Sunday, February 21, 2010

The Search

After I graduated from high school it was on to college to get a computer science degree.  I had been programming since I was 12 and this was just the next step.  During college, I dabbled in game development a bit, building tic tac toe, and tetris many times.  At one point the thought came to me that, since I didn't have a lot of ability in the design and art department, the best way for me to get some experience working on a game that had a nice look would be to port an existing game.  Asterax jumped out at me for its simplicity and yet still being very fun to play.

I started to do some research on the game.  I quickly found out that it was developed by Arvandor Software and that Asterax was its only game release (in 1994).  I also found that the company represented a group of students from Stanford University and chiefly, the developer, Michael Hanson.  I search the web for clues and found a email for Michael from Stanford.  Promptly, I drafted up an email asking for permission to port the game.  I don't remember if I got a returned undeliverable on that or if there was simply no response, but either way I failed to find a way to contact him.

This began several years of attempting, occasionally, to find a way to contact Michael.  If I am remembering right, my first attempts were mid to late college which would put my next clue at more than 2 years later.  In January of 2007, I found information indicating that he was working for a networking related company named Reactivity.  I went to their site and found an email or him.  I sent another request for permission to port the game.  This one was bounced and upon calling the telephone number listed on their site I got a message that the number had been disconnected.

Almost another 2 years pass again and, in August of 2008, I make another research attempt and find a news article indicating the Reactivity had been bought by Cisco Systems.  "That explains the disconnected phone," I thought.  I find a linked in profile that indicates Michael now works for Cisco.  Having been unable to find an email address for him there, I called up the Cisco corporate number and asked for him by name.  The receptionist put me right through.  I explained how much I enjoyed his game and he was pleasantly surprised that it was still making an impact on people and surprised I had tracked him down.  He was heading to lunch so we didn't talk for long, but he said he would be glad to give me rights to port the game and gave me his email, so he could respond with official permission by email.

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