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Martian Staff Spotlight - August 2016

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Hello, and welcome to our August Staff Spotlight thread. This time we've got imamelia – a long-time staff member who has somehow never gotten Staff Spotlight before! So without further ado, here's our interview:

K3fka: Hello, imamelia. How are you doing today?
imamelia: Not bad, I'd say. How about you?
K3fka: Pretty good myself.

K3fka: Anyway, I don't know how it took this long for this interview to happen, but I guess better late than never, right?
imamelia: Yeah. Well, I'm not one of those socialite PR people or forum moderators anyway. I work in the shadows behind the scenes.

K3fka: So let's start at the beginning. How did you come to find SMW hacking and SMWC all those years ago?
imamelia: You know, it's kind of weird. The first Internet forum I ever joined was GameSpot back in, I think, July 2008, and at one point, I mentioned something about how cool it would be if I could make my own levels and stuff. Somebody else mentioned Lunar Magic, which of course I had to check out, and I (presumably) found FuSoYa's site from there as well as Super Demo World, which I recall watching a full
imamelia: playthrough of in September of that year. I also checked out Eggvine for Yoshi's Island editing. I guess I'm not entirely sure how I found SMWC from there, but I had some sort of error with the supplementary files when I tried to use Eggvine, and I would assume that somebody suggested coming to SMWC with my questions. I suppose it's kind of unexpected that my first question on here was actually
imamelia: related to YI hacking rather than SMW.
imamelia: I suppose after getting that sorted out, I decided to stick around. I recall that everyone had their Halloween usernames at the time that I joined, so we had people like The Heavenly Haunter, Tails Doll, and Arc, Cyber of Illusions.
imamelia: I don't remember how exactly it worked out after that, and my early posts don't seem to elucidate much except that I was quite off the mark when it comes to how exactly one does certain things in SMW hacking.
imamelia: And that I was pretty awkward, but what else is new?
imamelia: So...I guess that's about how it went?

K3fka: Haha. Well, coming here for YI is pretty unusual since most people are here because of SMW.
K3fka: Do you remember how you got into doing custom music and ASM? Since those seem to be your passions around here (after all, you're a moderator of both)
imamelia: Again, the history is pretty murky, but...let's see...
imamelia: Well, as far as ASM goes, I probably asked a lot of questions about doing things like adding more bosses and making additional levels act like Chocolate Island 2 does, things that Lunar Magic alone couldn't do. (Well, Lunar Magic probably could handle more than four Reznor fights, but that aside...) I recall getting at least one answer that amounted to "you can't do that without hex editing". Not even
imamelia: "patching", but hex editing. Presumably, I looked into that kind of stuff and found custom ASM. I remember that Schwa's ASM tutorial was the one I started with, and I would guess that I started making simple blocks and sprite edits in early 2009, with my first original sprite coming in July of that year. Davros's sprites were probably a huge impetus for me to get interested in sprite coding, and since
imamelia: that was my senior year of high school and I had a study hall for one period, I probably spent at least some of them looking at the sprite code trying to figure it out. I'm fairly sure, however, that even at that point, I at least used standard capitalization instead of putting labels in all caps like a barbarian. It's hard to say what happened in between 2009 and now other than me obviously getting
imamelia: better at ASM and branching out a bit (I made my first patch in August 2009), though the sprite disassembly project probably didn't hurt. I'll admit that I don't really feel like I've gotten much better at ASM, if any, in the last 4 or 5 years, just slightly more familiar with the SNES hardware.
K3fka: It's funny how many of us used Schwa's tutorial (including me). Haven't heard it mentioned in a while, but all of us older members know it, haha.
imamelia: As for custom music, most likely, once I discovered that you could not only put other people's renditions of music from other games into a SMW hack but also compose your own stuff for them, I went ahead and did so. I've been composing music for the piano since I was about 9 or 10, so doing it for SMW wasn't too much of a stretch, even if my early compositions were pretty bleh.
imamelia: Actually, come to think of it, *all* of the compositions I've submitted are at least somewhat bleh. I really should write a few tracks specifically for other people's use...
imamelia: Mind you, I'm not amazing at either music or ASM.
K3fka: Eh, I think it's pretty common for artists to focus on the flaws in their art, so don't sweat that too much :P
imamelia: I can never get ports as accurate as I want (especially unsampled), and there are a number of things I never quite got a handle on as far as coding goes, like making platforms that sprites can stand on or writing a perfect parabolic speed routine.
imamelia: Anyway...

K3fka: Well, as far as ASM goes, you've done some pretty big stuff in the past, such as your manual block insertion patch and Tessera. Any more big plans for future projects?
imamelia: I'm not sure those are the best examples, since the former was actually pretty easy once I found Lunar Magic's block offset hijacks and the latter was kind of buggy. (Though not as much as a lot of people's impressions seemed to have been...here's a tip, if you are having trouble with a tool that you just downloaded and used, you might start by actually reading the manual.)
imamelia: But yes, you might say that.
imamelia: There is one project that I'm part of along with a few other people that I don't want to give away too much about (spoilers...) that I REALLY hope gets finished soon, and if I ever actually finish any hacks, you can bet there will be plenty of ASM in those.
K3fka: Ah, well I'm looking forward to the big collab project!
imamelia: I can't really think of any big ASM-related projects I'm working on that are just about ASM and just for me, though, at least not currently. I would like to make some more sprites, though, such as some of the ones from YI or newer Mario games that haven't been done yet. I've even considered disassembling some of the sprites from SMAS for use in SMW now that we have a complete
imamelia: disassembly of that. But I don't plan on submitting any more sprites to SMWC until *CENSORED*

K3fka: Aside from hacking, I know you also do Let's Plays. How did you decide to start doing those and how do you like it?
imamelia: As for Let's Plays...
imamelia: Well, I find my history with those even odder than with finding SMWC, frankly.
imamelia: I'm assuming you remember the World of Insanity and that it had a stickied thread for funny movie clips and stuff...
imamelia: Once, somebody posted "I Can't Defeat Air Man" in there, which I found pretty neat, and I noticed that the related videos included at least one of RoahmMythril's Perfect Run videos. I think it was the Heat Man one.
imamelia: Well, I watched that and found it entertaining enough to watch the rest, and I think around that time, somebody else asked if they could do a Let's Play of my hack.
imamelia: (Yes, I actually had a hack at the time. It probably had some graphical clashes and only worked on ZSNES, but it was a hack.)
imamelia: I would guess that the Perfect Run stuff is mainly what inspired me to do Let's Plays, but I didn't know that they were called that until that other person mentioned them, which presumably led me to look into it more.
imamelia: It might or not might be a coincidence that the first game I ever did was Mega Man 2.
imamelia: I'm actually doing another LP of that game right now, this time on the harder difficulty setting, though progress has been pretty miserable, and not because of the game itself.
imamelia: (I'm also doing it in tandem with another game that's much more of a nuisance to record because I can't emulate it.)
imamelia: I have mixed feelings about doing them, I suppose.
imamelia: On one end, I feel like I'm not that entertaining, don't have the voice for it, and don't really offer anything over the 50 trillion other Let's Players out there aside from occasionally doing a game that few to no other people have done.
imamelia: (Ever see any other Return to Kroz LPs? Probably not.)
imamelia: Not to mention I'm not very good at keeping to a consistent schedule, which has been at its absolute worst this year.
K3fka: Hmm...It's certainly become a pretty saturated market now, yes. But if you can find something unique to offer, I'm sure you can build an audience over time.
imamelia: But I guess it's reasonably fun for me when I feel like it, a pretty decent way to replay games, and if I can entertain at least a couple people while doing so, good.
imamelia: I kind of want to do more co-op Let's Plays, honestly. I never did finish that Goof Troop one, and one of my roommates has been suggesting we do a 4-player game of Tales of Symphonia, which might be worth recording (even if it would probably take 5 years or more to finish...).
K3fka: Group things can definitely be successful, and maybe easier because you can play off of each other. Looking at stuff like Game Grumps, people seem to like that.
imamelia: Yeah, I think the interaction can add to the experience. And with the family and friends I tend to have, comical things usually happen sooner or later when we get together.

K3fka: So back to SMWC stuff, how have you enjoyed your time as a staff member so far?
imamelia: It's been fine, I guess. I'm honored that I was considered a good enough user to be chosen for the position, and I'm glad that I can help the community. Of course, with great power comes great responsibility (as the risk of sounding cliched).
imamelia: Though duties are rarely cut-and-dried.
imamelia: When moderating stuff, there's *always* that gray area, that nagging feeling of "Was this good enough to accept? Was this bad enough to reject? Did I test this properly? What if I forgot about something?".
imamelia: At least, that's how it is for me. I can't speak for everyone.
imamelia: I guess it's a good thing I'm not really a forum moderator. That would give me even more ambiguity to deal with.
K3fka: Yeah, with something like music I can definitely see that being the case. Really subjective too.
imamelia: Indeed.

K3fka: I think it's time for the random question lightning round!
imamelia: It's never just a set of binary criteria. Not to mention you get those submissions where you think "well, I personally wouldn't find this useful, but somebody else might...".
imamelia: Already? Okay then.

K3fka: What's your favorite game of all time?
imamelia: Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. Donkey Kong Country Returns is pretty close; they both have great levels and beautiful graphics, but Tropical Freeze is even prettier, and the music is better. Of course, they also both have their own annoyances to deal with, and I think TF might actually be worse in that regard.
imamelia: So it's kind of a toss-up.

K3fka: Favorite number?
imamelia: How many digits are we talking here?
K3fka: Any amount you like
imamelia: Probably 554 or 547.

K3fka: What do you like to drink on a hot day?
imamelia: Usually just water. I really like San Pellegrino, though.

K3fka: If you could become any animal, what would you choose?
imamelia: Permanently?
K3fka: Yes
imamelia: Honestly, I'd rather just stay human, but...assuming I'm still keeping my own mind, probably something that's herbivorous but not a target for humans or other animals.

K3fka: What's something you definitely want to do before you die?
imamelia: Get some books published. Preferably at least one series, at least one book of poetry, and at least one music book.

K3fka: Alright, do you have any final thoughts you'd like to share with everyone?
imamelia: A few things, I suppose.
imamelia: One, I'm surprised team hacks don't come along more often. Like, not a "hey, let's get the entire population of Seattle together to work on a SMW hack" kind of thing, but ones with just two or three people. Nobody is skilled in *all* the areas of SMW hacking (at least, I can't think of anyone), so you'd think it would be more common for people, especially experienced users who might be good at one or
imamelia: two things but hopeless at the others, to team up with someone who complements their own abilities and work together on a project.
imamelia: Two, I really hope I get to finish and submit at least one or a couple hacks and/or homebrew games.
imamelia: Three, you guys should play Trails in the Sky. And Radiant Historia. And Shovel Knight. And probably Ys. And possibly the Kroz series, Dynomite, Cubis...*ahem* Sorry. But seriously, I would at least recommend trying those first three.
imamelia: Four, don't give up. Anyone who's learning ASM, music, graphics, level design, whatever...just remember that there are lots of people to help you, and you can keep working at it and keep getting better. Heck, that could apply to me just as well, and it could apply to real life just as much as or more than hacking.
imamelia: And five, I'm glad to have joined SMWC and stayed around all this time. This is easily the second-best Internet community I've ever been a part of. I'll admit that it's resulted in a lot of time-wasting and feelings of hopelessness (mainly because the hack I've been wanting to make since 2009 still hasn't really gotten anywhere), but it also got me interested in programming and let me meet and talk to
imamelia: some interesting people, among other things.

K3fka: Thanks for your time today. See everyone next time!
imamelia: Thank you.
imamelia: *waves to everyone*
Everything over here is a bit too ALIEN for me to skim through
(Congrats!)
Windowless ride, feeling alive
Are you alive or just breathing?
Take a wild guess as to who is going to win "most pessimistic" this year. Or any other year.

Congrats though!
Congrats!
Imamelia's patches and documents have been really useful resources for me all these years.
Also, I hope he can publish his books eventually.

Current project: working on a personal website and a portfolio.
congrats imamelia!

the interview was a nice long read, enjoyed it. you provide an interesting perspective to things so i hope you stay around (as staff or not)
Can't believe you never got the spotlight before. Definitely well deserved.
Old members who are still sticking around today are the best!
I've always loved your work imamelia, do know that I will always support you in your future endeavors.
For some reason i throught that imamelia already had a staff spotlight...
Anyway, congrats imamelia.


Congrats imamelia. You sound like some of those people that is interesting to have a talk with, so you should probably go around IRC (besides your own channel) more.
Odd... I was sure I had already posted.
Anyway, congratulations. Was about damn time you got this with all the stuff you've done so far (even though much was done in the background)
Anime statistic on MyAnimeList:
400 animes completed ✓
6000 episodes completed ✓
100 Days completed ✓
... what even am I doing with my life?
Thanks, everyone. I actually do go on IRC channels other than my own and the staff channel, but I guess the other two I'm usually on are also pretty obscure. I used to be on a lot more, but then drama happened that made me question whether I should stay around. I'm glad for the support, though, and indeed, I hope to stick around and finish some projects, some with other people and some not. That goes for outside of SMWC as well.

(Also just noticed at least one typo in my responses...)

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I'm working on a hack! Check it out here. Progress: 64/95 levels.
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