Warning: Decloaking lurker!

[gadgetmind]

Greetings.

I joined this forum shortly after a particularly vivid dream embedded a concept onto my brain that could only be extracted by writing a novel. My background in Computer Science, computer games writing, and semiconductors, has left me ill-prepared for such a task, so I'll mostly be found in the Aspiring Writers forum, usually asking stupid questions.

I live in Leeds, UK, have the usual spouse (wife in my case), children (one girl in my case) and collection of cats (currently 5) that people mention in this type of blurb for reasons that escape me.

Motivation:
I seek fame. I used to have a shred of it in the computer games days, as some of them proved quite popular, and are still talked of - in certain circles - to this day. You see, I was famous among spotty faced youths. which never really seemed to be worth the effort, but I guess it's better than nothing.

From what I hear of writing as a profession, it's fortunate that I don't crave anything more on the material plane than my day job (which I have no desire to give in!) already provides.

Thank you for listening, or at least skipping straight down to this last line.

Ian

[Jane Holland]

Hi Ian, and welcome. I went to Leeds once.

[Boneman]

Welcome Ian. I can see you've fitted in already, and are getting a lot from the chrons. It is amazing how much I learn from reading what others are asking about, and you've certainly helped me already! When you want a break, pop along to the playrooms - there's ooodles of mindless stuff that will amuse and refresh...

And is this an anniversay introduction? (hence the title to the thread?). That could start a trend...

[gadgetmind]

Originally Posted by Boneman

ooodles of mindless stuff that will amuse and refresh...

I'm not very good at mindless, unless I'm drunk, which commences at 6pm sharp on most weekdays, and significantly earlier at the weekend.

And is this an anniversay introduction? (hence the title to the thread?). That could start a trend...

Yes, I've found you can't rush this introduction malarkey, or writing for that matter.

Ian

[Vladd67]

Welcome, enjoy, and wave goodbye to spare time. As an aside which games did you write?

[The Judge]

Well, since we've been meeting all over AW lately, saying "hello" might seem a little tardy, though perhaps not as much as an introduction thread posted a year after joining...

Never mind, Hello Officially, and Welcome to the Chronicles One Year On.

And do I get the impression that the day off for writing is still being frittered away in other things?

[Jane Holland]

OMG. I only just noticed the join date on your profile. You're not this slow at getting the round in though, I hope?

[Vertigo]

Hello and welcome???? Errr actually you've been around for a lot longer than me How on earth did you manage that?

[gadgetmind]

Originally Posted by Vladd67

As an aside which games did you write?

Here is our wikipedia page, which I didn't write. The list at the bottom contains two games I don't remember writing, but things were a blur at times.

Realtime Games Software

Originally Posted by The Judge

And do I get the impression that the day off for writing is still being frittered away in other things?

Well, after I'd rebalanced my pension, and changed the tap washer, the roofer popped around to say he wasn't coming because of the rain. I pointed out the egregious logical flaw in his statement, which I don't think will help reduce the bill.

On the bright side, now all today's vital tasks have been addressed, I can dedicate tomorrow to writing.

Ian

[gadgetmind]

Originally Posted by Jane Holland

You're not this slow at getting the round in though, I hope?

Yorkshireman, what do you think?

Originally Posted by Vertigo

Errr actually you've been around for a lot longer than me How on earth did you manage that?

My first visit was a bit of a hit-and-run, then I engaged the cloaks. Over recent weeks, I have been more active, so finally decided to announced my intentions and make an honest forum of you.

Ian

[Vladd67]

Ahh I see you were partly responsible for a lot of my lost time in the 80s

[gadgetmind]

Originally Posted by Vladd67

Ahh I see you were partly responsible for a lot of my lost time in the 80s

Oops, sorry about that. Any game in particular?

Ian

[Vladd67]

3D Tank Duel was a favourite and Starglider

[Dozmonic]

Welcome o/

Enjoyed your piece in the critique section. My cousin and I also spent a lot of time playing carrier command in the past on the old Atari ST. Always thought that equipping your vehicles would lend itself well to other strategy type games and then lo and behold, out comes alpha centauri and proves me right :-)

[gadgetmind]

Originally Posted by Vladd67

3D Tank Duel was a favourite and Starglider

Wow, Tank Duel was our first! We wrote that in our final year at uni, and started our own company to publish it. We sold about 8k copies, and as this was self published, got about £3 a copy. Three students, early 80s, over £20k in the kitty ... do recall me mentioning things being a blur?

For our second game (3D Starstrike) we put up the price and sold 60k copies. More blur, year long variety.

Originally Posted by Dozmonic

Enjoyed your piece in the critique section. My cousin and I also spent a lot of time playing carrier command in the past on the old Atari ST. Always thought that equipping your vehicles would lend itself well to other strategy type games and then lo and behold, out comes alpha centauri and proves me right :-)

Which piece in critique, or all of them?

Carrier Command was definitely our best work, but it also nearly killed us. We were too ambitious and didn't have failure as an option due to advances as we'd stopped self-publishing.

Someone is doing a remake of Carrier game, and there is a book in (debatably) the same universe. There are also rumours of a movie!

Ian