Ken Williams Interview: Sierra On-line 🏔
Channel: Al's Geek Lab
Date: 2020-09-15

I met with Ken Williams of Sierra On-Line fame for a fascinating chat about all things Sierra: From where it all began, with Ken finding a copy of a text adventure on a mainframe and Roberta being obsessed by it. To how the company was nearly bankrupt and was rescued by IBM and Tandy. Ken talks about one of his proudest products, The Sierra Network, as well as his relationships with Al Lowe and ‘The two guys from Andromeda’ (Scott Murphy and Mark Crowe). Ken releases a new book entitled ‘Not all fairy tales have happy endings’, which talks about all things Sierra, including how it really worked on the inside. The book is available next month. Check out his website: https://www.kensbook.com to register your interest in obtaining a copy. Don't forget to LIKE this video and please SUBSCRIBE to my channel! Press that NOTIFICATION 🔔 bell so you get to know when new great videos come out that you'll like! I really do appreciate your subscriptions, it makes the countless hours I spend on this channel feel so worthwhile!
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#sierra #retrogaming #kenwilliams #notallfairytaleshavehappyendings #leisuresuitlarry #spacequest


Contents:
0:00 Introduction
2:13 Start of Interview
3:04 What Ken did before Sierra
4:49 The TRS-80
6:39 Using the Teletype at home
7:14 Colossal cave, Crowther/Woods adventure
7:50 Roberta gets addicted!
8:27 Mystery House
8:50 Just to keep Roberta Happy!
9:30 Doing serious software
11:28 The Adventure Game company
11:41 Sierra changed my life!
13:00 Ken's coding involvement & envy
14:42 Ken the puppy dog?
15:30 The detail in the numbers
16:43 Hard times at Sierra
17:10 Mistakes in management
19:18 Financial troubles
20:00 Video games almost killed Sierra
20:42 IBM saves the day
20:56 Actually, Tandy saves the day
22:40 Brokering the deal with IBM
25:51 Building AGI - A re-usable game platform
29:09 Al Lowe the school teacher
30:24 Sierra built all the tools
31:24 The Sierra/Imagination Network
33:00 Grandma's multiplayer games
36:00 Ken's proudest moment & devastation
38:30 Ken's favourite game(s)
40:20 Being the butt of the jokes
41:42 Leisure Suit Larry
43:29 How Ken met Al Lowe
45:34 Confession time: Ken asks Al to re-do Softporn
46:26 How 'The Two Guys from Andromeda' convinced Ken
49:30 How long does a game take to make?
50:54 No fun: Being the 'Corporate idiot'
53:20 Moving from Oakhurst to Seattle
56:46 Retiring and boating
57:20 Being a boating celebrity
58:19 Brand Ken and Roberta
58:43 Ken's book
1:02:15 Ken & Roberta's legacy
1:03:48 "Not all fairy tales have happy endings": kensbook.com
1:04:01 Thanks to Ken