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1994-01-27
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Seth Able Robinson Interview
Copyright (c) 1994, Joe DeRouen
All rights reserved
Each month in these electronic pages, we'll be presenting an interview
with someone important to the BBS world or just to the world at large.
This month, we'll be talking to Seth Able Robinson.
Seth Able Robinson is the author of the very popular LEGEND OF THE RED
DRAGON and PLANETS: THE EXPLORATION Of SPACE BBS door games. I conducted
this information via e-mail on Seth's BBS sent back and forth over a
period of about a week.
Joe DeRouen: Tell us a little about yourself, Seth. Where were you born?
How long have you been programming? Are you married?
Seth Able Robinson: Ok.. I was born in Hunington Beach, California, in
December of 12/06/74. (Yes, I'm 19 now) My family
later moved to Oregon, where I have lived ever
since. When I was 10 I knew I wanted to work with
computers after only watching a few Star Trek
episodes. My parents finally helped me to get a
computer by looking at a campsite and getting a
Commodore 16 as a prize.
JD: What did you think of it?
SAR: I was elated! I studied the manual and started writing programs
immediatly! (The single cartridge it came with didn't hold my
attention very long, so what choice did I have?) The only problem
was that I could not save what I did. So you can imagine how happy
I was when I found a data-cassette under the tree that Christmas!
Anyway, from there I just kept upgrading machines & equipment.
JD: When did you first release LORD? What is LORD 3.02 like compared to
the original version? What improvements?
SAR: I released LORD on my Amiga BBS when I was 14. I ran a small BBS.
(Same number & name as the one I run now) I wrote LORD for one
reason. So people would call my BBS EVERY DAY and use the message
bases. I had a few games but none that were 'right'. Some had no
time limits, (I only wanted people playing for 10 minutes so that
they would have plenty of time to read messages) but most games
were just blah. So I wrote LORD. After experiencing lots of
success on my system, I realized I needed to create an IBM version
- Amiga BBS's were/are very rare. Since I didn't have an IBM
Computer to write it on I wrote LORD 1.6 at a friends house on a
386-16 with a meg of ram. I was able to get my hands on Turbo
Pascal, I had used C on the Amiga and I could see that they were
very simular, just different keywords and such.
JD: How long did it take you to learn Turbo Pascal?
SAR: It took about a month of going over late, and staying late, to
learn Turbo Pascal and write LORD 1.6. (Heheh, I didn't know what
ALPHA or BETA testing was back then..So revisions came fast and
furious...(Not much has changed I guess?)) In time I was able to
buy my own IBM with registration money. This was really great for
me! I was finally being able to program at home! So I released 2.1
IBM, which was the first version that was better than the Amiga
one.
JD: What do you think about the shareware concept?
SAR: I learned Shareware is like a snowball, picking up more and more
users as it rolls across the country - I suppose a better analogy
would be Shareware is like a disease. Always spreading and
reaching more people.
JD: Sounds painful! Where did the names of the monsters and weapons
come from in LORD?
SAR: Hehehe, a few of them are from favorite books and authors. I
really respect the fantasy writers that can make me stay up all
night to finish their book. Most of the enemies and such, are my
own creation, sitting around with friends making things up. One
enemy I should mention is "Rude Boy". This creature is from a 128
RPG I created a long time ago which LORD is loosely based on. I
don't know why, but I love this guy. "Rentaki's Pet" is from a
weird dream I had.
JD: Why did you install yourself as the bard? Do you enjoy women
fighting for your attention? <Grin>
SAR: <Grins hugely> Er, the truth is I never expected my game to go any
further than my own Amiga BBS. I created it kinda personalized,
for fun. So he is part of the game now! I am flattered when I get
fan mail from females, it's always nice to be noticed.
JD: What about Planets? Tell us a little background information on that?
SAR: Planets: TEOS is a very different game than LORD - Rarely do people
LOVE both these games, usually they like one much more than the
other one. TEOS requires a bit more strategy, and is more a
thinkers game, where LORD is a bit more a Hack N Slash. Both games
require strategy, but TEOS requires a but more learning before you
become good at it.
JD: Which is the most popular of the two?
SAR: LORD is by a long shot. Of course, LORD has been around a lot
longer, Planets: TEOS was only released last year and a lot of
people have still never even heard of it.
JD: Do you plan any updates to Planets: TEOS?
SAR: I'm thinking about this. I want to come up with some truly
inovative ideas to make this game even more unique - and fun. I
don't want to create a new version merely because people want RIP
and Multi-node support, I want to add to the game.
JD: Are you working on any other games? Do you plan to release any other
games in the future?
SAR: I'm working on several different ideas now - Doors, local games,
and even games that are not shareware. Right now, a Local VGA RPG
is in the planning stages. This allows so much more
personlization, character development and graphics...You lose the
fun of killing real people, but the total experience should more
than make up for that loss.
JD: What kind of money are you making from your games?
SAR: Plenty. <G> I'm completly supported by LORD alone right now, but
I know I need to take this 'bonus' time and use it to create
something that will return profits a year or two from now...(The
time it takes to be 'spread').
JD: How long has your BBS been up? Tell us about your BBS?
SAR: The Darkside (Tales From The Darkside inspired this btw) has been
up for 5 or 6 years now. It's always had a very active message
base, and that is what I'm most proud of.
JD: What software do you use? What's the #? (etc.)
SAR: I run Renegade. We've got two high speed nodes, and are adding
more. We have over 2000 users and 3 packed out LORD games!
The Darkside (503) 838-6171 (Both lines)
JD: Do you register (other people's) doors for your BBS?
SAR: I would if I ran any. I do register any util or game or anything I
use, and think is a quality product.
JD: What door games do YOU play most?
SAR: I LOVE Trade Wars! I loved 1.03, and I love V2.0. I don't mean to
brag, <ahem> but I've blown up a few traders in my time! I think
it's the best door ever created, bar NONE.
JD: What're your overall plans for the future?
SAR: I don't know... Stay free, make Robinson Technologies into a
household word, and I hope I never create a game that *I* wouldn't
like.
JD: Thanks for talking to us, Seth. Do you have any closing comments?
SAR: Oh...I'm not married. I love Mortal Kombat 1 & 2, I like to surf,
(yes even the Oregon Coast) golf, play basketball, ride horses,
stay fit and go places to think. (I love living so close to the
ocean!) One last thing - My education - I thought it might be
important to let you know that I have never been to school. I was
homeschooled, by a great mom. Woah! I almost forgot to plug my
new version of LORD, V3.02. RIP and multi-node support are a few
additions to this wonderful game.
JD: Anything else?
SAR: NEVER STOP PLAYING GAMES!
JD: Thanks a lot, Seth. Good luck with LORD 3.02 and all your future
endeavors!
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Seth can be reached by anyone via the following methods:
DarkSide BBS: (503) 838-6171 (both lines)
FIDO NET MAIL on Field Of Dreams BBS (Not MY BBS!)
Mail Seth Able at 1:3406/13.
You can also FREQ the latest versions of both games by using the magic
names of LORD and PLANETS from the above address.
Compuserve: 73502,2755
The most current release filename for LORD is LORD302.ZIP
The most current release filename for PLANETS:TEOS is PLAN112.ZIP
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