Rogue Spear Retreat

10 Questions with:
Rodion Herrera

Subject: 10 questions with the mod maker Rodion from RODSPEAR

:: [ 1. What got you started with modding? ] ::

Sometime in October 1999, when I was a newbie at the RSE Forums, a forum-member known as HawaiianStyle wished that the Aolian Airlines 747 in "Perfect Sword" was done in the "Aloha Airlines" paint scheme. Now, my original boxed copy of Rogue Spear (sent from the US to the Philippines by Nine, another well-known RSE forumer) arrived during that very same week. I was so happy, and felt I had to repay the RS gaming community (especially Nine of course) for this wonderful gift, because it was simply impossible for me to cough up $40.00 just for a computer game at the time. Now, in my eagerness to please, I volunteered to repaint the 747 into the Aloha Airlines colors. Why did I accept this particular mod request? Well, it was a retexture, and what's more, it involved retexturing an aircraft--familiar territory for me, because at the time, I was also into repainting flight simulation aircraft (FS98). It only took me about 2 hours, and so the next day, Hawaiian Style got his new Aloha Airlines 747 ;)...and the rest is as they say, history.

:: [ 2. Why do you think that your mods have been successful in the past? ] ::

Hmmm. I think it's because a lot of my early mods dealt with stuff that were relatively original. I mean, I don't have a lot of mods, compared to other established mod makers out there, but each of my mods have a special reason for being. For instance, the Korea DMZ mission was probably the first mission to incorporate changes in the spoken dialogues of the "control" and John Clark. It was also one of the first missions to use the Bunkers map in a single-player mod. Another thing is, some of my later mod ideas are a product of a need to improve the playability of RS. After my "early mods", I was searching for new, fresh ideas for mod making. At the time, I was also fooling around with World War II combat flight simulations (yes, I'm a flight simmer at heart ;), and I thought, "Look at this sim, I can play an American pilot (good guy) and when I get bored, I can play the Luftwaffe pilot (bad guy) as well...I wish I could do that in RS." And so, TTT was born ;)

:: [ 3. What are you currently working on? ] ::

I'm trying (sigh) to finish TTTv2.0 Mission Pack #2 (should be out by this week or next). After that, I dunno. I have a major mod in mind, but it requires me to team up with a model maker, but after I left Team TAOW, I felt that I couldn't work with a another mod team (Team TAOW is the best mod team in my mind still). Thus, I dunno. But I like it that way--keeps my options open.

:: [ 4. How do you feel about Sputnik Satellite's gun models getting stolen? ] ::

Bad of course (Wow, Rodion has a very extensive vocabulary ;-) -Fitz). Mission scripting is hard, but it's nothing compared to 3D-modelling...I've done it before using "crude" tools like RayDream and CorelDream, and it can give one a real nasty headache. Thus, if someone stole a really nice 3D-model done in 3DSMAX, you cannot imagine how the maker must feel. Of course, were talking about "stealing" here to mean that another weapon mod maker claims a particular weapon model (made by Sputnik) as his own. This is wrong.

:: [ 5. What mod that you have worked on has been your favorite? ] ::

I dunno. My favorite mod could be that mod which gave me the most enjoyment while making. But since, I enjoyed making all my mods, I really dunno. ;) Maybe Korea DMZ? Was really fun testing that one out...hehehe.

:: [ 6. If there was one thing you could change in R6 or RS, what would it be, and why? ] ::

One thing? Hmmm...you'd think bandwagon, but hey, this is really a need so I go for it too. So what is it? What else? The capability to build our own maps ;)

:: [ 7. What do you think of RSE's new Rainbow Six title Covert Operations? ] ::

A ploy that effectively stopped my attempt at creating a Macromedia Authorware-based RS/UO encyclopaedia-type mod, complete with HK, Steyr and Colt weapon data, plus my personal notes while serving as a Special Forces Operative Cadet in UP Diliman back in 1988, and new missions... ;) Seriously, RSE wanted to create a product that could appease some of the techno-thriller types out there (who knows, this product might have been Tom's idea, eh?)...

:: [ 8. I'm sure a lot of people want to know how you got your wife involved with playing RS, and UO? ] ::

You mean a lot of HUSBANDS, right? hehehe, okay. Well, like the rest of husbands out there, my wife was almost always pissed at the sight of me getting home, kissing her and baby hello, and immediately sitting down in front of the family PC, and load Rogue Spear (bad bad me). So, one day, when I arrived from work, she was already seated in front of the family PC, and she had already loaded RS. I then asked her what she was doing, and she said that she wanted to play RS, but didn't know how, and she wanted me to teach her. I asked why? And she said, she wanted to play RS because she got tired of watching me ignore her while I play, now she wanted me to watch her ignore me while she played! hehehe So I taught her the basic moves (forward, backward, fire, reload etc.), and she learned the rest of the controls when I gave her the Keyboard Reference Sheet. Now she enjoys ignoring me while she's taking out tangos in the Storage Depot TH (her favorite) map. Then I brought her to the LAN gaming center in downtown Iligan (where I play RS/UO MP), and she became a star, being one of the very few female RS players here in our place (she really turns heads when shes playing, and I enjoy watching that hehehe). In fact, I think she'd be the champ if there was an all-female match here. ;) I mean, if she can survive team adversarial with the boys, she'd have the rest of the RS-playing girls for dinner. ;)

:: [ 9. Can your wife beat you up (At this point, Fitz ran out of questions)? ] ::

Yes, she can. She is as tall as me (5' 3") but she's heavier by about 14 lbs (I'm only 92 lbs). hehehe If you mean if she can beat me in RS/UO, it depends on the map...some maps I play well, some maps I don't. If we were in a map wherein I don't play well, and it's a map she likes, chances are she'd beat me on that map ;)

:: [ 10. Fitz: Sexiest man alive, King of Kings, Immortal, King of typos, or Child prodigy? ] ::

No, you're not the sexiest man alive...if you are, you wouldn't be here...hehehe.
No, you're not the King of Kings...blasphemer!...hehehe.
No, you're not immortal...perhaps you meant immoral...heeheehee
No, you're not king of typos...that would be a toss-up between X17 and MadDaze...hehehe.
No, you're not a Child prodigy...you're a...child. HAHAHAHAHA!
You know what you are? You're an all-around nice guy! ;) Thanks for the interview, man! -RODION

You can download all of Rodion's mods, or get info on any of his upcoming mods here, at RODSPEAR.

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