(So how DO you like KQ2?) Hey Ken!
I was wondering – I just played the KQ2 VGA remake again at a friend’s (it won’t run on my grafics card unfortunately!) and remembered reading about it here and that neither you nor Roberta played it (in the very interesting interview you posted), which, I think, is a pity.
I know there’s more important things in life than adventure games (like travelling or staying up to date with what really goes on in the real world, not an illusionary one, or discussing politics on a mature level ;o), but yours and Roberta’s career in the gaming industry actually fleshed out adventure games from the plain-text adventures that started the computer game’s role as a gate into virtual worlds and led the way to where computer games were going: from Ascii or no graphics at all where a lot was left to imagination to extremely convincing real-life simulations.
I think that the fascination for Half-Life-like games (a good example because of the cinematic atmosphere the game creates) has the same origin as that for the adventure games your company created: The fascination of a virtual world that you can believe in and get absorbed by – for a certain time – much like reading a good book or, lately rather, like watching a good movie.
But there’s more to it: These worlds actually exist, people visit them, they get to know the people living there, like or dislike them and even extend these worlds to a level that their original creators probably never imagined – these worlds have become alive in the minds and hearts of many people!
The fact that people put such a high effort in a fan game as has been done with KQ2 without the slightest financial expectations (except going commerical later with their own scenarios after having gathered some experience) should (and surely does) honor Roberta and you. Looking at this game, the beautiful intro scene alone, and playing it should bring tears to your eyes like the KQ4 intro brought them to the eyes of adventure game players of these days.
So check out Tierra’s page already and get the games! After all, they were done out of the same sentiments because of which you are running this site:
Dwelling in memories of a past when Sierra On-Line gave computer gamers around the world the chance to play a part in an interactive movie and really made us believe in these interactice worlds they created and even made us create our own worlds. It’s not Tolkien, alright. But it sure was fun. ;o)
Simon.