My Gaming Background

Some of you may know me as a gamer from way back. Waaay back. I mean all the way to the beginning of "Gaming" itself. Yep, I mean Dungeons & Dragons™. I played that back in the late 70's thanks to my dad (who is almost as avid a gamer as I am).

This led me to play other RPG's: Advanced Dungeons & Dragons™; Top Secret™; Top Secret:SI™; Paranoia™; Runescape™; Gamma World™; TMNT™; Marvel Superheroes™; & Twilight 2000™. There were others, but you get the idea.

There were also board games: Monopoly™ (a favourite); Axis & Allies™; Risk™; Chess; Go Moku; Generals™; and more.

Then there were the hybrids - board games that involved some role-playing. These were, in the early days, primarily of the Military Strategy variety: Squad Leader™ & Advanced Squad Leader™; Tank Commander; Car Wars™ and the like. There were others of a less militant nature. I was less fond of these.

There was an endless stream of computer-based games as well – some with titles above, some not. Most followed the same general themes – conquest, military and economic development, scientific breakthroughs, etc.

To round out this group are the myriad game-mutations, game modifications, and game creations that I concocted over the years of my gaming life. Some of them have no names, some have working titles, and some have almost complete work-ups. I even contacted a game vendor in Calgary some years ago concerning the possibility of consignment sales of a game I had developed – “BattleArena”. Alas, the heyday of my game development was brought short by that great equalizer: No Money.

I have never given up on developing a game, and some of the ideas I generated for games I still have – one dating from grade 10 (an untitled epic of Country vs. Country on a global scale that could support up to 32 players and involved politics, economics, military development & deployment, scientific creativity, and a well executed overall strategy). It was an ambitious undertaking for a 15 year old kid who couldn’t even get other “strategy enthusiasts” to look at it, due in large part to the 35lb box it was carried around in. I was waiting (unknowingly) for the computer age to evolve to the point where this game could be done. Here it is, the age is upon us and the game remains “undeveloped”. For now, heh heh.

Where does this lead me? Well, I am not sure, but I know that gaming is going to be a large part of my social life for many years to come.

GAME ON!



~Cheers, Scott

Lie? Me? Never! The Truth is far too much fun!