Most of this is from interviews with David Fox at http://home.nikocity.de/claret/Int_Dave.htm , http://www.aventuraycia.com/entrevista.php?entrev=David%20Fox&idioma=english&pag=1 , http://www.gathering.org/espresso/pages/tg04/articles/david_fox/view_top.html , http://www.dadgum.com/halcyon/BOOK/FOX.HTM , and http://lucasfans.adventuregamer.com/features/interview_davidfox.html . Some URLS are no longer active. If you know of any other dates, or I got something wrong, please contact me.

Introduction

How many 1980s computer games are still being played today? How many have not one, not two, but three full scale fan sequels in different stages of production? Clearly, Zak McKracken is something special.

Q. Of the games you've worked on, which one has had the bigger success?
A. That's an interesting question. I guess it depends on how you define success. If in terms of units sold, then probably Indy [Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade]. If in terms of lasting popularity, then probably Zak. I still get fan mail from Zak, but never from Indy. Many of the people I met during The Gathering [2004] told me how much they love Zak, and it's really gratifying to know that people are still playing it -- something we never anticipated when we created our games. - David Fox

Zak McKracken timeline

1977:	David and Annie Fox open Marin Computer Center, the world's first public access microcomputer center.
1982:	David finishes writing a book with Mitch Waite for Byte/McGraw-Hill called 'Computer Animation Primer,' based largely on the Atari. At the time, Lucasfilm had a games development deal with Atari. One of the Marin Computer Centre regulars is Gary Leo, a Lucasfilm employee. He tells David that Lucasfilm is about to start a Games Group within their Computer Division, under Peter Langston. David Fox gives him a call and is the first person to be hired.
1984:	Lucasfilm games (later called LucasArts) releases its first games: 'Ballblazer,' and 'Rescue on Fractalus.' David Fox is designer/project leader on 'Rescue,' which became famous for using fractal terrains, and for a genuinely scary monster sequence (initially suggested by George Lucas himself).
1987:	Maniac Mansion, the world's first SCUMM game (Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion). Ron Gilbert created the engine, and David Fox was the chief scripter. This was the first mainstream game to use point-and-click instead of typing in words.
1988:	Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders. David Fox is Designer/Project leader, and SCUMM scriptor. Matthew Kane was co-designer and audio designer. Zak was translated into German, French, Italian and Spanish. Runs on the Commodore 64 (16 colors, low resolution), PC (16 colors, higher reslution), Apple II, Amiga and Atari ST. DF remembers the Amiga and Atari as using 256 colors, though I have not heard this from people who played the game. (Another mystery? :) )
1989:	Japanese translation made in 26 colors for the FM Towns console, available in February 1989.
1990:	David Fox moves to a different part of LucasArts, making a Star Wars flight simulator game for themeparks. But the technology is too expensive for the time, so the project is shelved.
1992:	David leaves LucasArts after ten years, for RocketScience and other projects. In 1996 he leaves games altogether.
1997:	The year when Zak Mcracken 1 takes place. To be specific, it starts a few weeks before June 24th, 1997 (Zak starts by preparing for the 50th anniversary of the first modern UFO sighting, which was by pilot Kenneth Arnold, June 24th, 1947 near Seattle.)
2000:	The first unauthorized fan sequel is announced: Zak McKracken 2 aims for a 2001 or 2002 release.
2001:	Zak 2 hits problems. Is later reborn with a new team, as 'Zak McKracken and the Alien Rockstars' (still not complete). (?) Another fan sequel, 'Zak McKracken - between time and space' is announced
2002:	A busy year for Zak... ScummVM (SCUMM Virtual Machine) is launched, enabling Zak and other SCUMM games to run on various modern platforms. First fan sequel complete. Thanks, LucasFans! Unauthorized conversion of Japanese 256 color version into English (and German?), playable via ScummVM
2003:	(?) Zak 'between time and space' gets a major revamp, looks ten times better, and more likely to be completed.
2004:	The end of an era. LucasArts cancels Sam 'n Max 2, signalling the end of adventure games for the company, and for the mainstream games industry in the USA.

How was Zak McKracken created? (Quotes from David Fox, taken from all of the above interviews.)

The timeframe:
"Maniac took longer because Ron first had to develop the system software. Zak used the next generation of SCUMM, so there wasn't as much engineering needed there. I think it took about 9 months from concept to completion. Not much in today's 2-3 year game development cycles!"

The team:
"Zak had two scriptors, plus Ron helping out with SCUMM system improvements as needed. We had 2-3 artists, and Matthew Kane (the other scriptor) also did music and sound effects. Add to this a crew of playtesters, and you have the teams. And we’d do it all in under a year... Today’s games can have teams of 30-60 people!"

The tools:
"We each had Sun Microcomputers where the tools were again under UNIX (including the first implementation of the SCUMM system for our graphic adventures), and downloaded to Commodore 64s. Then, after we began focusing on PCs, all our tools were ported to the PCs themselves."

The story:
"I knew I wanted to do something that had a lot of "New Age" concepts in it. So I spent a few days with David Spangler, a noted expert and author in this area. He lived in Seattle, so Mt. Ranier was one of the obvious locations in the game. We also came up with a lot of the other basic concepts. ... We decided we wanted to put every concept we could think of into the game - every spiritual or psychic mystery currently being explored. ... I then went back to California and worked out the game structure. But it was much more of a serious game at first. Too serious, in fact. So we kept everything in the original design, but changed Zak's character and job. As a reporter for a sleazy newspaper, everything else in the game took a major 90 degree shift into bizarre territory, and the opportunities for humor became wide open."

The locations:
"I set out to make the game feel much broader than Maniac Mansion - after all, I had spent months stuck in that mansion programming the game. I wanted to see the world, and take the audience along with me :-) "

The comedy:
"The initial story definitely had comedy elements in it, just not as much as the final concept. I was really buried in the initial design when Ron Gilbert (creator of Maniac Mansion) suggest we have a brainstorming meeting to go over the Zak design. He felt the game had a lot of potential, but "wasn't all there" yet.In that session, all of the Lucasfilm designers, our fearless leader Steve Arnold, and I came up with the idea of Zak being a reporter for a sleazy tabloid-type newspaper, chose his name (pulling names from a Marin County phone book), and came up with the far more wacky direction for the humor.It was a great session, and simply by altering a few things, put the game into a totally new light. Interestingly, when I went back and looked at my original notes, everything that ended up in the game was still there... it just all had a much more outrageous twist to it."

The music: (Zak featured the most extensive music and audio library of any product of its time, according to the LucasArts site and the fond memories of users)
"Matthew [Kane] wrote some software to let him actually use the Commodore 64 as a synthesizer connected to a keyboard (probably using MIDI).He was able to create custom "patches" for the different instruments and sounds, and hear the entire piece in final form as he created it. The fun part was using the music as part of Zak's opening nightmare cut scene.We worked hard to synchronize the two... Matt changed the music and I changed the "choreography" so they both worked well together."

Scripting for the SCUMM engine:
"Ron Gilbert created SCUMM, as well as all the tools we needed to build the game. SCUMM (Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion) was really a programming language. It used high-level commands to make things happen, and it was a set up so you could have multiple scripts running at the same time. For example, one script might make the clock on the wall tick-tock. Another might keep track of the time for a specific event to happen. Another to make a character walk across the room and pick up an object. It’s been a while, but I think a typical statement might have been something like

WALK ACTOR(ZAK) TO OBJECT(CREDIT-CARD)
WAIT-FOR-ACTOR(ZAK)
PICK-UP OBJECT(CREDIT-CARD)
SAY(ZAK)"Wow, a credit card with a two-headed squirrel on the front!"

This made it easy to see what was supposed to be happening."

The day to day work:
"Well, the fun part was coming up with wickedly funny ideas and sharing them with each other. The not so fun part was working 16 hours a day, then having to drive home from the Ranch [Skywalker ranch, then the HQ for LucasArts] at midnight on windy country roads filled with suicidal raccoons and deer. After 7 months of that, with 2 more to go, it wasn't a lot of fun. Even being at the Ranch didn't help!"

The best part:
"The brainstorming sessions were probably my favourite memories of being at LucasArts. We’d fill the room with 4-8 designers, and one person would lead the discussion. Any idea was fairplay, and we’d often get off onto pretty funny tangents (many of which we knew couldn’t be used, but were fun to think about). I don’t have any specific memories - just the strong sense of the creative energy in the room."

Looking back (and looking forward)

Of all games you've worked on, what is your favorite?
"Easy question... Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders. .Of the all the graphic adventures I worked on, it was the only one where I had complete control of the plot, story, jokes, and everything that went in it. So it was the most rewarding experience, and I think it most reflects my creative energy, personality, sense of humor, and even personal philosophy."

Is there anything you would do different if you were making Zak again?
"Hah! No, NO LABYRINTHS!! That was the one thing I wish we hadn't have done so much of. But considering how much space we had on the floppy disk (wasn't Zak two sides of a C64 disk - about a total of 320KB?), that was the most space-efficient way to prolong gameplay. At least we didn't keep killing you off! [Unlike a certain classic games company whose name began with S - ed.]"

What do you think of fan projects?
"I really love that people still appreciate the games... It would bother me if LucasArts were still trying to sell the games and people downloaded them instead of buying them. But I don't think the games are still on the market. I had a pretty bad experience with pirated software on my first game, Rescue on Fractalus! A mostly completed version of that game as well as Ballblazer was given to Atari for market testing. Within a week, both games were on all the pirate bulletin boards! Pretty discouraging! [But regarding Zak,] I love it! I’ve seen some of the art for the Zak sequels, and it tickles me to see how people have kept the characters."

Would you ever create another game?
"I might go back to game design/development under the right circumstances. It would have to be a very special project, something that could actually make a difference in people's lives -- what was the last game you played that affected you deeply in an emotional or spiritual way? That actually changed your life, that made you think deeply about who you are and what you're doing here on the planet? If the answer is "never", then why? If you've had that kind of experience, then I'd love to hear about the game that you were playing! I am still very interested in using entertainment to change people's lives for the better, to empower them, help them be the best they can be... all that "New Age" stuff. If anyone knows of any company doing this, let me know!"

The in-game jokes

"Those inside jokes were especially fun to add to the game... it also rewarded players who played the earlier games -- kind of rewarding them for their loyalty. Running gags? Well, in Zak, using the microwave on the airplane to explode something was definitely a carry over from Maniac (where unspeakable things would happen if you put furry little animals into the Edison family microwave). We always tried to work in things from Lucasfilm movies, especially the number, 1138 from THX-1138. ... The interface did let us do some fun stuff when Zak was mind linking with animals... especially the Yak in Katmandu. I'm not sure how many people went beyond the first 10-20 "chew" commands to see what else came up in the verb set, though :-)"

Other gags and fun stuff (warning: I don't know if they all work on all versions of the game - particularly if working through the ScummVM emulator. Most of these were posted by 'Melissa' on the Zak2 site.):

• In "Maniac Mansion" you have a chain saw that needs a gas can - and the gas can is in a Martian locker in Zak McKracken. when you try to pick it up, Melissa or Leslie says "I don't need it. It's for a different game." then she smiles.
• All the girls appearing in the game have the names of the game designer's wives or girlfriends.
• Every time you put on leslie's helmet and take it off, her hair is a different color.
• If you use the butter knife to dig throgh the dirt in the cave it will get bent. when you get back to San Francisco, go to Lou's Loans and sell the butter knife. the guy will give you 1500 dollars for it (but only if it's bent).
• [This only works in some versions of the game:] Go into the phone company and read the payphone, there is a number on it. go back to zak's house, use the telephone, and dial that number. the alien/telephone rep. will answer the phone and say, "Hello? Hello, who's there? Is this Edna again?" [Edna is of course from Maniac Mansion] if you do not hang up the phone, the rep. will stay on there forever. he will not notice you come into the phone company and he will not notice you go into the back room even if you don't have on the disguise.
• If you go to a place and come back home there will be a message on your answering machine. after a couple of messages there will be one from Weird Ed from Maniac Mansion. He says something about picking up zak and sandy in the Edsel to go to a monster truck show.
• In Lou's Loans: try selling the sell window, buy window, lotto, or anything else in the store and see what Lou says. activate the blue crystal in lou's loans, then sell it. get out of there as fast as you can or just wear the disguise. the alien will take Lou away and put him in the detention chamber.
• You can kill the two-headed squirrel with the butter knife or the wire cutters. then, when you read the newsstand in the airport it says, "LAST OF THE TWO-HEADED SQUIRREL! BLUGGEONED BY BUMBLING FOOL!"
• On Mars, you can play a music casette. It features Razor and the Scumettes, from Maniac Mansion..
• In Lou's Loans and the alien's secret room there are posters that advertise other LucasArts projects. These differ in diferent versions of the game.
• If you get captured by the aliens and taken to the Mindbender, there is a quick way out. As soon as you regain control, quickly put on the hat and nose glasses, but you have to be quick to do it before you lose the 'put on' command.
• Some of the carvings inside the Sphinx look suspiciously like Star Wars TIE fighters.
• The 'words of power' that mend the crystal are 'Elvis is king' with the letters reversed.

 

"Interestingly, I think Zak was far more popular in Germany and Europe than in the States. I'm not sure why... maybe my humor was more European in nature??" - David Fox

All three Zak McKracken fan sequels are based in Germany. The game was made in America, based in America, and visits many parts of the world but never Germany. Yet Germany is the centre of the Zak McKracken world. Why? This is the biggest riddle of all. Or perhaps not. Here's my take - feel free to disagree.

Today's most popular games fall into two broad categories. I will call them 'action' games and 'control' games. Action games are the fighting and shooting and racing variety. Lots of adrenalin, very popular with teenage boys, the (current) big market for games. The other popular games are all about control. You control armies or empires ('God games'), or you control individuals and families (the Sims). Put bluntly, all the popular games are about one thing: power.

But Zak McKracken is different. Zak is unique. There is no shooting. You don't even microwave a hamster - just an egg! Even the bad guys have a story. In Maniac Mansion the bad guys are twisted, a little deviant. But in Zak they are just a product of their culture, and not even very bright! The real enemy is stupidity. The game is not about power and control. You don't even have much power over Zak himself: he has a job that he doesn't like, and he takes the entire game just to persuade Annie to like him. The game of Zak McKracken is not about power, it's about discovery: you discover the world, other worlds, the past, science, culture, you expand your mind. Sure, it's fun, and crazy, but it is more than that.

Daid Fox has often said that he wanted to do things that make a difference. Maybe it hasn't changed the world, but Zak is different. Zak is probably the purest example you will find of the adventure game. Sure, Myst is more challenging, and Loom is more spiritual, but Zak is about an ordinary person, like you and me, and it explores further and wider than any other game I know. Adventure games are all about exploration. You put in a lot of legwork, and even more brainwork, for relatively small results. The satisfaction is not measured in numbers, but in discovery, and in learning and in making a lasting difference.

Power games are so popular in America that they have pushed adventure games out. Is it simplistic for me, a European, to see this as a reflection of cultural differences? Differences that are also reflected in politics? America is a powerful nation. Americans like power. Powerful cars. Powerful leaders. They prefer active solutions to the endless talking of Europeans. Europeans like power as well, but they also like to explore and to think. Europeans still have a place for Zak McKracken.

I do not know, but I think that Zak has lasted longer than other games because it goes a little deeper. Sure, it's fun. Sure, it's anarchic and silly. But it is more.