Introducing ourselves - Share a little about yourself

Post by **Greybear** » Sun Jul 18, 2004 6:54 pm

I think this topic is a little bold and presumptuous for a newbie to start, but I guess doing so lets you know a little about me.

I am a 58-year-old professor, child psychologist, storyteller, and community educator at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas (so “Greybear” is fitting).

I have two reasons for being drawn to ADRIFT (possibly even being adrift). My book Raising Courageous Kids: Eight Steps to Practical Heroism was just published by Sorin Books at Notre Dame. I created a website at http://www.raisingcourageouskids.com to support the book. Because I am a huge advocate of the power of storytelling to convey important ideas about courage and the meaning of true heroism to children, a section on the website focuses on stories.

I am hoping to start a series of short IF suitable for readers from 9 to 90 called “The Adventures of Phoebe McNee. I would also like to encourage older children to use ADRIFT in creating their own stories.

Second, as a storyteller, I’m always looking for new tools and similar-minded folks on the web. I enjoy putting together stories and have found the information here helpful in learning ADRIFT and benefiting from the kind work of others.

I have (had by now) considerable proficiency with SUDS, a great Windows program by Andy Eliott that is now sadly abandoneware. What I loved most about SUDS was a sophisticated conversation tree for any character met in the story and its ease of use (until the story became complex). I created a story arc called “Forces of Nature” and completed the first story titled “Snow Night.” You can read about it at:

http://www.ksu.edu/wwparent/story/index.htm

After SUDS, I began looking for a more sophisticated parser-based tool. I hung out for a while at the QUEST board and dug into its complexity. QUEST users are another wonderful and active group always willing to lend a hand. QUEST is a terrific tool that is underappreciated for its complexity, a conceit by the IF high priests that is often directed toward ADRIFT I think. It’s been quite a few months since I studied QUEST (working on a book tends to do that to authors).

I decided to give ADRIFT a shot at this point because its friendly interface is more approachable to young authors. Plus, I see a gradual movement toward greater sophistication in the program with Campbell’s updates. As I learn more about the program, I think I can assemble the story I want to create.

Thanks for reading. I hope the good folks (and the not so “good”) will post in this thread. I like the community you are building here and would like to know more about y’all. (I lived in Lubbock Texas for a while so I am permitted to say “y’all.”). I look forward to the time when I can repay your help by lending a hand to future newbies.

Chuck Smith
"Greybear"

Post by **Mystery** » Sun Jul 18, 2004 10:52 pm

Hi, and welcome to the forum. Congratulations on getting your booked published. I think it is wonderful that you are trying to encourage children to participate in storytelling and teaching them courage. I have two children (boys 9 and 13) and their only interests right now are music, video games, and girls. My youngest did take an interest in ADRIFT for a short time, (Short attention span), but I hope he will pick up the interest again soon. I wish you great luck with your adventures, and hope you succeed with your projects.

For me, I’ll be 32 in September and I am a stay at home mom of two boys, and have been married to my wonderful husband (who is from Kansas), for almost 14 years. I, like many, got hooked on interactive fiction when I was younger, and thought it had pretty much died out. Then the internet came about, and it took me a while to warm up it, and I finally set out to find some of those old text games I used to enjoy so much. Somehow I happened on ADRIFT, and have been here ever since.

I haven’t managed to create that one game that holds the magic, but perhaps someday I might. I have also been very interested in writing a series, but haven’t yet decided on the basis of it- nor have had the time to give it my full attention to even get it off the ground. I too would like to create something that would gap the ages from young to old and be enjoyable to all. I just haven’t found my click yet, and am uncertain if I ever will. In the meantime, I have been trying to improve on my many weak spots, and also write tutorials and be as helpful to anyone as I can that is just starting out.

I’m also very involved with creating my own graphics, which I someday might include in a complete multimedia ADRIFT adventure. (someday....maybe.....Wake me.....I’m dreaming...again.)

Post by **Greybear** » Mon Jul 19, 2004 3:42 pm

Hi Cowboy. Nah, I'm not discouraged. I think we need a sticky message for newbies with bio information about regulars and newbies alike, posts that could be removed if the regular or newbie became an irregular (didn't post for the past six months, for example).

I can understand why folks would not post in this kind of thread. Why bother if you did it before and the thread eventually disappeared? I couldn't find any thread of this nature on the board, so I started one myself. I think we should assume that new visitors arrive all the time. Intros are a way to make newbies welcome. But they should only have to be written one time and not lost into the electro-vapor.

Thanks for your comment.

Chuck

Post by **Mystery** » Mon Jul 19, 2004 4:21 pm

That is kind of what your profile is for.

KFAdrift · Post by **KFAdrift** » Mon Jul 19, 2004 6:14 pm

OK, I have pinned this at the top so anyone new here can introduce themselves to the assembled masses.

The Visitation · Post by **J. J. Guest** » Mon Jul 19, 2004 6:15 pm

Hi Greybear,

I'm a 34 year old Englshman whose career is in television graphics and animation but who doesn't really animate as such. I'm more of a digital artist and compositor, though I can animate in a very limited style (see my avatar, and Monk's.) I love writing but find lots of excuses not to do it. I don't think anything defines a man more clearly than his preferences, so here's a few: My favourite books are A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole, Alice in Wonderland, The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams and Great Expectations. My favourite films include Dead Man by Jim Jarmusch, Ed Wood by Tim Burton, Kind Hearts and Coronets and Duck Soup. My favourite painters are Robert Rauschenberg and Cy Twombly. My favourite comic strip is Krazy Kat. My favourite Doctor Who was Tom Baker. My favourite Marx Brother is Harpo. I vacillate constantly between elation and despair. In philosophical terms I would describe myself either as Zen Buddhist or an absurdist depending on my mood. I am a thinker and a procrastinator. I am far too self-critical. I am rather pretentious. I am very fond of goat's cheese, tomatos and parma ham. I like costume parties. I have a thing for girls with short punky hair. I like bunnies. My earliest ambition was to be a circus clown. When I retire I would like to build a sculpture garden somewhere in New Zealand and open it to the public as a roadside attraction. My favourite word is "eclectic."

Welcome to the forum!
J. J. Guest

KFAdrift · Post by **KFAdrift** » Mon Jul 19, 2004 7:11 pm

I am single, 42 and live in flat in Camberley, which is in central southern England. My proper job is working in a library (though not as a professional librarian, just doing admin stuff). I kid myself that I am keen on sport, but in reality that is more as a couch potato, slumped watching others do the hard work.

Guess my first experiences of text adventures came in the early 1980s when had a BBC Model B computer and played the likes of Philosopher's Quest. Later on played about with adventure creation stuff on an Acorn Archimedes. That was really it until I came across ADRIFT in the middle of 2000. The thing I enjoy most is working out how to do something, which is probably why I can start a project, by not get to the end.

You may notice that I edit the InsideADRIFT newsletter and will be continually pestering for people to write something. I am also a moderator on this forum (for my sins).

Edited By KFAdrift on 1090350310

Post by **Mystery** » Mon Jul 19, 2004 7:15 pm

I am also a moderator on this forum (for my sins).

Post by **reelyor** » Tue Jul 20, 2004 12:57 am

Hi, Greybear. Welcome to the forum!
I am a 57 year old married father of four from Massachusetts, and have just experienced my daughter's wedding, and am about to become a grandfather for the first TWO times with two of my sons.
I am a former machinist, police officer-detective-sergeant, computer store retailer and repairer, and custome food service equipment project manager.
I started into IF when the Vic-20 computer made its lowly bow, and have dabbled in it from time to time since. I have always enjoyed writing, and learning ways to express myself using computers.
I found this wonderful group last November after bouncing around here and there, and although I haven't produced a wealth of games as some others here have, I enjoy the opportunity ADRIFT gives me, and the ability to converse with many wonderful people, some of whom have become e-mail friends across thousands of miles.
I hope you enjoy all of this as much as I do.

Roy

Post by **ToddWat** » Tue Jul 20, 2004 3:23 pm

Hello, All!

As some of you "oldtimers" will recall, I used to be a regular member of the forum, but have only been lurking the last year or so. I still throw up the occasional post, though. ;/

I've written one Adrift game, and it was also my only IF game to date. Just yesterday I dropped the main outside-of-work project that had been stealing my time, and am already thinking of starting a new IF game. I've already got the concept and most of the story ironed out. It may well be an Adrift game, but before starting I'm going to dink around with Inform and see what I think of it. If I go with another Adrift game, I'm sure I'll become more active on this forum again, as well.

I'm 37 years old. This September I'll have been married for ten years. I have a six-year-old son and a two-year-old daughter. They are the coolest kids in the world, and pretty much take up most of my time, but I still manage to spend some time on my sports activities. I've been training in the martial arts for 14 years, and am a second degree black belt in Choi Kwang Do, and have also been training for the last few years in Brazilian jujitsu. I try to go mountain biking at least once every two or three weeks, and in the winter I'm a fanatical snow skier, skiing every week in a slalom and GS amateur race clinic. Just in the last week, I've also managed to hike a mountain in New York and go kayaking on a lake. I live in Michigan.

Career-wise, I work for the American Concrete Institute. I won't bore you with the details, but we write codes and standards for concrete building construction in the United States. I have degrees in journalism and civil engineering.

Woodfish · Post by **Woodfish** » Tue Jul 20, 2004 4:51 pm

I'm Woodfish, and live in England. I'm also one of the youngest members of the forum. A random list of things I like would read something like: Guitar, IF, Led Zepplin, Monty Python, Douglas Adams, Robin Hobb's books, Discworld, and sometimes pizza. I got into ADRIFT a few years ago, and since then, I've started and been editor of the ADRIFT newsletter (Drifters Monthly, back in the day), hosted about four competitions, authored seven short games (alas, only one-hour or three-hour ones so far), started about a million unfinished games, have a website (www.woodfishweb.tk) which I'll one day get round to filling with content, and I currently moderate the offical ADRIFT page. In my spare time, I sleep.

Post by **Eric** » Tue Jul 20, 2004 6:49 pm

I shy away from introductions but I’m heartened to see I’m not the oldest one here and I found myself matching my favorites to Poodle’s, so...Like the periodic cicadas which never showed up here I am currently in one of my long dormant states (due to deadline overload) from which I will likely one day emerge into the Adrift world and buzz around briefly and clumsily before vanishing again. I am 54, a freelance writer. The majority of my writing consists of articles for legal encyclopedias like American Jurisprudence and Corpus Juris Secundum. My wife and I collaborate on mystery novels which sometimes leads people to expect I can actually write on my own. My athletic ability consists pretty much of being able to walk upright, although I do take part in an occassional orienteering meet, which I love doing because of the cool maps. My other sports activity consists of following baseball religiously.

My favorite books are The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graham, The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester (Tiger, Tiger in the UK I think) and pick a Travis mcGee novel by John D. MacDonald. Favorite movies is hard but my favorite Ed Wood is Orgy of the Dead. My favorite painters are Monet, Hopper, and various PreRaphaelites and other Victorians with bad taste. My favorite comic strip is Alley Oop. My favourite Doctor Who was Jon Pertwee. My favourite Marx Brother is Groucho. As far as philosphy goes I reckon Korzybski made a lot of sense. For some reason I’ve always found clowns to be about as funny as mimes. Musically I like the Kinks and the Ramones.. My favorite word is "theoretically."

Edited By Eric on 1090345955

Post by **Batwing** » Tue Jul 20, 2004 7:17 pm

Hi all.
I'm a 52 year old living in Utah. I work as a police dispatcher/911 operator. Prior to that I spent 20 years as a radio announcer (deejay). Have 3 kids (1 still in school) and 1 grandchild.

I also started with IF back on a VIC20 and a cartridge of The Count.

I've started with AGT, tried ALAN and finally settled on Adrift. I have only tried a couple of projects. I have mapped out Gotham City for use with a Batman story and have attempted to adapt the first part of a Stainless Steel Rat novel to IF. I also did an IF version of a scenario from the RPG Toon.

I want to do a Babylon 5 story, but haven't managed to locate any good infomation as to the layout of the Babylon 5 station. It probably wouldn't hurt if I could think of a story to go along with it.

Radhagrrl · Post by **Radhagrrl** » Tue Jul 20, 2004 10:16 pm

Howdy,

I'm thirty, uh, something. Married to the most wonderful man in the ten worlds. No kids. I'm from America (and not particularly proud of it recently), but now I live in the People's Republic of China. I have a BA in English and secondary education and teach at a university in Zhengzhou. I've published lotsa short stories, essays, etc. I'm the mulitmedia editor for a web site.

Like pretty much everyone else, I played IF games when I was younger, and thought it was dead, until the Great Internet Advent (and the encouragement of my husband). I would much rather concentrate on writing than coding, which is why I picked ADRIFT.

Post by **davidw** » Tue Jul 20, 2004 11:04 pm

Hi,

I'm David Whyld and I'm at the giddy old age of 30 (which is pretty much a spring chicken compared to some of the oldies on here :p ) I've written a few (dozen) games here and there, a few reviews and run a website which has a whole host of Adrift facts & figures on.

I'm hoping to be a novellist one day but have run into the slight problem that seems to face every would-be novellist: actually getting a novel done. Maybe if I could come up with an idea that holds my interest for more than an hour or two I might do better but so far I've not managed it.