[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] Ok so.
[b]Axem:[/b] So, we meet again, for… I guess the fifth time this week.
[b]Axem:[/b] Boy, it's really bad when I have nothing else to do than harass people online.[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] That's true. You should probably make a mod or something
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] Maybe.
[b]Axem:[/b] Maybe..
[b]Axem:[/b] So welcome future readers, to this interview piece we're doing.[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] Hullo!
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] Okay, first. Who are you and what are you doing in my (digital) kitchen?[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] Well, I'm MjnMixael.. or Mike as the folks around town call me. I stopped by your kitchen to visit Holley, but I'm told she's unavailable right now until some unknown time in the future.
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] (Dude she's like 17, so you're lucky I don't tell you to have a seat over there)[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] Haha.
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] So you've got your own little actual production shoppe (am I using that term right?), tell us a bit about that and the many awesome things you've done.[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] Yeah! It started up in college with a couple buddies of mine. We just enjoyed doing production work for student organizations in college and so we just kinda continued doing it.
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] What sort of projects do you guys take on?[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] We mostly have done projects for student organizations for the local campus. That includes promotional stuff and the occasional silly video for their conferences or whatever.
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] I like silly videos![/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] Yeah, goofy stuff like James Bond spoofs to introduce their emcees for the year or something. In fact, I played a role in that particular project.. I was a villain named Cabby McDriver, if you must know.
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] I don't suppose this is on youtube or anything...
[b]Axem:[/b] For you know, educational purposes?[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] Oh my, I hope not! :)
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] Darn.
[b]Axem:[/b] I mean, yes.
[b]Axem:[/b] That's probably wise.
[b]Axem:[/b] Now let's get down to business here.
[b]Axem:[/b] How did you get your start in the world of space sims? Which was your first space sim crush?[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] Freespace, actually! My sister got me the original Freespace 1 back when I was in grade school. I played that game over and over and over and over...
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] A pure FreeSpacer![/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] Yeah, pretty much! I tried to branch out, but not a whole lot really captured me like Freespace did.
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] So what is so cool about FreeSpace to you? What did it have that the other space sims did not?[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] Honestly, I think it was all the unanswered questions. Who ARE the Shivans?!
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] For a long time, all I had was Freespace 1 and I didn't have much of an internet connection, so I didn't see the mod scene back then either.
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] So I played Freespace 1 again and again to try and find my answers. Of course I never found any!
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] And it helped that the gameplay itself was really fun.
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] So when did you find out that there was a sequel? Was it that brilliant marketing campaign that Interplay did?[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] Ha! No... Going into high school I had moved on into Console gaming. Specifically my love for all things Nintendo. I remember it very specifically. I was browsing a local Gamestop and the Nintendo section ended right next to the PC section.
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] I happened to glace over and that's when I saw it. One copy.. Freespace 2. I was like NO. WAY.
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] Bought it on the spot and finished it in less than two days.
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] I think the real miracle here is you finding it in on the store shelf.[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] Right! It was during that time that internet became a thing and I found HLP, too. Look up my original handle.. 'mnftg64'. I was such a n00b!
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] That is an amazing first user name.
[b]Axem:[/b] The 64 just seals it for me.[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] N64, baby!
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] N64 represent yo.
[b]Axem:[/b] So what spawned this new generation of crazy FreeSpace modder? What got you going?[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] During college, I had put gaming down a bit to.. you know.. study or something. After college, I built a new PC and, naturally, I wanted to play my favorite space sim on it again. And this time, I had gained the technical knowledge to really explore the FSO engine, too.
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] (Also I totally found your first posts, and they are such HLP noob posts)
[b]Axem:[/b] (Which is okay, since mine were too)[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] Haha, awesome.
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] Anyway, I got it installed, played it in FSO/MediaVPs glory and saw.. the cutscenes...
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] In all their 8bit glory.[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] Indeed. Given what I had learned over the previous few years, I decided it was time to contribute and thus began the Cutscene Upgrade Project
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] Yes, you have gone on record for saying, and I paraphrasedly quote, "I want to redo all the cutscenes for FreeSpace." How many times were you dropped on your head as a child? Alternatively, why take on such a large and near-impossible task?
[b]Axem:[/b] (You just have to answer the one you're more comfortable with)[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] Ha! I don't think I was dropped on my head... but, I enjoy video production.. especially the problem solving of like "how am I going to create a swirling vortex of fire stuff from one sun to another" (For that Bosch scene)?
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] I still haven't figured that out, but I'm excited to learn it. I still have every intention of finishing that project.
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] If I hadn't started that project, I wouldn't have learned to do 3D work!
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] So half of it is the challenge, and the other have is the love?[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] Yeah, definitely. There's a scene coming out with the new ST:R soon, whenever Goober decides to release it... It really shows how far I've come with 3D work.. and I looove how that scene turned out. Can't wait to share it.
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] I watch that and then watch my remake of FS1's endgame... Ugh, I can do better, but I'm not going to revisit the FS1 endgame anytime soon or I'll never finish the rest.
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] Yes, as you get better you get so proud of your latest work. But then your earlier work just becomes... not as great.
[b]Axem:[/b] But it's also good to just keep on going![/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] Yeah. That pretty much sums up what it is to be an artist, I think.
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] That's how you know you're learning, right?[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] Yup!
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] You've got your campaign, which I guess we should plug, it's called Between the Ashes. What enticed you to start that campaign and where did the idea for the story come from?[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] I started it for the same reason I started the cutscenes. I wanted to learn. Specifically, I wanted to learn FRED, Tables, modpacks, all that stuff.
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] The story was just one of many one line story ideas I've kept around since I started playing Freespace. Blue Planet and Inferno have the post-Capella era more or less locked up, so I wanted to explore a different era.
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] Well, not 'locked up'.. but I just didn't want to compete with those bigger mods and story theories at the time. It felt like a lot of pressure to just be different than them in the post-Capella era. Their theories and stories are already great, so I just randomly grabbed a different era.
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] Any teasing hints you want to drop for the campaign right now?[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] Hmm. I'll say that we've prepared a world that fits in the middle of FS1 and FS2 that I think has a lot of similarities in tone to something like Empire Strikes Back. It's a tough, gritty world and not everything is going to go your way.
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] Are we going to find out the player character's father?![/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] I just might have to add that in...
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] (No story credit required from me)
[b]Axem:[/b] (It's on the house)
[b]Axem:[/b] How much fun has it been working on your campaign? And is it actually work or does it feel like the opposite of work?[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] Once I got a feel for FRED, it's been a blast! (Unless I need to start a new mission. That's always work.) And the team that assembled around the project has been super helpful.
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] Slasher, the other FREDer, has some pretty insane mission ideas. He made the demo missions from a single story line I gave him. MatthTheGeek basically created the original modpack from scratch. Admiral MS is the single best mission tester that ever existed (please don't steal him)!
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] Well free agency season is coming up so... who knows...[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] There are a few others who've contributed along the way too.. SDM, Snail, IronBeer and some newer guys like Lepanto and Lorric helping to flesh out the world with internal fan-fic. So it's been really fun seeing the world blossom into something much greater than I could have done on my own.
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] Sounds like you've got quite the team going!
[b]Axem:[/b] So does it feel like work or is it just fun time all the time?[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] Mostly fun, but sometimes work. It's work when you have to force-find motivation to continue a mission you left off months ago or something.
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] What's the hardest thing to do when working with FreeSpace? And how do you overcome it, or do you just delegate/find some helpful team member/gullible loser to do it for you? (on that note, how is that texturing I asked you to do coming along?)[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] I think the hardest thing for me is to start a new project from scratch. So I get an idea (or a request), sit down, open FRED or Photoshop or whatever.. and then have to figure out how to go from a blank sheet to something that I'm spilling my heart out all over the details.
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] (I can personally atest to sitting infront of FRED for 30 minutes on a blank screen waiting for inspiration to come)[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] Ugh, blank FRED-space.. I'm convinced that it actively mocks me when I minimize it.
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] And your textures.. are.. unstarted... sitting there, mocking me on my root Freespace HDD.
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] (Heh, no worries)
[b]Axem:[/b] Any secrets or tips to get past it or is it just waiting for that light bulb moment?[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] Honestly, I just have to force myself to start with something. Even if I think it's bad, I just start. Then pretty soon I find myself laboring over the tiny details to get it just right.
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] BtA is going to have a ton of fluff material. A system viewer, and journal system (both of which a very handsome (and single) gentleman authored) and probably lots of cool tech entries. Why do you feel that things like that are important?[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] Fluff stuff like that is important, I think, for two reasons. First, it builds atmosphere for those who actually read it. (Yeah, I know some of you out there won't read a single word.) And second, it builds professionalism.
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] What I mean by that second one is that the mod starts to feel complete and well thought out. Even if you don't read it all, it benefits the final product because the player will trust that this isn't just a set of missions and a shiny new interface.
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] It's clearly more than that, it's a story that the player has the option of immersing themselves in.
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] Having extras like that certainly radiates a level of effort and quality that is always great to see.
[b]Axem:[/b] Will any of those extra things be available outside of the game, for people who find that the default FreeSpace font is hard to read?[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] Huh, that's a good question and not something I really considered. We were posting some of those articles (that will be in the Journal you made) on our public board every now and then. But they didn't seem to get much attention, so we stopped posting them.
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] However, that is something I'd be glad to do after release if there was an interest.
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] Lack of visible interest is always a real downer, so I hope a grand release (or great trailers) would help pique that interest up again.
[b]Axem:[/b] (Or maybe even this interview!)
[b]Axem:[/b] (Posters, be sure to beg Mjn for more fluff previews!)
[b]Axem:[/b] Ok, so, I warned you about this question before, so I am expecting an amazingly precise answer.
[b]Axem:[/b] Using BP as a unit of words, how many BPs will BtA contain?[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] I wasn't sure exactly what BP was to mean, so I googled it. So, if BP is the oil company, then BtA will contain none of that! If it's the mod, then BtA will hopefully contain at least 1 level of BP greatness. However, if BP is this image...
[img]http://i.bnet.com/blogs/bp_aliens.jpg[/img]
...then BtA will contain HUNDREDS.
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] Well I had meant will BtA contain more or less text than Blue Planet! :p[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] Oh, well I don't have Battuta. I can't compete with a writer... so 0.5 BPs!
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] Still, I'm sure that will be a lot of words.[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] Truthfully, it might be about equal, if you actually read all the fluff. And some of the Briefings are longer because our missions just require that kind of explenation.
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] So just skimming across your personal life (which I hope is okay!), you're married, have kids, have your own business, with real life obligations and stuff. How do you get the time to do modding at the scale you do?[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] I'm a nightowl. The kids are in bed by 7:30 and my wife goes to bed at like 9 or 10. I'm up till 2am, so I usually get about 4 hours to do whatever nerdy things I want to.
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] I'm almost afraid to ask how much coffee you drink then...[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] Not much, actually!
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] Now for some fun questions...
[b]Axem:[/b] After finding a digital lamp, you rub it and out comes a coding genie. He gives you 3 feature requests of any complexity and scope. What are they?[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] H264 for cutscenes, music seek-to-time SEXPs, and model translation animation support
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] (Always with the cutscenes!)[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] :)
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] What's the most hilarious bug of your own design have you come across?[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] Hmm, I guess I'll spoil a BtA mission for this because I thought it was pretty funny!
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] [spoiler]In one mission in BtA the player has to use a Console (yeah, like in Linux) to do hacky things to their ship. While creating that system and testing it.. I crashed FSO by putting in bad commands in the fake 'Console'[/spoiler]
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] [spoiler]What sort of... bad commands?[/spoiler][/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] I just mistyped what the script was looking for. But that lead me to fix the system where typos don't crash it.
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] Ha, whoops!
[b]Axem:[/b] (Also I hope I can go "format c:" in that script)[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] Maybe. I'll include a disclaimer in the release
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] What do you think the FS community needs more of?[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] Hmm, more people willing to try and learn. (Sensing a theme?) I know some of the newer guys look at guys like you and I like we're some sort of super-mad-awesome untouchable modders. I mean, I know we are, but still.. it took us just sitting down to learn!
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] I think there are more people in the community capable of making the next BP than they are even aware.
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] Yeah, getting over that initial hump of difficulty is the hardest.
[b]Axem:[/b] You just need that spark to help you get over it and sometimes its the campaigns that we've started that helped us do it.
[b]Axem:[/b] Okay, now. Time for THE LIGHTNING ROUND[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] Oh dear.
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] These are quick questions, very simple.
[b]Axem:[/b] Are you READY?[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] Yes.
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] Herc Mark 1 or Herc Mark 2?[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] 2
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] Terran or Vasudan?[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] Vasudan
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] X-Wing or TIE Fighter?[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] X-Wing baby
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] FS1 or FS2?[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] FS2
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] FS1 or... FS3?[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] FS1.5
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] (Cheater)[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] :)
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] (but I'll accept it)
[b]Axem:[/b] What is your favorite retail mission?[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] Ah! That's tough.. I wasn't ready for it!
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] Uh... Into the Lion's Den because of what it implies.
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] How about favorite retail ship?[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] Erinyes
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] Favorite SEXP?[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] script-eval
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] First mod you ever played?[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] I think that was ST:R, honestly
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] Finally, there's an FS3 kickstarter that promises all the original FS2 crew being reassembled back together. And who cares about the story or implications of uncanoning the modding work done (for just the purposes of the question). How much do you offer?[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] Original like original V team and everything? As much as I can afford to...
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] i believe this would be your reaction then?[/color]
[img]http://www.playandroid.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Shut-Up-And-Take-My-Money.jpg[/img]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] yeah, pretty much
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] Okay, so I guess that about wraps it up.
[b]Axem:[/b] Except.
[b]Axem:[/b] For.
[b]Axem:[/b] The BtA release date.
[b]Axem:[/b] ...Right?[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] Uh... TBD
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] Well, I tried.
[b]Axem:[/b] Next month, you'll be the one doing the interview. Care to let us in on the victim you've selected?
[b]Axem:[/b] Or is THAT TBD too...[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] Black Wolf!
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] Awesome![/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] I'm pretty excited to do interviews each month to get the inside scoop on what people are working on!
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] Beware all modders, Mjn is going to come knocking!
[b]Axem:[/b] (Actually don't beware)[/color]
[b]Mjn.Mixael:[/b] Well, maybe beware a little bit
[color=limegreen][b]Axem:[/b] (He won't bite)
[b]Axem:[/b] (Maybe a little bit)[/color]