Roger Wilco’s Janitorial Log #3 - Shopping! Seriously, guys? The Latex Babes have left me in the Galaxy Galleria mall, one of the foremost shopping establishments of the near future, without even a decent pair of pants. Well, I managed to buy myself some pants, make a few bucks, and even buy a Space Quest IV hintbook, but I have not yet found a way to escape my mercantile prison. As Jean-Paul Sartre once said, “Hell is other people shopping.” Something like that, anyway.
The walls in the mall are totally, totally tall. Also round |
But the real question is, why does Vohaul think that Roger will return to Space Quest XII to rescue the guy? Roger didn’t get to see the cutscene, only we did. Or is it like the way that Roger can casually check out the status bar? Where is the fourth wall in this game, anyway? Or is the question moot because he’ll be sending Roger the future equivalent of an email explaining the whole thing? I guess we’ll find out soon enough, but until then it is time for us to do some shopping!
My plan for right now is to circle clockwise around the mall and explore each of the shops in turn. From my dim childhood recollections, I think it is a circle so that should be a good a plan as any.
The first shop on the left is a women’s clothing store with dancing women in the windows. The clothes look vaguely 80s-meets-futuristic-chic, but honestly I’m not much of a judge of these things. But before I can get into the store to see what I can see, I realize the first thing I do not like about this section: the conveyor belts suck.
Oh, my goodness. It is the future 80s! |
Arcade: Noun. A covered passageway with arches along one or both sides. See? You learned something today. |
I want to make an obscure reference to “An Egg Scramble” (1950), the first Looney Tunes cartoon to feature Miss Prissy, but no one would get it and I’d feel bad. Just Google it. |
That is my first death of this play-session! I suppose I shouldn’t be too happy, but I restore back and resume my exploration of the mall where I left off.
You, sir, have a bright future in basketball. |
It’s been almost an entire game since I’ve had a Monolith Meal... |
The next store on my grand tour is the Monolith Burger, yet another carry-over from Space Quest III. It’s actually great to feel that Space Quest is building a consistent universe; I do not remember any carry-overs from the first two Space Quest games, but I may have forgotten something (Admin's note: Sludge Vohaul, perhaps?).
This Monolith Burger is practically closed: you cannot buy anything because they have no one to make any of the food. I’m not sure if this is supposed to be social commentary, but why exactly is the manager unable to cook anything himself? Well, no matter because he clearly sees my innate line-cooking skills and offers me a job on the spot. The whole saving-the-future thing is overrated anyway, right? I’m sure I can eke out a minimum wage existence in my own future.
Joking aside, the game does something really nice at this point: it lets me skip the minigame! I am prompted to either play the game or just take the money. Because I am in this for the full experience, I want to play the game, but I have to say that I really like the option to skip. This also suggests that Ms. Astro Chicken is only a fun aside rather than plot-related as I would otherwise have had to option to skip that as well, no?
The game isn’t too bad, but I had a few speed challenges. When I started I still had the speed setting that I used to get past the game’s timing problems (see the note on the previous post for an explanation), but that made it all but unplayable as the burgers careened down the conveyor faster than I could consistently deal. I adjusted the speed down to around the game’s default and that gave me a much better experience. I could have made it even slower, but that felt a bit like cheating. Cheaters never prosper.
After I fail, my boss kicks me out of the store and back into the mall proper. He also throws a partially finished cigar at me, but it lands on one of the moving walkways and we watch as it slowly makes its way off the screen. Yeah, yeah, I get the hint. Once I move again, I follow the cigar down the walkway to the mall entrance and pick it up.
Just like the Monolith Burger, you can’t really explore this store in the classic “adventure game” sort of way. Instead, you get to navigate a text menu that is strapped to the front of a robot. How futuristic!
Do you have any CueCats? |
- Under “Specials”, the “Re-Shrinkwrap 2000” for 1033 Buckazoids. It is listed as “Dealers Only”, but perhaps there is a way to become a dealer?
- Under “Electronic Gadgets”, a “PocketPal Portable Terminal” for 3406 Buckazoids. I already have one, so I doubt that I will need to buy this one.
- Also under “Electronic Gadgets”, a “PocketPal Connector”. The item description suggests that this is what I will need: “If you are a proud owner of our ever-popular PocketPal Portable Terminal, you have no doubt noticed that, without the proper connector, it is virtually useless.” It is 1999 Buckazoids.
Did You Know: In the 20th century, you had to go to stores like these to purchase software. |
Before I go inside, I need to pause for a second and talk about the music: outside the store, the background music changes to a medley of Sierra soundtracks. I immediately recognize the Quest for Glory theme and others are familiar, but I do not have a very good ear for this sort of thing, especially as I often play with the sound off so as not to disturb anyone. For a fine selection of vintage CAPs, can anyone name the rest of the theme tunes?
Is this a commentary on Ken Williams’s original business plan? |
The store itself is pretty empty, but there are a few items in the bargain bin that we can check out. Naturally, each of the titles seems to be a parody of a game popular at the time that Space Quest IV came out. Some of them are pretty obvious, while others are more obscure. Let’s take a look what’s inside:
- “BOOM” - Clearly a take on Loom, which we just played in the blog not so long ago.
- “Where in the World is Hymie Lipschitz” - An ethnicity- and gender-swapped version of the Carmen Sandiego games? I loved those games as a kid, but it seems that the last one came out in 2001. Hit it, Rockapella!
- “Sim Sim” - A simulator simulator! Probably more interesting than “The Sims”
- “King’s Quest XXXVIII: Quest for Disk Space” - An amazing future King’s Quest game (by Roberta Williams III) featuring King Graham dealing with his condo association. It takes 12 gigabytes of storage which must have seemed impossibly large in 1991, but not unusual for a big-budget console game today.
- “Chuck Eggers Advanced Chicken Simulator” - An Astro Chicken version of the Chuck Yeager flight simulators that were popular back in the day. The last one of these came out in 1991.
- “Checkerboard Construction Set” - Wow. I have no idea about this one. “Bard’s Tale Construction Set” was released around the same time as SQ4, so that could be it.
- “It Came For Dessert” - I have absolutely no idea on this one at all.
“Boy, how stupid could I have been? A moron could’ve figured that out.” - Oh yes, I’ve said that many times recently. (Curse you, Mission Asteroid for being so obvious yet so difficult!) |
Except, that isn’t exactly true! One of the questions is “I’m in the stupid Time Pod. Where else can I go?” and one of the answers is a partially obscured time code!
Something tells me that I can merge that time code with the one I found in the gum wrapper to get to Ulence Flats. And that information would be somewhat more useful if I actually could get back to a time pod. Oh well, I’ll just file that away for later! The rest of the answers in the book are funny, but none of them stand out as being relevant to the actual game. I have also recently ordered the real Space Quest IV hintbook and will do a comparison with this fake one. If I find anything interesting, I’ll include that in an upcoming post, assuming that it arrives on time.
And with that, I have made the full circuit and visited every shop! This seems like a good a time as any to close out this week’s post. I have a few leads to follow and next time I will try to get the Pocket Pal Connector, but I have no idea at this point how to get back to the time pod. Do the Latex Babes just come pick you back up? Do I find a new one? I guess we’ll find out when we get there. This has been a really fun segment and it seems that the Two Guys had a lot of fun building all of the parody here. I hope the rest of the game maintains this energy!
Deaths: 1 (40 total)
Inventory: Pocket Pal (with battery), Unstable Ordnance, Bunny (sans Battery), Jar of Goo, 67 Buckazoids, Gum Wrapper, a hint book, a cigar, and an ATM card.
Time played: 1:25
Total time: 6:00
Note Regarding Spoilers and Companion Assist Points: There’s a set of rules regarding spoilers and companion assist points. Please read it here before making any comments that could be considered a spoiler in any way. The short of it is that no points will be given for hints or spoilers given in advance of me requiring one. Please...try not to spoil any part of the game for me...unless I really obviously need the help...or I specifically request assistance. In this instance, I've not made any requests for assistance. Thanks!
Science Fiction References Contest!
Total time: 6:00
Note Regarding Spoilers and Companion Assist Points: There’s a set of rules regarding spoilers and companion assist points. Please read it here before making any comments that could be considered a spoiler in any way. The short of it is that no points will be given for hints or spoilers given in advance of me requiring one. Please...try not to spoil any part of the game for me...unless I really obviously need the help...or I specifically request assistance. In this instance, I've not made any requests for assistance. Thanks!
Science Fiction References Contest!
Andy_Panthro has kindly agreed to donate a game to the commenter that posts the most obscure sci-fi reference that they can find in Space Quest IV. Man, this is a game series that just takes and adapts science fiction, so it should be a lot of fun to find the little elements that I suspect I am missing. Is the sea monster from some Japanese monster movie? Are the futuristic zombies adapted from a book? Does Roger’s uniform strongly resemble one from a certain popular series? These answers or similar might win you a game, so I hope you participate.
I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic about not picking up the reference to "It Came From (The) Desert"...
ReplyDeleteWhen I replayed SQ4 a short while ago - the main reason I'm not playing along with you - I recall that the burger creation minigame was oodles and oodles easier played on keyboard with the arrow keys. Just pointing it out in case you're thinking about giving the game a stern mental glare for it.
Wow. "It Came From The Desert" completely slipped my mind, probably because I never played it as a kid and we are not playing it on the blog (as far as I know).
DeleteI may play around with the arrow keys if I replay that section, but I'm already past it in both the CD-ROM and floppy versions, so probably not.
And frankly, I think Hz. So Good is a much better joke than Radio Shock, so the censors did some good on this occasion.
ReplyDeleteThey wasted the name. A shop called Hz. So Good should be selling sci-fi-themed BDSM gear.
DeleteYou also hear the King's Quest music at the software store sometimes
ReplyDeletePretty sure there's a brief bit of the Leisure Suit Larry theme too.
DeleteI believe you need to be wearing pants to get hired at Monolith Burger (or that's what my 20 year old memory is telling me).
ReplyDeleteAh, just noticed you mentioned that in the caption. Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's right. Or maybe it was the lack of shoes (that's what the sign mentions).
Delete(Admin's note: Sludge Vohaul, perhaps?)
ReplyDeleteUnfair -- that's a bit of a retcon: the scientist in SQ1 is Slash Vohaul, and I still have only a very vague understanding of how this dead helpful NPC turns into a living antagonist in #2.
“Checkerboard Construction Set”
This was actually a phenomenon, starting with Bill Budge's Pinball Construction Set... EA released a number of them, culminating in the Bard's Tale one. www.mobygames.com/game-group/electronic-arts-construction-set-series
(There actually was an Adventure Construction Set, but it generated what Stuart Smith considered adventures, somewhat of a dead branch of the genre.)
you can use a special pen to reveal the answers to each one
This is, incidentally, exactly how the Infocom InvisiClue hint books worked.
(Bonus gaming trivia: the inventor of the InvisiClues, Michael Dornbrook, who started up as a dedicated Zork fan filling a market need, ended up being the producer of the "Guitar Hero" series.)
For the record, I considered Mr. Vohaul (and even Xenon) as a bit obvious. I was referring to other elements of the universe.
DeleteYeah, it was perhaps a bit cheap to mention Vohaul. But otherwise it's very difficult to point out any recurring elements from previous games, at this point of SQ4 (you'll see something else later). SQ3 already had some elements from the previous games, like Orat, the monster of SQ1, that was sold on a stick at Pestulon.
DeleteIt's no retcon. Sludge Vohaul is Slash's evil clone. This is all explained with Slash's dying breath in the original SQ1.
Deletehttp://spacequest.wikia.com/wiki/Slash_Vohaul
Screenshot of Hz So Good is shown twice (I think the second time is supposed to be the software store exterior).
ReplyDeleteI don't think that's necessarily a commentary on Ken Williams' business plan - it was a real experience I remember having almost any time I visited a software store in a mall as a child in the late 80s/early 90s. Looking around for cool games, but all they had was boring financial or word processing software, lame!
Yeah. It's right in the original doc, must be a cut-and-paste error.
DeleteMy mistake, now it should be correct.
DeleteIt was a bit ironic that a game, for which I bought for the first and only time a hint book, had a hint book as an in-game plot element. At least with the SQ4 hint book I had, there was no pen, but a special cardboard card with a strip of red, transparent plastic, through which the hints were read.
ReplyDeleteAs a youngster, I used to cheat to get as much money as possible at Monolith Burger. The speed setting was put all the way down, and you can use the arrow keys and enter to create the burgers. This would get you quite a few buckazoids before the game got too fast. Still not enough buckazoids for a PocketPal Terminal Connector though!
ReplyDeleteIn my current on-going playthrough: (spoilers, ROT13) V znantrq gb gevttre gur frdhry cbyvpr neevivat orsber V'q npghnyyl znantrq gb npuvrir nalguvat bs abgr va gur znyy, bgure guna univat ertnvarq zl gebhfref. Vg zrnag qrnyvat jvgu Fxngr-b-Enzn rneyvre guna nagvpvcngrq, ohg gunaxshyyl gur tbt irefvba unaqyrq vg jryy naq V rfpncrq ba zl frpbaq nggrzcg.
Not sure if this is just the CD version, but I would take a moment to go back to the Monolith Burger arcade game and have a good look (and smell and taste), you might be pleasantly surprised!
ReplyDelete>when you reduce the number of verbs in the game down to essentially “use”,
ReplyDelete>things happen that the player does not expect
This is one of my major gripes with overly simple point&click interfaces - the game easily degenerates to "mindlessly click on everything". Had this happen in Tesla Effect for example.