![]() Let’s talk more about that word “reimagined.” Other than the obvious addition of graphics, in what ways is the new Colossal Cave similar to the old one, and in what ways is it different? You never are stuck listening to characters drone on about stuff that bogs down game play. I always had rules about never taking away control from the player. There are no dialog trees or anything to slow the player down. For example, the game is watching the player and adjusting how the game plays based on player actions. It has some interesting things that were way ahead of its time. You can play it for the exploration, or as an adventure game, or to score points, or all of the above. For most of it the entire world is wide open to the player. There are some puzzles that block you from progress in a couple places, but not many. It has a point system, replayability, action. It is an adventure game, but very different from the adventure games Sierra produced, or anything out there now. Ken: There are things about Colossal Cave that I think make it super special. Like a script, a game design is the blueprint for a game – and it seemed to me that the text ‘blueprint’ of Colossal Cave could be brought back (in its original form as the script requires), but with the added beautiful 3D graphics, character designs and animations, music, sound effects, special effects, etc. A great design is a great design! It’s like a script to a movie or a book. ![]() Roberta: Since I originally played it (yes, a long time ago!) – which did start my career and the existence of Sierra On-Line (as it came to be) – I have always had high regards for the game and thought it a great design. The original game clearly meant a lot to you personally, but what is it about Colossal Cave that convinced you a reimagining would appeal to today’s modern gamer? Millions of dollars and two years later – we have a game! You can’t market that.” I didn’t think it was so bad, but she said, “Let’s put together a team and do it right.” Roberta saw what Marcus and I were working on and said, “That’s terrible. It’s just a simple text game.” I found an artist (Marcus Mera) who would work with me for a piece of the action, and started to work. Roberta suggested doing Colossal Cave and I thought, “That would be easy. After watching virtually every Unity training video on the internet, I decided to write some small simple game, but I couldn’t decide what to program. I decided I’d learn to program a game, mostly just to fill time. The positive reaction to the book made me curious about the modern world of games. I was bored and wrote my book about Sierra. Then when COVID locked us down, we had to stop traveling. We stayed 100% away from anything related to games. After the company was sold we decided to forget video games and just focus on cruising the world on a small boat. Ken: Roberta and I were very sad about how Sierra ended. ![]() The incomparable and inseparable Ken and Roberta Williams Roberta: A combination of reasons: The lockdowns (stuck at home), Ken needing a project, the idea was raised of bringing the wonderful game of Colossal Cave to modern gamers…why let it die on the vine? This could be fun to do… But you have been away for a while! We’re thrilled you’ve returned, but I guess the first question is: why now? And the natural follow-up is: why Colossal Cave? Any adventure gamer that isn’t intimately familiar with your legendary careers at Sierra goes straight to the back of the class. Since you haven’t made any games in decades now, maybe start by introducing yourselves and telling us who you are… Ha! Kidding, of course. Hi, Ken and Roberta! Glad to chat with you both again. To learn more about the exciting project that lured this iconic husband-and-wife team back after so many years away, I chatted with them at length about the new game, along with doing some reminiscing about the glory days of Sierra and their incredible “retirement” that spawned a whole new kind of real-world adventure. ![]() However, life has more than a few surprises in store, and Ken and Roberta shocked the world when they announced that they were not only making their first new game in 25 years, but that it would be a “reimagining” of the game that started it all, Colossal Cave (aka ADVENT or Adventure, from which the genre got its name). As adventure fans we owe so many of our fondest gaming memories to them, but when they sold the company and walked away – or in their case, sailed away as it turned out – from the industry they’d done so much to help build in the late 90s, it seemed that would be the final chapter in their legendary gaming careers. Rarely has an interview introduction been so unnecessary than for Ken and Roberta Williams, who together founded On-Line Systems in 1979 (later becoming Sierra On-Line) and pioneered the graphic adventure genre as we know it today, along with many other advances in design and technology over the years. ![]()
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