Forum Replies Created
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Posts
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(re: Ken and Magnetic Scrolls) Giovanni:
I still haven’t looked at MS .. it’s on my list of things to do — but, I’ve been hard at work on the next version of this software, and also on getting ready for my three month boat ride (which is coming up quick!) I have no free time …. argh….
-Ken W
(re: Did you ever regret selling Sierra?) One thing I never saw though is a brief and sincere reply if you ever regret selling.
Giovanni:
Honestly .. this is not an easy question. Because of what happened, there is no doubt that if I had it to do over again, I would not have sold. That said, there is no way I could have known how things would turn out.
I wanted to sell.
Running Sierra was far more intense than you could ever imagine. The entertainment business collects people with large egos, and immense talent. Sierra’s staff was amazing, but also tough to manage. I was being pulled 50 different directions. Wall Street wanted consistently growing quarterly revenues and profits. My staff wanted to refine and improve products forever. Our competitors also made my life tough – in some categories, it was a “keeping up with the Jones'” market – – meaning that our product would only succeed if it was the best in the category. For instance, I would budget $1 million for a flight simulator, and promise everyone a June release date — and, then a competitor would launch a flight sim that was better — at which point I had to raise the budget on my product, and announce a new ship date — and, on and on. There were great days at Sierra, but few easy ones.
After nearly 20 years of running Sierra, I was ready for retirement. My primary focus though, throughout my time at Sierra, and a line everyone heard from me often was “I want to build a company that my grandkids can enjoy.” I was always focused on the future. At Sierra we tried to build brands, and series, and technologies, that would survive long past when I was gone.
During the negotiations to acquire Sierra, I outlined to the purchasers how I thought the transition should be handled. They shared with me their vision for how Sierra would be integrated into the larger organization — which was unacceptable. I declined the deal, because I dd not want Sierra to fail. The next day, the acquirers gave in, and gave me the power I was demanding, post-deal, to ensure that Sierra could make the transition.
Unfortunately, the power I thought I would have to ensure that Sierra made the transition from being a “Ken and Roberta-centric” company to a division of a large corporation, never materialized. It was clear post acquisition, that I would not be able to have much influence over Sierra’s direction. Had I known this, the deal would not have been done. I wanted to retire, but not to the extent that I would do something that wasn’t in the best interests of Sierra’s customers, employees and shareholders.
-Ken W
(re: INN Screenshots) Anyone know how long INN was around and how many members there were?
My recollection is that we were around 15,000 subscribers at the high point. This is not bad in a time when modems were 2,400 baud, and no one had ever heard of the Internet! It’s hard to say how long INN was around … it was either six years, or six months depending on how you look at it. The first couple of years, were rocky … the product was still being invented, and blew up every few minutes. Then there was a period of time when it worked, but not much was there to do — and, then there was a period of time when it ROCKED, and everyone had a blast. During this time we collected a LOT of attention, and several big companies tried to invest. One of them, AT&T did invest (which is why it was renamed from TSN to INN), but unfortunately, shortly after the AT&T investment, bureaucracy crept in — INN stopped evolving, and ultimately died. In other words, it was around a long time — but, was only really awesome for a short period…. -Ken W
(re: light thru the dark tunnel) Thank you everyone for the comments!
-Ken W
PS I do read them all .. even though I only respond sometimes….
(re: re: re: re: re: Torin’s Passage Manual)
Torin’s Passage was a fun little game. I have uploaded the manual to the museum area. Enjoy
(re: re: King’s Quest VI Locks Up.)
I believe that patch is just for the Windows version. Have you tried to just click through this cutscene? If you have the CD version, check your CD for any scratches or abrasions and be sure that it has no smudges. Also, if you have the CD version, try running the Windows version. It has higher resolution graphics than the DOS version.
(re: re: re: re: Torin’s Passage Manual) Oh yes! If you wouldn’t mind, I would love it if you could scan and upload the manual. Even if there’s nothing “really important” in it, I still enjoy reading through the manual before starting a game. I was rather disappointed that the person I’d bought the game from had lost it. (Yes, this will be my first time playing through Torin’s Passage! I’m currently making my way through Mask of Eternity for my first time.)
Many Thanks! 🙂(re: INN Screenshots)
I looked at those when you posted them the other day. Looks like it was a fun community.
Anyone know how long INN was around and how many members there were?
🙂 emily
(re: Did you ever regret selling Sierra?)
Ciao Ken.
You probabily read my comment on the previous topic (on criticism on your selling Sierra) and my line of thought. One thing I never saw though is a brief and sincere reply if you ever regret selling…
All my best,
Giovanni(re: re: Ken and Magnetic Scrolls)
Ciao Ken,
I’m still curious: did you have the chance to have a look at MS ? Do you think Infocom could have gone farther had they followed a similar approach ?
Ciao,
Giovanni(re: In a perfect world……)
100% agreed.
The problem is not to have sold but the incapacity to manage of the followers !
Of course we all share a sense of “what could Sierra have done had they not sold it”, but this is part of the business game.
We should all remain grateful to them for all the fun they gave us and even more for the fact that still now we keep sharing this dream and memory which in a way unites us 8even more valuable !)
Ciao,
Giovanni(re: re: sierra’s future )
I think you can count on a lot of us, including me, for help on the game idea in Ken. It’ll be fun. If it’s a limited budget, why not brush again AGI ? Whatever, count me in if you start (also for brainstorming).
Ciao,
Giovanni(In a perfect world……) In a perfect world, things would be perfect. Nonetheless, Ken and Roberta are not the high priests of some unholy cult, but business people, and most excellect ones at that.
They ran a business and ran it extremeley well. Good for them. Bad for the morons that purchased it and didn’t have the smarts to keep it running.
What always impressed me and still impresses me about the Williams is their willingness to take risks, attention to detail and focus on the customer. If it was all so easy, then the new management would have had a free ride, but it’s not easy, which makes what Ken and Roberta accomplished even more amazing.
Don’t pay any attention to the knats in the peanut gallery Ken. You ran a hell of a business and ran it well.
Hope we get to see you two in action again sometime.(re: no need to criticize Ken Williams)
Ken did a fantastic job of getting Sierra On-Line on the map. Unfortunately the town where he created his dream was not big enough to handle a major business.
I did not always agree with where the company was going or like some of the products they were pushing. But they were always on the cutting edge.
I miss Oakhurst and wanted to blame Ken for having to leave. But time and experience have taught me that it had to happen or the company would die.
(re: King’s Quest VI Locks Up.)
Don’t know if this will work or not, but try turning your speed all the way up and detail all the way down. I have done this to get through similar lock-ups in the PQ1 remake and GK2.
I don’t know if there’s a patch, but you could check http://ftp.sierra.com — they have all their patches there, even the old ones. If you go to ftp://ftp.sierra.com/pub/pc/patches/ there is one called kq6cdhi.exe — you might want to poke around on the internet first (try putting the file name in google) to see if you can find out what the patch is supposed to do.
-emily
(re: re: Computer Sound)
It’s easy to underestimate the effect of the music and soundtrack in sierra games. I downloaded a couple of old tracks from Leisure Suit Larry and Space Quest 3. I was in a trance while listening to them. It was like I was back in the 80’s experiencing the magic of sierra games over and over again. It was like a moment from the movie ‘Somewhere in Time’ when Christopher Reeve went back to the past. Simply amazing.
I think that’s one big thing lacking from current games (and movies perhaps), a good soundtrack.
(re: re: re: re: KINGS QUEST 5)
Have you found a solution to that old problem? I finished KQ5 in VGA the other and had the exact same problem happen to me.
Funny thing is that with my old EGA-only version of the game, I tried playing it all the way through, and Lo! and Behold! the ending animation didn’t lock up!!! It only happened with my VGA version.
(re: re: re: re: re: game concepts)
Been looking at the specs for SCI (Documentation from Sci Studio by Brian Provinciano, http://www.bripro.com), now that’s one good system. I don’t like the lisp-like language that much but a lot of the ideas are sound and ahead of its time.
When trying to think of new adventure/game types, let’s try not to be restricted by our memories of past sierra games. For instance, I wouldn’t want to create a king’s quest or space quest clone. Maybe some place which gives the users the freedom to create their your own worlds in a peer-to-peer environment. Sort of like the ‘world wide web’ of adventure games.
(re: re: PQ2 Gun sighting problem)
thanks for the info.I just tried it and it worked on the first try.
(re: Couple Questions (Sprite and Interpreter related))
IOf your are intertested in creating SCI type games..go to http://www.bripro.com and check out a program called SCI studio
(re: re: re: re: game concepts) your right adam I was not thinking. depending on what we want to do is going to depend and what we can use.
I have been thinking of a adventure game of some type. I think alot of people here enjoy playing them and would love to play one that they helped to build.
But the hardest thing is an adventure game about what ?
well guys submit ideas if you have any I am sure I will be brain storming as well(re: sierra’s future )
I think that building a computer game together would be great! I am not very good with many things but I can give ideas.
This would be so much fun!
(re: re: re: Torin’s Passage Manual)
The Manual was just in the form of the 24 page liner notes. I can scan it and upload it later in the week, if anyone wants it.
(re: PQ2 Gun sighting problem)
I don’t know exactly where you need to hit, but how many times are you turning the screwdriver to adjust the sights? I’ve always had the best luck if I turn it like 10 times, rather than just one or two. I pay more attention to the message (that it’s too high, too low, etc.) than to where the bullets are showing up on the target. By turning that many times based on what the message says, I’m usually able to get it right within a few tries.
-emily
(re: re: Torin’s Passage Manual)
And Shivers has an ad for Torin’s Passage!
I find this annoying too.
I have only the CD and booklet. I don’t know if there was a separate manual. KQ7, which came out around the same time, had only a jewel case insert, no separate manual. The KQ7 strategy guide hint book thing was sold separately (but IIRC I got mine for free with a coupon from InterAction magazine)… Maybe Torin’s Passage had something similar? If so, I’d love to see it.
-emily
