Hi! It’s me…October 25th, 2009
*click* Take two…
And so it begins, again. My original developer’s journal crashed and burned, and yet here it is once more, rising from the ashes. The timing is apropos. I have just recently set out once again to explore the mysterious and rather daunting world of independent game development. With a new game development tool tucked under my arm, and a slightly older, possibly wiser and definitely grayer head upon my shoulders, I have set my feet once more on the path. To begin, however, I present a reprise of my previous journal’s original post from October of 2006…
Ummm…hello? Ah, there you are! Welcome to my developer’s journal. So. Right. Let’s see. Well, I’ll just dive right in then, shall I? But first, a diversion. You may be wondering about the origin of my name - Malveka. Having been present at its conception I can tell you from firsthand knowledge that its pedigree is, at best, suspect. For some the word bastard might spring to mind, but, since it doesn’t for me, I won’t use it. The tale runs thus…
On or about 1995, I was living in a place so remote that neither pizza nor internet delivery were readily available. The only dial-up service I could obtain without making a toll call was ::shudder:: AOL. Yes, the skeleton now falls grotesquely from my closet for all to see. I was once an AOL addict. To be honest, I can’t recall if AOL was even connected to the internet at the time. I rather think it was not. Regardless, there I was – trembling with anticipation at being plugged into a mind expanding universe (naivete is such a wonderful thing), certain that I would at last find others of my kind who would recognize me for the unique and talented individual that I truly was (this actually happened, but years later and not on AOL). I entered my information into the AOL sign-up page, pressed GO, and felt a trembling in the very foundations of my online dreams as I was confronted with the following message:
“We’re sorry, the name James is already in use. We recommend you use James3724 instead.”
I was crushed. This would would never do. How could people possibly appreciate my uniqueness if I was just another James clone? I determined that it would not be so! I closed my eyes and concentrated deeply to devise a personal moniker that would express concisely, yet with boldness and elegance, the essence of my inner self. I nodded off briefly thereafter and, when I roused, decided a new approach was needed. I flushed some words from their hiding spots in my mental recesses, ruthlessly broke them into their constituent syllables, turned them this way, that way, thus and so and generally forced them, with commensurate squawks of outrage, into various unnatural acts of conjugation. From this affair of primordial fusion sprang a slightly dented, but still rather shiny, new nom de plume:
Malveka
I typed my new name eagerly into AOL’s entry portal and clicked the GO button with savage satisfaction. Tell me that’s not unique you cursed crusher of individualism! As the wait for a reply stretched into long seconds I could sense the electronic beauracracy poking, prodding and looking askance at this puzzling new appellation. Ultimately, though, it could find no excuse for rejecting it. The name was unique and it was no known form of obscenity. I had triumphed! Thus was my new identity born. It has continued to be unique and has served me well in the years since. And I now find it strangely amusing when my kids call me “Mal”. So flow the ripple of effects from the choice of a moment… With that I think I’d better get back to my programming. More on that and the thousand other Eccentrically Orbital things I’ve been doing in the next exciting installment of…well, let me see…I want a title that’s unique and descriptive…but…of course!…it’s… Malveka’s Orbit!