By Captain Starkiller for BlackOps Station, 2002-04-02

A note about grammar.
I like to make sure it is fairly readable, but welcome to the World Wide Web where we make words up as we go along ;) I tend to try and stay as close to 'reality' as these interview/chats are when they happen, and for the most part you are reading this verbatim.

Some parts have been removed to protect the innocent. ;)

(interview conducted over MSN)

 
Captain Starkiller, aka Atticbat says:
hello

Kosh2000, aka JS says:
hi

Atticbat says:
Mr. Kosh2000 I presume?

JS says:
yes

Atticbat says:
You busy?
Now a good time?

JS says:
yes

Atticbat says:
was trying to edit the models in Serious Sam 2, thinking about making a Black Ops mod for it... Seriously Star Trek... lol
not getting very far... ;)

Atticbat says:
So...
Where ya from?

JS says:
I am from NY

Atticbat says:
New York... wow. Hope things are ok with you and yours

JS says:
yes I am from upstate

JS says:
near Syracuse

Atticbat says:
You listen to Howard?

JS says:
yup

Atticbat says:
How old r u?
;)

JS says:
29

Atticbat says:
I listen too, when I can...
kewl... 36 here, but I am not as old as Anduril! (hahaha...oh, what are the chances of his reading this?)
Portland, Oregon.

JS says:
cool

Atticbat says:
So, shall I call you Kosh, or Mr. 2000?

JS says:
JS

Atticbat says:
JS it is.
And... just start off by saying you are going through some incredible stuff over there in NY. How do you say America in two letters?
NY

JS says:
its getting better

Atticbat says:
Don't want you to think we aren't involved, just not as seriously THERE as you and your families are.
We had the volcano eruption, Mount St. Helens ;)
No comparison I know.

Atticbat says:
How do you feel about Bridge Commander (<-- changing the subject)

JS says:
i look at this way it happened to all of us
have the demo
looks alright but missing that feeling you get from SFC games

Atticbat says:
Yeah... the difference between Fleet Commander and Bridge Commander, I get that.
Have the full game... but it feels like the game's designers are really banking on the community liking it, and helping to expand it... just my opinion.
Pretty and moddable but needs a joystick ;)

JS says:
though i do like the 3d ship environment

Atticbat says:
Yeah. You play Homeworld, or KA?

JS says:
home world

JS says:
yes i have

JS says:
and Freespace

Atticbat says:
yeah, that game was sweet
like the 4th of July
hehe

Atticbat says:
What is your 'profession' in the SFC community?
How would you describe yourself?

JS says:
first i was a player but now i would have to say server sysop
its what i do the most now

Atticbat says:
For which server?

JS says:
the triangle for op

Atticbat says:
Very nice. Can you expand upon 'sysop'?
what do you do as Sysop?

JS says:
as a sysop there's a lot of things
first off
putting a story together to be the main focus of the game

Atticbat says:
The Triangle?
What is that?

JS says:
An area on the frontier space, rich in resources and dangers, where the galactic powers that be have staked a claim and pirate cartels run free. All empires want control and none want to be left in the cold of space. Alliances change like the wind, those who are your friends today may be shooting at you tomorrow. A place where treaties are made at the end of a phaser,

Atticbat says:
Nice!

JS says:
that's a basic over view of what it is but there a lot more to it

Atticbat says:
I found a link, forum d2 thread...
a few of em ;)
-->from the forum thread, "With the story line set we now have the alliances set. Hold on to your hats, the Alliance will consist of The Federation, The Romulan, The Mirak, and The Gorn Empires. The Coalition will consist of The Klingons, The ISC, The Lyrans, and The Hydrans. These will be the alliances through the first war on The Triangle. "
is this the stuff ;)

JS says:
yes
also it a never ending story

Atticbat says:
how long has it been going?

JS says:
we are in the second campaign now. There will be 3 more campaigns to the story line then we will start a new story another chapter. I look at the triangle as a big book with many stories and chapters to it
that have yet to be told

Atticbat says:
are they being documented?

JS says:
yes

Atticbat says:
got a link?

JS says:
yup
http://www.thetriangle.prohosting.com/and http://www.thetriangle.prohosting.com/storyline.html

Atticbat says:
thanks man
FYI, with my modem restriction, actually, crud for phone lines, I feel guilty logging on to the D2. Feel responsible for causing many games to crash
do you have a lot of technical horror stories?

JS says:
o yes

Atticbat says:
heheh

JS says:
we are still learning

Atticbat says:
SIMOpsys
how many are there?
do you manage all this on your own?

JS says:
yes and no
the story line is written by
olbuzard of the 9th fleet, nanner's dad

Atticbat says:
nannerslug's pappy. eh?
kewl
keeping it in the family

JS says:
BC Hastings does the pr

JS says:
and i run the server and the forum and maintain and upgrade the website

Atticbat says:
Nice FrontPage to the website, you make that?

JS says:
nanner slug did the graphics and template

Atticbat says:
What do you use to edit?

JS says:
i added the back ground and a few other things

Atticbat says:
How current is the map?

JS says:
front page 2000

Atticbat says:
wow...
Me too! (y)
Well, Front Page xp actually...
same thing

JS says:
the map is from when the campaign started

Atticbat says:
heheh
Wow. Fricking huge!
Same races then?

JS says:
yes

Atticbat says:
Pirates too ?

JS says:
just the syndicate

Atticbat says:
ahh
so, only one map level in the d2 then?

JS says:
ya thats the thing op has a dv bug

Atticbat says:
ah crap
so, the additional value of the six pirate races is lost?
At least it must be easier to script then!

JS says:
so to fixit the best way we can is to overlay the Orion cartel and make them allies
with everyone

Atticbat says:
kewl
slick

JS says:
then put the syndicate in and have the enemies with empires but allied to the Orion cartel

Atticbat says:
everyone has X-Tech?

JS says:
the syndicate dose first like in the story line
all empires get x tech at 2300

Atticbat says:
nice

JS says:
and they cost

Atticbat says:
The BCV is bigger than the FCV+, isnt it... thought the BCV was a dreadnought of carriers
hehe, reading a thread, posting actually

JS says:
well that lead to fixing the x ships all xca hulls are now dn hulls so say a fed xca will cost 78.000

Atticbat says:
Oh?
Wow
how is that working out for everyone?

JS says:
also the dd hulls are now heavy battle cruisers
good

Atticbat says:
excellent
Do you play?

JS says:
not as much as i would like to

Atticbat says:
yeah
hear that

JS says:
between work
and the server
and the wife

Atticbat says:
Can I ask what you really do for a living?

JS says:
sure
machinist

Atticbat says:
sweet
like lathe work?

JS says:
yes but more into millwright work now

Atticbat says:
nice
all pc operated?

JS says:
well mill wright work is more like setup machines welding rigging work

Atticbat says:
ooh, welding... pretty sparks and stuff ;)

JS says:
yup :D
rebuilding machines

Atticbat says:
Nice.
How long ya been married?

JS says:
3 years

Atticbat says:
sweet
How do you feel about SFC3?
heheh

JS says:
glad u asked that one
the triangle will be there

Atticbat says:
oh?

JS says:
i would like to get more involved with that game like become a beta tester or have my server used for beta testing the d3 i will still have op server but i am looking forward to the sfc3

Atticbat says:
have you heard about the scripting/d3 management tools they are going to make available?

Atticbat says:
will you convert over to d3?

JS says:
for EAW?

Atticbat says:
this new Dynaverse, if/when it shows up, I would assume there is going to be sfc3 Gamespy servers, will you continue to maintain an EAW/OP server or kick over to the d3?

JS says:
both
op and d3

Atticbat says:
I understand it to be from the ground up different?
Who owns the machines? The pcs?
heheh

JS says:
me

Atticbat says:
curious now ;)
YOU do?
sweeeeeet

JS says:
let me tell you the specs

Atticbat says:
go for it

JS says:
ok my game computer that i am talking to you on now is a p3 866with 384 sdram 40 gig hard drive windows me on cable the server that i run the game on is on a separate computer its 1.4 gig athlon xp 1600 1 gig of ddr ram 40 gig hard drive windows 2000 and on cable seprate ip the new server i am builing is tyan tiger twin athlon 1600 mp with 2gig of ddr ram

Atticbat says:
on the p3/866, what video/sound?
dual athlons... daaaaaaaaamn
very nice

JS says:
ati and sound blaster 5.1

Atticbat says:
kewl
how are those athlons, stable?
You LOVE them, dont you?

JS says:
very but there are to boards that tyan makes for the dual
and one has a big problem
with voltage between the cpu's
it can hard lock the computer at least i bought the right one

Atticbat says:
very kewl

JS says:
so what do you think of sfc3

Atticbat says:
I think it is going to be kewl
Not liking the way Taldren is speaking to the community
too much division
The game looks sweet

JS says:
that happened when sfc2 came out

Atticbat says:
I like the idea of going TNG, but I hope it retains the fleet controls and the d3.
Yeah, was there ;)
Am really looking forward to KhoroMag's progress with the EAW/OP combination

JS says:
i think the game will be good for the community in the end after all is said and done

Atticbat says:
Still very happy with OP
but a more moddable Star Trek game would be sweet
I hope so

JS says:
i wonder how that will work with joining the two games

Atticbat says:
dunno
heheh
have a hard enough time just keeping web pages up myself
;)
BC just isn't it for me. Depends on their scripting abilities... but it is more of a mp game right now. The single player is very linear, with no feeling of the universe I like the Galactic feel of SFC and the fleets but, then, I used to roll the dice, know what I mean?

JS says:
is any one working on scripts for op d2

Atticbat says:
I believe Centauri Vaughn

JS says:
the met_ scripts

Atticbat says:
he has scripts that are OP D2
I believe
API stuff

JS says:
that's what we need is to take and use all the mission from both games and make them into dynaversa missions like us them as a template to start with

Atticbat says:
would be tres sweet
do you guys use a custom shiplist at all?

JS says:
yes but no downloads required
the pirates have ship from all the empires
because there pirates and pirates steel

Atticbat says:
heheh
true

JS says:
like right now

Atticbat says:
as it should be, matey ;)

JS says:
i play on my server as a pirate i have xddg

Atticbat says:
You have any websites you would like to recommend?
you use a custom model for your ship? You have a story behind that?
the xddg?

JS says:
sfu ,chris jones mods,taldren,sfc2.net

Atticbat says:
heheh
kewl
you ever try the Chris Jones mods?

JS says:
a bunch
yes
i hosted the tng server for a while

Atticbat says:
nice
Ok, is there anything else you would like to chat about? I am pretty happy with what we have so far!

JS says:
i would just like to say as a community we are stronger together then apart or divded we all have diffrent opions and ideals but we all have one common thing we all love star trek and we all have one person to thank and take are hats off to and that is Gene Roddenberry

Atticbat says:
Ab-so-lutely!
thank you man

JS says:
thank s for the time

Atticbat says:
you are welcome to chat at me anytime

Atticbat says:
hope to have broadband, keep an eye out for a pirate named 'Kid Spock'!

JS says:
lol
Off the record... none of us will actually admit to the following.
For the most part.
Maybe ;)

=======after the interview===blackops cut ;)=======

Atticbat says:
you want a custom model for your ship?

JS says:
hell ya

Atticbat says:
which model?
and what do you have in mind for textures.
Have you seen MindBlip's crymson pirate?
Schwiiiing
I have a pic if you want it

JS says:
could you make a custom ship fro olbuzzard

Atticbat says:
very possible. What is he?
race, etc...

JS says:
he is in the 9th fleet

Atticbat says:
Fed?
heheh

JS says:
and helps me out on the triangle as a admin
yes

Atticbat says:
what hull does he favor?
and she must have a name ;)

JS says:
i would rather see him get a custom ship he has one drawn and planned out

Atticbat says:
with registry of possible
really?
hmm
got pics?

JS says:
i can give u his call sing for msn
he would go nuts for this
its the best thing i could give him

Atticbat says:
 

Atticbat says:
that's the pirate
is he on now?

JS says:
yes let me get him

Atticbat says:
k

and that gave birth to the following threads in the Taldren Modeling and D2 Forums.

=/\= FCLCX USS Nazgul Glass- Need LOD's removed PLEASE =)

and

Attn: Kosh2000 and olbuzzard

;)

Thanks to 3dot14 for the introduction to JS and olbuzzard.  I highly recommend visiting both The Triangle and The 9th Fleet, very cool contributions to the community!