about THE HAMMOND MEMOIR
"Thank you so much for this! I really have had no access to this audio for a number of years, outside the game. I had the script, but no good archive of Richard Attenborough's masterful performance - it's so terrific to have it back again. And to know at least one person out there really followed it and enjoyed it.
Of the writing I've done in games, it's definitely the thing I'm most proud of, and it's been a touchstone for many years - something I'd go back to remind myself of, the kind of thing I wanted to accomplish in games, or anywhere, as a writer.
Thanks again for rescuing this Lost World."
- Austin Grossman, Writer of Trespasser, June, 2007
Trespasser- The Lost World: Jurassic Park; a sadly failed and forgotten game from 1998. Instead of delivering on a fully-realized world of dinosaurs in a 3D environment, it instead produced endless headaches for most of its gamers as they attempted to trek through the various bugs and glitches; much more terrifying than any dinosaur. However, the story that was told through Richard Attenborough's performance of John Hammond was masterful and quite unforgettable. Unfortunately, it was a performance that would have been lost entirely if it weren't for efforts to excavate all the audio files from its depths.
I didn't want fans of Attenborough or Jurassic Park to miss out on what I believed to be a deeply thoughtful and melancholy look into the mind of the park's creator: a story not told with this level of personal marred recollection in the novels by Michael Crichton or the films by Steven Spielberg. In the past, I only had what was recorded for the game in its files. It was in a jumbled mess that I had to put in a storytelling order, fitting it as correctly as I could, like pieces of a complex puzzle. Setting it to Bill Brown's incredible score from the game was like having Attenborough's words put to a lovely beat and rhythm to be enjoyed. The end result was Jurassic Time: The Memoir Of John Parker Hammond (a name derived from the game's strategy guide). The audio program was finally a way to experience the story apart from the game, in the most complete way possible. Through various editions, I eventually added some sound effects, additional tracks, and other enhancements into the mix.
After some attempts to get the story across, things became pleasantly complicated when I received a wonderful gift from the game's writer, Austin Grossman. It was a complete scan of the actual script read by Attenborough for the recordings! However, on those pages were about 80 sets of additional dialogue that were apparently never recorded. The additional dialogue had wonderful and engaging information that really gave a bigger scope to the story that was told.
It was then that I knew I had to "excavate" a proper book compilation of the entire story. Just like the audio files, the script was all out of order; categorized by sections of dramatic tone for Attenborough to read instead of within context of storytelling. After putting it all in the best order possible, I made the entire book look like something John Hammond himself had put together. It comes complete with fantastic illustrations. This style was later adapted into an engaging video program.
I eventually had the tools to bring this additional dialogue to life with a synthetic recreation of Richard Attenborough's voice using audio from Trespasser. The audio and video presentations had the new dialogue bookended with Anne, performed by Minnie Driver: a woman stranded on Isla Sorna after an unfortunate vacation accident. She comes across "Hammond's Lost Diary", which features the rest of Hammond's intended story with these recreated files. It was the final step in having the entire story performed.
The Hammond Memoir has been through many variations over the years, but the "Definitive Edition" was finally created. I still cannot believe it has been over a decade since I decided to bring Hammond's buried story to the surface for everyone to enjoy. This final incarnation will hopefully stand the test of time like the very story it tells.
Jurassic Time: The Memoir of John Parker Hammond is something I have been very proud of preserving, and will always hold dear. I hope you will, too.
- Derrick Davis, Creator of Jurassic Time, 2021