On July 18, 2006, I did an interview with he who is known as MauveBib and/or Skinski. He had some interesting things to say.

Entar: Please introduce yourself in whatever manner you deem necessary.

MauveBib: I'm MauveBib, also known as Skinski, you there, the hobo or the king of kong. I've been modding quake for about a million years, and I'm yet to have any real success at it.

Entar: Where are you from?

MauveBib: I'm from the sunny climes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Entar: Besides Quake, what games do you like to play?

MauveBib: Oddly enough, I'm not all that much of a gamer. I enjoy a few games, but not many, and I don't play that regularly. However, if I must, I'll give a list.

Entar: You must.

MauveBib: The Elite series is excellent. The idea of a freeform game with no real objectives or aims really appeals to me. The Monkey Island series is probably my favourite ever. I've always enjoyed point and click adventures, and these are the pinnacle of the genre. I also enjoy playing a lot of really random abandonware. I often browse abandonware sites for hours, then find some terrible, obcsure movie tie in to play. Suburban commando is a classic of the genre. That's about it.

Entar: What experiences in particular did you gain from organizing, administrating, etc. last year's QExpo?

MauveBib: I learned never to try running an online event while coding a game. I spent about 100 hours coding during the 10 day expo, and combined with the work on the site it led to me being totally worn out by the end. Despite that I did really enjoy it, and I'm really glad I did it. I'm not the most organised person, and it forced me to work on that.

Entar: In your opinion, how is this year's QExpo going so far?

MauveBib: I'm enjoying it immensely. It's early days yet, but it's great to see it up and running. It's always fun to browse the booths and see different people's ideas for quake coming to life.

Entar: What is your favorite Quake project that you've ever worked on?

MauveBib: My favourite project, or at least the one of which I am most proud, is Starship Troopers - Rival Species. It was the first project that I did that I really could consider completed. It's an enjoyable game, and one I still like to go back and play from time to time. On the same topic, people might get the impression from my mod history that I'm an RTS nut, but that is not really the case. My brother, and mapping collegue, Harb, is the RTS nut, and often had to convince me to get involved in RTS projects. However, I'm glad he did as I think the RTS projects we've done are some of our best work, and SST:RS is the one I'm most proud of.

Entar: What projects do you have planned for the future?

MauveBib: That's a tricky question. Frankly, I don't have all that much planned at the moment. I'm working on my Qexpo project, but after that I have little planned. This is largely due to computer problems, which are leaving me unable to work on the sort of project I'd like to. I want to work on more projects using modern engines like Darkplaces, but I can't currently run any decent engines at all on my pc, which really limits my options.

Entar: What advice would you give newly beginning modders?

MauveBib: I've lectured on this at length before now, and I posted an editorial at the last qexpo about it. My main piece of advice is not to aim too high too quickly. Far too often I see new modders for many engines immediately aiming to try to make a huge total conversion. This is just not realistic. People should aim lower to begin with, and build up their skills. Once they've learnt the basics of their chosen field they can build upon it, but it's vital not to try to do the "best mod in the world" first time. They'll just get disillusioned when they fail.

Entar: How was working with the DarkPlaces engine on DiD2, a game of an entirely different genre than the majority of Quake mods out there?

MauveBib: It was an interesting project, not least because we only decided to make it darkplaces only about half way through development. I spent over two years in total working on DiD2, and I truely grew to hate it after a while. It was only after I finished that I could look back and see that I had actually achieved something. It's the only quake based standalone game project I've done, and I think I did ok. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, a lot of what we originally wanted to have in it had to be cut, but I think the final game is still a good fun challenge. If I could get my PC sorted I would continue working on it, but until then it'll remain in it's current state. I learned a lot while making the game. In particular my modelling skills improved no end.

Entar: Any idea when the computer is going to be fixed?

MauveBib: None whatsoever I'm afraid.

Entar: What are some of your favorite mods by the rest of the Quake community?

MauveBib: I've always been a huge fan of FrikaC's work. Prydon Gate in particular is, I believe, one of the best mods of all time. I also have a soft spot for a few classic mods that I've always loved. The work of Iikka Keränen was an inspiration to me when I was learning to mod. I also love an old partial conversion called The Demon King, which had a great atmosphere and a real story. It allowed you to go back and forward between levels, two years before Half-Life was released.

Entar: Closing Comments.

MauveBib: I hope y'all enjoy the rest of qexpo, and I hope ya'll check out my QExpo project when it's released!

You can find MauveBib's booth here.