Interview: The creator of the Conquests adventures on what made them specialTweetNews ID: 382 Date: 2017-05-05 Source: https://www.gog.com/news/interview_with_the_creator_of_the_conquests_adventures Back in the late '80s - early '90s when adventure games reigned supreme, Sierra On-Line was the ultimate household name. During the steady stream of Quest and Larry games that established their legacy, a couple of less-known but no less-loved titles came along: Conquests of Camelot and Conquests of the Longbow. Not unlike the mythical tales that inspired them, they both established themselves as classics that rigorously withstood the test of time, thanks to their meticulous craftsmanship and irresistible charm. To celebrate their long-awaited arrival on GOG.com we've approached their creator, Christy Marx, for a chat on what made them so special to her and to so many adventure game fans. Our tale begins with the ordinary sound of a ringing telephone... Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you came to design two adventure games that are still considered to be on par with the classics from this golden era. Late in 1988, a headhunter called our house looking for artists to work at Sierra On-Line. At the time, I was married to Peter Ledger, an Australian illustrator, painter, and comics artist. Somehow they'd gotten Peter's name and number. I think Sierra had a hard time finding artists that wanted to move into the obscure mountain town of Oakhurst where they were located. I've always been quick to jump on new opportunities and a chance to learn a new form of writing. I asked whether Sierra would be interested in a writer/artist team? They were very interested, especially when they learned of my scriptwriting background. Peter and I drove up to Oakhurst, met with Ken and Roberta, and made a deal on the spot to move up there and work for them. That was the nice thing about Sierra at the time -- if Ken and Roberta decided they wanted to make a deal like that, they could make it happen instantly. I knew nothing about making computer games, so the first couple of months mainly consisted of me playing every Sierra game, and talking to the programmers, artists, and other designers about what we could and couldn't do with the existing technology. A lot of research seems to have been put into your games. What was it about these two legendary tales that motivated you to turn them into adventure games? If you were to make this into a trilogy, where would the story go next? Christy: During our initial interview with Ken and Roberta, one of the key questions I asked was "If we create an original IP for you, do we have any ownership?" They said, no, they would want full ownership. I wasn't willing to create a new, original IP without some ownership, so they put forward the idea of doing a King Arthur game."I began doing extensive research, buying books, reading up on how the stories of a "King Arthur" began and developed across the centuries." I love all forms of mythology and legends, and so did Peter. We agreed that was an excellent solution. I began doing extensive research, buying books, reading up on how the stories of a "King Arthur" began and developed across the centuries. I used real locations and interesting artifacts that I came across, such as the Chalice Well and Glastonbury Tor, which had associations with Arthur. When I decided to expand the game to include Jerusalem, I consulted a friend who grew up there and learned about other cool places I could include, such as the Pool of Siloam. Did you ever consider Kickstarting the sequel to your Conquests games or were you ever approached to that end? How would you want it to look like? Christy: I've had many people ask me for that, but I don't think they understand how much work goes into one of these games. It's a massive undertaking. Each of the Sierra games took a year and a half of my life, and that was with Sierra providing everything I needed -- a team of professionals, equipment, game engine, production, technical support, QA, distribution, sales -- there's so much that goes into it. I don't have the time or energy to put all of that together myself. I would love to make another one, if I could find a similar situation where that support was provided. I'd make it retro as far as the style of gameplay very much along the same lines as Camelot and Longbow, but would update the art and sound. What were the main reasons why adventure games were so massively successful in the early days of the medium and why have they been relegated to a mostly niche status today? What gaming projects are you working on at the moment? Should we expect you to write and design another adventure game in the foreseeable future? Christy: I spent the last six years as a Narrative Designer at Zynga learning about Facebook games, then working on mobile games. I've just left Zynga, so I'm wide open to new possibilities. I would love to do meatier, more challenging Narrative Design and game writing than I was able to do on mobile.
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