Ahh, here we go, folks...the obligatory introductory post, the one where I introduce myself to the general ROMhacking community present here at the forums and everyone breathes a big, giant, collective yawn!
Oh, well, guess it's better than having large heavy stones thrown at me, me being the "newbie" here and all. Without further ado, please allow me to introduce myself...
I am a ROMhacker going by the codename "
KaBooM!" who prefers the security afforded to those who remain somewhat covert and mysterious.
My actual name, age, gender, race, area of residence, social status, religious convictions, political affiliations, financial situation, and sexual orientations/preferences are and shall hopefully remain the subject of curious enigma. Despite my aversions of disclosure there are a few things about myself which I am willing to share...
First off, I am an Earthling of the "human" species, who lives somewhere on the planet Earth...and I shall be residing here until the day our good friends from the stars of the Pleiades realize I was sent to the wrong planet by mistake, and subsequently return to take me back. (If the
little green men with big black eyes from Zeta Reticuli 2 come around asking for me, tell them I've left the planet already. We Pleiadians don't roll with those cats for good reason!)
Second, I have been gifted with a needlessly complex mind as well as an exceptionally proficient grasp of not only the English language but also of several different forms of what can be considered "creative ventures", all of which I use as my weapons in the ongoing battle against conformity. It's a war zone out there, and words and art are the tools of my trade. (
Little blue bombs notwithstanding!)
Thirdly, I have never been, nor am I currently, nor do I believe that I will ever be, a representative of any company and/or organization which produces licensed commercial video games for platforms of any type or kind. If I were I think it's safe to say I certainly wouldn't view ROMhacking as an art form in itself. My propensity for non-conformity does not often find me in business attire like all the other goons and goonettes for hire, so we can all breathe easy not only knowing that I'm just an ordinary Jane/Joe like yourselves, but that I also will never be personally responsible for some of the shovelware that some of the big media companies like to cram down out throats.
(Granted, there are a few exceptions. Damned few...)
Fourthly, I have a love of ROMhacking as it is one of many hobbies I undertake which not only exercises my mind
but also satisfies my curiosity and fascination with reverse-engineering the work of others as well as my need to be creative and inspiring for the common good. In that regard, I have joined the ROMhacking community with the intention of sharing my notes, observations, insights, and also the ROMhacking creations produced by myself through my affiliate, "
KaBooM! Games" with others, again for the common good of all.
Fifthly, I refer to myself by the codename "
KaBooM!" for several reasons, some of which I do not care to divulge as doing so would directly interfere with my propensity for obscure anonymity.
This does not indicate that I necessarily pose any type of perceived threat...in fact, by most standards I consider myself quite harmless...as long as you are not a video game ROM!
As for the reasons for my codename I don't mind sharing, well...not only does it serve as a tribute to one of the greatest Atari 2600 games of all time but also as a nice, quick, short, easy codename which can easily be inserted into the credits of any ROMhack which I create, and it looks different and grabs attention to boot. That, and it's so much fun to type with it's weird alternate capitalizations and punctuation. And it goes great with marinara sauce.
And finally, I must truthfully admit that I look nothing like my avatar would suggest, at least until the day that the radioactive weapons which threaten mankind come raining down upon our heads and the survivors are turned into deformed mutants. It is my sincerest hope that this will never happen, because quite frankly, it would suck like a supercharged vacuum cleaner. Not only because civilization as we know it would cease to exist, not only because it would it be hard getting any sleep considering I'd be living next to people who constantly glow in the dark, but also because having a
big, heavy, blue bomb for a head that's getting ready to explode any second is not a good condition to greet your new neighbors in.
It doesn't exactly set their mind at ease, and it's terrible for one's complexion.
Now, I have been interested in the gentle art of ROMhacking since not too long after the turn of the century, and have been quite the "lurker"
in one form or another within it's inner circles and have thus dedicated many hours of my free time into research, hard work, and offering help to others regarding such. However, I haven't really become a part of the general ROMhacking community in any manner which produced a final product of some sort on my end. After silently observing the amount of people who's obsession with this particular hobby ended up swallowed up by the dreaded "real life" syndrome which we all experience, and vowing not to repeat these mistakes, I made a firm decision in 2007 that I would not become a part of any ROMhacking forum until I was primed and ready to produce something substantial for the community as a whole...
And now, that day has finally come.
As I type this, I am currently sitting on a 100% complete project which I can barely wait to share with all of you. 100% complete, that is, except for typing up the rest of the accompanying manual and the final level of quality control testing on the project itself. This should not be taken as an official announcement of such, as I am not yet at liberty to say exactly what this "project" is and/or what it entails, or even what the official release date is at this time as that *might* give something away.
I also cannot promise that this "project" will turn the world on it's ear and create world peace in our lifetime, considering it will be my first "released" project.
However, this much I can share with you all...I personally feel that I've taken an old standard and done something truly "unique" with it, something no ROMhacker has attempted to do with this type of project before, and something I sincerely hope that you will all appreciate. A release date and announcement shall be forthcoming within the next couple of months...but for now, I shall leave you all to speculate with your question marks.
In the meantime, it is my sincere hope that I can become a productive member of this community, offering my help and insights wherever and whenever I can. So once again, pleasant greetings to all who linger here, and I shall see you all on the boards.
Oh, and one more thing. I use way too many smileys, and am a little too
"colorful" for my own good. But you've probably figured that out by now.
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