Subject: [stella] Farewell, StellaList From: "John K. Harvey" <jkharvey@xxxxxxxxxxx> Date: Mon, 26 Nov 2001 00:03:50 -0600 |
Greetings, StellaListers, Well, I'm heading off to bigger and better things. I know I haven't been active on this list in a long time, but I feel that the community has changed, and I no longer feel like I could be a useful contributor. When I first started out on StellaList, the community was still in its growth days-- programming the 2600 was supposed to be one of the hardest things to do, in a programming sense. 128 bytes of RAM, 4K of coding space, and real-time television protocols made the feat near-impossible. In those former days, I asked many questions, as many newcomers do, and learned quite a bit about the system, and felt a part of the community of learners, which even included those with a more advanced understanding. Everyone had something to learn. People like Eckhard Stolberg and Erik Mooney (and even the late-arriving Thomas Jentzsch) still baffle me with their wisdom and love for the system. I would like to thank those who helped me on that journey that began oh so long ago. I could give a list of reasons for my untimely departure, but a lot of it has to do with me-- not the group as a whole. The 2600 is becoming an easier system to write software for, and the bandwagon of new-programmers is astounding-- even threatening. Aslo, I get far too many emails to keep track of the list's activities (over 150 a week sorted out per weekend is too ridiculous for me to even fathom). So in essence, I feel that I don't know the community at all anymore. Note that I do not leave the StellaList on bad terms. It has been quite thrilling to see things happen for a system that I admire so dearly. That is why I leave programmers with one piece of encouragment-- make something good. If I could redo Pressure Gauge, I would fill the 4K of codespace (and consider 8K), spend a lot of time optimizing, and brainstorming ways to make it better, even if it meant modifying the kernal. I remember thinking that "there-- that's done, now let's never touch it again" when I finished my kernal-- don't close your mind up so soon. The one thing that saddens me most is going to an expo or some other event where a "new" homebrew game appears, but more time was taken to make the label/box nice instead of the game. I understand the difficulties of keeping your motivation, but I would rather not go to my next expo to find over 20 2600 games for sale that I could have written myself in a few short hours for sale at $40 apiece. I would advise you to send your "learning" games to Randy, but send your gems to the expo (this would also make the decision of dividing my money up between homebrews at the next expo easier... so far it seems there are over 5 games I need to consider purchasing already). Profit is not the reason to program a game-- it should be for love for the system. As a side note, in no means am I leaving my projects free for other people to "finish". This debate has come up on the StellaList before, but I never gave my 2 cents. I still consider Pressure Gauge II (and anything else I've posted) to be very much my own intellectual property. Just because I'm leaving StellaList does not mean that I'm giving up on the 2600-- Please don't ask if you can finish or add to any of my projects, as the answer will be no. Feel free to be inspired by the code (though some of it is horribly inefficient), and use snippets, but within reason. Currently, I can be reached at jkharvey@xxxxxxxxxxx In all likelihood, it will change shortly, so if you want to keep tabs on me, let me know. Feel free to drop me a line anytime. I plan to unsubscribe from the list shortly after this final post. Thanks to all who've helped me out over the past few years. It's been quite a fun and enlightening journey. Best regards, -John K. Harvey ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archives (includes files) at http://www.biglist.com/lists/stella/archives/ Unsub & more at http://www.biglist.com/lists/stella/
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