Greetings, Everyone!

Roberta and I are on our boat now, cruising in Canada. We are enjoying our time on the boat, but we’re also still hard at work on our Colossal Cave game.

Roberta is a perfectionist. I remember thinking last summer that we were almost finished with the game, but Roberta has continued pushing us. If someone on the team, or some reviewer, or some game player, sees something in the game that could be improved, Roberta insists that we “fix it.” She wants the game to be perfect before we move on to whatever comes next.

We have a system that tracks each change we make to the game. Engineers, artists, musicians, “check in ” their changes each time they make some change to the game. I just checked and there have been 1,805 “changesets” (check ins) since we initially released the game in January. Some of those changes are associated with converting the game to run on mobile and console devices but a significant percentage of them are improvements to the game.

If you already own the game, you should have already seen several updates come through. The biggest update of all will be coming in the next week or so. This update includes a huge upgrade to the graphics for desktop computers and some higher-powered consoles. We’re also working on bringing enhanced graphics to some of the VR platforms. And speaking of VR, this release adds vignetting, giving additional comfort for players. There are also enhancements that apply to all platforms. We added auto-save, footstep sounds everywhere, additional sound effects, and even some fun surprises (easter eggs).

With each improvement to the game, I ask Roberta, “Are we there yet?” Is this the final release?” She’s tough to pin down on that topic. The existing Colossal Cave text game has been around for fifty years. She wants our version to be good enough that people will still be playing it fifty years from now. That’s a high bar, but Roberta can be very forceful when she wants something.

Meanwhile, we have great internet on the boat, and whereas the weather is miserably hot for many of you, it is perfect for boating in the Pacific NW.

Best wishes to all and enjoy the game!

Just Launched!

Xbox One and Series X|S

Colossal Cave has just launched on both the Xbox One, as well as the Xbox Series X|S. For the first time ever, Xbox users can embark on a journey that marries retro-cool with magical adventure, exploring the enigmatic and fantastical world of Colossal Cave, brimming with secret treasures, mystical creatures, and riddles to confound even the wisest sage.

In honor of the game’s launch, we’re offering a special launch promotion, available for a limited time only. The company invites all adventurers to dust off your home-crafted, vintage Colossal Cave maps and descend into the adventure of a lifetime, on Xbox!

Meta Quest 2: Creature Comforts

In a forever effort to enhance the gameplay and enjoyment of Colossal Cave’s mammoth, subterranean world, we’ve ventured back into the Meta Quest 2. This time? We’ve added “vignetting”, allowing people who too easily experience the queasies, to enter our magical cave for longer stretches, and greater labyrinthine runs. Many other updates in our fourth big update to that version, including footsteps and a remote control!

Learn More –>https://www.oculus.com/experiences/quest/developer-post/827421612241340/

New Website: A Magic, Mischievous Cave

Colossal Cave is filled with dwarves, bats, rats, treasures, and a noticeably absent giant. However, when you ask Roberta Williams who the main character is, who the villain is, or what puzzles need solving, her eye twinkles, then she simply says, “The Cave. It’s a magic cave! A mischievous cave, but the answer is ‘The Cave!’”.

How best to represent a deep, mystical, mammoth, Machiavellian cave full of intertwined corridors, creatures, and riddles? Through our deep, stunning new website!

Coming Soon!

The Enchanted Version will launch on Steam, very soon. This will be accompanied with a fun, fully enchanted demo. From there, it will be propagated to GOG.com, Epic Games, and other stores where PC is available. We are also researching which of these new updates will fit within some of the other platforms. It’s a huge change and will have a colossal impact, in addition to lots of little ones.

iOS
We’ve had countless requests for the game on tablets. Ask, and ye shall receive! Colossal Cave will be launching on iPhones and iPads very soon. This has required quite a bit of thought and experimentation, including figuring out how to take a game built from pure text in the 70’s, transform it through a modern 3D reimagining, and then wrap it within a fully immersive experience, driven by the guidance of a single finger.

No small task, but we did it.

Coming very soon.

And more!

While the Enchanted and iOS versions will be released within the next week or two, shortly thereafter will be a release of the game on the PlayStation 4, an update to PlayStation 5, and a brand new release to the PlayStation VR 2 (bundled with PS5).

As if that’s not enough, the game will also be launching soon on PicoVR!

Then, we’re investigating an Android version of the game, a version for the Rift, and another for PlayStation VR 1.

And then, there’s more!

Finally, we just zipped up the game, plus oodles of bonus surprises, and sent them to Limited Run Games. A Collector’s Edition Box is not far away, followed by boxed versions for the PS4, PS5, and the Nintendo Switch.

A living game. And, when you play the Enchanted Version, you’ll really start to see just how true that is!