Name: Forum Name "Barbarian". Real name: Don McPherson.
Age: I'm probably one of the "oldest farts" 'round these parts, age-wise that is.

A, uhhh, "30-somthing".
Female/male: A hunka-hunka-burnin'-luv, bay-bee! All solid Male here!
1. How long have you been involved in the AGS community? Hmmm, I guess around 2 years now, probably more if you consider the half-year or so of "Lurking" time before signing up as a member here.
2. Why did you get involved in AGS? I always loved "Adventure Games", and it was a long-time dream of mine to one day create my own full-length "cool" adventure game and to be able to share it with other adventure-gaming fans. I first found the AGS community after playing the, ummm, I think it was the Kings Quest II remake, anyways after I found out it was made with this great program called "AGS", I check it out, and I've been hooked ever since.
3. How do you feel that the fact that AGS is a freeware programme affect the community that has built up around it? I greatly respect "CJ" for sharing his wonderful "AGS" program with us, plus giving us the AGS forums here. And he's constantly listening to feedback from all us "complainers"

, and he not only continues to upgrade and improve AGS and it's features, but all for the low-low cost of "Free" to us. It shows that he's a great fan of "Adventure Gaming" himself, and that he likes to share this passion with others. It's programs like AGS and a community like AGS that I think truly helps to keep the "Adventure Gaming Spirit" alive and well. Yes, I think that AGS being Freeware has helped make the AGS community grow to the proportions you see nowadays. However, even if AGS was a commercial product, I feel certain that there would still be a strong support and community in regards to AGS.
4. How big a part does the AGS community play in your life? I usually check the AGS forums a few times a day, and since I have found AGS, I have most of that time been involved with some Adventure-Gaming project utilizing AGS. It took a while, but I have come to feel accepted and "part of the community", and I had had the good fortune to collaborate, work with, and exchange ideas with so many wonderful talented people here. "AGS" and the community here, now it feel like "an old friend".
5. Have you been involved in making any games using AGS? You may list them if you want Yes. Probably the one game I had a hand in that I'm most proud of thus far is
The Great Stroke Off , which was a team effort in which I got to work with some greatly talented individuals. And our game was a winner of the last ATC competition.
My first game I made using AGS (which I admit, is rather rough, but hey, it was a learning experience and I still think turned out "OK" considering it was my first AGS game and it was made more of a way to for me to learn how to use AGS) was:
Escape From evergreen Forest.
A couple other little short games I've produced:
Dark of Night, which was release for the Halloween 2005 edition of "Release Something". That project began originally as a way for me to experiment with some "effects" I could see that I could play around with, such as lightning, thunder, rain and such...
And for the first "One Room One Week" competition, I made:
The Elevator. And even though the graphics were mostly "Ripped", overall the response was good, people seemed to enjoy it and I had many requests from people wanting me to continue this project to develop this into a full-sized adventure game... So over the last several months, I've been remaking this to turn it into a full-sized adventure which will be a LOT better than the original in every way:
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=24181.0 I plan to continue to be involved with more future projects.
6. Answer these questions if you have been involved in making AGS games:a. Were you interested in game design/programming before you started using AGS?Yes. Goes waaaaay back, perhaps back to my "Vic-20" days when the first "Real Game" I had was "Scott Adam's - AdventureLand", a purely text-based adventure game. I was hooked on computer gaming and playing around with making games in some way or another since then.
b.If no, do you feel that you would have got into game design without AGS?Yep!
c. Do you make games using other programmes, either freeware or not? How does the eperience differ?I used to make games way-back-when mostly in "BASIC". But, over the years I've experiented with a few "Game Making" programs, some freeware, some commercial. AGS is the best program I've found so far that is geared towards making "Classic Style Point-n-Click Type of Adventure Games".
d. Has AGS inspired you to try and take up game design professionally?Well, not particularily. However, IF someone approched me and said something like "Hey, we would like you onboard our team with a professionally / commercially made game.", then of course I may seriously consider it. In fact, I've recently been asked to partake in having a helping hand in a professionally / commercially made Adventure-Game, but currently it's an, uhhh, "Un-Paid" posistion. But heck, I figure it's a great learning experience, and I get to have a special "sneak-peek" at a yet-to-be-released project, and who knows, it might lead to some good future oppertunities. Can't say too much else about that for the moment though.
7. Do you feel that there is a gender divide in the AGS community?Hmmm.. Well, overall it still seems to be a much larger male-to-female ratio. However, it's nice to see the ladies being actively involved in the community as well as game-making here. And from what I see, the gals are just as accepted and respected as the guys (perhaps moreso in some ways).
8. Are you likely to feel differently about a game if you discover it’s made by a female? In what way?No. I try to look at the overall enjoyment and playability of a game. It doesn't matter to me really if it's made by male or female.
9. Do you feel that AGS makes it easier for females to get involved in computer game design? In what way? Well, I feel the AGS community in general seems to be a heck-offa-nice-buncha people that are
usually intelligent, thoughtful and mature. So, overall, I think the girls are made to feel just as welcome here.
10. Do you feel that there is a difference between the types of games created by males and females?Well, now you're getting down to an individual's likes & dislikes of what "kind" of game they may like to create. If a girl wants to make a down-'n-dirty hack-n'-slash survival-horror shoot-em-up, and a guy wants to make a love-story with elves and faries and flowers... so be it! Break the old "stereotype". One game I make may have to do with some dramatic love story set in a fantasy setting, then next game I made might be an ultra-violent "Horror" type of game. I guess it depends on my game-making mood, thoughts and inspirations at the time, and why should it be any different for a female game creator?
11. Any other comments?"Every day is a gift. Make the most of it."
Good-bye Dad, I love you and miss you! :'(
*My father just passed away a couple days ago - wasn't gonna mention it here, but, AGS is like my friend, sooo....*