Hey everyone

[Shaz]

Let me get the ball rolling

I'm a 40-something (who counts anymore at this stage?) mum to one, living in sunny Queensland, Australia. I like to vacation at the beach, but "the bush" is the best place to live. Growing up, we often had kangaroos as pets. Loved it! They are the most gorgeous, gentle creatures (until you make them angry or jealous). These days we're a bit more conventional, and a dog and a cat do us just fine.

I've programmed business software since 1990, only got into game development a few years ago. I worked for Amaranth Games on the most recent Aveyond series, and the hidden object game Curse at Twilight: Thief of Souls, which has just been released on Big Fish Games. My fave RPG Maker so far is XP, but I think Ace might quickly slide into that spot. My strengths are in eventing and scripting.

Right now, I work for 3 different companies on a part time, contract, and ad-hoc basis, and am also getting my own gamedev company off the ground. My husband and I share in homeschooling our son (via distance education, so not "real" homeschooling). I'm working on two games of my own - one RPG and one not. And late this month, we're moving house. So if I get to a point where I can't string three words together coherently, you'll know why

 

[Touchfuzzy]

Hey, shaz. Good to see you here. You've met me several times across the numerous sites I deal with. (Touchfuzzy, Nick Palmer, etc.)

Nice to see you in early. I'm sure Nathanial told you we were still getting things set up. Hopefully we will be getting a bit lively next week!

 

[Shaz]

I know. I'm just talking to myself so it doesn't feel so lonely in here

 

[Lunarea]

Hi shaz! It's great to meet you.

Curse at Twilight is one of the games I bought the collectors' edition on day it was released and it was really fun to play. A lot of the games in the HOG genre tend to be short, so I definitely enjoyed how lengthy Curse was.

Welcome to the forums!

 

[Shaz]

haha - that was funny. Our BFG person kept coming back to us saying "it's too short, it's too short", so we made it longer ... and longer ... and longer. When it hit BFG's QA team, they said "it's too long" However, I've not seen one complaint about the CE not being worth the price because it's too short

 

[Lunarea]

It most definitely was worth the price! I've had buyers' remorse with a couple CE games on BF. One of them I completed in under 3 hours. Definitely not worth the price. And then there's the Escape Rosencliff Island. That game did not end. Seriously! I don't think I ever finished it, either.

Curse at Twilight was just right, in my opinion. Funny that you got such opposite advice on the length, though. :lol:

 

[BigEd781]

Always nice to have a fellow programmer around

 

[Celianna]

And a female programmer at that, they're rare.

Nice to meet you shaz!

 

[Emmych]

And a female programmer at that, they're rare.

Nice to meet you shaz!

Darn tootin'~! Good to see more lady game makers around! ;w;/

Welcome to the forums~

 

[Archeia]

Dayum, welcome to the forums! I'm glad to see a lady AND a mother game maker to boot!

 

[Jalen]

Welcome welcome! Ladies all up in here uwub

oh god pet kangaroos, that sounds absolutely darling ;A;

 

[Nathanial]

Nice to see you here shazzy

 

[Shaz]

They'll let anyone in here, Nate

 

[Ichi]

Howdy Shaz and co.! ~Glad the forums are up and running, I have ran a few myself and they can be a real hassle at times ^-^;; Anywhos really looking forward to getting to know some "Aceatics"... you know... Ace fantanics...

 

[The Infamous Bon Bon]

Hey Shaz nice to see you're here too. I've got a couple of kiddos and a stepson and they all want me to make a game for them. Does your kid ask the same of you?

 

[BadMinotaur]

Hey there Shaz. It's pretty cool to see a commercially successful person hanging around! Keep it up =]

 

[Shaz]

Hey guys Nice to see some more movement in here!

@Infamous Bon Bon (okay - what should I call you, 'cause I'll get RSI if I have to type that every time!) - yes, Zach has come up with several ideas for games that he'd like me to make. I'm a good programmer, but my art is pathetic. So then he suggested I get Amanda to make his games instead When I started working on Aveyond, Zach insisted I put RPG Maker on HIS computer too, and he was really focussed on making maps and very simple eventing. He's moved on to other things now, but he still wants me to make his games.

 

[Psyker]

Nice to see a member of a development team of games I'm familar with. Played through a few of the Aveyond series and enjoyed them for the most part.

 

[Indinera]

Welcome Shaz ^^

Nice to see a game making partner here as well

 

[GemFall]

Nice to meet you! It's awesome to see how much you've done. Programming is something that is over my head at this moment, much more of an art brain here, sadly.

It's quite influential to me especially that you're working on RPG Maker projects and games in general. I'm 24 right now, and I'm hoping to get much better at the programming side of things to truly be able to dig in. It's just very nice to see someone who has success, when my mom basically told her daughter(me) "Video games will get ya nowhere! Are you still playing them?" When I was about 18 or so.