Space Quest IV: Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers
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| Space Quest IV: Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers | |
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| Developer(s) | Sierra |
| Publisher(s) | Sierra |
| Designer(s) | Mark Crowe and Scott Murphy |
| Engine | SCI |
| Release date(s) | 1991 |
| Genre(s) | Adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Kids to Adults |
| Platform(s) | DOS, Windows, Macintosh, Amiga, NEC PC-9801 |
| Media | 3.5" Floppy Disk or 5.25" Floppy Disk or CD |
| System requirements | 8088/8086 CPU, 640KB RAM, EGA, MCGA, Tandy/PCjr, or VGA graphics,Adlib, Game Blaster, PC speaker, PS/1 Audio Card, Roland MT-32, Sound Blaster, Tandy DAC (TL/SL), or Tandy/PCjr sound card |
| Input | Keyboard, Joystick or Mouse |
Space Quest IV was released on floppy disks on March 4, 1991, and released on CD-ROM in December 1992 with full speech support and featuring Laugh-In announcer Gary Owens as the voice of the narrator. It featured 256-color hand painted graphics and a fully mouse-driven interface. It was one of the first games to use motion capture animation. The game cost over US$1,000,000 to produce and sold more than its three predecessors combined.
[edit] Plot
In this installment, Roger embarks on a wacky time-travel adventure through Space Quest games both past and future. An infomorph of reborn Sludge Vohaul from Space Quest XII chases Roger through time in an attempt to finally kill him. Roger also visits Space Quest X: Latex Babes of Estros (whose title is a parody of Infocom's game Leather Goddesses of Phobos) and Space Quest I; in the latter, the graphics and music revert to the style of the original game and Roger is threatened by a group of monochromatic bikers who consider Roger's 256 colors pretentious.
Like SQ III, SQ IV featured a mini-game: Ms. Astro Chicken.
An easter egg in this game is accessed by entering the code in the time capsule as the top row of buttons in order from left to right. (It is advisable to save your game before trying this.) This transports Roger to the volcanic planet of Ortega in Space Quest III. Unfortunately, this time Roger is not wearing any thermal underwear, so as soon as he steps out of the capsule, he melts.
Another easter egg near the end plays on the desktop format of Macintosh computers, featuring a toilet in place a waste basket. Certain icons must be "flushed" down the toilet; however, if the icon "SQIV" is deleted in this way, the game closes and sends the player immediately to a DOS prompt. An additional icon, referring to King's Quest, brings up a message when "flushed" indicating that a massive amount of data has been deleted, referring obliquely to the large number of 5.25-inch disks early versions in that series required on some systems.
[edit] Trivia
- Roger Wilco's hair has inexplicably changed from brown to blonde in the interface upgrade. The same would later happen to his fellow adventure game leads Devon Aidendale (in the other direction) and Guybrush Threepwood.
- This game featured a parody of the Energizer bunny.
| Preceded by Space Quest III: The Pirates of Pestulon |
Space Quest IV: Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers 1992 |
Succeeded by Space Quest V: The Next Mutation |
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| Games | Space Quest I: The Sarien Encounter Space Quest II: Vohaul's Revenge Space Quest III: The Pirates of Pestulon Space Quest IV: Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers Space Quest V: The Next Mutation Space Quest 6: The Spinal Frontier |
| Characters | Roger Wilco • Two Guys from Andromeda |
