I cannot finish QG4...

Eranas stafff will NOT change into a spear. It get the message, and the staff (it never changes looks, into a spear) floats from above me towards my hand and then disappears.

I get the Ad Avis dialog and can tell him the ultimate joke, but cannot use the staff on him.

the game tells me the staff is not a throwing weapon and that i need to get closer.

ive watched youtube videos (as its been about 18 yrs since my last playthrough and i dont remember games THAT well) and see when the staff is supposed to change... so, it is my game.

loading old saves hasnt helped. patching the game did not help (did make the game run smoother and more stable, in general).

I can not find any other mention of THIS issue (seems there are plenty of other Ad Avis bugs in this game; this is not the him-turnign-into-the-staff bug!).

im playing the 1997 Anthology CD version of the game in DOSbox.

thanks to anyone who knows and sorry for starting a second topic in two days... i woulda combined them if this didnt happen *right* after i posted the other topic ;)

This is usually a speed issue. Set detail all the way down and speed all the way up in the game options before entering the chamber; reducing DosBox's "clock speed" may also be necessary.

ok, i feel like a jackass now...

im a thief and i threw a dagger and got him.


in my defense, the game did keep telling me the staff changed! so, there is a bug, just not what i thought!


ill go hang my head now, while i DL part 5! :p

Ah, I figured you were playing as a fighter rather than as a thief.

The thief can also use the staff, albeit differently: it turns into a stake rather than a spear. Thus prepared, do an acrobatic jump onto the 'neuron' that he's standing on.

i did try that too and it didnt work!


with one of my "tests" i had the speed so slow i had enough time to try acrobatics nearly every where and that didnt work :(


well, i got it done and am enjoying part 5! i read someone say that part 5 felt like too many old chars were forced into the game. it does feel that way, but its not like im complaining; so far its been awesome!

Sure hope you DLed from GOG, and aren't pirating the game ;).

yea, i actually bought from GOG to see if it was my version of part 4 that was messing up... as part of all the troubleshooting i did above. When i still had the same exact problem after i transfered my save to the GOG file, i decided to revisit the problem as an in-game issue.


as for pirating... the studio went under right when this game was released, so its not like the money is going where it should, the development of new sierra games! its not like the Coles are gonna see any of it :(
Activision is due some though, as they do own the rights, and i do support resale! its how *I* make my money!

its easy to justify stealing... like when i robbed that old lady in QG1 :)

Nah, Sierra was bought out by another company, and has gone through several companies since then. While it collapsed (some may argue it was no longer really Sierra after Ken Williams sold the company, it collapsed after that)... It currently belongs to Activision...

Besides the fact if someone may believe that Activision should or shouldn't legally get money, despite the fact they own the copyrights on the IP... Pirating isn't allowed ;).

I'm glad to hear you bought it legit, and support the legal owners!

However, case in point, the success of resale of KQ in part (and possibly in part to the success of the fan games), is leading to Telltale having rights from Activision to make a new game in the King's Quest series...l

So you never know what sales of QFG through GOG might entice activision to do!

On a side note, even if Sierra hadn't collapsed, been bought out, etc. No telling they would have made another QFG after V... They cancelled SQ7 for example :p...

QFG5 was pretty much meant to be the last of the series (it was originally supposed to be four, but QFG3 was added to round out the story and character development), and intentionally closed the story of the Hero, so even if they had done a QFG6, it would most likely have been a new character/story arc.

Actually the Coles discussed expansion packs when developoning QFG5. they also suggested taking the series towards asian themed area if they had a chance to make 6. Incidently, in QFG5, you can choose to continue adventuring, and the game also does 'save your character' for transfering like in the previous four games!

Infact in some more recent interviews they have mentioned how they would like to make a new sequel.

In their School for Heroes universe, interestingly enough it seems that Elsa became the King/Queen, and the Hero may have left on to save other lands (although there are bits that could imply either way.).

Also apparently Lori and Mishell Baker had planned for the How To Be A Hero novels would have adapted the games into novels, to continue on beyond the novels with the Hero going on new adventures to new lands!

Interestingly it would be the second novel adaptations of the game after the QFG: The Authorized Guide.

However, as I understand the Lori Cole/Mishel Baker novels (if they are ever published) will strip out the 'token steretypes', anachronisms and humor. Lori and Mishell's plan was to turn the series into a more mainstream fantasy series, with none of the injokes and silly aspects of the series involved. This is to draw in the general fantasy reader audience, and not just the niche QFG fans. So its more to be a straightforward epic fantasy adventure.

To go about this, apparently many of lands such as "Spielburg" are to be renamed as well. It will be replaced with Siegburg!

Other characters such as the meeps were to be left out apparently, or characters named changed, or made into combined composites. Some of this to avoid copyright issues, others to get rid of the more 'silly' aspects of QFG, and make it more mainstream.