How ET ᵃˡᵐᵒˢᵗ ruined a Gaming Icon

As a couple of University sweethearts go out to make games they end up creating one of PC Gamings most iconic developers. But one bad decisions will almost end the dream.

Social media:

Stock Footage from Getty

King Quest PC Footage recorded on DOS BOX.

Credits:
Research and Writing: LowSpecAlex
Voice over: LowSpecAlex
Editing: LowSpecAlex
3D animation: Windy, Divye
Art: Maiku no Koe
Spanish Translation, Audio editing and QA: Henrique von Buren
Thumbnail design: Maiku no Koe
VA director and sourcing: Jesús Hernández/Dubbing Home

Sources:
Olaf Lubeck, Williams, Ken. Not All Fairy Tales Have Happy Endings: The rise and fall of Sierra On-Line
Steven Levy. Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution.

For the SideQuest

[cabokenw]

Just saw this! I'm scrambling out the door to head to the airport, but looks fun. It's like a semi-animated version of my book. Looking forward to seeing it. Thanks to whoever did it! A lot of work here.. very creative.

[TheLastLineLive]

The Williams couple are definitely some of the most prolific game developers ever. I'm really interested in seeing them return to game development with their remake of Colossal Cave Adventure, things are coming full circle.

[jimtekkit]

Now that's the kind of partnership that money can't buy. Two people supporting each other in their quests.

[rushnerd]

I had no idea Roberta Williams was that much of a business woman. She really knew what they had and stuck with it. It's really kind of amazing how far they took their talents considering what they were offered and the pitfalls if they did so.

[Trygon]

My best friend growing up was a hardcore Sierra fanboy (and in possession of a CD burner), so I played nearly their entire lineup in just a few years. Just in time to get excited for the new FULL 3D kings quest!

The story has a happy ending, though. When Ken and Roberta presented at PAX last year, they hired some tech staff to support their booth, and my buddy got to spend a weekend working with his heroes. Couldn't have happened to a more deserving guy.

[zejugames]

I'm a huge student of tech history and I simply love your work. This has quickly become one of my favorite channels on YouTube!! Can't wait to watch another masterpiece. :)

[Tibyon]

Roberta would be a great protagonist for a big short style film

[marioxdc]

I would love to see a continuation of the Sierra story.

[PropaneWP]

PC gaming owes a lot to the Williams couple. Sierra Online was crucial for the early stages of PC gaming. Especially the way they combined great graphics with the more traditional text adventure games. The same can be said for LucasArts, but Sierra Online did it first.

[xlr]

I love these two. One of my favorite game devs of all time.

[NeroVingian]

The part where you said “it was the opposite of an exclusivity contract” made me laugh so hard lmao. Imagine a contract clause that said “do not put your software exclusively on our device”, that’s how funny it was.

Keep writing your scripts this way, man. This is what makes your history videos so entertaining, bizarre shit that wouldn’t have happened under normal circumstances lol

[jasonblalock]

Unrelated to the content, but your anime-esque versions of Ken & Roberta are adorable. Love them. Also, I did not know that Ken Williams was one of the inventors of game graphics dithering. Neat!

And yes, I would definitely like to see a 2nd part! :-)

[Lurker-dkjk]

The art in this video is amazing. Cracked up when Roberta dabs at 13:27. Wasn't a thing back then, but I can totally imagine her doing it. LOL

I definitely need to get Ken's book!

[Samlem]

Wow just wow. The editing and writing here is some of the best on YouTube no lie. You not only are filling each story with your own personality but being extremely informative. It’s really impressive and can’t wait for each upload.

[tatsuya]

"Los Angeles was a pretty shitty place to live in the 70's".
So nothing has changed then.

[Kr-nvfo]

I had never bothered to learn the story of Sierra. This is great!
What's next? How EA was _almost_ saved from becoming The Evil incarnate?

[player_fanatic]

5:43 I think I played that game, in mid-90ties, in my teenage years when Apple II was already outdated computer, at my summer home where I did not had access to my modern 386 PC, so I used even older Apple IIc to play games.
In fact I discovered this game pretty late, considering that this Apple IIc was in our family since mid 80ties. I guess I did not care for texture adventures, until I got a bit older (and played other more modern text and point click adventures). Took me a while to realize that this simple murder mystery adventure game had so much significance for gaming history.

[gnustep]

I love how you always work in someone kicking a door in... it's GREAT!

[SixtyEmeralds]

The idea of procedural drawing of graphics to save space is really old, I've learned! But it's so cool to see so many people independently come up with the idea in an attempt to save space on limited hardware. I've seen it in an old QBasic game, some TI Calculator games, and now I've learned it's an approach as old as computers from the 80's! Wow. :3 That just took me way back.

[sirflimflam]

Sierra was one of my most beloved brands back in the day. I was devastated when they got acquired and vanished.