Hey all,
Let me start off by saying that this is going to be a long post and I've always thought about making this post up until now. Hmmm.... where to start... Okay, Back in the mid 2000s I was browsing a friend of mine's PC. At the time, I didn't have the privilege of an internet connection and my mate did. So he downloaded whatever interested him at the time. Anyway... While browsing my friend's PC I came a little program called First Person Shooter Creator. I was intrigued and asked my friend what it did, he muttered "Ah it's just this really buggy little program that let's you make FPS Games. It's not worth the time because it lags on any PC." Little did he know what an awesome little beast FPSC would evolve into (I'm not referring to FPSCR... yet).
...Let's go back in time a bit...
Ever since I was introduced to my first "PC" I was hooked and intrigued about what the PC could do. My first encounter with PC gaming was on a ZX Spectrum, I must have been 3 or 4 years old at the time. I played the heck out of Ant Attack.
This encounter not only ignited a spark in me to want to play more games but also started a dream and passion where I wanted to create a game! Game creation is an art form unlike any other because it allows your audience to interact and immerse themselves into a reality which the artist (game creator) has created.
...Years past...
I was fortunately blessed with creative abilities but when it came down to logical development I was somewhat limited. In primary school I created my first game, a 2d World War 2 platformer game. It consisted of one level, it was nothing special, but boy was I proud. In high school I took software development classes. I dabbled here and there with modding games but nothing real came out it all. Through all these years I continued gaming.
I finished up with high school and started studying to be a web developer and designer at college. All through these years the burning passion to create a game was still there. That's when I remembered First Person Shooter Creator! I visited the TGC site, browsed through the forums only to see that FPSC had evolved into "an awesome little beast". Keep in mind this was NEARLY 10 YEARS after I first heard of FPSC. This time I was hooked, seeing what amazing games people had created in FPSC eventually made me throw money at the screen.
...I'll quit yabbering on and get to the point, SORRY
...
Using FPSC, there were ups and downs. More often than not I had such huge doubts with FPSC. I moved on to Unity, NeoAxis, Cry Engine and the Unreal Engine, learnt how to use them all, BUT my heart had fallen for FPSC. Hehe. And so I returned to my long lost love. I got my first game out the door. It took 2 years and it was all worth it.
The journey of seeing a how TGC has evolved over the years is really astounding. I wish I had been a more active user on the TGC forums from an earlier stage because it would have made this experience even more amazing. Having the privilege of moving from FPSC to FPSCR and now to Game Guru is also something I consider a privilege... Come to think of it, can't we get a forum badge for that?
So from me to: The Game Creators; the FPSC Veterans; the friends I've made along the way and the best online community I know of - I would like to say a HUGE THANK YOU for helping me craft and make my dreams come true.
Here's to a bright future for Game Guru and us all.
