There have been a lot of different people that I owe a debt of gratitude for either inspiring me or supporting me when I was running towards a goal. One of the people that I really owe an awful lot to is my father. Dad wasn't a game developer, a programmer, or an concept artist... but he taught me the most important lessons that I carry with me every day about game development.
When I was really young, I was afraid of my dad. He was that grumpy cowboy guy that came home and growled at you if drank the rest of the Pepsi. He worked long, long hours and didn't have a lot of energy or humor for putting up with little kids. As I got older, I kind of understood that this was just the way of things with most of my friends too. However, a time came when my dad quit his job at the feed lot and became a farrier (blacksmith type that shoes horses). After the initial stress of getting his business up and running, suddenly my dad was no longer quite the bear I imagined he was and I had the benefit of getting a lot of time with him.
One of the things we shared was interest in computer games. We played Wizardry on the Apple GS, then Might and Magic, the Bard's Tale, Wasteland Robosport, and a bunch of other games. Back in these days a lot of the games actually came in essentially zip lock bags with printed instructions. I'll never forget the hilarious conversations deep in the bowels of the dungeons in Wizardry in the middle of the night trying not to wake up my mom. "Should we cast Malicto or Lakanito on this guy. He might be undead... he might not breath so suffocation might not work." Dad would say "You drive... and I'll map." We mapped and explored and beat games together and I'd have to say that those are times that I REALLY cherished with my dad.
Beyond playing games, we designed a game together. Back on our Kaypro II we had a game called Trade. That is all we knew it as and we had typed it in from an article in Byte magazine. When we got our first Mac just beyond the Apple GS, I discovered Microsoft QuickBasic and for the first time I had a screen resolution of 512x384 with 8 bits of color to play with. After figuring out how to make graphic resource files in a paint program, I started blitting stuff to the screen and my dad and I started talking about what kind of game I should make with it.
In the past, I had made a space invaders clone on the Apple II GS in assembly language. I had made a printable bingo game that was published and distributed at touristy gas stations and truck stops. Prior to that I wrote a bunch of lame text based adventures. My dad and I often played trade on the old Kaypro... so we started scheming about making Trade for the Mac with some "improvements". Dad and I talked and talked and talked and talked about how to make the game better. We removed random elements from the design and introduced new and exciting different random elements that made the game feel a little more exciting. (It was a stock trading game!) I got to flex my graphics arts muscles by painting the horrible barely better than stick figure art of "Homeless Bill", "Blue Collar Bill", and "Executive Bill".
My whole family played the game in turn-based fashion. "Don't read the screen!!!" "Don't you dare merge those companies!!!" "Dad, put away the dang calculator.... " "Are you done with your turn yet???" I had a blast playing a game I wrote for the family and enjoyed all the banter and family feuds it caused at the dinner table. :-) The key thing I learned from all of this was that _together_ my Dad and I had some really good ideas when we would brainstorm together. I learned the value of having somebody to talk to about design. One day I'll have to dust off trade and bring it back so Dad and I can go head to head again.
Knowing that your dad really cares about you has such a profound effect on your sense of self. Having some passion you share with your kids is really rewarding and watching them branch out and pursue their own passions is pretty incredible. When my Dad changed jobs and was suddenly more available for me and around more, it taught me what kind of father I wanted to be for my children. He taught me about collaborative teamwork, the value of other's ideas, and how important it is to really be there for your kids and support their passions.
Happy Birthday, Dad!