Rebecca Heineman - Developer & Co-Founder of Interplay | Retro Tea Break

[@RMCRetro]

Huge thanks again to Becky for sharing her story with us here are some links to find out more! Rebecca on Twitter: twitter.com/burgerbecky Olde Skuul on Twitter: twitter.com/OldeSkuul Podcast version of this chat: audioboom.com/posts/8240601-rebecca-heineman-developer-co-founder-of-interplay And come and visit us at RetroCollective: retrocollective.co.uk Neil

[@MichaelM28]

his story*

[@IvorySoul696]

@@MichaelM28 *her story

[@erasmusgustav4194]

​​@@MichaelM28 f off transphobe

[@Jef_Vermassen]

Woohaa Neil, I feel proper spoiled with this episode. Such a wealth of information. Having learned even more about Becky, she is an absolute genius! I usually watch these in parts... but this one I couldn't turn off. Absolutely interesting! Also, this series is soooooo important to preserving the history of game development. Thanks for all the work and passion you put into these. And if Becky ever reads this: You are awesome. Thanks for all the joy you brought us!

[@RMCRetro]

Thanks Jef, I really love making these episodes so it makes me extra happy that people enjoy listening

[@magicknight8412]

Interplay made some of my favourite games back in the day, great company with obviously great people like Rebecca making it happen.

[@faenethlorhalien]

Second time in a week that I hear from this lady in a retro computing YT channel, and I had never heard of her until now. What a living legend!

[@RebeccaHeineman]

What can I say? I'm cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs.

[@faenethlorhalien]

@@ZanaGBYT Exactly

[@faenethlorhalien]

@@RebeccaHeineman Thank you so much for the reply! I have no words other than saying that Interplay was an important part of my gaming life back in the day.

[@MichaelM28]

He's not a lady

[@MichaelM28]

man not lady

[@NeverBored_retro_rehab]

That lady is an absolute legend and what a storyteller!

[@MichaelM28]

He's not a lady though

[@MichaelM28]

He's a man and always will be

[@androxilogin]

@@MichaelM28 Listen here, 'lil lady.

[@MichaelM28]

@@androxilogin 🤨

[@androxilogin]

@@MichaelM28 you act just like your mother.

[@JohnSmith-xq1pz]

When ever I hear Interplay's name i think of the epicness that is Descent/II

[@JohnSmith-xq1pz]

@@dazaspc 😱 Dang! As intense as the game gets I've never broken a joystick, probably because I have smaller hands🤔

[@JohnSmith-xq1pz]

@@dazaspc logically if someone has small hands also has small fingers/thumbs

[@JohnSmith-xq1pz]

@Ralph Reilly broke it? Descent lobbed a pair of mega missiles at the mold

[@JohnSmith-xq1pz]

@@dazaspc ooooh right I totally forgot the default settings for the hat switch (I always used it for weapon hot keys) Lol ah yes the old it works like a gas pedal theory. Yes my first joystick was a wingman warrior, unfortunately it broke in early 00s and I never found another one. I have/had a lot of the wingman series sticks only two have ever had a failure. The warrior and my original Force3d the force feedback/centering spring system is shot. To give you an idea. You know that hand rest at the bottom of the wingman series sticks? My hand doesn't even reach it

[@JohnSmith-xq1pz]

@@dazaspc Lol yup you're definitely a murderer of joysticks 😉 I forget the name of it but we had a early forcefeed back wheel in the 9x era. Was a blast on Need for speed games.and the Nascar game I played all the time back than (Still have it but it requires a 3dfx graphics card to play) Ours was game port aswhile as best I remember... yeah I think the wheel was on the gameport and my Wingman Warrior was on the serial port. Our XP machine had a gameport somI kept using the wheel until something in the forcefeed back system broke rendering the wheel just about useless (it was about 8 years old and heavily used)

[@queegfivehundred8197]

Really interesting interview - I'm only 13 minutes in and need to go to bed, but will definitely continue watching tomorrow. Edit: finished watching now, and it did not disappoint - a very enjoyable watch.

[@Murrlin27]

Words can't express how much I love this woman!

[@MichaelM28]

man*

[@IvorySoul696]

@@MichaelM28 *woman. Go crawl back into your troll hole

[@Cade_Squirrel]

​@@MichaelM28Are you ok? I've seen you on three threads already.

[@ninjazhu]

Awesome interview, very inspiring and informative. I only just saw this today and cannot believe there are only 12000 views. I think every younger programmer should watch this interview. I am in my 50s.

[@electricadventures]

That really was an excellent interview, and wonderful of Becky to spend so much time talking and sharing her story.

[@JenniferinIllinois]

So many amazing Interplay games: Bard's Tale, Battle Chess, Wasteland, Buzz Adrian's Race into Space, Descent. Great interview and Rebecca is quite the story teller.

[@guatapal]

Absolute legend of a person! So humbled... What a contribution to the industry. Thank you Neil for for your great interviewing skills.

[@Asobitech]

Just simply, Wonderful. So much history, so many great stories. To be part of the game development industry during those years would have been amazing. Great interview.

[@stephenoflaherty5656]

I'm just befuddled how someone with no academic background aged 15 can just teach themselves complex electronics and programming. She's so impressive. Blows my mind. And struggles with self doubt. Good on ya

[@PaintsAreOp]

And it's not even an unique story! There's lots of really smart kids out there doing amazing stuff.

[@grandupper2588]

what a cool lady, so full of energy

[@DavidNouls]

Oh my God. This amazing lady really made my teenage years so awesome, growing playing game on Atari 2600, 800 and later C=64 and Amiga! She is one of the reason why I grew up to become a software developer.

[@ukmk3supra]

Absolutely fascinating - could listen to both of you for hours and hours!

[@miikasuominen3845]

Been reading and listening other interviews etc, from Becky, in the past. Excellent storyteller and what a character! Thanks for this, Neil!

[@RMCRetro]

Thanks Miika

[@oldnotobsolete.2925]

What a wonderfully engaging couple of hours! Thanks Rebecca and Neil!

[@PrimitiveBaroque]

My whole childhood was driven by Interplay in one way or another: Bard's Tale, Descent, Fallout, Atomic Bomberman, Battle Chess, the list just goes on. Awesome company.

[@pipp33]

The Out of this World stories are pure gold. This is one of my favorite games, I first played it on SNES and later bought a 3DO just so I could play what looked to be the best version of OotW when I saw those amazing backgrounds. Great stuff, Rebecca!

[@Dorelaxen]

Awesome! Tass Times in Tonetown and the Bard's Tale are two of my favorite games ever.

[@metalheadmalta]

LEGEND! That's what you are Becky! Fabulous! Thanks RMC, this was so refreshing... hope to visit the cave sometime... perhaps drop by with a game of my own!

[@WoollyMittens]

What an absolute delightful lady. You did well getting her on Neil. I love your work.

[@MichaelM28]

He's not a lady though

[@IvorySoul696]

@@MichaelM28 No room in this world for trans/homophobia. Go crawl back in your hole

[@longtallshorty5791]

@@MichaelM28 and you're nothing.

[@bournedevinesupreme]

Rebecca Hieneman is a legend in my eyes. Really hoping she writes a book someday. Learning about how 3DO Doom came to be was fascinating and hilarious.

[@MichaelM28]

He not she

[@migueldias8546]

Thank you Rebecca Heineman! It was a very very interesting interview. I am well aware that there is no greater liar than our own brain. However, in this case, I felt like we got the real story, which explains my satisfaction.

[@eugenekiselev]

Thanks a lot for this interview! The story is very inspiring. Becky is such a legendary person! My deepest respect to the Talent and Sense of Humor. I'm a huge fan. Probably running from home was the right thing to do although at that time I recon that seemed to be absolutely reckless thing. I guess I understand why relationship was difficult back then, but I'm glad it turned the way it did and the world got Becky's talent flourish.

[@jeremyc7786]

What a character, and what a legend!

[@stog33]

Great episode of Tea Break, enjoyed every minute of it

[@n.h.s.a.d.m.]

Its a fascinating history and I'm glad this interview happened.

[@miltiadiskoutsokeras9189]

One of the most likable persons in the industry.

[@johnkinsella2140]

Thanks fort the port over to the Plus 4. More importantly thanks for your imersive gaming experience.

[@STEVEO779]

How refreshing, what a lovely lady! I had many games from Interplay growing up, so big thanks to her helping towards my childhood fun. Another world was my first ever pc game for my 8 birthday too :)

[@MichaelM28]

He's not a lady

[@STEVEO779]

@@MichaelM28 not sure what your intentions are by said comment, may be safer to just to remove it?

[@MichaelM28]

@@STEVEO779 just correcting my mistake

[@ComicMelon]

Becky is the best! I love her so much.

[@QOTSAPT]

love *him

[@ComicMelon]

@@QOTSAPT You seem confused, her*. :)

[@RachelDetermann]

Becky is amazing and clearly an absolute genius. Countless incredible accomplishments.

[@tdrury]

Best interview yet Neil! Becca is quite a character!

[@wimwiddershins]

An amazing technical intellect and tremendously warm and honest person. what a great story.

[@gearsofgames]

Awesome interview! Thank you. 😀

[@RMCRetro]

Thank you!

[@raggersragnarsson6255]

Wonderful story. Thank you

[@KeritechElectronics]

A fascinating story! Interplay - "For Mutants By Mutants", since I know them most from the Fallout series I'm a huge fan of, and that got me into playing Wasteland too. Becky is such a sweet nerd gal

[@licensetodrive9930]

I'm only 4 minutes in and what a great video! She's awesome, what little she's talked about her gaming background I'm looking forward to hearing the rest of it! What a long video! Great :)

[@licensetodrive9930]

At 12:50 when she's talking about how she figured out how to copy games, starting by copying the ROM into RAM and going from there (genius thought patterns), I swear I've heard of this exact story before, maybe I've seen her talk about it years ago? edit: getting through more of her amazing stories I realise I have heard all this before, it must have been many years ago, it's awesome watching/listening to it again, my fascination levels right up there.

[@MichaelM28]

He not she

[@androxilogin]

This lady is awesome! Filled with nonstop interesting info and knowledge! And kitties!

[@electronash]

Becky's videos on the making of 3DO DOOM, the Apple II and C64 vids, are some of the most interesting I've ever seen. Great to see her on here.

[@MichaelM28]

him*

[@seamusoblainn]

Very engaging lady and I find stories from the early days of consumer tech facinating. I even played the video on 1x speed 😉

[@MichaelM28]

He's not a lady

[@MisterMsk]

Loved watching this interview. Great job on the video.

[@PurplePixieEater]

Excellent Q&A with the great Burger Becky that sums up their career. First heard about Becky before her transition when I bought Dragon Wars for my Commodore 64 the year it was released. I saw them acknowledged in the manual/back box cover and knew it was her game. There was a photo. Dragon Wars (the first cRPG I ever played) was so good that it became the yardstick for all others for me, then and now. Only SSI's Pool of Radiance (which I also played on the C64 that month) was on the same level. BB is a great interview.

[@theadamtron]

Thanks RMC this was a truly fascinating story from atari 2600 piracy to becoming a developer. All self taught! What an amazing lady.

[@rushmore3927]

RH is an amazing person and contributed HUGELY to the gaming industry.

[@EvanBThompson]

Really enjoyed listening to the interview. Had no idea about Becky beforehand, but great stories and amazing achievements.

[@waynosdaboss]

What a legend ! I should have gone to sleep ages ago but couldn’t stop watching . So much fascinating history and what an incredibly talented and funny woman. Bravo.

[@MichaelM28]

He's not a woman.

[@waynosdaboss]

@@MichaelM28 Thanks for pointing that out but don't see how it changes anything.

[@MichaelM28]

@@waynosdaboss you called him a woman

[@mccrh7737]

I have very fond memories, playing games on my old Mac. Most of the titles were by MacPlay, so epic 😉

[@thegabe4569]

She is so cool

[@rmrepairs]

Brilliant interview, thankyou

[@RMCRetro]

Thanks for taking the time to enjoy it

[@net_news]

amazing interview!! Go Becky Go!!

[@robsku1]

What an awesome figure in the history of gaming she is, yay! \o/

[@TheStevenWhiting]

Just looked up Olde Sküül, it sounds like something from Dwarf Fortress. If there was a company in Dwarf Fortress, it would be called that :)

[@dyBBelyBTASTIC]

I would love to see what Rebecca could do if she had a year to re-port DOOM to the 3DO. Infact i would gladly pay for a Patreon just to see what could have been. Her port of Wolfenstein for the 3DO is hands down the best version available to this day.

[@MichaelM28]

he not she

[@eightguitars]

Hey! Great to see Becky on the Cave! Amazing dev and Human!

[@Jamal_Tyrone]

Lost Vikings was my jam back in the day.

[@llamallarry]

What an impressive person! Fascinating story:)

[@thomashampel761]

This podcast was super interesting. She's a legend! Thanks for this!

[@MichaelM28]

He not she

[@StubbyPhillips]

Radio Shack, yeah, bean counters took over and "optimized" inventory to the point where they stopped carrying all of the odd-ball things people used to go there for or if they did have it they only stocked two and we needed four. It was all downhill from there.

[@CantankerousDave]

I mostly remember how they pestered you for information even if you were just buying a pack of batteries.

[@dmug]

Man, just saw a link to this for the real story of Mac Half Life, I was just a teen who wanted a Mac version. Man, what a tragedy, I'd bought it immediately.

[@CantankerousDave]

Man, Atari Force. I was a member, too. They had a little fan art section in the back of the newsletter, and they ran a dumb little two- or three-panel thing I submitted after beating Adventure.

[@wailinsnorty3859]

I was a bit slack at completing any games from my happy 90's days. Covid times helped sort out my Gamer Guilt and I managed to finally complete Dragon Lore and Phantasmagoria. Stonekeep was number three on the list. Half way through.

[@flynnnrg]

Rebecca is such an inspiring and iconic figure in the games industry. Thanks to both you for this amazing interview!

[@MichaelM28]

No he isn't

[@thenoseguy]

@@MichaelM28 What's wrong with you dawg 💀

[@RavBunneh]

Best interview!!

[@philsbbs]

i love the interview videos and look forward to many more.

[@Murrlin27]

I loved BT3 on the c64! Once, with a disk editor, I probed the data and found all the names of the armor and weapons. Staff of the Gods? was that a programmer testing tool item? Also, I got such a kick out of how, during the final battle, one caster would cast the hole-in-the-floor spell, and Bril would pretty much summon more of the same monster.. OVER THE OPEN HOLE!

[@TDax]

Omg......what a wonderful lady I could listen to her stories for hours

[@MichaelM28]

He's not a lady though

[@MistaMaddog247]

Very amazing interview! I really enjoyed the Mac Family versions of Wolfenstein 3D which actually surpassed the PC original. And the video she did describing the making of 3DO Doom read like a literal horror story...

[@MichaelM28]

he not she

[@damienretro4416]

When I think of Interplay, I think of Descent, Lost Vikings and Virtual Pool.

[@Stjaernljus]

38:57, 1:04:28 - KITTY!

[@netzer442]

Great interview!

[@bravestbullfighter]

Whittier isn't so bad at least around the Radisson Hotel area where I went for salsa dancing. Seems like east of the 605 is nicer than west.

[@Markchill2]

Great video and this lady is a genius

[@MichaelM28]

not really considering he thinks he's a woman

[@MichaelM28]

He's not a lady

[@Markchill2]

@@MichaelM28 I ment the lady not the man wtf

[@CorporalDanLives]

YESSSS IT'S BECKY!!! Delighted to see her in the Cave!

[@betatronhammer7156]

That 3DO Blaster on the top back shelve! Would love to check out all the obscure stuff lingering on the back shelves.

[@CantankerousDave]

My eyes immediately went to the Vectrex box. Those things are painfully expensive nowadays. Vector games in the arcade were my jam in the very early 80s.

[@AlyxxTheRat]

Becky getting some much needed attention lately! Awesome!

[@samuelschwager]

Half Life was one of the 1st games I played on my own 1st PC. What a wild story about the mac port!

[@danyoutube7491]

It was one of my first PC games too. I played Fifa 99 and Sim City 3000 on my sister's PC a year or so before getting my own at uni (ostensibly to help with uni essays, but I'm not sure I ever did any work on it, I didn't have a printer at uni and don't recall ever taking a disk to the uni library to get it printed, lol), then I started getting games like Age of Empires 2, Midtown Madness and Half-Life. Half-Life was already two or three years old by the time I played it but it was like nothing else I'd ever seen and remained so for a long time. A shame for Mac owners!

[@samuelschwager]

@@danyoutube7491 Yeah, Age of Empires 2 was also on the 1st batch of games I played :)

[@jameslewis2635]

Such an amazing person. I just have an image of someone from that Space Invaders competition finishing with their necks locked up going 'help, I can't move'.

[@MossTGF]

My giiiirl! I LOVE Rebecca!!!!! 💕

[@chriswy697]

man, that 3DO Blaster and Dreamcast Keyboard just chillin' behind Becky

[@WW-jt2sq]

Wolfenstein 3DO is fantastic and it's a real shame at the tragedy of Art Data and the Doom 3DO port..

[@thebadgamer1967]

Fascinating interview and interesting person and life

[@andreagrumpeenlate5813]

Extraordinary story ❤

[@gnuemacs1166]

Great video

[@higgins007]

Rebecca is a legend. Insta-like!

[@Wormetti]

What an impressive gaming and development history. She has so many interesting stories, such a great interview!

[@MichaelM28]

He not she

[@Spinningininfinity]

What a wonderful woman 🥰

[@MichaelM28]

He's not a woman though

[@woaioppai4022]

Thank you for all the Star Trek games, most of all Starfleet Academy. Too bad that Secret of Vulcan Fury never made it. Fallout 2, Baldurs Gate 2 & FreeSpace 2 are some of the best games ever made.

[@YoreHistory]

I would LOVE to get Becky's version of a Bard's Tale IV but with her at the lead...hell call it Dragon Armies...I just want THAT game. Hopefully her company makes a meaty RPG at some point.

[@stuartbeer9299]

Great Interview, its good to know politics gets in the way of great things in different walks of life. Shame about MAC half life

[@BeatemupMaster]

Like this all and it's very Inspiring for me

[@jamesburke2759]

I like her mind. i'd love to know what she could do with the right resources.

[@QOTSAPT]

he

[@paulboardman01]

what stories, love it

[@Murrlin27]

HAMBURGER!

[@resrussia]

Whitter CA is home to Whitter College and is al mater of US President Richard M. Nixon.

[@tjtarget2690]

Notification Squad! :D

[@MrJakeTucker]

The Burger Queen.

[@MichaelM28]

You have to be female to be a queen though