The game went through three major versions before it was released. The second version was helmed by
Brian Moriarty (who took over from
Noah Falstein), and looked a lot like the finished product, but was primarily aimed at adults. Not only was it filled with heavy scientific lingo, philosophical content and creative puzzles, it was also made quite violent and gory, as requested by
Steven Spielberg. For example, one of the characters would turn into a bloody corpse after entering a cave with an acid rain, Robbins was to be ferociously attacked by bats, and there was to be an amputation scene featuring lots of blood, requiring a tourniquet. At one point, Spielberg himself suggested a scene where Boston had to electrocute a large aquatic eel in order to obtain the lens from its eye, since it could stun bats; as Boston cut out the lens, blood would splatter all over the screen. However, after receiving much criticism for some particularly violent and bloody scenes in his movie
Jurassic Park (1993), Spielberg asked the design team to tone down the mood of the game, so that it would still be appropriate for children. In the end, Moriarty's enthusiasm and ever expanding vision, fueled by Spielberg's involvement, became a bit too ambitious for the technical limitations of the time, so he left the project.
Dave Grossman temporarily took over to trim the game's scope while fixing and retaining as much as possible, but he left after several months as well.
Sean Clark eventually revived and finished the game.
