But first! An in depth interview with the thoughtful man that is at the heart of the heart of Fantastic Contraption.
What makes weasel tick? What are his hopes and his dreams? Is he too nancy-drew to use his ban hammer? Lets find out in:An Interview With a WeaselFC: How did you become involved with Fantastic Contraption?I believe it was Tuesday afternoon, March 18th 2008, at 4:23 PM PST when I got involved. Approximately. I got an email from Colin saying "Click the boxes! It's worth 30 seconds of fun." Attached was a .SWF file contained what must be considered the very first stable iteration of what would eventually become Fantastic Contraption.
At 5:03 PM PST I had offered a suggestion to increase the friction. I guess I've been involved in the creation ever since - if not as a beta tester, gameplay suggestor, or level designer
Trust my luck to be on the early beta.swf mailing list I suppose.
FC: How do you feel you've helped shape the game?Shaping the game was always done by Colin, but he always accepted input from many sources. Sometimes I didn't have much impact - I had pushed and pushed and pushed for several more object types in the game, for example - but Colin stuck to his guns on the simplicity angle. Not that I regret it! In hindsight it was the best decision.
I do like to say though, that I was a part of the decision making process quite frequently, and the game would have been different if I didn't exist. For better or worse, I don't know, but I like to think there's a few slices of my apple in this pie.
FC: How quickly did the community start to grow?The community tended to grow slowly in the first week, and I was a little disappointed there was no "release day miracle" so to speak. At first it was just friends and family - but after that first week went by, it seemed to explode.
We had users signing up at a pace that continued to astonish me every day, and the community growth that came along with that was so nice to see.
FC: How important is the community to the game?There's the obvious answer that most of this game is based on user-made content, so I would say quite a bit! But, one of my favorite things about Fantastic Contraption is that it goes beyond playing a game on your own. Sure I like the levels, sure I like to build winning contraptions. I even like to share them with my friends, which is kind of borderline with what I really find enjoyable:
My constant state of surprise, and having every expectation set blown out of the water by members of the community.
It's always pleasantly surprising and intriguing to see how everyone else beat a particular level, but going a step further - if it weren't for the community, we wouldn't have even thought of "Green" contraptions (where no powered wheels are used). I was then further blown away when I saw the first set of "Brown" contraptions (completely wheel-less), and it boggles my mind to see that people have nearly beat every one of the original 21 levels "Blue" (using only water rods).
Without the community, none of our badges would exist. Heck, the multiplayer events events and competitions that regularly take place in the forum continue to be the biggest draws of participation. And it's always fun because there's always something new!
FC: If you didn't exist, would bad things happen? How bad?One of my pet-peeves is seeing an official forum being run by those robotically-speaking impersonal press-release corporate-types that just seem to reek of "the man." I think those people quickly become targets the public rallies against, argue against, and makes it feel like a hostile place to hang out.
I like to think that I'm "one of the crowd." I'm a player, just like the rest of the public! I just happen to have a bit more knowledge than the rest. I still fool around, have fun, post in off-topic and remain approachable and friendly. I like to believe this rubs off on everyone else.
But I suppose, to answer your question, things wouldn't get too bad if I wasn't around. Depending on your definition of "Bad," of course. The forums could be "officially ignored" and end up like those quiet wastelands that you find in similar forums for other gaming sites. That would result in less posts, less contests, less innovation, and ultimately less sales. But that would take a while to happen, and something like "FansOfFC.com" will probably spring up where the atmosphere is more friendly.
Why not keep it in-house?
FC: Do you raise your ban-hammer alot? How do you keep things under
control without it?Well that kinda goes back to my last answer - I try to behave like a "model citizen," complete with tomfoolery and having a good time... And I tend to think it rubs off on folks and makes for a truly enjoyable atmosphere. We are all here to have fun, not make drama!
I have been really shocked at how well the community has stayed self-policing, though. There's never been a real flame war, burst of anger, or name calling. The only threads I've locked have been the odd few spam-for-fun threads, and 99% of all my bans were for spamming the boards with commercial products (probably bots).
FC: What was your favorite Fantastic Contraption crisis?Heh, that's probably got to be the "Big Wheel" incident. Some folks found a way to abuse the game and create very large wheels in their levels (the rotating kinds) and it actually produced a lot of wacky and neat levels. It had some potential for abuse though, and it made the graphics go wonky, so we had to shut it down. I remember the forum was full of "how do I make big wheelz?!?!?!!?!?!?" threads for an entire week afterwards.
FC: Do you go it alone?The community has gotten so big now that I simply can't read every thread anymore. I do a pretty good job of staying on top of the feedback, troubleshooting, and email requests all alone - but I do have "deputies" of sorts for the rest of the forum.
There are certain key members of the community that I have become chums with, and I trust them to issue warnings to other users and edit spam bots out of threads. They don't have the power to outright delete though, and thankfully - hardly any of them have to lift a finger! It's just nice to know I have some backup if something big goes down when I'm asleep. It also allows me to have weekends.
FC: Who is the biggest pain in your ♥♥♥?Haha, what a loaded question
I have to say that nearly everyone in the community brings something to the table, and it truly is a joy to be associated with such an awesome crowd. We truly are Chill.
There is the occasional user, though, that simply won't accept an answer. They keep hounding and hounding, and no matter how many times you answer the question they find another way to poke a hole in it. It reminds me of those kids that just keep asking "Why?" to every question.
I suppose I should be thankful that it's my worst problem!
FC: Who is the little angel?Darkeagle.
FC: What do you consider the most iconic contraption in Fantastic Contraption?Wow... There have been so many that just blow me away, and my opinion does change from time to time. I like to find excellent contraptions and sticky them in the forums for a short time just to get them the recognition they deserve.
My most recent favorite I dubbed "Design of the Century":
http://fantasticcontraption.com/?designId=5052358 . I believe Foro made most of it with some help of some other folks.
Thank you weasel for bearing a little bit of your soul today. I think everyone has a little piece now. And one day, if luck prevails, we'll all meet in a remote corn field and jelously burry them forever. So only we will ever know the secrects of your heart.
Also, wtf good god, that design is crazy ipecac! You tube videos must be made! Songs must be worn! Tshirts must be sung!
Probably the biggest difference: The iPhone application is completely written from scratch. Colin Northway (the creator of the game) teamed up with inXile, who had the resources and the talent to back up a truly top-notch application.
