Nostalgic Reminisence
I’m a nostalgic old fool. Okay, “old” doesn’t exactly apply. But I do like old things, particularly things to which I can relate. Which would explain my choice of entertainment lately. During my recent rediscovery of the fine art of Wolfenstein level design, I went above and beyond the simple recollections that digging up such an old and cherished hobby naturally stirs. When getting into “Wolfy design mode,” I went whole-hog, immersing myself in the year 1994.
After all, it was January of 1994 when I first discovered that making levels for Wolfenstein was possible. (That same month is also when I acquired Doom, making it probably the most important month in the history of my gaming past.) I was fourteen then, and in my final year of junior high school, so naturally I had little else to think about in my life except for computer games. So I lived, slept and dreamt Wolfenstein. That year I sold a set of 60 levels to Apogee Software and started work on 60 more. Besides gaming, there was very little going on around me that I regarded with much more than a sense of disgust or, at most, a bemused half-interest, including school. I was pretty squarely in the zone.
Obviously I can’t afford (and don’t really want) to be so single-minded—almost obsessed, really—with games these days. But, as is the case with many of our childhoods, I wouldn’t mind reliving the feeling of those same carefree days when absolutely nothing mattered except what was fun, what was exciting and what captivated my sense of creativity. I’m extraordinarily lucky that I have a relatively stress-free life as it is, so I have found it somewhat easy to slip into modes of nostalgic hobbyism these last few weeks. And doing so is like taking a slipstream ride ten years into the past.
Where’s My Cake?!
I unwrapped some saltine crackers at lunch today, and this fell out:
So, where’s my cake? I must find it!
Oh…and if, upon reading the title of this post, you were reminded of Harvie hiding in a ventilation shaft and chowing down on a chocolate cake while the captain of the Genia 17 verbally accosted the cake’s infuriated owner, then congratulations—you’re the only other person on earth who could possibly have made that connection!
