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Page 11: Rob's Thing

"I don't think I can do my best work if my attention is in a half-dozen different directions," wrote Landeros in his pitch document. "What is disturbing is that many of our products lack someone willing to take firm creative control and final responsibility." In essence, Landeros wanted his own creative project that he would be held accountable for. As he told the online magazine Café Z, "I consider the company my playground - my own little sandbox. I can choose my own projects, get them approved, and get a budget."

Tender Loving Care's psychological questions would probe into the player's subconscious desires.

TLC, a story of high-voltage sexual intrigue, had an interesting twist insofar as it would use psychological questions to probe into the subconscious mind of the player. Like Trilobyte's previous products, it would use full-motion video. Yet unlike The 7th Guest or The 11th Hour's design, which impeded players from progressing until they solved a puzzle, TLC would use multiple-choice-based psychological questioning throughout the story to mold the experience into whatever the user's secret desires, predilections, and aversions may be. To everyone on the corporate board, the idea of using psychological questioning in a product was brilliant. But it wasn't going to be a game. As Landeros told the Seattle Times, "The best idea I had was to cut out the games stuff. This is a product for those of us who don't want to shoot an alien intruder."

Moreover, there were concerns over the content, which writer Noble Smith describes as a "voyeuristic product." According to artist Ken Nash, "The thinking with TLC was that we were making a product that us guys would like to play." Landeros knew TLC was an experimental product, and as he wrote in April, "No one would dare take such a bold approach in this medium, with such high stakes involved." The board was interested in perhaps doing an interactive product to keep Landeros happy, and it began exploratory work to find outside financing for the motion-picture portion of the project.

"[TLC] is a product for those of us who don't want to shoot an alien intruder."
- Rob Landeros

With the TLC concept being bandied about Trilobyte, the greatest concern was over The 11th Hour, which was now more than a year late, with expenses creeping well north of two million dollars, 75 percent of which was paid out of Trilobyte's own pocket. Many inside the company didn't know what was taking so long. Producer Scott Russo at Virgin remembers, "When I'd talk to Rob on the phone and ask how the game was coming, he would just say, 'It's going to be done when Graeme wants it to be.'"

Clearly, there was a disconnect between Devine and Landeros about what was taking so long with the game. Landeros felt that his part of the game was done in the middle of 1994, and now they were just waiting for Devine's technology so they could ship the product. But as Devine points out, "I don't think Rob understood the restrictions of the technology we were working with for The 11th Hour." Whereas The 7th Guest was collaboration between the two founders, The 11th Hour turned into an assembly-line-like production mentality with the handoff from one founder to the other.

Far from a collaboration, 11th Hour turned into an assembly-line-like production with the handoff from one founder to the other.

"I think Graeme and Rob are dramatically different people," explains Alper. "Rob doesn't care about technology - he wanted to make movies. But Graeme is a technocrat and wants to build the all-singing and all-dancing engine. I think he bit off more than he could chew with The 11th Hour's engine." With Landeros becoming increasingly interested in developing TLC as a feature film, and Devine wanting to trump the technical wizardry he had crafted for The 7th Guest, the founders were clearly going in different directions. Even those who went into the separate offices of the founders noticed different personalities. Devine's office was cluttered with Star Trek and Scooby Doo items, whereas Landeros had wood-paneled walls and a much simpler aesthetic.

Although mindful of their differences, Devine and Landeros still spent time together and even played golf in July of 1995. Landeros, who plays golf frequently, had a good game, and Devine shot a 63, although, as he wrote in e-mail, "That was only for the first nine holes."

The Fatman returned to write music for the 11th Hour. Here are a few of his songs from the game:
(All Songs © The Fatman (www.fatman.com))

Dolls of Doom Music.mp3 (500 k)
In front of Docs.mp3 (800k)
X-Box Puzzle Music.mp3 (500k)

Unfortunately, the ship date for The 11th Hour was hitting a sand trap. "We knew the game was going to get done," explains Virgin's Young. "It's just that there was zero predictability in when it would be done." By the middle of the summer, Devine said in an e-mail that he felt like "He was finishing this alone," and that there was growing concern that the game might not even make Christmas of 1995. With Landeros busily preparing to shoot TLC, Devine says, "We'd ask Rob for help on the puzzles and he'd say, 'Sorry, I'm working on TLC now.'"

Trilobyte was supposed to be weeks away from shipping 1995's biggest game. There were huge previews in gaming magazines, and the buzz was at an all-time high. But those inside Trilobyte had greater concerns. There was a sense that Trilobyte was falling apart at the seams, and some wondered if The 11th Hour would ever be finished under such difficult circumstances.

Next: Money Walks