March 6, 2022
Our team continues to expand. We now have 15 people working on the game!
There’s a side of me that really didn’t want that. The original vision for the game was that I’d do 100% of everything myself. I wanted it to be a nice, small, simple project that would be something I could work on in my spare time. Unfortunately, or fortunately, things didn’t work out that way.
Roberta has a very high quality standard. She was the one who gave me the idea for what I should code, and when she saw what I was producing it was well below her minimum standard. She jumped into the game with both feet and basically said, “If I’m putting my name on it, it’s going to be something we can be proud of.” Many of the buyers will be buying the game because of our reputation from the old Sierra days and they will expect the same quality that made Sierra so successful. That meant hiring artists, professional voice talent, animators, more engineers, etc. etc.
Anyway, we’ve been secretive about what we’re working on. The biggest reason is that we haven’t wanted anyone to see anything until we had something we’re proud of. On March 21st, just a little over two weeks from now, we’re going to announce the game and show the first scenes from it. The entire team is working tirelessly to make sure that all of you won’t be disappointed with what you see. I’m typing this at 7:39am on a Sunday morning and there are other team members working. Roberta and I were at our computers from 6am until 11pm on Thursday night with the last few hours just agonizing over some sound effects.
The game is really coming together! Both the virtual reality and computer versions are looking amazing. There are some scenes in the VR version that still blow me away.
Our big announcement will be at the Game Developers conference on March 21st in San Francisco. Both Roberta and I will be there to show the game to the conference attendees as well as the press. On that date I’ll send an email to everyone who has registered on this site with details about the game. We’ll also open up a website which is dedicated to the game. I’ve been working with some video guys to put together a “launch video” that shows off the game. I saw the first draft yesterday and the video is a lot of fun.
Anyway, stay tuned, and make sure you register on this site. I can’t say much today, but LOTs of info is coming very soon.
PS All we’ll be doing on March 21st is announcing what we’re working on and showing some of the graphics and animation. The actual game won’t be complete until sometime this summer.
16 Responses
YAY!!!1
So glad to hear this news…
Noticed there wasnt any mention of Beta stuff though, still planning on that?
Thanks,
Alex
Yes — definitely planning beta. The beta testing will probably start around April 1st to 15th, and there will be several rounds of beta testing. My prior blog entry talked about what I am visualizing
-Ken W
Awesome thanks Ken.
Couple things…
Will the VR version support HMDs other than the Quest2? Like I have a Rift here, which uses the PC.
Also, do we ultimately have COVID to thank for your surprise return to gaming? 🙂
Alex
As soon as we finish the quest 2 version we’ll start looking at porting the game to other VR platforms. For now, I haven’t really focused on this issue, but it should be easy. My guess is that we’ll choose the platform that comes next based on whatever is the easiest conversion with the largest installed base. As I type this, I haven’t the vaguest idea what that is.
-Ken W
That sounds interesting.
How are you guys doing with the stress? Is it something you can cope with, or does it affect your health? I hope you can keep it fun and we’ll see more games from you in the future. I would love to see a game with you and Al Lowe!
Thank you for asking. There is an unbelievable amount of stress. It’s mostly affecting our health through the lack of exercise. We’ve been retired for 25 years and I have a group that I golf with. In a normal year I’d be out golfing five days a week. Roberta does long walks and yoga. Now, all we do is sit at our computers. We correspond primarily via email from our computers on opposite ends of the house. Making games IS fun, but its also more work than most people realize.
Oh well .. we only have a few months to go!
I’d love to do a game with Al Lowe, but .. at this point, the jury is still out on if Roberta and I will do another game or return to our retirement. We love games .. but, there’s also a lot to be said for our other lives as world cruisers and happy retirees.
-Ken W
It sounds like you traveled right back to 1982 when you moved to Oakhurst. Except you took your current bodies with you. Maybe in 15 years we’ll be able to reset the age, as many experts predict, but if not, you might want to slow down on the next project. No one from the fan community will be angry with you for taking the time. You just have to work it out with your expectations.
Aww as much as we want to see The Secret as soon as possible, I sure do hope you and Roberta take some time to de-stress and get some exercise. I guess that’s another good thing about the game being done soon – will give you more time to be active again 🙂
So excited!!
I registered after read this post! Magnificent! Just two weeks. By the way, did you start to cast voice actors? Or am I late? I can offer one wonderful lady. She has a wide background as personality (languages and professional singing, for examples.) and various professional portfolio in acting: some films, theater performance, a host of show in one country, which had three seasons, and, of course, she experienced in voiceover. I’m not joking (I can prove by having links.). I can tell her, Sir.
I just wanted to say “thank you” to both you and Roberta for starting Sierra many years ago, and for coming out of retirement to create this new game. Sierra provided countless hours of entertainment as I was growing up and was an inspiration for me to pursue a career in technology.
I am looking forward to the release of this game and wish you, Roberta, and the rest of the team much success!
I started playing King’s Quest as a young physician starting out in practice in the 1980’s. My sons grew up playing the games as well. Your return to gaming is much anticipated and appreciated. Very excited to hear this news and to eventually re-enter your world of imagination. Thanks for the memories.
Thank you!
I am so excited to hear about the new game — been following the progress for months! If you opt to do preorders or anything like that, count me in!
I was a fan of Sierra in my teens and so your announcement really excited me. Can’t wait to see what you produce! King’s Quest, Space Quest, Police Quest and all the other great Sierra games were what got me into gaming and inspired me to become a writer!