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General discussion (archive)Ask a developer a question: Gabriel Knight(201 posts)(201 posts)
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Posted April 16, 2012
It’s been a while since we’ve had a special interviewee on GOG.com, but whenever opportunity arises, we love to sit down with people behind classic PC games and ask them some of your questions. Today, you have a chance to delve into the process of creating an amazing adventure game like the gripping, captivating, supernatural detective series Gabriel Knight because we have Jane Jensen, series designer and writer, ready to answer 6 questions from the GOG.com community.

Jane Jensen began her career in the gaming industry in Sierra Online, co-writing and co-designing Police Quest III and King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow. Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers was her first solo game and it was a debut worth the Computer Gaming World's "Adventure Game of the Year" title. The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery and Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned followed later and established her position as an acclaimed designer and writer. In 2012, Jane, along with her husband (composer Robert Holmes, who wrote the music for the Gabriel Knight series) formed a new game development studio Pinkerton Road.

What do you want to know about Gabriel Knight series?
Are you interested in the creative process behind creating PC adventure games?
Maybe you want to know more about Jane’s future plans?

Whatever questions you want to ask, now is the time to do so! We’ll select 6 questions to send to Jane along with a few of our own, and the authors of the selected questions will be rewarded with any free classic $5.99 or $9.99 GOG game of their choice. You can submit as many questions as you want until Wednesday, April 18 at 11:59 p.m. EDT.
Posted April 16, 2012
Hello Jane Jensen!

I consider the Gabriel Knight series the best written games of all time. Also, I thought you did a wonderful job on the novellas for GK1 and GK2. I had read somewhere that you considered the GK2 novel better written than GK1 because you focused more and story and less like a strategy guide. I just wanted to say I LOVED your two GK novels which brings me to the questions:

1. Have you considered writing any more novels? Your last novel, Dante's Equation, was also excellent and I would love to see more of your stories put to paper.

2. I also wanted to take this opportunity to thank your husband, Robert Holmes, for one of the greatest soundtracks I've ever heard in GK1. Does Mr. Holmes compose his music after the game has been finished? Or does he compose during the development process?

3. Lastly, not a question, but I just saw your kickstarter campaign. I would like to gladly add: TAKE MY MONEY!!
Posted April 16, 2012
You (Jane Jensen) picked up the mysteries around Jesus Christ's bloodline and heritage (for GK3) long before Dan Brown wrote his megaseller "Angels & Demons".

What did you think when you read that book the first time (I'm sure you read it)? For me it was like a déjà vu experience.


Have you ever been to Munich and Ludwig's castles in Bavaria yourself? I live in Munich, and for me it's always very special to see how faithfully you recreated the area. Actually, when I walk around the Marienplatz and Dienerstraße, I have to think about GK every single time...
Do you realize, though, that, as a native german speaker, it's very funny to hear the American voice talents trying to speak german? Especially the policeman... "nein.... er ist nickt zu sprecken..." simply hilarious.

Please continue to make great games like you did in the past!
Post edited April 16, 2012 by MKorndoerfer
Posted April 16, 2012
What are the most important things to keep in mind when developing adventure games to make them both fun and challenging?

Thank you very much!
Posted April 16, 2012
On Kings Quest VI, you worked with Roberta Williams who, in addition to co-founding Sierra On-Line, also was a top adventure game designer. When you hit it big with Gabriel Knight, and she continued to hit it big with Phantasmagoria two years later, was there any degree of rivalry, or tense moments at work?
Posted April 16, 2012
As a Female author, many of your leading characters are men. Is this a conscious decision, or a marketing meeting result?
BTW, Your games are AWESOME, Moebius can't come soon enough!
Posted April 16, 2012
Dear Jane,

A decade ago many gaming sites and outlets claimed that adventure games were "dead". However, during the last decade we've seen a variety of amazing adventure games come out mostly from smaller or independent studios.

With the founding of Pinkerton Road, do you feel the future of adventure gaming is secure with the independent/smaller studios? Also, how has digital distribution and episodic release helped to broaden the exposure of adventure games to other audiences?
Posted April 16, 2012
Greetings. First and foremost, I simply cannot pass without asking about the chances of ever seing a Gabriel Knight IV. Here on GOG we've seen a lot of wonderful old-school series discontinued with time and no longer under control of the original developers (Freespace, Baldur's Gate, etc) for different reasons. What ar eyour thoughts on what can be done in the future to avoid these kind of problems for the creators behind the game?
Posted April 16, 2012
Some of the questions I would like to ask :

1) When creating a story or designing a game, do you have a precise method or process that you follow, or do you proceed more at random, using your feelings and your inspiration ? Or both ? Do you have a clear idea from the start of where you want to go, or do you often go back to change or add things ? What advice would you give to someone who has trouble coming up with a good storyline ?

2) Did it already happen to you that you discarded an idea about a storyline or other game element because it seemed not original, not fresh enough to you ? Do you find it difficult to be not influenced by other stories/games/novels that are already existing when you create something of your own ? Have you ever thought that, in a sense, everything has already been invented and has it frustrated you ?
Posted April 16, 2012
If you could go back and restore a save-game from the early years of your career, would you do anything differently? Changed the direction of the games you worked on? Made more, or fewer? Done something totally different?
Posted April 16, 2012
Jane, you have shown true versatility in adventure game writing and design, from KQ6 to GK to Gray Matter, as well as in the casual game titles.

I really like the concept of the Anglophile Adventure, and it seems like a genre which you've wanted to revisit. Are there any other genres or forms of gameplay you hope to tackle with Pinkerton Road? Maybe you have some surprises in store for us? :)
Post edited April 16, 2012 by mondo84
Posted April 16, 2012
Could you describe a creative process of creating adventure game (such as Gabriel Knight) starting from general story concept, through story writing, to puzzles design?
Post edited April 16, 2012 by alozewski
Posted April 16, 2012
Why have your games stood the test of time?
Posted April 16, 2012
Hello Jane,

In case you will make Gabriel Knight 4 (and I hope you will), do you plan to conclude Gabriel´s story with the fourth installment?

Thanks for answer.
Posted April 16, 2012
Will your next game have Gray Matter quality graphics? Will it use the same engine? I really hope so and please make real cgi videos inside the game not like the comic like videos in Gray Matter. It didn't fit the right way into the game.
Posted April 16, 2012
The Gabriel Knight trilogy features three vastly different implementations of the adventure game genre. Prior to this, while there were advances from the AGI to SCI engines, most adventure series at Sierra had a somewhat unified look. Do you think the different implementations of Gabriel Knight make it feel less like a unified series? Is there a particular implementation method (SCI, FMV, 3D) that you liked the best?
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Community
General discussion (archive)Ask a developer a question: Gabriel Knight(201 posts)(201 posts)
(201 posts)