Quest II and III etc. Christopher Crim designed the game; here's his website. ~ ~ ~ 
 The very different covers to the fantasy role-playing game made by Nihon Falcom and published by Sierra. The game was released only with the second cover. I actually like the unreleased cover art better (though the released one is pretty cool too, as the panorama art goes all the way to the back). 
 Here are very interesting alternative covers for Conquests of Camelot as it shows how the box design process progressed. Notice that the original working title they had in mind for the game was "King Arthur and the Search for the Grail". And as I bolded those letters S, f and G you can see that's where those three different sized "drops" in the frame originally came from and weren't removed from later covers either! :) That was either artistic decision or coincidence. Apparently Sierra once again wanted to add the famous word "quest" to the title so they came up with "Conquests". Though note that the middle cover reads Conquest. That logo surely looks very stylish and great but in addition to the plural-form they wanted to clear it up a bit and to emphasize the word "Camelot" in the final cover. Notice also the different type corner pieces. ~ ~ ~ 
 Police Quest 2, or Police Quest Two like the unfinished version reads. Other differences to the final cover being f.ex. that they added the undertitle "The Vengeance" and to the right a tree with leaves. And the "explosion" (?) art in the top left is different. ~ ~ ~ 
 The first is a poster from Sierra Magazine, the second is a prototype art from Sierra catalog, and the right picture is the actual release. The art was painted by John Shaw. Here are more of his Sierra arts (and other artists) listed. ~ ~ ~ 
 The first is a promotional poster, the second is a prototype art from Sierra catalog, and the right picture is the actual release. The art was painted by John Shaw. Here are more of his Sierra arts (and other artists) listed. ~ ~ ~ 
 Comic book style version of the Castle of Dr. Brain cover. The original version had "The" in the title. ~ ~ ~ (In Several Wrong Places) ("Larry 2") (1988) 
 Larry 2 cover art before texts were added. ~ ~ ~ 
 Alternative early cover for Leisure Suit Larry 7 that appeared in Sierra Catalog '96-'97. The game's original title was Yank Hers Away! ~ ~ ~  This is a screenshot from an unfinished Al Lowe game Capitol Punishment (scanned from Finnish PELIT magazine). It was supposed to be a spoof on Bill and Hillary Clinton. According to Al Lowe, the premise with some clever ideas in it seemed better than the game itself, so it didn't get released. ~ ~ ~ 
 First two are prototypes, third is actual release (being US one-piece box release, there is also a European slip cover). The blue text in the middle doesn't belong to the actual cover; the scan is from an article. ~ ~ ~ 
 The first two are prototypes, third is actual release (being the European slip cover release, there is also a US one-piece box). Although great and one of my favorites, I can see why they didn't choose the first style as the final, because it makes the cover too even and centerlined, and the wolf makes the meaning of the picture a little too obvious. ~ ~ ~ 
 After the long and successful AD&D licensing agreement between SSI and TSR expired, TSR gave various companies licenses to use their D&D brand (with various results). Here's Sierra's take on the Dungeons & Dragons world Birthright. The unreleased art is from a Sierra catalog. And like usual, Birthright too was released in the US as a one-piece box and in the Europe as a slip cover box. The second cover shown here is from the Euro version. The released cover art is one of the coolest from Sierra's late 90s. ~ ~ ~ 
 This is the only prototype from this page I have as an original hi-res sheet from a promotional Sierra Press Folder 1995 (which also features other ads that I will scan at some point). The right picture is of the European slip cover release, there's also a US one-piece box. ~ ~ ~ 
 Early cover of Rama. This was also on Sierra Catalog '96-'97. The same picture was also used f.ex. as back covers of the "Limited Edition" CD cardboard cases. ~ ~ ~ 
 The development on Babylon 5: In to the Fire - The Ultimate Space Combat Game (a.k.a. Babylon 5 Combat Simulator) started in 1998 by Sierra FX, Yosemite Entertainment and Warner Bros. Unfortunately Sierra cancelled the game and laid off the development staff in September 21st 1999. Two versions of the prototype box are shown above. Although the game never made it, some merchandise items were produced. These included f.ex. a poster, a 3D mouse pad and a wrist watch featuring a shadow vessel. Christopher Franke composed new music for the game and two tracks of it can be found on The Official Guide to J. Michael Straczynski's Babylon 5 (released in 1998), also by Sierra. Firstones.com has saved the official Sierra's Babylon 5 game site (www.b5games.com) in its entirety, here's the link. There's f.ex. lots of info, screenshots and movie trailers of the game and guide. ~ ~ ~  ~ ~ ~ The Dig (1995) 
 An amazing art from a Spanish advertisement for The Dig (click on it to see it larger, thanks to El Dodo for the scan), prototype box cover from an old game magazine ad and the actual release cover. The middle and right covers have this text: "A deep space adventure by Sean Clark in collaboration with filmmaker Steven Spielberg". Here's the ad blurb: "Fantastic sci-fi adventure written by Steven Spielberg. Space shuttle is launched to space and the crew finds itself on a strange planet. 3D-graphics and beautiful cut scene animations. It is different. It is an experience. You have to see it for yourself." The ad didn't mention one of the greatest aspect of The Dig in addition to art: Michael Land's brilliant ambient soundtrack. ~ ~ ~ 
 Early cover of Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe (from an U.S.Gold catalog) is from a different angle than the actual release with its more massive and threatening look. ~ ~ ~ Coming ~ ~ ~  ~ ~ ~ Chronicles of Osgorth: The Shattered Alliance (1981) 
 This is the first SSI fantasy game and one of the rarest of them. It is a fantasy wargame about a world called Osgorth: "The wonder world replete with the spells of sorcerers and clashing swords that give voice to the fierce battles between rival kingdoms and among exotic creatures. Conflict abounds when humankind, elves, dwarves, lizardmen, unicorns and other wondrous beings amass under your command to seek glory and conquest." The first picture appears on some SSI catalogs (at least SSI Summer 1983 and SSI Fall '85/Winter '86). Its background is black where in the actual version the background is purple. There aren't other differences to be noticed. Second cover is the actual release for Apple ][. Third cover is the Atari version; it has a diagonal white border at top left stating it. The art is by Louis Hsu Saekow, SSI's head art designer of many years. According to the box back SSI planned sequels for Chronicles of Osgorth but for reasons unknown and to my knowledge they weren't released. Instead they released many other succesful fantasy role-playing games. ~ ~ ~ 
 Very interesting prototype art for Rings of Zilfin. It's very comic book -like, as was the Chronicles of Osgorth -cover. The finished version is a painting. This early art is from Computer Gaming World, Issue 27 (1986) -magazine. (Thanks to Computer Gaming World Museum for this cover.) ~ ~ ~ 
 At first only colors and logo look different but the art isn't the same either. Compare f.ex. the whirl coming from the girl's hand and the shard. ~ ~ ~ 
 Early box style for Pool of Radiance from an SSI catalog and actual release. ~ ~ ~ 
 Once again an early comic book style sketch (from SSI catalog) and actual cover, painted by Luis Royo (thanks to Pedro Q. for the artist info). ~ ~ ~ 
 Early art concept for Colonial Conquest from SSI catalog and actual release. ~ ~ ~ 
 Many differences on this one. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  ~ ~ ~ Ultima I: The Original (1983) 
 In early 1980s, Richard Garriott/Lord British joined with Sierra to publish Ultima II: Revenge of the Enchantress (1982) and Atari 400/800-version of Ultima I: The Original (1983; Apple-version of the first Ultima by California Pacific Computer Company came already in 1980). After the venture with Sierra, Garriott started his own company, Origin Systems Inc. in 1983. The beautiful cover art for Ultima I: The Original was taken from the back of the large Ultima II (SierraVenture) box. Unreleased prototype art in the left is from an old Sierra catalog. The prototype cover in the middle is very interesting since it has the old On-Line Systems -logo. The cover in the right, part of the SierraVenture-series, is the only actual release box, which is pretty rare. ~ ~ ~ Ultima: Escape from Mt. Drash (1983)  Sierra re-reused the castle/moon art (that originally appeared in back of the large Ultima II SierraVenture box) for a third time in Ultima: Escape from Mt. Drash. There was a magazine ad for it in 1983 but for over a decade it was thought that the game had never been released. In recent years, few complete copies have surfaced and a few loose cassettes. This is said to be the Holy Grail of computer game collecting. ~ ~ ~ Ultima VIII: The Lost Vale (1994, unreleased)  Ultima VIII: The Lost Vale was originally planned as an add-on sequel to Ultima VIII Pagan. The add-on was in development for several months and at least nearly finished. But due to poor sales of Ultima VIII, they decided not to publish it. The game would have come on 3.5" disks. The box seen above surfaced in fall 2005 and was sold on eBay. It is the only prototype box of this title known to exist for now. Here's what the box back reads:
~ ~ ~  ~ ~ ~ Ultima 25th Anniversary Edition (2005, cancelled) & Wing Commander 15th Anniversary Edition (planned)  Click on pictures to see the whole add. Thanks to Stephen Emond who designed these covers and he also provided the information below. Stephen is the author of upcoming Ultima Collector's Guide book series. Ultima: 25th Anniversary Edition was supposed to be a massive Windows XP compatible collection of EVERY Ultima (except likely Runes of Virtue 1 & 2 and Escape from Mt. Drash). It would have finally included f.ex. the Underworlds, Savage Empire and Martian Dreams (Stephen even had people hunting for the Lost Vale.) Special history book, atlas, soundtrack, in-game Ultima related items for UO for each Ultima Prime... The works. Neither of these collections were announced to the public, but at a UO meet-up they dropped a few teaser hints about the Ultima 25th Ann. It was originally supposed to come out November 2005, but then got pushed back to January 2006 before eventually being cancelled. The Wing Commander 15th Anniversary Edition on the other hand was never officially "green-lighted" by EA but they were considering it. The WC cover would have likely changed for a final version. As for the Ultima 25th, they loved the box mock up Stephen made, so that probably would have been the final cover. ~ ~ ~  ~ ~ ~ The Lord of the Rigs, Journey to Rivendell (1983, unreleased)  And last but as one of the best: The Lord of the Rings, Journey to Rivendell. The cover art is scanned from Parker Brothers 1983 catalog which I then enhanced. The box back and side are a reconstruction made by me of what the finished box might have looked liked. The layout is based on the other PB game boxes of the time. The same PB catalog has many other prototype box arts too. From merchandising and licensing point the game is related to the animated The Lord of the Rings (1978) movie by Ralph Bakshi; f.ex. logos and appearance of the characters on cover (riding Nazgûls, Frodo and his hobbit friends hiding under the tree stomp) are the same. The game itself was near completed and it's prototype game cartridge and display box were discovered in 2001 (coincidentally prior to movie premiere of The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring by Peter Jackson). Read more about the game here (f.ex. the ROM image is available for download there).
~ ~ ~ Synchronic Web / Fantasy Adventures pages without asking for permission. 
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