In honor of the birthday, i thought i'd start up another sharing thread. What were you doing 7 years ago?

Me... i was still an architect living in Indianapolis, messing around with Team Fortress 1 levels as a hobby and trying to figure out this new Quake2 thing. Apprently you could stick your own player models into it.... [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

I'd just moved into my old childhood house again after two years overseas, I'd been at a new school for a few weeks and was playing Thief!

Seven years ago, I had just completed my first year as a CAD developer, and was finally getting my feet under me.

I had just left a signed band to form another.

Didn't have a girlfriend, or any prospects, except for this girl at work who flirted with me alot, but was off limits because I refused to date anyone I worked with.

I was heavily into Quake II, and really just started to learn modeling, using (gasp) Breeze Designer.

I was living in a rented house in Balti..err..Bodymore, with a roomate who was a drunken asshole. Hmm...I was a bit of one of those too.

Mostly though, what I remember about that time was being utterly depressed, having no sense of direction. In fact the only thing that kept me going was playing music and gaming. Probably my only reason to live at that point.

I was 13... I think I had just started playing Quake, and looking for ways to modify the graphics... I made all of the Quake guy's death animations really extreme, with backflips and flying through walls and stuff, vertex animation in Meddle... Also writing text RPG games in QBasic with my brother, and a random character/monster/quest generator for Warhammer Quest... I wish I still had that, it worked really well!

7 years ago, I was standing over r13's shoulder, highly intoxicated, starting this mess. =]

I'd just relocated to Newcastle England to work at Reflections on Steam, I had no idea yet that it would be canned and I would be drafted on to 9months of crunch on Driver.

I was so badly paid that I survived by having a hotdog at the cinema nearby my apartment on the nights I didnt work late and get a free dinner.

I was loving my tiny little apartment there in tower house until the water pipe in the ceiling burst at 4am one thursday.

Those were great days, they are some of the best memories I have because I was full of excitement and optimism about being a part of the games industry and in the big city rather than the seaside fishing village I'd moved from.

Oh and I was playing a lot of Q2 on the office Lan because none of them would play me at Q1 [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

I'm guessing I was either crunching the university computer to get my final animation piece finished, rushing around the country interview videogame company MDs for my dissertation, or trying to make ends meet by working in the local industrial laundry.

Oh, and downloading Q2 models from q2pmp a couple of weeks later [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

I was married, was living in a tiny apartment and working as a salesman for an electrical parts wholesaler (Platt Electric Supply). I was completely miserable at my job. I had a Playstation but did not own a computer and had never even touched a mouse [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

I am definitely much happier today than I was 7 years ago [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

19, doing the college thing, living with the parents and heavily modding Quake 2 with TCs and lots of player models. Preparing for my first games, Zaero (Quake 2 add-on pack), and Quake 2: Extremities for Red Rover.

Oh, and looking up to Rorshach as my god. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

16, in high school. Benching 315 lbs, which is a good 90lbs more then I can do now. I got my first computer that year. Quake and Unreal had a big impact on me deciding to become a game developer.

Im not mentioning my age you bastards. I was beavering away making 100 polygon character models for Dungeon Keeper2, at Bullfrog in Guildford, England, and living with my GF in London. Good times, definitely good times.

15 and in high school, thinking I had the greatest boyfriend ever. *Sigh*, crazy youth.

But this was also the semester in which I had Multimedia and discovered Photoshop. Bittersweet.

Finishing my senior year at highschool, working my first tech job and going to community college at night... and I somehow found time to make skins! crazy!

exactly seven years ago to the day, i was swearing violently and kicking obscenely at anything that was nearby. The uni department server had just died, taking about a years worth of work with it - several people including myself lost everything except stuff we'd managed to backup on these wacky new "zip" disks.

I know its 7 years to the day, cos we were convinced it was an April Fools joke.

turned out okay though. I fucked the computers off and picked up a video camera instead.

I was 16, doin the jock thing in highschool. I wanted to be a cop, I hadn't even considered doing computer art at that time.

Just moved to Dallas to attend the Art Institute. Got the job that would help me get through the time that I dropped out of the AI and my first industry job.

Holy shit, it has been that long!

Seven years ago I was living in my mom's attic, happily unemployed, writing punk songs and hanging out with my likewise unemployed friend Chris, and learning to do what I've been doing professionally for almost six years now. Wow, for such an embarassing time of my life, those are some good memories.

I was dancing with the DEVIL!


b1ll

7 years ago I was 35 [img]/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img] I was working at the same place I am working now and have been for the last 19 years [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

Playing Quake 2 and hanging around on Mplayer talking shit [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

(I miss Mplayer) Seven years? Seems more like 7 minutes!

seven years ago. I was 33, I was about one year away from losing my rented digs in Santa Clara. I was working at 3Do and had been for 4 years at that point, so That would have me working on Armymen II for the PC, and deathmatching Quake I and II A LOT at lunch and after hours, basically wo kill time until the traffic had lessened enough for me to go home. I knew about the Quake 1 reskinning, but would not have discovered the Q2PMP until I think it was May or June. Congrats and happy birthday to this site. And thank you for all the hard work, Rogue and Bearkub.

Scott

back in 1998 i was at college doing the second year of studying media studies, lusting after three different girls, getting nowhere with them and not owning my own PC...

i was 15 and... well thats about it. can't remember shit [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

I was 15 and a freshman in high school getting my ass kicked daily by all the seniors in gym class, riding a bus home with seats too small for me to fit in, and hoping to find my first girlfriend, and a car..with a backseat. My parents couldn't decide whether they should divorce or not, and half the time I didn't know where to call home. I was working in a factory deburring 25,000 engine parts a day cut from machinery and dipping them in acid. Back then my dreams were to become a rock guitarist and make millions, or a martial arts instructor. I really didn't have any realistic plans for my future. I was also taking a poor excuse for an art class which eventually killed my lifelong interest in art. I honestly don't enjoy looking back at that time in my life.

I didn't get my hands on my first computer for another 4 years, and then rediscovered art with photoshop, computer games, and polycount.

I was in School, dreaming of someday making my own computer games and a whole lot happier than I am now.

18, bout to grad HS. Foolishly signing loan forms for the Art Institute and yelling at my Playstation1 for breaking when I had just bought FF7 finally.

Im a different person today then I was back then. Scary.