Jeff Tobler

By Randy Sluganski

Jeff and Karen Tobler are the brains and creative force behind Omni Creative Group, creators of Riddle of the Sphinx, an upcoming game to be published by DreamCatcher Interactive.

I understand you have found a publisher?

We found a wonderful publisher and proudly signed an agreement with DreamCatcher, Inc. ROTS fits well with their current line of quality adventure games, and Richard Wah Kan is committed to adventure games like no other publisher we found. Avid adventure gamers should support DreamCatcher's efforts and products in every way possible (yes, that means "Go buy their games!").

Just Adventure recently conducted a poll, and Riddle of the Sphinx was voted the "Game Most Likely to Be Purchased" by our readers. Did this surprise you at all considering that the other games were Amerzone, Faust, The Longest Journey, and The Real Neverending Story? Or do you believe it was simply a matter of "nationalism" on the part of the predominately American Just Adventure readers?

Karen and I have been, and continue to be, very appreciative of the support we've received. Given the fact that ROTS has never been advertised, yes, that surprises me. However, for the past two to three years, the Riddle of the Sphinx web site has been seeing between 80,000 to 150,000 hits per month, so I imagine we know that we have a certain number of adventure gamers waiting for the release and enjoying the site's content. The growing interest in ROTS and continued support of adventure gamers everywhere makes producing a project this large that much better. As it still is with Karen and me, the allure of Egypt's mysterious megaliths and the role of the Great Sphinx have a hold on one's sense of adventure and intrigue.

It's funny you should mention "predominately American Just Adventure readers" because one big surprise was the amount of international interest we received early one and continue to receive on a consistent basis. Either way, we deeply appreciate everyone's enthusiasm and support for ROTS.

Is ROTS geared more toward the Brendan Fraser-type gamer or the Rachel Weisz-type gamer?

ROTS is for anyone who has ever been interested in Egypt, the Great Pyramid, and the Sphinx. Anyone who has had the desire to climb into an ancient monument or crawl through mysterious passageways. For those of us who have dreamed of being the one to discover the secrets, treasures, technologies, and sacred documents that shed light on the ancient Egyptians. Gameplay in ROTS is not fast-paced, nor is it meant to be. On the contrary, one explores ROTS as one would truly explore in Egypt's monuments ... slowly and deliberately. There is no hard-core music playing in the background. Instead, ROTS's richly orchestrated score ranges from beautiful to haunting, primitive to complex, peaceful to disturbing, filling each exquisitely detailed environment with music to match.

If you're looking to blow away mummies around every turn, ROTS will not fit the bill. However, if you're looking for the ultimate Egyptian "adventure," ROTS will satisfy. Karen and I spent painfully long evenings hashing through the logic, physics, and relevance of each environment and the puzzles contained within. All I can say is, ROTS turned into more than we expected it to be and is still exciting for us to explore, let alone play.

The realism in ROTS is indeed impressive. Did both of you personally visit Egypt, or was all of your research conducted through the Internet and books?

I wish we had had the time to personally visit Egypt (and believe me, it's definitely a planned trip after the game has been out for some time). Making ROTS as real as possible has always been a focus during development. One of the many goals of ROTS was to accurately reproduce the current archaeological finds and anomalies, which in turn meant accurately reproducing all of the environments. The inner chambers of the Great Pyramid were accurately modeled using exact measurements of the existing structure--including any defects in the original material. I must admit that the only thing we didn't include is the graffiti currently defacing the inner walls of the structure. The building materials (limestone, granite, etc.) were also replicated with exacting detail. In fact, the entire Giza Plateau, including the placement of the three main pyramids and the elevation and topography of the plateau, was researched exhaustively and modeled to its existing state.

Modeling and texturing the Sphinx took much longer to accomplish. Finding accurate dimensions and enough comprehensive photos to build Egypt's largest statue was very time-consuming and frustrating. Eventually we got the information and, as you can see, it is stunningly realistic. In fact, one of the archaeologists we interviewed thought the renderings were real photos of the Sphinx and Cheop's inner chambers.

While we conducted a vast amount of our research using almost every available book, the Internet, magazine articles (National Geographic was a great resource), more importantly we received invaluable help and many answers from noted Egyptologists, archaeologists, and an Sphinx-centric geophysicist, which leads to your next question ...

When Thomas Harris was writing The Silence of the Lambs, he contacted the head of the FBI's serial killer department for background information. Did you have access to any noted Egyptologists who assisted in providing the nuances that can make a game come to life?

Well, if you can find the books in print, the details are pretty well documented. However, finding those and verifying the accuracy were the most difficult of our R&D. Karen and I did eventually find everything we were looking for, but even with current and historical documentation, many of the answers were still not forthcoming. Finally we decided to just contact the experts. We started with Dr. Mark Lehner. His knowledge of the Sphinx and its dimensions proved very helpful. Lehner had actually painstakingly mapped the Sphinx, by hand, to create a 3D replica (as seen in the subsequent National Geographic article) and of course works closely with Dr. Zahi Hawass on the Giza Plateau. We then got in touch with Dr. Robert Schoch, who, along with John Anthony West, made some amazing discoveries about the Sphinx and around the Sphinx Enclosure. Both Schoch and West were featured on the NBC special Mystery of the Sphinx, hosted by Charlton Hestin, which highlighted their findings. Schoch provided wonderful insight and additional physical information regarding the Sphinx. We talked to many others, but the last to help us with ROTS was Egyptologist Mr. Steve Vinson. While I can't divulge the nature of his translation, he was very helpful in working with us in proofing and consulting an essential scroll. He took the hieroglyphs and layout we gave him and corrected our hieroglyphic grammar to adjust not only for accuracy but to read as written from the year 2,500 BC. There is another very interesting discovery that arose out of our translation with Vinson, which ironically fits into the story, but that will have to wait for the Epilogue ... :)

Is there any other game on the market at the moment that you would equate to ROTS so that our readers can have a point of comparison?

As much as I hate to compare ROTS to any other game for obvious reasons, I would compare the gameplay to Riven or Timelapse or Myst or even Jewels ... but then again not like any of those. ROTS is more than just a game. It's an epic Egyptian adventure. Now, I realize that sounds like something out of the marketing department, but it's very real to us. The artifacts and relics one comes in contact with during exploration are exact replicas of previously discovered treasures. The environments are either exact replicas or based on ancient Egyptian building principles, art, and architecture. The many puzzles found throughout ROTS are based on what has already been discovered, theories, lore, and speculation which surround the Giza Plateau. Plus each puzzle fits the environment. It's all for a purpose. Of course, that is not to say we have taken advantage of creative license.

Realistically, what are you looking for in retail sales to break even? And at what point would you consider the game a success?

I'm thinking that the Sphinx would look good in our back yard :) How much would that cost? I don't have a number for you, since there is no way to calculate the hours and passion we've poured into ROTS, but we expect ROTS to do well given the subject matter.

It really has been a dream realized for Karen and me from the start. Of course, compensation in the form of money is nice and welcome at this point, but ROTS would've never been a reality if money were our only criterion. And we already consider ROTS a success. The fact that we did it and lived to tell our story ... actually the standing joke was that, as the years rolled on and we kept "slaving" over the pyramids, we wouldn't actually finish ROTS before the world ended. Well, from that perspective, we succeeded.

Have you considered that ROTS might be too realistic? Sometimes too much realism can restrict the fantasy aspect.

Maybe, but in this case the reality of just being inside the Great Pyramid embodies enough fantasy for Egypt to survive on tourism alone for their economy. Factor in an engaging story, music, and the opportunity to solve many mysteries of Egypt and ultimately the Riddle of the Sphinx, and I think anything less than realism would not work with this adventure. However, if ROTS were not based on real events and existing mysterious monuments, I would agree. In fact, again that is what makes ROTS so unique.

You have said that the puzzles have been integrated into the story and environment--can you elaborate on this?

Actually I don't want to elaborate too much as to the nature of the puzzles, but I can say that if new discoveries are made in the Great Pyramid and/or Sphinx I wouldn't be surprised to see some of the discoveries mimic those in ROTS. Obviously, many of the puzzles are based on the ether of our imagination. Even then, each puzzle had to "make sense;" logically, mechanically, or intellectually. Some of the puzzles are more fantasy than reality. Many are based on actual findings. And a few are "just because we could" puzzles.

From the beginning, building puzzles based on what and how the ancients would've built was imperative to making ROTS a success. It was also important to Karen and me that the puzzles not detract from the environments. We have played many games where we've walked into a room only to find a totally irrelevant mind-bender which didn't contribute to the adventure at all. We both like to immerse ourselves into an adventure, whether on CD-ROM or VHS, so the puzzles and gameplay were designed to seamlessly integrate into each environment. In fact, the many mysterious and awe-inspiring environments in ROTS are all seamlessly explored; no flash to black or scene cuts.

If Riddle of the Sphinx is a success, are you committed to a sequel, or would you go in a whole new direction?

We are not committed to producing a sequel, but we already have plans for one. We also have several other projects (some in a new direction) which will probably come out before a sequel to ROTS.

The two of you have spent three years working on ROTS; can you break down the job responsibilities? Who is responsible for what areas of production and in what quarters do your duties dovetail?

Actually, we've now spent four and a half years working on ROTS. (What were we thinking ...)

Karen and I equally produced all artwork for ROTS. We were each responsible for our own environments, but even then, we contributed to each other's environments in small ways. I was solely responsible for the music, since music has been a part of my life, all my life. When we couldn't find canned effects, Karen and I both produced custom sound effects in our studio. We both produced the video segments, and voice-overs (some recorded in our studio and others in a sound booth nearby) were performed by me, Karen, and with the help of our (then) newly added associate, Greg Lamb. The dreaded fire animations were both of our responsibilities; however, Karen gets the award (or should) for producing the bulk. The programming was primarily my responsibility, and navigation scripting was Karen's. By and large, we did what was needed to be done. It was that simple. But I really hope we have a larger staff for the next one :)

Tell us a little about yourselves, how long have you been married, what fueled your decision to work on an Egyptian project, and most importantly, did you find it difficult to work with each other on a daily basis? Did you find it necessary to separate your work and personal life?

Karen and I have been married for over 11 years and have a son, Charlie, who is 4. We have worked together on a daily (nightly, at times) basis for about 10 years. While I understand there are couples who could never safely spend that much time together, we actually work better together than apart. We definitely complement each other's talents. The only separation of work and personal life was the decision to move our office out of our home, back in 1991, which was the best decision we ever made. Otherwise, we wouldn't change a thing.

To your question of what fueled ROTS, one commonality between us has always been our interest, even when we were both very young, in archaeology. The Sphinx and Great Pyramid, and subsequent discoveries, also played a great role in us deciding to produce ROTS. Partially to be able to virtually explore the Sphinx and Great Pyramid without restriction (as you probably know, Cheops is closed to the public for now, and has never been totally open to the public). But also because we were impatient with waiting for some of these impending discoveries to take place, we decided to make them happen on our clock. Add the fact that we're avid adventure gamers ... and you have ROTS.

To what do you attribute the recent influx of adventure gaming webzines on the Internet, and what influence, if any, do you see these sites and the Adventure Coalition having on adventure game publishers and distributors?

We think the Adventure Coalition is having a major impact on adventure game developers, publishers and gamers alike. With the Internet now making it possible for developers to effectively gather an audience for their titles by offering downloadable demos, trailers and even selling the game online, and the Adventure Coalition providing professional previews, reviews, interviews and user feedback, the adventure game genre is alive and well. Publishers who look to the Adventure Coalition sites, like Just Adventure, can see that these games and this genre will not go away just because they've said so. Publishers who are smartly focusing on adventure games, like DreamCatcher, Inc., are reaping the rewards with loyal, intelligent gamers supporting their titles.

If the PC gaming industry doesn't yet, they will regret turning their backs on adventure games and the many loyal adventure gamers who support these titles!

Randy, Karen and I wish to thank you, Just Adventure, for all of your efforts in publicizing ROTS and for your continued support of adventure game developers and publishers. Your efforts are paying off and are much more appreciated than you probably realize. Thanks!