King's Quest IV - The Perils Of Differing SCI Versions

[Cloudschatze]

Just noticed this today. For all I know, it's common knowledge...


1.000.111


1.006.004



1.000.111


1.006.004



1.000.111


1.006.004



1.000.111


1.006.004



1.000.111


1.006.004


There are a great many other differences, including the night scenery. It seems like Sierra might have been trying to create a better sense of depth with the later release by "obscuring" the detail in distant objects. I think I prefer the artwork of the earlier version, with the exception of the skull-cave exterior.

As for the big bottle of blood... Well, there was absolutely NO excuse for its removal.  

[MusicallyInspired]

Oh great. Something else I have to collect. I thought I was done except for the SQ4 beta. :p

[Alistair]

The blood's there, it's just smaller.

I agree- from the screenies, the AGI versions looks nicer. I bet you money the majority of the game suffers from the AGI art- unless of course the SCI version is converted AGI, which is possible.

I'd be curious to see:
- The screen with the bridge and the lilypads
- Lolotte's Castle Exterior

- Alistair

[Cloudschatze]

The blood's there, it's just smaller.

The impact just isn't there. 

I agree- from the screenies, the AGI versions looks nicer.

Which AGI versions? All of the posted pictures are from the SCI0 releases.

I'd be curious to see:
- The screen with the bridge and the lilypads
- Lolotte's Castle Exterior

I wasn't exactly sure what you were referring to, so here's a selection. (The castle/mountain artwork is exactly the same for both releases.)


1.000.111



1.006.004



1.000.111



1.006.004



1.000.111



1.006.004



1.000.111



1.006.004

[BlueMax]

wow....  I'd have never known!!

[MusicallyInspired]

Does the earlier version of KQ4SCI have those two trees in the foreground at the pool screen (where Cupid flies in) like in the AGI version?

[Cloudschatze]

Does the earlier version of KQ4SCI have those two trees in the foreground at the pool screen (where Cupid flies in) like in the AGI version?

1.000.111


1.006.004


As mentioned earlier, there are also big differences in the night scenery. Where the earlier version has full, separate night pics, the later version mainly utilizes overlays. (Looks like Sierra hadn't yet implemented multiple color palettes, ala Hero's Quest.)


1.000.111


1.006.004

[Marten]

I think I prefer the artwork of the earlier version, with the exception of the skull-cave exterior.

After seeing the new "night" images, that solidified my opinion.  I agree, the earlier version looked better in every case other than the skull-cave, and that's only because I like the rocks in that one better.  The old version looks like they forgot to paint in some parts.

[Tom]

Things like the big bottle of blood and the two small trees in front of the pool, you might remember being different -- but I doubt the average gamer would notice most of the other artistic changes.  Fascinating.  I also like the earlier versions better.  (Though I don't think that's what Sierra hoped for.) 

[discobobdude]

cool! never noticed that before!

[chixdiggit]

If I recall correctly there may be a more significance when viewing these fullscreen at the proper resolutions? The sprites however do have much more detail in the SCI version ... I think.

Is there a compendium of all the different released / available versions of the classic games?

[Cloudschatze]

If I recall correctly there may be a more significance when viewing these fullscreen at the proper resolutions? The sprites however do have much more detail in the SCI version ... I think.

The screenshots in this thread are comparisons of the two SCI versions - not the AGI version.

[MusicallyInspired]

Indeed.

AGI


SCI 1.000.111


SCI 1.006.004

[Great Hierophant]

So, why did Sierra bother?  This was not an inconsequential amount of work.  I can understand updating the game to support the newer version of SCI to improve support for additional sound cards.

[jharris01]

My guess is they changed the artwork as they began to support more platforms. Apply to the lowest common denominator sort of thinking.

My favorite theory is it was simply a design choice. Along the way someone made the arbitrary decision. Take for example the trees removed in one of the picture examples. Maybe they thought programming-wise it was better to keep it simple. Save time or effort (maybe meet a deadline) from having to write the necessary collision detection code for the pair of trees. Maybe they wanted to make it easier for the player to fall into the pool.

Actually I propose the argument the later ones look better. The art may look simpler but they have a cleaner, less pixelated quality to them.

[NewRisingSUn]

Sierra specifically refers to the later version as the "eight disk version" (KQ4.DOC February 15th, 1989), whereas the earlier version with the more detailed graphics indeed has nine disks. So I'm positive that the graphics were simplified to save disk space, and not for any aesthetic reason.

[MusicallyInspired]

Maybe they thought programming-wise it was better to keep it simple. Save time or effort (maybe meet a deadline) from having to write the necessary collision detection code for the pair of trees.

Except that there's no extra code needed for collision detection. It's an automatic function of the interpreter which senses white lines in the Control screen of a picture resource (which is made up of 3 parts: picture, priority, and control). All that's needed is to draw white lines in the Control screen and the character will stop. It's a built-in function of the basic main scripts of SCI games. Maybe even the interpreter itself.