Tim
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Something completely different, but if you're just as old as I am (not likely ), you'll also remember games like Chip's Challenge.

In this month's Retro Gamer (which is otherwise a pretty good magazine talking about old games), there's an interview with this Chuck Sommerville guy.

Not very DROD oriented, but who cares.

(No one is going to post here anyway so I might just hijack this board. )

<- Article see attachment.

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larrymurk
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Nice little interview.

So, how much did Mike pay him for the DROD plugs?

west.logan
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Very interesting!

I do have fond memories of Chip's Challenge, by the way!
The article mentions Steve Wozniak being at a party thrown by John Romero. I recently read Wozniak's autobiography and I was blown by the concept of originally designing games (like the computer-opponent version of Pong that Wozniak developed) completely in hardware. I've done little logic design myself but know just enough to conceive of how hard that would be before things like FPGAs. Wozniak said he was immediately impressed by doing games in software and thought of all the incredible potential it had.

Also, I thought Chuck's observation about programmers becoming code monkeys instead of designers was well made. It's a shame but that's how big business works.

One last thing. If Chuck is a DROD fan, does he ever come to the forums?

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Tim
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west.logan wrote:
If Chuck is a DROD fan, does he ever come to the forums?

I don't know. But if he has visited then he didn't use his real name. Because if he did, I'd probably had asked him to make an hold

Also, I thought Chuck's observation about programmers becoming code monkeys instead of designers was well made. It's a shame but that's how big business works.

That being said, imagine that big business can be small, lean, original, creative, innovative or being able to make great quality products. What would that leave to real indie companies like Caravel?


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mrimer
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Wow, what an awesome article to share. Thank you, Tim. Being given public respect and admiration from an industry giant like Chuck, who was designing the beautiful games I grew up with, is a humbling and inspiring moment for me.

Thank you, Chuck, for the kind words for DROD!

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Rat Man
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Awesome! First Larry Murk, now Chuck Summerville!

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Banjooie
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That being said, imagine that big business can be small

...????

Tim
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Banjooie wrote:

That being said, imagine that big business can be small

...????

It's supposed to be a _list_ of impossible things. "Small" is just there to make sure you understand that they are all impossible.

You're not imagining things, are you?

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Banjooie
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Well, the rest of them are pretty reasonable, though?

Tim
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I've been thinking about this the last couple of days.

You weren't serious about that question were you?

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Banjooie
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Are you really honestly insisting that big business cannot make a creative or innovative product? Please tell me you're just being hipster at me.

Tim
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Banjooie wrote:
Are you really honestly insisting that big business cannot make a creative or innovative product? Please tell me you're just being hipster at me.

Well, I'm a lot older than you anyway.

But I find it hard to name any item that's made by big companies that is innovative or creative, because it's, by definition, risky.

Have a mod point, and we can discuss those things in a new thread somewhere in Anything.

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Snacko
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Mirror's Edge?
Catherine?
Vagrant Story?
Gitaroo Man?
Valkyria Chronicles?
Demon's Souls?
Persona 3?
Sakura Wars?
Warioware Inc.?
Anything Sega in-house developer Smilebit ever made?
Crush?
Echochrome?
Shadow of the Colossus?

Unless you only count examples that support your thesis, in which case I totally agree.

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mrimer
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Photoshop?

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Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
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And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

Syntax
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Would be interesting to see if Chips Challenge levels could be ported to DROD. A good architect could probably emulate most of the items with clever use of orbs and doors.

Either way, Chuck Sommerville is in my top 10 game developers so thanks for the article link and glad he enjoys DROD

jdyer
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Has anyone played the Chuck's Challenge mentioned in the interview?

averagemoe
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west.logan wrote: One last thing. If Chuck is a DROD fan, does he ever come to the forums?

I am proud to bring you an inside scoop on Chuck Sommerville's latest activity.

He doesnt actually have an account on the forum, mabie he doesn't see much use for it. (just like I did before I joined)

Although he continues to design video games, he has been quite busy with an LED lighting company he works for. You probably saw his work without realizing it. He has done several projects for Disney and was on one of the teams working on the times square ball that was dropped during the 2007/2008 new years eve party in new york.

How do I know all this, well it may go against my username but...


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Znirk
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averagemoe wrote:
Why would I lie to you on the forum?

In this specific case? To grab some second-hand popularity for yourself by associating yourself with somebody who is a) well-liked and b) not active here, therefore not about to contradict you.

Note I'm not claiming that you are lying; just answering your question about what a possible reason might be.

averagemoe
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If I wanted popularity I would have claimed that I am Chuck Sommerville.

By the way... Sorry, you cant have it, copyright and all that.

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TripleM
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averagemoe wrote:
If I wanted popularity I would have claimed that I am Chuck Sommerville.

By the way...

I have a copy of chips challenge 2 around here somewhere. It may not have been published, but it was finished, and man is it large. Did you know that you could play as either Chip or his girlfriend Melinda?

Of course we all know that, that's really old news..

Banjooie
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Oh, certainly you can't share it with us, I'd hate to promote piracy.

However, you could totally use Livestream Procaster and show us all a video of it, maybe talk over it if you like. That falls firmly under the realm of Review, and thus wouldn't be illegal. I'm sure ol' Chuck wouldn't mind at all!

nick142
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I would like to see a video if you are who you claim to be.

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[Last edited by nick142 at 01-05-2013 06:18 AM]