Recently I had the privilege of interviewing Rebecca once again, getting her opinion on modding, current trends in gaming culture, programmer drama and more!
Rebecca Heineman Q & A Interview (January 2018)
Starfang: "How are you doing this evening?"
Rebecca Heineman: "I'm doing quite well."
SF: "Ok so did you take any electronics or computer classes in school that may have prompted an interest in game design/development?"
RH: "I only took an electronic class for a semester in high school, but it was all about tube TVs and simple transistor radios. Otherwise, I didn't go to school for electronics or computer software or hardware."
SF: "I remember seeing you mention in a youtube interview (I can't recall the channel) where you mentioned that you would make your own games because games were (and still are) too expensive."
RH: "Very expensive, especially for someone who was dirt poor."
SF: "Were these like Commodore or Apple floppies or Atari cartridges? Was this your first foray into game design?"
RH: "My first foray was making an actual game was an Atari 2600 clone of the Apple ][ game CrossFire. Before that, I was making demos and simple programming challenges (Draw 3D boxes, move sprites) on the Apple ][. I think that was in 1981, It was after I had already won the Atari National Space Invaders championship. I remember also making a clone of Berzerk for the Apple ][ using a voice synthesis card."
SF: "You were more or less offered a job then and there right (after the championship)?"
RH: "The job I was offered was writing "how to beat the video games" books and articles for Electronic Gaming Magazine. It wasn't until almost a year later when I mentioned to the magazine that I also wrote computer software, and when they relayed that to the Avalon Hill Game Company, I was hired over the phone a day later."
SF: "I remember you mentioning in a video that placing copyright protections in games was like begging for a hacker to come and copy your stuff. In your opinion, what other protocols would have been preferred?"
RH: "The best "copy protection" I found was the Infocom way of doing things. In the box, came an assortment of goodies like ID cards, trinkets, notepads and other items that were in theme with the game. Written on these items were clues to puzzles in the game, so without these items, you couldn't solve the puzzles. People who played a copy of the game would have to buy the game or make copies of the manuals to be able to win. Sierra later on did things like add a cloth map to Ultima II as a way of saying "This is what you get if you paid us for our work."
SF: "I remember something similar for Infocom's "Wishbringer" back in the day."
RH: "Infocom was famous for the packaging and contents of their game boxes."
SF: "I like that idea better as well because not only does it keep your immersion in-tact, it doesn't preemptively presume your are a criminal."
RH: "Correct, and also floppy disks are not 100% reliable, so if a disk failed, the copy protection in some cases accuse the user of piracy, which made some people mad."
SF: "And some of the bigger games that you are well-known for came about around this time in your career (mid/early - late 80s) like the Bard's Tale Trilogy and Wasteland."
RH: "Bard's Tale I and II had copy protection applied. Wasteland used a paragraph book and Bard's Tale III used a "Magic Spell codewheel".
SF: "I remember the codewheel! Monkey's Island had a similar codewheel.
During your time working on Wasteland, did you think that the game would mutate into the 2nd most popular RPG franchise today?"
RH: "Not at all. When we were working on all of our franchises, we did them because we thought they would be fun to play. We didn't set out to make a "game of the year", just games that would sell enough to keep us afloat so we could make the next game. It was a pleasant honor to find our games are still remembered fondly."
SF: "On that note you made a very apropos joke a few months ago regarding Trump/North Korea, something about "we'll get to really experience Fallout" and my mind went to Wasteland lol.
Was Bard's Tale originally planned to be a four title anthology, or a trilogy?"
RH: "No, it was planned to be a never ending line of games. Bard's Tale III was a direct sequel to Bard's Tale I. Bard's Tale IV was to be a new setting/story, but that morphed to Dragon Wars due to EA refusing Interplay to use the Bard's Tale and Wasteland names."
SF: "I recall you having mentioned in an interview that there some last-minute implements that needed to be made because of the new title."
RH: "There was a dragon sub plot added, but the villain was always Namtar."
SF: "Were last-minute changes/revisions a seldom or a recurring situation?"
RH: "In later games at Interplay, yes, it happened a lot. In the game industry we call it "feature creep".
SF: "And in the 90's there was instance with Art Data and the 3DO port of Doom, an example of a publisher leaping before they look."
RH: "In that case, a publisher who had no idea what they were doing."
SF: "Like I still can't picture it, basically a store-bought copy -- and wanted you to remaster it into a brand new game more or less?? New levels, new guns, new monsters, 250,000 copies issued..."
RH: "Yes, and not understanding that to do all that work, would take a lot of time and money. They thought making a game was something you could do in a week or so."
SF: "This sort of mentality ties back into our last Q&A, where you had said something to the effect of plenty of new & existing publishers want you to develop or debug a game pro-bono."
RH: "That's more in the vein of "I don't want to risk my money on your game, but I want to make money off of you."
SF: "Could Doom 3DO had been a success if the original source code been sent?"
RH: "It would have been a success had there been at least 6 months and triple the money was applied to the port. We only had budget for a few weeks of artist time and the rest was for a programmer."
SF: "But you had at least managed to get the soundtrack revamped and re-tooled the ending."
RH: "Yes, that was the only successes of the 3DO version of DOOM. I freely admit the rest could have been much better, but I just didn't have the development resources (Money/time) to do it justice."
SF: "What are some of the games throughout your career that you found to be the most enjoyable to work on?"
RH: "Bard's Tale III."
SF: "Do you have a favorable opinion on the modding community?"
RH: "I love the modding community. The creativity they show is inspiring."
SF: "I was going to say, you released the Bard's Tale Construction Kit back in the day I imagine someone who didn't want players using their stuff wouldn't have don that hehe."
RH: "Some game designers wanted mods, others hated the idea."
SF: "I feel like this is a sentiment that companies like Bethesda have with the modding community; they like the idea of it but want to control and profit from what fans put into their game(s).
Which is how the Creation Club (if you're familiar with it) was formed, well mostly because of Sony's laws regarding third party sources, etc.
I'm wording that wrong, but yea...lol"
RH: "That's actually because modding on the PC is free form and there are no gatekeepers. On consoles, companies like Microsoft/Sony/Nintendo keep a tight rein on their consoles and the mods have to be quality controlled for both ratings (I.E. foul language or graphic material) and vectors for installing malware."
SF: "But it provided a good enough opening for controversial services like Creation Club to be born of it. As a developer would you have liked to have more input control on fan-made contributions, as well as profit?"
RH: "It would be nice to profit from it, but at the time we were making games, there was no method for us to do so. Also, modders should get something for their hard work."
SF: "Thank you for your time."
RH: "You're welcome."
