So, one day, I was on mIRC, after recently getting polyworks to work for the first time. I had some questions and I wanted them answered. How fortunate for me, then, when I saw [PW]Anna on the right side of my screen. So, we had a nice interesting little chat, I proceeded to join her dedicated polyworks channel, and we continued talking. Near the end of our converstaion, I realized that what we said could easily be made into an official looking interview of sorts. And, since Anna was a rather well known and well respected memeber of the community, what better person than to do my first article on. So here is the interview with Anna, sister of Michal, Creater of Soldat Polyworks:
ANNA: he (MM) hasn't updated the map maker in a long time though, hasn't he
ME: yeah, not since 1.2
it's missing things
ANNA: i noticed XD
ME: so, was that what inspired you to make Polyworks?
the shortcomings of the original?
ANNA: yeah
actually michal asked me
my brother i mean
ME: so, you aren't really into soldat?
ANNA: he wanted to start mapping and he was really frustrated with the map maker
i actually started playing regularly around the same time :P
now i play almost every day
ME: it's nice to see female gamers
who aren't linked genetically to rhinos
ANNA: haha
ME: so, you programmed all this from scratch?
it must have been quite an undertaking
ANNA: yeah
it's taken me a while :P
ME: mmmhmm, but the response to it has been great
people are screaming and raving
ANNA: getting started was hard mainly because i had to figure out the map file format
ME: not .PMS?
(pms, lol)
ANNA: yeah
lol
there wasn't any real documentation on it
ME: so, you created a new map format that allowed for more information to be stored?
ANNA: no, it has to be the pms format
i used the map maker source and edit pro source to help me
ME: what is editpro, i heard you talk about it before?
ANNA: it's a map maker made by meitzi
it's pretty good, but it's for the old format
ME: he made Mapmaker +?
ANNA: .PMP
no, that's Mark.jp
editpro was also done in VB
from scratch
ME: what language did you use for PW?
ANNA: Visual Basic 6
ME: ahh, I have newfound repect for VB6 ^_^
ANNA: hehe
a lot of people don't like it
ME: but you showed those (Please refrain from swearing)es :P
ANNA: but in this case it's the right tool for the job, i think
lol
ME: so, how long has it been now, since the start of this project?
ANNA: i started in december XP
ME: 7 months
ANNA: yup
ME: that's like giving birth to a child
ANNA: i was still in school though
haha
ME: must have been tough juggling school and this little pet project
did you ever wanna just quit?
spend more time with friends or just study
ANNA: i didn't work on polyworks that much before
i started working a lot more after i released the first version
ME: so, this was always something you wanted to do?
ANNA: yeah, i like it
it's fun
i've never been able to stay motivated this long before
it helps a lot when there are people who are actually going to use the program :P
ME: yeah, to create something from scratch and to make a complete thing all on your own
and have people appreciate it
it's great feeling and a damn good motivator
ANNA: yeah, definitely :D
also, being recognized in game is fun too
ME: really, i imagined it more like this:
"hey a gurl!!"
"OMGZ"
ANNA: haha
ME: "wanna cyb3r, LOLROFL?"
ANNA: that happens too
ME: happens all the time
"OMG, it's papaurf, have sex with me, you mods so sexy!!!"
...I wish...
ANNA: lol
ME: you don't mind if I post this to the forums do you, it'd be great interview (it flows just like one)
ANNA: heh
if you want to, i don't mind :P
ME: cool
so, after this is finshed, do you have any future plans regarding soldat?
ANNA: i want to start mapping :P
ME: will you have time between all your courses and maybe a job later on?
ANNA: well i dropped out of uni XP
ME: GOOD FOR YOU!
ANNA: hah
ME: uni, pffft
ANNA: well i might go to college or something
or get a job
or try an online course
ME: Devry university
online courses in computer programming and information technologies
sounds like it's right up your alley
ANNA: yeah, i want to do something game dev related
i might just concentrate on building up my portfolio
get more programming experience
ME: will i be seeing your name on the next generation of games?
up there with Miyamoto and Kojima
ANNA: possibly :D
hehe
ME: it's always something to strive for
ANNA: yup
ME: that PW logo is gonna be famous someday
ANNA: that would make michal happy, he designed it :P
ME: of course
well, It's been great talking with you
ANNA: you too :)
ME: I'm gonna go sort through this and see if I can make a respectable article out of this with the interview
And that, as they say, is that.
ANNA: he (MM) hasn't updated the map maker in a long time though, hasn't he
ME: yeah, not since 1.2
it's missing things
ANNA: i noticed XD
ME: so, was that what inspired you to make Polyworks?
the shortcomings of the original?
ANNA: yeah
actually michal asked me
my brother i mean
ME: so, you aren't really into soldat?
ANNA: he wanted to start mapping and he was really frustrated with the map maker
i actually started playing regularly around the same time :P
now i play almost every day
ME: it's nice to see female gamers
who aren't linked genetically to rhinos
ANNA: haha
ME: so, you programmed all this from scratch?
it must have been quite an undertaking
ANNA: yeah
it's taken me a while :P
ME: mmmhmm, but the response to it has been great
people are screaming and raving
ANNA: getting started was hard mainly because i had to figure out the map file format
ME: not .PMS?
(pms, lol)
ANNA: yeah
lol
there wasn't any real documentation on it
ME: so, you created a new map format that allowed for more information to be stored?
ANNA: no, it has to be the pms format
i used the map maker source and edit pro source to help me
ME: what is editpro, i heard you talk about it before?
ANNA: it's a map maker made by meitzi
it's pretty good, but it's for the old format
ME: he made Mapmaker +?
ANNA: .PMP
no, that's Mark.jp
editpro was also done in VB
from scratch
ME: what language did you use for PW?
ANNA: Visual Basic 6
ME: ahh, I have newfound repect for VB6 ^_^
ANNA: hehe
a lot of people don't like it
ME: but you showed those (Please refrain from swearing)es :P
ANNA: but in this case it's the right tool for the job, i think
lol
ME: so, how long has it been now, since the start of this project?
ANNA: i started in december XP
ME: 7 months
ANNA: yup
ME: that's like giving birth to a child
ANNA: i was still in school though
haha
ME: must have been tough juggling school and this little pet project
did you ever wanna just quit?
spend more time with friends or just study
ANNA: i didn't work on polyworks that much before
i started working a lot more after i released the first version
ME: so, this was always something you wanted to do?
ANNA: yeah, i like it
it's fun
i've never been able to stay motivated this long before
it helps a lot when there are people who are actually going to use the program :P
ME: yeah, to create something from scratch and to make a complete thing all on your own
and have people appreciate it
it's great feeling and a damn good motivator
ANNA: yeah, definitely :D
also, being recognized in game is fun too
ME: really, i imagined it more like this:
"hey a gurl!!"
"OMGZ"
ANNA: haha
ME: "wanna cyb3r, LOLROFL?"
ANNA: that happens too
ME: happens all the time
"OMG, it's papaurf, have sex with me, you mods so sexy!!!"
...I wish...
ANNA: lol
ME: you don't mind if I post this to the forums do you, it'd be great interview (it flows just like one)
ANNA: heh
if you want to, i don't mind :P
ME: cool
so, after this is finshed, do you have any future plans regarding soldat?
ANNA: i want to start mapping :P
ME: will you have time between all your courses and maybe a job later on?
ANNA: well i dropped out of uni XP
ME: GOOD FOR YOU!
ANNA: hah
ME: uni, pffft
ANNA: well i might go to college or something
or get a job
or try an online course
ME: Devry university
online courses in computer programming and information technologies
sounds like it's right up your alley
ANNA: yeah, i want to do something game dev related
i might just concentrate on building up my portfolio
get more programming experience
ME: will i be seeing your name on the next generation of games?
up there with Miyamoto and Kojima
ANNA: possibly :D
hehe
ME: it's always something to strive for
ANNA: yup
ME: that PW logo is gonna be famous someday
ANNA: that would make michal happy, he designed it :P
ME: of course
well, It's been great talking with you
ANNA: you too :)
ME: I'm gonna go sort through this and see if I can make a respectable article out of this with the interview
And that, as they say, is that.
