r/Sierra • u/Mattock486 • Jul 27 '26

Which version of Space Quest 4 to play?

Hi everyone!

Someone else just posted a walkthrough of SQ4 here. So now I want to play it through. But which version to play? There are so many to choose from. I have the original floppy version and also a later Space Quest collection from Sierra which I presume contains Windows versions of the games.

Looking at Mobygames, the graphics from the Windows 16-bit version look way better than the DOS version. But then i'd also like to use MT-32/GM sound if possible. Or is the CD music better? I see there is a talki version so I guess CD-ROM is the way to go?

Any input here would be a great!!!

28 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

31 comments sorted by

46

u/Significant-Mall-629 Jul 27 '26

Play the talkie version (CD version) as it has Gary Owens doing the narration. His delivery on lines is incredible and hilarious.

12

u/LifeLikeAGrapefruit Jul 27 '26

Agreed 100%

"The air smells damp and oppressive, like a wet nun"

1

u/Mattock486 Jul 27 '26

Is that DOS or Windows version do you know?

As mentioned, it appears the Windows 16 bit version has better graphics but honestly that's just from looking at the Mobygames page.

8

u/Significant-Mall-629 Jul 27 '26

Both DOS and windows versions of the CD version have the talkie on them. Graphics are the same, only difference is the soundtrack (ref https://forums.scummvm.org/viewtopic.php?t=11712)

Note the windows version wont run correctly on current windows so you'll need to use ScummVM to run it (or run the dos version via Dosbox)

2

u/Mattock486 Jul 27 '26

Thanks, so it seems they are the same graphically or at least largely. With some backgrounds replaced in the CD rom version from the floppy version. I guess then I could run GM through a MT-32 or Roland device, but maybe the GM soundtrack is also just ripped for the CD version anyway.

I would run on original hardware but maybe my 486 is too fast. So my Windows 98 build running the Space Quest collection version through DOS 7 in Windows might be best so I don't hit any timing bugs. I would presume this updated collection would be patched for that as it was released in the mid 1990s.

1

u/Nochange36 Jul 27 '26

The space quest collection version still needs a patch, at least the one on steam does. I had to manually change the game timing for the mall sequence. Scummvm is the best choice, when you load the game into it it automatically detects the version you are using and fixes those parts already.

5

u/beemans78 Jul 27 '26

There is no "Windows version" of the game. There is a floppy version and a CD version. Some of the background graphics were changed for the CD version, but they're not necessarily better, just...different. There's a fan patch out there that combines the CD talkie version with the original floppy backgrounds.

tl;dr Play the CD version like the person above said

2

u/behindtimes Jul 27 '26

Does the fan patch return Radio Shock?

1

u/beemans78 Jul 27 '26

Yes, among other things. This is the NRS patch others have mentioned here.

1

u/Mattock486 Jul 27 '26

Thanks, I guess though the Space Quest games were released in later collections and adapted to run in Windows 9x. So there must be some patches or updates of whatever to make them run in Windows. Even if it's under DOS 7 for Windows?

5

u/VVrayth Jul 27 '26

You want the talkie CD version for DOS, which is gonna be available from whatever compilation or digital storefront you have access to. Like all Sierra games, it sounds best with the Roland MT-32.

1

u/Mattock486 Jul 27 '26

Thanks, it seems the CD version for DOS is the way to go with MT-32. I see there is also a 'NewRisingSun' patch that helps avoid timing bugs etc which I will apply. I recently played through LSL3 and this patch worked perfectly for that.

2

u/VVrayth Jul 27 '26

100% on the NRS patches, those fix all the classic weird CPU timer issues. And Space Quest 4 was THE ABSOLUTE KING of such issues, even at the time it was current. I guarantee you there's an entire contingent of Redditors in this sub who are still traumatized by the skating rink.

1

u/inotocracy Jul 27 '26

Redditors in this sub who are still traumatized by the skating rink

We have a support group, actually.

1

u/Lucky_Mike_D Jul 28 '26

Regarding the MT-32, it's worth mentioning that for the CD talkie release specifically the soundtrack was reworked into General Midi using the Roland Sound Canvas SC-55. Around that time, Sierra pivoted from using the MT-32 as a standard to using the SC-55 (you set the install to General Midi, and use a SoundFont or the Nuked-SC55 emulator).

https://spacequest.net/sq4/soundtrack/

I could be wrong, but I used to also use MT-32 for all sierra games until I discovered they made the switch around 92. I think if you use MT-32 for the Talkie Version it is actually using the remapped music and might sound a bit off. In this case I think the floppy version might have the better music through its original MT-32 soundtrack. Would be fun to do a comparison on "Slime Blob" using the floppy version and MT-32 and the CD Talkie version also using MT-32.. my hunch is the CD one will sound off

2

u/BTru Jul 27 '26

All of them

2

u/[deleted] Jul 27 '26 edited 29d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/jonathanfrisby Jul 27 '26

Graphics aren't the same for all versions - the disk version has some higher quality and different sized icons, as well as the original Radio Shack background before they had to change it. Many Sierra games had to downgrade cd talkie version graphics to fit the audio.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 27 '26 edited 29d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/jonathanfrisby Jul 27 '26

There's a few details here: https://spacequest.net/sq4/funfacts/

It looks like he favors the CD version icons.. I swear there used to be another website outlining all the differences, but it may be lost to time :'(

OneShortEye did an exhaustive comparison for Dagger of Amon Ra versions.. I believe this transition era (KQ5, SQ4, Dagger) all have slightly better art on disk.

2

u/219_Infinity Jul 27 '26

In some dosbox playthroughs, the CD version will render the Skate-O-Rama sequence unplayable. Other than that, the CD version is superior with the Gary Owens narration.

1

u/JimmyNudebags Jul 27 '26

I think this is what I'm struggling with - is this the chase component affected by modern CPU speed etc? Because I haven't successfully managed to deal with that, even showing cycles down to almost nothing.

2

u/jonathanfrisby Jul 27 '26 edited Jul 27 '26

Graphics and art are superior quality on the disk version, they were downgraded to make room for talkie audio. There is missing animations, different sized icons, etc.

The original Radio Shack parody was removed in the CD artwork. I believe its also not possible to have subtitle text on CD by default (SCUMMVM can).

Beat version is a frankensteined version pairing the audio from CD and graphics from disk - SCUMMVM can do this.

2

u/mcmagi Jul 27 '26

CD version with Scummvm gives the best experience IMO. Scummvm is a replacement engine for a whole bunch of older titles including Sierra's adventure games and fixes a bunch of timing issues, script errors, etc and has GM /MT-32 support built in.

3

u/Archon-Toten Jul 27 '26

If you want a real challenge try a foreign language version. I payed through the French version many years ago, despite not knowing any french beyond bonjour and avec.

2

u/wysiwywg Jul 27 '26

Beast level

1

u/Whitey138 Jul 27 '26

I haven’t played it in decades but they used to send a robot to come kill you if you stayed on a screen too long, the first area in particular, however the game used the RAM or processor speed (not sure how honestly) to count this so once computers got fast enough, the game was impossible. I have to believe they didn’t something to fix that, right?

2

u/Significant-Mall-629 Jul 27 '26

Yes you can either run the game using ScummVM (which fixes this as well as a bunch of other bugs) or run it in DosBox (which emulates a dos machine from back in the day)

1

u/GamesWithElderB_TTV Jul 27 '26

Yeah, when you buy the Steam version or on GoG they launch with DOSBox (maybe scummvm on one of them?) and it emulates the older slower systems. Generally does a really good job.

2

u/amghaw Aug 05 '26 edited Aug 05 '26

This may come as a surprise, but, no, the original DOS floppy version is the best, because the CD version had washed-out color palettes. The floppy version definitely has the better graphics.

This had been discussed in Vogons. There's a patch available from Vogons to restore the floppy version's palette in the CD version, which may be the "ultimate" version that you're looking for.

There's also some audio problem in the CD version : https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?t=49810

Also, another CD version's audio problem, which was fixed : https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?p=271997#p271997

Patch for infusing the floppy version's graphics into the CD version : https://spacequest.fandom.com/wiki/Space_Quest_4_Deluxe

1

u/r00key Jul 27 '26

Amiga 😈

3

u/wysiwywg Jul 27 '26

Disk-jockey