An Interview with Pingu

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Could you briefly introduce yourself (age, location…) and tell us since when you are active in the Q1 community?

Now 30 years old, living in Oxford. Was most active in the Q1 community around 1998 / 1999.

How did you get involved in the community?

Mostly thanks to a T1 internet connection in my room at Uni, tied with a love of making maps (I made a bucket load for Doom) and a desire to be loved by the world. There were a couple of mapping review sites back then & I became friendly with the guys that ran them, and a lot of the other mappers around at that time. I also had a couple of friends at Uni that were mad for clan matches, and joined in with those a lot - they were good for getting testing feedback on the layouts.

What Q1 contributions are you best-known for? Which of your works is your personal favorite?

I think I 'made it big' with A2: Return to Atlantis, which was the first map that actually stuck to a single texture set & had a whole load of curves. Still love it. I was also part of the UKPak project, and my map in that (Secluded Store) got a lot of recognition from that. Probably the one I like the most though was P3:A, mostly down to it being completely different from the map I originally showed people (that had gotten completely out of hand) and was set up well for insane FFA.

What was your initial motivation to work for Quake?

Just the next step up from mapping for Doom & Duke3D. Full 3D, fancy lighting, it was too good to be true.

Do you have a website/links where we could check out your stuff?

Turns out http://pingu.planetquake.gamespy.com/ still works, though the links to the files look a bit broken, no idea where gamespy have put stuff these days…

What are your best memories about this community?

The people in it, and seeing someone elses map and thinking 'how the hell did they do that?' and firing WC up and trying to better it.

Are you regularly playing Quake? Are you trying out mods, maps and engines?

Haven't played Quake for a while. Busy with real life these days (making games as it turns out… :)

Have there been other games you have been playing a lot?

Lots of games, though bar counterstrike no other FPS has had anywhere near as much attention as Quake did..

How would you describe the Q1 community right now? Is there any contribution that really impressed you in the last couple of years?

Can't comment, I'm out of it these days (damn real life).

How do you picture the future of the community? Do you (objectively) think that people will still be modding/mapping for it in, say, 10 years from now?

I'd say so, it's hardcore but it'll keep going.

Your #1 secret special ingredient to a good map (imagine a newbie asking for your advice)?

Keep it simple.

What is the question you would have like to be asked (but weren't), how would you have answered it and how pissed are you for me not thinking about it?

Why is the sky blue?
- 'cause it's pretty that way.