Dinker's View Eleven: Back from Beyond - Wesley McElwee
It's been a long while since I've done an interview, and with the return of one of the old Dinkers I got the opportunity to do another one. One I've been trying to do for a while: Wesley McElwee. He has released 3 DMODs (Friends from Beyond 1, 2 and 3) and a trailer (Beginnings of Sorrow) over 4 years ago and has come back to us (hopefully to do another great DMOD 
). Head to the comments section for the details...
Q. Well I'm guessing many of the old Dinkers are glad you've returned and would like to know why you've come back to Dink after almost 4 years (I think) since you released the acclaimed "Legend of Tenjin".
A. Yeah, about 4 1/2 years actually. I don't know what made Dink even come into my mind again. I checked to see if TDN even existed, and I was suprised to see that it seemed to be as strong as ever.
I mostly left the Dink community because I had graduated college. I had a decent amount of free time on my hands while in school, but after that, I just didn't have the time to devote to it just got shoved off of my priority/recreation list. I was working on a new DMOD at the time called The Box which was supposed to be much better than my previous efforts.
Since then, my hard drive crashed and I lost all of my work on it. I sort of have the itch to write another Dmod, but I won't (officially) commit to anything since I know know if I will have enough time to be able to accomplish what I would want to. Plus I would have to relearn Dink C. Although I will say that I am definitely interested.
Q. What have you been doing since stopping Dink?
A. Well, graduated college in summer of 01. Got a job at an ad agency doing preshow advertising in movie theatres. I met an old ex-girlfriend that summer and got married to her the next year. I have basically spent time with her since then. We are expecting a baby girl (our first) in March.
I did also start a Web Design/Hosting company with my dad, which takes up a lot of my free time.
Q. So married and a father, congratulations to both! Just going back to when you first found Dink, can you tell us something about how that happened, and what your first impressions were?
A. I was in college at the time. I was reading through some game magazine in between classes and I just saw a small sidebar about an RPG game of sorts that was free. I have always been a gamer and didn't have any money at the time so a free game, especially an RPG, really appealed to me. I downloaded it and thought the original was quite fun. For a free game it was outstanding.
Developing games was something that I always wanted to do, but I didn't figure I would ever have the opportunity, so when it came along I was very excited. It took me some time as I had never programmed anything before. I never really understood a lot about programming theory, so I had a hard time debugging scripts that I had tried to modify. I didn't understand how to debug other than just trial and error, so a lot of bugs slipped through. Overall I was happy with what I was able to accomplish and had a good time doing it.
Q. I've noticed that your DMODs have a distinctly different "feel" to them. A somewhat more serious tone than is found in other DMODs. What influences have there been on your work? What inspires you when you were making them?
A. I was and am really into games like Final Fantasy and almost anything Square has done. I am a Nintendo guy, so I haven't been able to play a lot of Square (or any good RPGs) recently, but definitely games like FFII, III, VII. Also Secret of Mana and Chrono Trigger etc.
I always wanted to tell a meaningful story that sort of tugged at your emotional side a bit. I did try to toss in some humor here and there, but nothing like the original. From the Dmods that I have made, it may seem like I don't appreciate the humor of Dink which is not completely true. I am not a huge fan of crude humor, but I very much enjoy the witty and weird humor scattered throughout Dink Smallwood. Stuff along the lines of 'The Simpsons' humor style really gets me laughing.
Q. Now that some time has passed since your DMODs are there things in them you'd change, and if so why?
A. Overall, I would definitely tone them down on the emotional side. You can still tell a serious story and keep it light much like the original. First off, without the man hours and time to write something as epic as a Final Fantasy, my stories just don't achieve the emotional level that I had hoped. And secondly, I think that the lighter stories and humor come off much better in the Dink community because so much of the appeal of DS is that it is just a fun wacky game.
More specifically, I played through FB1 a few weeks ago and fixed some bugs. Your review of the game was I think spot on. There is too much walking around and silence. I fixed the silence in the re-release but the map is still about twice the size that it needed to be. Still, that was based on my very first Dmod and so there were issues from the beginning.
FB2 - This was just too ambitious of a project for me at the skill level that I was at. I never played through the released version 100% and probably never would from all the reported bugs that I have read about. I like the non-linear idea, but it wasn't executed correctly (niether was FB3 for that matter). What would I change? Well, I am actually in the process of remaking it, so I guess we will have to wait and see.
FB3 - Some issues with changing maps and perhaps adding some details to the acutal maps themeselves. The endings/boss wasn't done correctly I don't think. I wanted people to be able to fight the boss at any time, but depending on how much time you spent on the third world, you wouldn't might not be able to handle a hard boss. I should have programmed the boss with variables based on the characters strength and all that, but I didn't really understand that or how to do it at the time. Other than that, I am very happy with FB3.
Q. You mentioned having to relearn DinkC, just wondering if you've had a chance to look at the revised DinkC that comes with ver 1.08. Redink1 has done a great job in incorporating a few new commands. Also, are there any pointers or bits of advice you'd give to anyone starting out (or restarting ) DMOD making?
A.I am honestly just getting comfortable with it again and haven't really looked into any of the new stuff yet although I definitly plan to. I feel that I have a much better understanding of programming overall and that has really helped me in writing what little DinkC I have so far for my current project.
As for advice, reading the help documents over and over is probably been my biggest help. Reading the Dink C Reference file is probably the most helpful to me, although looking at other authors source code helps too if you know what you want to accomplish but don't know where to start. The biggest key is patience and determiniation. Even with the largely limited ability of Dink C, you can program quite creatively.
Q. I'm intrigued by you working in an ad agency doing promotional material in movie theatres. Can you let us know what this involves?
A.The job is really just an advertising job, but our media outlet is movie theatres as opposed to television or radio or whatever. We aren't directly involved with the movie studios, but rather the independent theatre owners, selling ads to generate revenue and also we promote the theatre events and promotions.
Our company was one of (if not the) first in the United States to offer digital advertising in the movie theatre though, so that is kind of cool.
Q. Was there any points in the whole DMOD authoring process you really love (say mapping, or scripting, or...)? Any that you loath, or times you can remember pulling your hair out over how to achieve something? (DMOD authoring ancedotes).
A.I really just like the creation process in general. I enjoy the scripting just to see what I can come up with. Making graphics is fun because it gives the Dmod a fresh look, although it can be tedious. I think I said it before that I always thought game creation would be fun, so this is a joy for me just to have as a hobby.
Overall I enjoy the process, but I hate fighting with coding at times. Sometimes I dread Dink C like I dread Javascript and that is saying a lot.
As for pulling my hair out, yes I almost have. Just the other day, I couldn't get a rock to be pushed, or rather to move when I pushed it. It would just sit there. After an hour I figured out I had to give it a speed of > 0.
I remember one time early on before WinDinkEdit had come out, I spent hours on my map for the first version of FB1. I booted it up and all the sprites turned into pillbugs because they all had the script attached to them. That actually happened more than once.
Now using WinDinkEdit, I have a similar problem where I sometimes want sprites to have the same properties like grass having nohit on them, but each time you stamp a new one, you have to make sure the initial version has the nohit or you have to manually do it later (I wasted 5 hours this way the other week). So anyway, a few lessons learned and relearned, but I still enjoy doing it strangely enough
Q. Well your work has always showed a steady improvement with the DMODs getting bigger and better, and they have had a great impact on the community including other authors, inspiring them to achieve your success and level of skill with game authoring. Any revisions you do will be greatly appreciated. Just coming round to the more personal side of things. What do you like to do in your spare time?
A. Thanks for the kind words.
I really enjoy spending time with my family. We are big game players, so on holidays or special occasions when we get together we play a lot of card/board games. I also love playing sports. I play quite a bit of basketball, and last summer I took up tennis which I enjoy a lot. Most of my time is consumed just hanging out with my wife and in a few more weeks, our baby which has me very scared/excited all at the same time.
Q. You mentioned "The Simpsons", just wondering if there are any other favourite TV shows or movies?
A. I am horribly addicted to what I consider the "good" reality shows. Survivor, The Amazing Race, The Mole (when it was on). I also think Lost is from a writing standpoint literally the best show ever and can't miss an episode. Everybody Loves Raymond was a personal fav also. Movies would be Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, The Count of Monte Cristo, The Princess Bride, That Thing You Do. I also found The Passion of the Christ to be particularly moving.
Q. What type of music do you like to listen to?
A. I like most music. I'm not a big fan of country or rap, but there are songs in those genres that I like. Mostly rock, Relient K and Switchfoot are currently at the top of my list.
Q. You mentioned that you run a website busiess with your father in your spare time, is this partly a creative outlet? Do you have any other creative pursuits?
A. I supposed it is part creative and part business venture. It is very part time at the moment, but it brings in some income and does allow me to be creative. I am a full time Graphic Designer at an ad agency also so I have come creative freedom there as well.
Q. Are there any particular websites you visit regularly/semi-regularly?
A. I'm a Nintendo nut, so cube.ign.com. Recently the Dink Network (of course) and for a while and still to some extent, I was/still am a little addicted to Neopets believe it or not. Myspace is also a new addiction of mine. And for a fun site that I infrequently visit sfdt.com which for those who don't know stands for Stick Figure Death Theatre. www.homestarrunner.com is also a very fun site.
Q. What is your favourite food?
A. I love Chinese and Mexican food and Good ol American. My favorite recipe would have to be one of my mom's old ones that my wife makes for me now, Pizza Cassarole. It's basically sloppy joe meat layered in between cresent rolls. Yummy.
Thanks again for taking the time to do this and for your DMODs, Wesley.
Thank you.
). Head to the comments section for the details...Q. Well I'm guessing many of the old Dinkers are glad you've returned and would like to know why you've come back to Dink after almost 4 years (I think) since you released the acclaimed "Legend of Tenjin".
A. Yeah, about 4 1/2 years actually. I don't know what made Dink even come into my mind again. I checked to see if TDN even existed, and I was suprised to see that it seemed to be as strong as ever.
I mostly left the Dink community because I had graduated college. I had a decent amount of free time on my hands while in school, but after that, I just didn't have the time to devote to it just got shoved off of my priority/recreation list. I was working on a new DMOD at the time called The Box which was supposed to be much better than my previous efforts.
Since then, my hard drive crashed and I lost all of my work on it. I sort of have the itch to write another Dmod, but I won't (officially) commit to anything since I know know if I will have enough time to be able to accomplish what I would want to. Plus I would have to relearn Dink C. Although I will say that I am definitely interested.
Q. What have you been doing since stopping Dink?
A. Well, graduated college in summer of 01. Got a job at an ad agency doing preshow advertising in movie theatres. I met an old ex-girlfriend that summer and got married to her the next year. I have basically spent time with her since then. We are expecting a baby girl (our first) in March.
I did also start a Web Design/Hosting company with my dad, which takes up a lot of my free time.
Q. So married and a father, congratulations to both! Just going back to when you first found Dink, can you tell us something about how that happened, and what your first impressions were?
A. I was in college at the time. I was reading through some game magazine in between classes and I just saw a small sidebar about an RPG game of sorts that was free. I have always been a gamer and didn't have any money at the time so a free game, especially an RPG, really appealed to me. I downloaded it and thought the original was quite fun. For a free game it was outstanding.
Developing games was something that I always wanted to do, but I didn't figure I would ever have the opportunity, so when it came along I was very excited. It took me some time as I had never programmed anything before. I never really understood a lot about programming theory, so I had a hard time debugging scripts that I had tried to modify. I didn't understand how to debug other than just trial and error, so a lot of bugs slipped through. Overall I was happy with what I was able to accomplish and had a good time doing it.
Q. I've noticed that your DMODs have a distinctly different "feel" to them. A somewhat more serious tone than is found in other DMODs. What influences have there been on your work? What inspires you when you were making them?
A. I was and am really into games like Final Fantasy and almost anything Square has done. I am a Nintendo guy, so I haven't been able to play a lot of Square (or any good RPGs) recently, but definitely games like FFII, III, VII. Also Secret of Mana and Chrono Trigger etc.
I always wanted to tell a meaningful story that sort of tugged at your emotional side a bit. I did try to toss in some humor here and there, but nothing like the original. From the Dmods that I have made, it may seem like I don't appreciate the humor of Dink which is not completely true. I am not a huge fan of crude humor, but I very much enjoy the witty and weird humor scattered throughout Dink Smallwood. Stuff along the lines of 'The Simpsons' humor style really gets me laughing.
Q. Now that some time has passed since your DMODs are there things in them you'd change, and if so why?
A. Overall, I would definitely tone them down on the emotional side. You can still tell a serious story and keep it light much like the original. First off, without the man hours and time to write something as epic as a Final Fantasy, my stories just don't achieve the emotional level that I had hoped. And secondly, I think that the lighter stories and humor come off much better in the Dink community because so much of the appeal of DS is that it is just a fun wacky game.
More specifically, I played through FB1 a few weeks ago and fixed some bugs. Your review of the game was I think spot on. There is too much walking around and silence. I fixed the silence in the re-release but the map is still about twice the size that it needed to be. Still, that was based on my very first Dmod and so there were issues from the beginning.
FB2 - This was just too ambitious of a project for me at the skill level that I was at. I never played through the released version 100% and probably never would from all the reported bugs that I have read about. I like the non-linear idea, but it wasn't executed correctly (niether was FB3 for that matter). What would I change? Well, I am actually in the process of remaking it, so I guess we will have to wait and see.
FB3 - Some issues with changing maps and perhaps adding some details to the acutal maps themeselves. The endings/boss wasn't done correctly I don't think. I wanted people to be able to fight the boss at any time, but depending on how much time you spent on the third world, you wouldn't might not be able to handle a hard boss. I should have programmed the boss with variables based on the characters strength and all that, but I didn't really understand that or how to do it at the time. Other than that, I am very happy with FB3.
Q. You mentioned having to relearn DinkC, just wondering if you've had a chance to look at the revised DinkC that comes with ver 1.08. Redink1 has done a great job in incorporating a few new commands. Also, are there any pointers or bits of advice you'd give to anyone starting out (or restarting ) DMOD making?
A.I am honestly just getting comfortable with it again and haven't really looked into any of the new stuff yet although I definitly plan to. I feel that I have a much better understanding of programming overall and that has really helped me in writing what little DinkC I have so far for my current project.
As for advice, reading the help documents over and over is probably been my biggest help. Reading the Dink C Reference file is probably the most helpful to me, although looking at other authors source code helps too if you know what you want to accomplish but don't know where to start. The biggest key is patience and determiniation. Even with the largely limited ability of Dink C, you can program quite creatively.
Q. I'm intrigued by you working in an ad agency doing promotional material in movie theatres. Can you let us know what this involves?
A.The job is really just an advertising job, but our media outlet is movie theatres as opposed to television or radio or whatever. We aren't directly involved with the movie studios, but rather the independent theatre owners, selling ads to generate revenue and also we promote the theatre events and promotions.
Our company was one of (if not the) first in the United States to offer digital advertising in the movie theatre though, so that is kind of cool.
Q. Was there any points in the whole DMOD authoring process you really love (say mapping, or scripting, or...)? Any that you loath, or times you can remember pulling your hair out over how to achieve something? (DMOD authoring ancedotes).
A.I really just like the creation process in general. I enjoy the scripting just to see what I can come up with. Making graphics is fun because it gives the Dmod a fresh look, although it can be tedious. I think I said it before that I always thought game creation would be fun, so this is a joy for me just to have as a hobby.
Overall I enjoy the process, but I hate fighting with coding at times. Sometimes I dread Dink C like I dread Javascript and that is saying a lot.
As for pulling my hair out, yes I almost have. Just the other day, I couldn't get a rock to be pushed, or rather to move when I pushed it. It would just sit there. After an hour I figured out I had to give it a speed of > 0.
I remember one time early on before WinDinkEdit had come out, I spent hours on my map for the first version of FB1. I booted it up and all the sprites turned into pillbugs because they all had the script attached to them. That actually happened more than once.
Now using WinDinkEdit, I have a similar problem where I sometimes want sprites to have the same properties like grass having nohit on them, but each time you stamp a new one, you have to make sure the initial version has the nohit or you have to manually do it later (I wasted 5 hours this way the other week). So anyway, a few lessons learned and relearned, but I still enjoy doing it strangely enough
Q. Well your work has always showed a steady improvement with the DMODs getting bigger and better, and they have had a great impact on the community including other authors, inspiring them to achieve your success and level of skill with game authoring. Any revisions you do will be greatly appreciated. Just coming round to the more personal side of things. What do you like to do in your spare time?
A. Thanks for the kind words.
I really enjoy spending time with my family. We are big game players, so on holidays or special occasions when we get together we play a lot of card/board games. I also love playing sports. I play quite a bit of basketball, and last summer I took up tennis which I enjoy a lot. Most of my time is consumed just hanging out with my wife and in a few more weeks, our baby which has me very scared/excited all at the same time.
Q. You mentioned "The Simpsons", just wondering if there are any other favourite TV shows or movies?
A. I am horribly addicted to what I consider the "good" reality shows. Survivor, The Amazing Race, The Mole (when it was on). I also think Lost is from a writing standpoint literally the best show ever and can't miss an episode. Everybody Loves Raymond was a personal fav also. Movies would be Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, The Count of Monte Cristo, The Princess Bride, That Thing You Do. I also found The Passion of the Christ to be particularly moving.
Q. What type of music do you like to listen to?
A. I like most music. I'm not a big fan of country or rap, but there are songs in those genres that I like. Mostly rock, Relient K and Switchfoot are currently at the top of my list.
Q. You mentioned that you run a website busiess with your father in your spare time, is this partly a creative outlet? Do you have any other creative pursuits?
A. I supposed it is part creative and part business venture. It is very part time at the moment, but it brings in some income and does allow me to be creative. I am a full time Graphic Designer at an ad agency also so I have come creative freedom there as well.
Q. Are there any particular websites you visit regularly/semi-regularly?
A. I'm a Nintendo nut, so cube.ign.com. Recently the Dink Network (of course) and for a while and still to some extent, I was/still am a little addicted to Neopets believe it or not. Myspace is also a new addiction of mine. And for a fun site that I infrequently visit sfdt.com which for those who don't know stands for Stick Figure Death Theatre. www.homestarrunner.com is also a very fun site.
Q. What is your favourite food?
A. I love Chinese and Mexican food and Good ol American. My favorite recipe would have to be one of my mom's old ones that my wife makes for me now, Pizza Cassarole. It's basically sloppy joe meat layered in between cresent rolls. Yummy.
Thanks again for taking the time to do this and for your DMODs, Wesley.
Thank you.
Hurray! First article in a little less than a year (last one was feb 28 2005). And with the creator of the FB series, wheeee 
Fun. It's nice to see a good interview after a while without one.
I see that Wesley's a Lost fan too... more power to him!
I see that Wesley's a Lost fan too... more power to him!
A remade FB2? Interesting. In terms of sheer ambition it's one of my favourite modules, so I'd welcome the excuse to play it again. I hope the original version is left up for posterity, though.
A remade FB2 sounds great! I think the Chevy Chase Show thing should occur whenever you defeat a 'wrong' boss. 
Also, the good ending is illogical. Dink meets people from the Core and the dragons and the humans thank him for his help, but you can't win the game if you choose the Core path.
Also, the good ending is illogical. Dink meets people from the Core and the dragons and the humans thank him for his help, but you can't win the game if you choose the Core path.
Yep, very nice interview. Hope to see more soon.
One point of clarification, the Dmod I was working on called 'The Box' (before I "left") was actually the same as 'Beginning of Sorrows'. Since then the hard drive that it was on failed and I lost everything.
One failed hard drive and 4½ years of absence... please finish the D-Mod, I can't download unfinished ones.
please finish the D-Mod
Which one? If you mean The Box, it probably won't be finished. If you mean FB2, it is finished, just buggy. But finishable.
Which one? If you mean The Box, it probably won't be finished. If you mean FB2, it is finished, just buggy. But finishable.
the box will never be finished as everything is gone completely. If I were to make a new dmod, it would be original, not the box.
FB2 is going to be re-released sort of... you'll have to wait and see for that one.
FB2 is going to be re-released sort of... you'll have to wait and see for that one.
