Gamer Quebec : Hi and thank you for this wonderful interview opportunity. As someone who was born in the late 80s, I had the chance to play Shadowgate on the NES when I was relatively young. I was very surprised when your company announced its intention to bring back this classic in today’s industry. Can you tell us a bit about yourself, why you decided to resurrect this series and why it took you so long to do so?

Dave Marsh : Thanks for having me. Well, I have been in the gaming industry in some form since 1985 whether it was making adventure games like Shadowgate and Déjà vu, sidescrollers or MMO’s. I was in the casino space for some time as well creating killer slot machines but my love has always been with adventure games. Even so, Karl Roelofs (the other Shadowgate creator) and I have continued to be involved in the franchise up until maybe 6 or 7 years ago when we worked on the Palm and Pocket PC versions of the game. As far as why now – the stars kind of aligned and Karl was available to rework the design with me and we were able to get the licenses back. And with the propagation of things like tablets, it seemed like a neat time to bring back our favorite fantasy title.

GQ : Shadowgate is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2012 (it was released on Mac in 1987) with an HD remake. Some people were worried the game would be totally different, but Zojoi was founded by David Marsh and Karl Roelofs from ICOM Simulations, who both worked on the original. From what we’ve seen so far, the remake is everything a fan of the series can expect and more. Can you tell us what was the thought process going into this project?

DM : Karl and I spent a LOT of time discussing what we wanted to do and what players would want. Ultimately he asked “What do we not want to do?” And we agreed that we didn’t want to make another port. Eleven times is enough and if you want to play the NES version, there are emulators out there. However, we didn’t want to make a complete new game yet because 1) we wanted to re-establish the franchise and 2) we felt we had some unfinished business with the original. You see, we were always limited by the delivery format whether it was floppies or cartridges or phones. Now we had a chance to make the game we always wanted to, make it look and sound like how we wanted, add new more interesting puzzles and remove ones that we thought weren’t up to snuff.

GQ : You’ve announced that the Shadowgate project will be headed to Kickstarter. Was it something you planned a long time ago and what are the advantages, according to you, for choosing such a funding method?

DM : We talked about it when we acquired the licenses to the MacVenture games and thought it would be a great way to get a cool game out as an independent developer. We obviously saw how some of the other classic game makers had done on ks and believe that Shadowgate might achieve some level of that success. Certainly there are advantages on using ks because you can not only receive the funds to make the game but gauge the expectations and appetite for the title.
GQ : Can you tell us a bit about the new rooms you’ve added to the castle without spoiling too much? A lot of the rooms from the original are still forever burned into my memory (in a good way) so I, and many others, can’t wait to see what you have in store.

DM : Well, Karl and I are expanding on the fiction so that means developing rooms in all three sections of the game: Caverns, Castle proper and the Catacombs. We’re going into a bit more about Talimar the Black (Warlock Lord), how he destroyed the Circle of Twelve and what his thought process is on raising the behemoth. So, we’ve added a room filled with destroyed thrones – the Circle’s chamber – where you learn more of this for example.

GQ : For me one of the main reasons I loved Shadowgate, apart from the great puzzles and adventuring, was the music department. It was spot-on. We know you will offer the option to either choose the classic soundtrack or the new, orchestrated one you prepared for the 25th anniversary. Can you detail how challenging it was for your small team to create an orchestrated soundtrack?

DM : The soundtrack is actually a digitally orchestrated one – created entirely by composer Rich Douglas. I have to tell you that it is utterly ridiculous how good he is. It’s sick. Seriously. I’ll tell you the story of finding him. So, we were just starting to look into music development and I was on weekend trip with my family. So there I am, on the beach (under an umbrella of course. The sun is bad for you, you know.) and I go on Youtube and type “Shadowgate music” and I get to this orchestrated version of the game by Rich Douglas and I am blown away. He took the iconic hallway theme from the NES version and made it into something amazing. So I sent him an email and an hour later he responded thanking me for contacting him and telling me how thrilled he would be to work on it. The rest is history. He has done some great music for our campaign and we obviously want to have him finish the game.

GQ : We feel obliged to ask, but why isn’t this remake also developed for PSN and XBLA? It seems like a wasted opportunity (Shadowgate is developed for Android, iOS, PC and Mac). Is it because you feel the game wouldn’t work on such platforms, or was it more a financial issue?

DM : It’s a fair question. There are so many good platforms out there and we would be remiss to ignore the PSN and XBLA. We’ve talked about it and if we were to do it, would probably need to either staff up for it or work with another dev shop to get them done. If it’s one thing I’ve learned its to make sure I get the first platforms out before concentrating on new ones. So, it’s more of timing and budget than it is putting it on the platforms you have listed or the Ouya or Linux.

GQ : Back to the actual game, you’ve said there will now be a Hint System. Maybe it’s the hardcore player in me who’s talking, but don’t you feel it might make the game too easy? Or maybe you feel today’s gamers wouldn’t be able to complete the game without a helping hand?

DM : The game community has changed so much with the emergence of the tablets. We’ve got dedicated hardcore gamers and a lot of casual folks as well. We think offering a hint system to casual gamers isn’t a bad thing. Since it will be an option in the Settings menu, you don’t have to use it obviously.

GQ : Thanks for answering so many questions. I’d like to ask about the future of Zojoi. If Shadowgate is successful (and we wish so), you’ve hinted at bringing back other MacVenture games. Of course the first one that comes to mind is Déjà Vu, which shares a lot with Shadowgate. But that’s just one example. Which one would YOU really want to ressurect and why?

DM : It’s funny. We talk about this all the time. We like the idea of either coming out with a completely new adventure next or, if there is an appetite for it, a re-imagined one. If I were a betting man (which I’m not) I would wager either a re-imagined Uninvited (which lends itself to more puzzles) or a new game like Beyond Shadowgate (which is something like 4 times bigger than the original!)

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