There are few names in the world of game design that inspire instant recognition and enduring fan loyalty. Jane Jensen is one of those names. Really she needs no introduction, except for those new to the genre, as the highly acclaimed writer and designer has been out of the adventure limelight for the better part of a decade. Before that, though, she was responsible for creating one of the most beloved game franchises of all time in the Gabriel Knight series, not to mention important contributions on other Sierra titles including EcoQuest, Pepper's Adventure in Time and King's Quest VI. Along the way, Jane has also penned several books, and through Oberon Media has been instrumental in bridging the gap between adventures and the puzzle-based casual games market, most recently in Death in Scarlet, the debut PC mystery based on James Patterson's popular Women's Murder Club.

What most of her fans have been clamouring for, of course, is another full-fledged adventure, a wish soon to be fulfilled by Gray Matter. Not as soon as originally hoped, mind you, as the game has already experienced two serious setbacks in its turbulent history. The good news, however, is that the game once again looks to be back on track and in better hands than ever. So with a little extra time to fill before the release of one of the most hotly-anticipated adventures in recent memory, we managed to flag Jane down to share her thoughts on issues past, present, and foreseeable future.

AG: Thanks very much for taking time out of your busy schedule — and apparently a rather eventful one, at least where Gray Matter is concerned. The most obvious question in light of the development changes announced recently is, how is the game coming along?

JJ: There’s a strong new dev team on it and a new producer. So it’s promising, but it’s too soon to have seen a lot of actual progress in the builds.

AG: You've been very active in casual games at Oberon Media the last few years, but it's been a long time since you've been involved in

development of a full-length adventure. How has that transition been for you? A bit like riding a bike?

JJ: The main difference is that casual games have a short timeline and lite budget. So things happen very fast. You have a month to do the design, in another month you’re seeing weekly builds and in 5 months you’re shipping. A big adventure game takes a lot longer all the way around.

AG: Obviously the process is different this time around than it was in your days at Sierra. What's it like to work on a game when physically distanced from the rest of the development team? Is communications technology largely advanced enough to bridge that gap?

JJ: It just seems to be the norm now. The casual games are also done with a remote team and I work from home every day. Of course, you miss being able to just get up and walk over to someone’s desk and have a conversation, but it doesn’t ultimately impact the process as much as you might think. I have emails in the morning – art to check, builds to play, questions to answer. And I try to get through them all that day so that when the team comes in during *their* day, they can keep working. I expected more cultural differences and problems, because I write the design and everything in English. But those have been minimal as well.

AG: On top of the geographical separation, there are presumably language barriers to deal with, and throw a German publisher into the international mix as well. Has that presented any additional challenges for you personally, perhaps that you weren't expecting?

JJ: Everyone goes out of their way to accommodate my mono-lingual self. There are differences in terms of business practices and expectations, but these haven’t impacted me as much as the dev teams.

AG: This is the second time that Gray Matter has gone through a pretty significant upheaval, the first resulting in the outright cancellation of the game at The Adventure Company a few years back. Have you started feeling the project might be a little snakebitten?

JJ: I dunno. I’ve seen it happen over and over in game development that the first project with a team or publisher is very hard. Even with casual games there’s a lot of ‘I don’t know if we can do this on time, I don’t know *how* we can do this’ on the dev team side. And it takes forever for things to kind of move past the frozen stage and get rolling. Then you cross a hump where you’ve done everything ‘new’ there is in the project and now it’s just repetition and things speed up. Ideally you would then turn around and do another similar project with the same group and, hey, it’s actually easy! GK3 was a really drawn-out, difficult development because we built an engine from scratch and also were doing 3D animations for the first time. I think that project was 3 years in development. And that was with a dedicated publisher and me on site constantly. So I guess what I’m saying is, yes, Gray Matter has had difficulties, but they aren’t so much more than I’ve seen on other projects. Given the fact that this project is being done with a new, overseas publisher and has had to switch dev teams, it’s not all that surprising.

AG: I'm sure it's a sensitive subject, but is there anything you can tell us about that ill-fated first attempt to make the game? And what exactly happened with Tonuzaba that led to the recent development change?

JJ: I think the bottom line was that the developer and publisher just couldn’t come to terms on how a project should be done.

AG: Not to suggest that you had unlimited freedom and budget at Sierra, but I expect you have some tighter restrictions for Gray Matter than the Gabriel Knight games. How has that impacted you as a designer?

JJ: I don’t feel Gray Matter has been subject to any tighter restrictions. The publisher wants a full, Jane Jensen adventure game and that’s what we’re doing.

AG: That's very encouraging. There are very few game designers whose reputation alone creates high expectations, but Gray Matter claimed the #1 slot in our Hype-o-Meter even before we knew much about it, mainly on the basis of being "a Jane Jensen game". You didn't create the label, of course, but to someone who isn't familiar with your previous work, how would you describe what that means? What can people expect from a Jane Jensen game?

JJ: Probably a good, entertaining story with historical and mystery elements and a gothic style. The puzzles are well-integrated so that you feel that you ARE the character uncovering the mystery. At least, that’s my goal.

AG: Is there any concern that the Gabriel Knight games have set the bar so high for yourself that it will be tough for a new game, a new (potential) series to measure up? Not necessarily in terms of quality, but many Gray Matter players will have followed Gabe and Grace over three much-loved adventures. Now you're asking people to start all over with new characters, new storylines, and that same attachment and affection won't be there from the start.

JJ: I understand the question on a logical level, but not really on an emotional one. I have a number of favorite authors and directors and they’re always doing new things. I mean, Stephen King hasn’t just written Carrie sequels. I’ve done other things since GK. I’ve written two books, Millennium Rising and Dante’s Equation, which were all new characters and plotlines. Plus lots of casual games. So I guess it’s not new for me to, well, do something new. I do get that people are very attached to Gabriel and Grace specifically and want another game in that universe. I would love to write another story with them and have several concepts for the next game. But it’s just not on the table at this time.

AG: Since you've stated that you intend for Gray Matter to expand into a series of its own, as a designer, do you welcome the liberation of starting over with all new ideas, or do you prefer to continue with established foundations and continue to build on those?

JJ: It’s fun to start something new, but it’s also wonderful if you can create a foundation, characters and a universe, that really ‘work’ and are worth revisiting time and time again. I enjoyed that with GK and would like to have it again.

AG: And speaking of established ideas, I won't pester you with questions about the current incarnation of Sierra, but do you think there's any kind of realistic chance of seeing another Gabriel Knight adventure? Either by convincing the publisher there's a market for such games, or by prying the property from its so-far-unrelenting clutches?

JJ: I have so much else going on, I just don’t put a lot of mental energy or effort into that. I think it’s possible, but not likely.