Community Spotlight
November 14th, 2008 by Lord Basse

Impeached

The time has come to introduce to you a new feature in the Age of Kings Heaven arsenal. This, is the Community Spotlight! Once a month, I Mr. Ought-to-be President Basse will catch up with one of our fellow regular members of the site, designers and pure forumers alike. They will testify for their crimes and be punished for their evil deeds. No really, I’ll make a funny interview with whoever is the month’s chosen one, and then you all will get to read it and get to know the person behind the name better.

To start off this brand new feature, I have chosen to interview Impeached, a well known local multiplayer pro and multiplayer scenario designer, living somewhere in the US, acting like a jolly nice chap. Right Impeached, let’s get started here:

Bold text: Interviewer (Basse);Regular text: Victim (Impeached)

What is it you think is so good with this community based around an ancient game in gaming terms speaking?
Impeached: I think Age of Empires II is such a long-lasting game because, unlike many new games, it balances the importance of economy and military. It seems newer RTSs have more and more simplified economies with less resources and resource management, while AoK has a simple economy structure with a huge skill-ceiling. In terms of scenario design, AoK has an intuitive editor (point-and-click) with logical functions. Also, of course, AoE2 has some of the best 2D graphics I’ve seen.

Agreed. So, you’re a Yankee right? What state?
Impeached: I’ve lived in Raleigh, North Carolina for most of my life. I was born in New York, though, in a suburb of New York City. Moved away from there when I was a little over one year old.

You don’t say? I’ve always been thinking you were from… hm. Well, I never really thought any longer than “He’s from USA,” but anyhow; How’s life over there?
Impeached: It’s nice. Full of ‘southern courtesy’, most people are friendly to one another. Quite warm too! In the 60s (farenheit) all this week. (60s farenheit = 16-18 celsius btw)

Seems nice. Those temperatures are pretty much Sweden’s average summer temperatures! Time to discuss politics now. Obama; yay or nay?
Impeached: Nay. Nay on McCain too, though. I don’t like Obama’s social policy views (abortion, gun control, etc). But I don’t like McCain’s view on the Iraq war.

What candidate would’ve been ideal?
Impeached: Some third-party candidate. Bob Barr or Charles Baldwin. I’m too young to vote, but I probably would’ve put Bob Barr. But enough politics please..

Don’t worry, I switch topics swiftly. Now, as you’re the most productive quality multiplayer designer I know of, I – and probably many others as well – wonder, got any new projects coming up?
Impeached: I’m probably the best multiplayer designer you know of because I’m the only one who consistently frequents AoKH! Anyway, http://rambit.org/XP/ is what I’m working on with Rambit (another designer) at the moment. I do hardly any work though, as I’m quite busy. The idea is to make a set of maps utilizing custom .DAT, then release it on IGZones in an ‘eXtension Project .DAT’ lobby, where it auto-downloads the .dat ( which wouldn’t effect anything current, causing no out of sync in multiplayer ). I do the modding work and help Rambit think of ideas, then he does scenario editor work. Our latest idea is a land and water blood (not successfully done ever, really), where players build bridges to cross water gaps on islands. Bridges are built through unpacking them from a ‘Bridge Unpacker’, like a trebuchet. These bridges can be created or destroyed. There will be navy and ground soldiers fighting to keep bridges up / destroy enemy ones.

That sounds awesome. How did I miss all this?
Impeached: Well, I tend not to advertise stuff until it’s done. You’ve seen how many incomplete scenarios there are out there…

Indeed, it’s far too many, loads of stuff that could’ve become great stuff. Right, while on the AoK topic, how did you first find out about the game?
Impeached: My brother downloaded the demo back in 1999. I mostly watched him play it. He then bought the game and I started playing around in single player with the campaigns. I didn’t really play seriously until about 2003.

How about AoKH then? Systematic nerd scanning of the net, or simply a coincidense?
Impeached: Again, my brother used to lurk on heavengames sites. I checked it out eventually.

You owe him a lot it seems. Still have any debts to repay?
Impeached: No. In the past he’s managed to convince me to help buy 2 games which I’ve played almost none. I eventually learned his ways, though.

Sounds like what I used to do to my little brother, except he actually played the games! Back to that other game now, IRL, what do you study?
Impeached: I’m home schooled, in high school. I’m currently studying pre-calculus, english language/composition, greek, reading tale of two cities, and studying history (1800s right now). I also play the piano.

Ooh, nice. You play a lot then, or just for the fun of it?
Impeached: I do about 40 minutes a day and take 30 minute lessons once a week. I also was in band for a few years and almost made it into the all-state band on euphonium. Then I got really sick for a couple of years (the reason I started homeschool) with chronic nausea/vomiting. I’m better now though.

Great you’re doing good now, you’ve always seemed very healthy (from a textbased convo point of view that is). Thankfully indeed. Other interests then, except AoK and the piano?
Impeached: I like to read, play basketball, and do general recreational stuff outside too. I also have a job I really enjoy; I’m a scenario scripter for reverie world studios, working on their new coming out in Q1 2009, Dawn of Fantasy (http://dawnoffantasy.com). I actually got it mostly because of my AoE2 design experience.

You did? Wow, seems Tanneur and Sandyman were right about designing being a good part of a CV to show! Speaking of jobs, if you got to pick freely, what would you work with?
Impeached: Probably something like I’m doing at the moment. I work from home, online, on something similar to designing in AoE2 (though more complex of course).

Which brings us to the last question! Or really, it doesn’t directly, but it does in a technical way since this piece of letters leads up to it; do you know a band/film/game/scenario/whatever you’d like to recommend to the people reading this?
Impeached: Band: Grimethorpe Colliery Band (it’s a brass band…I like to listen to non-worded music the most). Film: Lord of the rings trilogy. Game: Age of Empires II of course. Scenario: I dunno… Informal Sport: Capture the flag

Righto’, that concludes this, the first Community Spotlight of all then. Thanks for participating Impeached, best of luck with the eXtension project, life and all that!

Impeached: kthxbai