"In the beginning, there was man. And for a time, it was good"
01/01/12
My beginnings are just like everyone's; I was born, grew up, and, at some point or another, a video game controller landed in my hands.
I believe I was 7 when I acquired my first games' console. It was an Atari, whose model has slipped my mind through the ages.
My family and I were from humble origins, and as such we learned to make fun from what was at hand, and this Atari was one such thing.
Many a night was spent playing Centipede, battling for the high score, with the joystick suckers firmly stuck to the arm of the wooden chair.
And that was when I got hooked.
Shortly after, one of my cousins gave me an original Gameboy with Tetris and Alien 3. However they weren't enough, so I brought my Gameboy into school with me and traded games with friends. That is when I realized that the library of games at my disposal was larger than I could have ever imagined. Through the trading process I acquired and played such games as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. This last title absorbed me more than any game to that date. It set a new standard for me that I long sought to find an equal for.
Next came the Sega Mega Drive era of my life and the wealth of games I played grew ever larger. Naturally, I played such classics as the Sonic the Hedgehog series and even some obscure games whose names I cannot recall nor can I locate any information about. My search, however, will never stop.
It wasn't long before I got a Playstation 1 with games such as the Die Hard trilogy, one of my favorites to this day, Tony Hawks Pro Skater 2 and all manner of new games.
Essentially, this was the beginning of the 3D era. The prospect of playing a game in three dimensions blew my mind.
Soon enough, my family acquired our first computer and for me it was like a gateway to another world filled with polygons and wonder. I swiftly acquired such titles as Grim Fandango and Full Throttle which again wowed me with their amazing yet simple story telling ability. It was also around this time that I really began to understand aspects of gaming such as ambient story telling and the simplicity of multi-player gaming which led me into the world of MechWarrior 4 and I joined my first online clan.
Around the same time I was playing MechWarrior 4, I heard from a friend of mine about a fast-paced, tournament-oriented first person shooter: It was Unreal Tournament. I installed it and lost hours of my day. I also lost my mind when I opened the Unreal Editor. It was like staring into the black abyss of time. I had no idea what I was looking at but I wished to the gods of gaming that I did.
That was the day the seeds of level design were planted.
There was the original Xbox followed by the Xbox 360 and at the same time came my first self-built computer system.
It served me for an age, and has now been passed to a good friend of mine who has kept her legacy going.
It was this friend who introduced me to the complexities of UDK and its tutorials, with which I will be fleshing out this portfolio with screen-shots and updates.
So that, ladies and gentlemen, is my story thus far.
Hope the wall of text didn't bore you.
More from me in the coming future.
Until then, Adios
Matt
Editing credit: Molly
My beginnings are just like everyone's; I was born, grew up, and, at some point or another, a video game controller landed in my hands.
I believe I was 7 when I acquired my first games' console. It was an Atari, whose model has slipped my mind through the ages.
My family and I were from humble origins, and as such we learned to make fun from what was at hand, and this Atari was one such thing.
Many a night was spent playing Centipede, battling for the high score, with the joystick suckers firmly stuck to the arm of the wooden chair.
And that was when I got hooked.
Shortly after, one of my cousins gave me an original Gameboy with Tetris and Alien 3. However they weren't enough, so I brought my Gameboy into school with me and traded games with friends. That is when I realized that the library of games at my disposal was larger than I could have ever imagined. Through the trading process I acquired and played such games as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. This last title absorbed me more than any game to that date. It set a new standard for me that I long sought to find an equal for.
Next came the Sega Mega Drive era of my life and the wealth of games I played grew ever larger. Naturally, I played such classics as the Sonic the Hedgehog series and even some obscure games whose names I cannot recall nor can I locate any information about. My search, however, will never stop.
It wasn't long before I got a Playstation 1 with games such as the Die Hard trilogy, one of my favorites to this day, Tony Hawks Pro Skater 2 and all manner of new games.
Essentially, this was the beginning of the 3D era. The prospect of playing a game in three dimensions blew my mind.
Soon enough, my family acquired our first computer and for me it was like a gateway to another world filled with polygons and wonder. I swiftly acquired such titles as Grim Fandango and Full Throttle which again wowed me with their amazing yet simple story telling ability. It was also around this time that I really began to understand aspects of gaming such as ambient story telling and the simplicity of multi-player gaming which led me into the world of MechWarrior 4 and I joined my first online clan.
Around the same time I was playing MechWarrior 4, I heard from a friend of mine about a fast-paced, tournament-oriented first person shooter: It was Unreal Tournament. I installed it and lost hours of my day. I also lost my mind when I opened the Unreal Editor. It was like staring into the black abyss of time. I had no idea what I was looking at but I wished to the gods of gaming that I did.
That was the day the seeds of level design were planted.
There was the original Xbox followed by the Xbox 360 and at the same time came my first self-built computer system.
It served me for an age, and has now been passed to a good friend of mine who has kept her legacy going.
It was this friend who introduced me to the complexities of UDK and its tutorials, with which I will be fleshing out this portfolio with screen-shots and updates.
So that, ladies and gentlemen, is my story thus far.
Hope the wall of text didn't bore you.
More from me in the coming future.
Until then, Adios
Matt
Editing credit: Molly