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<\/a>\nSomething big was happening in the offices of Sierra On-Line in 1993. A game that was about to explode onto the video game scene and make its mark in the history of the business. An original, unique, mature, and remarkable story that would mark the beginning of a whole sub-genre.<\/p>\n
I remember the first time I saw the first ad for the project. It was a big fold-out ad showcasing four new games from Sierra: Police Quest 4, Leisure Suit Larry 6, Quest for Glory 4, and then there was this thing, oozing a dark mood, a certain sensual darkness that caught my eye immediately. It was called Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers.<\/p>\n Not only did the game not disappoint, it changed my view on video games as a whole. It made me relate to video game characters in a way that I had never experienced, and its story was so rich and well researched that I kept wondering how it hadn\u2019t occurred to anyone before. But, it had to be Jane. Like Scott Murphy, creator of the Space Quest series, recently told me in a Facebook conversation: \u201cJane was the best we ever had. She’s a true writer. Some of us struggled through the crude jungle of adventure games in the crude years, throwing our bodies on the barbed wire so true pros like Jane could run past us and take it to the next level.\u201d<\/p>\n And take it she did, with every new entry in the Gabriel Knight saga. The Beast Within is my absolute best experience in the medium to this day. In an era where Full Motion Video was being accused of taking interactivity out of the genre, Jane Jensen managed to create such a masterpiece that it won numerous awards and accolades, including Game of the Year. Recently, Jane gave us another jewel by the name of Gray Matter, a game that I cannot recommend enough! The story between Samantha and David is a very beautiful one that is sure to touch your heart and give you chills at the same time. A week later, a group of the directors of Phoenix Online were pulling up to her farm to meet with her and her husband Robert (producer and composer for Gabriel Knight) over a weekend. At one point, while they were out taking the dogs for a walk, I sat at the piano and butchered the Gabriel Knight theme (sorry, Robert!). But the truth is, I did it on purpose because I wanted to get Robert to sit on that piano and treat us to some great music! And he did, and of course, blew my amateur attempts away. It was a real treat to hear the original composer of the GK theme play it for us! We spent the night having fun with some hilarious videos we found from a Gabriel Knight fan on youtube<\/a>. I was happy to hear Jane and Robert laugh so hard. Robert had mentioned at one point during our stay that sometimes he didn\u2019t think that they had that much reach, because people today didn\u2019t know of the work they had done. Well, I wanted to make sure that by the time that we left they knew there had been many fans they had reached and touched, and that their power was so real that we could never forget it. We are still here, right? Right?!! The next morning Robert told me he had been inspired by the nostalgic evening, and Jane mentioned she was reawakened to the possibility of making games the way she did at Sierra. Cesar Bittar<\/p>\n
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\nFrom that point on, I could not stop thinking about it and eagerly awaiting its release. And when the game finally landed in my hands, I had to beg my dad to upgrade my computer because it wouldn\u2019t run on my 286 system.<\/p>\n
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\nMany of us were sad to see Grace leave at the end of Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned, and many of us still wonder what that damn letter said. But just like Grace from Gabriel, Gabriel Knight was out of our lives, its true fate a mystery, still holding the place it deserved in our hearts.<\/p>\n
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\nBut in more recent history, our weekend with Jane Jensen started with a simple phone call (which I\u2019ve previously blogged about<\/a>). As we talked more and more, a bond started to develop. Jane checked out the work that we were doing on The Silver Lining, and was very pleased by what she saw and learned about our team. She was impressed that we had managed to do such a large and cinematic game operating only with volunteers and no real funding, and how our fans worked to convince Activision to grant us a license to release it. As the friendship grew, the first moment of near heart-attack came: she invited us to her house to meet and hang out in person!<\/p>\n
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\nWe had a great time together. We spent hours talking about her experiences at Sierra, and ours making The Silver Lining, and where adventure games are headed. Jane and Robert were very lovely hosts and Jane treated us to some great dinner and breakfast. We learned that Jane is very interested in a healthy and sustainable lifestyle, and she treated us to some very delicious fresh milk, yogurt, eggs, and other great food. We toured her incredible farm (if a creepy old barn ever pops up in a Phoenix Online game, you\u2019ll know why!). I kept asking her where did she keep the Ritter Talisman, and let me tell you, her house has real passageways, the kind of those you find in Schloss Ritter!
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\nOne afternoon, we made our way to a fantastic family style Amish restaurant where they keep serving you food until you are completely stuffed, and traveled through more of the Amish country. It was all a great surrounding to discuss our dreams, our hopes for Phoenix Online, the gaming industry today and how adventures had changed, and great ideas of her endless imagination. As we heard her talking about these ideas, and stories, I had a thought in my mind: I kept thinking back to that time when my friends told me how I\u2019d feel if I ever met her. At times, I just couldn\u2019t believe how lucky I was to be here, the fanboy meeting his idol! I was happy. Incredibly and ridiculously happy.
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\nWe all left their place feeling good. For me, a child’s dream–really, a lifelong dream–had come true.<\/p>\n