Jim Walls <!-- Valid citation required for date of birth for BLP. (WP:BLPPRIVACY) --> is an American video game designer. He is notable for having designed the successful Police Quest series of adventure games for Sierra On-Line.
After working as a California Highway Patrol officer from 1971 to 1986, Walls met Sierra president Ken Williams, who wished to create an adventure game in the police procedural genre. Walls, though inexperienced with computers, offered his policing experience. During his career at Sierra, Walls designed the first three Police Quest entries and Codename: ICEMAN.
After leaving Sierra in the early 1990s, Walls joined several other game developers, including Tsunami Media in 1992 and Westwood Studios in 1996, before retiring in 2003. In 2013, Walls planned to develop Precinct, a spiritual successor to Police Quest, but the crowdfunding campaign failed.
Early life
Walls was born and raised in California. He worked as an optician for seven years before graduating from the California Highway Patrol police academy in December 1971. In January 1984, while conducting a traffic stop, Walls was involved in a shootout. Though he survived the incident, he began to experience post-traumatic stress symptoms, and in 1985, he was placed on administrative leave to evaluate his condition. Walls retired from the CHP in 1986 after 15 years of service.
Video game career
Sierra On-Line
While still on administrative leave in 1985, Walls' then-wife Donna, a hairdresser in Oakhurst, introduced him to Ken Williams, the co-founder and then-president of Sierra On-Line, who was a friend and frequent customer of Donna's salon. During a conversation, Williams discussed how he wanted to produce a police procedural adventure game, particularly one with a police officer assisting its development to ensure realism and authenticity. At the time, Sierra had produced numerous adventure games across a variety of genres—such as the King's Quest fantasy series, the Space Quest science fiction series, and the Leisure Suit Larry sex comedy series—but not many games following police or particularly modern settings. However, he soon overcame his concerns, and his computer skills developed with help from fellow Sierra designers Ken Williams, Roberta Williams, Mark Crowe, Scott Murphy, and Al Lowe. city of Lytton, California to his more familiar setting of Los Angeles.
Post-Sierra
In 1992, Walls joined Tsunami Media, which largely consisted of former Sierra employees and was also housed in Oakhurst. Walls' time with Tsunami Media was brief, and he only worked on one game for Tsunami, 1993's Blue Force, a spiritual successor to the original Police Quest trilogy. After leaving Tsunami Media, Walls contracted with two other companies—Tachyon Studios and Philips Interactive Media—for games that would ultimately never see release. On July 16, 2013, the new game proposal was finally announced as Precinct, a 3D adventure game serving as a modern spiritual successor to Police Quest. The game, following police officer Maxwell Jones in the city of Fraser Canyon, California, would be developed by Jim Walls Reloaded, led by Walls and Sierra developer Robert Lindsley. A fundraising campaign was held from July 16 to August 16 with a maximum goal of $500,000, but it was unsuccessful, and Walls prematurely canceled the campaign on August 6. An alternate fundraising campaign was held without the time restriction, but it was also unsuccessful and was shut down due to a lack of momentum. Ultimately, the fundraising campaign did not surpass $7,000.