looking for old Microprose staff.

[Johnny G]

Hi Guys.

I'm a complete newbie here, so please go easy. :)

I'm trying to contact some of the people who worked on PAW 1942, and EAW 3D engine.

Some time ago on the flipcode forum, one of our group got in contact with a guy called Brian, who had worked for Microprose, and had some memories of how the 3D engine worked.

EAW is still being developed by a small team of EAW enthusiasts in our spare time. We have only recently been able to significantly change the exe coding, which is opening up a whole new world of possibilities for the game.

Tackling problems with the old exe and expanding areas of the code to allow for more models, sounds, land tiles, higher res graphics, and fixing the 7217 error, which is killing the game at present, are all underway, but we still need experienced help.

Some members of the old team have been of a great help to us since Atari agreed to let us openly pose questions to them. I don't think we have ever found any contacts with the original team.

Guys who worked on the PAW engine can also help because we would like to bring into EAW the working carriers, which PAW was famous for.

Look forward, with fingers crossed, to replies. :)

[J22]

Some time ago on the flipcode forum, one of our group got in contact with a guy called Brian, who had worked for Microprose, and had some memories of how the 3D engine worked.
That's probably Brian Reynolds? Try contacting him through LinkedIn.

[Johnny G]

Thanks J22.

I've had a look at the site, but I can't see any public forums. Can you post a link please.

Is there anyone else, who you know worked for MPS, who worked on the old 3dz engine? Or maybe someone who is better informed on C/C++ than we are, who would like to help us.

We are mostly Sim modders, not real programmers, although we have achieved a lot recently.

Like I said, we do this for fun, so no rewards. We get a kick out of fixing up all the unfinished things which were supposed to be in the game, but were never finished.

If you've ever read the "Cool Cam" article, you'll know the game was in a real mess, and it was a minor miracle the game ended up to be as good as it is today.

The biggest hurdle we have to fix is the 7217 error, which is caused by Nvidia dropping it's support of 8 bit graphics. If we could get the game to run with the latest drivers, lots of fans of the game would be very happy. :)

[.oisyn]

You need to create a LinkedIn account, then you can use that to e-mail him
http://www.linkedin.com/in/breynolds

Or you could contact him via his company, Big Huge Games (http://www.bighugegames.com/)

However, I'm not quite sure that's the Brian you're looking for. He's a game designer, so I don't think he has much technical knowledge of the 3d engine. But if it's a different Brian you're looking for, he could perhaps help you finding the other Brian :)

[Johnny G]

Hi Guys.

I think his name is Brian Fellows, after checking some of our forum posts from the 15th of June, 2003.

[Johnny G]

Another guy I'm trying to contact is Dave Simmonds, or DaveS. Anyone ever heard of him here?

[.oisyn]

Hi Guys.

I think his name is Brian Fellows, after checking some of our forum posts from the 15th of June, 2003.

I DON'T THINK IT'S BRIAN FELLOWS EITHER. HE WAS A (RATHER FUNNY) TROLL AND I SERIOUSLY QUESTION HIS TRUE EXISTENCE.
;)

[roel]

I DON'T THINK IT'S BRIAN FELLOWS EITHER. HE WAS A (RATHER FUNNY) TROLL AND I SERIOUSLY QUESTION HIS TRUE EXISTENCE.
;)
THAT'S CRAZY!

[roel]

There were rumors that Kurt knew the real identity of "I'M BRIAN FELLOWS", and some said that he was just one of the regular members. But I doubt (indeed) that he is related to the other Brian.

[monjardin]

Wasn't Brian Fellows an SNL (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturday_Night_Live) character?

CONFIRMED:

"Brian Fellow is not an accredited zoologist, nor does he hold an advanced degree in any of the environmental sciences. He is simply an enthusiastic young man with a sixth grade education and an abiding love for all of God's creatures. Share his love, tonight on.. [ musical interlude ] BRIAN FELLOW'S SAFARI PLANET! (end music)"

[Johnny G]

Well, here is the link to our thread from 2003.

http://www.simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Board=46&Number=1092636&Searchpage=4&Main=131995&Words=gurney&topic=0&Search=true#Post1092636

I did once have a link to a site, which backs up old forums, and as I remember it, it was a .org site. I'm wondering if there might be a backup of the old flipcode.com, and if so, I could then at least read the exchange between Gurney and the mythical Brian. I'll have to do some more asking around.

[J22]

Well that sounds a lot like all-caps Brian Fellows character who was hanging around in Flipcode forums long time ago, but then again it was Brian Raynolds who was Lead Programmer/Designer at Microprose at the time of PAW development. So, has the mystery of Brian Fellows identity finally solved? ;)

edit: Oh, finally bothered to read through the thread and they indeed mention Brian Fellows. I first just quickly browsed through the thread and noticed the all-caps quote..

[Mattias Gustavsson]

CAN I BE ON THE LIGHTING TEAM?

god, I miss flipcode :sad:

[roel]

I did once have a link to a site, which backs up old forums, and as I remember it, it was a .org site.
http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.flipcode.com

[Johnny G]

Well that sounds a lot like all-caps Brian Fellows character who was hanging around in Flipcode forums long time ago, but then again it was Brian Raynolds who was Lead Programmer/Designer at Microprose at the time of PAW development. So, has the mystery of Brian Fellows identity finally solved? ;)

edit: Oh, finally bothered to read through the thread and they indeed mention Brian Fellows. I first just quickly browsed through the thread and noticed the all-caps quote..

That's an interesting thought. I've tried contacting various people on forums, and very few use thier real names, I suppose to cover thier tracks. So, if it was Brian Raynolds, it would explain why he knew so much about the MPS 3dz wireframe system. It would be great to contact someone like him, and pick his brains. ;)

[kusma]

CAN I BE ON THE LIGHTING TEAM?

god, I miss flipcode :sad:
JUST FAKE IT AND NO ONE WILL NOTICE