Ken Williams | Co-Founder of Sierra On-Line - Retro Tea Break
VloĆŸit
- Äas pĆidĂĄn 7. 07. 2021
- Ken and Roberta Williams created Sierra On-Line in 1979 with their first graphical adventure game for the Apple II compute "Mystery House". From these humble beginnings the world opened up for them and with games such as Police Quest, Space Quest, Leisure Suit Larry and Kings Quest, Sierra rocketed to the top of the charts and became one of the biggest game publishers in the world.
Today we meet Ken and discuss those early days, and find out a little more about his history and his exciting new game.
đ Support RMC
Time is the most valuable thing we have. Official Cave Dwellers create a reliable monthly income that allows to give my all to this channel. If you'd like to support this, and help me make it the very best I can then please consider using:
/ rmcretro or ko-fi.com/RMCretro
â Support the Sponsors of The Cave
MonsterJoysticks: monsterjoysticks.com/RMC
1ClickPrint: www.1clickprint.com#RMC
âChapters
00:20 Intro to Ken Williams
01:05 How Ken Williams got into computers
02:57 Ken Williams ambitions as a young man
05:23 Was Ken Williams a geek like us
07:36 Did Ken Williams play games?
08:28 On Ken and Roberta's Apple II
09:34 The inspiration for Mystery House
13:34 Did Ken want to sell more serious software?
14:22 Does Ken have an Apple I?
18:33 The Videogame crash
20:55 Offering royalities to designers
23:10 "Ken Sent Me" & Leisure Suit Larry 4
25:50 Sierra's deal with IBM for Kings Quest
31:12 What is Ken Williams favourite Kings Quest
34:12 Ken Williams on the quality of his big box games
37:30 What is the perfect Sierra game?
38:56 What is it like working with Disney?
41:02 How do you stay ahead in the games industry?
45:53 What Quest games did Sierra never release?
48:05 The demise of Sierra
54:05 Ken Williams on his new game
â Subscribe
Please take a moment to subscribe to the channel
czcams.com/users/rmcretro?sub_c...
â Episode Links
Kens new game: kensgame.com
Kens book: kensbook.com
Robertas Book: robertasbook.com
â Join me on social media
Twitter: / rmcretro
â Come and chat on the RMC chat server
Discord: / discord
âRMC Merch Shop for RMC books, posters, mugs, and a whole lot more
rmcretro.store
â RMC Podcasts
Enjoy my Podcasts with your favourite app using the links here:
Retro Tea Break - audioboom.com/channels/5001251
This Week in Retro - anchor.fm/thisweekinretro
#GameDev #Interview #RetroGaming - VÄda a technologie
Thank you for watching, it was a huge pleasure to have an audience with Ken. You can find chapters in the video description if you'd like to hear a specific question, and you can hear more about Kens new game at 53:44. You can also find his game at kensgame.com
Neil - RMC
Great interview with a living legend. I shared this on my website today đ€
The first time in my life I thought an accountant could be cool! Ken was a bit of a hero growing up, the Sierra games pretty much defined huge parts of my childhood, fantastic interview Neil!
I'm surprised to see you in the comment section of this video.
Stay awesome.
Ha random place to see you comment, cool to see that you are a sierra fan.
In the early days of PC gaming have great memories for me. Space Quest, Police Quest, The Colonels Bequest, and Gabriel Knight with the speech, was amazing. I still have them to this day. Great times.
Sooooooo looking forward to watching this episode tonight. Sierra games were and still are my favorite games.
I even learned my English back then (not a native speaker) playing all Quest series
Thanks for making these gems!
Awesome to hear again from Ken Williams. Great interview. There are millions of us around the world that would like to shake Ken and Roberta's hands and thank them for all the good times and memories. They made amazing games
Thank you Ken and Roberta for the awesome games that were a huge part of my childhood! It is one of the reasons I got involved in the game industry as a composer!! (Love KQ 3/4 and SQ!)
Thank you!
I read more sierra adventures as a kid than Dr Seuss even. Thanks Ken and Roberta for igniting my imagination.
Thank you!
What an absolute legend
what a legend. i loved sierra games. spent hundreds of hours playing kings quest, space quest, police quest.
I can't thank Ken & Roberta enough for all the hours of joy I had playing their games on my Amiga. Thank you from the bottom of my heart
Loved Ken's book and also read it in like two days. (that's really fast for me đ ) Just thank you so much, Ken and Roberta! You can't imagine how much your creations are still loved and how much these games mean to me and probably a lot more out there! đ„° I'm so looking forward to the new game!!! Great video with some nice new infos! đ
I"m not a reader and I read it in one sitting! Could not put it down.
@@eatwhaturgiven I know right!? đ and i have a couple of other books about or around the gaming industry and none of them is this entertaining!
Sierra games were some of my faves back in the day. I can't even begin to count the hours spent playing Leisure Suit Larry, King's Quest, etc.
"Trash-80" - those were the days. My first programming class in high school used TRS-80s.
Please interview Roberta next.
Then John carmack đ
Roberta is very anti-interview. I've never completely understood why. I think some of it is shyness, and some of it is just not wanting to constantly think about old times. She is not one to dwell on past accomplishments.
@@cabokenw I suspect two things don't help, in addition. One is bald-faced internet misogyny, where any accolades given to women are dismissed as unearned by a certain segment of people who think everything that doesn't celebrate men is "virtue signalling". Another is that she's expressed opinions that - and I'm going to try to be fair about this - can be easily interpreted as unfair to and elitist towards people who could not afford more expensive computers in the 1980s, and dismissive of later videogame trends. Text and point/click adventure games weren't popular because people were better, they were popular because the spectrum of genres you could convincingly execute on 1980's hardware was diffenet than that of 1995, much more so than that of today, so Text and point/click adventure games used to represent a gigantic proportion of the gaming field because entire modern genres didn't exist. The most divisive interview she gave where Roberta chalked this up to Apple II users representing a higher class of person with a better education being the reason those were more popular then has been an albatross around her neck, online, ever since - fairly or not.
Absolute legends, I was absolutely hooked on the Sierra games!
Ken is a legend. Owe alot to him
I loved these games. Such great memories.
Awesome interview RMC! It is so cool hearing from these legends. I have so many great memories playing the OG Kings Quest and Space Quest on my neighbor's IBM PC Jr. and then later Sierra games on my Amiga
Donât worry Bill we will visit your stream soon! I promise Amiga talk cause you know Iâm a huge fan
Great interview! Always a treat to hear from Ken.
I remember buying LSL1 for around ÂŁ40, then spending the same amount on the USA hint line, fun times. Ken sent me, still makes me smile :)
This new game sounds like a Shroud of the Avatar case where some nobodies who want to make money in games just convince a beloved legendary game developer to put their name on their project and get them minimally involved to rake in the cash while not really caring about the quality of the final product. Mark my words, this game will blow.
Pepper's Adventure's in Time awakened something in me.
Fascinating interview, many thanks for putting together an interview with such a Legend.
I just realized the stripes on the Sierra logo, matches his shirt.
That wasn't deliberate...
So this is the one who SENT ME!
LOL!
Excellent interview! I read his book and this is a great compliment to it. This video deserves waaay more likes... come on, people!
I remember when the IBM PC Jr. came out and I was still in high school. I saw it in a store in a mall and it was demoing Kings Quest 1. I got so excited as I had never seen anything that crisp and clear in a game for the home. The real bummer for me was that the PC Jr was either $1500 or $3000. I can't remember, but it was an astronomical amount for a high school kid. I remember telling my parents about it but they couldn't afford it either. I think the first PC I ever owned was a 386 from Micron or Micro(something) which was an ad in a magazine. It wasn't until many years later that I was able to play King's Quest. I thank Ken and Roberta because they sparked my interest in computers which lead to my career in Information Technology today...and I loved all their games. I'm not a hardcore gamer but I still love to play good games when they come around.
Really enjoyed this interview! I have fond memories of Sierra. Remember when I was 13 years old and someone had installed LS Larry on the schools computer. I had memorized all the control questions so I could help other students to get the sauciest version of game play :)
Thoroughly enjoyed this. I loved playing Ken and Roberta's games when I was a kid. Favourite games were Kings Quest 1-4.
Thanks for posting this video! All Sierra games bring so many childhood memories!
So, so cool. Sierra games have been such a huge part of my life for so long now. Leisure Suit Larry, King's Quest, Space Quest, and on and on. My high school computer teacher would let us play games on Fridays, as she felt games were an integral part of learning, and I would always choose a Sierra game.
it's cool to see such a rich guy be so wholesome
i don't think he will understand the scope of what he helped create in gaming history
Thanks a lot Neil, absolutely great video :) what a legend!
Oh, this is excellent. I spent a LOT of time on Sierra games.
Ken's pretty amazing. So smart and very driven.
Ken and Roberta rock. Best games ever.
Thank you for this. Ken is a legend.
I wish Ken and Roberta would make an old school 2d adventure game.
this is great man! ty so much for this!
Exciting stuff - best of luck to you guys on the new game!
Ooh, gonna save this for my road trip next week.
If it's more convenient you can find it as a podcast by searching for Retro Tea Breaks on most apps
I love Sierraâs games. I remember playing their early games on the Commodore Amiga and then their later sequels on PC.
You really are upping your game Neil, top notch interview here.
I love these interviews. Questions are always so well researched and, even if the interviewee is someone I don't know, they are always fascinating.
awesome interview
Jimmy Greaves is looking well
Excellent Interview!!!
Best Tea Break ever.
Sierra on-line made so many great games, i still have these games for my Amiga 500:
- LEISURE SUIT LARRY 1-5
- POLICE QUEST 1
- SPACE QUEST 1
- KING'S QUEST I-III
- DONALD DUCK'S PLAYGROUND
- GOLD RUSH!
Also i have DONALD DUCK'S PLAYGROUND for my Commodore 64. And an interview with Ken Williams is legendary. Roberta Williams made lots of great game, too. Thank you! đșđđâïžđŸđčïžđ„ïžâšïž
Legendary status
I wish you'd have asked Ken about Richard Garriott's payment controversy for Ultima II.
According to Garriott his experience with Sierra compelled him to open his own publishing house, Origin.
Also, he advises the early punishers if his games as having huge drug problems. I know he directed this comment towards California Pacific Computers, but was never sure if he also meant to tag the Williams' with this accusation.
To my knowledge, Ken's perspective on these controversies has never been publicly shared.
We would like to support you in all scifi related models.
bro!! a new Ken Williams game? lets go!
Loved The Space Quest series, remember playing SQ1 on my Tandy 1000 EX. Many hours of fun and yes frustration, getting stuck to find out you forgot something important at the beginning of the game! Also ordering the hint books, that you had to use the special marker to reveal the answers, lol.
I have actually used the SuperScript word processor he talked about at the beginning of Sierra. It was compiled to run on a TRS Model II business computer. I used that before moving on to WordStar.
The video game crash was pretty much unknown here in Australia.
Epic!
I know I'm in the minority here, but I really hope there is a non-VR version of the Williams game. I have nothing against VR, but because of something with my brain, be it wired wrong or something, I cannot do VR. I have tried, but I get violently ill after just a few minutes. I don't want to miss out on another Sierra style adventure, let alone one that is being assisted with by Ken and/or Roberta Williams. I could also listen to Ken Williams discuss the history of the computer industry from when he was coming up in it for hours. I can't wait for my copy of his latest book to arrive.
Same here, I don't like VR so i hope there's a non-VR version.
Grin -- I don't like VR. There will definitely be a non-VR version of the game (for Mac and Windows). I've always thought of VR as more of a gimmick than as something that really adds play value. That said, I'm old fashioned .. and have been assured by others that the VR version of the game will find many happy players. I always say, "Customers vote at the box office". By this I mean that different people have different desires. We'll offer the game in lots of different flavors and people will choose what they like.
@@cabokenw I would like to like VR, really I would, but my brain and stomach can't handle it. The idea of a King's Quest style game done in VR with you as Graham would be amazing. And thank you for all of your hard work over the years. You made my childhood and now my 6 year old daughter's magical with all of the amazing stories you helped make.
"Ken and Roberta Williams, two of the most influential figures in video game history, are bringing the original 1976 text adventure Colossal Cave Adventure to virtual reality, as well as Mac and Windows PC."
I have a feeling we should have been speaking to Roberta!
Shared to Sierra Gaming World private Facebook group :)
Thanks Ross
Legend!
I remember being 9 years old playing space quest shortly after it came out. I racked my parents phone bill up to 300 from calling the 1-900 number for clues lmao. Never had my ass beat so hard in my life but I never did it again â€ïž
Ok how did I miss this?
Am I mistaken or was there a very brief Roberta cameo towards the end there?
She did appear briefly to inform Ken it was time to leave the marina, and said a quick hello which was amazing
@@RMCRetro I think she appears crossing the background in 48:10.
I remember buying Hero Quest when it was first released, unfortunately my copy had faulty disks and I had to take it back and arrange a swap for a new copy, when the shop eventually let me know it was in I went to the shop to find it was now called Quest for Glory 1(So You want To Be A Hero) at the time I was surprised but Damn I wish I had kept the original box. Still one of my favourite games tho. I also had KQ IV, The Colonel's Bequest and Project Iceman awesome boxes. All on the Amiga.
It looks like he is dialling in from a private yacht! Must have done ok out of it :p
Spot on....the interview came to an end when Roberta popped her head in to inform Ken that the deadline to leave the marina was looming
Yes -- we are on a boat. Check out my blog - kensblog.com - Roberta and I circumnavigated our boat! We get recognized more these days for our boating adventures than we do for Sierra. We have taken our small boat across both the Atlantic and the Bering Sea, plus to 27 countries...
Awesome! Thanks for everything you did at Sierra, Ken!
"Ken sent me."
What a cool dudeđ . Reminds me of Walt Disney without the crazy
When you mention Walt Disney, i have DONALD DUCK'S PLAYGROUND for my Commodore 64 and Amiga 500. It was fun to play. đâïžđđčïžđŸ
Take all my money! I'm definitely buying Ken's and Marcus new VR game.
Cool
It looks like Ken has teamed up with Neil's Evil twin?? The Bizarro-Neil??? What could possibly go wrong?
No mention of the Amiga side was a pity, that was my Sierra time :)
From the thumbnail it looks like your interviewing Greavsie ;)
I loved Sierra's games. Even Manhunt, which fas really frustrating. But there was always so much room for ones own mind to fill in, with the games only being raw sketches of the narrative. (Compared to today's 4k photorealistc products)
48:10 She makes her appearance!!!
Iâm just guessing thatâs an Amel. Great boat!
I was a bit surprised when he admitted to not playing some of the games.
Yeah we need adventure games like sierraâs quest games againâŠ.these current adventure games cannot compare
Ken sent me.
Jimmiy GREAVES, world cup winner and Spurs hero
now I can't unsee it
This is exactly what I saw. Itâs like going back to the 80âs for so many reasons.
I wonder if they changed their engine when it came to the Homeworld Series?
Irony - Those carts would be gold today!
Ken Williams coding again? Thatâs amazing, but Iâm mostly looking forward to the story magic that came from Roberta. I love that one of the first and still most famous rock star game designers is a woman! đ
He may look like a lovely old dude but back in the day Sierra was full of swingers and hippies. There are some still some topless marketing pics out there
omg i loved that interview but the moment that marcus guy showed up im thinking uh oh,, heres trouble... i hope ken doesnt get fucked over again.
Trouble is my middle name oh wait itâs Maximus so Maximus Trouble đ
A legend: He and his wife once upon a time, Roberta. Only bad thing is that Ken has the bad misfortune of being a dead ringer for Mike Lindell, the conspiracy-believing MyPillow Guy (just add black hair). So many crazy stories to tell about the very early days of adventure games.
Good to see Ken's face again. I interviewed him just before his book came out ( czcams.com/video/y9GkfTNsbtE/video.html ) and it's good to see his story is consistent! A great guy and I'm very glad he is as humble as he is for all his talents and wealth. I can't wait to hear more about the new game. I'm actually pretty surprised he got coaxed into it, but I guess that's the upshot of Covid-19 in our case - Ken can't sail, so he's got to fill his time with something!
Why can't he sail? He can't disembark in the port of another country, but that leaves him with everywhere else to go (or even just sail without a destination).
The disappointment of many later game Big Boxes having only the jewel case inside... But I have to say, some of the slimmer Sierra boxes like Conquest of Camelot are too small for containing 10 5.25" and 4 3.5" floppies plus all the other goodies. They are bulging a bit... xD
Got at least 50 Sierra (and Sierra published) Big Box games on the shelves behind me. Need more shelf space as I don't like stacking them like I have to do at the moment.
Unfortunately it looks like Ken's new game is only targeting the Oculus, when the HTC headsets combined have more market share (Vive, Index, and HTC headsets sold outside of Steam). Oculus is now a Facebook company, so there is that issue as well.
This is so fuckin cool.
coming in 2035, LSL-IV The case of the missing floppies
48:10 - Roberta?
Cool interview :)
The new "VR" game.. not my cup of tea.
I'm a proud old dinosaur who loves 2d games and will stick to that.
But I wish Ken all the best.
I thought that was Jimmy Greaves in the thumbnail.
Would have been nice if they had fixed the AGI ports on 68K Macs due to the quickdraw changes that were made by ïŁż. Beside Larry 2.06 everything seems to be broken for B+W and 16colors too. :(
"Made by..." whom? It may just be my browser, but my computer is only displaying a box with an 'x' through it.
@@willsofer3679 by "A P P L E" of course.
I thought his book would have been called And Uh.
1 hour tea break? i'm obviously in the wrong union
Can someone tell me why Sierra On-Line were called On-Line way before on-line was a thing?
If I recall it's because in the early days of computing connecting up a hardware device (like a tape reel) to a mainframe was considering to be brining the device "on-line", perhaps because it was plugged in and the connection cable was like a "line" (like a phone line). The modern term online in the context of the Internet was an evolution from that original meaning.
That name used to confuse me also back in the late 80s. I later learned the "On-Line" part of the name was because there actually was proprietary online operation albeit not widespread in those days. Ken was forward thinking and had the idea of connected home computers early on because he had already done it via the big business machines,
Is the fate of other Sierra game characters the same as Larry's?