10 Years
Posted: Sun Jun 26, 2011 11:33 am
June, 2001 - I began what would become STF. Intended as a mere test project to cut my gums on modding, the attention I garnered at Camelot Systems from mere screenshots of the Pyro setting units on fire (rather new in those primitive days) motivated me to pursue the project in earnest. A modeler, JackBlack, took interest and offered his abilities. As I pimped screenshots of our work on various sites, hosting offers came pouring in. I was still new to the Starcraft community, so had little foreknowledge to gauge the value of each offer. Ultimately, I chose CampaignCreations (despite hating the horrible color scheme of their old bright green and blue forum), and looking back, I couldn't have made a wiser decision.
With hosting came the task of creating a website, of which I was grossly under qualified. I started to poach textures that I thought were cool and intended to chop them up and make a "cool" site. To my relief, a talented fellow by the name of Xealous stepped up to the challenge. When I showed him what I had been planning for the site, he immediately recognized the artwork. Xealous knew the artist, and also knew that he would not be too pleased with my wholesale plundering of his work. Xealous quickly set me straight, teaching a valuable lesson about how small this world really is. So, we scratched that plan off the agenda, and instead Xealous produced all the fantastic graphics you see today on STF's website.
Once the site was up, out of curiosity I added a hit counter. After only a few days, much to my astonishment, the site had racked up several thousand hits. At that instant, I knew I wanted to create a community for what were, so far, only digits on a counter. Were those really actual people? I had to know.
Thus, the Bootcamp forum was born. There, many friendships were made, ones that persist even to this day. Fast forward to BlizzCon '09, where myself, Lavarinth, Dreadnaught, and DarkOmen all paused for a moment, reflecting on what had just been said by one of us, "If it wasn't for STF, none of us would have known each other." These words touched me. A silly little Starcraft mod I had created so many years ago had an actual, measurable effect on other people's lives. Who would have thought?
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of STF, I'd like to present to you all the very first edition of STF I ever privately tested with another person. Entitled "Hercanic's Team Fortress", it's pretty damn crappy. (Really, it is. The SECWAD format won't even run on Windows XP or higher.) Still, if you'd like a piece of obscure history to dust the far corner of your 5 Terabyte hard drive, enjoy. =o)
STF v1.6
Thank you, for all the memories, laughs, and inspiration.
With hosting came the task of creating a website, of which I was grossly under qualified. I started to poach textures that I thought were cool and intended to chop them up and make a "cool" site. To my relief, a talented fellow by the name of Xealous stepped up to the challenge. When I showed him what I had been planning for the site, he immediately recognized the artwork. Xealous knew the artist, and also knew that he would not be too pleased with my wholesale plundering of his work. Xealous quickly set me straight, teaching a valuable lesson about how small this world really is. So, we scratched that plan off the agenda, and instead Xealous produced all the fantastic graphics you see today on STF's website.
Once the site was up, out of curiosity I added a hit counter. After only a few days, much to my astonishment, the site had racked up several thousand hits. At that instant, I knew I wanted to create a community for what were, so far, only digits on a counter. Were those really actual people? I had to know.
Thus, the Bootcamp forum was born. There, many friendships were made, ones that persist even to this day. Fast forward to BlizzCon '09, where myself, Lavarinth, Dreadnaught, and DarkOmen all paused for a moment, reflecting on what had just been said by one of us, "If it wasn't for STF, none of us would have known each other." These words touched me. A silly little Starcraft mod I had created so many years ago had an actual, measurable effect on other people's lives. Who would have thought?
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of STF, I'd like to present to you all the very first edition of STF I ever privately tested with another person. Entitled "Hercanic's Team Fortress", it's pretty damn crappy. (Really, it is. The SECWAD format won't even run on Windows XP or higher.) Still, if you'd like a piece of obscure history to dust the far corner of your 5 Terabyte hard drive, enjoy. =o)
STF v1.6
Thank you, for all the memories, laughs, and inspiration.