I noticed several tweets over the weekend which linked to the various articles and podcasts posted here, on the MIT GAMBIT Game Lab website. The podcasts are interviews with various key people from Looking Glass Studios, the game development studio responsible for Ultima Underworld and Ultima Underworld 2 (among many other fine titles).

GAMBIT describes the podcast series thusly:

The Looking Glass Studios Podcast is a special audio series which features discussions with makers of some of the most influential video games of the last 20 years.

…

In this podcast series we hear from them, in their own words, how many of these titles were created, and what lessons they can still teach game designers today.

The podcast series currently has nine episodes:

1. Austin Grossman, with Andrew Grant and Sara Verrilli (podcast | transcript)
2. Dan Schmidt (podcast | transcript)
3. Tim Stellmach and Laura Baldwin, with Sara Verrilli (podcast)
4. Randy Smith (podcast)
5. Ken Levine (podcast)
6. Greg LoPiccolo (podcast)
7. Eric Brosius (podcast)
8. Marc “Mahk” LeBlanc (podcast)
9. Terri Brosius and Dan Thron (podcast)

The most recent entry in the series was posted just last week, so I’m assuming that the ninth episode won’t be the last. Be that as it may: if you want some good inside skinny on what went into the design of games like System Shock, Thief, and Ultima Underworld, don’t miss these podcasts! Download them, have a listen, find out where the person or people who brought you these classic games have ended up, and learn how their time at Looking Glass influences what they’re doing now.