Why wasn’t Space Quest 5 a CD game?

[Unknown,Unknown]

Now I’m not one to care about “talkie” versions and all that. I don’t think speech or better graphics necessarily make a game better but I always wondered why sierra didn’t put out a SQ5 CD version. Sorry if someone has asked this already.

[Unknown,Unknown]

(re: Why wasn’t Space Quest 5 a CD game?)

I think the reason was that SQ5 didn’t really sell all that well. I recall a majority of Sierra games from the ’91-93 period were being periodically re-released with enhanced audio and speech. When SQ5 came out, it was my understanding it didn’t sell well enough to warrent for the game to be put back in production and manufacturing on CD.
Or I could be wrong. 😉

[Unknown,Unknown]

(re: Why wasn’t Space Quest 5 a CD game?) SpaceQuest.net is definitely the best resource of Space Quest information. I’m sure Frans won’t mind if I quote his website to partly answer your question (maybe Ken remembers other things about this time and how SQ5 was developed at Dynamix instead of at Sierra) – this is in the Space Quest 5 section under the Funfacts heading:

Have you ever wondered why Space Quest 5 doesn’t have “voices”? After Space Quest 5 was released they were in fact working on it. Sierra’s Official Hint Book confirms this. It says: “Finally, 14 months after the preliminary design meetings were held, SQ5 was shipped to eager Space Quest fans across the galaxy. But the story doesn’t end there, The Next Mutation will be translated into five languages and converted to a full-voice CD-ROM version as well.” Sean Murphy, an artist on the Space Quest 5 project adds: “I can’t say for certain; I seem to recall that we had actually started work on doing just that [preparing a CD-Rom version of SQ5]. I think that politics and the fact that Dynamix was going through a very rough financial period at that time prevented us from doing any supplemental work on it… I suspect that the management was eager to move on to another “big profit” project instead of spending time and resources for a “gold” version of an already-released game.”

[Unknown,Unknown]

(re: Why wasn’t Space Quest 5 a CD game?)

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe the version of SQ5 released in the Space Quest Collector’s Edition (the very first one, released in 1994 in the blue box) did in fact have voices; the collection was released only about a year after SQ5. I seem to very clearly remember the narrator reading the line, “My, what a wonderful smell you’ve discovered” when you open the door in the ship and dump garbage all over the floor. Perhaps Sierra decided to focus on the Collector’s Edition and put the voice version of the game in that, since it was released so quickly.

[Unknown,Unknown]

(re: Why wasn’t Space Quest 5 a CD game?) “My, what a wonderful smell you’ve discovered”

No, there was never a voice version. You just have Star Wars in your head.

[Unknown,Unknown]

(re: Why wasn’t Space Quest 5 a CD game?)

You’re thinking of Space Quest IV. I have that collection and it doesnt have voices on V.

[Unknown,Unknown]

Funny I seem to remember 5 having voices as well, but I suppose thats why Gary Owens is only credited with doing the narration for 4 and 6. Im sure they would have had him on board for 5 if it was ever done…I need to find my copy of 5….

[Unknown]

This message won’t get published here because it’s critical of Sierra. But that’s what screengrabs are for.

Why are women so poorly portrayed in every single one of your games?

Just a question not more complicated than that.

—————-

Happy to respond:

Our designers were mostly women, probably more women in positions of control over their games than any major game company in history:

Roberta Williams
Lorelei Shannon
Lori Cole
Jane Jenson
Tammy Dargan
Christy Marx

And, apologies, but I think there are other female designers I’m forgetting.

Is your contention that all of these women portrayed women poorly? I certainly don’t remember them that way.

-Ken W

[Author]

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