Ken and Roberta Williams need little introduction to adventure game fans. Legendary developer Sierra Online created the game early on, and both are responsible for creating bold and memorable titles in the genre. Although they deviate from game development, they are not at their point. In recent years, the pair have received the Gaming Icon Award at The Game Awards, and Roberta received the Pioneer Award. Game Developers Conference 2019.
Now the highly successful Tag Team has returned to the world of adventure games after 25 years with a new development team at Cygnus Entertainment. The team's first outing is a true full version of the classic Colossal Cave. Originally published in 1976 as the pioneering text adventure game Colossal Cave Adventure, Colossal Cave transforms the original green-green-black text into a visually stunning graphic adventure. The original game had a huge influence on contemporary designers, including Ken and Roberta, who funded this epic remake. We sat down with the powerhouse duo to talk about their return to the world of game development and what gamers can expect when they return to game development.
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Playstation.blog. Roberta, can you tell us about your experience writing the Colossal cave adventure in 1976 or 1977?
Roberta: I have never played computer games . I think Colossal Cave is probably the first, if not the closest to the first PC game. And it was definitely the first adventure game. I mean, he basically invented the concept of adventure games. So I played it, and I loved it, and I wanted to play more, but there wasn't really a game like it. So I sat down and got inspired to design my own game, which eventually became Secret House.
PSB: Roberta, how did the original Lost Cave adventure influence the games you made?
Roberta created the world map concept. Mazes, getting lost, walking down a path, getting somewhere but then disappearing...plus levels, puzzles and encounters and deadly creatures. Colossal Cave included all the elements that had never been done before and laid the foundation for this type of adventure game. And maybe computer games. I took some elements from House of Secrets and added more narrative elements. That was the process of making my first game.
I didn't know where to start with Secret House. In other words, I had no idea. "who knows?" But I always thought I liked the board game tip. And I loved murder mysteries, detective stories, and Agatha Christie books. So I thought it would be fun to discuss it, make it fun. But how to turn it into a game? And I thought, well, I'll figure out how to play the clue game. I collected it, wrote the game and made it more narrative.
What I loved about [the original] was the giant cave exploration feature. He wanted to know where he was going and how far he could go in this cave. I realized that I love to explore and a cave is the perfect place to explore. So when I started designing [Secret House], I thought, "I have to do a detective ," but I added elements of a mystery story. I wanted to keep that sense of exploration in my games.
PSB: What made you want to get back into game development?
Roberta: We were out of business for 25 years... and we decided to do the pandemic and lockdown. We talked about late 2020 or early 2021. We had a wonderful vacation in Palm Desert, California and one morning we were sitting in our dining room sipping coffee overlooking the Coquela Valley...thinking about how bored we were and what we wanted. do it
Ken wanted to do a project and get into programming. The idea for Colossal Cave came to me, and I don't know why, it just came out of my mouth. I don't know why I played the first game, but I had to sit down and write a game... I never do. It was incredible.
That day, Ken told me that he spoke with Don Woods (one of the original builders of Losel Cave). " What is it ?" How did you do it?" And Ken said, " Okay, I have a way. I think we are doing it ." But this is our beginning. And it's already been a year and a half.
And we started with the idea that it would be easy. We knew we wanted it to be 3D. He was secretly learning Unity, trying to get his... programming skills. And he hired an artist and they both started working. I came in a little later... first he said, "I don't want to help. But I really don't want to be involved." I would look over their shoulder and occasionally give them some advice.
Before he knew it, the word was clear. (laughs) People wanted to interview me about Losal Cave and King's Quest and all that. You know, "Come back, what are you doing?" And at the beginning I said: " Okay, I didn't have a plan... (laughs). But I don't know, maybe it's me."
Unknowingly, I was involved in some meetings with Ekta and my sudden return. And I'm not trying to be pretentious at all. It was as strange as everyone expected. And I said, "Well, I don't think I'm going to get out of here." If I'm going to be a part of this, I have to take it very seriously.
And here we are when I decided I couldn't get out of there, to participate in the colossal design of the cave. From there, with both legs, arms, head, hair, everything else... But this was a complete game changer. Why did I tell you? " If you wanted me, I'm here. "It's a great project and I'm proud of it.
What can long-term adventure game players expect from Giant Cave PSB?
Roberta : It's different (from our old games). It is not a king's quest. First, it's a first-person experience. There is no character to drive. I considered making a creative player avatar, but decided to keep Colossal Cave as personal as possible. That he wasn't trying to pass me and make it my game. It's a Will Krauser and Don Woods game... I'm trying to bring to modern gamers what Will Krauser and Patricia Krauser and Don Woods envisioned to make the world fun and immersive. I wanted it to come out the way I thought it would play.
Second, the giant cave is a very clean exploration [compared to the narrative in my previous games]. I'm somewhat limited by my previous work... You stay in one area until you get to the next part of the story, which sends you to the next quest area with objectives and such.
But you can go anywhere you want in the huge cave. That doesn't mean you won't face obstacles. You can find out how they are, but they can turn around and go somewhere else. You will find treasure, but you may not be sure what to do with it, but someone may steal your treasure. And start a strategy to fight the thieves and the treasures. There are crocodiles; They are interesting, very complex and very attractive. And there are thumbnails. They are ugly little creatures.
How has PSB game development changed over the past 40 years?
Why , well, it got worse. The competition is fierce, that's the first thing you notice. But there are tools. All those years ago, we had to figure out our own text editors, graphics editors, animation editors, how to make sounds and color graphics. Now for this project, since Unity Engine is free, it has great tutorial material so we can be productive right away. You can buy cheap properties by visiting the Unity website. You can go to the Adobe website and choose from thousands of animations.
This allows you to focus on game art and design. A lot of low-level stuff is taken off your shoulders.
Was it difficult growing up during the PSB pandemic?
Why can't we do it at home without working? When Roberta joined, we had to put together a team quickly, but I took this as a hobby project to pass the time during Covid. " It has to be a quality plot, I need artists and programmers", said Roberta when she participated. It started to grow. And suddenly, I had to quickly put together a team of 30 good people...because I can build a team and I don't care where they live. In some ways, it's better than working in an office.
Colossal Cave is coming to PS5 starting today, with PS VR2 and PS4 versions also in development.