Path: chuka.playstation.co.uk!scea!peter_alau@playstation.sony.com From: "Jeff Lawton" Newsgroups: scea.yaroze.freetalk Subject: Re: How did you get started??? Date: Wed, 13 May 1998 11:01:07 -0400 Organization: SCEA News Server Lines: 72 Message-ID: <6jcc68$2v213@scea> References: <354a636a.1323252@news.scea.sony.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: pc42.aug-ga.ddinet.com X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 4.72.2106.4 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.2106.4 Michael Klucher wrote in message <354a636a.1323252@news.scea.sony.com>... >Well I thought I might try to drum up alittle ativity in the group >asnd ask a cool question. How did you get started in the yaroze >program? Man what a question... This could take quite awhile to explain.. I'll try to be brief... (Ya right) It all started when I was a wee young one.. Probably 6 or 7... My mother loved hand held games. You know like Electronic Quarterback... I Don't remeber if it was out before pong (I was rather young). I remember my parents buying Pong when it came out. Talk about about a simple game.. Whoa... :) Any how it entertained my family for hours (pong that is).. I think at that point I was hooked on gaming... Although it was quite a while later, after a Telestar, Atari 2600, Intellivision, Coleco Vision, and then I remeber seeing the Vic 20, TI-99, and the Timex Sinclair in the stores and wishing I could have one. I would always run over to the computer section of Eaton's, The Bay, Sears where ever we happened to be.. I think I was about 10 then. I started saving up for my first computer. I would shovel driveways mow lawns, I had my paper route (christmas tips were always nice). It took quite awhile for me to get enough money. But my mother would always keep me busy with the lastest games.. Some of my fondest memories of my mother was playing games with her. Sadly she passed aways from cancer when I was 13. It was just after my 13th birthday that I was able to buy my first computer. It was an Atari 800.. Cost me a small fortune.. My father being the kind soul he was, and knowing that it took me forever to save the 600$ to buy the computer bought me a disk drive. Single sided floppy drive.. It was an Indus GT the latest and the greatest. Also carried a hefty price of $700. Still to this day I need to have the latest and the greatest.. I think my wife kinda hates it, but what can you do.. I told her to blame my father for leaving me with that character flaw. Currently my main PC (I have 3) is a P2 400Mhz, Dimond Fire GL AGP, Monster 2 Vodoo 2, 128MB 100Mhz RAM, 10GB Storage, ISDN. It's kinda slow though.. :) j/k My slowest PC runs at the cruddy speed of 200Mhz.. My friends always tease me about how I'm addicted to my computers like a drug. I went to Austria / Germany for 2 weeks and all I could think about was getting home and back to coding on my computer.. It may very well be a sickness.... :) Although it is one I am rather happy living with, and one my wife has learned to live with.. She figures it could be worse, I could be out with the guys all the time partying.. Atleast this way she knows where I am.. Down the hall second door on the left.. :) Maybe I could turn my sickness into some sort of 12 step program.. How to be a better code.. in 6 steps. Hmm Guess I just cut out half of the 12.. I'm sure you could use some sort of loop in there... :) From teh Atari I got into Basic, Action (Pascal like), then MAC65 6502 ASM. I ended up getting a C64, Atari ST, Amiga, PC.. That brings you upto current day computer.. I have since learned to code in a few languages.. Went to school got my BSc, and today code for a living. I have worked with on-line games, multi threaded systems, and now code on Win95 / NT. I would love to go back to my gaming roots, although I fear that I make too much money doing what I'm doing, so for now it is a hobby. I would like to start up a video game company in the future, and I am using the Yaroze as that stepping stone. Hopefully I can forge friendships that can eventually become coding / working relationships. Who knows what the future holds.. Oh currently I'm the ripe old age of imortals 29. This is the year I become the mortal age of 30. :) Maybe you all know a little too much about me, if of course you read this far.. :) Regards, Jeff / Nemesis http://yaroze-world.org