Interview
Handle: Tron/FairLight
How did you come up with your alias ?
I got it from the good ole' movie Tron, the first computer animated movie ever done. My handle before that was somewhat embarassing. (Yeah, I can hear all my friends laughing when they read this. =)
City / Country:
Oernskoeldsvik, Sweden.
Born year:
1975
What was your first computer, and when did you get it?
Well, the first thing I had with a real keyboard and a CPU was an Atari 600XL back in 84, but that was only a loan from a friend of mine. The first computer I actually owned was the Vic 20 I got in... Eh... 86 ?
How did you get into the scene and what groups have you been a member of ?
Having gotten my first C64 for christmas 87, I got really annoyed by all the games just containing "sys 2064", and even more so by the fact that it wouldn't work when I typed it. I got a TFCIII and started hacking machine code. A couple of months after that, I retied some old bounds to friends of mine, only to find out that they had started coding demos actively. Shortly thereafter I was accepted into my first group, Byterapers. This was early in 89. Late 89 a couple of friends and I realized that Byterapers wasn't what we were looking for, and started up the just-for-fun group Mute 101. Taking nothing seriously was a lot of fun !
One year and six demos later, Bacchus/FLT saw our weak minded slogans, including "More rock free drug festivals", and decided he needed us. =) Actually, he only confessed to this recently. I've been a member of FairLight ever since.
What was the proudest moment in your career ?
I can't really think of one - sorry ! Must have been a long time ago. =)
For what specific reason(s) do you think that you are remembered ?
Ehmmm.. For coding TronMon and the XAss system, for releasing the first "raytracing" demos and quite possibly for having started coding three (3!) BBS programs and never finishing them ! (*grin*)
What would you like to be remembered for ?
Something nice ? (laugh!)
What made you stop the scene activity ? (and do you remember when?)
Two reasons, really. I was running out of time in 93-94, attending the last year of "high school", and that's when I started slowing down. The biggest blow was probably The Party II, though. That's when I had finished LegoLand III in three days without sleep, and sent it down to Denmark via modem. I would have ended up in atleast third place in the competition, but thanks to some friends of mine, who tried to "help" me by gathering as many vote disks as possible and voting for me, I ended up in the fourth place. - They had mixed up the numbers in the competition, and instead voted for the guy who WOULD have been number four.
Thinking back on the good old days, is there anything you regret?
- Nope.
What was your favorite
GAME(S)
Giana Sisters ! (Number one, not number two.)
DEMO(S)
I didn't watch demos that often, and the ones I watched, I just watched once or twice for competetive purposes. If I had to make a pick, though, I'd probably pick a Horizon demo from 89-90 some time.
PROGRAMMER(S) (OR PROGRAMMING TEAM(S))
Horizon.
CRACKER(S) (OR CRACKING GROUP(S))
Never really cared much for cracking. =)
COMPOSER(S)
Jeroen Tel
BEST COMPOSED TRACK(S)
The Delta soundtrack.
EVENT(S) (E.G. COPYPARTY)
Horizon's party in Eskilstuna, Sweden, back in 89. This may however simpy be because that's the first one I went to, but I get the same reactions from other people, so I can't be that far off. =)
MEMORY(S)
That's got to be the old Mute 101 days. We were having SO much fun, and we weren't giving a damn what people were thinking of us. 40 K of scroll text just containing BULLS**T wasn't incommon back then !
DRINK ?
Non-alcoholic : Jolt Cola
More fun : Tequila slammer (Tequila, Kaluha, Sprite and a hard SLAM down into the table! MMMMmmm..)
What are you doing nowadays ?
Officially, I'm unemployed, but I'm working on several things that'll start paying off soon. I've got a nice low budget firewall system going (did you know a 486 DX/33 has no problem shuffling something like 5Mbps ?), administration systems for different companies and an alarm system that a company will be selling for me. - Imagine that, money just rolling in without me having to lift a finger ! (*grin*)
What are you doing on your spare time?
Ehmmm.. Spending a lot of time with my girlfriend these days. (Going to Corfu next week ! Yes ! Yes !) Other than that I'm trying to figure out if I should attend a university this fall, or just open up a company and start making a living.
Is there anything you'd like to say to the public (read: admires)
Don't get too excited now, but I actually debugged TronMon v2.1 a couple of days ago ! I *might* even release a demo during the summer, but I'll have to see about that. - An FLT member meeting last weekend sparked some old flames in me. =)
What is the meaning of life?
None, really, so why not have AS MUCH FUN AS POSSIBLE while you're in it ? =) - Sitting still in the same place all you life only leads to boredom.