An Interview with William Shockley

Programmer for Space Quest 6

How did you get involved with Sierra?

I was born in a small shack 120 miles west of Nipinawasee. We had no bread, no water, only love to keep use together! Later I was searching through the want adds and saw that Sierra On-Line was hiring! I've played a few games, Kings Quest, Larry and of course Space Quest. I thought to myself, "Wow, how do they get those little round holes in the donuts?", oh yeah, and "Hey I like computer games, I have no friends, why don't I move way out in the middle of nowhere and make some money." So I drove out to Oakhurst, met with some folks from Sierra and they said, "Wow, you're really cool! When can you start?" and the rest is in the stars!

What projects have you worked on at Sierra?

Hmmm, I first worked in quality assurance, and I tested games like, Space Quest 3 - 4, Larry 3 - 4, Codename Iceman, Conquest of Camelot, Rise of the Dragon, Oil's Well and so many others I can't even think of. After moving into programming, I started in foreign language where we translated all the games to French, Spanish, German and sometimes Japanese. After I did my time in conversions I worked on Freddy Pharkas. We had a great team and I had a lot of fun working on the project. After that I did a little work on Larry 6 and then Space Quest 6, The Beast Within, Lighthouse and finally Dragon Fire.

How is the SQ7 project going?

From what I hear it's in the very early stages and won't really put a team together till early next year. I'll be working on Dragon Fire till next January so I'm hoping to jump on board the Space Quest 7 Team if they'll have me!

What is your favorite computer game?

Well I'm a Quake fiend. I love playing Doom, Doom2 and Quake. Check out my clan's webpage at http://www.roboto.com/cannibals if you're up to the challenge. You can find me and the boys out on Quakeworld if you're in the mood to die!

What is your favorite Space Quest?

I must say that I think Space Quest 6 is my favorite! I had a lot of fun making and playing it! There's a lot of jokes in the game that are directed at me. You'll have to ask Josh or Scott for more details but any reference to "Tango & Cash" or "Hudson Hawk" are meant to be a personal jab in my side!

How much of SQ7 is done?

Well, like I said they just started up and have a long way to go to make you people happy. Prepare yourself for a Space Quest of gargantuan proportions! This thing is going to be so big you couldn't climb over it in a weekend! You'll see Roger like you've never seen him before, or ever want to see him again!

Thank You!

No, thank you!