The Spark of an Idea

So here I am, starting a new project and seeing how I will change my life this time. Who I am is fairly simple, just another geek with a goal to make a living being a game designer. I have been playing games of some sort all my life. I had one of the first "Supper Pong" game systems (Four Games in ONE!) and my family got one of the very first Apple II's out of someone's garage, long before "Computer Store" was even an idea.

But my history and enthusiasm for gaming will not land me job. I have no real credentials in my CV for programming. At best I have a set of shell scripts that have been in production, mostly unmodified, for over 10 years that run a simple but critical service over at Qualcomm.

My current professional position is, "Systems Architect" for a regional retail company. Which is really just a very fancy title for "Senior IT Geek Who Isn't the Manager." And since the company isn't that large, I do everything from swapping back-up tapes to project managing the roll out million dollar software upgrade project. I have a few useful pieces of paper, like a B.S. in Engineering, a MBA, as well as a PMP, that keep me employed as is.

I am not doing this for the money. If I were in this for the money, I never would have left Wall Street.

"Why another Rogue Game?" Simple, I like CRPGs. And Rogue is the Granddaddy of all CRPGs. And that is where I would like to end up. Also there is a nice diversity of components for me to learn, including networking, client-server architecture, database design, AI programing and level design.

So here I am taking my first step on this thousand mile journey.