TTLG and I - Then and Now.

Mr.Duck on 1/7/2010 at 16:36

Quote Posted by Renzatic

One year of high school Spanish, and all I can do is say "el pollo de fuego es en el baño". Also I think I can count to 3.

The Chicken of Fire is in bathroom....

w.....t......f.......?

Ask for your money back, Renza.

Matt - Aw....thanks, I actually used to host a radio show a few years ago, about movies with 2 friends :). Maybe one day I'll upload a show (alas, Spanish only).

Hey, since this thread has inspired (and I'm honored by it) the -really- old school crowd to come out, why not share some of your TTLG stories?, I don't mind this thread having the random comment/joke, but I'd like to know how you came to be here and, more importantly, why'd you stay. :)

theBlackman on 1/7/2010 at 17:55

Quote Posted by MrDuck

[...]

why'd you stay. :)

'Cause we loves you Duck.

Vasquez on 1/7/2010 at 18:29

Quote Posted by MrDuck

I'd like to know how you came to be here and, more importantly, why'd you stay. :)

Hmm. I had played TDP and it was soooo good, I loved it more than any other game before it (or after, for that matter). I think I tried to find news of whether there'll be Thief 2 or something, and one happy day I found TTLG. I hadn't much used internet socially before that, I had browsed some random forums etc. but never got that interested. But here, I got instantly hooked. All these people who share my love for Thief! :D The first months or maybe even years I spent in ThiefGen, then peeked into CommChat and enjoyed that, too.

At some point I ventured to #thief, where many silly funny times were had. Finn thiefers also set up #varas, a channel for Thief talk in Finnish. That's where I met morbusg :)

I can't remember for sure, but I suspect I wasn't the founder of #vasquez - it might've been Tumbleweed. Anyways, that was my daytime (i.e. worktime :cool: ) hangout place, with some finns and aussies and a selection of other crazy people.

Some years back I came to CommChat less and less often. Somehow I didn't have the time or even the interest, and nothing much to say, but I never quit entirely. I still jump in occasionally (like right now, heh) and I think I'll keep coming back as long as this place exists. Part of it is about Thief, that greatest game of all ;) but almost as big a part is the fact that TTLG itself is something special.

june gloom on 1/7/2010 at 19:11

Quote Posted by Matthew

I would subscribe to Spanish lessons if MrDuck conducted them, because seriously, I could listen to the man talk all day long.

Seconded.

My story of how I came to TTLG? That's pretty easy, actually. It started off when Thief 3 came out; I ignored it, until some webcomic author I liked back then reviewed it comparing to the older games and his description of what went on had me saying "Huh, that's cool." Not content with just playing the third game, though, I got my hands on the first two and when I inevitably ran into the lockup/hyperthreading bug, a quick search brought me to TTLG. Then it occurred to me that System Shock 2, which I could never get to work, could be fixed the same way; I think my very first post ever was asking wtf Shodan was saying in the big reveal, since I was hard of hearing and Shodan is hard to understand with all the whee whiz blat grrr going on in the background. I posted at random in ShockGen and ThiefGen for a while, usually a bit sporadically, until I ventured over into Gengaming and uh, the rest was history.

Why do I stay? Good question ;)

Mr Croft on 2/7/2010 at 09:40

Well most here might not know this...

I did originally come here from the times when it was at gameforum. The only person that knew this was CHILLman as he was the one who introduced me to that old black background forum (yes... I still miss it & never quite liked this white one even if it has grown on me now). Now I'll be honest & say that he posted more than me as I didn't have the internet at home at the time. The only times I got to see all the chatting was when I visited his house.

I actually registered this very account on his pc as well when TTLG was formed. Since I was still quite new to the internet at the time, I didn't quite have a handle on choosing a nick. It's been so long that I think I might have posted only twice under the nick shodan on the other forum... but I can't be sure as I just posted to say hi and it wasn't that important to me at the time. When it came time to choose a nick here on TTLG... I almost registered under the nick Nedan (a nick I later registered here as well)... but I thought it was a little too corny (At the time. My opinion is actually the reverse now). So in a moment of uncreativeness I tried to think of the games I was actually playing at the time & this is what came to mind. I had never had to choose a nick before &, at the time, I didn't really care what I chose to register with.

The saddest part is why me & CHILL came here originally. We got stuck in System Shock 1... that's it.

We couldn't open the friggin' door near the elevator in level eight (the security level). It required entering the six numbers from the node rooms in the reactor level before the door in the upper level would even open. We didn't actually pay attention to the numbers in the node rooms as we didn't think they were important (a moment of stupidity) & we also didn't know that we were supposed to enter them in the first place as we really didn't pay attention to a few of the audio logs (another huuuuuuuuuuuuge moment of stupidity & CHILL will likely agree with me on this one). We must have played the entire game from start all the way up to that door more than three times thinking it was some sort of glitch or maybe we might have missed something (a huge stupid hint here). We actually had to wait 4 years (can you believe this crap?!) for game community websites like this one to pop up just to find out what we missed in the game.

When we finally figure it out... we sifted through all the audio logs to see if we were given a hint at the solution. The one damn f'ing audio log that actually did say something... we remembered laughing it off as Shodan just reprimanding some stupid turd minion & nothing more. Looks like he indeed got that last laugh at us though. This one game... no... this one moment in the game single-handedly convinced me to always buy the strategy guide to every game I buy from then on no matter what.

Whenever I think about this now, I can't help but ROFL as it really is a silly part in the game to get stumped at.

Why do I stay? Well I've been to a hell of a lot of other forums since my introduction to the net & this is really the only community I could find that was extremely well civilized & nice to generally be in. Occasionally, from time to time, we do get a few folks that are just plain rude... but not often & they usually shape up or leave (on their own free will or... by force:ebil:). Lately I've just been lurking... but I won't leave this community for any damn thing in the world as you guys have grown on me way too much.

Since I've been here for over 10 years (damn, that long?)... here's to another 10 TTLG. CHEERS! :D

Mr.Duck on 3/7/2010 at 17:00

tBm - Aw.....thanks, but srsly, I am curious about how you came and why you stayed here (other than me ;)), I mean, it's not weird to see grown ups around, but seeing a man with so much experience and wisdom on his back, well, it amazes me what could you have possibly see of interest here, let alone what made you first peek in these forums.

Vas - Goddamed finiish geek ;), but we loves ya....and.....TEQUILA!

Mr. Croft - Hey, I bet most of us came by because we had one doubt or another with an LGS game (mine was Thief, but I can't recall what it was....d'oh).

Cheers :)

Tonamel on 3/7/2010 at 18:23

I was completely stuck on "Escape!" and was trawling the net for walkthroughs.

Joined the forums. Joined Clan Foofie. The rest is history.

theBlackman on 3/7/2010 at 18:39

Quote Posted by MrDuck

Just for you MrDuck:

I got my first computer in 1972 or 74 to do calculations for my underwater salvage company. I also played some of the first text oriented games, Colossal Caverns, Attack of the Killer Potatoes etc.

I got interested in a series called "Galactic Trilogy", by a young man named Doug Carlson, a lawyer from Salem Oregon. There were some bugs in the algorhityms. I contacted him, and ended up debugging games. This was the start of Broderbund Software.

Doug eventually sold his practice, moved to my home town, San Rafael, CA, and started the company Broderbund, the rest is history.

I sold software and peripherals for the TRS-80 computer (games and other applications and a hi-speed data system).

Over the years I built my own systems and thought most of the games available were mindless "IF IT MOVES KILL IT", or too juvenile to interest me.

I got a copy of THIEF with one of my Vcards. Tried it. Liked it. Found EIDOS about a year before I found TTLG.

Since first contact I have been impressed with the general level of intelligence ( with the usual exceptions ), the give and take and quality of character displayed by the members and, not least, the willingness to share the technical knowledge that allows us (that's the emperical "US") to continue to play this game and its permutations in the face of changing technology.

TTLG has had its idiots and trolls but has consistantly been a island of sanity in this crazy world; a place where an exchange of opinions is just that and not the start of a nuclear war, although there have been exceptions.

The age spread, occupational diversity, educational level and overall commraderi have kept me here and I plan to be here for a while longer.

I truly appreciate all who venture herein, and hope TTLG manages to survive well into the next century.

Enchantermon on 3/7/2010 at 23:37

Quote Posted by theBlackman

This was the start of Broderbund Software.

You were involved in the start of Broderbund? That's pretty sweet.

theBlackman on 4/7/2010 at 01:01

Quote Posted by Enchantermon

You were involved in the start of Broderbund? That's pretty sweet.

Doug Carlson (sen?) wrote a program in Basic that was a space trilogy called "Galactic Revolution". The first program in the game series involved the conquest of planets for an Emperor.

The deal was that when conquered you used the resources to add to your man power and fleet. You had to return to the planet within 5 years or the ships (if the planet had the technology) and crews would die.

The time algorithm was wrong. I mentioned it and rewrote it. After that he allowed me to debug some of the other games in the series.

He sold his law practice and his house and with the $80,000.00 moved to northern California (San Rafael to be exact) a few blocks from my house and started the corporation. They subsequently moved to Novato, CA and produced "Where in the world is Carmen San Diego" and the rest is history.

I've not been in contact with him for years, but remember it well. Met the family and the dog and was at a party celebrating the success of the move.

But that's no big deal. In my years I've met many successful people in the computer world and in the music world. At the time (60's through 80's) they were just people I knew. Nothing special about it.

Some became big stars on stage and in the computer field but then they were just people with the same interests as me. No big deal.