EcoQuest: The Search for Cetus Overview
EcoQuest: The Search for Cetus is a Sierra adventure game designed with a younger audience in mind, featuring an easy difficulty level. Players control Adam, a twelve-year-old boy and scuba diver, who is drawn into an underwater quest after his father, an ecologist, saves a dolphin.
The narrative centers on the discovery that this dolphin, named Delphineus, can speak and serves as a messenger for the whale king Cetus. Adam is subsequently recruited to aid the inhabitants of the aquatic realm of Eluria. While the adventure involves supernatural elements like talking sea creatures, it incorporates educational content about real marine life, their habitats, and the dangers posed by human activity.
Interaction with the game world uses a standard point-and-click verb interface, where players select commands to examine objects and converse with characters. A notable design choice is the removal of permanent failure states, preventing the player from dying or reaching an unwinnable scenario. The CD-ROM release of the game adds voice acting to the experience.
