‘It was important to me that if we’re going to do this, we do it right and really bring it to today’s players and have them see it because it’s just something that needs to be seen. ‘I think I’m a pretty good person to have done this because I revered the game so much,’ Roberta adds. ‘We look in the source and if it’s there, we do it,’ Roberta continues. ‘We’ve seen a few bugs as we went, since we’re going so close to the source, and in general, we kind of left them in,’ Ken adds. That’s what I would call it,’ chimes Roberta. Ultimately, we might sooner or later, but not we’re not trying to build a big company.’ Image: Cygnus Entertainment This game is being built to preserve history,’ says Ken. ‘If I still was running Sierra, I don’t know if I’d have done this or not. The game is undoubtedly not going to be for everyone due to its defiantly old-fashioned sensibilities, but Ken and Roberta Williams are entirely okay with that. Both versions ran great, but the VR release definitely has the edge, in terms of immersive atmosphere. The Switch version of the game has players navigating the environment with a standard control scheme, while the VR version uses a controller-based point-to-point navigation system with full head tracking for looking around. There’s just something genuinely charming and wondrous about the whole experience, like you’re seeing the very foundations of the video game medium laid out before you, to explore and play with at your leisure. I never felt annoyed or frustrated while playing though, even as somebody who didn’t grow up on these sorts of games. I actually died instantly mere minutes into my first play session because I didn’t equip the lamp when I set foot into the cave. I got to have a lengthy playthrough of Colossal Cave Reimagined, with both the Nintendo Switch and Meta Quest 2 VR versions of the game at PAX West 2022, and can attest to the fact that despite the shift to first-person 3D, the game remains firmly rooted in old-fashioned text adventure design sensibilities.Įxploration, and trial and error inventory item interaction, are the pillars of the gameplay experience. ‘I actually have found it more difficult to do this game than my own games, because when you design your own game, you design it the way you want it.’ Image: Cygnus Entertainment It says ‘Reimagined by Roberta Williams’, I’m not the designer. ‘It’s really good, and it hasn’t really gotten the credit I think it deserves. ‘It’s a very elegant design,’ Roberta says. With that, Roberta came onboard as creative lead and a team of over 30 people were soon contracted for the project.ĭespite the shift to a modern 3D engine, preserving the integrity of Crowther and Woods’ work remained absolutely essential to all involved, especially Roberta. If you’re going to do it, it’s got to be done right.’ ‘I said you can’t do that to Colossal Cave. ‘I don’t even know why they thought they could do a game like Colossal Cave, (just) the two of them,’ says Roberta incredulously. He mentioned he was an artist and I said, “hey, I’m doing a game!” He said, “do you want an artist?” And I said, “sure!” So he started doing the art for my game, and it was just going to be him and me.’ Image: Cygnus Entertainment We were in the green room getting ready to talk. ‘I was doing a presentation and Marcus happened to be presenting after me. ‘I started on the game but I had no artist at that point,’ says Ken. It was a chance encounter with artist Marcus Mera that would make the project really take shape, though. In the present day, Ken had been tinkering away at his Colossal Cave remake for some months with the thought of reaching out to a publisher vaguely dwelling in the back of his mind. Ken and Roberta Williams with King’s Quest, circa 1984.
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