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LIVE On-Line Interview with Christian Boutin on CyberScape BBS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On Sunday, June 6th 1993, at 9:00pm CyberScape BBS's On-Line Interview featured
a talk with Christian Boutin, President of Oracle Software, and the author of
many Shareware games including Construction Bob in the Bouncing Factory.
Every Sunday night at 9pm (Eastern Time) CyberScape hosts an On-Line LIVE
Interview with a personality from the shareware or BBS industry. We have many
such interviews planned with SysOps, Authors, and all the other people both in
front of and behind the scenes of the shareware industry. Stop in some Sunday
night and you can be part of the action. Anyone who calls CyberScape and joins
us in a LIVE Interview will get a chance post their questions and have their
name or company appear in the transcripts.
Attention: If you are a Shareware Author or Sysop, and you'd like to be
interviewed LIVE on CyberScape, drop a message to the SysOp on CyberScape BBS
at 508-368-8456. We're always looking for new and interesting people to chat
with. So, if you'd like some additional exposure for your programs or your BBS,
just let us know. We'll set up a LIVE Interview focused directly on you and
your products or services. Give us a call!
What you're reading is the written transcript recorded LIVE, On-Line, in Chat
Conference on CyberScape BBS. Sometimes in an On-Line Chat the conversation
can get difficult to follow since replies don't always follow questions
directly. So, during editing, conversations have been grouped (e.g.: questions
grouped with answers) but other than that, this is the EXACT text of the
interview. Preceding each line of dialogue, you will notice a number and name
as in the following example: (01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN). The number shown is the
CyberScape Node Number that the person was logged into, and the name tells you
who said what. That's about all the explaining that needs to be done, we hope
you enjoy the interview!
Dave White * Sysop
-=CyberScape BBS=-
- Get On with it Already! -
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday, June 6th, 1993
Start of Session with Christian Boutin from Oracle Software
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) Here I am!
(00:DAVE WHITE) Hello Christian... Have you ever met Jeremy Frerichs ?
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) Not personally <g> He is a beta tester for us!
(04:JEREMY FRERICHS) How are you?
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) Fine, as always! How about you?
(04:JEREMY FRERICHS) Good, thanks..
(00:DAVE WHITE) Christian, can you give us a little background on Oracle and CB
Software?
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) Ok, Oracle Software was formed on March 6th, 1993.
Before that however, we were working under the banner of CB software. After
one year under CB software, we switched to Oracle Software.
(00:DAVE WHITE) What games were released under the CB Software Logo?
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) Our first release was The Tournament of Zulula, in may
1992. This was a CGA hack 'n slash game. Then I made Defense of the Boat, a
mouse-driven CGA shoot'em up game. Then came new technology, and a 486! After
that Construction Bob was released, and finally, Earth Invasion.
(00:DAVE WHITE) How old were you when you released Tournament of Zulula?
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) I was 17, but I had made this game long before releasing
it. I was about 15 when I made it. At the time the terms Shareware or BBS
were unknown to me. Only a couple of years later did I released it as
Shareware.
(00:DAVE WHITE) I've always liked the names you give your characters and the
places they live in. Where do you get the names for them?
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) Well, as a Role-Playing Dungeon Master, it is essential
to have imagination for that sort of things. The world Akistar (depicted in
Zulula and The Walls of Bratock) is the world in which my real Role-Players are
playing. As for others (like Construction Bob), it just came to me as a good
name for a construction Stuntman!
(00:DAVE WHITE) What is involved in being a Role Playing Dungeon master?
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) Well, the task requires a lot of work, it is very
demanding, and very rewarding. Like computer games, it's a lot of work, but if
people like it, as if they like the Role-Playing session, it's rewarding!
(02:MARK ADKINS) ok, where is the party
(00:DAVE WHITE) Everyone, this is Mark Adkins. Mark is SysOp of a BBS in
Nebraska called Axcelerated BBS. Welcome to the chat Mark!
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) Hello Mark!
(02:MARK ADKINS) Thanks Dave: Nice to meet you Mr. Boutin
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) No Mr. Boutin, it's Christian!
(02:MARK ADKINS) ok, first name basis
(00:DAVE WHITE) Christian, can you tell us about games that are in development?
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) Of course. The next one to be released will be The Walls
of Bratock. It will enter Beta-Testing tonight (11:00pm) on CyberScape. This
game is probably the biggest shareware role-playing game to ever come out!
It's got great VGA graphics and digitized sounds for the Sound Blaster. There
is a great depth in the storyline, and I as said, it occurs in a world entirely
developed (Akistar). We also have 2 other projects underway, none of them are
named yet.
(02:MARK ADKINS) I really like it when they take Bob to the hospital, since i am
at one a lot!
(04:JEREMY FRERICHS) I like how the guys get grossed out and the floor cracks
if Bob falls..
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) Glad you like it guys!
(04:JEREMY FRERICHS) Did you get your idea for Bob from the old akranoid type
games?
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) Construction Bob was essentially based on a game that
went out in 198X called Clowns and Balloons. Of course it has a lot more stuff
in it than this old CoCo game!
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) As for the other games in development, there will be one
Squad combat futurist role-playing game in VESA compatible Super-VGA, and one
3-D space combat simulator. Each featuring graphics like never seen before in
the shareware industry!
(04:JEREMY FRERICHS) That is great, besides Canada and the US, do you plan to
go international?
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) It's funny you mention that Jeremy, last week we received
a registration from someone in Germany! It proves our games can be popular all
around the globe!
(00:DAVE WHITE) Who does all the graphics and sound? Can you tell us about the
people behind Oracles game development?
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) You're talking to him Dave <grin>! No actually, Oracle
Software has 3 members, me, my brother Eric and Richard Martin, make it 4, with
Alain Paradis. Eric and I are doing the programming, design and graphics.
Alain Paradis is making the cool soundtracks, and Richard is a programming-only
dude!
(04:JEREMY FRERICHS) I Downloaded your Screen Shots of the new RPG game to be
released, The graphics are excellent, did you draw them yourself, and what
graphics format did you use?
(02:MARK ADKINS) I realize games are getting harder and bigger to make. do you
have a size in mind or development time limit when you begin
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) Whew, a lot of question, wait a minute!
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) Jeremy's question first. I do all graphics in my games.
I use a drawing program I made myself, along with some routines I also made
myself for special effects.
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) Mark's question now. Games are getting awfully big these
days. It's hard for a small business with 3 people to stay up to date. But
each of us is working like 10 men to put all this together. As for limits, I
use both, size and time limits. If the time limit is about to come, then I
think about making the game less big (without removing any of it's
characteristics) But by making less graphics or removing the less useful
options. I don't like games that are too late, so I don't like being late.
(00:DAVE WHITE) Can you tell us some of the improvements in the new
Construction Bob?
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) The new Construction Bob has many improvements, first of
all it is now time-dependant instead of processor-speed dependent. There is a
nice cut-scene at the end where Bob is taken to the hospital. Some new
animation like the floor cracking, and other surprises!
(00:DAVE WHITE) What language do you use to write the games, and how long did
it take to learn?
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) We use a variety of languages depending on the task to
execute. For example, assembly is used when fast animation are required.
High-level languages such as C and Pascal are used to build the structure of
the programs.
(00:DAVE WHITE) So then would you say you're using assembly mostly?
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) Assembly sub-routines in a High-level language structure.
(00:DAVE WHITE) What advice would you give to young people wanting to start a
Software Company like Oracle?
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) First of all, believe in what you do. Some people (even
friends) can discourage you by saying what you do is not good (or fair). But
if you believe in what you do, go for it!
(00:DAVE WHITE) What were the most major hurdles you faced in starting Oracle?
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) It was very scary, I played those games since I was a
child, and I know how people can be hard on software. There is also monetary
problems at first, getting the things together, finding people, it's no easy
task! But it's rewarding!
(04:JEREMY FRERICHS) What sparked your interest in computers, and programming as well?
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) I received my first computer when I was 8 or 9. I was
immediately mesmerized by it! Since I had but one game at the time, I searched
for other things to do with this machine full of keys! So I plunged into the
Basic language immediately!
(04:JEREMY FRERICHS) Was this an IBM or did you start learning on something
else?
(02:MARK ADKINS) I made a game in college with ascii, and thought it was great,
now i program professionally. kinda interesting how people come together
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) My first computer was a TRS-80 (Trash-80<g>) with a big
32k of memory and 4 fantastic colors! (costed 800$ too!)
(00:DAVE WHITE) Did you learn to program on your own or did you take classes?
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) I learned Basic on my own, as well as the other languages
I use right now . But I will be taking classes to get better on assembly
language.
(02:MARK ADKINS) Gentlemen, I have been summoned, and must egzit.. thank you
Christian for allowing me to beta test your new warez!
(00:DAVE WHITE) Thanks for joining the chat Mark... Take care.
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) Ok, see ya around Mark!
(04:JEREMY FRERICHS) Bye Mark
(00:DAVE WHITE) Do you go to school now, or is Oracle a full time thing?
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) Well, both! I spend as much time working on Oracle
products than my school time! In the summer I work full-time on my projects.
In the winter it's like 50/50 (50 school 50 projects).
(00:DAVE WHITE) Is there anything that you'd like to say that I haven't asked?
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) Well, just that people should stay tuned, because the
games that are coming in will be like nothing seen before in the shareware
industry! Of course there is also the Oracle area here on CyberScape. In this
area people can come to find out everything they need to know about Oracle. It
features all the publicities for current and upcoming games! A message area to
leave comments to me and my fellow designers. As well as news and sections
about Oracle! People are really missing something if they don't see it!
(04:JEREMY FRERICHS) That is great, do you plan on implementing full sound
blaster capabilities into your upcoming 3d games?
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) We are working on Adlib music capabilities, as well as
Sound Blaster speech. In The Walls of Bratock there is Sound Blaster digitized
Speech and Sounds, as well as Sound Blaster FM music.
(04:JEREMY FRERICHS) Are you going to have really big, like over a meg, zipped
games coming out, or do you try to keep them smaller?
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) We are trying to keep them small, but it's hard. The
Walls of Bratock is a 800k+ giant. The two next should be even larger. It's
due mostly to the incredible amount of graphics and animation found in newer
games.
(04:JEREMY FRERICHS) That may be a problem for people with slower modems, will
you split the files up?
(00:DAVE WHITE) So we have a new game to test tonight then?
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) Yes sir! Tonight at 11:00 pm, I will upload the beta
version of Walls of Bratock, With a message telling the testers what to expect,
it'll all be there!
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) As for file size and The Walls, there will be 2 files,
one for the entire game (graphics/programs/datas etc.) and one containing the
Sound Blaster voice and music files (optional, only if one has a SB)
(00:DAVE WHITE) Christian, can you give us some of the storyline for the new 3d
game and for the Walls of Bratock?
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) The 3d game is more a space combat game. It will feature
graphics easily comparable to those seen in the Wolf games. And there will be
more in-between missions scenes (cinematic cut-scenes). I'm currently building
the entire crew for the shuttle Sullivan in which you will serve. Every crew
member will have it's own personality, etc. My brother will make the game
part. I make the cut-scenes, the storyline etc.
(04:JEREMY FRERICHS) Will it have Speech, and who will do the speech if it
does..
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) As for Bratock, you are haunted by a dream, this dream is
haunting your nights. A goat-man and a human fighting. After seeing Dimitry,
the old sage, you depart for the Island of Bratock. Once there, you realize
the humans and korreds (goat-men), who were long-time friends, are suddently
attacking each other, each accusing the other of attacking first. You must
uncover a machiavelic (does this word exists in english, it means evil) plot
that could affect the entire world of Akistar and do what you can to prevent
this useless war!
(00:DAVE WHITE) Sounds great!
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) To JF: Digitized speech will probably be a part of the
3-d game. Let's say we are sure at 95% that there will be digitized speech!
(04:JEREMY FRERICHS) i am anxious to play this now!!
(00:DAVE WHITE) How about Earth Invasion.. We'll be posting that one in a day
or two. Can you tell us more about it?
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) Well, Earth Invasion is a game like few others. In
opposite to other games, where you save the Earth, or save a galaxy or
whatever, in Earth Invasion, your goal is to DESTROY EARTH! You play the role
of a pilot for the evil Yanchooz empire...
(04:JEREMY FRERICHS) Is this game VGA?
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) Led by Xyfud Plasfoc. Xyfud sends you on a suicidal
attack to destroy all of earth's vessels BY YOURSELF. Truly hilarious, as you
will notice soon, Xyfud doesn't like you at all, and gives you some pretty
threatening (but funny) comments!
(04:JEREMY FRERICHS) sounds neat..
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) It's EGA high resolution (640X350) 16 colors. But the
graphics are really great for EGA!
(00:DAVE WHITE) I've tried it.. I really like the concept.
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) Thanks, I owe that one to my brother, he did it all by
himself!
(04:JEREMY FRERICHS) Great, now in this are you flying a space ship of sorts?
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) Yes, a Skrunga-class fighter, and you fight against
really great terran ships such as the Corvlette fighter, the Tupolov Destroyer
and others!
(04:JEREMY FRERICHS) So are you looking out the cockpit kind of view, or is it
a side view?
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) It's a side view, it's not a 3-D space combat simulator
(like the one we're working on) but a side-view arcade style game.
(04:JEREMY FRERICHS) Kind of like defendor, only opposite?
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) Well, taking nothing away from good old defender, it has
more diversity, you have 5 different ennemy fighter types, 3 different capital
ships type, as well as many different weapons (Including many sorts of
missiles, lasers and bombs)
(04:JEREMY FRERICHS) and the goal is to destroy earth, instad of save it <G>
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) Yes sir, we written this one with a grain of salt, and I
hope people will take it with a grain of salt! It's not like if Oracle wanted
to invade earth (we want to, but with our products, not with weapons! <grin>)
(00:DAVE WHITE) Can you tell us about your products pricing and where to get
information and copies of them.. Also where are you from and where do the
people send to register?
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) Most of our current products are priced at 10$, wich is
ridiculously low considering that other sharewares are 3 times more. The Walls
should be priced 15$, as it is bigger and better than our other releases. We
do not plan to rise our prices anytime soon.
(04:JEREMY FRERICHS) That is great, it allows people with a lower budget to
enjoy your games..
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) I live in a small town called Amos, in Canada. The
complete address is:
Oracle Software enr.
132, Marchildon (Postal Box 6)
Amos, Quebec
Canada J9T 1A3
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) To JF: Well, that's what Shareware is all about!
(04:JEREMY FRERICHS) It sure is Christian..
(00:DAVE WHITE) And, all of Christian's Shareware products can be found on
CyberScape in the Oracle Sub-System! <plug, plug>
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) Of course! If it says CyberScape offers all the best
shareware, then it obviously offers Oracle products! <g>
(00:DAVE WHITE) <smile> Well, I guess that should wrap it up. Thanks very much
for joining us Christian, it was a very enlightening chat!
(04:JEREMY FRERICHS) I enjoyed it, nice chatting with you Christian..
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) Thanks Jeremy, see you around the beta conference!
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) Thanks to you Dave! It was my pleasure, maybe we should
do it again, when there are new developments?
(00:DAVE WHITE) Yes, I would like that! We can do it again after the Walls
comes out and you are further along with the new games. Until then, this will
be published and distributed, and I hope that it will help to get the word out
about Oracle!
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) Ok, don't forget to tell me when it's ready to download,
I want my copy!
(00:DAVE WHITE) I will send you one personally!
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) Roger on that Dave, I will also send a little demo of
our new projects in the near future!
(00:DAVE WHITE) Sounds great.... I'm looking forward to seeing them.
(04:JEREMY FRERICHS) Bye for now, Christian, Talk to you soon..
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) Ok Dave, I think I'm going to leave if there is no other
questions.
(00:DAVE WHITE) Nope, all set. Thanks again Christian!
(01:CHRISTIAN BOUTIN) Bye!
(00:DAVE WHITE) Take care..
(04:JEREMY FRERICHS) c-ya
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- End of Session -- June 6th, 1993
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- In Conclusion -
We hope you enjoyed reading the interview. This was our first such attempt,
and things went rather well for our first time out. We hope you will join us
LIVE next time, and get a chance to ask your own questions! We offer a Live
Interview every Sunday night at 9pm with a different speaker each week. Of
course, you are always welcome to stop by CyberScape and chat anytime! We have
live chat areas, CB Chats, and all of our OnLine Interviews are available for
download along with our "Best of the Best" file collection. Stop in sometime,
and don't forget your RIPTERM! We are now supporting full RIP graphics at
CyberScape, which helps make our BBS easy to use and more attractive also.
Thanks!
Dave White * SysOp
-=CyberScape BBS=-
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How to get in touch with us:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Special Guest Speaker:
Christian Boutin - President
Oracle Software enr.
132, Marchildon (Postal Box 6)
Amos, Quebec
Canada J9T 1A3
(Or leave E-Mail on CyberScape)
Conference Host:
Dave White - SysOp
CyberScape BBS
108 Shirley Road
Lancaster, MA 01523
(508) 368-8456 (Data)
(508) 368-7085 (Voice)
Special Thanks to:
Jeremy Frerichs, Nice Guy, Leominster, MA
Mark Adkins, Sysop, Axcelerated BBS, Nebraska
(Can be reached via E-Mail on CyberScape BBS)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Some Notes on Distribution of This and Other CyberScape Interviews:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You are free to distribute this material on BBS's as long as you do not alter
any of the text contained in any of the files in the original archive. This
includes the FILE_ID.DIZ description file, and NO NEW FILES may be added to
original archive. If you wish to publish any of this material in any magazine,
article, or any other written or On-Line format, you must obtain the written
permission of the Speaker(s) and CyberScape BBS before doing so. Thank you.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--- All text is Copyright 1993 by CyberScape BBS and David A. White ---
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------