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(Fred's Reponses to our messages will be in gray, our questions are in white)
--Email 1, Questions and some answers--
Hi Nick,
I apologize for my slow response, but E3 is looming on the horizon and we
are working like mad dogs.
> Do you think that it is neccesary that I call you for the
> project, or do you
> think that I should just email you again? On the day of the
> project, It might
> be easier if I try to find an alternative to using the slow
> email, so maybe
> talking to you over the phone would be easier.
Normally talking on the phone would be fine, but it would probably be easier
on me if I could answer your e-mail in the cracks between busy spells.
> Are you any good at melee?
I honestly haven't played in a very long time. The rust is thick.
> We should get a thing to play Super Melee online, or wait! You
> have sc3 right? We
> could do a modem game in that! That would be so awsome, I
> could say that I
> fought and was horribly defeated by Fred Ford himself!
> So, I don't exactly
> know what I'm supposed to find out for the final thing, but I'm
> sure what you
> sent me before will certainly be just about enough. I hope
> you don't take this the wrong way, but at some guy named Mark's
> site, I saw a
> picture of you, Paul and three other guys, you look just like the generic
> computer nerd, or maybe Ernest with Leprosy.
You do have a winning way about you.
> You had explained to me in our past conversations that you had
> created planets and systems randomly except for things that you
> wanted to be
> one certain way. I've noticed that some planets have a grey,
> blue, green or
> brown line for their orbit around the sun, And most of the
> planets that are
> not the normal blue color are, not always special, but interesting in some
> way, are these the planets that you created manually?
No those are all random. The colored lines indicate their approximate
temperature range without your having to visit them (green lines, therefore,
mean there's a reasonable chance for life). Earth was the only planet whose
topography was not generated. All others were generated randomly; however,
some of the planets' locations and their types were placed manually (e.g.
the rainbow worlds).
> Also, are there any Stars that cannot be seen unless you zoom in?
I don't think so, but I never visited every system to verify this.
> I have another question, what
> sort of mystical little Ultron did you use to randomize the planets in
> systems, and do you still have the thing?
I might still have it. Ask again after the middle of May when E3 is over.
> That brings up another question,
> when editing and making Star Control, did you go to some creepy office at
> accolade to work? Or did you stay at home or at your own personal office
> somewhere?
We have maintained an office in northern California since Paul and I started
working together.
> Just wondering. Why did you choose to take out the
> androsynth? Why not the Mycon or something useless like them.
We had plans for the Androsynth in our SC3.
> I once made a Star Control
> Mousepad, and now
> I am making a shirt, what do you think I should put on it?
Dogar and Kazon.
> I just sent you another message, but this is something enitrely
> different, I
> was wondering if you had any of the mods from Star Control
> sitting around on
> your computer or on discs or anything, I got all of them already,
> except the
> Flagship's Victory Ditty, And it's awsome, do you have it? And if you do,
> could you send it to me?
I don't have it anymore.
> The other day
> I had an interesting idea, and a cool one as well, Being in the gaming
> business I am sure that you have heard of the company called
> Blizzard, They
> make a lot of Real Time Strategy games and and a few RPG games. Well, I
> recently got back into one of their games called Starcraft,
> although I am not
> nearly into it as much as Star Control, It is interesting how
> they both have
> the initials, SC. But anyway, I had a little spark of inspiration for an
> amazing game. Seeing how Legends and Accolade have both crushed
> Star Control,
> and forgotten it as well, I thought that a Real Time Strategy
> game with Star
> Control Stuff would be really awsome. I still don't know if you have ever
> played or seen Starcraft, and so these references might not
make
> a whole lot
> of sense, but I was thinking of how well it would work, Your
> Command Centers
> (Or main facilities) would be Starbases, and there you would
> build ships and
> deposit minerals from your mines that you could build on various asteroids
> floating around, also on the asteroids you could build colonies where you
> would recruit pilots and crew,(like Barracks from Starcraft) and then you
> could also build fortifications to attack the enemy with, (Guard towers or
> Photon cannons as they would be called in Starcraft) and then you
> could also
> build facilities to learn special abilities or how to build new
> ships, such as
> a small base to learn how to build Earthling cruisers, and
> upgrades such as:
> Point Defense Lasers or speed enhancements. There could be three different
> groups to choose from, Hierarchy, Alliance and Nuetral, it could
> take place in
> SC1 and the Alliance would have a secret weapon, The Precursor
> Service Vessel,
> and so would the Hierarchy, The Sa-Matra. I hope this all makes
> sense, now I
> will rattle off my little list of abilities for different ships; The Mycon
> could have an ability to infest asteroids with deep children, who would
> destroy all the facilities the enemy had built there, and make it
> impossible
> to build there, the syreen could have mind control, the Kzer-Za
> could build
> fighters and launch them (Like Carriers in Starcraft) and the
> Slylandro could
> destroy entire asteroids with their lightning, perhaps there
> could even be a
> way to converse with each other. I have a lot more ideas for such
> a game, but
> at this point it is futile to try, until we get our sacred Star Control
> back...
These are all good ideas. Maybe you should become a game designer.
> Fred! I don't
> have a Starmap anymore, I need one so badly, but I don't know
> anyone who is
> willing to give their's up, every time I play, I need to guess,
> which isn't
> that hard because I've memorized every planet in every star
> system and have
> list of every planet with exotic minerals and radioactive, but
> still! I want one!
> Here is
> my final offer Fred, $100.00 Dollars for any Starmap you might
> have, or any
> Starmap you could get by breaking into accolade's store room.
I think I might have an angle on some unused 3DO starmaps which are
functionally the same as the PC version. Let me know if you're interested
and I'll see what I can do.
-- Email 2, Final questions for the report--
Hi Nick,
I'm kind of busy and I answered your questions very briefly. If you want
specific amplifications, let me know.
> What type of training is required, how many years or experience?
Wide breadth of math knowledge. Knowledge of programming languages. I have
25 years of experience.
> What kind of grades do you need?
Grades usually help you get your foot in the door, but more important after
that is your drive and determination. I got good grades.
> What courses did you feel were important while you were training for this
job?
Math. Any course that teaches good problem solving techniques.
> Would you have changed anything in your high school/college years
> to have been better prepared for the working world?
No.
> What kind of other occupational experiences did you have before this
> position?
Just odd jobs in high school and college.
> Did anyone have an influence on you in choosing this line of work?
Not direct influence, perhaps, but just about my whole family (I have eight
brothers and sisters) has jobs related to computers in some way.
> What types of traits or characteristics does a person need to be
> well suited
> for this job?
Laser beam focus. Tenacity. "Thinking outside the box" whatever the hell
that means. Good at solving problems.
> How long are you working hours each week?
50-70 hours depending on the deadlines.
> Does this job make it difficult to maintain a personal life?
Sometimes.
> How much say do you have about what you do?
In terms of coding, total. In terms of design, some. In terms of marketing
and sales, virtually none.
> How much travel is required?
Very little.
> How stressful is your job?
Sometimes very.
> What do you like most about this job? What do you like the least?
Like: Taming the wild hardware. Creating a particularly clever or elegant
piece of code.
Dislike: Dealing with marketing ignoramuses.
> What is the average range of pay for this job? What are you paid?
Lead Programmer? $60-$200K. I make about $300K, but I'm more than just a
lead programmer. I'm also a general partner in Toys for Bob.
> What benifits does this job give you?
Flexibility in work hours (although I tend to work a lot anyway).
Satisfaction of seeing my games on the shelf.
> What is the future job market for this career field?
Entertainment always has a future.
-Fred
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