Space Quest IV - Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers © 1991 Sierra On-Line, Inc.
Discover the most burlesque and satirical world of space ever to come to the computer screen! Learn how to survive with your favorite hero and stand your ground in the face of an evil assault force from the Cosmos. A force which is determined to make this adventure the last one in the series... The future of the next Space Quest lies in your hands!
Deadly crosstime assassins are out to put an end to Roger and all this Space Quest nonsense once and for all.
A space opera that will leave you laughing. Hand painted, futuristic color graphics, realistic animation & scrolling screen.
Released on March 04, 1991 in the USA.
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.
The games at the software store are all parodies of other games. Here's a list of the parodied games:
Boom by Morrie Brianarty is a parody of Loom by Brian Moriarty.
It came for Dessert is a parody of It came from the Desert.
Defender of the Crown Rib Roast is a parody of Defender of the Crown.
Where in the World is Hymie Lipshitz (and who really cares) is a parody on Where in the World is Carmen Santiego.
Sim Sim from MaxThis is a parody on the Sim games from Maxis.
Cluck Egger lets you design a chicken and fly it over barnyard scenery. This is a parody on the flight simulator Chuck Yeager.
References:
1) Cedric, the owl from King's Quest V has an appearance in the Ms. Astro Chicken game at the Galaxy Galleria's Arcade.
2) In the Control room of the SuperComputer, two programs immediately come to mind: King's Quest and Leisure Suit Larry.
3) When you're in the pterodactyl's nest on Estros, you can see something streak across the sky. This is in fact King Graham being carried by a condor (from King's Quest).
4) The Quest for Glory theme music is occasionally played in the Software Store at the Galaxy Galleria, made out to sound like a PC internal speaker.
5) At the Big and Tall store at the Galaxy Galleria, you can occasionally spot a guy rummaging around, occasionally pulling out a pair of red shorts. This is Bob Andrews, former Sierra OnLine programmer.
6) Luke Skywalker's little red speeder is disguised as the crashed hovercraft on the Xenon streets.
7) The trash can in the Galleria's Arcade is one of the agents from Get Smart.
8) During your visit to Ulence Flats, the Blues Brothers appear on stage at the bar, since they also appear in Space Quest 1.
9) The robots in the SuperComputer are the Imperial ProBots from the Star Wars movies.
10) When you first visit the Software Store at the Galaxy Galleria, the bouncer will tell you that the Two Geeks From Andromeda are in there, signing copies of their latest release.
Aside from the narrator Gary Owens, all voices in the game are done by Sierra employees. Guy from Andromeda Scott Murphy even does the voice of Sludge Vohaul.
Originally, the time pod codes could only be found in the manual as a form of copy protection. In later releases, the codes were added to the game.
At some point near the end of the game, you are presented with a computer that has a GUI with a few icons and a toilet and you must flush a malicious program (remember - we're in 1990 where GUIs on PCs were not that common yet). There was an icon labeled SQ4: if you dragged it in the toilet, the game ended without warning and dropped you abruptly to the DOS prompt.
There's a secret time code in the game that takes you to Ortega (SQ3). It's simple: type in the top row left to right, then type in the leftmost symbol in the second row. There are also persistent rumors that there's a code for Space Quest II, but it's never been found.
Original Concept: Mark Crowe, Scott Murphy
Project Leader: Scott Murphy
Lead Design: Mark Crowe, Scott Murphy
Programming: Oliver Brelsford, Juan Carlos Escobar, Brian K. Hughes, Mike Larsen, Randy MacNeill, Doug Oldfield, Raoul Said, Jerry Shaw
Graphics / Artwork: Jane Cardinal, Eric Kasner, Jeff Crowe, Desie Hartman, James Larsen, Nathan Larsen, Suzi Livengood, Cheryl Loyd, Michael A. Milo, Gerald Moore, Jennifer Shontz, Cheryl Sweeney, Willis Wong, Jon Bock
Music / Sound Programming: Ken Allen, Robert Atesalp, Mark Seibert
Special Thanks To: Oliver Brelsford, Brian K. Hughes, Josh Mandel, Doug Oldfield
Development Team: Corey Cole, Dan Foy, Pablo Ghenis, Eric Hart, John Hartin, Robert Eric Heitman, J. Mark Hood, Terry McHenry, John Rettig, Larry Scott, Jeff Stephenson, Mark Wilden
Executive Producer: Ken Williams
Creative Director: Bill Davis
Producer: Guruka Singh Khalsa
Art Designer: Mark Crowe
Lead Programmer: Scott Murphy
Music Director: Mark Seibert
The Role of Roger Wilco: James Larsen
Additional Material: Josh Mandel
Quality Assurance: Mike Harian, Daniel Scott
Manual Editor: Marti McKenna
Manual Design: Cheryl Sweeney
Manual Contributors: Flip Quasar, Hugh Iotta, Josh Mandel, Brian K. Hughes, Joe Krittik
Box design by: Terry Robinson
Narrator: Gary Owens
An Atari ST port was planned but cancelled.
See Goodies section.