Jerry Moore

Last updated: February 13, 2026

Overview

Gerald “Jerry” Moore is an American artist and game industry veteran who contributed to numerous Sierra On-Line titles during the company’s golden age of adventure games.¹ Born in Ridgecrest, California in 1952, Moore combined formal training in commercial art with a minor in computer science, a dual background that proved invaluable during the early days of computer graphics when technical understanding was as important as artistic skill.¹

Moore’s Sierra career spanned from 1984 to 1994, during which he contributed graphics and animation to landmark titles including King’s Quest IV, King’s Quest V, Hero’s Quest: So You Want to Be a Hero, Space Quest IV, and The Colonel’s Bequest.² His extensive collaboration with fellow Sierra artists helped establish the visual style that defined the company’s transition from EGA to VGA graphics.

A founding member of the Association of Christian Entertainment (ACE), Moore later established Dimensions Vertical, a small video game company he runs with his son Devin, focused on faith-based gaming projects.¹

Career

Education and Early Background

Moore graduated from Point Loma College in 1975 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Commercial Art and a minor in Computer Science.¹ This unusual combination of artistic and technical training positioned him well for the emerging field of computer graphics, where understanding both pixel-level manipulation and aesthetic principles was essential.

Sierra On-Line (1984–1994)

Moore’s earliest known Sierra credit came on Donald Duck’s Playground (1984), where he provided graphics alongside Doug MacNeill for this acclaimed Disney-licensed educational game designed by Al Lowe.³ The game won several awards from educational software magazines as best educational game of the year, and Moore’s graphics helped bring Al Lowe’s design to life across multiple platforms including the Commodore 64 and TRS-80 CoCo.⁴

By 1987, Moore had become a regular contributor to Sierra’s growing catalog. He provided graphics for Police Quest: In Pursuit of the Death Angel and Roberta Williams’ Mixed-Up Mother Goose, demonstrating versatility across both adult-oriented adventure games and children’s titles.²

The transition to SCI-era productions saw Moore’s responsibilities expand. On King’s Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella (1988), Sierra’s first major SCI game, he contributed animation work alongside fellow artists William D. Skirvin and Carolly Hauksdottir that helped establish new standards for character movement in adventure games.⁵⁶ His animation and background scene work on Hero’s Quest: So You Want to Be a Hero (1989) helped create the distinctive visual identity of what would become the Quest for Glory series.⁷

Moore collaborated extensively with Douglas Herring on The Colonel’s Bequest (1989), contributing graphics and artwork to Roberta Williams’ atmospheric murder mystery set in 1920s Louisiana.⁸⁹ He also provided additional artwork for Code-Name: Iceman and graphic arts for Hoyle: Official Book of Games - Volume 1.²

The VGA era brought Moore’s most prolific period. On King’s Quest V: Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder! (1990), he served as one of the artists contributing to Sierra’s first major VGA game—which became the best-selling adventure game of all time.¹⁰ He contributed backgrounds and animation to Quest for Glory II: Trial by Fire¹¹ and artist work on Hoyle: Official Book of Games - Volume 2: Solitaire.²

Moore continued his prolific output into 1991, contributing graphics and artwork to Space Quest IV: Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers¹², background art and animation to Conquests of the Longbow: The Legend of Robin Hood¹³, and art design work for the VGA remake Mixed-Up Mother Goose.²

His final Sierra credits included “Incredible Artwork” on Quest for Glory I VGA (1992)¹⁴, additional animation on Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist (1993), and graphics work on Lost Secret of the Rainforest (1993).²

Westwood Studios and Later Career

Beyond Sierra, Moore contributed to Westwood Studios’ Legend of Kyrandia series, providing graphics and artwork for The Legend of Kyrandia: Hand of Fate (1993) and artist work on The Legend of Kyrandia: Malcolm’s Revenge (1994).²¹⁵ He also contributed to SimCity 2000 CD Collection (1994) (1994), creating the “Spiralopolis” scenario.²

Moore later received a “Special Thanks” credit on Happy Wars (2015), indicating continued involvement in the gaming industry.²

Dimensions Vertical

As a founding member of ACE (Association of Christian Entertainment), Moore has remained active in faith-based gaming initiatives.¹ He currently heads Dimensions Vertical, a small video game company he runs with his son Devin. Their ongoing project, Progress 21, is a 21st-century adaptation of John Bunyan’s classic allegory Pilgrim’s Progress, on which they continue to seek additional funding.¹

Notable Works

King’s Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella (1988)

Moore’s animation work on King’s Quest IV contributed to Sierra’s first SCI-engine adventure game, helping establish new standards for character animation in the genre.⁵⁶

Hero’s Quest / Quest for Glory I (1989/1992)

Moore provided animation and background scenes for the original Hero’s Quest (1989), helping establish the visual identity of Corey and Lori Cole’s innovative RPG-adventure hybrid.⁷ He later contributed “Incredible Artwork” to the VGA remake (1992), updating the game’s visuals for the 256-color era.²

The Colonel’s Bequest (1989)

Working alongside Douglas Herring on The Colonel’s Bequest, Moore contributed graphics and artwork to one of Sierra’s most atmospheric adventure games.⁸⁹ The murder mystery’s detailed character animations and moody plantation backgrounds helped create an unusually character-driven experience.

King’s Quest V (1990)

As one of the artists on King’s Quest V, Moore contributed to Sierra’s landmark VGA release.¹⁰ The game’s 256-color graphics represented a massive leap in visual fidelity, and its commercial success validated Sierra’s investment in higher-fidelity visuals.

Space Quest IV (1991)

Moore’s graphics and artwork contributions to Space Quest IV helped bring the Two Guys from Andromeda’s time-traveling comedy adventure to life.¹² The game’s varied visual styles—spanning multiple time periods—required versatile artists who could adapt to different aesthetic requirements.

Legacy

Jerry Moore’s extensive body of work at Sierra places him among the company’s most prolific artists during the transition from EGA to VGA graphics. His collaborations with artists like Douglas Herring, Gerald Moore, and other Sierra contributors helped establish the visual language of classic adventure games.²

His dual background in commercial art and computer science exemplified the hybrid skill set that early game artists needed, combining aesthetic sensibility with technical understanding of the constraints and possibilities of computer graphics systems. Moore’s contributions to landmark titles like King’s Quest IV, King’s Quest V, and the Quest for Glory series helped define the look of Sierra’s golden age.

Through Dimensions Vertical and his ongoing work on Progress 21, Moore continues to apply his decades of game development experience to new projects, demonstrating the lasting passion for the medium that drove his contributions to Sierra’s classic titles.¹

Games

Sierra On-Line (1984–1993)

Year	Title	Role
1984	Donald Duck’s Playground	Graphics
1987	Police Quest: In Pursuit of the Death Angel	Graphics
1987	Roberta Williams’ Mixed-Up Mother Goose	Graphics
1988	King’s Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella	Animation
1989	Hero’s Quest: So You Want to Be a Hero	Animation & Background Scenes
1989	Code-Name: Iceman	Additional Artwork
1989	Hoyle: Official Book of Games - Volume 1	Graphic Artists
1989	The Colonel’s Bequest	Graphics / Artwork
1990	King’s Quest V: Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder!	Artist
1990	Quest for Glory II: Trial by Fire	Backgrounds and Animation
1990	Hoyle: Official Book of Games - Volume 2: Solitaire	Artist
1991	Space Quest IV: Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers	Graphics / Artwork
1991	Conquests of the Longbow: The Legend of Robin Hood	Background Art & Animation
1991	Mixed-Up Mother Goose (VGA)	Art Designer
1992	Quest for Glory I: So You Want To Be A Hero (VGA)	Incredible Artwork
1993	Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist	Additional Animation
1993	Lost Secret of the Rainforest	Graphics / Artwork

Other Credits (1993–2015)

Year	Title	Company	Role
1993	The Legend of Kyrandia: Hand of Fate (1993)	Westwood Studios	Graphics / Artwork
1994	The Legend of Kyrandia: Malcolm’s Revenge (1994)	Westwood Studios	Artist
1994	SimCity 2000 CD Collection (1994)	Maxis	Spiralopolis
2015	Happy Wars	Toylogic	Special Thanks

References

Footnotes

1. MobyGames - Gerald Moore Biography — Profile and biography noting alias “Jerry Moore” ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

2. MobyGames - Gerald Moore Credits — Complete game credits listing ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹

3. MobyGames - Donald Duck’s Playground Credits (Commodore 64) — Graphics credits for Gerald Moore and Doug MacNeill ↩

4. MobyGames - Donald Duck’s Playground Credits (TRS-80 CoCo) — Platform port credits ↩

5. Wikipedia - King’s Quest IV — Lists Gerald Moore as one of the game’s artists alongside William D. Skirvin and Carolly Hauksdottir ↩ ↩²

6. MobyGames - King’s Quest IV Credits — Animation credits for Gerald Moore ↩ ↩²

7. MobyGames - Hero’s Quest Credits — Animation & Background Scenes credit ↩ ↩²

8. Wikipedia - The Colonel’s Bequest — Lists Gerald Moore as one of the game’s artists alongside Douglas Herring ↩ ↩²

9. MobyGames - The Colonel’s Bequest Credits — Graphics and artwork credits alongside Douglas Herring ↩ ↩²

10. MobyGames - King’s Quest V Credits — Artist credit for Gerald Moore ↩ ↩²

11. MobyGames - Quest for Glory II Credits — Backgrounds and animation credits ↩

12. MobyGames - Space Quest IV Credits — Graphics and artwork credits ↩ ↩²

13. MobyGames - Conquests of the Longbow Credits — Background art and animation credits ↩

14. MobyGames - Quest for Glory I VGA Credits — “Incredible Artwork” credit ↩

15. MobyGames - Legend of Kyrandia: Hand of Fate Credits — Graphics and artwork credit for Westwood Studios project ↩