Post subject: MFGG legends discuss all things MFGG - UPDATED
Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2011 6:40 pm
Always have a Shy-Guy in your avatar
In the past week, one comparatively recent MFGGer has been roaming the world, tracking down a number of celebrity figures who have worked hard over the years to help make MFGG what it is today. In honor of MFGG's tenth birthday, these classified, clandestine conversations are now posted for all to see, fully uncut and uncensored! Eat your heart out, y'all. This is great stuff.
Thunder Dragon
Spoiler:
I know this may sound silly, but why did you create MFGG in the first place? Hoooooo boy. Was it perchance the reckless innocence of youth? Probably. Somewhere in the era of 2000 A.D., I was wandering the BS Freakzone forums (an early fan gaming site), where I would stumble upon a link to a site called Sonic Fan Games HQ. Suffice to say, my 13-year-old self thought it was the greatest thing ever, before being prompted to ask: why isn't there a Mario counterpart? Sure, there was Mario Fan Games Central, but it wasn't so much geared to actually creating Mario games as it was simply linking to and reviewing Mario fan games from all over the web. I'll be brutally honest here: I wasn't so much interested in playing the games as making them, because let's face it - most early fan games weren't exactly what you'd call "good." To me, it was all about the thrill of creation, and I wanted to focus on that aspect of fangaming. If you've been to MFGG during 2001, you'd have noticed that graphic libraries had thumbnails and descriptions, whereas the games themselves didn't. Now you know!
How did you first get into game making? It was around 1997 or 1998. I frequented the long-running Mario fan site, The Mushroom Kingdom, which housed a good deal of Mario everything. Yes, that included fan games - some of the very first, in fact. In particular, was a trio consisting of Super Mario Alpha, Yoshi's Island X, and Yoshi's Island X2, all by Biebersoft. These were the first Mario fan games to be made in a Clickteam product-- Klik and Play. After you closed any of these games, a "made with Klik and Play" dialog would pop up, advertising the very program. So naturally, I had to track it down and try it out. It was glorious. And everything just snowballed from there...
Back in 2001, could you have imagined MFGG being around for a whole decade? Back then, my mentality consisted primarily of, "I will keep MFGG alive forever and EVER! It's going to be HUGE, just you watch!" So, one could say... "yes."
What's your favorite memory of MFGG? I want to say completing Toad Strikes Back, simply because it defied everyone's expectations. It has been a long-standing, unwritten rule that over-ambitious, large-scale fan game projects never get finished. To see the delighted surprise and positive reception the game received upon release brought about what one may call "warm fuzzies" to my heart. See, I never really considered creating MFGG an accomplishment. Making games was always the purpose of the site, so having finished one of such scale made the whole thing worthwhile.
What's your strangest memory of MFGG? Way back before MFGG's forum actually had a fangaming focus, there was a thread where members could post real-life pictures of themselves. Since I wanted to remain "mysterious," I simply cut out a picture of my eye and posted it. Not long afterward, one member would take the image of my eye, and attach it to literally every post he made... but not before embellishing each of his messages with "hilarious" eye puns!
What was your favorite fangame? Midas Machine. After 10 years, you'd think the choice would be a little tougher, but... Midas Machine. Many fan games are good "for a fan game," if you get what I'm saying, but Midas Machine is simply good. Not only is it a well-made Mario platformer, but it thinks outside the box - instead of just cloning Super Mario Bros. 3, it offers its own interpretation on the Mario formula. All the original graphics and music also help set it apart from the rest. A good fan game doesn't imitate the source material - a good fan game instead pays tribute, like Midas Machine here.
What people do you remember most from your time on MFGG? Kyle, Kritter, DJ Yoshiman, Nite Shadow and Jas were some of the folks I recall interacting with the most. Probably some others, too.
Is there anything you wish you'd done differently with MFGG as its founder? As you know, I'm not really involved with the workings of the site and forums anymore. However, I wouldn't change that-- I do, after all, have other things to occupy my free time with, namely my artistic endeavors and, you know, actually making games - the whole purpose of the site! But if I were to change one thing, I would have actually told the staff I wasn't going to manage the site (and ESPECIALLY not the forums) anymore, rather than just vanishing and waiting for somebody else to take over. Don't think I didn't consider that a dick move on my part - I did, and still do.
Are you surprised that your games have become as popular as they are? Well, I did expect that people would end up liking them at least a little bit. What I didn't expect was that Psycho Waluigi would wind up in some Swedish gaming magazine called Level. That was a surprise, to say the least!
What advice would you give to someone who's just getting started making fangames or indie games? Making a game? Make it your own. I can't stress this enough: make it your own. This especially applies to fan games, which have a notorious reputation of being half-hearted knock-offs. All I can say is... don't set the bar for yourself, because you'll only end up setting it too high. You don't want to imitate, you want to create. When we first start making games, obviously we won't be mining gold right away, but with your own original idea, you'll at least be able to put together something with a bit of quirky charm. If you try to imitate, say, Super Mario Bros. on your first attempt, you'll only end up with, well, a half-hearted knock-off. With a game making tool, you have the power to make nearly anything you please. So please, don't waste that power! Use it to its fullest extent, and make your creations your own!
How are things going in real life for you now? I am a passionate artist; which is to say, my reason for being. Fan games are but a fun little diversion for me, and nothing more. I'm primarily a pencil artist and a sculptor, and yes, I've made good money off some of my stuff. I'm an artist through and through - as one who spends much time making games, I'm actually not a tech geek at all... heck, technology confuses me! One could say it's the artist in me that influences the creation of games, with me only incorporating an ever-so-slight dose of mild nerdiness into the mix. But yeah, if you ever run into me in real life, chances are my face will be buried in a sketch book.
Is there anything else you'd like to say, about MFGG or anything else? While I've gone on record saying that MFGG isn't really an accomplishment, don't think I'm not happy the site has made it this far. It really is something to see how others took my little pet project and turned it into the giant it is today. So, I'd like to extend a heart-felt "thank you" to each of the staff members from over the years, along with our ever-growing and ever-supportive user base. So to you, in my worst Mario impression ever, I say, "Thank-a you so much!"
Black Squirrel
Spoiler:
What was your favorite fangame? The obvious thing to say are the likes of Toad Strikes Back, Super Mario Stardust - games that clearly had a lot of love put into them etc., but I tend to gravitate towards fangames that are "different". I think if you've got the greatest information resource on the planet in front of you, there's no excuse to not make something bizarre. I've always enjoyed the Waligie series, the likes of Lets Go Thingio! (and other Tech Wing products), Mushroom Kingdom Fusion (before it went down the road of trying to add everything under the sun), and generally just games that break the "norm". Because the norm is boring. It's too... "normal".
As far as non-Mario fangames go, I've always been inspired by what the Sonic fangame community have offered. Sonic 2 HD, Sonic Fan Remix etc.. I love the way a group of bedroom programmers can produce a game that plays better than what comes out of Sega's head offices. It's not really the same with Nintendo products because the stuff Nintendo EAD throws out is usually top notch. Mario is disappointing a lot of the time when it comes to fangames, because you just get Super Mario Bros. 3 in new clothes, hence why I like the crazy scenarios.
What do you remember most from your time on MFGG? Several years of message board "drama"! Sadly it was hard to think of anything else back in the day, seeing as controlling the fractured community that had been passed down took up most of my internet life at the time. It was always good fun logging into the instant messenger of choice only to be pestered by people you hardly knew, but thankfully it's not an issue anymore.
Seriously. Thank the lord.
Is there anything you wish you'd done differently earlier in your MFGG career? I made a lot of stupid decisions while I was admininstrator first time around... various complicated "systems" that struggled to be maintained, various silly things said and done. But I'm not sure if it's a good idea to go back and change that as you tend to learn from your mistakes.
I think the decision to split the message boards in two is something I should have pioneered a lot earlier - could have saved a lot of headaches for my successors, and myself. I think the mess at MFGG during 2007-2009 really did start to hinder progress on the site as a whole - we've literally only got one person (Char) working on the technology behind MFGG 3.0 - everyone else jumped ship.
I'd have also picked a better username. Because this one is awful. However, it's almost as old as MFGG itself (late 2002 vs. mid 2001), so it's a bit difficult to get rid of.
What advice would you give someone who's just starting out making fangames or indie games? Don't make something dull or stupid. Building a game is a lengthy process - you don't want to be spending your time making Super Mario World for the thousandth time. Go for something interesting, not just to attract the attention of others, but to keep you entertained in the long haul too. I run the wonderful Blog Squirrel (http://blogsquirrel.blogspot.com/) which acts as my pathetic contribution in getting the masses hooked on quirky games of years long past - it could be inspiring! Or just a shamless plug.
Is there anything else you'd like to say, about MFGG or anything else? I HOPE IT WILL LIVE ANOTHER TEN YEARS... and words to that effect. It's ruined my teenage years and constantly manages to annoy me with its badly made thumbnails and its refusal to adopt the English language, but it's still the best Mario fangaming resource on the net and I wish it all the luck in the future!
DJ Yoshiman
Spoiler:
Vinny: OK. *grabs cigar and tacky journalist hat* DJ Yoshiman: *sits in fancy high almighty admin chair looking down at you* Vinny: *while hearing a bassline in his Yoshi head.* DJ Yoshiman: Unnsss Unnsss Unnsss
Vinny: So let's start with something I ask everyone I interview. What's your favorite memory of MFGG? You've been there a while, you know. DJ Yoshiman: Just one? Ouch. I think out of all my favourite memories, the one that stands out THE MOST is when Thunder Dragon obtained Super Mario Sunshine for the Gamecube. We were warned, but still weren't prepared for a lack of activity from the site owner for the 2 weeks he was indulging in it. Vinny: OK. Not the answer I was expecting, but interesting! DJ Yoshiman: What sort of answer were you expecting? Vinny: I have no idea - maybe something having to do with a little event called NCFC! But it's also true a lot of what we end up remembering most are the things like what you just said. DJ Yoshiman: Ha ha. Well, many people remember things after 2003 or so. Other oldbies probably remember memories that are really big or already covered in the wiki. Surprisingly, my biggest memory involves something you wouldn't expect!
Vinny: Yep. So what MFGG games are your favorites/most remembered? DJ Yoshiman: Luigi's Quest was amazing to me, because it featured custom music, something that inspired me to start making music specifically for my fangames (Mario Spy back then). Anything created by 4eyes (4eyedent earlier) is the most remembered to me, because his fangames just... felt extremely polished. And of course, TD's fangames always seemed to be an age ahead of every one else on the website and forum.
Vinny: What individual members do you remember most from your time on MFGG? DJ Yoshiman: Nite Shadow, we're still really great friends who talk. Ricweb, who helped with the site and made me my own webspace. Fireball3k and Neo Hyper Yoshi were part of Nite and my "group of friends." Every one loved PolarKoala. Later on, the likes of Fanguy, Draco, Jeff Silvers, Klobber, Shadowman and Jakmanjak would stain my memories. Oh, and Dr. Mario MD - the one famous for LICK LICK LICK and getting banned and being hated - I actually made friends with him and we still talk.
Vinny: I've heard that MFGG's Site Staffers have seen some pretty interesting things over the years that many people aren't aware of. Do you have any really good stories about crazy stuff you've seen on the main site? DJ Yoshiman: I didn't get on until much later, but I've seen my fair share of extremely crappy sprite sheets/games to the point where I have to rinse out my eyes for a minimum of 5 minutes. Oh, but since I usually do sounds, there was a pack of sounds that were said to be ripped from BETA Mario 64. The only thing it contained were 5 wave files of indistinguishable sounds/static. Not very exciting, but I thought I heard some one chanting in one of them. Gave me nightmares for one night. If it was years ago, where standards weren't so high, I totally would have accepted it. Vinny: It's probably good our standards have progressed a bit since way back when... DJ Yoshiman: Yeah, otherwise we would have had a pretty cool case of Mario-related nightmare fuel. Vinny: Stuff that would make you never look at Goomba sprites the same way again. DJ Yoshiman: Look At My Goomba Sprites (dying in a pit of hell)
Vinny: Yikes. What are your most vivid memories from your various stints as an MFGG forum administrator? DJ Yoshiman: Other than the contraversial PM Incident, the Cutty-Bidbood Deletion Incident, and the eventual Split? Mostly the number of PMs I would receive of people asking me for fangame help.
Vinny: I know MFGG's seen quite a few talented musicians in its ranks, but what composers/individual songs do you remember most? DJ Yoshiman: Tri. Bloody amazing composer of chip tune, and I recall him making some music with regular sampling as well (who I helped with starting his music creation scene). I also recall some one from OC Remix who registered once and showed a work. And promptly didn't show anything else. Such a tease.
Vinny: A decade ago, could you have imagined yourself still being active on MFGG in 2011 and still being friends with many of the original members? DJ Yoshiman: I didn't think MFGG would last that long, honestly. As the years trailed on and more younger, anonymous users would join the internet, I figured it'd be another lost community. I was surprised both ways - MFGG lasted that long, and there's only a few of us oldbies left. Back then, I thought we'd all be best friends sticking it to the end.
Vinny: Since this has a lot to do with MFGG's history, how's progress on WiTT Episode 2 going? I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who's looking forward to seeing it! DJ Yoshiman: Actually, it's pretty much done, except for the last bit of it. I'm expecting to release it at NCFC this year, since last year saw the release of the first one. It's something that definitely needs a lot of confidence behind it, because you've got to convince the newer members that it's a throwback to history. The first parts are going to be difficult, because they're things only people that were there back then will recognize - and other people will be interested if they like seeing the past. So if kids hate history, you're kind of out of luck. Once you get past those initial hardships, you can start dealing out stuff that they'll recognize.
Vinny: Exactly. Great. What advice would you give to someone who's just starting to make fangames or indie games, besides steering clear of a certain overused premade engine? DJ Yoshiman: Ha ha. Start with small projects, and then grow into it. Don't let others convince you which program to use (unless they're Computer Science graduates). Create is a short form of "creativity." BE CREATIVE! You've got the power of the franchise in your hands, use it! If it's indie, find something no one has done before!
Vinny: Very true. Is there anything else you'd like to say? Anything you'd like for people to know about MFGG or anything else? DJ Yoshiman: MFGG has come a very long way. I've been on it probably for too long, but it's thriving. It may not have the activity it once had, but the amount of dedication to creation and helping those creations is astounding. I really want people to view MFGG as an opportunity for growing, that "step" into learning a video game-related career, and to branch out, graduate into some one who later I will see in the credits of the next video game I play. And hopefully not under "catering."
Vinny: Well said. Many thanks for your time, and a good night to all. DJ Yoshiman: You're welcome! Now go fetch me a good sprite, citizen!
Parakarry
Spoiler:
How did you find MFGG? One day in high school I was on the computer, I was looking for something related to the Koopalings, I don't remember what though. One of the sites I found was this interesting looking site, I couldn't tell what it was, but it seemed to involve game making or something, and they had a lot of sprites. I wondered what a "lib" was, too. So I wrote down the site and took a look at it when I got back home. I didn't join then, but one year I did, along with my brother, Shadowman.
What's your favorite memory of MFGG? I came at first for the fangames, but I enjoyed the board as a whole. It wasn't just fangames, it had other stuff, the general discussion board, arts board, other stuff, and it was often just goofy and fun without being spammy. Different bizarre April Fools things, forum games, forum events, I really liked that.
What was your favorite fangame? A lot are good, but no one really sticks out for me. Some favorites include Legend of the Time Stopper, a game my friend Willy Goldwater and I were working on, but never got finished. There were a lot of games that even if they weren't made really well, were enjoyable. Although not technically a Mario game, but still a game known to MFGG, one of my favorite games is the Waligie series. It's a parody game that's bad on purpose, and it's just always hilarious. It came from a typo from an MFGGer named King Piranha Plant, or KPP, referring to Waluigi as Waligie. Games were made with a character named Waligie, and two other characters named Willigie and Wiluide were made, also from typos.
What people do you remember most from your time on MFGG? Klobber, one of the first people I talked to regularly. I had a friend named Willy Goldwater that I remembered, once the main site was down, and he and I found a temporary web host to put it on. Shyguy182, who made a few games, I've talked to before, that always seemed fun. Friends like Naoshi Baikyu, BSonirachi, Medaforcer, Raccoon Sam, Rage, there are a lot of them.
What's your most vivid memory of being a Site Staff member? Just seeing everything come in, a lot of stuff, usually not very good, but seeing it all before it was on the site was neat to look at. Occassionally I showed some people some of the extra-bad stuff that was submitted.
Are you still working on any games or other projects? I would love to, there are ideas I have. I want to make a Mega Man game, for instance, I have boss ideas all in my head, different 8 bit songs, and I'd love to make them. The problem is, I'm not really the best at coding, and The Games Factory's platforming engine is problematic and isn't really accurate. The way to get around those is using static engines, but I couldn't really understand them that easily, a lot of programming. Plus I'm a terrible spriter. I'd love some help on it, though. As for Mario, I like rom hacking SMW, there's a lot you can do with that.
How are things going in real life for you now? Well I graduated college, and not doing too much at the moment. Nice and relaxing, but also nothing going on. I'd love to be a voice actor, it's something I enjoy doing and am good at. I did some Mario voices in MFGG also.
Is there anything else you'd like to say, about MFGG or anything else? It was definately fun, and I don't know many other boards that were like that. I also like how there wasn't really much of a drive to make the games as good as they could possibly be. Sure, the games weren't particuarly well made, but they had this real thing about them that was just fun too. The board, I know the new boards are only about fangames, and that's ok, but it also seems to be missing something. There can still be a way to have some fun with the board, it doesn't need to be out of control, but it can still be enjoyable too.
Retriever II
Spoiler:
How did you first become interested in fangaming? What events led you to become MFGG's host? I saw Klobber and Kritter making cool stuff. I wanted to make cool stuff. Bam.
As for becoming MFGG's host, I don't remember exactly how it came about, but I've always been ready to jump in and handle a crisis. MFGG had a lot of those in its early days, and it just seemed like a natural fit to take a more direct role in running the site. I was also one of the only people old enough and willing to put down $5 on the place, so I guess that also make a big difference.
Did you ever imagine MFGG becoming as successful as it has? I'm not sure I want to put a measurement of "success" on MFGG. Certainly, the site has lasted a lot longer than I ever imagined it would. I think it was during the 5 year anniversary that I claimed MFGG would never make it to 10 years. Clearly I've been proven wrong. In terms of numbers, MFGG seemed to peak around 2006 and then fall back somewhat into obscurity, although it seems there's still a healthy stream of activity going on. Fun fact: MFGG is the top Google result for keywords "fangame", "fangames", and "fan games". It's number 2 for "fan game". I didn't imagine that happening.
What was your favorite fangame? I never played many, to be honest. Probably New and Tasty, for its good production value and the fact that SM kept shoving it in my face and that I had a small role in building it.
What's your favorite memory of MFGG? Reverse-engineering the textures and models of the Paper Mario games and posting my progress on the board. It was really exciting to not only unravel content that others couldn't effectively rip, but also to discover all the hidden material that never made it into the final games.
Oh, and nearly giving ShadowMan a heart attack during his first April Fools prank when I rigged the admin cp. That was loads of fun. Vindictive fun.
What individual members do you remember most from your time on MFGG? The ones that I still keep in touch with. Klobber, Kritter, ShadowMan, among others.
What are your most vivid memories from your stint as an administrator and webmaster? Probably the various crises that I've had to deal with, from losing hosting with Spitfire and Masaki, to Cutty bringing down the boards.
Is there anything you wish you'd done differently as MFGG's webmaster, or as a forum administrator? Loads I'm sure, although I've forgotten them all by now. Of course there are tons of things I wish I did differently in developing the actual software, but as a webmaster I think I did a good job keeping things running and dealing with crises. On the other hand, I was never great admin material. Perhaps as a consequence of that, I never really ... did anything. If I could do it over I'd try and separate myself from community management.
How was it like to code the original main site? Long. Content management systems are dry and tedious to build and extend. But despite all the problems with the site, I think it's cool that the system has managed to survive for 5+ years without totally breaking down. If you want to know why I could never push out another major version, look up the "Second System Effect".
How are things going in real life for you now? I recently completed a Masters degree in Computer Science, and I now work as a software engineer writing imaging toolkits. So right on track. I wouldn't say my involvement at MFGG had any bearing, but I'm sure projects I've worked on that had roots in MFGG, like XLua for MMF, contributed heavily.
I've definitely closed the fangaming chapter in my life, but I'd still like to take a stab at a small independent game.
Is there anything else you'd like to say, about MFGG or anything else? It's been a weird ride, but at least I got to meet a few cool people.
Shadowman
Spoiler:
What's your favorite memory of MFGG? For better or worse, my favorite uniquely MFGG memories were from the events and roleplays, what with Zombie Week, the various challenges, and everything like that. If I had to narrow it down to two (I'm cheating!), it would probably be the first and the last I ever took part in.
Back in early-mid 2003, I remember someone -- was it FanGuy? -- started a party thread where everyone would post what they were bringing and simulate a big get-together. This was fun as a friendless 13-year-old, but I got a huge kick out of the chaotic collaboration that went on. It was my first time really getting involved with something along those lines. Board role play is of course a little faux pas now, but it cemented my love for the community that MFGG hosted: wacky, but still sensible and willing to play by the rules that we made up.
In contrast, the final such madness I wound up in was an admin war between me and Klobber, renaming and re-skinning the PPP. That happened almost immediately before I quit, and I remember it as sort of a fittingly bizarre last hurrah. By that point, the community had devolved and mutated into something I didn't care for, a group that parroted anything 4chan spat out rather that inventing its own jokes and culture. Forum politics and whatnot turned into a total disaster, so it was appropriate to bookend my years of events and roleplaying with something avant-garde and pointless.
The difference between the two events really speaks volumes to how the site changed over a decade. At the start, it was a much smaller group that was tightly focused on the community experience. By the end of my time, it had turned into a bustling metropolis, but one so unfortunately drained of its character that the only way to have fun was utter chaos and an elaborate in-joke.
That said, there's something to be said for chaos.
What was your favorite fangame? I always enjoyed earlier fangames more than the perfect ones that used the Hello Engine and similar tools, just because they showed a little more raw ambition. In my mind, nothing will ever again show the raw ambition and insanity of Legacy of the Golden Hammer - Part One. Don't get me wrong, it's an absolutely horrendous and completely unplayable game. But good lord, does it have balls. Even the title screen is outsized and insults you for trying to skip its lengthy cutscene graphic.
Legacy of the Golden Hammer starts out as a fairly innocent Mario clone, but within a few scenes, some completely insane Mission Impossible-style plot has hijacked an otherwise responsible fangame. It's unfairly hard, half from design and half because of glitches, which distracts you from realizing how completely ridiculous it gets. My lasting memory of this game is the point where I gave up: at one point Mario has to climb onto a jet plane and shoot down Bowser's minions while he does battle against Evil Mario, his dark clone who is currently piloting an even LARGER plane. Then at the end, Mario obtains a magic power that allows him to fly through walls.
LotGH is laughably horrendous, but nothing like it ever really has existed or will ever be made again. And the craziest part is that it's a Mario game! A teenager made the most insane, unthinkable, out-of-control Mario game ever conceived! This is the wonder that fangames first presented to me, and even though I loathed this game for its impossible difficulty and dumb ideas, I secretly admired its ambition and dedication.
What people do you remember most from your time on MFGG? Not counting the insane or stupid people like Jinpen (did he need a new hobby?), Delmore (is he secretly homeless?), and Mugenmidget (what kind of satisfaction do you get from terrorizing a small Mario forum?), I made some serious friends from the MFGG days. Just off the top of my head, I can think of Joey, RII, Techokami, Trasher/Kins/Scods/etc., Sage, Klobber, Bungalo, Yoshiman, Hanyou, Naoshi, Kritter, Black Squirrel, LuigiFan, and probably a couple others I'm forgetting. They've all become legitimate friends in my post-MFGG life, and I've even met up with some afterwards (spoilers: it was Joey). I'm not a huge fan of most of the community, but a select few people really still matter to me, and for that, I'm at least partly thankful.
What do you remember most from your stint as an administrator? Most of my memories from being admin involve the aforementioned weird events I used to pull. Some of those were stupidly fun, like the Nega-Leviathan/Santa event, the Stupidity Discharge, Muscular Trapeze Artists, and countless other minor ones that were never documented (Ernest's Custard Emporium anybody?). MFGG's community has slipped off the edge of stability and rationality in recent years, but during the times when we could do things like that without them getting out of hand, they really spoke to the outrageously weird and loose character that MFGG had.
My strongest memory of all, though, had to be the brief admin revolt. I recall Kritter getting angry, removing the swear filter, deleting the rules, and resigning. Almost immediately, people declared anarchy and became incredibly profane. The chaos was distressing at the time but hilarious in retrospect.
Come to think of it, all those moments of crisis were really great. Anyone remember when Spitfire (?) hosted our site on d2sector.net, then flooded us with porn to justify us getting kicked out? Or when I forgot to tell the rest of the admins that we were getting our hosting pulled? Good times.
Is there anything you wish you'd done differently during your days on MFGG? As I've strongly implied, I wish I could have rolled my insanity back just a little bit. I feel that my antics might be partially responsible for the boards drifting the way they did into chaos and bickering, especially the start of all the nasty forum politics. But that could've been the path that Internet communities took in general too. MFGG was strongest when it focused on fangames, creativity, and a community based within them. I might have driven that off the rails.
Are you surprised that people still love (and hate simultaneously) Waligie? It's profoundly disturbing that people still like Waligie. It started as a hilarious, twisted in-joke by Hippoman. Then Cutmanmike joined in, and I followed, and it all (literally?) went to hell. Even now replaying the games, I keep laughing my ass off. Each of us had a different style we brought to things, and the conflict and combination of all those really made the Waligie games the intangible mess that they were.
I never had so much fun stylistically sucking at game design. I guess that's what people liked about it too. Other attempts to capitalize on the formula might have too polished, too hard, or too... something else. The Waligie zeitgeist and the Waligie je ne sais quoi may never be captured again.
But I can never get over the fact that people remember Bob Braker more than they do New and Tasty. I actually put work into that thing!
How are things going in real life for you now? Things could not be going any better. As I'm typing this, I'm in an apartment in Washington, D.C., working at my university's library. I'm on the track to study library and information sciences. I have a great group of solid friends, and I still find time to game.
But not really to make fangames anymore. MFGG was a place of solace where I could go when I was anti-social (i.e., most of the time). It had its time and its place, as it always does (most of the community seems to be teens at any given time), but it filled a very important part of my life. As long as people still want to make a game with Mario in it, I'm sure it'll be a constant with that very purpose.
Unless people don't grow up. I won't name the specific community I'm thinking of, but you can probably guess. Seriously guys.
Is there anything else you'd like to say, about MFGG or anything else? MFGG is inherently flawed now in that it has to divide itself between the fangaming aspect, which isn't as strong as it used to be, and the community, which has turned rotten and unlikeable. But the site is so steeped in history, enthusiasm, energy, and friendly faces that I can never really separate what it has become from its inspirational beginnings. I cannot believe that 9 years ago, my brother was searching for things about the Koopalings and found this site, that I joined a year later, and that I was caught so strongly in its appeal and force force that it came to define my adolescence.
Godspeed guys.
Trasher
Spoiler:
What's your favorite memory of MFGG? Probably looking through the submission queue. There was a lot of strange, strange stuff that got submitted that most people never saw. I wish I still had some of it, but hard drive crashes.
What was your favorite fangame? Cripes, it's been a while since I looked... the one that comes to mind the most is Super Mario: Blue Twilight DX, as it was easily the most polished fangame I'd seen in quite a while. Super Mario Crossover was obviously very good, too, but I'm not sure that was ever submitted.
What people do you remember most from your time on MFGG? Probably the people I still talk to. Of all the friends I made here, I've kept in touch with most of them throughout the years. Odds are you're trying to interview most of them!
What do you remember most from your stint as an administrator? Probably fending off a bunch of MugenMidget and Nightwing alts. Never a dull moment!
Is there anything you wish you'd done differently during your days on MFGG? Probably taken a bit more care and attention to the running of the PPP, so that it'd stay as "the funny forum" and not just a bunch of recycled memes.
Did you ever imagine people would still be using your sound rips this much even to this day? I guess? I kind of thought they'd have been overtaken by rips from newer games using better tools, but whatever works, I suppose!
How are things going in real life for you now? Pretty good, honestly. I can't really complain about anything. Well, I have a cold right now, which kind of sucks, but that's not very interesting.
Is there anything else you'd like to say, about MFGG or anything else?
Note: Due to time constraints - I came into this project believing MFGG's anniversary was the traditional July 16 date rather than the actual July 9 - some interviews aren't finished yet. Hang in there folks.
In the past week, one comparatively recent MFGGer has been roaming the world, tracking down a number of celebrity figures who have worked hard over the years to help make MFGG what it is today. In honor of MFGG's tenth birthday, these classified, clandestine conversations are now posted for all to see, fully uncut and uncensored! Eat your heart out, y'all. This is great stuff.
[size=200][b][i]Thunder Dragon[/size][/b][/i]
[spoiler][b]I know this may sound silly, but why did you create MFGG in the first place?[/b]
Hoooooo boy. Was it perchance the reckless innocence of youth? Probably. Somewhere in the era of 2000 A.D., I was wandering the BS Freakzone forums (an early fan gaming site), where I would stumble upon a link to a site called Sonic Fan Games HQ. Suffice to say, my 13-year-old self thought it was the greatest thing ever, before being prompted to ask: why isn't there a Mario counterpart? Sure, there was Mario Fan Games Central, but it wasn't so much geared to actually creating Mario games as it was simply linking to and reviewing Mario fan games from all over the web. I'll be brutally honest here: I wasn't so much interested in playing the games as making them, because let's face it - most early fan games weren't exactly what you'd call "good." To me, it was all about the thrill of creation, and I wanted to focus on that aspect of fangaming. If you've been to MFGG during 2001, you'd have noticed that graphic libraries had thumbnails and descriptions, whereas the games themselves didn't. Now you know!
[b]How did you first get into game making?[/b]
It was around 1997 or 1998. I frequented the long-running Mario fan site, The Mushroom Kingdom, which housed a good deal of Mario everything. Yes, that included fan games - some of the very first, in fact. In particular, was a trio consisting of Super Mario Alpha, Yoshi's Island X, and Yoshi's Island X2, all by Biebersoft. These were the first Mario fan games to be made in a Clickteam product-- Klik and Play. After you closed any of these games, a "made with Klik and Play" dialog would pop up, advertising the very program. So naturally, I had to track it down and try it out. It was glorious. And everything just snowballed from there...
[b]Back in 2001, could you have imagined MFGG being around for a whole decade?[/b]
Back then, my mentality consisted primarily of, "I will keep MFGG alive forever and EVER! It's going to be HUGE, just you watch!" So, one could say... "yes."
[b]What's your favorite memory of MFGG?[/b]
I want to say completing Toad Strikes Back, simply because it defied everyone's expectations. It has been a long-standing, unwritten rule that over-ambitious, large-scale fan game projects never get finished. To see the delighted surprise and positive reception the game received upon release brought about what one may call "warm fuzzies" to my heart. See, I never really considered creating MFGG an accomplishment. Making games was always the purpose of the site, so having finished one of such scale made the whole thing worthwhile.
[b]What's your strangest memory of MFGG?[/b]
Way back before MFGG's forum actually had a fangaming focus, there was a thread where members could post real-life pictures of themselves. Since I wanted to remain "mysterious," I simply cut out a picture of my eye and posted it. Not long afterward, one member would take the image of my eye, and attach it to literally every post he made... but not before embellishing each of his messages with "hilarious" eye puns!
[b]What was your favorite fangame?[/b]
Midas Machine. After 10 years, you'd think the choice would be a little tougher, but... Midas Machine. Many fan games are good "for a fan game," if you get what I'm saying, but Midas Machine is simply good. Not only is it a well-made Mario platformer, but it thinks outside the box - instead of just cloning Super Mario Bros. 3, it offers its own interpretation on the Mario formula. All the original graphics and music also help set it apart from the rest. A good fan game doesn't imitate the source material - a good fan game instead pays tribute, like Midas Machine here.
[b]What people do you remember most from your time on MFGG?[/b]
Kyle, Kritter, DJ Yoshiman, Nite Shadow and Jas were some of the folks I recall interacting with the most. Probably some others, too.
[b]Is there anything you wish you'd done differently with MFGG as its founder?[/b]
As you know, I'm not really involved with the workings of the site and forums anymore. However, I wouldn't change that-- I do, after all, have other things to occupy my free time with, namely my artistic endeavors and, you know, actually making games - the whole purpose of the site! But if I were to change one thing, I would have actually told the staff I wasn't going to manage the site (and ESPECIALLY not the forums) anymore, rather than just vanishing and waiting for somebody else to take over. Don't think I didn't consider that a dick move on my part - I did, and still do.
[b]Are you surprised that your games have become as popular as they are?[/b]
Well, I did expect that people would end up liking them at least a little bit. What I didn't expect was that Psycho Waluigi would wind up in some Swedish gaming magazine called Level. That was a surprise, to say the least!
[b]What advice would you give to someone who's just getting started making fangames or indie games?[/b]
Making a game? Make it your own. I can't stress this enough: make it your own. This especially applies to fan games, which have a notorious reputation of being half-hearted knock-offs. All I can say is... don't set the bar for yourself, because you'll only end up setting it too high. You don't want to imitate, you want to create. When we first start making games, obviously we won't be mining gold right away, but with your own original idea, you'll at least be able to put together something with a bit of quirky charm. If you try to imitate, say, Super Mario Bros. on your first attempt, you'll only end up with, well, a half-hearted knock-off. With a game making tool, you have the power to make nearly anything you please. So please, don't waste that power! Use it to its fullest extent, and make your creations your own!
[b]How are things going in real life for you now?[/b]
I am a passionate artist; which is to say, my reason for being. Fan games are but a fun little diversion for me, and nothing more. I'm primarily a pencil artist and a sculptor, and yes, I've made good money off some of my stuff. I'm an artist through and through - as one who spends much time making games, I'm actually not a tech geek at all... heck, technology confuses me! One could say it's the artist in me that influences the creation of games, with me only incorporating an ever-so-slight dose of mild nerdiness into the mix. But yeah, if you ever run into me in real life, chances are my face will be buried in a sketch book.
[b]Is there anything else you'd like to say, about MFGG or anything else?[/b]
While I've gone on record saying that MFGG isn't really an accomplishment, don't think I'm not happy the site has made it this far. It really is something to see how others took my little pet project and turned it into the giant it is today. So, I'd like to extend a heart-felt "thank you" to each of the staff members from over the years, along with our ever-growing and ever-supportive user base. So to you, in my worst Mario impression ever, I say, "Thank-a you so much!"[/spoiler]
[size=200][b][i]Black Squirrel[/size][/b][/i]
[spoiler][b]What was your favorite fangame?[/b]
The obvious thing to say are the likes of Toad Strikes Back, Super Mario Stardust - games that clearly had a lot of love put into them etc., but I tend to gravitate towards fangames that are "different". I think if you've got the greatest information resource on the planet in front of you, there's no excuse to not make something bizarre. I've always enjoyed the Waligie series, the likes of Lets Go Thingio! (and other Tech Wing products), Mushroom Kingdom Fusion (before it went down the road of trying to add everything under the sun), and generally just games that break the "norm". Because the norm is boring. It's too... "normal".
As far as non-Mario fangames go, I've always been inspired by what the Sonic fangame community have offered. Sonic 2 HD, Sonic Fan Remix etc.. I love the way a group of bedroom programmers can produce a game that plays better than what comes out of Sega's head offices. It's not really the same with Nintendo products because the stuff Nintendo EAD throws out is usually top notch. Mario is disappointing a lot of the time when it comes to fangames, because you just get Super Mario Bros. 3 in new clothes, hence why I like the crazy scenarios.
[b]What do you remember most from your time on MFGG?[/b]
Several years of message board "drama"! Sadly it was hard to think of anything else back in the day, seeing as controlling the fractured community that had been passed down took up most of my internet life at the time. It was always good fun logging into the instant messenger of choice only to be pestered by people you hardly knew, but thankfully it's not an issue anymore.
Seriously. Thank the lord.
[b]Is there anything you wish you'd done differently earlier in your MFGG career?[/b]
I made a lot of stupid decisions while I was admininstrator first time around... various complicated "systems" that struggled to be maintained, various silly things said and done. But I'm not sure if it's a good idea to go back and change that as you tend to learn from your mistakes.
I think the decision to split the message boards in two is something I should have pioneered a lot earlier - could have saved a lot of headaches for my successors, and myself. I think the mess at MFGG during 2007-2009 really did start to hinder progress on the site as a whole - we've literally only got one person (Char) working on the technology behind MFGG 3.0 - everyone else jumped ship.
I'd have also picked a better username. Because this one is awful. However, it's almost as old as MFGG itself (late 2002 vs. mid 2001), so it's a bit difficult to get rid of.
[b]What advice would you give someone who's just starting out making fangames or indie games?[/b]
Don't make something dull or stupid. Building a game is a lengthy process - you don't want to be spending your time making Super Mario World for the thousandth time. Go for something interesting, not just to attract the attention of others, but to keep you entertained in the long haul too. I run the wonderful Blog Squirrel (http://blogsquirrel.blogspot.com/) which acts as my pathetic contribution in getting the masses hooked on quirky games of years long past - it could be inspiring! Or just a shamless plug.
[b]Is there anything else you'd like to say, about MFGG or anything else?[/b]
I HOPE IT WILL LIVE ANOTHER TEN YEARS... and words to that effect. It's ruined my teenage years and constantly manages to annoy me with its badly made thumbnails and its refusal to adopt the English language, but it's still the best Mario fangaming resource on the net and I wish it all the luck in the future![/spoiler]
[size=200][b][i]DJ Yoshiman[/size][/b][/i]
[spoiler]Vinny: OK. *grabs cigar and tacky journalist hat*
DJ Yoshiman: *sits in fancy high almighty admin chair looking down at you*
Vinny: *while hearing a bassline in his Yoshi head.*
DJ Yoshiman: Unnsss Unnsss Unnsss
[b]Vinny: So let's start with something I ask everyone I interview. What's your favorite memory of MFGG? You've been there a while, you know.[/b]
DJ Yoshiman: Just one? Ouch. I think out of all my favourite memories, the one that stands out THE MOST is when Thunder Dragon obtained Super Mario Sunshine for the Gamecube. We were warned, but still weren't prepared for a lack of activity from the site owner for the 2 weeks he was indulging in it.
[b]Vinny: OK. Not the answer I was expecting, but interesting![/b]
DJ Yoshiman: What sort of answer were you expecting?
[b]Vinny: I have no idea - maybe something having to do with a little event called NCFC! But it's also true a lot of what we end up remembering most are the things like what you just said.[/b]
DJ Yoshiman: Ha ha. Well, many people remember things after 2003 or so. Other oldbies probably remember memories that are really big or already covered in the wiki. Surprisingly, my biggest memory involves something you wouldn't expect!
[b]Vinny: Yep. So what MFGG games are your favorites/most remembered?[/b]
DJ Yoshiman: Luigi's Quest was amazing to me, because it featured custom music, something that inspired me to start making music specifically for my fangames (Mario Spy back then). Anything created by 4eyes (4eyedent earlier) is the most remembered to me, because his fangames just... felt extremely polished.
And of course, TD's fangames always seemed to be an age ahead of every one else on the website and forum.
[b]Vinny: What individual members do you remember most from your time on MFGG?[/b]
DJ Yoshiman: Nite Shadow, we're still really great friends who talk. Ricweb, who helped with the site and made me my own webspace. Fireball3k and Neo Hyper Yoshi were part of Nite and my "group of friends." Every one loved PolarKoala. Later on, the likes of Fanguy, Draco, Jeff Silvers, Klobber, Shadowman and Jakmanjak would stain my memories.
Oh, and Dr. Mario MD - the one famous for LICK LICK LICK and getting banned and being hated - I actually made friends with him and we still talk.
[b]Vinny: I've heard that MFGG's Site Staffers have seen some pretty interesting things over the years that many people aren't aware of. Do you have any really good stories about crazy stuff you've seen on the main site?[/b]
DJ Yoshiman: I didn't get on until much later, but I've seen my fair share of extremely crappy sprite sheets/games to the point where I have to rinse out my eyes for a minimum of 5 minutes.
Oh, but since I usually do sounds, there was a pack of sounds that were said to be ripped from BETA Mario 64. The only thing it contained were 5 wave files of indistinguishable sounds/static. Not very exciting, but I thought I heard some one chanting in one of them. Gave me nightmares for one night.
If it was years ago, where standards weren't so high, I totally would have accepted it.
[b]Vinny: It's probably good our standards have progressed a bit since way back when...[/b]
DJ Yoshiman: Yeah, otherwise we would have had a pretty cool case of Mario-related nightmare fuel.
[b]Vinny: Stuff that would make you never look at Goomba sprites the same way again.[/b]
DJ Yoshiman: Look At My Goomba Sprites (dying in a pit of hell)
[b]Vinny: Yikes. What are your most vivid memories from your various stints as an MFGG forum administrator?[/b]
DJ Yoshiman: Other than the contraversial PM Incident, the Cutty-Bidbood Deletion Incident, and the eventual Split? Mostly the number of PMs I would receive of people asking me for fangame help.
[b]Vinny: I know MFGG's seen quite a few talented musicians in its ranks, but what composers/individual songs do you remember most?[/b]
DJ Yoshiman: Tri. Bloody amazing composer of chip tune, and I recall him making some music with regular sampling as well (who I helped with starting his music creation scene). I also recall some one from OC Remix who registered once and showed a work.
And promptly didn't show anything else. Such a tease.
[b]Vinny: A decade ago, could you have imagined yourself still being active on MFGG in 2011 and still being friends with many of the original members?[/b]
DJ Yoshiman: I didn't think MFGG would last that long, honestly. As the years trailed on and more younger, anonymous users would join the internet, I figured it'd be another lost community. I was surprised both ways - MFGG lasted that long, and there's only a few of us oldbies left. Back then, I thought we'd all be best friends sticking it to the end.
[b]Vinny: Since this has a lot to do with MFGG's history, how's progress on WiTT Episode 2 going? I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who's looking forward to seeing it![/b]
DJ Yoshiman: Actually, it's pretty much done, except for the last bit of it. I'm expecting to release it at NCFC this year, since last year saw the release of the first one. It's something that definitely needs a lot of confidence behind it, because you've got to convince the newer members that it's a throwback to history.
The first parts are going to be difficult, because they're things only people that were there back then will recognize - and other people will be interested if they like seeing the past. So if kids hate history, you're kind of out of luck. Once you get past those initial hardships, you can start dealing out stuff that they'll recognize.
[b]Vinny: Exactly. Great. What advice would you give to someone who's just starting to make fangames or indie games, besides steering clear of a certain overused premade engine?[/b]
DJ Yoshiman: Ha ha. Start with small projects, and then grow into it. Don't let others convince you which program to use (unless they're Computer Science graduates). Create is a short form of "creativity." BE CREATIVE! You've got the power of the franchise in your hands, use it! If it's indie, find something no one has done before!
[b]Vinny: Very true. Is there anything else you'd like to say? Anything you'd like for people to know about MFGG or anything else?[/b]
DJ Yoshiman: MFGG has come a very long way. I've been on it probably for too long, but it's thriving. It may not have the activity it once had, but the amount of dedication to creation and helping those creations is astounding. I really want people to view MFGG as an opportunity for growing, that "step" into learning a video game-related career, and to branch out, graduate into some one who later I will see
in the credits of the next video game I play. And hopefully not under "catering."
[b]Vinny: Well said. Many thanks for your time, and a good night to all.[/b]
DJ Yoshiman: You're welcome!
Now go fetch me a good sprite, citizen![/spoiler]
[size=200][b][i]Parakarry[/size][/b][/i]
[spoiler][b]How did you find MFGG?[/b]
One day in high school I was on the computer, I was looking for something related to the Koopalings, I don't remember what though. One of the sites I found was this interesting looking site, I couldn't tell what it was, but it seemed to involve game making or something, and they had a lot of sprites. I wondered what a "lib" was, too. So I wrote down the site and took a look at it when I got back home. I didn't join then, but one year I did, along with my brother, Shadowman.
[b]What's your favorite memory of MFGG?[/b]
I came at first for the fangames, but I enjoyed the board as a whole. It wasn't just fangames, it had other stuff, the general discussion board, arts board, other stuff, and it was often just goofy and fun without being spammy. Different bizarre April Fools things, forum games, forum events, I really liked that.
[b]What was your favorite fangame?[/b]
A lot are good, but no one really sticks out for me. Some favorites include Legend of the Time Stopper, a game my friend Willy Goldwater and I were working on, but never got finished. There were a lot of games that even if they weren't made really well, were enjoyable.
Although not technically a Mario game, but still a game known to MFGG, one of my favorite games is the Waligie series. It's a parody game that's bad on purpose, and it's just always hilarious. It came from a typo from an MFGGer named King Piranha Plant, or KPP, referring to Waluigi as Waligie. Games were made with a character named Waligie, and two other characters named Willigie and Wiluide were made, also from typos.
[b]What people do you remember most from your time on MFGG?[/b]
Klobber, one of the first people I talked to regularly.
I had a friend named Willy Goldwater that I remembered, once the main site was down, and he and I found a temporary web host to put it on.
Shyguy182, who made a few games, I've talked to before, that always seemed fun.
Friends like Naoshi Baikyu, BSonirachi, Medaforcer, Raccoon Sam, Rage, there are a lot of them.
[b]What's your most vivid memory of being a Site Staff member?[/b]
Just seeing everything come in, a lot of stuff, usually not very good, but seeing it all before it was on the site was neat to look at.
Occassionally I showed some people some of the extra-bad stuff that was submitted.
[b]Are you still working on any games or other projects?[/b]
I would love to, there are ideas I have. I want to make a Mega Man game, for instance, I have boss ideas all in my head, different 8 bit songs, and I'd love to make them. The problem is, I'm not really the best at coding, and The Games Factory's platforming engine is problematic and isn't really accurate. The way to get around those is using static engines, but I couldn't really understand them that easily, a lot of programming. Plus I'm a terrible spriter. I'd love some help on it, though. As for Mario, I like rom hacking SMW, there's a lot you can do with that.
[b]How are things going in real life for you now?[/b]
Well I graduated college, and not doing too much at the moment. Nice and relaxing, but also nothing going on. I'd love to be a voice actor, it's something I enjoy doing and am good at. I did some Mario voices in MFGG also.
[b]Is there anything else you'd like to say, about MFGG or anything else?[/b]
It was definately fun, and I don't know many other boards that were like that. I also like how there wasn't really much of a drive to make the games as good as they could possibly be. Sure, the games weren't particuarly well made, but they had this real thing about them that was just fun too.
The board, I know the new boards are only about fangames, and that's ok, but it also seems to be missing something. There can still be a way to have some fun with the board, it doesn't need to be out of control, but it can still be enjoyable too.[/spoiler]
[size=200][b][i]Retriever II[/i][/b][/size]
[spoiler][b]How did you first become interested in fangaming? What events led you to become MFGG's host?[/b]
I saw Klobber and Kritter making cool stuff. I wanted to make cool stuff. Bam.
As for becoming MFGG's host, I don't remember exactly how it came about, but I've always been ready to jump in and handle a crisis. MFGG had a lot of those in its early days, and it just seemed like a natural fit to take a more direct role in running the site. I was also one of the only people old enough and willing to put down $5 on the place, so I guess that also make a big difference.
[b]Did you ever imagine MFGG becoming as successful as it has?[/b]
I'm not sure I want to put a measurement of "success" on MFGG. Certainly, the site has lasted a lot longer than I ever imagined it would. I think it was during the 5 year anniversary that I claimed MFGG would never make it to 10 years. Clearly I've been proven wrong. In terms of numbers, MFGG seemed to peak around 2006 and then fall back somewhat into obscurity, although it seems there's still a healthy stream of activity going on. Fun fact: MFGG is the top Google result for keywords "fangame", "fangames", and "fan games". It's number 2 for "fan game". I didn't imagine that happening.
[b]What was your favorite fangame?[/b]
I never played many, to be honest. Probably New and Tasty, for its good production value and the fact that SM kept shoving it in my face and that I had a small role in building it.
[b]What's your favorite memory of MFGG?[/b]
Reverse-engineering the textures and models of the Paper Mario games and posting my progress on the board. It was really exciting to not only unravel content that others couldn't effectively rip, but also to discover all the hidden material that never made it into the final games.
Oh, and nearly giving ShadowMan a heart attack during his first April Fools prank when I rigged the admin cp. That was loads of fun. Vindictive fun.
[b]What individual members do you remember most from your time on MFGG?[/b]
The ones that I still keep in touch with. Klobber, Kritter, ShadowMan, among others.
[b]What are your most vivid memories from your stint as an administrator and webmaster?[/b]
Probably the various crises that I've had to deal with, from losing hosting with Spitfire and Masaki, to Cutty bringing down the boards.
[b]Is there anything you wish you'd done differently as MFGG's webmaster, or as a forum administrator?[/b]
Loads I'm sure, although I've forgotten them all by now. Of course there are tons of things I wish I did differently in developing the actual software, but as a webmaster I think I did a good job keeping things running and dealing with crises. On the other hand, I was never great admin material. Perhaps as a consequence of that, I never really ... did anything. If I could do it over I'd try and separate myself from community management.
[b]How was it like to code the original main site?[/b]
Long. Content management systems are dry and tedious to build and extend. But despite all the problems with the site, I think it's cool that the system has managed to survive for 5+ years without totally breaking down. If you want to know why I could never push out another major version, look up the "Second System Effect".
[b]How are things going in real life for you now?[/b]
I recently completed a Masters degree in Computer Science, and I now work as a software engineer writing imaging toolkits. So right on track. I wouldn't say my involvement at MFGG had any bearing, but I'm sure projects I've worked on that had roots in MFGG, like XLua for MMF, contributed heavily.
I've definitely closed the fangaming chapter in my life, but I'd still like to take a stab at a small independent game.
[b]Is there anything else you'd like to say, about MFGG or anything else?[/b]
It's been a weird ride, but at least I got to meet a few cool people.[/spoiler]
[size=200][b][i]Shadowman[/size][/b][/i]
[spoiler][b]What's your favorite memory of MFGG?[/b]
For better or worse, my favorite uniquely MFGG memories were from the events and roleplays, what with Zombie Week, the various challenges, and everything like that. If I had to narrow it down to two (I'm cheating!), it would probably be the first and the last I ever took part in.
Back in early-mid 2003, I remember someone -- was it FanGuy? -- started a party thread where everyone would post what they were bringing and simulate a big get-together. This was fun as a friendless 13-year-old, but I got a huge kick out of the chaotic collaboration that went on. It was my first time really getting involved with something along those lines. Board role play is of course a little faux pas now, but it cemented my love for the community that MFGG hosted: wacky, but still sensible and willing to play by the rules that we made up.
In contrast, the final such madness I wound up in was an admin war between me and Klobber, renaming and re-skinning the PPP. That happened almost immediately before I quit, and I remember it as sort of a fittingly bizarre last hurrah. By that point, the community had devolved and mutated into something I didn't care for, a group that parroted anything 4chan spat out rather that inventing its own jokes and culture. Forum politics and whatnot turned into a total disaster, so it was appropriate to bookend my years of events and roleplaying with something avant-garde and pointless.
The difference between the two events really speaks volumes to how the site changed over a decade. At the start, it was a much smaller group that was tightly focused on the community experience. By the end of my time, it had turned into a bustling metropolis, but one so unfortunately drained of its character that the only way to have fun was utter chaos and an elaborate in-joke.
That said, there's something to be said for chaos.
[b]What was your favorite fangame?[/b]
I always enjoyed earlier fangames more than the perfect ones that used the Hello Engine and similar tools, just because they showed a little more raw ambition. In my mind, nothing will ever again show the raw ambition and insanity of [url=http://mfgg.net/index.php?act=resdb¶m=02&c=2&id=302]Legacy of the Golden Hammer - Part One[/url]. Don't get me wrong, it's an absolutely horrendous and completely unplayable game. But good lord, does it have balls. Even the title screen is outsized and insults you for trying to skip its lengthy cutscene graphic.
Legacy of the Golden Hammer starts out as a fairly innocent Mario clone, but within a few scenes, some completely insane Mission Impossible-style plot has hijacked an otherwise responsible fangame. It's unfairly hard, half from design and half because of glitches, which distracts you from realizing how completely ridiculous it gets. My lasting memory of this game is the point where I gave up: at one point Mario has to climb onto a jet plane and shoot down Bowser's minions while he does battle against Evil Mario, his dark clone who is currently piloting an even LARGER plane. Then at the end, Mario obtains a magic power that allows him to fly through walls.
LotGH is laughably horrendous, but nothing like it ever really has existed or will ever be made again. And the craziest part is that it's a Mario game! A teenager made the most insane, unthinkable, out-of-control Mario game ever conceived! This is the wonder that fangames first presented to me, and even though I loathed this game for its impossible difficulty and dumb ideas, I secretly admired its ambition and dedication.
[b]What people do you remember most from your time on MFGG?[/b]
Not counting the insane or stupid people like Jinpen (did he need a new hobby?), Delmore (is he secretly homeless?), and Mugenmidget (what kind of satisfaction do you get from terrorizing a small Mario forum?), I made some serious friends from the MFGG days. Just off the top of my head, I can think of Joey, RII, Techokami, Trasher/Kins/Scods/etc., Sage, Klobber, Bungalo, Yoshiman, Hanyou, Naoshi, Kritter, Black Squirrel, LuigiFan, and probably a couple others I'm forgetting. They've all become legitimate friends in my post-MFGG life, and I've even met up with some afterwards (spoilers: it was Joey). I'm not a huge fan of most of the community, but a select few people really still matter to me, and for that, I'm at least partly thankful.
[b]What do you remember most from your stint as an administrator?[/b]
Most of my memories from being admin involve the aforementioned weird events I used to pull. Some of those were stupidly fun, like the Nega-Leviathan/Santa event, the Stupidity Discharge, Muscular Trapeze Artists, and countless other minor ones that were never documented (Ernest's Custard Emporium anybody?). MFGG's community has slipped off the edge of stability and rationality in recent years, but during the times when we could do things like that without them getting out of hand, they really spoke to the outrageously weird and loose character that MFGG had.
My strongest memory of all, though, had to be the brief admin revolt. I recall Kritter getting angry, removing the swear filter, deleting the rules, and resigning. Almost immediately, people declared anarchy and became incredibly profane. The chaos was distressing at the time but hilarious in retrospect.
Come to think of it, all those moments of crisis were really great. Anyone remember when Spitfire (?) hosted our site on d2sector.net, then flooded us with porn to justify us getting kicked out? Or when I forgot to tell the rest of the admins that we were getting our hosting pulled? Good times.
[b]Is there anything you wish you'd done differently during your days on MFGG?[/b]
As I've strongly implied, I wish I could have rolled my insanity back just a little bit. I feel that my antics might be partially responsible for the boards drifting the way they did into chaos and bickering, especially the start of all the nasty forum politics. But that could've been the path that Internet communities took in general too. MFGG was strongest when it focused on fangames, creativity, and a community based within them. I might have driven that off the rails.
[b]Are you surprised that people still love (and hate simultaneously) Waligie?[/b]
It's profoundly disturbing that people still like Waligie. It started as a hilarious, twisted in-joke by Hippoman. Then Cutmanmike joined in, and I followed, and it all (literally?) went to hell. Even now replaying the games, I keep laughing my ass off. Each of us had a different style we brought to things, and the conflict and combination of all those really made the Waligie games the intangible mess that they were.
I never had so much fun stylistically sucking at game design. I guess that's what people liked about it too. Other attempts to capitalize on the formula might have too polished, too hard, or too... something else. The Waligie zeitgeist and the Waligie je ne sais quoi may never be captured again.
But I can never get over the fact that people remember Bob Braker more than they do New and Tasty. I actually put work into that thing!
[b]How are things going in real life for you now?[/b]
Things could not be going any better. As I'm typing this, I'm in an apartment in Washington, D.C., working at my university's library. I'm on the track to study library and information sciences. I have a great group of solid friends, and I still find time to game.
But not really to make fangames anymore. MFGG was a place of solace where I could go when I was anti-social (i.e., most of the time). It had its time and its place, as it always does (most of the community seems to be teens at any given time), but it filled a very important part of my life. As long as people still want to make a game with Mario in it, I'm sure it'll be a constant with that very purpose.
Unless people don't grow up. I won't name the specific community I'm thinking of, but you can probably guess. Seriously guys.
[b]Is there anything else you'd like to say, about MFGG or anything else?[/b]
MFGG is inherently flawed now in that it has to divide itself between the fangaming aspect, which isn't as strong as it used to be, and the community, which has turned rotten and unlikeable. But the site is so steeped in history, enthusiasm, energy, and friendly faces that I can never really separate what it has become from its inspirational beginnings. I cannot believe that 9 years ago, my brother was searching for things about the Koopalings and found this site, that I joined a year later, and that I was caught so strongly in its appeal and force force that it came to define my adolescence.
Godspeed guys.[/spoiler]
[size=200][b][i]Trasher[/size][/b][/i]
[spoiler][b]What's your favorite memory of MFGG?[/b]
Probably looking through the submission queue. There was a lot of strange, strange stuff that got submitted that most people never saw. I wish I still had some of it, but hard drive crashes.
[b]What was your favorite fangame?[/b]
Cripes, it's been a while since I looked... the one that comes to mind the most is Super Mario: Blue Twilight DX, as it was easily the most polished fangame I'd seen in quite a while. Super Mario Crossover was obviously very good, too, but I'm not sure that was ever submitted.
[b]What people do you remember most from your time on MFGG?[/b]
Probably the people I still talk to. Of all the friends I made here, I've kept in touch with most of them throughout the years. Odds are you're trying to interview most of them!
[b]What do you remember most from your stint as an administrator?[/b]
Probably fending off a bunch of MugenMidget and Nightwing alts. Never a dull moment!
[b]Is there anything you wish you'd done differently during your days on MFGG?[/b]
Probably taken a bit more care and attention to the running of the PPP, so that it'd stay as "the funny forum" and not just a bunch of recycled memes.
[b]Did you ever imagine people would still be using your sound rips this much even to this day?[/b]
I guess? I kind of thought they'd have been overtaken by rips from newer games using [url=http://www.therwp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=40723]better tools[/url], but whatever works, I suppose!
[b]How are things going in real life for you now?[/b]
Pretty good, honestly. I can't really complain about anything. Well, I have a cold right now, which kind of sucks, but that's not very interesting.
[b]Is there anything else you'd like to say, about MFGG or anything else?[/b]
[img]http://i54.tinypic.com/t4zgjd.png[/img][/spoiler]
Note: Due to time constraints - I came into this project believing MFGG's anniversary was the traditional July 16 date rather than the actual July 9 - some interviews aren't finished yet. Hang in there folks.
Last edited by VinnyVideo on Sun Jul 17, 2011 12:42 pm, edited 3 times in total. _________________
Post subject: Re: MFGG legends discuss all things MFGG
Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2011 6:42 pm
Always have a Shy-Guy in your avatar
Yes, I'm a day late from even the traditional (and inaccurate) anniversary date, but here's a few more interviews worth taking the time to read!
Adamgamer
Spoiler:
Vinny: What's your favorite MFGG memory? Superadammario: I think it has to be trying to get together some people to make a mfgg podcast. If I remember correctly it was yoshiman, mecha, and keyzor (think that's how you spell it). We were doing a pilot based on mario quest and we had a bunch of recording issues. It never really came together but doing it was fun, hoping to get another project like that going soon. Vinny: That sounds really fun. You should try that again sometime! Superadammario: I'm still trying to figure out a way to do it Considering I used to have a weekly podcast on my old site, I want to try and eventually make a quality fan game podcast soon Vinny: Will it allude to the line "And then Mario beat Bowser?" Superadammario: Lol probably
Vinny: Of all the fangames on MFGG, which one has impressed you the most? Superadammario: There are so many quality games out there which really rival nintendo's recent offerings but the ones I really love the most are the games that get the community involved like super mario storm or yoshiman's new witt game. Vinny: I wish people made more things like that - and actually finished them. Superadammario: You might see something like that in the future... Or more specifically ncfc 2011 hopefully :p
Vinny: Good. What people do you think of when you think of MFGG? Superadammario: Probably the oldies like yoshiman, thunder dragon, or nite shadow
Vinny: Was it fun to make Paper Mario World? Did you realize at the time that it wasn't exactly very good, even by 2002 standards? Superadammario: It was the first fan game I ever made and it really showed in the final product how inexperienced I was with using the games factory yet at the same time didn't have a care in the world whether it was good or not considering not many 12 year olds have ever made a game before so I felt very accomplished. The whole game screams experimenting with the software except I thought it would be a good idea to release it to the public. If I had more sense back (I was kind of a dunce in my younger days) then I probably wouldn't have released it but then we wouldn't have a game that teaches you everything you shouldn't do in your own fangame. I don't regret releasing it though, making Paper Mario World had been an awesome experience and through the time it's been released I've made some awesome friends like Yoshiman and Mecha so in the end everything worked out well.
Vinny: How's progress on Return to PMW going? Superadammario: Return to Paper Mario World has been done for two years now and you can still find the series here: part 1 and 2 at http://www.youtube.com/adamgamer64 , the rest at http://www.youtube.com/starhillproductions. It was a five part humorous retrospective detailing the development of the game. In terms of the future, I have announced I am working on a new fan game project concerning Paper Mario World for it's tenth anniversary next year but its in the very early stages of development and only a select few know about what I'm doing sort of. It's not a sequel or remake to Paper Mario World but it new and does things that no fan game has ever done before. It's also heavily inspired by games like Super Mario Storm because I really want to involve the fan game community as well. I'm hoping to start full development next month once I get the script done and ok it with some 'certain people'. You will see something at NCFC 2011 for sure though!
Vinny: How are things going in real life for you now? Superadammario: It's been kind of hectic lately as being a young adult now gives you a lot of responsibilities such as paying rent and working for a living doesn't give you as much time for the stuff you love but it still has its fun side too.
Vinny: Is there anything else you'd like to say, about MFGG or anything else?: Superadammario: I'd like to say thanks to everyone that supported me over the years, still no idea to this day why people love Paper Mario World for all its terribleness but I still roll with it. I've been constantly impressed with the quality of work people are putting out these days and I can't wait to see what the next ten years of MFGG will be like. Keep up the amazing work everyone!
Char
Spoiler:
Vinny: Since I usually start with this, what's your favorite memory of MFGG? Char: General dupes. And how I changed one to Atlas33. That topic was f***ing hilarious. Theres probably a few mroe but that's the first one I can think of Vinny: Oh yes, that one was epic. And General Moo. Char: Oh hell yes
Vinny: What was your favorite fangame on MFGG? Char: That's actually a pretty difficult question. give me a second, I'll look through my downloaded games folder, I can't think of one MIDAS MACHINE, yes it's amazing. one of the best games on mfgg in my opinion It's like it takes real skill to make a game like that. Vinny: Even though it's not even complete, it's one of the most amazing we've seen. Char: How do I put it: it doesn't look like a fangame made by one person for no profit Vinny: Frankly, it's better than quite a few of the official Mario games. Char: I agree
Vinny: What individual members do you think of when you think of MFGG? Char: TD, RII, Yoshiman, Guinea, you, Wiiboy, Black Squirrel, Nite Shadow, Elyk, Ultramario. First 10 that I could think of and by you i mean VinnyVideo Vinny: OK. How flattering... Char: lol
Vinny: What do you remember most from being on the Site Staff? Char: Site staff as in QC or just staff in general Vinny: Well, I really meant Quality Control in this case. Char: Not much as QC - it's not a very exciting job, and I'm not very active as QC as it is. Preparing the QC Application was fun though and rating them and laughing at all the bad applications (yes i'm mean like that) I'm talking about the one we held sometime in august last year, btw Vinny: Yeah. Some of those had to be simply horrible.
Vinny: Years ago, did you ever imagine you'd become MFGG's webmaster? Char: Nope. Never When I joined MFGG I could hardly code let alone PHP, I was one of those typical noobs who just sucked up to staff. that was like 2006 Then 2007ish I stopped caring and then BS messaging me asking me to be CCC mod was completely unexpected out of the blue and I guess things went uphill from there - even then I didn't expect to be webmaster and the one day RII's just all "I'm done - here you be webmaster"
Vinny: How's development on the redesign of the main site going? Char: Very slow I mean like I'm not the kind of guy who can keep up a project for too long but I'm still inspired to complete this just I have too many things boggling me down
Vinny: I assume you don't mind if I ask, but how did you first get into fangaming and programming in the first place, especially since you're from India? Char: WELL I remember this oddly LONG time ago I was a member of these forums called TRsRockin and there was this guy there who posted his game so i'm like OMG HOWD U MAKE THIS!!! and he's like Game Maker. It's a fan game so I googled game maker and got gm googled Fangame and MFGG was one of the first results back then too (I think it's the first right now, havent checked :P) and well rest explains itself Vinny: Interesting. I'd always wondered about that. Also, for the record, MFGG's updates page is the second hit for "fangame" on Google for me, behind only Wikipedia. Char: Close enough
Vinny: Is there anything else you'd like for people to know about MFGG or anything else? Char: It's been fun All the s*** we've been through Community, drama, "MFGG Improvement Initiative", the split, etc etc but in the end MFGG is still standing and hopefully, it stays that way Vinny: Yep. Even through all the stuff that happens, there are still creative, fun people who want to make and play unique fangames and indie projects. Char: Yep plus we have NCFC and stuff which keeps it active and brings more traffic to all communities
Guinea
Spoiler:
Vinny: What's your favorite memory of MFGG? Guinea: Among the favorite memories of MFGG are definitely the Minigame Competitions, especially the recently introduced 24-hour ones. Another great memory was when working on an engine was still cool and everyone followed the progress of AME, which eventually turned into Super Mario Bros. DDX. Also, not directly related to MFGG, NCFC adds +1 to my favorite memory list every year.
Vinny: How did you get into programming and game development? Guinea: I was always interested in making games. Initially I made board games. The first board game I ever made (I think) was based on the original Rayman game for DOS, and it was quite boring, in retrospect... So, you also see that I have always had a fascination for video games and fangames, and because of my programming knowledge being limited to drawing on paper at that age of ... 7 or 8(?), all I could do was sketch a board game. At one point I learned about RPG Maker and started making RPGs, but I never finished a single one, although there were some with potential... Eventually when I googled "Game Maker" I found - wait for it - Game Maker by Mark Overmars and started making a Mario fangame and an original game starring my guinea-pig. That's the story of how I got into game programming, as far as I can remember at this point. Vinny: Interesting. Just out of curiosity, whatever became of your guinea pig game? Guinea: My guinea-pig game was the first game I ever finished, and was named "Ginni Pig Adventures". I was incredibly proud of that little platformer and even burned it on a CD with a printed label, despite its size of only 2 or 3 MB. After that I started work on a sequel which never got finished. I'm sure I have that executable of the first game somewhere lying around here, I wonder if it works on Win7. I never published that game anywhere though. I think only my parents and a friend of mine played it. Vinny: It sounds really cute. Guinea: It even looks really cute, considering my spriting skills back then.
Vinny: What's your favorite game on MFGG? Guinea: Difficult, but I'll say Super Mario Bros. All-Star Quest by Burnin' Leo. The game felt complete, and was very inspiring. I loved the way it was structured, the way it looked, the way it played and that it felt familiar while still being unique.
Vinny: What people from MFGG do you remember most? Guinea: Such a question is always difficult to answer, because there will always be someone I should remember but don't in a situation like this, so I'll start with some old members who aren't on the boards anymore, such as Kaepora who I remember for posting news and also Kitsune Yamato, whose review on one of my games was more or less the reason why I decided to join the forums too. Tri was one of the first members (if not the first) I got personally in touch with, and will thus always hold a special place in my heart (cheesy, I know). And then there are of course the legends that everyone remembers anyway. Also, hi Char, I know you're reading this.
Vinny: What do you remember most from your stint as an administrator? Guinea: I remember the lessons learned from being an administrator and that it's not an easy job. It's interesting that you ask this and I can't think of any cool story to tell...
Vinny: Are you proud of what the Community Fangame Project has grown into? Did you ever think it would make it this far? Guinea: For one, when I suggested to start a new CFP after the first one died, I had a lot of confidence that such a project can be finished if organized properly and if there are at least two people behind it who will carry through with it no matter what. And in Chaoxys I have found this second person, who in the end even puts more determination in this than myself. Having evolved as a programmer since the start of this project, there are a lot of things I'm not really proud of at this point, looking through the code, but overall, I like the reactions that we got so far. If the fans keep pushing our motivation like this, I see no problem in finishing eventually, and looking at what lies behind us, yes, that makes me proud.
Vinny: This is somewhat related to the last question, but did you ever think your own games, especially SMB DDX, would be as successful as they've become? Guinea: Having been young(er) at the time when I made SMB DDX, I didn't think about the success. I assumed that I'm awesome and that everyone will like the game because it's awesome too. I was quite surprised though, when I found that two or three people had made Let's Plays of the game on YouTube and another one made a video instruction on how to hack the save state of the game, which I didn't expect.
Vinny: What advice would you give to someone who's just starting out making fangames or indie games? Guinea: 1: Start small, have patience, and advance in little steps. Whenever you have the chance, try something new. (Short game making competitions such as the ones on MFGG are a perfect opportunity for this.) 2: Don't do what you think others could like, but do what you think is awesome. That is what sets indie and fangames apart from big budget titles.
Vinny: Is there anything else you'd like to say, about MFGG or anything else? Guinea: Thank you MFGG for 10 great years, and may you last another 10. ... and world peace!
Jas
Spoiler:
Vinny: All righty. How did you first find MFGG? Jas: I was scouring the net for Mario fangames along with my brother, in early '04, until we came across MFGG, a few months later I joined the boards, at first for the drawing comps =p Afterwards I found the community there interesting and at first I made friends with Mason, Msonic/Naoshi, and Kitsune
Vinny: What's your favorite memory of MFGG? Jas: Hmm... There are too many to count. The event I remember best would probably have to be my giving admin status to Cutman and Biddy, that was an interesting day...
Vinny: What was your favorite fangame on MFGG? Jas: I didn't have a favourite actually. There were many a fangame that I had fun playing, many betas that I enjoyed testing, though I don't actually have a favourite fangame. I don't have a favourite game, either. But I can retrospectively say that Thingio Side A, and New and Tasty stood out for me at the time. =p
Vinny: What members do you remember most vividly from your time on MFGG? Jas: Mason, he had long since been a good friend of mine and I used to help him with fangames early on, haven't talked to him in years actually; Medaforcer, I remember chatting to him about almost anything for ages; Darkz was my best friend until he up and left MFGG for MySpace sometime in '07, hadn't really seen him since; TD, I recall chatting to a fair few times; Nightwing has been and still is a really good friend of mine; Trasher, I now know in person, he and I are close friends; Jukku was another good friend of mine. If I keep listing I'll be here forever... Basically since I'd been away from MFGG so long, in terms of activity, I remember certain persons but not too much in detail about happenings
Vinny: What do you remember most from your time as an administrator? Besides Cutman and Biddy... Jas: Delmore duping it up in that one event that led to RII's resignation and Trasher's firing, Yoshiman's creation of board events in emulation of what SM used to do during his time as admin, and the sort of tension there sometimes was in Forum 12 as many staffers were members of the U, and others were vehemently against it, during that whole episode of MFGG's history. (I was a member of the U =P)
Vinny: Since you were known as one of MFGG's best artists, who was your favorite artist on MFGG? Jas: Klobber. I always admired his work, in my early days at MFGG I used to find it inspiring. Haven't seen him post anything on DA in years, but I can only guess his work must be beyond fantastic now! Vinny: Trasher tells me he gets paid for some of his art now. Jas: Mmm, I'd heard, too. It's not easy making one's way as an artist, I congratulate him on reaching where he has. :] Vinny: I know. How are things going in real life for you nowadays? Jas: Let's see... I've been living out of home for the past 9 months, which has been great; I'm studying Classics and Philosophy as part of a BA, trying to get back into my art, making time in which to see friends... All in all, I guess things are ok.
Vinny: Good. Is there anything else you'd like to say, about MFGG or anything else? Jas: My four years spent there had been great, and I made the acquaintance of many memorable people. I just wish everyone else luck in whatever their endeavour. I'd also like to see whether MFGG makes it through another ten years... =p
Kitsune (a.k.a. Nick Ainsworth, Fourside, etc.)
Spoiler:
Vinny: Since I usually start with this, what's your favorite memory of MFGG? Kitsune: I would have to say being co-creator of the MFGG High fad. A lot of community effort went into it and it was probably the one time I can recall everyone in the community coming together on a big project. It's sad that a lot of the people involved became less than savory individuals, but I suppose them's the breaks. The comics, the game, and the RP in Forum Games at the time were my favorite parts of that fad.
Vinny: What's your favorite fangame on MFGG? Kitsune: I'm an egotistical SOB so I'd have to say my favorite game would be Luigi in Koopa Kombat. I made it a few years back and though the controls are hard and people often complain about the difficulty of the game, I like it for the fact that it was a remake of one of my older projects, and is an arcade-style boss rush. You don't see many of those on MFGG unfortunately and I think the site could use more of them as opposed to Hello Mario Game #97,531. Vinny: True. Part of the problem is programming decent bosses isn't easy. Kitsune: Yeah, and getting the movements right can be difficult, so I stuck with just having the Koopalings run around back and forth shooting stuff at you. They would occasionally jump too. Probably the most unique boss fight in the game was Final Bowser, in which he could shoot each of the different powers that the Koopalings could shoot, but he was also riding the Clown Car.
Vinny: Are you working on any games or comics nowadays? Kitsune: I recently started work on some of the graphical assets for my pet game project of the last decade or so, RyuFox Fighters. It goes without saying that it's a fighting game, but I've tweaked the project a bit to simplify the engine while maximizing what can be done in-game as far as each character's special abilities. I've also been working on and off on my comics. I literally have pages of RyuFox Legends scattered all over my floor waiting to be scanned in. I've been busy with commissions and other life things as of late that I haven't had much time to work on it much recently, but it's still going. Have you had a chance to read what's already online? Vinny: No I haven't, but I'd like to. Can you post a link? Kitsune: Sure thing. Head to http://www.fireball20xl.com/lightningbuster I understand anime-styled comics might not be everyone's cup of tea though.
Vinny: What people do you remember most from your time on MFGG? Kitsune: Hmmm...that's a tough one. I would like to say people might remember me for my drawing, but I remember coming to a point where I didn't draw too much on MFGG anymore for personal reasons. If anything, I think what people may remember the most is the time I was an admin on the forums. Ironically, that was also the time when I started distancing away from MFGG.
Vinny: What do you remember most vividly from your stint as an administrator? Kitsune: Definitely the fighting between Mrs. A and Ashura. I was often called in to mediate since I was on talking terms with the both of them at the time. I'm still good friends with Mrs. A but I haven't seen Ashura on AIM for some time. Vinny: Both of them are amazing artists, though they can still sometimes be a bit... catty. Kitsune: They're both amazing at what they do and I have a lot of respect for their craft. Personality issues can be a problem sometimes, but then all artists (myself included) have them :I
Vinny: Is there anything you wish you'd done differently during your days on MFGG, whether as an admin, moderator, or regular member? Kitsune: As a member, I wish I'd laid low rather than trying to be a showoffy jerk because while it gave me a significant rise in popularity at the time, it was also the reason I ended up having an equal number of people who wanted to shoot me down. I think my moderator days were okay. That was probably the most peaceful time I had on MFGG. As an admin, however, I wish I'd put my foot down and voiced my opinion more. I believed I had enough administrative experience to help run the show, but because I failed to do that, a lot of the good ideas I had were never implemented in my time, and when they were finally implemented, all of the wrong people were brought on board to execute the idea. *those ideas
Vinny: Who was your favorite artist or spriter on MFGG? Kitsune: Oh wow. There's a couple of them. My favorite spriter would have to be bEEtle. He made a lot of really great Super Mario Advance 4 styled sprites. My favorite artists would have to be FuPoo because he was always giving out free art, and it looked really cool to boot, and then the guy who made Mario Teaches Kana. I don't remember his name at all, but not only did he make really solid games, he also was a really solid artist who honed his style well.
Vinny: How are things going in real life for you these days? Kitsune: I graduated colelge a couple of years back so I've been out pounding the pavement looking for work or trying to do commissions. The economy's been a bit rough, but there isn't enough social commentary in the world to turn things around, so I figure I might as well get out there and see what I can do, yeah? Vinny: Yeah. I know that feeling. Kitsune: Yeah, I need something besides restaurant jobs to pay the bills :I
Vinny: Is there anything else you'd like to say, about MFGG or anything else? Kitsune: I'm actually quite surprised that a site like MFGG is still going strong today. I've run and seen a number of sites that can't even be mentioned in the same breath as MFGG. Whether Thunder Dragon agrees or not, his little pet project is an internet success story, with MFGG, its games, its resources, and its creditors being mentioned and used in a number of publications or projects. I remember back when Marioween DX was featured on TV. Super Mario Bros. Z's creator Alvin-Earthworm uses a lot of MFGG's resources in his series. That one CollegeHumor Mario series features Xander's sprites. MFGG has done a lot, not just the internet, but interestingly, for the gaming community as a whole, and it's nothing short of amazing to see how far it's come and I hope to see how much further it will go. Remember back when IGN started out? It was just some nerd's website about popular, weird, and obscure gaming culture, and now it's a freaking mammoth of a brand name, complete with its own network of sites. Provided that Nintendo doesn't start firing off C&Ds in the next few years or so, I could see MFGG easily being the IGN of Mario fangaming (hopefully, minus the elitism).
Kritter
Spoiler:
What's your favorite MFGG-related memory? Hanging out on AIM in the early days of MFGG, chatting to people I got to know from the forums. I don't do that any more, I basically shy away from most of that stuff but that's something I remember most from my first years at MFGG.
What was your favorite fangame? To be honest in all my time here I haven't played many fangames. I guess it'd have to be old things like Mario Quest, it's the kind of thing that brought me to Bowser Tech and then MFGG. I don't think i've even finished playing a fangame from start to finish. Strange for someone who's lurked around here for the last 10 years!
What people do you remember most from your time on MFGG? People I still talk to now. Klobber, RII, Shadowman, Trasher, TD, Techo to name a few. There's also people that I haven't heard from in forever like Cyberknight Aaron. Also Cutmanmike and Doc Ock, I don't get time to talk to them now and i'm pretty sure they wouldn't want me to these days but I remember them most.
What do you remember most from your stint as an administrator? It's all a blur that i'd much rather forget.
What was it like to develop the older versions of the main site and forums? All I remember is it was exciting, to be working on something that I knew would be significant for a lot of people. Most people don't know or care about the work that went into taking the old MFGG and turning it into something that felt good to visit. I cared a lot about this site at the time and poured many hours into building the site and the forums from the ground up into something worth visiting.
Is there anything you wish you'd done differently during your days on MFGG? If I had my time over, i'd have said no when TD asked me to become admin. What a miserable affair that was, and during that time in my life it was a pressure I didn't need. I probably lost a lot of friends everytime I took up the reigns, and like a moth to flame I kept coming back for more like I could change the world with that responsibility. I'm not a good leader, I just wanted to make a difference.
Also I kind of wish the forums hadn't "separated". In some ways it was for the best, but it was never my choice and i'd probably not have made it if it were. The community is lacking.
How are things going in real life for you now? Good good. Anniversary celebrations, Diplomas, Job Hunting... things are moving along.
Is there anything else you'd like to say, about MFGG or anything else? Keep on truckin' MFGG. I have a fangame still in the works all for you, and I will get it done, I promise.
Nite Shadow
Spoiler:
Note: This interview has been slightly edited for um grammar (even though his English has improved over the years).
How did you first discover MFGG Believe it or not, I was actually looking for a Super Mario World ROM, though being rather new to the internet at the time, I think the search was "Super Mario Downloads" on Lycos when I stumbled across the "Bowser Technologies" website. It wasn't till it became MFGG that I actually joined though.
What's your favorite MFGG memory? That would have to be the warm welcome I had gotten when I first joined. Despite the fact I absolutely sucked at typing at the time (you thought I had bad grammar today?), they still listened to what I had to say.
What was your favorite fangame? Oh, that's a tough one. So many have been made - good ones and bad ones - picking only one as a favorite could drive a man to insanity.
What members do you remember most from your time on MFGG? Let's see, Thunder Dragon, DJ Yoshiman, Supertoad, Kyle, KnuxT15, Fireball, Cutmanmike, Dr. Octopus, Shadowman, Trasher, Retriever, Char, Kirby Adalat, Dr. Wario.
Communications have slowed down allot since back then. But we still stay in touch...with the exception of a few. No word as to what happened to supertoad and fireball. I know knuxT15 is now Techokami. Haven't heard from Cutmanmike and Dr. O since the MFGG U went down. And I'm not sure what Adalat's name is now... I wonder if he's still here.
How has MFGG changed since you first joined? Wow, Were do I start?
Way back then the MFGG had a red theme to it, the main site was more simplistic than it is now, all done with HTML, and hosted on Emulationzone. The forums were hosted at EZ.Board, which steadily got worse and worse as the days went on, eventually driving us to the point of what you see today. (Whoever designed the current forums, Good job! )
There were very few people when I first joined, and none of the smileys were mario themed. There was also a fun forum called "the Pointless Post Palace." Too bad the idiot hoards had to go and wreck that, it was a spot for games and such.
What aspects of MFGG still feel like they did in the past? Granted there was a rather large gap in the place getting to what it is after the "the invasion of the idiot hoards" but the place has that friendly atmosphere that drove me to join in the first place.
A decade ago, did you ever imagine that MFGG would still exist and you'd still be active on it? Well, There was a time I thought the stress would get to everyone as it did to me at one time, but it seems a solution was found (thank God). It was actually DJ Yoshiman who reminded me why I joined in the first place when he showed me his game "What is This Thing? Part 1"
A lot of members here might not be familiar with the "hoaxes" you were famous for. Is there anything you'd like to say about those? Ah those, in a nutshell, modified video game screenshots, named for what an entire community of sonic fans knew them as (mostly Sonic hoaxes, yes). I was making them in hopes that somebody might want me to do graphics for a game, or use some of the ideas. I made somewhere around 300 of these. The place I had the hoaxes hosted has long since died, and I lost the entire collection in a hard drive failure.
Although, I'm still open to mash up graphics on request (which is actually what most of my hoaxes consisted of.)
Is there anything else you'd like to say, about MFGG or anything else? MFGG has more or less been my home online. Whatever the case may be, I always find myself returning. I need help - there is almost always somebody there to help. Plus I also have an opportunity to help others. I've learned a lot from this place, and made friends where I had almost none IRL. If it weren't for this place, I would likely be a completely different person.
Techokami
Spoiler:
What's your favorite memory of MFGG? It would have to be one of the myriad of times Shadsy made events for the Pointless Post Palace, all of which were themed and had crazy stuff happening when milestones were reached. For example, when LOST had that season finale with the clock going crazy and an electromagnetic discharge happened, that's what happened when the Pointless Post Palace reached 1000 pages of threads. Then Shadsy tried to prune the forum but instead crashed the database.
What was your favorite fangame? Uh, depends. For nostalgia, Mario Left The Cheese Out. Crazy fun when it first came out, but kinda crap by today's standards. For completedness, Toad Strikes Back, which is a feature-length game that I really need to go back to beating. For replayability, New & Tasty has a ton of different minigames that you can keep trying to get high scores and trophies in.
What people do you remember most from your time on MFGG? I remember most how the entire community shifted away from the superior Clickteam products to the inferior Game Maker products. It is through this that I kinda started losing the will to make Mario fangames, (And I had some in the works! But you'll never hear about them now.)
What are your most vivid memories from your stint as an administrator? Amazingly, it was at a time I wasn't officially an administrator! When Mugenmidget started doing phishing attacks, I asked Thunder Dragon for temporary admin power, and I used it to stop the madness in the forums. I also found out where the phishing page was hosted, and was able to get the page taken down before more passwords could be stolen.
How did you first get interested in programming? Must be from all the computers and videogames I used and played as a child. Of course, that was only because I was constantly teased, harassed, and bullied by everyone else in school and had no real friends for a large part of my life...
What was it like to make some of the Waligie games? It's crazy... and frustrating at the same time. Crazy because you gotta think of bizzare scenarios that are funny at the same time, and frustrating in that you have to playtest your own monstrosity to make sure it can be won.
What goes through your mind when you're working on a game that's as crazy as those? "Okay how would a good game do this? Time to do the opposite! blimy my ibox is map"
How are things going in real life for you now? I have finished college, gotten a degree in Computer Science, and have a job completely unrelated to my field and expertise. I'd rather not say where I work.
Are you working on anything interesting? I'd rather not answer this question right now, as a lot of the things I am working on are private.
Is there anything else you'd like to say, about MFGG or anything else? Ten years changes an online community much more massively than a real community.
Lastly, I'd like to extend a great big thanks to all of my interview subjects for being very accommodating during this undertaking, and to DJ Yoshiman and TD for helping me find some of the people, as well as Guinea for providing some very helpful ideas while getting this started. It took some effort, but it's turned out better than I could've ever imagined. And I'd like to give a hand to everyone else notable that I didn't have a chance to get in contact with, and to you for reading this! Cheers.
Yes, I'm a day late from even the traditional (and inaccurate) anniversary date, but here's a few more interviews worth taking the time to read!
[size=200][b][i]Adamgamer[/size][/b][/i]
[spoiler]Vinny: What's your favorite MFGG memory?
Superadammario: I think it has to be trying to get together some people to make a mfgg podcast. If I remember correctly it was yoshiman, mecha, and keyzor (think that's how you spell it). We were doing a pilot based on mario quest and we had a bunch of recording issues. It never really came together but doing it was fun, hoping to get another project like that going soon.
Vinny: That sounds really fun. You should try that again sometime!
Superadammario: I'm still trying to figure out a way to do it
Considering I used to have a weekly podcast on my old site, I want to try and eventually make a quality fan game podcast soon
Vinny: Will it allude to the line "And then Mario beat Bowser?"
Superadammario: Lol probably
Vinny: Of all the fangames on MFGG, which one has impressed you the most?
Superadammario: There are so many quality games out there which really rival nintendo's recent offerings but the ones I really love the most are the games that get the community involved like super mario storm or yoshiman's new witt game.
Vinny: I wish people made more things like that - and actually finished them.
Superadammario: You might see something like that in the future... Or more specifically ncfc 2011 hopefully :p
Vinny: Good. What people do you think of when you think of MFGG?
Superadammario: Probably the oldies like yoshiman, thunder dragon, or nite shadow
Vinny: Was it fun to make Paper Mario World? Did you realize at the time that it wasn't exactly very good, even by 2002 standards?
Superadammario: It was the first fan game I ever made and it really showed in the final product how inexperienced I was with using the games factory yet at the same time didn't have a care in the world whether it was good or not considering not many 12 year olds have ever made a game before so I felt very accomplished. The whole game screams experimenting with the software except I thought it would be a good idea to release it to the public. If I had more sense back (I was kind of a dunce in my younger days) then I probably wouldn't have released it but then we wouldn't have a game that teaches you everything you shouldn't do in your own fangame. I don't regret releasing it though, making Paper Mario World had been an awesome experience and through the time it's been released I've made some awesome friends like Yoshiman and Mecha so in the end everything worked out well.
Vinny: How's progress on Return to PMW going?
Superadammario: Return to Paper Mario World has been done for two years now and you can still find the series here:
part 1 and 2 at http://www.youtube.com/adamgamer64 , the rest at http://www.youtube.com/starhillproductions. It was a five part humorous retrospective detailing the development of the game. In terms of the future, I have announced I am working on a new fan game project concerning Paper Mario World for it's tenth anniversary next year but its in the very early stages of development and only a select few know about what I'm doing sort of. It's not a sequel or remake to Paper Mario World but it new and does things that no fan game has ever done before. It's also heavily inspired by games like Super Mario Storm because I really want to involve the fan game community as well. I'm hoping to start full development next month once I get the script done and ok it with some 'certain people'. You will see something at NCFC 2011 for sure though!
Vinny: How are things going in real life for you now?
Superadammario: It's been kind of hectic lately as being a young adult now gives you a lot of responsibilities such as paying rent and working for a living doesn't give you as much time for the stuff you love but it still has its fun side too.
Vinny: Is there anything else you'd like to say, about MFGG or anything else?:
Superadammario: I'd like to say thanks to everyone that supported me over the years, still no idea to this day why people love Paper Mario World for all its terribleness but I still roll with it. I've been constantly impressed with the quality of work people are putting out these days and I can't wait to see what the next ten years of MFGG will be like. Keep up the amazing work everyone![/spoiler]
[size=200][b][i]Char[/size][/b][/i]
[spoiler]Vinny: Since I usually start with this, what's your favorite memory of MFGG?
Char: General dupes.
And how I changed one to Atlas33.
That topic was f***ing hilarious.
Theres probably a few mroe but that's the first one I can think of
Vinny: Oh yes, that one was epic. And General Moo.
Char: Oh hell yes
Vinny: What was your favorite fangame on MFGG?
Char: That's actually a pretty difficult question.
give me a second, I'll look through my downloaded games folder, I can't think of one
MIDAS MACHINE, yes
it's amazing.
one of the best games on mfgg in my opinion
It's like
it takes real skill to make a game like that.
Vinny: Even though it's not even complete, it's one of the most amazing we've seen.
Char: How do I put it: it doesn't look like a fangame made by one person for no profit
Vinny: Frankly, it's better than quite a few of the official Mario games.
Char: I agree
Vinny: What individual members do you think of when you think of MFGG?
Char: TD, RII, Yoshiman, Guinea, you, Wiiboy, Black Squirrel, Nite Shadow, Elyk, Ultramario.
First 10 that I could think of
and by you i mean VinnyVideo
Vinny: OK. How flattering...
Char: lol
Vinny: What do you remember most from being on the Site Staff?
Char: Site staff as in QC
or just staff in general
Vinny: Well, I really meant Quality Control in this case.
Char: Not much as QC - it's not a very exciting job, and I'm not very active as QC as it is.
Preparing the QC Application was fun though
and rating them
and laughing at all the bad applications (yes i'm mean like that)
I'm talking about the one we held sometime in august last year, btw
Vinny: Yeah. Some of those had to be simply horrible.
Vinny: Years ago, did you ever imagine you'd become MFGG's webmaster?
Char: Nope.
Never
When I joined MFGG I could hardly code
let alone PHP,
I was one of those typical noobs who just sucked up to staff.
that was like
2006
Then 2007ish I stopped caring
and then BS messaging me asking me to be CCC mod was completely unexpected
out of the blue
and I guess things went uphill from there - even then I didn't expect to be webmaster
and the one day RII's just all "I'm done - here you be webmaster"
Vinny: How's development on the redesign of the main site going?
Char: Very slow :(
I mean like
I'm not the kind of guy who can keep up a project for too long but I'm still inspired to complete this
just
I have too many things boggling me down
Vinny: I assume you don't mind if I ask, but how did you first get into fangaming and programming in the first place, especially since you're from India?
Char: WELL
I remember this oddly
LONG time ago I was a member of these forums called TRsRockin
and there was this guy there who posted his game
so i'm like OMG HOWD U MAKE THIS!!!
and he's like Game Maker. It's a fan game
so I googled game maker and got gm
googled Fangame and MFGG was one of the first results back then too
(I think it's the first right now, havent checked :P)
and
well
rest explains itself
Vinny: Interesting. I'd always wondered about that.
Also, for the record, MFGG's updates page is the second hit for "fangame" on Google for me, behind only Wikipedia.
Char: Close enough
:D
Vinny: Is there anything else you'd like for people to know about MFGG or anything else?
Char: It's been fun
All the s*** we've been through
Community, drama, "MFGG Improvement Initiative", the split, etc etc
but in the end MFGG is still standing
and hopefully, it stays that way
Vinny: Yep. Even through all the stuff that happens, there are still creative, fun people who want to make and play unique fangames and indie projects.
Char: Yep
plus we have NCFC and stuff which keeps it active
and brings more traffic to all communities[/spoiler]
[size=200][b][i]Guinea[/size][/b][/i]
[spoiler]Vinny: What's your favorite memory of MFGG?
Guinea: Among the favorite memories of MFGG are definitely the Minigame Competitions, especially the recently introduced 24-hour ones.
Another great memory was when working on an engine was still cool and everyone followed the progress of AME, which eventually turned into Super Mario Bros. DDX.
Also, not directly related to MFGG, NCFC adds +1 to my favorite memory list every year.
Vinny: How did you get into programming and game development?
Guinea: I was always interested in making games. Initially I made board games. The first board game I ever made (I think) was based on the original Rayman game for DOS, and it was quite boring, in retrospect...
So, you also see that I have always had a fascination for video games and fangames, and because of my programming knowledge being limited to drawing on paper at that age of ... 7 or 8(?), all I could do was sketch a board game.
At one point I learned about RPG Maker and started making RPGs, but I never finished a single one, although there were some with potential...
Eventually when I googled "Game Maker" I found - wait for it - Game Maker by Mark Overmars and started making a Mario fangame and an original game starring my guinea-pig.
That's the story of how I got into game programming, as far as I can remember at this point.
Vinny: Interesting. Just out of curiosity, whatever became of your guinea pig game?
Guinea: My guinea-pig game was the first game I ever finished, and was named "Ginni Pig Adventures". I was incredibly proud of that little platformer and even burned it on a CD with a printed label, despite its size of only 2 or 3 MB. After that I started work on a sequel which never got finished. I'm sure I have that executable of the first game somewhere lying around here, I wonder if it works on Win7.
I never published that game anywhere though. I think only my parents and a friend of mine played it.
Vinny: It sounds really cute.
Guinea: It even looks really cute, considering my spriting skills back then.
Vinny: What's your favorite game on MFGG?
Guinea: Difficult, but I'll say Super Mario Bros. All-Star Quest by Burnin' Leo. The game felt complete, and was very inspiring. I loved the way it was structured, the way it looked, the way it played and that it felt familiar while still being unique.
Vinny: What people from MFGG do you remember most?
Guinea: Such a question is always difficult to answer, because there will always be someone I should remember but don't in a situation like this, so I'll start with some old members who aren't on the boards anymore, such as Kaepora who I remember for posting news and also Kitsune Yamato, whose review on one of my games was more or less the reason why I decided to join the forums too. Tri was one of the first members (if not the first) I got personally in touch with, and will thus always hold a special place in my heart (cheesy, I know).
And then there are of course the legends that everyone remembers anyway.
Also, hi Char, I know you're reading this.
Vinny: What do you remember most from your stint as an administrator?
Guinea: I remember the lessons learned from being an administrator and that it's not an easy job. It's interesting that you ask this and I can't think of any cool story to tell...
Vinny: Are you proud of what the Community Fangame Project has grown into? Did you ever think it would make it this far?
Guinea: For one, when I suggested to start a new CFP after the first one died, I had a lot of confidence that such a project can be finished if organized properly and if there are at least two people behind it who will carry through with it no matter what. And in Chaoxys I have found this second person, who in the end even puts more determination in this than myself. Having evolved as a programmer since the start of this project, there are a lot of things I'm not really proud of at this point, looking through the code, but overall, I like the reactions that we got so far. If the fans keep pushing our motivation like this, I see no problem in finishing eventually, and looking at what lies behind us, yes, that makes me proud.
Vinny: This is somewhat related to the last question, but did you ever think your own games, especially SMB DDX, would be as successful as they've become?
Guinea: Having been young(er) at the time when I made SMB DDX, I didn't think about the success. I assumed that I'm awesome and that everyone will like the game because it's awesome too. I was quite surprised though, when I found that two or three people had made Let's Plays of the game on YouTube and another one made a video instruction on how to hack the save state of the game, which I didn't expect.
Vinny: What advice would you give to someone who's just starting out making fangames or indie games?
Guinea: 1: Start small, have patience, and advance in little steps. Whenever you have the chance, try something new. (Short game making competitions such as the ones on MFGG are a perfect opportunity for this.)
2: Don't do what you think others could like, but do what you think is awesome. That is what sets indie and fangames apart from big budget titles.
Vinny: Is there anything else you'd like to say, about MFGG or anything else?
Guinea: Thank you MFGG for 10 great years, and may you last another 10.
... and world peace![/spoiler]
[size=200][b][i]Jas[/size][/b][/i]
[spoiler]Vinny: All righty. How did you first find MFGG?
Jas: I was scouring the net for Mario fangames along with my brother, in early '04, until we came across MFGG, a few months later I joined the boards, at first for the drawing comps =p
Afterwards I found the community there interesting and at first I made friends with Mason, Msonic/Naoshi, and Kitsune
Vinny: What's your favorite memory of MFGG?
Jas: Hmm... There are too many to count. The event I remember best would probably have to be my giving admin status to Cutman and Biddy, that was an interesting day...
Vinny: What was your favorite fangame on MFGG?
Jas: I didn't have a favourite actually. There were many a fangame that I had fun playing, many betas that I enjoyed testing, though I don't actually have a favourite fangame. I don't have a favourite game, either. But I can retrospectively say that Thingio Side A, and New and Tasty stood out for me at the time. =p
Vinny: What members do you remember most vividly from your time on MFGG?
Jas: Mason, he had long since been a good friend of mine and I used to help him with fangames early on, haven't talked to him in years actually; Medaforcer, I remember chatting to him about almost anything for ages; Darkz was my best friend until he up and left MFGG for MySpace sometime in '07, hadn't really seen him since; TD, I recall chatting to a fair few times;
Nightwing has been and still is a really good friend of mine; Trasher, I now know in person, he and I are close friends; Jukku was another good friend of mine. If I keep listing I'll be here forever...
Basically since I'd been away from MFGG so long, in terms of activity, I remember certain persons but not too much in detail about happenings
Vinny: What do you remember most from your time as an administrator? Besides Cutman and Biddy...
Jas: Delmore duping it up in that one event that led to RII's resignation and Trasher's firing, Yoshiman's creation of board events in emulation of what SM used to do during his time as admin, and the sort of tension there sometimes was in Forum 12 as many staffers were members of the U, and others were vehemently against it, during that whole episode of MFGG's history. (I was a member of the U =P)
Vinny: Since you were known as one of MFGG's best artists, who was your favorite artist on MFGG?
Jas: Klobber. I always admired his work, in my early days at MFGG I used to find it inspiring. Haven't seen him post anything on DA in years, but I can only guess his work must be beyond fantastic now!
Vinny: Trasher tells me he gets paid for some of his art now.
Jas: Mmm, I'd heard, too. It's not easy making one's way as an artist, I congratulate him on reaching where he has. :]
Vinny: I know. How are things going in real life for you nowadays?
Jas: Let's see... I've been living out of home for the past 9 months, which has been great; I'm studying Classics and Philosophy as part of a BA, trying to get back into my art, making time in which to see friends... All in all, I guess things are ok.
Vinny: Good. Is there anything else you'd like to say, about MFGG or anything else?
Jas: My four years spent there had been great, and I made the acquaintance of many memorable people. I just wish everyone else luck in whatever their endeavour. I'd also like to see whether MFGG makes it through another ten years... =p[/spoiler]
[size=200][b][i]Kitsune[/size][/b][/i] (a.k.a. Nick Ainsworth, Fourside, etc.)
[spoiler]Vinny: Since I usually start with this, what's your favorite memory of MFGG?
Kitsune: I would have to say being co-creator of the MFGG High fad. A lot of community effort went into it and it was probably the one time I can recall everyone in the community coming together on a big project. It's sad that a lot of the people involved became less than savory individuals, but I suppose them's the breaks. The comics, the game, and the RP in Forum Games at the time were my favorite parts of that fad.
Vinny: What's your favorite fangame on MFGG?
Kitsune: I'm an egotistical SOB so I'd have to say my favorite game would be Luigi in Koopa Kombat. I made it a few years back and though the controls are hard and people often complain about the difficulty of the game, I like it for the fact that it was a remake of one of my older projects, and is an arcade-style boss rush. You don't see many of those on MFGG unfortunately and I think the site could use more of them as opposed to Hello Mario Game #97,531.
Vinny: True. Part of the problem is programming decent bosses isn't easy.
Kitsune: Yeah, and getting the movements right can be difficult, so I stuck with just having the Koopalings run around back and forth shooting stuff at you. They would occasionally jump too. Probably the most unique boss fight in the game was Final Bowser, in which he could shoot each of the different powers that the Koopalings could shoot, but he was also riding the Clown Car.
Vinny: Are you working on any games or comics nowadays?
Kitsune: I recently started work on some of the graphical assets for my pet game project of the last decade or so, RyuFox Fighters. It goes without saying that it's a fighting game, but I've tweaked the project a bit to simplify the engine while maximizing what can be done in-game as far as each character's special abilities.
I've also been working on and off on my comics. I literally have pages of RyuFox Legends scattered all over my floor waiting to be scanned in. I've been busy with commissions and other life things as of late that I haven't had much time to work on it much recently, but it's still going. Have you had a chance to read what's already online?
Vinny: No I haven't, but I'd like to. Can you post a link?
Kitsune: Sure thing. Head to http://www.fireball20xl.com/lightningbuster I understand anime-styled comics might not be everyone's cup of tea though.
Vinny: What people do you remember most from your time on MFGG?
Kitsune: Hmmm...that's a tough one. I would like to say people might remember me for my drawing, but I remember coming to a point where I didn't draw too much on MFGG anymore for personal reasons.
If anything, I think what people may remember the most is the time I was an admin on the forums. Ironically, that was also the time when I started distancing away from MFGG.
Vinny: What do you remember most vividly from your stint as an administrator?
Kitsune: Definitely the fighting between Mrs. A and Ashura. I was often called in to mediate since I was on talking terms with the both of them at the time. I'm still good friends with Mrs. A but I haven't seen Ashura on AIM for some time.
Vinny: Both of them are amazing artists, though they can still sometimes be a bit... catty.
Kitsune: They're both amazing at what they do and I have a lot of respect for their craft. Personality issues can be a problem sometimes, but then all artists (myself included) have them :I
Vinny: Is there anything you wish you'd done differently during your days on MFGG, whether as an admin, moderator, or regular member?
Kitsune: As a member, I wish I'd laid low rather than trying to be a showoffy jerk because while it gave me a significant rise in popularity at the time, it was also the reason I ended up having an equal number of people who wanted to shoot me down.
I think my moderator days were okay. That was probably the most peaceful time I had on MFGG.
As an admin, however, I wish I'd put my foot down and voiced my opinion more. I believed I had enough administrative experience to help run the show, but because I failed to do that, a lot of the good ideas I had were never implemented in my time, and when they were finally implemented, all of the wrong people were brought on board to execute the idea.
*those ideas
Vinny: Who was your favorite artist or spriter on MFGG?
Kitsune: Oh wow. There's a couple of them. My favorite spriter would have to be bEEtle. He made a lot of really great Super Mario Advance 4 styled sprites. My favorite artists would have to be FuPoo because he was always giving out free art, and it looked really cool to boot, and then the guy who made Mario Teaches Kana. I don't remember his name at all, but not only did he make really solid games, he also was a really solid artist who honed his style well.
Vinny: How are things going in real life for you these days?
Kitsune: I graduated colelge a couple of years back so I've been out pounding the pavement looking for work or trying to do commissions. The economy's been a bit rough, but there isn't enough social commentary in the world to turn things around, so I figure I might as well get out there and see what I can do, yeah?
Vinny: Yeah. I know that feeling.
Kitsune: Yeah, I need something besides restaurant jobs to pay the bills :I
Vinny: Is there anything else you'd like to say, about MFGG or anything else?
Kitsune: I'm actually quite surprised that a site like MFGG is still going strong today. I've run and seen a number of sites that can't even be mentioned in the same breath as MFGG. Whether Thunder Dragon agrees or not, his little pet project is an internet success story, with MFGG, its games, its resources, and its creditors being mentioned and used in a number of publications or projects. I remember back when Marioween DX was featured on TV. Super Mario Bros. Z's creator Alvin-Earthworm uses a lot of MFGG's resources in his series. That one CollegeHumor Mario series features Xander's sprites.
MFGG has done a lot, not just the internet, but interestingly, for the gaming community as a whole, and it's nothing short of amazing to see how far it's come and I hope to see how much further it will go. Remember back when IGN started out? It was just some nerd's website about popular, weird, and obscure gaming culture, and now it's a freaking mammoth of a brand name, complete with its own network of sites. Provided that Nintendo doesn't start firing off C&Ds in the next few years or so, I could see MFGG easily being the IGN of Mario fangaming (hopefully, minus the elitism).[/spoiler]
[size=200][b][i]Kritter[/size][/b][/i]
[spoiler][b]What's your favorite MFGG-related memory?[/b]
Hanging out on AIM in the early days of MFGG, chatting to people I got to know from the forums. I don't do that any more, I basically shy away from most of that stuff but that's something I remember most from my first years at MFGG.
[b]What was your favorite fangame?[/b]
To be honest in all my time here I haven't played many fangames. I guess it'd have to be old things like Mario Quest, it's the kind of thing that brought me to Bowser Tech and then MFGG. I don't think i've even finished playing a fangame from start to finish. Strange for someone who's lurked around here for the last 10 years!
[b]What people do you remember most from your time on MFGG?[/b]
People I still talk to now. Klobber, RII, Shadowman, Trasher, TD, Techo to name a few. There's also people that I haven't heard from in forever like Cyberknight Aaron. Also Cutmanmike and Doc Ock, I don't get time to talk to them now and i'm pretty sure they wouldn't want me to these days but I remember them most.
[b]What do you remember most from your stint as an administrator?[/b]
It's all a blur that i'd much rather forget.
[b]What was it like to develop the older versions of the main site and forums?[/b]
All I remember is it was exciting, to be working on something that I knew would be significant for a lot of people. Most people don't know or care about the work that went into taking the old MFGG and turning it into something that felt good to visit. I cared a lot about this site at the time and poured many hours into building the site and the forums from the ground up into something worth visiting.
[b]Is there anything you wish you'd done differently during your days on MFGG?[/b]
If I had my time over, i'd have said no when TD asked me to become admin. What a miserable affair that was, and during that time in my life it was a pressure I didn't need. I probably lost a lot of friends everytime I took up the reigns, and like a moth to flame I kept coming back for more like I could change the world with that responsibility. I'm not a good leader, I just wanted to make a difference.
Also I kind of wish the forums hadn't "separated". In some ways it was for the best, but it was never my choice and i'd probably not have made it if it were. The community is lacking.
[b]How are things going in real life for you now?[/b]
Good good. Anniversary celebrations, Diplomas, Job Hunting... things are moving along.
[b]Is there anything else you'd like to say, about MFGG or anything else?[/b]
Keep on truckin' MFGG. I have a fangame still in the works all for you, and I will get it done, I promise.[/spoiler]
[size=200][b][i]Nite Shadow[/size][/b][/i]
[spoiler][i][size=60]Note: This interview has been slightly edited for um grammar (even though his English has improved over the years).[/i][/size]
[b]How did you first discover MFGG[/b]
Believe it or not, I was actually looking for a Super Mario World ROM, though being rather new to the internet at the time, I think the search was "Super Mario Downloads" on Lycos when I stumbled across the "Bowser Technologies" website. It wasn't till it became MFGG that I actually joined though.
[b]What's your favorite MFGG memory?[/b]
That would have to be the warm welcome I had gotten when I first joined. Despite the fact I absolutely sucked at typing at the time (you thought I had bad grammar today?), they still listened to what I had to say.
[b]What was your favorite fangame?[/b]
Oh, that's a tough one. So many have been made - good ones and bad ones - picking only one as a favorite could drive a man to insanity.
[b]What members do you remember most from your time on MFGG?[/b]
Let's see, Thunder Dragon, DJ Yoshiman, Supertoad, Kyle, KnuxT15, Fireball, Cutmanmike, Dr. Octopus, Shadowman, Trasher, Retriever, Char, Kirby Adalat, Dr. Wario.
Communications have slowed down allot since back then. But we still stay in touch...with the exception of a few. No word as to what happened to supertoad and fireball. I know knuxT15 is now Techokami. Haven't heard from Cutmanmike and Dr. O since the MFGG U went down.
And I'm not sure what Adalat's name is now... I wonder if he's still here.
[b]How has MFGG changed since you first joined?[/b]
Wow, Were do I start? :whoops:
Way back then the MFGG had a red theme to it, the main site was more simplistic than it is now, all done with HTML, and hosted on Emulationzone. The forums were hosted at EZ.Board, which steadily got worse and worse as the days went on, eventually driving us to the point of what you see today. (Whoever designed the current forums, Good job! ;) )
There were very few people when I first joined, and none of the smileys were mario themed. There was also a fun forum called "the Pointless Post Palace." Too bad the idiot hoards had to go and wreck that, it was a spot for games and such.
[b]What aspects of MFGG still feel like they did in the past?[/b]
Granted there was a rather large gap in the place getting to what it is after the "the invasion of the idiot hoards" but the place has that friendly atmosphere that drove me to join in the first place.
[b]A decade ago, did you ever imagine that MFGG would still exist and you'd still be active on it?[/b]
Well, There was a time I thought the stress would get to everyone as it did to me at one time, but it seems a solution was found (thank God). It was actually DJ Yoshiman who reminded me why I joined in the first place when he showed me his game "What is This Thing? Part 1"
[b]A lot of members here might not be familiar with the "hoaxes" you were famous for. Is there anything you'd like to say about those?[/b]
Ah those, in a nutshell, modified video game screenshots, named for what an entire community of sonic fans knew them as (mostly Sonic hoaxes, yes). I was making them in hopes that somebody might want me to do graphics for a game, or use some of the ideas. I made somewhere around 300 of these. The place I had the hoaxes hosted has long since died, and I lost the entire collection in a hard drive failure.
Although, I'm still open to mash up graphics on request (which is actually what most of my hoaxes consisted of.)
[b]Is there anything else you'd like to say, about MFGG or anything else?[/b]
MFGG has more or less been my home online. Whatever the case may be, I always find myself returning. I need help - there is almost always somebody there to help. Plus I also have an opportunity to help others. I've learned a lot from this place, and made friends where I had almost none IRL. If it weren't for this place, I would likely be a completely different person.[/spoiler]
[size=200][b][i]Techokami[/size][/b][/i]
[spoiler][b]What's your favorite memory of MFGG?[/b]
It would have to be one of the myriad of times Shadsy made events for the Pointless Post Palace, all of which were themed and had crazy stuff happening when milestones were reached. For example, when LOST had that season finale with the clock going crazy and an electromagnetic discharge happened, that's what happened when the Pointless Post Palace reached 1000 pages of threads. Then Shadsy tried to prune the forum but instead crashed the database.
[b]What was your favorite fangame?[/b]
Uh, depends. For nostalgia, Mario Left The Cheese Out. Crazy fun when it first came out, but kinda crap by today's standards. For completedness, Toad Strikes Back, which is a feature-length game that I really need to go back to beating. For replayability, New & Tasty has a ton of different minigames that you can keep trying to get high scores and trophies in.
[b]What people do you remember most from your time on MFGG?[/b]
I remember most how the entire community shifted away from the superior Clickteam products to the inferior Game Maker products. It is through this that I kinda started losing the will to make Mario fangames, (And I had some in the works! But you'll never hear about them now.)
[b]What are your most vivid memories from your stint as an administrator?[/b]
Amazingly, it was at a time I wasn't officially an administrator! When Mugenmidget started doing phishing attacks, I asked Thunder Dragon for temporary admin power, and I used it to stop the madness in the forums. I also found out where the phishing page was hosted, and was able to get the page taken down before more passwords could be stolen.
[b]How did you first get interested in programming?[/b]
Must be from all the computers and videogames I used and played as a child. Of course, that was only because I was constantly teased, harassed, and bullied by everyone else in school and had no real friends for a large part of my life...
[b]What was it like to make some of the Waligie games?[/b]
It's crazy... and frustrating at the same time. Crazy because you gotta think of bizzare scenarios that are funny at the same time, and frustrating in that you have to playtest your own monstrosity to make sure it can be won.
[b]What goes through your mind when you're working on a game that's as crazy as those?[/b]
"Okay how would a good game do this? Time to do the opposite! blimy my ibox is map"
[b]How are things going in real life for you now?[/b]
I have finished college, gotten a degree in Computer Science, and have a job completely unrelated to my field and expertise. I'd rather not say where I work.
[b]Are you working on anything interesting?[/b]
I'd rather not answer this question right now, as a lot of the things I am working on are private.
[b]Is there anything else you'd like to say, about MFGG or anything else?[/b]
Ten years changes an online community much more massively than a real community.[/spoiler]
Lastly, I'd like to extend a great big thanks to all of my interview subjects for being very accommodating during this undertaking, and to DJ Yoshiman and TD for helping me find some of the people, as well as Guinea for providing some very helpful ideas while getting this started. It took some effort, but it's turned out better than I could've ever imagined. And I'd like to give a hand to everyone else notable that I didn't have a chance to get in contact with, and to you for reading this! Cheers.
Last edited by VinnyVideo on Sun Jul 17, 2011 12:40 pm, edited 1 time in total. _________________
Post subject: Re: MFGG legends discuss all things MFGG
Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 4:57 pm
Goodbye.
VinnyVideo wrote:
I've updated the second post with the final eight interviews. So don't forget to check those out too - it's pretty groovy.
Awsome!
And just so everyone knows, I did give him permission to modify mine, he just fixed the grammar,
[quote="VinnyVideo"]I've updated the second post with the final eight interviews. So don't forget to check those out too - it's pretty groovy.[/quote]
Awsome!
And just so everyone knows, I did give him permission to modify mine,
he just fixed the grammar, ;)
_________________
When the prey has gone extinct, the hunter must seek another bounty to feed.
Post subject: Re: MFGG legends discuss all things MFGG - UPDATED
Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 9:21 pm
Needs more Custom Title Request forum.
@ Nite's interview:
OH MY GOD Lycos i remember that, does it still exist?
also Adalat is still around, not on MFGG, but on NCFC and some other communities - did you forget that he's now Chris Hedgie, AKA my brother?
@ Nite's interview:
OH MY GOD Lycos i remember that, does it still exist?
also Adalat is still around, not on MFGG, but on NCFC and some other communities - did you forget that he's now Chris Hedgie, AKA my brother?
Post subject: Re: MFGG legends discuss all things MFGG - UPDATED
Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 9:42 pm
Always have a Shy-Guy in your avatar
I remember Chris Hedgie briefly from the original phpBB MFGG. I don't think I realized he was your (real-life) brother, though.
Lycos still exists, but no one cares about it any more. I remember my brother mentioning Lycos not too long ago as well, wondering what happened to it (apparently a lot of unfavorable buyouts).
I remember Chris Hedgie briefly from the original phpBB MFGG. I don't think I realized he was your (real-life) brother, though.
Lycos still exists, but no one cares about it any more. I remember my brother mentioning Lycos not too long ago as well, wondering what happened to it (apparently a lot of unfavorable buyouts).
[quote="DJ Yoshiman"]@ Nite's interview:
OH MY GOD Lycos i remember that, does it still exist?
also Adalat is still around, not on MFGG, but on NCFC and some other communities - did you forget that he's now Chris Hedgie, AKA my brother?[/quote]
Yes I did. :whoops:
Lycos IS still around,
http://www.lycos.com/
Though currently, I prefer Google.
_________________
When the prey has gone extinct, the hunter must seek another bounty to feed.
Holy crap, never thought it would still be around today.
[quote="Nite Shadow"][quote="DJ Yoshiman"]@ Nite's interview:
OH MY GOD Lycos i remember that, does it still exist?
also Adalat is still around, not on MFGG, but on NCFC and some other communities - did you forget that he's now Chris Hedgie, AKA my brother?[/quote]
Yes I did. :whoops:
Lycos IS still around,
http://www.lycos.com/
Though currently, I prefer Google.[/quote]
Holy crap, never thought it would still be around today.
Post subject: Re: MFGG legends discuss all things MFGG - UPDATED
Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 5:55 am
Needs more Custom Title Request forum.
i know Angelfire still exists because a website i made when i was extremely young is somehow still up on their server
no, no one is ever finding out what it is
i know Angelfire still exists because a website i made when i was extremely young is somehow still up on their server
no, no one is ever finding out what it is
Post subject: Re: MFGG legends discuss all things MFGG - UPDATED
Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2011 10:31 pm
Always have a Shy-Guy in your avatar
I know I'm more than a bit late here, but this is something Trasher sent me that he sort of wanted me to post for him. I found it somewhat amusing.
Trasher wrote:
Here's something I was working on for the anniversary. It was going to have nice graphics and such, but then I got distracted. You've already got answers from the horses mouth for some of these, so feel free to edit those ones out or whatever.
MFGG: WHERE ARE THEY NOW (AS FAR AS I CAN TELL)? Shadowman: Briefly walked the halls of power alongside the most powerful people on the face of the Earth, before deciding that it'd be more fun to write fart jokes about CD-ROM games instead. Klobber: Drew fan art of cute video game enemies back in the day. Nowadays, he gets paid to do it. Progress! Greliz: Draws a webcomic about forest people. Well, a forest is usually involved, but not always. Sometimes there's spiders. Retriever II: Retired from computing to knit little slings for birds with broken wings. Of course he's a professional programmer now! What else would he be? Thunder Dragon: Still prodding MMF into doing strange things, and making strange arty things. Like, really strange. Jas: University student and eternally hopeful academic. Can swear in like, four different languages. Nightwing: Spends his days puzzling endlessly about exactly what the best shader would be for a Pig Cop's blood-soaked neck-stump. CutmanMike: RUINING THE SKULLTAG COMMUNITY FOREVER by making mods that buck the trend by actually being good.
I know I'm more than a bit late here, but this is something Trasher sent me that he sort of wanted me to post for him. I found it somewhat amusing.
[quote="Trasher"]Here's something I was working on for the anniversary. It was going to have nice graphics and such, but then I got distracted. You've already got answers from the horses mouth for some of these, so feel free to edit those ones out or whatever.
[b]MFGG: WHERE ARE THEY NOW (AS FAR AS I CAN TELL)?[/b]
[b]Shadowman[/b]: Briefly walked the halls of power alongside the most powerful people on the face of the Earth, before deciding that it'd be more fun to write fart jokes about CD-ROM games instead.
[b]Klobber[/b]: Drew fan art of cute video game enemies back in the day. Nowadays, he gets paid to do it. Progress!
[b]Greliz[/b]: Draws a webcomic about forest people. Well, a forest is usually involved, but not always. Sometimes there's spiders.
[b]Retriever II[/b]: Retired from computing to knit little slings for birds with broken wings. [i]Of course he's a professional programmer now! What else would he be?[/i]
[b]Thunder Dragon[/b]: Still prodding MMF into doing strange things, and making strange arty things. Like, really strange.
[b]Jas[/b]: University student and eternally hopeful academic. Can swear in like, four different languages.
[b]Nightwing[/b]: Spends his days puzzling endlessly about exactly what the best shader would be for a Pig Cop's blood-soaked neck-stump.
[b]CutmanMike[/b]: RUINING THE SKULLTAG COMMUNITY FOREVER by making mods that buck the trend by actually being good.[/quote]
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