Interview with Swindle

 A classmate of mine has oh so generously volunteered to be interviewed for my blog. I asked him a few questions about himself and of Hammer.

I’m James Swindle, student at The University of Texas at Dallas. I am studying Computer Science while working as a Web developer.

How much do you know about the Source Engine, or the games that use it (Team Fortress 2, Half Life 2, etc)?

I am a big fan of Valve games and the Source Engine, I can NOT wait for Portal 2 to be released. I own the “The Orange Box” which has the Half-Life 2 series, Team Fortress 2, and Portal. I also own Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2, and Counter-Strike. I have used the Source Engine to create a few maps and I even built a very simple Mod for Half-Life 2 as a school project. So, I would say I know a fair bit about the Source Engine and it’s games.

Do you have any interest in creating video games or mods?

I do, after I graduate I plan to go into game development, programming specifically. As I mentioned above, I have already created a simple mod and I hope to expand on it this summer.

I read your blog, and you seem to know a lot about HTML. I know it’s a different beast entirely, but do you know Java or C++?

I know very little C++ and I know more Java. It’s not necessarily a different beast entirely though. Where I work, their web pages are based off of Java so there is Java code within the HTML code and I have to go back and forth between the two.

Does anything interest you about my blog?

Yes, I’m interested in Hammer and therefore interested in your blog. I like how the steps are setup, quick and simple. I have not done much work with Hammer in a while so I am a bit rusty and your blog is a nice refresher.

What did you do with Hammer previously when you used it?

I have made a few maps for Half-Life 2 and Counter-Strike. I also made a Mod to Half-Life 2 as my senior project at my high school, the project focused on recycling electronics and in the Mod you would pick up some old electronic, sort and “process” them in a recycling center, after which you would gain points to try and get the high score. It wasn’t a very good Mod, but it was actually pretty entertaining, especially after I added the zombies.

Have any suggestions for what I should do with its appearance?

The background doesn’t seem to fit well. Hammer has a dark green color scheme, and the pinkish red feels off.

Thanks for all your answers, James!