By default, it will examine whatever it’s pointed at, but tapping one of the face buttons switches that to a ‘take’ command. To interact with the environment, there’s an onscreen cursor connected to the right controller, reminiscent of the multi-purpose pointer you’d find in old LucasArts adventure games. The version I played on Quest 2 at PAX had direct locomotion mapped to the left controller, although teleport options were also available. Your mission is to find a way inside, collect those treasures, deal with the caves’ hostile inhabitants and try to get out alive.Ĭolossal Cave 3D has all the same obstacles, monsters, challenges and loot as the original text-only version, complete with all the same solutions translated into a modern UI. Colossal Cave 3D carries forward that tradition: you are an unnamed, largely invisible adventurer who has heard rumors that there are ancient treasures inside the caverns below you. In keeping with original designer Will Crowther’s dual-classed nature as an old-school D&D nerd/caving enthusiast, the original Colossal Cave was about as plot-free as things get. Colossal Cave 3D is exactly what its title indicates: the original Colossal Cave Adventure, given a graphics interface for the first time in over 45 years. The Williamses are funding this new version of the game entirely out of pocket and said that they’ll decide after it’s finished whether or not they’ll return to retirement.Ĭygnus had a booth at last weekend’s PAX West expo in Seattle, where attendees could play a healthy chunk of Colossal Cave 3D’s pre-alpha, either in VR on Quest 2 or in “pancake mode” on the Switch.īefore I sat down with their headset, Mera was careful to focus on one word: “reimagined.” Much like last year’s VR version of Myst, Cygnus’s designers were careful to reinvent as little of this particular wheel as possible. Over time, they coaxed Roberta Williams to come along for the ride. Over the course of several months, Mera encouraged Williams to come out of retirement for a new project, which ended up being this new version of Colossal Cave. That brought Mera to a presentation at a museum where he happened to meet and befriend Ken Williams. Mera got into retro computing as a hobby last year and bought a sketchy lot off Facebook Marketplace, which included an unusually rare edition of the original King’s Quest. Speaking to Colossal Cave 3D artist Marcus Maximus Mera at PAX West reveals that the entire project started through what amounts to pure coincidence. It’s developed by Cygnus Entertainment, a company founded specifically for this purpose by adventure-game legends Ken and Roberta Williams, known for King’s Quest and Phantasmagoria. This fall, the game returns as Colossal Cave 3D, a “reimagined” version releasing on PC, Nintendo Switch and Meta Quest 2. Every time you solve a puzzle by creatively using your inventory or the environment, in everything from Zork to Resident Evil to Cave Digger, you’re seeing some of Colossal Cave’s creative DNA. The original 1976 game was one of the first all-text adventure games and the first that got popular. You may not have ever heard of Colossal Cave Adventure, but if you’ve played a video game in the last 45 years, you’ve walked in its footsteps.
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