Joe Pearce

I’ve always thought the voices in ITE are very well-done: were any sort of professional voice actors used, or is it in-house work?

I believe they were all professional actors or voice actors. I can’t say for sure because all the recording was done at New World Computing’s offices. I do occasionally hear the same actors doing voices in cartoons, etc.

data-fancybox="images"
>

It seems to me that foxes are generally portrayed as villains in stories with anthropomorphic characters. Why the decision to make the hero a fox?

Talin wanted to give each tribe in the game a stereotype, and then have individuals that refute those stereotype. For example, foxes are seen by other tribes as cunning thiefs, but Rif isn’t a thief (but he is cunning). The various wild cat tribes tribes are considered blood-thirsty barbarians, by the cheetah huntress is actually a vegaterian.

Who is this Talin?

data-fancybox="images"
>

David “Talin” Joiner was another founder of the Dreamers Guild, the director and co-designer of Inherit the Earth, creator of the hit Amiga game “The Faery Tale Adventure”, and generally an interesting person. He is still in the game biz, and his web site is http://www.sylvantech.com/~talin.

What was the eventual fate of Dreamers Guild?

Even thought the Dreamers Guild ported or created 16 published titles, the company was always living hand-to-mouth. Delays in finishing the online titles the company was developing led to the company filing for chapter 11 in late 1996, and the company closed and was converted to a chapter 7 bankruptcy in 1997. I was able to acquire various rights from the company after the bankruptcy case was closed.

data-fancybox="images"
>

Have you personally worked on any adventure games since your time with Inherit the Earth?

Nope. Mainly shooters with resource management.

What company are you currently involved with, and what projects are you working on?

data-fancybox="images"
>

I’m an employee of Taldren, and I’m working on their action-RPG game Black 9. For my side company, Wyrmkeep Entertainment, I am evaluating whether to do a Mac OS X port of Inherit the Earth. I am also looking into reviving another underrated adventure game, but I can’t reveal which one at this time.

It’s been quite a while since the original release of Inherit the Earth; what were the circumstances that led to its rerelease?

I just wanted to give the game a second chance and lay the groundwork for a sequel. I would have done it sooner but I only acquired the rights in 2002.

data-fancybox="images"
>

The commercial prospects of a re-released early 1990’s adventure game seem fairly small in this era; is this re-release a financial risk for Wyrmkeep or were the costs associated fairly low?

The costs were relatively low and the financial risk is minor. The only “risk” is that the sales won’t be high enough to make a sequel viable.

So there definitely is the possibility of a sequel being entertained?

data-fancybox="images"
>

Yes. The first actual document relating to the sequel was written last weekend. But it may be awhile before a sequel goes into production, if ever.

I was pleasantly surprised how well Inherit the Earth ran on my P4 2.4 with XP; was it a difficult process to make the game compatible with modern systems?

It was actually rather easy. One advantage of porting a game from DOS is that DOS isn’t much of an OS, so almost all the code is generic C. The biggest challenges were the audio and all the little tweaks needed to make the game a “proper” Windows application.

data-fancybox="images"
>

Is the re-released version of Inherit the Earth a perfect port of the CD-ROM original, or were there any changes made in design or dialogue?

It is identical to the original except for a couple of bugs fixes, the changes to the music scores for Windows, and the credits.

Living in the fantasy realm for a moment, what one adventure game that you haven’t been involved with would you love to develop a sequel to?

data-fancybox="images"
>

Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy or The Jetsons (only released on the Amiga). I guess I like science fiction comedies. If you asked me what property I would most like to make an adventure game from is the British comedy SF series Red Dwarf. I’m not aware of any game based on that series.

Commercial adventures have made a bit of a rebound in recent years with The Longest Journey and Syberia. What do you see as the future for commercial adventure games?

Adventure games are going to continue to be a niche market until there is some leap in design that makes it more compelling (i.e., addictive) to the average gamer and/or the casual gamer. What we are seeing now is the integration of 3D, but that’s only the first step.

data-fancybox="images"
>

What do you hope to be doing with your life in five years, and what do you hope to have accomplished by then?

I would still like to be in the game industry in five years, hopefully as the leader or co-leader of a significant game company, whether it be an expanded Wyrmkeep, my employer Taldren, or some future venture. Or win the lotto.

For more information, please visit the Wyrmkeep website where you can purchase the re-released Inherit the Earth. Thanks again to Joe for taking time to answer these questions!

data-fancybox="images"
>