"Stop it, what are you doing!"

How did you came in contact with the seventh guest? Did Virgin contact you?

Graeme had been to my first CGDC lecture, entitled "Music, Art, and the Blue Sword of Gralfalniblart," which was a call to developers to write games from the heart, and to try out other genres and more complex asthetics than "Dark Knights of the Dark Darkness." The year before, I had won an award for the music for "Wing Commander," and "Loom" was also up for the same award. So in Graeme's mind, I was a big deal. Graeme called me up. I didn't know who he was. He couldn't believe he was talking to The Fat Man.

How was the game explained to you?

Basically, they sent me a video and my jaw dropped.

How did you compose the tunes? Did they gave you the script and said, "We expect the music next week."? Did you see bits of what they made?

The deadlines were fairly lax and kept slipping back. Mainly, I would send music to them, and they would either not comment on it, or I would hear a rumor that they liked it. For the short cinematic scenes, Trilobyte sent me videos of the actors doing their parts against a blue screen. It was pretty lame-looking, but Linda and I had faith that it would turn out great. We developed a saying. "Relax, George. Remember, it's Rob and Graeme."

How did you compose the seventh guest tunes? Do you just wait for a melody to come up?

Well, I prepared a place at the table for the melody, and it would always turn up, hungry and smiling.

How do you like to work? Do you like to work with a bunch of people or are you sitting alone in the studio.

I worked alone on T7G. These days, my favorite compositions involve some interaction between me and a bunch of musicians who are really talented at listening.

What's your favorite tune in the seventh guest? And why?

Skeletons in my Closet. It's the most interesting and successful mish-mash of styles and personalities, and paints a picture that isn't quite like any other song. My brother Dave had written it for our monthly "songwriters' club."

How did the composing of music for computer games change over the years? Do you have more and better equipment to work with?

It has become quite restricted. It used to be a medium in which anything you put your heart into was welcomed with open arms, because only a precious few people with something to say musically were willing to give their lives and art to games. Producers were happy to have anything that "sounded less awful." Now there are styles and energy levels that are expected, and producers have a vague idea of what the game "should sound like." There are about 8 styles that game musicians are asked to emulate...ever.

I have enough equipment--I always have, and I always will.

What's the response of people when you say you make music for computergames? When I told someone that I was listening to music of the seventh guest on my walkman. They replied with "Like super Mario?"

Three typical reactions:

"Cool! I never thought of anybody making music for games, but I guess they'd have to." "You mean those boop beep boops that my kid uses to drive me crazy?" "I read an article about a guy who does that. Have you ever heard of The Fat Man?"

Did you approach the 11'th hour differently than you approached the seventh guest. Greame Devine of Trilobyte said that the genre turned from a gothic to a modern horror story.

Musically, there were three styles of music, two of which were directly from T7G.

a. Game play music was very similar in style to T7G--yet I greatly extended all the old tunes and added some heavier and lighter ones.

b. "Mr. Death" and "The Final Hour" were, like T7G's "Skeletons in my Closet" and "The Game," again "extra songs" done for no charge and for no real reason other than to expand the world of the 7th Guest beyond the borders of its drama, gameplay, and graphics.

c. Music for the cinematic cut scenes this time was done with a live band playing "moods" based on old 7th Guest and 11th Hour themes. The additional element was the Hawaiian feel, which I thought would be a cool contrast to anything ever done, and could reflect the muzac in the bar scene and restaurant scene.

You wrote music from Putt Putt to the 11'th hour. That's quite a difference. What genre of music do you like to make?

i like anything with a decent mix of rules and freedom.

Did you ever meet the guys at Trilobyte?

Are you kidding? I slept with them!

No, I consider them very good friends. We've played pinball and pool, eaten dinner, jammed and what-not. Rob and I have gotten philosophical late at night many a time. Graeme has all my respect as a developer and as a scotch drinker. He might could eat some more healthy food...

What do you think of the role of music in modern computergames? Is it growing?

Somewhat, but the obstacles are daunting. I could refer you to my new concept for GamePlayMusic(TM). I think we can overcome some of the "problems," and turn them around, make them work for us instead of against us.

Do you smoke cigars? On the picture in the gallery in the seventh guest you do.

I've smoked a pipe and cigars from the age of 14. I average one a month, and I really, really like 'em. Some of my best have been given to me by my friends who write music for LucasArts.

Do you have something final to say about the seventh guest I missed?

I feel very lucky to have been a part of this product. In my opinion, Rob and Graeme created the thing that turned Multimedia into a real viable industry by making a beautiful game that sold 1.5 million. Before that, the biggest selling CD-ROM was Sherlock Holmes' Adventures at 20,000 copies. Multimedia was referred to as "the zero-billion dollar industry."

Next up is a deranged psycho, at least his digital counterpart is. Robert Hirschboeck played Henry Stauf, this made him the very first game-star. Here is an interview with the man behind the madman.

Was there any difference in the shoots for the 7th guest than for the 11th hour? For instance in budget/facility's etc.

T7G was shot in a single upstairs room, not much bigger than a bread box. None of the actors really were very clear what this was gonna look like in a "CD-ROM" (?) Or at the time even what a CD-ROM was. It had a good bit of the "I've got a a garage and some costumes; let's do a show!" feel about it, and every bit of that enthusiasm. The actors contributed to what the producers (Rob & Graham) didn't know about production values, and they of course knew way more than we what were the digital and graphic needs. 11th Hour had an entirely different feel. It was more like shooting any other film feature, with many live locations that were included in the 60 min inbeded movie, beyond the few days of blue screen work for sceens taking place inside the mansion. Also, the target audience changed from something any kid could play and watch to a more suggestive storyline for more purient interests. A kind of soapopera, with more blood and bustlines. (I'm sure you've noticed.) The first story... left a lot to the player's imagination and more or less hinted at a story with a mystery behind it. Something to puzzle over. eg. "who am I? who is TAD? What is behind Stauf? Who are these Guests anyway? The storyline, such as it was left you with more questions, than answers.

How long did it take to shoot the seventh guest?

Less than a week.

Have you played in other interactive work?

Mostly other Trilobyte products; some of which have never been released: Dog Eat Dog, Aftermath's: TLC *

* Dog eat dog was a Trilobyte project that never got finished. TLC (Tender Loving Care) was a sort of mixed enterprise by Trilobyte and Aftermath (the company of Rob Landeros and David Wheeler).

In the seventh guest and in the 11th hour we see a different Stauf, the 11th hour one is more darker. What kind of Stauf do you prefer?

Stauf presented different problems and hense a different characterization in each game script. T7G version had a lot of Captain Hook kind of evil about him; playful and imaginative like a musical version of a bad dream, or perhaps the character of "AppleGate" (the devil in Damn Yankees). The kind of evil implied in 11th Hour called for a more insideous Stauf, one who took the bargain for one's Soul more seriously. Still, Stauf himself is a lost soul and has a somewhat redeaming quality that he likes to lay all the hints of your demise out in front of you. There is some part of him that hopes you will get it; that you won't do what he did when presented with the ultimate bargain. Selling, your soul is of course something the individual must do, it can't be just taken from you. So, Stauf's kind of aloof Bill Buckleyesque kind of taunting is a kind of tease. Like Mephistopholes in FAUST, he wants to give you every chance not to be so foolish. He taunts you to make you get a grip, he laughs at your foibles and humiliations. Because THE HOUSE is the ultimate Master; Stauf in his cat and mouse game, just likes to play with the food, before the HOUSE devours it. - "Carl" however, never seemed even a worthy opponent. A sort of dense uninteresting little morsel without much substance or emotion. Much more pleasure is derived from sucking real life out of an energetic and truly innocent life filled person like TAD - a good person. Carl is to compromised from the get go; nothing too delicious about him because he was never full of life. The UnDead feed on LIFE because it is something they covet, can't feel and don't have. Carl always struck me as being half dead already, something the Cat dragged home, that might have to do for the time being when one needed some sustenance for mere survival, til something joyous and full of life came along to be tempted. The Soup Pot nearly Spit him out... I mean who ever really cared about Carl? Or even Robin - nothing really juicy there, no real challenge.

As a Shakespeare-actor, do you like the fact that you will be remembered as the mad toymaker?

Love it!

Thanks mister Hirschboeck for your time. If you want to learn more about him, then I must direct you to the attic. There you will find an article he wrote about his experience with Stauf. And now, Stauf's father. Ladies and Gentlemen, the author Matthew Costello.

How did you get in contact with Graeme and Rob from Trilobyte?

What did you think of their project when they explained it to you?

I was excited. They didn't know of my gaming background, as a long time game reviewer and designer, so that was an added plus. They were going into entirely new ground, and I was more than happy to go with them.

Was it different from other projects you had done?

Totally. It had never been done before. A new medium, a new format, a new game structure.

How did you start with the story?

I thought of a classic, gothic story that could play out suspensefully in the environs of the house, with the rooms acting almost as chapters and with layers of the story revealing themselves bit by bit. My actual story drew on classic horror beats of deals with the darkside, the Faust (Stauf!) mythos, and the sacrifice of an innocent.

What is your favorite scene in the seventh guest or the 11th hour?

Hmm, love the clown offering a red balloon, but that's not really a scene.
I guess my fave over the top scene is Julia Dutton stirring the soup when the head comes out. It showed what the new medium could do, and it worked in a classic horror way to go..boo!

Could you explain the Stauf character. What's in his soul?

Did you expect the seventh guest to be as big as it turned out to be?

No..not until the Chicago CES of, not sure what year..then Rob, Graeme, and me realized that something very big was afoot.

Where there scenes that were cut from the game? Could you give a couple of examples?

In 7th Guest, only scenes that made impossible tech demands, mists that grew tendrils and attacked someone. Plot wise, I don't remember any major cuts.

When you started writing the script for the 11th hour, how did you change it when you compare it to the seventh guest script?

Many changes there, primarily moving the action out of the house, updating the events to the contemporary period. That script, though, was edited/altered after my last draft so that it changed even more than originally planned.

The seventh guest has a strong moral. The greedy people die and the innocent Tad prevails. In the 11th hour, this is more clouded, good can beat evil, but there are also two endings where evil wins. Could you comment on that?

The idea from the beginning, as created by Rob, Graeme, and myself, was to push a similar choice onto the player that the guests form T7G went through. How would they choose-and what would the outcome be? Once the player has the ability to choose, the clear-cut message is bound to get murky since it's no longer under control of the writer.

Nowadays there doesn't seem to be an emphasis on story-line in games and very few company's work with Full Motion Video. What do you think about that?

FMV became a bad word. I imagine it still is. But the use of dramatic characters in a game with a compelling story line will-and already has, to some extent-re-emerged via the expanded capabilities of the new consoles. The balancing act will be to have story/character/motivation without it stopping or distracting from the gameplay.

Have you played the seventh guest and the 11th hour?

Sure.

If you look back now on both scripts. Is there anything that you would like to have changed?

With T7G no. It was exactly what it should be, fun, gothic horror -the horror of the Hammer films brought to CD-ROM. With 11th Hour, there are a number if issues that could be revisited, starting with moving the action out of the house.

If there ever came a part three, would you be interested. And if so, how would you like the story to go.

Yes. Absolutely. I think T7G3 should be a portal to what's on the other side, what that evil is, a mesh of the reality of the house with alleyways and rooms opening up into this other dimension of evil. A thinking person's Doom with the goal being to really scare the player. Make them hesitate to click that mouse button and open the door.

And how about a seventh guest movie?

Twas in the works, but now on hold, I do believe.

Do you have anything to add to this interview?

If you're lucky, a creative person gets a chance to work closely to do something exciting that hasn't been done before, to blaze a trail. For me the T7G and Trilobyte experience will always be such a peak.

Thanks a lot Mister Costello for providing such nice information. Hope you all liked the interviews.