Let the interview begin. Farbs began the interview like he does every time:
> INCOMING CHAT REQUEST
This is not the way an interview starts. It's how all interviews start. Why did it take this long for this way of thinking to come about?
> DEJOBAAN: 1A. It's 1983. I'm playing Captain Forever and rockin' a 6502. Yes or no?
> FARBS: What? No. Negative. For starters it's 1990, or at least late '89. I haven't seen a reliable time beacon lately but my clock is quartz digital so it can't be that far out. Second, Captain Forever is a remote pilot interface and not a toy for you to played with. The interface is designed for 80386 and above, so I doubt you'll see much on a 6502. What's this about anyway?
Do you know what a 6502 looks like, or is? If you know the answer, then you and I are in a secret club! If you do not know the answer, you can join us in the club after this . Onwards.
>DEJOBAAN: 1B. Please introduce yourself! Who are you, and what's your background as a game developer? Why did you go indie? What did you mum, dad, husband, or wife say when you said you were "going indie"?
>FARBS: Okay. I'm Captain Farbs of the star vessel Nemesis. In '87 I left my home colony by flying as an independent contractor. My license is still valid, but I can't take on work if that's what you're getting at. My family are offworld dirt farmers so they were thrilled when I secured my own ship.
When Farbs means that he still flies independently, it's because he makes games like Captain Successor:
>DEJOBAAN: 2. Tell us about your workspace - are you a "work from home while watching Oprah" kinda dev, a "get out of bed and trudge through the snow to the office" kind, or something else?
>FARBS: Ha! My cockpit is the size of a refrigerator and most days I can't feel my feet. It's where I eat, sht, and sleep if that were possible. There's a small cavity near my right shoulder for “personal effects”. Some pilots keep family photos or shrines in there. I lean my head into it sometimes to stretch my spine. That's the glorious life of the contractor pilot. See the stars! Be your own boss! Sht where you sleep!
I know that the forums have been wondering: Captain Divisor is not real:
Sorry.
>DEJOBAAN : 3. You wake up on a Wednesday morning. Congratulations -- you have a full day's work ahead of you! What do you get done in the first hour? (Okay, go on and tell us about the subsequent 10 hours.)
>FARBS: I could tell you about the next 100 hours if you want – or the next 1000. I fly somewhere quiet, then some boot/jacker springs me and I hit the boosters. If they're lucky I get away. If they're unlucky they catch me. If they're very unlucky they fire on my command module. Repeat, repeat, repeat...
NO. (Yes!) Look, this is Captain Forever:
On second thought, it's obviously Captain Impostor.
>DEJOBAAN: 4. Would you classify yourself as more of an artist or a tech wiz? Master of biz? Maybe you do it all, tell us about it Jack...
>
FARBS: I'm a shtty pilot in a shtty vessel. I can pull some tech together when I get time, but like I said I'm not taking on work right now. I've rigged a couple of remote pilot interfaces to a web terminal at [LINK: Captainforever.com ] www.captainforever.com and I'm planning to add more soon.
>DEJOBAAN: 5. We have a few favorite moments in our studio's history -- care to hare one of yours?
> FARBS: Yep. It started in 1959 and ended in 1987. It was every minute of my life before I squeezed into this sht-can. Sure we were forced offworld in 81, but at least planetside I could walk around. Now I can fly anywhere in the verse but I can't step outside.
>DEJOBAAN : 6. Tell us about a game that inspired you to MAKE games.
>FARBS : What, you mean games like video games? How do you know I'm making a video game? I, uh, guess I was inspired by Asteroids, and maybe Space War. I play Zork through a web terminal sometimes but I don't like the thought of being underground. Oh, and I loved Galaga and Galaxian. Missile Command and Bezerk were pretty cool too. I never did get what people saw in Pac Man. Heh. It's a shame people stopped making video games. I guess when we took up space travel we lost our taste for simulated combat.
Fine. You've heard of Zork and Galaga and Galaxian. What about Star Castle ? In retrospect, Star Castle wasn't as much fun.
>DEJOBAAN: 7. A picture's worth a thousand words. Got any photos you'd like to share of yourself? Your team? (Before coffee? After coffee?) Your workspace (what you look at for 10-20 hours a day!). A screenshot or two of something you have in progress.
>FARBS: Uh, I don't have much to show. My oxy-gen's bunk so I can't take off the flight mask. I'll see what I can do. Oh uh, you can see me here reflected in the display console. > FILE SENT: DETONATION113.JPG
Don't you think it's a little odd that nobody's ever seen Farbs, or even knows what his real name is?
>DEJOBAAN: 8. Is there a question you wish we had just asked you (and what's the answer?)?
...
>FARBS: Actually yes. This is some kind of media thing right? I need people to know about the blasts. I mean, everybody knows about them obviously but I actually know - I mean I know what's causing them! The
Do you see what's happening here? Did you see what he did? This is life. It's fresh. This is Dejobaan , and I am leaving you.
Awesome interview.
His name is FARBS.