KING OF THE JUNGLE
DAVID CRANE TALKS ABOUT THE CREATION OF ONE OF GAMING’S FIRST HUMAN HEROES, PITFALL HARRY
What made you create Pitfall Harry?
Pitfall! came about primarily from my desire to make a game with a human main character. At the time, most game characters were inanimate objects – tanks, space ships, etc. I animated the character and placed him in a jungle setting, and it worked very well.
Do you think giving your character a name and personality helped players bond with him?
Pitfall! was one of the first times that you would control a human-like character in a videogame as your avatar. As my alter ego it was natural to name him. I made him do all the fun things that I would have enjoyed – from swinging on vines to hunting for treasure. Frankly, he didn’t exactly have a ‘personality’, but the game-player could identify with him as they risked the hazards of the game together. If a player bonded with him, it would likely have been because you were risking your lives together.
Why do you think so many videogame characters started appearing during the Eighties?
Videogame technology went through a rapid growth in the Eighties, allowing more detailed animations to be created. Controlling an on-screen avatar was clearly enjoyable (whether it was a jungle adventurer or a plumber), so it was only natural to use that newfound animation capability to make increasingly complex characters. I think that led to the ability to imbue characters with personality as well.
Did you have much involvement with Harry’s appearance in Saturday Supercade?
I offered to be Pitfall Harry’s voice, trying out sort of a Dudley Do-right characterisation. But I was never taken seriously since I was needed in the lab making games.
What things should you keep in consideration as a developer when creating a videogame character?
Character development is an important aspect of mainstream media, but it wasn’t much of a factor in the Eighties. We first figured out how a character would act in the context of a game; then figured out his ‘look’ given the available technology. What authors refer to as ‘character development’ took a distant third. These days, on the other hand, with videogames rivalling films in complexity and interaction, game characters deserve every bit as much breadth as characters in other media.
Why do you think Pitfall Harry remains so loved by gamers?
Pitfall! was a huge success during the rise of videogames. Virtually every game-player at the time either owned the game or played it at a friend’s house. It was also visually stunning for its day, so everybody who played it had fond memories (even if some found it hard to play). That was many people’s ‘golden era’ of gaming, and Pitfall! was very much in the game-players’ minds at the time. I suppose Pitfall Harry benefits to this day from the nostalgic glow of those good old days.