294
The Interview
Solomon: So Paril, you created one of the most popular skinning programs for minecraft, what gave you the idea to create it?
Paril: I haven't worked on that program in a long time, yet that's always the first question I get asked lol. Basically, a friend gave me the idea to make a skin upload manager
Solomon: Of course it is, it is an easy to use and very well designed program.
Paril: I messed around with a 3D preview, and eventually I messed with a way to draw on the model. It's certainly not the best way to do it but it works. Mind you, that process took a good 2/3 months to pan out. I have a ton of programs that I've made over the years but never released, it's just part of my development process to kind of abandon things before they are polished.
MCSkin3D was a change because I got pushed to release it and decided to do so without any thought for my own safety. It certainly worked out better than I expected, a lot of small things over that time could have changed things drastically
Solomon: What other programs have you attempted to make?
Paril: I've got a lot of semi-completed games, some functional programs that I just never found the drive to complete after they got to a certain point.
Solomon: How many programs have you created, and how many have you let people download?
Paril: It's hard to measure in terms of programs. I have a "projects" folder where I store everything starting from a certain point in time (before that they were all over, so I may have even lost a lot of them), and it's almost 7 GB large at this point. As for letting people download... in my early days, I used to release everything I made, but at some point I guess I started to polish things, so the development cycle turned from "release everything" to "work on it until I dont' feel like working on it any more" and it never gets released. MCSkin3D was the biggest project that ever went live from me
Solomon: What got you into modding/coding?
Paril: Modification has always interested me. My first experience with programming started back with Quake II, sometime in middle school
Solomon: Did you teach yourself?
Paril: That's back when "scripting" as we know it barely existed - the only way you could make mods for Quake II was to have a C compiler and do it like that. My brother had gotten a disk of Visual C++ 6.0 from school and I managed to get it from him, so he deserves a portion of the credit for my starting out. I'm entirely self-taught, and I can't really explain how my brain works. I did it until I knew what I was doing. It took a long time, but the transition was quick once it started
Solomon: How old are you now?
Paril:20 since a couple days ago
Solomon: Well happy belated birthday. So are you attending any trade school or college?
Paril: No; I'm employed by Cyprezz
Solomon: How long have you known Cyprezz?
Paril: more than a year at this point
Solomon: How long have you known Lali, your girlfriend?
Paril: Not as long as I've known Cyprezz. Just over a year and 3 months or so
Solomon: So you two met over PMC?
Paril: Yeah, quite a while ago
Solomon: What brought you to PMC?
Paril: I posted MCSkin3D on MinecraftForums. Halucid originally came asking me to cross-post it, but for whatever reason I never ended up doing so. Eventually Studnicky managed to win me over to join PMC and get involved in their community, and I worked with Cyprezz not long after joining to get MCSkin3D and PMC's relationship - and, in turn, our relationship - started
Solomon: So, would you care to tell me a little about your life story? Where you grew up, how many sibilings you have, any hardships you faced, or any other interesting things about your 20 years of existance.
Paril: I grew up in this area, a small town in southern Ontario. I have two brothers (one step) and a sister, although I only lived with my biological brother growing up as the other two siblings were moved far away by the time I was born. I have an advanced general anxiety disorder which makes a lot of 'normal' life difficult, but I got to where I am today so I can't really complain about it
Solomon: So what are your plans for the future?
Paril: Keep working on PMC. I don't plan to leave, and so long as Cyprezz wants me I'll be staying right here
Solomon: What exactly do you do for PMC?
Paril: Programming, issue tracking, our Minecraft server management, some very minor administration
Solomon: So you are known throught PMC and other various websites by your signiture picture, who created it?
Paril: whtdragon does nearly all of my art stuff
Solomon: Any upcomming games that you are excited for?
Paril: Dynasty Warriors 8 is probably the only game that I really care about that is coming out. Well, maybe Thief 4, but considering how horrid Thief 3 was I'm not holding much hope
Solomon: Well hopefully they made some great improvments since 04 when it was released. I enjoyed Thief to a point, but I guess being exposed to all the new games that were intact with more advanced technology it is hard to really enjoy the game.
Solomon: They were good games at their time of release
Paril: Thief 1 & 2 were definitely good games
Solomon: Yes they were
Paril: Like you say though I think they tried to make the jump too quickly
Solomon: Even better that they were on sale for a few bucks on steam
Paril: Thief 2 was very similar to Thief 1, with minor improvements, and it was a much better game because it had almost the exact same experience, but with T3 I guess the new direction asked for them to pretty much start from the ground up. I hope with T4 they find a way to bring back the old feel of the game without ruining it. I like the idea if an open world vs linear levels
Solomon: Well thats with a lot of new things, they have to make a leap of faith, some make it some flop. I love almost all open world games. Makes me feel like I have more of a choice. So far the trailers for T4 have been good.
Paril: yeah, it's looking kind of Assassins Creed-y
Solomon: Yeaho ¦ You have tried creating games of your own, what where they based on, and what genres were they?
Paril: Oh I've tried all sorts of things, with varying levels of success. I have a lot of ideas that are promising, the problem is I lose the drive to re-make all of these basic systems like menuing and systematics
Solomon: You work solo when creating these?
Paril: Usually yes. Most of them are based on physics. I absolutely love physics-based games, especially 2D ones
Solomon: What is your favorite game?
Paril: it's hard to pinpoint just one. I can't ever forget how to play Quake II, it's kind of forever engrained in my head. I think I've sunk the most time into Dynasty Warriors and its sister games (Samurai Warriors, Warriors Orochi)
Solomon: Interesting. So, what has been the worst game you have ever played?
Paril: I've played a lot of crap. I guess it depends what kind of "worst". Are we talking AAA titles?
Solomon: Any game
Paril: Hmm. I have to say, I was pretty disappointed with Quake 4. Too much focus on story, too much "woo scary face in your screen" jumpy stuff that I guess crossed over from Doom 3, crappy multiplayer that required many updates before they got it anywhere near the same as the earlier titles. Doom 3 is also a game I didn't like one bit. Hoping Doom 4 becomes a more worthy successor to the series
Solomon: What do you think makes a good game?
Paril: It changes over the years with technology. Gameplay has to be the focuso ¦ For me, anyways. Games like Walking Dead for instance is almost a purely cinematic experience - I think that basically the game has to do what it does right in order to be a "good" game. It can't pretend to be something else. Walking Dead (although I've never played it, I have seen videos on it) looks like it has decent gameplay, but it's almost entirely a cinematic experience; because of this, you're looking at "interactive cinematics" almost 80% of the time
Solomon: Yep
Paril: so, they had to do that part of it right, which they did pretty okay (although I feel the animation looks incredibly stiff, I don't think it takes too much away from the game) If a game has no story, it has to rely entirely on gameplay and that doesn't mean it's bad, it just means it has to do gameplay properly. Early games like Doom and Quake are examples of this. Story-driven games were rare in these days and developers had to rely on gameplay
Quake II had cinematics between units, but they were pretty lackluster and most people skipped them I imagine. It was all about the gun feel, the level puzzles, the neat and differing architecture, and the monsters (although the game was incredibly easy, it was also very extensible, which does definitely make the experience improvable)
Solomon: So if a game has a story, how do you think it should be presented in a game? There are games that try to incorporate a story in the game but do it poorly. Games such as Homefront, the storyline was weak. Do you think games that are really for multiplayer should keep a singleplayer, or get rid of it?
Paril: Haven't played Homefront so I'm not really sure, but if your game is intended to be played, and not 'watched', then the story needs to be presented without making the gameplay suffer and the gameplay needs to support the story. A lot of games do this pretty well
See, there's a thing that I don't like about a lot of modern games is that they borrow elements from each other (whether directly or not, usually we're just talking about elements that are shared, not necessarily "game 1 stole from game 2" but that they assume that because of the genre that they need it) without thinking about how it affects the story or gameplay
Assassins Creed is a good starting point; in that game, pretty much every element in it makes sense. Because it's all virtual computer crap, all of the Tron-looking elements, computer screens, your on-screen HUD, and even the map make "sense" Everything has already happened, so having a map of everything makes sense in terms of story & it helps greatly with the gameplay. Mind you, I'm not an expert on AC, but if I recall the idea is that it's all memory-based and that the events have already "happened", and you're re-living them to experience it through the person you're inhabiting something along those lines. So, I can truly believe that the map makes sense from a viewer perspective
Solomon: What do you think makes a story good?
Paril: Anything that makes you "feel" is a good story. If it gets you emotionally involved in any way (even if it's just like a single "ooh" directed at something), they are doing -something- right to get you interested. Just like a movie, reallyo ¦ although I hate movies personally, it's the same sort of idea. A weak story will turn you off
But, going back to the story/gameplay element thing for a sec. In AC I can believe those elements - but comparing it to Dynasty Warriors, this is what I mean by cross-game elements that make sense from a gameplay point of view but not a story point of view. DW is supposed to be a loose re-creation of the whole Han Dynasty thing, so the game and its elements are set in that time era.. yet you can see the entire map all at once and, personally, I feel that this ruins the gameplay.
Don't get me wrong though, I love DWo ¦ I absolutely adore the game, but I hate it at the same time. I hate it, but I can't stop playing it because the gameplay is so addicting
Solomon: All games have issues.
Paril: Personally, the game would be better off with a compass sort of thing. I think that that would make sense. You know what your objective is, and you have to do it - it doesn't require that you see the entire map and where all of the enemies are. It also ruins "surprises" like ambushes. There are a lot of points in Dynasty Warriors (even the latest one [in the US], 7) where you can blatantly tell what event is coming up just because of the map layout
For instance, you can see the water on the map, and you can see a wooden structure connected to the water on one end. There is going to be a flood event - without even knowing which map it is (since it's a recreation, certain battles always have certain events, of course), you can tell that a certain event is going to occur, and that has always gotten to me. So, yeah. I guess my point is, story has to correlate with the gameplay. They have to work together
Solomon: So a good flow
Solomon:I too prefer maps that show land features
Solomon: and dont show what is to come next
Paril: Exactly.
Solomon: It somewhat defeats the purpose of the game
Solomon:We all know that there is going to be a conflict but the idea of not knowing when, where, or who is what compels us to carry on.
Paril: yup
[5 Awkward Minutes Latero ¦]
Paril: Sorry, was waiting for that package for a few days, finally arrived so I wanted to try it out
Solomon: What is it for?
Paril: an AverMedia capture device for consoles
Solomon: So you are going to be recording gameplays from consoles?
Paril: Yeah, I did a review for the Dynasty Warriors series on YouTube which has been pretty popular over the past two years and I've been meaning to do a follow-up with the new games, but I never had the chance.
Solomon: Ah, so we can see many new videos from you in the near future?
Paril: A few... I will be spending most of my time on the DW7/WO3/SW3 review. I've always had a dream of being something like a radio personality or doing reviews, so that's a thing I've been interested in
Solomon: Ah, a podcaster maybe?
Paril: Maybe
Solomon: Interesting, so less of those dual commentaries with all the other moderators from pmc
Paril: They do dual commentaries? Oh, do you mean the streaming?
Solomon: Yes, that and I have seen some of your previous videos. You had multiple people together playing some minigames
Paril: Ooh yeah, the newer ones were Minecraft-related.
Solomon: Yep
Paril: Then I had older videos with me and a friend or two playing Quake, bu, I had one review video of the DW/SW/WO series and it was insanely popular relative to my other videos
Solomon: Have you ever taken part in a big video project?
Paril: Nope, that was probably my biggest one. I do most of the stuff myself as well.
Solomon: Ah, So what console do you use?
Paril: I have a PS3 and a Wii
Solomon: Have you seen/read up on the PS4?
Paril: oh yeah, been following both console announcements
Solomon: Are you planning on getting any new console, or do they just seem like flops?
Paril: I won't be getting one at launch, and most new games minus exclusives will probably be available for the PS3 for a long time. They definitely plan on supporting this generation of consoles, so I don't think they'll die very quickly. I see no need, basically.
Solomon: So what games do you play most often?
Paril: Dynasty Warriors, Minecraft. That's about it these days
Solomon: And on minecraft you play on PMC's official server correct?
Paril: Pretty much.
Solomon: Well that's a good place to stop off set. It was nice chatting with you.
Paril: Anytime.
- xXLordSolomonXx, Editor and Writer
I've noticed a lot of people complaining about the new 1.6 update to Minecraft. I decided to ask 10 PMC'ers to sum up their feelings on the update using one word.
"Improvement" - PJ_Videos
"Ingenious" - Oakley09
"Um" - Blazefox
"PrettyNiceIQuiteLikeIt" - Teotoo
"Buggy" - PixelBit
"Crumbles" - _StarfoxHound_ (As in, Minecraft is crumbling)
"Horses" - Pownage
"Faster" - MyNamesCharlie
"Horse" - TARLACHRed
"SuperUberAmazinglyAwesome" - DeliriousCraft
"Extraordinary" - Monkeyy
Unfortunately, Pownage gave their answer and afterwards TARLACHRed gave theirs, but they're both stubborn therefore Horse it is. _StarfoxHound_ seemed to be the only one who had some negative feedback, which surprises me, as I've seen a lot of complaints. Happy Mob Flipping!
- iamenrique123, Writer
A Story of Love, Laughter and Imbeciles
There was once a boy named Chunky. He comes from a town called Squidward Hell where the villagers now say "HHHEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAA!" and is full of robotic Squidwards. They are communists. Two weeks ago Chunky left Squidward hell because "The villagers just won't SHUT UP!". Chunky was a slightly chubby boy with a kind personality, also he wore clothes on some occasions.
One day he found a village of normal people (fortunately) and came across a girl named umm... uhh... Kitty that was desperate to see the world. Chunky didn't want to go everywhere by himself so he let her come along. That night ( or nite) Chunky is wandering pointlessly and hears about a dungeon from another adventurer. He heads to his house that he recently bought. Kitty was waiting inside. "We are going to find an unlooted dungeon!" he yells in excitement. The two run out the door and into the night.
5 hours later Chunky comes home with 3 bits of leather, 5 iron ingots, 2 loaves of bread and 1 gold ingot. The next morning Kitty's mother knocks on his door. "Hello, where's Kitty?" "Who?"
Be sure to tune in next time for The Adventure of Chunky and his Faithful Companion Chubbykins.
To be continued...
- halorules555, Writer
Hello, Ladies and Gentlemen!'
My name is Knarfer and this is my first article for the PMC Times. What I decided to do as an introduction was give publicize the prologue for this novel that I'm currently writing called The Seven Galaxseas. Cheesy, right? Without further ado, here's the prologue. Enjoy!
Long ago, mankind planned to colonize deep space. A colonization of deep space would mean a new start for humanity. Soon after the plans were made, the Ararris galaxy. This entire galaxy, however, was not enough for the greed of humanity. We sought to take 7 more galaxies in the name of Earth and to the aliens in space, in the name of the Milky Way. But, Tonvorg and his army could not stand this, so he invaded the Milky Way galaxy and took everything away from us. He could have taken the opportunity to rule the Milky Way and the 7 other galaxies that the Milky Way controlled, but he passed it up. None of the Intergalactic Migrates remembers what happened. All they remember is that they escaped, and that we were alive.
The first couple of days were tough. Deep space was hard to live in, as one would expect. Fortunately, we were able to adapt to our environment. We lucked out, really. We eventually made it to the Ararris galaxy, where we made our new home in the planet of Swithgate. To this day, we are still under Tonvorgo s rule, as he took control as the dominant force over the 7 galaxies.
Times got tough. Swithgate was threatened with invasions constantly. My friends and I knew we needed to get some weaponry, so we did what we heard was common practice. We made spacecrafts equipped with lasers, after-burners (which made you go faster), and a radar map. We evolved, as anyone would. We had developed an army, cities, a government. It was like a new beginningo ¦
The day that would
| Credit | xXLordSolomonXx, halorules555, Knarfer, amenrique123, OnlyIn5DYT |
| Tags |
tools/tracking
2309788
6
the-pmc-times-712
Copterman2596
Cat Master
hotsuop
MaximusPrime23
Aelle
oakar258
CrystalRuby
Olimon7661
sniffercraft34
Henry04alcalino
KEIKYU production
minecraftwikipt
Create an account or sign in to comment.
Good blog, keep up the work!
If it still doesn't fit then tell xXLordSolomonXx to not make such long interviews, because that is just ridiculously long.