---
name: "sarien"
section: "6"
platform: "linux"
package: "sarien"
version: "0.7.0.20040229cvs-3"
release: "Debian 4.0 (Etch)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/sarien/6"
---

# sarien(6)

a Sierra AGI resource interpreter engine

## NAME

Sarien — a Sierra AGI resource interpreter engine

## SYNOPSIS

**sarien  \[-A\|--amiga**\]  \[**-a\|--agds**\]  \[**-C\|--crc**\]  \[**-c\|--cga-palette**\]  \[**-d\|--list-dictionary**\]  \[**-e\|--ega-palette**\]  \[**-F\|--full-screen**\]  \[**-g\|--no-gfx-optimizations**\]  \[**-H\|--hires** **0\|1**\]  \[**-h\|--help**\]  \[**-L\|--list-games**\]  \[**-m\|--agimouse**\]  \[**-n\|--no-sound**\]  \[**-p\|--picture-viewer**\]  \[**-o\|--list-objects**\]  \[**-S\|--scale** *num*\]  \[**-s\|--emulate-sound** *type*\]  \[**-r\|--aspect-ratio** **0\|1**\]  \[**-v\|--emulate-version** *version*\]  \[**-V\|--version**\]  \[**-x\|--no-x-shm**\]  \[*gamedir*\]

## DESCRIPTION

**Sarien** decodes and plays games written for the Sierra  On-Line Adventure Game Interpreter (AGI) system, such as Leisure Suit  Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards, Space Quest I and II, and  King's Quest I to IV. Currently AGI versions 2 and 3 are recognized;  support for older AGI v1 games is not available.

## OPTIONS

- **-A, --amiga**

  Tell the interpreter to read Amiga word-aligned resource files.

- **-a, --agds**

  Tell the interpreter to read AGDS games.

- **-C, --crc**

  Compute the CRC of the game resources and exit.

- **-c, --cga-palette**

  Emulate the PC CGA color palette. Appropriate for use with the PC  speaker sound emulation (see option **-E**).

- **-d, --list-dictionary**

  List dictionary words and exit.

- **-e, --ega-palette**

  Emulate the PC EGA color palette.

- **-F, --full-screen**

  Run the interpreter in full-screen mode, if supported by the  graphics driver. This mode is currently supported only by the SDL  driver.

- **-g, --no-gfx-optimizations**

  Disable any graphics driver optimizations in use by the graphics  driver. This option should be used with the X11 driver if the  display is being exported to a server with different endianness.

- **-H, --hires** **0\|1**

  Enable or disable double horizontal resolution for picture  drawing. When it's enabled pictures look better, but some artifacting  may appear. Hi-res mode can be also enabled or disabled from the  interpreter console at runtime.

- **-h, --help**

  Display a summary of available command-line parameters.

- **-L, --list-games**

  List recognized games and versions.

- **-m, --agimouse**

  Enable AGI Mouse 1.0 protocol emulation. Use this option only with  AGI Mouse games, since it interferes with normal AGI commands and  regular mouse operation.

- **-n, --no-sound**

  Disable sound output.

- **-o, --list-objects**

  List game objects and exit.

- **-p, --picture-viewer**

  Run the interpreter in picture viewer mode.

- **-r, --aspect-ratio** **0\|1**

  Enable or disable aspect ratio correction for square-pixel graphics  modes to match the PC EGA 320x200 display. Aspect ratio correction  is enabled by default in the drivers that support this feature.

- **-S, --scale** *num*

  Set window scaling to *num*. This option is available  in windowed graphics environments only. (Default scale is 2.)

- **-s, --emulate-sound** *type*

  Set the sound generator to emulate the output of Sierra's AGI in  different platforms. The available types are: **pc**,  **mac** and **amiga**.

- **-v, --emulate-version** *version*

  Emulate the specified AGI version, overriding any autodetected  defaults. Valid version numbers are: 2.089, 2.272, 2.440, 2.917,  2.936, 3.002.086, 3.002.149.

- **-V, --version**

  Show version number and exit.

- **-x, --no-x-shm**

  Disable X11 shared memory extension. This option should be used  if you're exporting the display to a remote X server.

## USER INPUT

The interpreter accepts user input using the keyboard or the mouse.  The mouse can be used to set ego destination, dismiss message boxes and  select menu options (left button) or enable and disable the interpreter  console (right button). User commands (such as **EXAMINE ROOM**   or **RESTORE GAME** can be typed in the user input area.

The following special keys are recognized during gameplay:

- **Arrow keys, numeric keypad**

  Control direction of ego walk. The destination point can be also  set left-clicking on the desired location. Selecting the same  direction twice or pressing **\<5\>** on the numeric keypad causes  ego to stop.

- **\<\`\>**

  Switch the interpter console on and off.

- **\<F11\>**

  Toggle debug information on the status line. If enabled, the current  room number, previous room number, current ego coordinates and last  clicked coordinates are shown on the status line.

- **\<F12\>**

  Show or hide the priority screen.

Other keys are set by the game being executed. Traditionally  **\<F3\>** is used to echo the last command line, and **\<TAB\>**   is used to show the inventory items. Please refer to the game  documentation or on-line help for a list of the supported keystrokes.

## CONSOLE COMMANDS

The interpreter console (activated by the **\<\`\>** key or the  right mouse button) can be used to inspect and modify AGI game  data at runtime, disassemble AGI bytecode and single-step  through logic scripts and instructions.

- **agiver**

  Show the AGI version we're emulating. AGI versions are listed in  **/etc/sarien.conf** or set using the **-v**       command line argument

- **cont**

  Resume interpreter execution after a debugging session.

- **crc**

  Show the CRC of the currently loaded AGI game. CRCs are used in  **/etc/sarien.conf** to identify games and set the  correct AGI version.

- **debug**

  Enter debug mode. AGI script execution will stop, and scripts  can be single-stepped using the **step** command.

- **flags**

  Show the value of all AGI flags.

- **f***n*

  Show the value of the AGI flag *n*.

- **f***n* = 0\|1

  Set or reset the AGI flag *n*.

- **help**

  Show a summary of the available console commands.

- **hires on\|off**

  Switch hi-res mode on/off. Pictures usually look better in hi-res  mode, but some undesired artifacting may appear. Use this command  to disable hi-res mode if you notice too much artifacting, or if  you want traditional Sierra AGI resolution. Hi-res mode affects  picture resources only.

- **logic0 on\|off**

  In debug mode, enable or disable single stepping on logic script 0.

- **load** *gamedir*

  Load and execute the AGI game specified by *gamedir*.

- **objs**

  List all available objects and their locations.

- **opcode on\|off**

  In debug mode, show or hide opcodes of the piece of code being  executed.

- **step** *n*

  In debug mode, single-step through *n* AGI instructions.

- **vars**

  List all AGI variables and their values.

- **v***n*

  Show the value of the AGI variable *n*.

- **v***n* = *m*

  Set the value of the AGI flag *n* to *m*.

- **ver**

  Show the Sarien interpreter version.

## FILES

## AUTHORS

Stuart George, Lance Ewing, Claudio Matsuoka, Felipe Rosinha,  Igor Nesterov, Vasyl Tsvirkunov, Thomas Akesson and others. See  the AUTHORS file in the distribution package for a complete list  of contributors.
