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Preface:
Yes, you read that correctly. I am interviewing myself. My goal is to conjure up some skills and make you forget that before the end of this interview. We'll laugh, we'll cry, we'll probably even parse something before this is all over so, kick back, grab a cup of whatever you like to drink and enjoy the show.
The Quaker that doesn't Quake
Michael: Today we are going to interview MadGypsy. At this point the majority of people here should be familiar with him so we are going to skip the introductory questions and get right down to business. MadGypsy...
MadGypsy: I'm not a pro wrestler, just call me Gypsy.
Michael: Fair enough... Gypsy, you have been on the quake scene for over 3 years but, in essence you are not really a quaker, at least not in the classic sense, expand on that.
MadGypsy: It's true. I do not play Quake or really have any interest in the game itself. It holds a nostalgic place in my heart from my childhood but, that is essentially where quake begins and ends for me as a game. I assume what you are trying to get me to explain is "why?". Why do I participate in a community which I have no interest in the core focus?
Michael: Yes that is exactly what I'm asking.
MadGypsy: Quake is not a game to me. Quake is a series of applications, engines and a language that can be disassembled and taught. Regardless of how many times I have tried to build some kind of game out of Quake possibilities, my focus has always been to isolate the deficiencies that either people do not want to touch or have not considered, and attempt to correct them. On top of that I have a high comprehension level and personally believe that I can learn things for people and transformn the knowledge into something that is easier to understand.
Michael: That's heavy, man. What made you decide to focus on Quake though? What you described could be applied to many different things, how did Quake become a part of the picture?
MadGypsy: I was dying, for real dying and waiting for an incredibly expensive surgery to save my life. I had all this extreme down time and the one thing I always wanted to do was learn how to build a 3D game. I got on google and started researching. I checked ALL of it out. You probably cannot name a 3d game creation possibility that I did not audit. I did not just audit the documents though, I audited the communities that revolve around these systems. I didn't just want to learn how to make games. I wanted to meet other people that had the same thirsts as myself and assimilate myself into their community.
After a very long run of being bored to death or disappointed I finally stumbled across quakeone.com and it really piqued my interest. The community appeared to be very active and it seemed like the community owned the possibilities as opposed to the developers. I really liked that and it didn't take me very long to determine that this is where I want to be and this is the system I want to learn.
Michael: What do you mean by "the community owned the possibilities and not the developers."?
MadGypsy: Well, this is sort of complicated to explain but, I'll give it a shot. In one sense I can use an example. I have seen on more than one occassion where a community member announces that some specific thing is not working in a specific engine, followed by the author of that engine making the possibility work. That is a good example but it is not a definitive one. To broaden the meaning we can look at how different mappers and coders expose their work to critique and then make changes based on that critique. In this sense the community is guiding the development, to some degree. I have a lot of respect for that on both ends.
Michael: You mentioned critique. You do not seem to be shy at all about critiquing things even to the point of potentially being hyper critical. What compels you to be so forthright?
MadGypsy: Uh, hahahaha. I have spent years absorbing everything I can find that is relevant to the creation of 3d art. My brain is like a database of pros explaining things. I have also spent years putting these things into action in one form or another, and I have a very keen eye. I know firsthand that it is easy to fall in love with one of your creations and be completely blinded to everything that is wrong with it. I also know that telling anything other than the absolute truth of my opinion/knowledge is a disservice to the person I am trying to help.
I want my friends to achieve excellence and potentially create things that they didn't even personally feel they were capable of. I have never told the truth with malice or some evil agenda in my heart. I'm just brutally honest. If I realize I'm getting a little more brutal than honest I tend to dial it back a bit and assure the person that I'm not trying to hurt their feelings or berate their work. I consider these people my friends and I haven't been here for 3+ years just to turn around and destroy these connections I have made.
Michael: Well put. I'd like to switch gears a little bit and discuss your penchant for posting non-quake projects on the site. What stops you from forming a blog or finding a relevant community to share your work with?
MadGypsy: How much Quake can you read in a day? It's spice, something different. It's not only something different though, it's something different that hundreds of people read. I am first and foremost a thinker/inventor. I have ideas and experiments that I want to share and explain. I feel there is no better place to share them than in the primary community I am a member of.
Michael: While we are on the subject of your inventions, what's with all the parsing of everything? What drives or compels you to constantly parse various forms of data.
MadGypsy: If you can parse data then you have mastered that data. It has no mystery and therefore you can command it, control it. Consider an easter egg hunt. You start with an empty basket and your only knowledge of the event (at this point) is, there are eggs somewhere. First you must find the eggs and this should involve some form of system. Maybe your system is to turn the area into a virtual grid and check each square thoroughly before moving to the next. Maybe your system is to simply go to every spot where there is something that the egg could be inside of. This would be considered parsing the hunt area. By the end of the hunt you should have some eggs in your basket. Due to your parse you now have control over the eggs you gathered. You can decide that you don't want any blue ones or that you want to throw them all at a bus. The more things I parse, the more things I can control. My parsing does not begin or end with data objects, it's kind of a way of life.
Michael: lol, you sound like a sociopath.
MadGypsy: Don't believe everything you hear.
Michael: errr uh haha... Do you have any future quake related projects that you would like to share with us? You seem to pull these out every now and again. I'm sure people would be interested in your plans.
MadGypsy: I had an awesome idea and it got screwed by the lack of a very important feature. I still want to make it though. I need to let it brew for a bit in my mind. I'm not willing to truly admit defeat. All the parsing I have done forces you to think differently. I tend to use that to my advantage to create solutions that aren't obvious or apparent. I believe with some more time I will have an "aha!" moment or possibly discover something I'm not currently aware of. The wheels never stop spinning in the back of my mind, with all the spinning they are bound to actually get somewhere eventually.
Michael: Would you like to expand on your idea?
MadGypsy: I already have in great detail within the thread that corresponds with my idea. To expand upon it here would just be borish.
Michael: I see. Well, is there anything else you would like to add before we wrap up this interview?
MadGypsy: Lerster.
Michael: Lerster?
MadGypsy: Lerster.
Michael: Well, alrighty then. I want to thank Gypsy for his time and detailed answers. I hope everyone enjoyed this edition of Standalone Quad. Make sure you come back next week when we will be discontinued and off the air. Good night and God bless.
Yes, you read that correctly. I am interviewing myself. My goal is to conjure up some skills and make you forget that before the end of this interview. We'll laugh, we'll cry, we'll probably even parse something before this is all over so, kick back, grab a cup of whatever you like to drink and enjoy the show.
The Quaker that doesn't Quake
Michael: Today we are going to interview MadGypsy. At this point the majority of people here should be familiar with him so we are going to skip the introductory questions and get right down to business. MadGypsy...
MadGypsy: I'm not a pro wrestler, just call me Gypsy.
Michael: Fair enough... Gypsy, you have been on the quake scene for over 3 years but, in essence you are not really a quaker, at least not in the classic sense, expand on that.
MadGypsy: It's true. I do not play Quake or really have any interest in the game itself. It holds a nostalgic place in my heart from my childhood but, that is essentially where quake begins and ends for me as a game. I assume what you are trying to get me to explain is "why?". Why do I participate in a community which I have no interest in the core focus?
Michael: Yes that is exactly what I'm asking.
MadGypsy: Quake is not a game to me. Quake is a series of applications, engines and a language that can be disassembled and taught. Regardless of how many times I have tried to build some kind of game out of Quake possibilities, my focus has always been to isolate the deficiencies that either people do not want to touch or have not considered, and attempt to correct them. On top of that I have a high comprehension level and personally believe that I can learn things for people and transformn the knowledge into something that is easier to understand.
Michael: That's heavy, man. What made you decide to focus on Quake though? What you described could be applied to many different things, how did Quake become a part of the picture?
MadGypsy: I was dying, for real dying and waiting for an incredibly expensive surgery to save my life. I had all this extreme down time and the one thing I always wanted to do was learn how to build a 3D game. I got on google and started researching. I checked ALL of it out. You probably cannot name a 3d game creation possibility that I did not audit. I did not just audit the documents though, I audited the communities that revolve around these systems. I didn't just want to learn how to make games. I wanted to meet other people that had the same thirsts as myself and assimilate myself into their community.
After a very long run of being bored to death or disappointed I finally stumbled across quakeone.com and it really piqued my interest. The community appeared to be very active and it seemed like the community owned the possibilities as opposed to the developers. I really liked that and it didn't take me very long to determine that this is where I want to be and this is the system I want to learn.
Michael: What do you mean by "the community owned the possibilities and not the developers."?
MadGypsy: Well, this is sort of complicated to explain but, I'll give it a shot. In one sense I can use an example. I have seen on more than one occassion where a community member announces that some specific thing is not working in a specific engine, followed by the author of that engine making the possibility work. That is a good example but it is not a definitive one. To broaden the meaning we can look at how different mappers and coders expose their work to critique and then make changes based on that critique. In this sense the community is guiding the development, to some degree. I have a lot of respect for that on both ends.
Michael: You mentioned critique. You do not seem to be shy at all about critiquing things even to the point of potentially being hyper critical. What compels you to be so forthright?
MadGypsy: Uh, hahahaha. I have spent years absorbing everything I can find that is relevant to the creation of 3d art. My brain is like a database of pros explaining things. I have also spent years putting these things into action in one form or another, and I have a very keen eye. I know firsthand that it is easy to fall in love with one of your creations and be completely blinded to everything that is wrong with it. I also know that telling anything other than the absolute truth of my opinion/knowledge is a disservice to the person I am trying to help.
I want my friends to achieve excellence and potentially create things that they didn't even personally feel they were capable of. I have never told the truth with malice or some evil agenda in my heart. I'm just brutally honest. If I realize I'm getting a little more brutal than honest I tend to dial it back a bit and assure the person that I'm not trying to hurt their feelings or berate their work. I consider these people my friends and I haven't been here for 3+ years just to turn around and destroy these connections I have made.
Michael: Well put. I'd like to switch gears a little bit and discuss your penchant for posting non-quake projects on the site. What stops you from forming a blog or finding a relevant community to share your work with?
MadGypsy: How much Quake can you read in a day? It's spice, something different. It's not only something different though, it's something different that hundreds of people read. I am first and foremost a thinker/inventor. I have ideas and experiments that I want to share and explain. I feel there is no better place to share them than in the primary community I am a member of.
Michael: While we are on the subject of your inventions, what's with all the parsing of everything? What drives or compels you to constantly parse various forms of data.
MadGypsy: If you can parse data then you have mastered that data. It has no mystery and therefore you can command it, control it. Consider an easter egg hunt. You start with an empty basket and your only knowledge of the event (at this point) is, there are eggs somewhere. First you must find the eggs and this should involve some form of system. Maybe your system is to turn the area into a virtual grid and check each square thoroughly before moving to the next. Maybe your system is to simply go to every spot where there is something that the egg could be inside of. This would be considered parsing the hunt area. By the end of the hunt you should have some eggs in your basket. Due to your parse you now have control over the eggs you gathered. You can decide that you don't want any blue ones or that you want to throw them all at a bus. The more things I parse, the more things I can control. My parsing does not begin or end with data objects, it's kind of a way of life.
Michael: lol, you sound like a sociopath.
MadGypsy: Don't believe everything you hear.
Michael: errr uh haha... Do you have any future quake related projects that you would like to share with us? You seem to pull these out every now and again. I'm sure people would be interested in your plans.
MadGypsy: I had an awesome idea and it got screwed by the lack of a very important feature. I still want to make it though. I need to let it brew for a bit in my mind. I'm not willing to truly admit defeat. All the parsing I have done forces you to think differently. I tend to use that to my advantage to create solutions that aren't obvious or apparent. I believe with some more time I will have an "aha!" moment or possibly discover something I'm not currently aware of. The wheels never stop spinning in the back of my mind, with all the spinning they are bound to actually get somewhere eventually.
Michael: Would you like to expand on your idea?
MadGypsy: I already have in great detail within the thread that corresponds with my idea. To expand upon it here would just be borish.
Michael: I see. Well, is there anything else you would like to add before we wrap up this interview?
MadGypsy: Lerster.
Michael: Lerster?
MadGypsy: Lerster.
Michael: Well, alrighty then. I want to thank Gypsy for his time and detailed answers. I hope everyone enjoyed this edition of Standalone Quad. Make sure you come back next week when we will be discontinued and off the air. Good night and God bless.
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