Roberta Williams

See also: Williams

Roberta Williams (born on February 16th, 1953) is known to be at the origin of the video game Mystery House , the first graphic Jeu of adventure, whose success was such as with her husband Ken Williams, it created On-Line Systems in 1980 who became in 1982, On-line Sierra. One owes him many the other traditional ones of the Jeu of adventure.

Contribution to the history of the video game

Its contribution to the plays of adventure built its fame, it is regarded as the pionnière of the interactive tales. Its talents of visionary enabled him to innovate much as regards universe, of intrigues, enigmas and Game design.

The plays of adventure on computer were at the beginning purely textual: a small paragraph describes the place where one is, and one types instructions with the keyboard to advance in the enigma. This interface, if typical of the computers of the end of the Years 1970, was worth with the kind to be initially called interactive fiction. Conscious that this system was rejecting for the neophytes, Roberta Williams decided to make evolve/move the things, while adding to it for the first time to the world of the graphic illustrations with Mystery House , in 1980. She invented a new kind, that of the graphic adventure. Mystery House , is held with the first anybody, i.e. the images present the decoration as seen through the eyes of the player (seen subjective). The orders are always to enter to the keyboard and analyzed by a parser. 1984 so that the plays of adventure pass to the third anybody, with King' S Quest I will have to be awaited. Benefitting from the rise of the graphic capacities of the machines, King' S Quest made it possible to the player to control a small character, thus evolving/moving in the universe of the play. The orders are always to enter to the keyboard.

The receipt of success is that the once painted environments make it possible to plunge in a coherent world, in which the hero solves a whole heap of enigmas, discovers secrete ways, thanks to objects found during its exploration, etc

Later, the orders will be done with icons, then the decorations will not be any more traced with the machine but will be painted with the hand. With Phantasmagoria, a new stage will be reached in 1995: the characters will be truths actors filmed on blue bottom, mixed with decorations in 3D. On the other hand, Roberta Williams will not have brought the first the system point-to click (it will be LucasArts with Maniac Mansion in 1987).

The capacity of immersion and the intelligence of their scenarios make plays of Roberta Williams of the adventures rich in emotions, and thus innoubliables. One can regard it as an artist, who will have unceasingly pushed back the experiment of play, while returning it each more beautiful time (with the plastic direction), more alive, more moving.

Origins of On-line Sierra

All started with Colossal Undermines Adventure a play of adventure that Ken Williams brought back to his Roberta wife, then pregnant of their first wire, DJ Williams, to help it to spend time or, according to other sources, to make him share its interest for the computers. Roberta appreciates the play, but is quickly wearied textual adventures on the APPLE II of the house. She thinks of being able to better do and writes a play called Mystery House to which her husband, programmer of talent, add graphics in black and white conceived by Roberta. Mystery House is then the first graphic play of adventure. Williams sell their play through the four shops of Los Angeles and offer a small publicity in Micro Magazine. Their surprise is total when many orders arrive. In the one day space, their house becomes a mini-company of production of video games. Williams are convinced that their small company will enable them to offer the simple life in the mountains to which they aspire, also they found to them start-up: On-line Systems. They settle with Coarsegold in California, a small town of countryside to the foot of the Sierra Nevada where the parents of Roberta, John and Nova Huver, have a farm based on the culture of apples. Because of proximity of the national park of Yosemite, they choose the half-dome like logo and On-Line Systems becomes On-line Sierra.

Biography

Roberta Williams was born the February 16th 1953 with the the United States of America. She lived with her husband, Ken Williams, with Los Angeles before settling with Seattle close to the seat of their On-line Sierra company, located at Bellevue. Roberta likes to say “ Another miracle from the kitchen table ” (“Still a miracle which comes from the kitchen table”) because the majority of the plays which it conceived were it on the table of its kitchen. Roberta likes to look at films, and to go in the good restaurants but does not like to speak in public, nor on the telephone. It has two children, DJ and Chris Williams. DJ is interested in what touches with the kitchen, it is chief-apprentice at the Ritzy restaurant in the area of Low Lake. Chris, as for him, is interested in the cinema world. The parents of Roberta live in California. It is known like a funny, intelligent, hard-working woman (12 hours per day on King' S Quest VIII ), knowing to take care of itself. In 1996, Williams sell their On-line Sierra company, then major actor of the world of the video game, to leave to the retirement. Roberta and Ken Williams share now their time between Seattle, the Mexico and the France.

List plays on which she worked

External bonds

  • the page of Ken and Roberta Williams (in English)
  • Roberta Williams Fan Club (in English)

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