Hero-U - Interview @RPS

Rock, Paper, Shotgun posted an interview about Hero-U and its roots in the Hero's Quest / Quest for Glory franchise with Lori & Corey Cole. This piece takes a couple of unexpected turns. Did you know the connection to Ultima IV?

RPS: So, heroism. It’s core to the genre, but so often it’s rarely on display. The main reason I wanted to speak to you guys specifically is because Quest For Glory is one of my main touchstones for games where you’re ACTUALLY a hero – and of course, began as “Hero’s Quest” rather than anything to do with gold and glory.

Corey: Yeah, the name change was completely wrong and inappropriate, but we didn’t have a choice. We had to change it to something! But Hero’s Quest is the actual game.

RPS: So was heroism rather than simply adventure part of the DNA from the start?

Lori: When we started out, it was wanting to get into games after playing things like Ultima that touched on this concept, of how to be a Paladin, an Avatar, and so on. It had so much potential, but when we actually played it… where was that?

Corey: I think in particular she’s thinking of Ultima IV, where of course you start with the gypsy fortune teller and moral questions that determine your stats and class. We said yeah, that’s great storytelling… but then the rest of the name is just “Name? Job? Bye?” There’s some story…

Lori: …but it was so disappointing, because that beginning gave us this idea we could have this grand adventure. We got into games to give that grand adventure we thought games needed to have.

RPS: Yeah, I was going to bring up Ultima, simply because it amuses me that if you look at the series’ story, the Avatar is the worst thing to happen to Britannia. [...]

The Hero-U Kickstarter is at 59k ,with 26 days to go. Although pledges have slowed down a bit it looks as if the Coles will reach their goal of 100k.