King's Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella
Description official descriptions
King Graham and Queen Valanice were glad to have their children back. Graham thinks that it is time to pass onto them his old adventurers' hat. When he throws it across the room, he suffers a heart attack and collapses on the floor, and he is carried off to bed. The only way that Graham's health can be restored is by retrieving the magic fruit in the faraway land of Tamir. A beautiful fairy called Genesta offers Rosella the chance to be transported to the land, and find the fruit. But once she gets transported, she cannot be sent back unless she helps the fairy regain her talisman that was stolen by the evil witch, Lolotte.
King's Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella is the first game in the series to have a female protagonist. Rosella will meet characters that will either help or hinder her. The player moves Rosella around with arrow keys, and have her perform actions by typing commands. Unlike the previous King's Quest games, which used the AGI engine, this installment uses the new SCI engine with more detailed graphics; the most visible effect is that the game is paused while the player is typing, giving unlimited time to complete even the longest commands. An AGI version of the game, however, was released as well.
Gameplay-wise, the game is similar to the first two installments of the series, with a large interconnected world open for exploration and no time limit imposed. The game is the first in the series to have a day and night cycle; certain actions can be performed only during a specific time.
Spellings
- King's Quest IV: המיסתורין של רוזאלה - Hebrew spelling
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Credits (DOS version)
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| Design | |
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| Programming (AGI) | |
| Programming (intro and ending movies) | |
| Interpreter / Development System | |
| Graphics / Artwork | |
| Animation | |
| Music | |
| Executive Producer | |
| Director | |
| Graphics System | |
| Cavalry Coding | |
| Wrangling | |
| [ full credits ] | |
Reviews
Discussion
| Subject | User | Date |
|---|---|---|
| An unconventional credit source | Lain Crowley (6777) | 2012-02-25 18:21:27 |
| It's not possible to visit the island at night, or is it? | Nowhere Girl (8581) | 2017-01-22 22:30:28 |
Trivia
Development
King's Quest IV began development right around the time Sierra wanted to go with a new game engine, so it was developed simultaneously in both game engines--the new one (SCI) so that they could work the kinks out, and the old one (AGI) so that they could still release a product if any major setbacks occurred with SCI. No such problems occurred, and King's Quest IV was released in two versions: The AGI version which traditional 160x200 graphics and only requiring 256k of RAM, and the new SCI version with 320x200 graphics, but requiring 512K of RAM. The older version is extremely hard to come by--it had a very limited release.
Gags
If you asked Rosella to "undress", she refused by replying that children might be playing the game.
Graphics
At the time of its release (and according to the box) this was the largest game ever made. Over 3 megabytes of code! The new graphics started a trend with the Sierra games of the late 80s and early 90s that would test the limits of how many disks can be crammed into a box... until CD-ROM became standard.
References
If you type in some vulgar words, the game will respond "Perhaps you should purchase a copy of Leisure Suit Larry instead?" For example, try "shit".
References to the game
Rosella makes a cameo appearance in Leisure Suit Larry Goes Looking for Love (In Several Wrong Places). She can be found tending the barbershop in the airport. In game when you type "look girl" it responds with:
"You find Daventry Women Sexy. (But then you find any woman sexy!)" followed up with the question, "By the way, have you played 'King's Quest IV' yet?
"Why no, I haven't " Larry replies, "is it good?"
"Well I certainly think so," she concludes, "maybe it's just me!"
Indeed, it is you Rosella. It is you. :)
Sound
The big deal with this game when it came out was that it incorporated stereo music support for sound cards. The composer, William Goldstein, also wrote the music for the musical Fame. Another big deal back then was the inclusion of a female protagonist.
Information also contributed by Adam Baratz, Brolin Empey, Michael Palomino, Olivier Masse and woods01
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Related Sites +
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DJvu Browser Plug-in
Website containing plug-in needed to view the Spring '89 issue of The Sierra Newsletter. -
Hints for KQ4
Wonderful hints nudge you along to help you solve the many puzzles in KQ4. -
ScummVM
supports the DOS and Apple IIgs versions of King's Quest IV under Windows, Linux, Macintosh and other platforms. -
The Sierra Newsletter - Spring '89
The Spring '89 issue contains an interesting article about "The Making of King's Quest IV". Worth a look. You must have the DJVu Browser plug-in in order to access the magazine.
Identifiers +
- MobyGames ID: 129
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by Andy Roark.
Amiga added by POMAH. Apple II added by Guy Chapman. Atari ST added by Terok Nor. Apple IIgs added by Servo.
Additional contributors: Katakis | カタキス, Jeanne, Crawly, Macs Black, Patrick Bregger.
Last modified February 27th, 2023.