![]() Roberta Williams is living a life that many can only dream of. As a pioneer in electronic storytelling, Williams has authored and designed more home computer games than any other person in the computer game industry. Her achievements, like the adventurous settings of her interactive stories, are legendary. Williams co-founded On-Line Systems with her husband Ken in 1980. Their first collaboration, which was programmed by Ken, was the first computer game ever to combine graphics and text. Called Mystery House, it sold thousands of copies within months of release. That year, On-Line Systems moved its headquarters to the Sierra foothill town of Oakhurst, California. Today, the company, now based in Bellevue Washington, is known as Sierra On-Line and employs over 700 people. From the beginning Williams has been committed to creative game design. In 1982, she collaborated with Muppets creator Jim Henson to design a computer adventure game based on his upcoming feature fantasy The Dark Crystal. The game was an unqualified hit and generated rave reviews. Williams' first episode in the best-selling King's Quest saga was released in the summer of 1984. King's Quest: Quest for the Crown was the first 3-D animated adventure game and was described by one reviewer as "the closest thing yet to (interacting with) an animated cartoon." Other games followed, including a spin-off of Disney's animated feature, The Black Cauldron, and her own Disney game, Mickey's Space Adventure. In 1987, Williams released her first children's title, Mixed-Up Mother Goose. As a mother of two children, she felt the time had come to appeal to younger players. Five awards, 200,000 units and eight years later, this innovative title will lives on in 1995's updated and graphically-beautiful Mixed-Up Mother Goose Deluxe. King's Quest IV, which garnered the Software Publishers Association Award in 1989, was the first game to contain VGA graphics and take full advantage of the new music card technology with a fully orchestrated stereo soundtrack. This award-winning game was also significant in that it featured a female protagonist. The most recent chapter of the King's Quest series was King's Quest VII: The Princeless Bride. Using high resolution cinematic cell animation and boasting a soundtrack of 150 songs, this game told an enchanting tale of a mother and daughter caught in a fantastic and enchanted world. In 1995, Williams once again pushed electronic gaming to new heights with Phantasmagoria, an interactive horror game combining live actors and ultra-realistic 3D-rendered backgrounds. Phantasmagoria is a terrifying thriller unfolding on seven CDs (one for each chapter). Players assume the role of Adrienne, who must unravel a sinister mystery surrounding the island mansion she and her husband have purchased. The cinematic design approach, coupled with Williams' unfaltering storytelling, combines to give gamers an opportunity not only to witness a nightmare but become a part of it. Since then, she has been working on the latest installment of the King's Quest series... Mask of Eternity! Williams no longer staffs Sierra's technical support phone from her kitchen table, but she does continue to generate many of the company's game ideas and storylines while her husband serves as CEO. Her goals for the future: to be on the cutting edge of technology; to bring computer adventure games into the mainstream market, and to continue to develop the highest quality products in the software industry. |