Laura Bow in the Dagger of Amon Ra

Laura Bow in the Dagger of Amon Ra
Developer: Sierra On-Line Publisher: Sierra On-Line Platforms: DOS, Windows Released in US: 1992 This game has unused graphics. This game has unused sounds. This game has unused text. This game has debugging material. This game has a prerelease article This game has a notes page

To do: More unused graphics. There are also at least three unused conversations.

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Prerelease Info

Notes

Debug Mode

The game does have a debug mode, but only in the CD-ROM version. Extract 10.scr, 10.hep, and 10.tex from this version. The scripts will work with either the floppy or CD-ROM versions. Booting the game will show a "where to" dialog and the following controls are enabled...we think. Many of the controls programmed don't work and will crash the game if one attempts to use them. The list below only shows the controls which have their coding intact.

Keys	Action
Alt + G	Set global variable.
Alt + H	Show global variable.
Alt + K	Show palette.
Alt + L	Set flag.
Alt + M	Clear flag.
Alt + N	Show flag.
Alt + T	Teleport.
Alt + X, Alt + Z	Quits.
Alt + V, Alt + P, Alt + C	Show layers of a room (Visual, Priority and Control respectively).
Shift + /	Help.

(Source: HWM, ScummVM Wiki)

Unused Graphics

Laura choking up and vomiting.

(Source: KyougiRyu)

Unused Dialogue

The game's dialogue system lets Laura ask any character in the game about the various people, places, and items she encounters via her notebook, but some characters have unique responses programmed for topics that can only be unlocked after the last chance to question them (or, in the case of the press pass, are lost before the first chance).

Character	Topic	Text	Audio
Dr. Pippin Carter	Ernie Leach	Mr. Leach is a good chap. Very helpful. Keeps the place spotless and organized. If you ask me, he's the one who ought to be Chief of Security instead of that Prussian Heimlich fellow.
	Press Pass	No, thanks. I already have one of Lo Fat's business cards.
	Watney Little	I don't believe I'm familiar with that name. Sounds English, though.
Dr. "Tut" Smith	Press Pass	I already know you're a journalist.
	Smelling Salts	They have a strong smell.
Countess W-C	Press Pass	Well, isn't that CHAHMING! A little reporter!
Yvette Delacroix	Press Pass	Eet ees very nice.
Dr. Archibald Carrington	Press Pass	How charming.
	Meat	Good beef should be hung for at least a fortnight.
	Pocketwatch	Carrington: I... I... Where did that come from, Miss Bow?
		Laura: Oh, it was a gift.
		Carrington: Now, you listen 'ere you cheap...
		Carrington: ...Miss Bow, I'm, uh, sure there's something I should be doing right now. I've enjoyed our chat, but...please excuse me.
	Snake Lasso	What a bizarre implement, Miss Bow.
	Snake Oil	Phagh! That odor is beastly!
	Wire	Miss Bow, charming as you are, I'm sure I don't have time to discuss the properties of wire with you.
	Wire Cutters	I don't own a pair. Are you always this verbose, Miss Bow?
Steve Dorian	Press Pass	I've never met a woman with a press pass before, Miss Bow. I'm imPRESSed. Ha ha. Sorry about that; it's what I get for spending so much time at the docks. Affects your brain after a while.
Det. Ryan O'Riley	Grapes	I love grapes, lass. They're good for your constitution, and your circulation too. I wouldn't be without them. There's some who would tell you one kind of grape is better than another, but I don't care; I eat every kind, seeds and all.
	Press Pass	I hate those things. I can't believe those wee cards allow you nosy reporters to interfere in our investigations all the time. It's ridiculous.
	Smelling Salts	They're not so popular now, but lots of ladies used to carry that nasty stuff around with them. I think they fainted just so some fella would catch them, ha ha!
Wolf Heimlich	Grapes	I sink ze man eats zo many grapes to cover up a drinking problem. Drinking iz a veakness. I hate veakness.
	Press Pass	Zat may impress zome people, Miss Bow, but it does not impress me. It got you into ze party, but I vill not let you znoop all over MY MUSEEUM!
	Smelling Salts	I do not use zmelling salts. I never faint. Not even ven I'm standing in a POOL OF MY OWN BLOOD, WHICH I HAF DONE MANY TIMES, MISS BOW!
Ziggy	Charcoal	Laura: What's the lowdown on charcoal?
		Ziggy: Glad you asked. He's gonna beat Sea Biscuit in the 3rd at Hialeah. He's a mudder.
	Cheese	I don't know about no stinkin' cheese.
	Dagger of Amon Ra	Why would I know anyting about dat? You must have me confused wid sumbuddy else.
	Sterling W-C Diary	Dat could be very valuable in da right hands, know what I means? Poisonal diaries can be real incriminalating evidence. I'd hang onto it if I was youse, but dat's all I'm gonna say about dat.
	Garter	Laura: Know anything about a garter?
		Ziggy: Hey, if I knewed who DAT belongs to, would I be here jawin' witcha? No sir, not me!
	Lantern	Sorry, lanterns is out of my field of expertises.
	Lightbulb	They seem to work good for lightin' porpoises.
	Meat	Laura: Now why do you think I would've found this meat downstairs?
		Ziggy: 'Cuz there ain't no icebox upstairs? Look, lady, these appeteasers are the bunk, and there's some pretty hungry joes around here. I wouldn't be waving no steaks around, if I was you.
	Pocketwatch	Ziggy: I could gets you one realll cheap, if yer interested.
		Laura: No thanks, I was just asking. I'm not interested in purchasing any of your filthy, stolen goods.
		Ziggy: Fine! Geez! Can't blame a guy for askin', ya don't hafta bite my head off.
	Press Pass	Reportering is sumpthin' I ain't never had no interest in, though I coulda been a journalist had I been wantin' to be.
	Skeleton Key	I like 'em.
	Smelling Salts	I got the constitutional of an ox. Never needed 'em. Wouldn't work on me anyways, my schnoz been broke a few times.
	Snake Lasso	Yeah, sure! Snake lassoes! Yippie-ki-yay, little boa constrictor!
	Snake Oil	I got an uncle, used to sell da stuff. Me, I always figgered it was bunk.
	Watney Little	I dunno nuttin' about it. Don't ask me.
Rameses Najeer	Grapes	Yeth, I have notithed that Mithter O'Riley doeth eat many grapeth. Perhapth he hath thome Greek anthethry. I do not care for grapeth, mythelf. I much prefer a nithe, thweet date.
	Press Pass	How nithe, you have a preth path. It mutht take a lot of energy to be a reporter, Mith Bow. I fear I am jutht not thociable enough for the job. I'll thtick with accounting.
	Smelling Salts	My beloved wife Ithith carrieth thmelling thalth. She ith very delicate, and hath a weak conthtitution. She fainth every time she theeth a mouthe, and our neighborhood hath many rodenth. Tho, every time she hearth thqueaking, she utheth her thmelling thalths, jutht in cathe.
Dr. Olympia Myklos	Press Pass	How charming, you brought your press pass. I imagine it has allowed you to see many wonderful things, like murder scenes and accidents!
Ernie Leach	Bifocals	My dear old Grandma wears those. She says they help her read better, but I think she wears 'em to keep a sharper eye on Grandpa!
	Press Pass	I imagine that press pass lets you go all sorts of interesting places, Miss Bow.
	Red Hair	Red hairs, huh? They might have come from our new stuffed baboon family.
	Animal Hair	Those look like some kind of animal hairs to me. Maybe some kind of a pig. My Grandma lives upstate, in Glens Falls, and she has pigs.
	Woman's Shoe	It looks like one of Miss Delacroix's shoes. You might ask her about it.
Daisy	Grapes	Squeak squeak squeak YES! Chuckle chuckle.

Similarly, attempting to use inventory items on characters directly can provoke various responses, some of which go unused for the same reason.

Character	Item	Text	Audio
Yvette Delacroix	Red Hair	Your hair, eet ees falling out, at so young an age? You should be taking more care of yourself, Miss Bow, then you will be attracting more of ze men, and zey will be doing many things for you then, no?
Dr. Archibald Carrington	Snake Lasso	I really have no need for that bizarre tool, Miss Bow.
	Snake Oil	Please, Miss Bow, I have a delicate stomach.
	Meat	Really, Miss Bow, I don't find decomposition nearly as interesting as Dr. Myklos does.
	Wire	No, thank you. I really have no need of it.
	Wire Cutters	I really have nothing I wish to sever, Miss Bow.
Det. Ryan O'Riley	Grapes	Thanks, lass, but those don't look too fresh.
	Smelling Salts	Phew! Take that away, lassie, it's makin' me queasy!
Wolf Heimlich	Grapes	No sank you. Grapes are for veak, pitiful Irishmen and little ferrets.
	Smelling Salts	Ze zmell of zat is most exhilirating, Fraulein Bow, but I don't vant it.
Ziggy	Carbon Paper	Ziggy: It ain't mine, but I'll letcha in on a trade secret: dere's a way to read what's typed on dese things.
		Laura: How?
		Ziggy: Well, I ain't gonna tell you exactly, or they'll throw me outta da Stoolie's Union. But it CAN be done!
	Charcoal	Hey, yer not spozed to be walkin' around with that thing, yer gonna spoil the barbecue.
	Cheese	No tanks, it sticks to da roofuh my mouth.
	Dagger of Amon Ra	Wussat, onea dem fake pigstickers? Don't point dat thing at me.
	Lantern	Whaddaya, lookin' for one wise guy? Har har!
	Lightbulb	So it's a light bulb. Whoop-dee-doo.
	Meat	If ya wanna come back to my place and cook it for me first, I'd be happy to oblige.
	Snake Lasso	Looks like one o' dem things the jockeys use.
	Snake Oil	What's dis, some kinda Eau de Snake? Don't get any of it on me, it stinks.
	Police File	No tanks, I never look at nobody else's rap sheet. Professional courtesy, dontcha know.
	Wire Cutters	Hey, hang onto those, they could come in handy! I use my snips alla time!
Rameses Najeer	Grapes	That ith very grathiouth of you, Mith Bow, but I am not hungry at the moment.
	Smelling Salts	My wife utheth thmelling thalth, but I do not. Thank you anyway.
Dr. Olympia Myklos	Smelling Salts	Ah! That was refreshing!
Ernie Leach	Bifocals	Oh, no thanks, Miss Bow. My eyes are fine.
	Grapes	No, thanks. I'm not too hungry right now.
	Red Hair	Did those come out when you combed your hair, Miss Bow? You seem kind of young to be losing your hair.
	Smelling Salts	Phew! That woke me right up!
	Woman's Shoe	Why, that looks like one of Miss Delacroix's shoes!
Daisy	Grapes	SQUEAK squeak squeak chuckle squeak!
	Smelling Salts	Squeak! Wuuuuuuuhhhhh!

Other Unused Text

Message file 1880 contains what appears to be a placeholder version of a set of character questioning/item-showing dialogue, with the speaker ID set to that of Dr. "Tut" Smith (though the set of topics that are given lines doesn't quite match what Smith has in the final game). Note that blank lines consisting of nothing but "***" or "****" have been omitted for the below transcript.

Text	Audio	Notes
***You already asked me that.	(none)	A line for, of course, asking the character about a repeat topic.
***MEAT MESSAGE		Start of questioning lines for various items, listed in their internal order but with the IDs offset by 2 compared to the final game's list (for instance, this line is set to be for topic 34, but the meat is actually topic 36).
***WIRE CUTTER MESSAGE
****STEVE'S BOOT
***ABOUT THOSE STINKING SALTS.
****ABOUT SNAKY MASSAGE OIL
****ABOUT THAT NEATO LAVA LAMP.		Based on its order in the list, this line is actually referring to the lantern.
***ALL ABOUT CHEESE
***THE INFAMOUS GARTER
***ABOUT DINO BONE
***SNAKE LASSO
***ALL ABOUT ANKHS
***PIPPIN NOTEPAD
***ABOUT NEATO MAGNIFIER
***ABOUT LIGHTBULB
***ABOUT WATNEY POLICE FILE
***ABOUT WARTHOG HAIRS
***ABOUT BIFOCALS
***ABOUT THOSE RED HAIRS
***ABOUT THAT CARBON PAPER
***ABOUT YVETTE SHOE
****ABOUT ORILEY GRAPES
***ABOUT EVENING GOWN
***ABOUT CHARCOAL
***ABOUT PTERO WIRE
***WHAT ARE THESE THINGS?		The item that would go in this slot is the mummy picked up briefly during the final sequence of the game, but given the context of this line it's unclear whether that's what it was originally meant to refer to.
***ABOUT DIARY		Slot doesn't correspond to any existing inventory item. In the final game, the diary is grouped with the miscellaneous questioning topics instead.
***WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?		A line for using the Look icon on the character (with the correct ID this time, and from here on out).
***NO, THANKS. I'VE ALREADY EATEN.		Start of lines for using various items on the character. Out of the several food items available in the game, this line's ID specifies it as being for the meat.
***CAREFUL. YOU COULD PUT YOUR EYE OUT WITH THAT THING.		Referring to the wire cutters.
***SOME TAKE THIS, SOME SAY DON'T POINT THAT THING AT ME!		Referring to the Dagger of Amon Ra.
***NO, THANKS. IT'S NOT MY SIZE.		Referring to Steve's boot.
Phew! Get that away from me!		Referring to the smelling salts. The speaker of the voice line is unconfirmed, but sounds like it could indeed be the VA of Dr. "Tut" Smith like the internal speaker assignment would indicate.
Watch what you're doing! That stuff stinks!		Referring to the snake oil, again with what sounds like Dr. Smith's voice. Notably, Smith doesn't have any unique responses to using items on him directly in the final game.
***A RUHMKORF LANTERN. YOU CERTAINLY COME PREPARED.	(none)	Referring to the lantern, minus the silly nickname this time.
***I PREFER CAMEMBERT.		Referring to the cheese.
Try to control your violent impulses, Laura.		Referring to the dinosaur bone, as spoken by the narrator. The text of this line matches the used one for trying to use the dinosaur bone on various characters, but the voice line is of a slightly different read than the used versions.