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Interview 9. Ereon – CPUFreak91

CPUFreak91

Member

Posts: 2337
From:
Registered: 02-01-2005
This fortnight's interview is with Ereon, creator of the Ithia Engine and a member for 2 years and 3 month.

How did you find out about CCN?
It was actually following the temporary (but several month) closing down of christiangaming.com. They started a maintenance setup that scrapped their entire harddrives and all kinds of other such stuff a never got it fixed, so I began poking around and found the perfect forum, which happened to be Christian Coders. I was really only tinkering with Qbasic at the time, with my first smatterings of DarkBASIC in the works, and latched on to CG because of it's small game design section, I had no clue that anywhere like CCN ever existed until I stumbled across it.

Why did you join?
Honestly because I had no clue about what I was doing, and I was hoping to find someone who would actually tell me how to make a game. I actually ended up finding something much different and instead discovered a community that encouraged me to learn to grow on my own and exchange knowledge with others as an equal explorer if you will. It was a very different from what I had anticipated but very refreshing just the same.

What kind of job do you have?
Right now I'm working part-time as a clerk at a local hardware store.

Do you enjoy it?
I enjoy as far as I don't dislike it, but as far as seeing it as a life fulfilling occupation, eh.....not so much.

How old are you? How long have you been working with computers?
I'm seventeen years old, and I've been working on computer since I was about seven and a half. My uncle lent us this old computer, I couldn't even begin to tell you what it was, but I toyed with it more than anyone else in the house. I used to open Microsoft Works and make a text file, then I went through putting little ASCII symbols in and making platforms and pictures as enemies, then using the arrow keys to move the little blipping cursor around as a character and "playing" my game.

Are you a coder? What IDE do you use?
I code in DarkBASIC mostly, and use the standard IDE. I'm working on learning C/C++ also, and whenever I work on those I usually use DevC++ as my IDE.

What languages do you know/program in?
I know Qbasic, DarkBASIC, and a smattering of C.

Are you learning any new ones?
Working on expanding my C/C++ and I'm toying with moving to Unity sometime in the future.

When did you become interested in computers?
I became interested when my uncle lent us his computer. I used to play Gorilla and Snake all the time, and a severely old black and white version of SimCity that he brought over once.

What was it about the computer that interested you?
I just liked playing with it, tinkering, figuring out what it was capable of. I viewed it as a big, blinky, super-cool toy that somehow could make an entire imaginary city (complete with spinning tornadoes of death, MUAHHA!), and I had a desire to figure out how it did it (and promptly began disassembling the monitor, ah the ignorance of youth)

What is it about the computer that interests you now?
There's so much stuff you can do that stretches across so many other disciplines. You can never reach the end of what they're capable of, and there's so much information it can provide. One things that especially intrigues me is the concept of virtual reality, the idea that real, physical things can be manipulated by imaginary, non-physical means (with computers as the primary arbiter as it were) via computers.

What operating system(s) do you normally use? Why do you use them?
I used Windows XP as my weapons of choice for now. I use it because it's the only OS that DarkBASIC works on, and that's still my main working language, so until I can expand a little more it'll probably be the one I stick with.

What other operating systems do you semi-frequently use? Why do you use them?
I tried Ubuntu, but I left it alone because I couldn't find a good C IDE that fit my style and I was having issues with making it work with my hardware and finding the software tools that I needed.

What other things do you enjoy doing on a computer?
I enjoying gaming, though I try to limit it, because time spent playing games means less time making them.

Do you prefer Email or Instant messaging when communicating with someone?
I prefer IM, and sometimes voicechat. It's much more efficient to me, though it can damage the depth of the discussion in some cases, depending on the people you're talking with.

What kind of Email/Chat client do you use? What's it's name?
I use Yahoo for my chat client, and Thunderbird for my Gmail account.

What are the specs of your home and/or work computers?
I have an old HP zx5000 (Which has both monitor hinges blown out, two fouled USB ports, and a half busted Wireless card) which was one of the most foolish investments of my teen life, but ah well.

Processor: 1.6ghz
Memory: 512mb
Hard Drive: 30gb
Graphics Card: Nvidia Geforce Mobile 32MB
Wireless: 802.11g Wireless
Screen: 15.4” WXGA (1280x800)
Standard Ports:3 USB ports,1 S-video out, 1 Monitor out, 1 Printer port, 1 56k modem
port, 1 10/100 Ethernet port, 1 Head phone jack, 1 Mic in jack, 12 Cell Battery,
Windows XP Home

Do you have a game console? If so what is it and why did you buy it?
My family has an Xbox and an Xbox 360. We got the 360 just on a whim essentially, no real reason. With college and game design though I don't get to use it that often.

If you have a game console, what was your first?
My first console that I actually owned was an old Sega Genisis (not Dreamcast, think older and all 2D). Good times.

Do you touch the graphics field of computing very often (such as modeling, or 2D art, etc)?
Whenever I can. I try to know as much as possibly about as many subjects as possible, so I usually try to do my own art just for the experience. I especially enjoy architecture modeling and texture making.

Do you have any opinions on net neutrality?
I don't really know enough about the subject to comment with any kind of truly informed depth.

Do you believe in freedom (primarily in software) the was the FSF believes in it?
You've got me on that one too I'm afraid.

Do you have a favorite movie or TV show?
I try to watch as little TV as possible, but I've got to say that The Lord of the Rings series was probably my all time favorite set of movies that I've seen thus far.

What other non-computer hobbies do you have?
Reading, story writing, poetry, calligraphy, drawing, a little painting, music (keyboard and acoustic guitar), and herb gardening (that's the newest one).

How would you describe your relationship with Christ?
He's my inspiration and my power. I've had times where I neglected him and moved away, and it's like a part of me just went off an died, I lost my motivation, my abilities, and myself. I've been going through a rough time right now with college and all, I was homeschooled most of my life, and never really was faced with a real challenge to my faith or pressure against my core beliefs that came from anywhere but inside myself; but it's on the upswing, and there's no way I'm letting go of him. He's really my whole world and existence, in and around everything that I am
and do, even though sometimes I'm an idiot and forget it, but he's never forgotten about me, and every challenge so far has only brought us closer together.

How do you imagine a way that you could use your talents and experiences to serve Christ?
I want to start my own company some time soon after college. I've started an investment account just for that purpose which I'm going to be working on for the next 4 year. I'm also playing with the idea of possibly writing a fantasy series some time in the future, and just generally my goal is to become a man of great influence, fully committed to God and his will, whether it's in the game design industry or somewhere else.

What kind of geeky projects do you see yourself doing within the next couple of years?
I see myself working in the industry, not sure where yet, but I also see myself possibly working on a real virtual reality gaming system, complete with haptic technology, realtime motion capture, and movement limiting systems so you can actual touch, feel, and lift items in virtual space. I've been toying with the idea and I think it's possible, I just don't have the resources or know-how to really do it yet. It's something I'd like to try some day though.

The next interview will be with Zookey, the co-founder of Team Kaizen.

This interview is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License


Interview Series:

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All Your Base Are Belong To Us!!! chown -r us ./base
"After three days without programming, life becomes meaningless.'' -- Tao of Programming Book 2

"Oh, bother," said the Borg. "We've assimilated Pooh."

"Socialism works great... if there are no people involved." -- Pastor David Ginter, Union Church of Guatemala.

My Programming and Hacker/Geek related Blog

[This message has been edited by CPUFreak91 (edited September 25, 2007).]

Lava
Member

Posts: 1905
From:
Registered: 01-26-2005
That interview was pretty awesome, I learned some things I didn't know about Ereon, mostly in how he got interested in computers and why.
Mene-Mene

Member

Posts: 1398
From: Fort Wayne, IN, USA
Registered: 10-23-2006
I'm kinda lurking around here, not finding many topics in my field.

Ereon: I didn't know you were looking to start a business. I am too, and mostly thinking of being an owner of a privately owned Game Producing Corp. I kinda feel like I'm jumping along, but some books I'd recommend for some confidence boosters, and understanding concepts of business owning would be Rich Dad's books. www.richdad.com

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MM out-
Thought travels much faster than sound, it is better to think something twice, and say it once, than to think something once, and have to say it twice.
"Frogs and Fauns! The tournament!" - Professor Winneynoodle/HanClinto

I reserve the full right to change my views/theories at any time.

Mack

Administrator

Posts: 2779
From:
Registered: 01-20-2001
Very cool, I'm still enjoying these interviews.

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HanClinto

Administrator

Posts: 1828
From: Indiana
Registered: 10-11-2004
quote:
Originally posted by Mack:
Very cool, I'm still enjoying these interviews.


Me too -- this was a very good interview. Thanks much! I enjoyed the read.
Randall
Member

Posts: 44
From: Sacramento, California, USA
Registered: 06-19-2007
Wow, 17 years old. We gotta lot of youths around here. lol

Nice interview.

Mene-Mene

Member

Posts: 1398
From: Fort Wayne, IN, USA
Registered: 10-23-2006
I'm 12, so, yeah, I think realm is 14.

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MM out-
Thought travels much faster than sound, it is better to think something twice, and say it once, than to think something once, and have to say it twice.
"Frogs and Fauns! The tournament!" - Professor Winneynoodle/HanClinto

I reserve the full right to change my views/theories at any time.

Ereon

Member

Posts: 1018
From: Ohio, United States
Registered: 04-12-2005
Glad you liked it guys.

Randall: Actually 18 as of the sixth of July.

I haven't been around the boards much because of work, but hopefully I'll be able to get on more often. I've pretty much had to scrap all my dev work this summer because of work and alot of other stuff. It's the cost of staying focused I guess :S .

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The time for speaking comes rarely, the time for being never departs.
George Macdonald

Lazarus

Member

Posts: 1668
From: USA
Registered: 06-06-2006
Ahh yes, work...

No part time here, and I haven't been able to program anything in months.

Nice interview CPU.