Intel Depot

OFPEC Spotlights "hoz"

Aug
01
2012

 

Our next guest has been an upstanding member of our community from the dawn of OFP. A moderator of both BIS and OFPEC forums, please welcome hoz.

 

Tell us who you are and where you call home in this world?

My real name is Jeremy, turned 40 this year,  I live in Canada just outside of Toronto. I work for an IT company working as a network security engineer.

Which BI game title did you play first and how/when did you discover it?

I started with the original FlashPoint version, 1.0 I think it was, before there was network play. My uncle and I downloaded the game through mischevious channels, like we did for all the other games, but after playing it we realized there was something special about FlashPoint. Once the US version came out we both purchased the game, we started to play with the editor and loved creating new scenarios to play through. We became pretty competetive in our mission building trying to out due each other

How long were you a player before you discovered the real potential of the title?

We recognized the potential almost immediately, we were both sort of military/ gun game buff nerds and we had never seen a game quite like this. I really didn't start to get into the community until I got heavily into the editor. I needed some command examples and ended up at OFPEC first as a reader then I eventually got brave enough to ask MP questions. The staff then at OFPEC was as help as they are today and most of the questions I asked were answered with examples and follow up questions no matter how dumb they were, were always answered. I looked back and the first post/question I made back in Oct 2002 was about how to generate units on the fly in multiplayer, where I would create 4 units but 12 appear. Its where I learned how keep units local to the server ( ?(!local Server): Exit ).

It's awesome that you had another player to share your interests and encourage you to delve deeper. For many of us, in the beginning, we had only those who visited the same sites, which was just OFP  The Editing Center and the BI forums. How critical was the role that OFPEC played in building the community around the game?

During the first year of FlashPoint there wasn't much out there in the way of resources so OFPEC sort of took the lead in that respect. In helping people who were interested in the editor and scripting. In the early days with the lack of information out there I think OFPEC played a huge roll in getting people started in the editor. Alot more information about OFPEC's own history can be found here.  I highly recommend the read, the information there has been compiled over time, it also provides a semi background of the editing community up until about 2010.

Where did you see yourself fitting into this vast community that was beginning to expand? Did you release any of your own projects to the public?

I really only played MP missions, so that was my focus, MP editing. I really didn't find myself fitting in anywhere the first missions I released where not reviewed at OFPEC, at that time the mission reviews were just bogged down by so many submissions the system just broke and after the first crash they really lost that focus. MP missions are more difficult to review becuase you need at least 1 other player

Can you recall your first scenario build in the editor?

My first released mission was Base Raid http://ofp.gamepark.cz/index.php?showthis=396 . A really crappy mission really. I later released this mission as part of the pack i released for the Xbox version of OFP Elite. Found here.

Not only did the mission editor sink it's claws into players, but the BI Tools also allowed folks to submit ideas in a whole different way, such as addons and islands. What were some of your all time   favorite addons and islands?

Early on  Jungle everon  and those first winter addons where my favorites. Overall I really stayed away from too many addons, I perferred to play the game just as it was released. It wasn't until ArmA came along did I start trying more addons and mods.

Did you ever venture into that area of the community?

I ventured into addons on two occasions, one was the editor helper I created with the help of MIkeRo to allow people to play missions from the PC version onto the Xbox version. It was a simple addon that just added a 'Addon' statement to statisfy the Elite engine. The second time was when I was part of the CWR mod for ArmA. I really didn't do any editing in that case my main job was to beta test builds after updates to the SVN tree was done, usually by our old friend Planck. I also worked with MIkeRo on automating some of the OFP mission conversion to the CWR mod and at one point I was sort of managing the mod after Radeor wasn't able to commit the time to the project.  So yeah I guess I did venture into that community, I loved every minute of it too. You really have to respect those people who dedicate the tireless hours to major modifications for the game. Eventually I had to give up CWR and thankfully Wolle was able to dedicate the time to managing the content and people.

Dedicated community members are certainly a great way of describing one part of the longevity of our community. You too have dedicated countless hours of your time in a moderator position on the   official BI forums as well as working throughout the scenes of OFPEC. What keeps you motivated to hang in there?

Well for the most part now, I have no motivation. I've grown much older,  my family and  work keep me far too focused to play games much any more.

The Armaverse has certainly had it's share of fluctuating activity through the years, much of the spikes dependent on clan popularity, and mod release. What's your take on this?

There will always be cycles of gamers coming and going. Hopefully BIS can keep the gamers they have and grow thier base of new gamers a lot more.

How and when did you come about being staff on the BI forums?

I think it was Placebo who asked me to be the moderator over at the BI forums. I had a bit of a kin ship with Placebo over the years being part of OFPEC. It was after BIS had asked OFPEC to help out with the Biki, just after we helped them out, he asked if I would mind helping out on the BI Forums.

Has being a moderator at the BI forums, gained you any favor or special privilege among the devs?

I would have to say no. But working on the Biki eventually lead to some contacts that helped with some of the early ArmA command definitions.  I was also asked to join the ArmA beta tests which lead to more inside contacts. I don't think I was special or priviledged as there were many other people asked to be beta testers. We had many talented people who were staffers at OFPEC who eventually went to work at BIS.

Did you ever play the campaigns and SP missions in Operation Flashpoint?

No, never, for me the game was all about the multi player play and the ability to create your own scenarios.

All of us have special moments that stand out in our minds, while playing the game. Care to elaborate on the most memorable moment for you?

I had so many memorable times playing on line its hard to just pick one. At one point  I had another friend playing OFP and ArmA as well so the three of us would get together and play in my garage locally on the lan. For more then 8 years we got together and played a couple times a week. After he passed on and Planck passed on alot of the enthusiam I had for OFP and ArmA was gone.

Do you predict that Arma3 will be appealing enough to draw you back in?

Possibly



Many Thanks for those who sent in questions for hoz. Our spotlighted community member for September will be Wolle. Please send in your questions for Wolle by August 15th. Thank you.

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