For all the Fallen Heroes

[Mario]

I don't know what possessed me to stop everything I am doing and obsess about cutting a track for a theme I had initially composed in 1986.

At around 5:00 a.m., and after a reasonable mix was produced I switched the TV on and — that's when — it dawned on me that today is Veterans Day.

I quite literally have not looked at the calendar (nor left the premised) since I went out to perform my civic duty and cast my vote on November 4.

Once I got there, and after all the jokes and kidding around (I was very saddened that Tina Fay was not on the ballot) and when it was finally my turn, I couldn't help but feel a lump in my throat in honor of the many who died so that Democracy can live.

So maybe I was still channeling these feelings. I don't know.

For what it is worth, here is my homage to all veterans. It is an mp3 file. Not my usual style, mainly because (and David will vouch for me) I try to avoid synthesizers. So no MIDI was used here... Just basic layering and playing live. So, please consider this modest offering as a "blueprint" of what could be. Some of the percussion sounds were from drum samples by Michael Botts, courtesy of Ilio Platinum Drums.

[Johnson]

Excellent work Mario.

[boxfox]

man you should have taken this job with Sierra . i would have played games with better music backgrounds

[Mario]

man you should have taken this job with Sierra . i would have played games with better music backgrounds

Had I taken this job you speak of (circa 1995), I would have had to submit to what I considered to be a radical and unfair change in policy on the part of the company.

That company sends their agent 3000 miles to interview me for 3 hours (in their hotel suite no less) and after which I was deemed up to the job, and after I had used my own contacts to help that company secure another employee, suddenly, out of the blue, I had to take a "drawing test."

And the news about my having to (now) take a drawing test came one day before I had to fly to Seattle. Simply put, and now, out of the blue, and after THEY have contacted me after having seen my work in the magazine, and interviewed me extensively, and had me purchase samples of their games, and AFTER I pulled some strings and put THEM in touch with talented people, one of who they HIRED, the (then) 24 year old "producer" tells me "Well, Mario, we have rules. If I bend them for you, I have to bend them for everyone."

So I replied: "You didn't seem to mind those rules when you took advantage of my extensive list of contacts"

Boxfox, there is a difference between compromising and selling your soul.

My driving long distances to meet with their agent in her hotel suite for three hours, not knowing what to expect, paying for the parking and for my own game samples (remember, THEY invited ME...) and not haggling too much on the salary, is my way of compromising.

Helping them find other employees is my way of compromising. Ask anyone who has ever worked in the USA, that sort of thing is not typical.

Not having any expectations is my way of compromising.

But, and despite my proven skill and recent award and TV interview and resume, to be asked to sketch a CHARACTER before I am able to attend the interview, is selling my soul.

To be fair, I offered to submit to a drawing exam while I was there. The 24 year old producer refused. That was end of it.

I am sorry you ended up playing with lesser music and I thank you for the compliment. Something tells me that had I taken that "job" Daheshville would not have even existed.

[WingedPaladin]

Sierra connections

Very nice song.

I had actually contacted Corey Cole because I was working on a remake of QFG1. He was no longer working for Sierra when I contacted him. The rights to the old Sierra games had been transferred to Vivendi International. I shelved the project since someone else had done the same thing. The main game has been patched so much, I'm not sure if my version still works.

[Mario]

Nice work. I must admit, after that Sierra fiasco, I didn't want to hear of or see another game for as long as I lived. Is "disgusted" too strong of a word? Anyway, for what it's worth, and back in "them days" the games were pretty much on Diskettes. CD players were a luxury. Speaking of "CD'S" I actually remember driving from Manhattan to Brooklyn, and on my way to Pratt, I heard the DJ say "Listen to the quality of this thing called 'CD'... (he was all excited) this is the first time ever any CD has been played on RADIO anywhere (so he claimed)" and that's when I (allegedly) heard the first audio track off an Audio CD. That must have been... 83... 84...

But, back to this Sierra business, back in those days, the games looked... sorry... lame. Their artists simply didn't know how to paint using the then emerging medium called "Digital Paint."

How ironic that this ... "kid" ... would do THAT to the author of "Painting with Computers" (among others). It was funny really. On the same day this happened, Channel 5 Boston had their crew at my office taping an interview with me (which later aired as a 3-minute segment) and here is this ... "kid"... after all that I have done for him... suddenly pull a stunt like this.

Anyway, eventually, the medium would change and now it's all 3D. And with companies like Reallusion putting out power and affordable software such as iClone, now it's really about the content.

I mean, today, anyone with a reasonable amount of equipment can compete with the "big boys". Of course, you still need marketing and distribution... and that means: quality is not always equivalent (necessarily) to economical success.

In any case, today we can create our own content and promote it on YouTube and sell directly to the consumer.

I have no problem envisioning a "Daheshism-Inspired" game one day... Even Doctor Dahesh, in his audio (a portion of which some of you have heard) openly talks about his stories being produced as movies...

Now, that being said, and because — after all — we are in the "Temple," I need to add my personal take on the subject:

It might not be in this particular Space-Time continuum.

[Chad]

A quality reply as always mario. On the other hand i have no idea what so ever when was the first time i listened to a CD if i am not mistaken it was for Iron Madien.

[Mario]

Thank you Chad. I did some research and, as is turned out, the first Audio CD ever produced seems to have been by ABBA.

http://news.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/10381/379607.html

Another bit of trivia (to make us appreciate just how far we've come in terms of technological advance): in 1995, a "standard" CD-ROM burner cost a mere $10,000 (again, in 1995 dollars).

Our Planet might have been better off if prices on certain items had remained on the higher end...