It would seem that this past weekend was the annual celebration of the “Coming of the Giant Banana Bushel” for the Space Monkeys, for they all lay passed out in their cages after a little too much feasting. But all is not lost, as they have enlisted the temporary aide of the Flaming Purple Mongeese to assemble this week’s batch of questions and thus make this dreary Monday a might bit cheerier. Of course one cannot expect the Flaming Purple Mongeese to do a task such as this for free. Thankfully the Space Monkeys have thought ahead, and left a large supply of cheddar cheese bricks as payment. And so the Space Monkeys get an extra day of rest while the rest of the world must contend with being fed this slightly singed and cheesy smelling round of questioning!

This week our Community Spotlight is on SEspider: artist, perpetual forger, and finalist in Pete_the_Duck’s Last Forger Standing contest (if you haven’t seen it, you really must)! Spider is never one to shy away from a challenge, and is always trying something new in Forge. If you play with us on Friday, you’re guaranteed to be a participant in at least one playtest. So just what does our resident eight legged Spartan have to say about, well, everything? Let’s find out! Remember kids, the Spotlight burns through questions at a rapid pace, it can’t exist without fuel from the community. Drop by this page here and add anything you want to know to our stack!

SEspider

How does everyone know you on Xbox Live?

SEspider. I attended Southeastern FWB Bible College and always had a McFarlane Spider-Man figure standing on top of my computer monitor. I earned the nickname Southeastern Spider by my classmates because of it. I shortened it to SEspider and have used it ever since in honor of the wonderful school and classmates. I’ve had the Gamertag since day one of Xbox Live’s Public Release.

So who’s the person behind the alias and where is he from?

Richard White and I’m from Greenville, NC. Which is WAY cooler then Durham. ^_^

Sadly it’s not as cool as Charlotte. They get all the cool game tournaments and stuff.

Oh Durham isn’t all bad, they gave us Duke after all. What are you doing when you aren’t playing?

Praying, Reading, Drawing, sleeping.

The Halo question to end all Halo questions. Which title is your favorite?

You just had to ask me that one didn’t you?! Is it even possible to choose a favorite? I mean they each had awesome memorable moments in them.

• Halo 1 had the introduction of the Flood, and the Maw Run.
• Halo 2 had a super random event during a campaign run that I’ll NEVER forget. I was on Delta Halo and had managed to keep one of the original marines alive (I’d named him Mike). We were moving through the ruins on the path to Regret when we ran into this one particular building filled with Grunts. One started to run for, but Mike came in and startled him. They saw each other, dove, and both hugged the wall. What happened next amazed me like no other game has before or since. They Talked To One Another! No Lie! They held a conversation for over ten minutes. It was mostly one-liners slamming the other as the Marines and Grunts always did. But the timing of responses were just so perfect I couldn’t help but listen to them. I’ve yet to want to record a video game encounter as much as I did at that moment!
• Halo 3 had more deadly Flood, the story, the death of Sergeant Johnson (RIP Good Buddy), The Graphics and the Fire. Oh the pretty, pretty fire.
• ODST had the lonesome walk through New Mombasa, the introduction of the Engineers, and Sadie’s incredible story told through terminals/audio logs.
• Halo Wars had beautiful cinematics and challenging campaign difficulties.
• Reach had the brutal end of an awesome Spartan 3 team and the best Multiplayer and Forge mode to date.

But if I had to pick my favorite then I’d have to say I don’t have one. They’re all my favorite.

It feels like video gaming has been around forever now. The fact that you’re playing Halo on a regular basis means you had to have started somewhere, so where was it?

I think I’m the oldest here on CC. Born in 1979, Baby!

I have a long history with video games. Sadly by the time I got my grubby claws on them they usually weren’t the latest or greatest thing anymore. My first game was Pong. Yes you read that right. I said Pong. Next came Chinese Checkers, then it was Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Mario Brothers, then Sonic… the list goes on. Until I was 13, I played games on a old 5-10 inch black and white TV. The thing seemed to weigh a ton too. If it weren’t for the boxes and manuals, I never would have known Mario was red and Luigi was green. Placing colored plastic over the screen did NOT help as they advertised it would. 　

It seems like everyone jumped into the Haloverse differently, how’d you get your feet wet?

I saved up and got the original Xbox about two months after its release. I ignored the FPS games and went for adventure or action games instead. I had a job back then and could afford a few games but I wasn’t about to ‘waste’ $50 on an FPS, back then they just weren’t my thing. Everywhere I turned however, there was Halo. Halo in magazines, on windows, on walls, on TV, and on websites. When I saw Halo make the front page of my local newspaper, I caved. Well sort of. I rented the game and figured I’d give it a try to end my curiosity.

The graphics were nice, but I thought other titles were prettier. Landing on Halo was very cool, as was the open world. The Flood creeped me out, which I loved, but that didn’t last forever. I hated them when I got to the Maw. By the time I made it there, I less than 30 minutes left on my rental. I had no clue it was the last level, and I’d already spent 2-3 hours trying to beat it! I was mad. I was frustrated. I threw my controller at the wall and got slapped by the breakaway cord.

I returned the game still filled with rage that a shooter got the best of me. My next check came around and I bought Halo fully intending to return it for a refund a few days later. I just wanted enough time to finish it. I loaded up the Maw Run, and wouldn’t you know it, I beat it in one try! What? Then came the credits. What?! WHAT?!! I just spent $50 to play a quarter of a level?!! I started the game over on the next difficulty. Normal. *insert facepalm here* I had not realized my entire play-through of the game was on the easiest setting ever! ‘Screw it, I’m playing on Heroic!’ There was more controller throwing, but after that I was hooked on FPS games.

And now a few very cheesy community questions. Ick…

You can have any transportation from the Halo franchise brought into the real world. What’s your tool of destruction?

Let’s see. Tanks would not be legal on the road, and I’d have a hard time finding a parking space for the Hornet, Falcon, or Banshee. The Mongoose is just a pimped out four-wheeler without the winch. A Ghost would be difficult to stop down a hill. I’ll have to say the Warthog. It’s practical, easy to find in a crowded parking lot, has brakes, has been drivable in every game, runs on water instead of gas, and let’s face it. Chicks Love It! Bow Chicka Wow Wow!　

Traveling is something most people like doing. What’s the farthest point you’ve ever traveled to? Halo and the Ark don’t count.

North or South?

Let’s go with south. I went on two mission trips to Mexico with my church back during high school. Taco Bell has nothing on the real thing. You want truly good Mexican food? Ask a local resident for some food. The food there is incredible. It’s also VERY hot. Not spicy, just freaking hot. But boy oh boy is it good.

If you’re a Forger, what’s your general process? How do you go about making maps?

There’s a process? Why didn’t anyone tell me?!

Joking aside, I usually sketch/doodle out a layout on paper first, make refinements, then work on the flow of said design. From there I try to decide where objectives and weapons should go and make changes to the design based on that. I then layout the Spawns. I try not to go over 12 re-spawn points on any map, making sure the players have a good line of sight when they spawn. Slayer is my primary focus seeing as how often it’s played. I then run through the map in my head and try to nail down possible issues. I make more adjustments and set the map up for Multi Flag CTF and, if possible, I try to make my maps work for multi-team just in case.

Next I start Forging. Moving items to the locations I expect them to be in and then fine tune their placements. After the layout is complete, I go through the map as a player and test jumps, lifts, ramps, etc. If it feels right I go back and see if I can cut the budget back by removing items I don’t really need or replacing things like Doors for Short Tunnels. Next are spawns and weapon placements. I then add a few map aesthetics and see if they conflict with spawns, line of sight, or flow. Once I have the map set up for Slayer and CTF, I try to test it with players to locate any minor flaws I might have over looked.

After the test I watch the video and cry myself to sleep.　

Cats, Dogs, or Flaming Purple Mongeese?

None of the above. I’ll have to go with the lovable Ferret. They’re like a cat but also like a furry snake that hunts down other snakes and vermin. Dogs fear them, as do most cats. But it may be my favorite because I once had a pet ferret as a child that wouldn’t let me enter a certain area of the yard. Later we found out there was a snake nest in the area. That little guy possibly saved my life.

Music is like the Force. It surrounds and binds everyone and everything together. So if you had one song to describe Customs, what would it be?

Johnny Cash’s Ring Of Fire

That’s a wrap!　

Well, it seems as though the Flaming Purple Mongeese have run off to finish their cheddar cheese bricks. It’s alright though, another dreary Monday has been brightened by the glow from our Spotlight. In fact, I think the glow was so bright the Space Monkeys are finally waking up. There’s a lot of grumbling about questions going on. Up next week is the lovely HotIcePhoenix, Community Customs very own female and resident Goldfish (Why is that? I’m sure you’ll find out next week!). If you have any questions you’d like to direct her way, or perhaps just something you’d like to know in general, click the banner below and submit away! Later this week we’ll have a special surprise from SEspider, as well as the sign up for Customs Night on Thursday! Stay tuned and have a good week, see you on the battlefield Friday!