------------------------------------------------------------------------ INTERVIEW OF THE WEEK | Interesting people you should know about . . . ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The WebEdit Creator . . .| -------------------------- Kenn Nesbitt is the author of WebEdit a wonderful HTML editor for windows. Even after winning many awards the product and its author remain down to earth! Dennis MacPhereson, our Utilities Editor, recently interviewed Kenn! Kenn Nesbitt is an independent software developer, formerly with Microsoft Consulting Services, specializing in applications for Microsoft Windows and the Internet. He wrote the popular Web editing program called WebEdit [http://www.nesbitt.com]. He is a Contributing Editor to Internet Advisor magazine and Data Based Advisor magazine. Kenn has written more than 150 articles for computer magazines all over the world, presented at many database and application development conferences in the U.S. and abroad, and he is co-author of the book "Power Shortcuts...Paradox for Windows" published by MIS Press. You can reach Kenn by email at kenn@nesbitt.com or on CompuServe at 76100,57. DM: How many people have downloaded WebEdit? How many are registered users? KN: Given the nature of the Internet, it's actually impossible to say how many people have downloaded WebEdit. It is available not only from our web and ftp servers, but also from other servers around the world. Judging from the number of downloads is probably between 70,000 and 100,000. Only a very small percentage of the people who download WebEdit actually register. Given the enormous popularity of the program and the rave reviews it gets, I can only attribute this to human nature and to the fact that the program does not disable itself after 30 days as many other programs do. I suppose that most users would rather tolerate the "nag screen" than purchase the program. Fortunately, we do get enough registrations to allow us to continue to upgrade the program. DM: How do you support users of the program? KN: Technical support and customer service is all handled via email. I personally answer every email message that we receive. As the WebEdit customer base continues to grow, this may not always be possible since, as you can imagine, I spend several hours each day just answering email. However, I will always take personal responsibility for ensuring that WebEdit users get the support they need. DM: What is the latest version and is it Windows95-compliant? KN: The latest version is WebEdit 1.4, with a date-stamp of 1/9/96. I expect to release WebEdit 1.4a within the next week. WebEdit 1.4 runs well under Windows 95, but it is still a 16-bit program. DM: Do you plan to release an updated version? If yes, when will it be available? KN: The 32-bit Windows 95/NT version of WebEdit will enter beta testing on March 1, with a final release date of April 1. This new version will support long filenames and unlimited file size, and it will have a number of other important enhancements over version 1.4. Currently registered users will have the opportunity to begin using WebEdit 2.0 as soon as it enters beta testing. DM: What projects/programs are you currently working on? KN: 1. Localizing WebEdit for German, Japanese and Italian. As soon as these are done, I will begin work on French and Spanish. 2. WebEdit 2.0 and WebEdit 2.0 plug-ins 3. WebEdit Professional (the details of which are still confidential) DM: What's your opinion of Java? How do you envision it being used by HTML developers? KN: I believe that Java is one of the most important developments in the history of computing. Java may single-handedly solve the problem of cross-platform and network application development. The only drawback to Java is the complexity of the language, which prevents many would-be developers from using it. We can expect to see this problem resolved by the creation of easier languages such as "Net Basic". I don't believe there is any succinct way to describe how Java will be used by web application developers. The possibilities are absolutely endless. However, I think I can say with relative certainty that the first wave of applications will involve e-commerce. DM: Describe the Internet in the year 2000. KN: I would have a very difficult time describing the Internet six months from now. As my friend Harley Hahn (author of The Internet Yellow Pages) once said to me, "six months from now the world will have changed seven times over." Remember, it was only two years ago that everyone thought that Gopher was the paradigm for the future of the Internet. Nevertheless, I can point out the logical conclusions of several current trends: * Computing power will roughly quadruple between now and then * Hardware prices will continue to fall * The Net should be home to several hundred million users * Digital telephony should be ubiquitous and inexpensive, providing much greater bandwith even for home users * Net-commerce will be utterly commonplace * VRML, Java, Cosmo and as-yet undeveloped technologies will bring Playstation-like real-time 3D imagery to the web. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ INTERVIEW OF THE WEEK | Interesting people you should know about . . . ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Michael Chen, Author of Star Rangers!| -------------------------------------- First, a little bit about Michael, in the designers own words: I'm Michael Chen and I'm 24 years old. I was born in Lawrence, Kansas (and was almost named Lawrence, in which case my sisters would have been named Rochester and Phoenix. As it was, I was named after my mother's favorite Irish uncle) but have also lived in Michigan, New York, New Jersey, Arizona, North Carolina, and California. I went to UC Berkeley (Go Bears!) intending to get a degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology, but they misspelled it "History" on my diploma. Star Rangers is my first game, and its been a great experience. DR: How did you get into designing games? MC: The short version is "luck". The long version is a pretty funny story, but a fairly typical "Wild Bill" Stealey story. (For those who are wondering, Wild Bill co-founded Microprose with Sid Meier, and is now head honcho here at IMAGIC.) After graduation, I needed to make some money for grad school, and since the job market for History majors is pretty flat, I ended up running a fast food restaurant for a couple months. Enter Bill Stealey at the drive-in. As I was getting him some coffee, out of the blue he asks me "So, do ya play computer games?" With a gleam in my eye, we started talking about games - what I liked, what I didn't, what my favorite games were, why I knew who Sid Meier was but not Wild Bill Stealey (answer: Sid's name is in big letters on the outside of the box.) After we'd talked for about 5 minutes, Bill told me he thought I was a very interesting young man, handed me his business card, and told me to call him because his new company needed a game designer. I didn't go to grad school. DR: What are the most important features for a good game? MC: 1) Choice 2) Choice 3) Choice Choice is important because its how the player interacts with the game and affects its outcome. If the player's can't choose, then they are watching a movie, not playing a game. In Star Rangers, we gave the player "choice" by providing a strategic map that allows him to analyze the situation and decide what to do next, rather that forcing the player down a linear path of predefined waypoints. DR: What are the most important elements in designing a good game? MC: There is really only one element that any game needs. It needs to be fun. If its not fun, what's the point? However, there are an almost infinite number of ways to get to "fun". DR: What do you think is the future for computer games? MC: As I gaze into my crystal ball, I see four clear images... On-line gaming will finally come into its own and become a real mass market phenomenon. Games will become more and more expensive as outside companies with no experience and deep pockets enter the market in increasing numbers. There will be a growing rift between the companies that want to make games and the companies who prefer to make interactive movies. The second group will be the first against the wall when the revolution comes. (thank you Douglas Adams) After an initial period of disarray, a single 3D accelerator standard will emerge and the new boards will permeate the market, becoming almost as ubiquitous as sound cards, and allowing us to do incredible things. Things never before even conceived of. After two days of this, everybody will want more. DR: What kind of education/background do you think is essential for someone to design games. MC: As far as I'm concerned, the only things that are essential are a good knowledge of games of all types and the desire to make better ones. Here at IMAGIC, while all of the designers have college degrees, none of us have any programming experience and we like it that way. At other companies, it is considered essential for the designers to be able to code too. But overall, it seems that gaming experience is what you need most. DR: What is your favorite computer game (besides Star Rangers)? MC: Well, since you took my real answer, how about the next 5? (in no particular order) 2) Civilization, Possibly the greatest strategy game of all time. Combines my love of history with lots of player choices. 3) Zork I. They say that nothing compares with your first love. 4) Apache Helicopters are cool. Graphics are great. There's lots of stuff to blow up. 5) Tie Fighter I'm a Star Wars junkie. I can't help myself. 6) War in Russia An SSI classic. First of the monster wargames. While I'm at it, how about my favorite movies? 1) Lawrence of Arabia 2) The Terminator 3) The Last Emperor 4) Time Bandits 5) Star Wars trilogy 6) Raiders of the Lost Ark DR: Do you have any hobbies? If so, what are they? MC: Well, my big hobby used to be computer games, but since I do it for a living now, I guess its tough to call it a hobby anymore. I suppose that other types of gaming would be my hobby now. My girlfriend collects Fisher Price Little People (you remember them, little plastic or wooden people with no arms or legs), but I don't think that I can rightly claim it as my hobby, even though they're all over the apartment. DR: Is it possible to have both a life and design games? MC: I thought games were life. DR: Is there anything else you'd like to say? MC: I guess its tacky to tell everyone to go out and buy themselves Star Rangers, so instead I think everybody should go out and buy Star Rangers for their friends and loved ones. þ