King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow

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King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow

Developer(s)	Sierra
Publisher(s)	Sierra
Release date(s)	September 30, 1992
Genre(s)	Adventure game
Mode(s)	Single player
Platform(s)	MS-DOS, Macintosh, Apple IIgs, Amiga, Atari ST

King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow is the sixth installment in the King's Quest series of adventure games made by Sierra Entertainment. It is widely recognized as the high point of the series for its in-depth plot, landmark 3D graphic introduction movie, and professional voice acting (Hollywood actor Robby Benson provided the voice for Prince Alexander, the game's protagonist). KQVI was written in Sierra's Creative Interpreter and was the last King's Quest game to be released on floppy disc. A CD-ROM version of the game was also released, including more character voices, a slightly different opening movie and more detailed artwork and animation. The title is a play on "Here today, gone tomorrow".

1 Story
2 Name
3 Description
4 Packaging
5 Versions
6 External links

[edit] Story

Prince Alexander is haunted and tormented by his memories of the beautiful Princess Cassima. They met at the end of King's Quest V when Alexander's father King Graham freed his family and the kidnapped princess from the wizard Mordack, but have not seen each other since. The magic mirror sends Alexander a vision of Cassima at home in the far-off Land of the Green Isles. Alexander sets sail for the Green Isles, but is shipwrecked in a storm. Alexander washes up onshore alone with nothing but the clothes on his back and some ship wreckage.

He soon learns that Cassima is being held prisoner in her castle by Abdul Alhazred, the evil Vizier of the Green Isles. Abdul has murdered the King and Queen and plans to force Cassima to marry him so that he can rule the Land of the Green Isles himself. Alexander must expose the Vizier's plot, stop the wedding, and free Cassima. Alexander also discovers that the islands of the kingdom are on the verge of war. Precious artifacts from each island have been stolen, and the different leaders all blame each other. Can he solve the mystery and restore peace to the kingdom?

[edit] Name

The name of this sequel is a pun on the common phrase "here today, gone tomorrow". This pun is related to the sudden disappearance of Prince Alexander, who is the heir of King Graham. Probably also of importance is the fact that King's Quest III: To Heir Is Human also contained the word "heir" in its title and featured Prince Alexander as the main character.

[edit] Description

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Early in KQVI, Alexander discovers that the ferry between the islands of the kingdom is no longer running. To progress in the game, the player must obtain a magic map. This map allows Alexander to teleport instantly between the major islands: The Isle of the Crown (with an Arabian Nights theme), The Isle of Wonder (reminiscent of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland), The Isle of the Beast (Beauty and the Beast-themed), and The Isle of the Sacred Mountain (Classical mythology-themed). Later in the game Alexander will discover information that allows him to travel to one or two other hidden areas, including the mysterious Isle of Mists (Celtic mythology-themed.)

A booklet titled "Guidebook to the Land of the Green Isles" (written by Jane Jensen) is included in the KQVI package. Aside from providing additional background to the game's setting, this booklet serves as part of the game's copy-protection. The player will not be able to pass the puzzles on the Cliffs of Logic that guard the Isle of the Sacred Mountain without information from the booklet. The booklet also includes a poem encoding the solution to one of the puzzles in the labyrinth on the Isle of the Sacred Mountain.

KQVI was designed with replayability in mind. The last portion of the game splits into two separate branches, leading to two different major endings. The "short branch" is easier to complete, but the more difficult "long branch" includes puzzles, locations, characters, and information that cannot be found in the short branch. In order to win full points and reach the best possible ending the player must take the long branch, but it is possible to defeat Abdul Alhazred and rescue Cassima at the end of both branches. There are minor variations on the endings of each branch, depending upon which optional tasks the player performs.

[edit] Packaging

Some of the packaging for the game contained an audio CD featuring a song called "Girl in the Tower", which was written and recorded for the game. There was also a pamphlet encouraging players to call a variety of radio stations and urge them to play the single; this campaign was unsuccessful, as many radio stations threatened to sue Sierra. At least one CD version of the game includes this track on the game CD (rather than as a separate CD single) and plays it accompanying the closing credits.

The package containing the original version of the game exists in four versions, varrying based on the country and release^[1] : black, white, red and blue.

[edit] Versions

KQVI was initially released for MS-DOS in 1992. In 1993 it was re-released for Windows as part of the King's Quest Collector's Edition box set. The Windows version, when run in a window instead of full-screen, contained higher-resolution character portraits seen when a character was speaking. The game was also ported to the Commodore Amiga (released 1994) and Apple Macintosh.