Roberta Williams

By Craig White

Who decided to make Mask of Eternity a 3D game? Were you worried at all about this decision?

I did. When I was finishing Phantasmagoria, I knew that KQ8 would be my next project. At that time, several games came out which were 3D. I knew that King's Quest needed a "makeover" if it were to continue as a successful series of games. I made the decision at that time that KQ8 would be 3D. The difficult part would be to determine how King's Quest would become 3D, what technology to use, how it would affect the "King's Quest-ness" of King's Quest, etc. Those have been issues we've been dealing with for about two and a half years now. And ... no, I'm not worried at all about the decision to make King's Quest: Mask of Eternity 3D. In fact, I'm even more sure than ever that it was the right decision to make.

Were there any other storylines thought about before the current one? Describe a few of them.

Not really. The basic idea of a golden, all-powerful, sacred "mask" having something to do with a terrible crisis in the land was pretty much the essence of the story from the very beginning. And having a "normal guy" who lives in the kingdom of Daventry be the one to fix this problem was also part of the storyline. Now, as to exactly who he was, and what exactly he had to do to fix the problem, took a bit longer to figure out. We went back and forth on that one for quite a while!

How do you feel about your current role in the evolution of adventure games? Do you ever think that if you make one slip, the whole genre will die?

I appreciate the fact that you think that the genre of adventure games lives or dies with me, but really ... I'm not that powerful! (grin) Regardless of me, the adventure game genre will go on, in some form or another. My vision of adventure games may not be another's. I think, in the future, there will be more iterations of adventure games ... which is good for the consumer. Means more choices ...

What's your favorite feature in Mask of Eternity?

There are so many new features in King's Quest: Mask of Eternity; it's hard to choose one. I would say the fact that it's one of the first true 3D adventure games is the most compelling feature of this game. It also has real-time action components to give more interaction and reality to the game. The seven different "worlds" within the game are also very beautiful--and with 3D you can explore them freely. It is very, very immersive.

What is the team currently doing, and what's left to do?

Currently, the team is very hard at work trying to finish up this game by fall. We spent almost two years developing the technology we would need to make this game 3D, have action elements, story elements, puzzle elements, music, sound effects, dialog, animation, "world" creation, etc., not to mention the design of the game. Now--most of that "technology" stuff is finished ... and now the actual implementation of the game is going on. Art, animation, dialog, voice recording, music ... all of that is currently going on. The game is coming together quickly now as many pieces of the game were concurrently underway (especially art) as the technology was being developed. Now, it's just a matter of putting all of these pieces together. We have a lot ahead of us, although, I can tell you that from what I can see at this point ... it's going to be one hell of a game!

Many fans of the Phantasmagoria series have been waiting patiently for a third installment. Recently Ken said neither him nor Scott had a decision in this and it was mostly up to whether you were up to it. Do you think after Mask of Eternity you will sit down to work on Phantasmagoria 3?

The person in charge now is Scott Lynch. Any decision about whether a Phantasmagoria 3 is developed is up to him. There has been no major discussion about such a project as far as I know.

How did you feel about Phantasmagoria when it was released? Same question goes for other games you designed. Are you usually proud of your final product, and does it compare to your original idea?

I have worked on many games in my career (I think 20 games or so), and Phantasmagoria is among my favorites. I really enjoyed working on the game, and I was very pleased with it when it was finished. Actually, I think it turned out much better than I had planned by the time it shipped ... which was about three years after it started. I had very ambitious plans for it when I started it--which scared a lot of people at Sierra--but we got it in gear and surprised even ourselves! In general, I'm usually very pleased with each game I have worked on, but then again, I'm very finicky about the final product. As far as if the final product usually compares to my original ideas: usually, they're better. It seems we always exceed even our own expectations ... after a lot of hard work, though!

With your busy schedule, do you ever have time to stop by fan web sites and take a look at the great praise your games have been getting? And would you ever consider rereleasing your e-mail address to the general public to receive fan mail?

Occasionally I visit various fan web sites and take a look at what people are saying about my games. However, I have to admit that I'm much more likely to visit these sites just before and just after one of my games has shipped. During those times I'm incredibly curious to know what people think and I can barely stay away! Once a game has shipped, though, and I've digested the opinions of lots and lots of players--both good and bad--I then tend to not go to those sites as much. By then, I'm usually off to another game, and I put most of my attention into that. As far as releasing my e-mail address to the general public, I might get too many people wanting to correspond with me and I would never be able to finish my next game!

How much of a role will the royal family play in Mask of Eternity? Will Connor marry Rosella, or is she still dating Edgar from King's Quest 7?

The only character from previous King's Quests will be a couple of cameo appearances by King Graham. I felt that it was time to feature a new character to the saga of King's Quest as long as we were updating the whole look and feel of the series. And--who knows? Perhaps in some future King's Quest game, Connor will at least meet Rosella! Don't worry, though. Connor is a very interesting character in his own right, and I'm sure he will win over many of the traditional King's Quest hearts.

How is Sierra different now from 15 years ago? Do you think Sierra's classic games are better than current games, or vice versa?

The most obvious difference is that Sierra is much bigger than it was 15 years ago. It is a very large company with the resultant upper management and bureaucracy of a big company. However, to their credit, they have divided the company into smaller business units--and even within the smaller business units, there are smaller groups of people within game development departments. Those types of divisions help keep morale, innovation, and competition (even within the same company!) high. As far as if Sierra's "classic" games are better than current games or not: no. Time moves on. Nothing stays the same. Some years are better than others. There are ups and downs. I can tell you that I have seen many of the games Sierra has coming out for 1998, and I believe we have a super lineup this year. I believe this will be one of Sierra's best years ever!

What would you like to do next with the royal family? Will there be a King's Quest 9, or will it depend on how well Mask of Eternity sells?

At this point, any discussion about any future King's Quest would be premature. Who knows?

After eight games, don't you think the King's Quest series is getting a bit old? Will you ever consider starting a brand-new series from scratch with an entirely different and original plot and characters? If so, what technologies will this game use?

Let's wait to answer that question after King's Quest: Mask of Eternity has shipped. I think you will find that we were very successful in breathing new life into a series which could be construed as "getting a bit old." It is totally a breath of fresh air. It is like nothing else but yet feels very much like King's Quest. We may have accomplished the "impossible." I truly believe that this newest, latest iteration of King's Quest will be the best-selling yet! As far as starting a brand-new series from scratch with an entirely different and original plot and characters: I've done that many times in my career, and in the future ... who knows?

It has been said over, and over, and over ... that "adventure games, as we know them, are dead." As I recall, you even said that. What are you doing to keep adventures alive? Do you think 3D and full interactivity will help this?

Adventure games "as we know it" are dead. What does that mean? Does that mean "text" adventure games with text input; story, puzzles, no art, no animation, no music, no sound, no spoken dialog? Does that mean "picture book" adventure games with more advanced text input; story, puzzles, no animation, no music, no sound, no spoken dialog? Does that mean "2D worlds with cut screen shots" with icon bar input; story, puzzles, limited animation, limited music, limited sound, no spoken dialog? Does that mean "2D worlds with cut screen shots and limited short 'cartoons' or 'movies' with icon bar input; story, puzzles, better animation, better music, better sound, limited spoken dialog? Does that mean "2D worlds with lots more cut screen shots and more short 'cartoons/movies' with 'point and click' input; better story, easier puzzles, great animation, great music, great sound, lots of spoken dialog? Do you see a trend here in all of this?

If you go back and look at where adventure games were and where they went, you can see that the adventure game is still there, it's just a different/better (depending on your particular point of view) experience playing them. The adventure game "as we know it" just keeps evolving. It's still evolving. The short description of the next evolution of adventure games (King's Quest: Mask of Eternity) is as follows: "beautiful 3D worlds, moving camera both under program and player control, unrestricted exploring/no cut screens, real-time action, main character under player control 95 percent of the time, first-person or third-person play, cursor and/or keyboard input, very few 'cartoon' scenes/more interactivity, 3D characters, 3D animation, great music/sound, lots of spoken dialog, better story, puzzles--both physical and logical, interaction with both 'good' and 'bad' characters." You see, I'm still working on adventure games--and they are still evolving. No, the adventure game is not dead.

What new technologies will you use in your adventure games of the future?

I think I just kind of itemized the new look and feel of adventure games in the future--at least for the next year or two anyway. What's next? Perhaps a multi-player adventure game; perhaps 3D characters with texture maps of real people or actors. We'll see ...

What was the project you had most fun on? Do you think it's important to have fun in the office rather than act all businesslike?

The project I had the most fun on was Phantasmagoria--because it was such a kick to work with actors and to work in a semi-movie studio-type atmosphere. And, if you knew me, you wouldn't think that I act very "business-like" at all; I'm like a big kid ... especially when it comes to working on computer games! Actually, as to the issue of whether one should "have fun" in an office as opposed to acting "all businesslike," I suppose it depends on your job description. You certainly want the person running your company or working in accounting to be "businesslike." For my particular job, though--if I don't have "fun" at it, I'm sure the particular game I was working on wouldn't be any "fun," either.

Do you play games outside of work? If so, what was your favorite game that you made, and a favorite game that Sierra did not publish?

Lately I have been. I go in spurts, depends of what I'm doing in the rest of my life. Right now, I'm playing an old game called Anvil of Dawn. Next, I plan to play Riven. I always say that my "favorite" game which Sierra did not publish was "Original Adventure"--published by both Microsoft and Apple Computer back in--I think--1980. That particular game was what spurred me to design my first game (Mystery House), and the rest, as they say ... is history. I don't really have a favorite game which I made; I like them all the best at the time I'm working on them.