The Autobiography of Meph
Last updated 2 August 2009.
All of the oldies here should recall the autobiography frenzy in 2005. It has returned! I hope you enjoy this read. Don't be daunted by my autobiography's length.
I was born in 1994 in the North West of England. I can't remember any of my life before I was three, because I had amnesia on my third birthday. What a day to have amnesia... I remember waking up in my mum's bed and went downstairs. It was weird... I was continuing my life even though I couldn't remember anything.
Anyway, I've always loved using technology. I found all gadgets easier to grasp than everyone else in my household, but I guess that's not surprising since not many older adults know how to switch even a tele on. Even today, I have to help my granddad on the computer with simple things like how to save a work document (I live with my mum, grandma and granddad, by the way).
Because none of my friends live near me and I'm an only child, I never really had anyone to play with. I played my first video game when I was 7 years old. It was
Buying Age of Mythology
Once, my mum dragged me out with her to see her friend. I must have been eight at the time. I used to hate going out with my mum to her friends. I'd have to sit there for ours while she goes on and on and on about women things. Luckily, this particular friend of my mum had two sons. I went to their bedroom and one of them was on the computer playing Age of Mythology. It looked bloody great!
"What's that game," I asked.
"It's not for little kids," he replied.
"
Eventually, I managed to have a go through the power of shouting, "Mum, he won't let me play!" I loved playing it. I eventually asked my mum to buy it. It was the first time that she ignored a PEGI rating. I was shocked!
I installed it and played it for hours on end. I completed the campaign easily as well as many Supremacies (with the aid of cheat codes, of course). Then, I found out that it was possible to play scenarios. I searched "Age of Mythology scenarios" in Google and Age of Mythology Heaven's download section appeared. I had loads of maps to choose from. I had great fun.
Joining AoMH
I started to design my own maps. I had many attempts at scenarios, but I never released them. They were of too low quality. I then learned how to do triggers by looking at the AoM campaign scenarios. I than finally realised how to do cinematics and I was ready to release my first map (
Now all needed to do was release it to AoMH. However, how do I do that? I needed to register an account. So on 2nd May 2005 when I was 11 years old, I pressed "register" and it took me to this strange website called "AoMH Forums". "What the heck is this!?" I thought to myself. It looked completely different to the downloads section. I was still incredibly naive at the time. I joined with the user name "Titan602".
I didn't know any swear words and I had no idea about sex. All of these things were kept away from me by my mum. She did a good job of it. It was thanks to the AoMH community that I learned the F word.
Anyway, I joined and uploaded the map. I never went any where near that "forum" thing. I was strange and I had no idea what it was. The map got comments that were typical of a young n00b to receive.
I then made The Quiz Masters (
Joining These "Forums"
I have no idea how, but I eventually discovered what forums actually are. I made my first post. I think it was a question on how to do something in the editor (
Then I made a thread that was actually useful. It was The Screenshot Competition. I think it was the first screenshot competition in AoMH. It was very popular and I organised it rather well.
Then I started making more maps... Better maps. I was improving every month - mainly with eye candy. I wasn't very good with triggers.
The Corruptor
Many have wondered about my obsession with this feature-film that The Vandhaal and M0nTy_PyTh0n made together. I first knew about its existence sometime around Summer 2005 when I was browsing The Vandhaal's site. This was long before Vandhaal made a showcase in AoMH. Just reading about this fantastic film thrilled me. I couldn't wait.
From that moment on, it became one the most important parts of my life. As soon as Vandhaal made the showcase in AoMH, I jumped into the thread as fast as I could and thought to myself "YESSSS!!!" It just assured me that The Corruptor's release date was getting closer and closer. How wrong I was.
I was always showing my support and obsession to Vandhaal and M0nTy; so much so that they made me the project's mascot. I don't think they've forgotten my iconic sentence that I would frequently shout to them. "
Design Teams
I wasn't always playing Age of Mythology. Sometimes, I would play different games. I was starting to get worried that this would stop me from designing for AoM entirely, so I knew I needed to do something to stop that from happening; something that would push me to make sure that I continued to design. I decided to join a design team. It was called
Then, a new design team started.
Me and Chon Katarn made quite the team, although nothing that we worked on was released (if I recall correctly).
Kalos Design Studios needed a website and I wanted to learn how to make one. This is how I began to learn HTML and CSS. The site was hosted by RiderOfEternity (the founder of Liquid Fire Studios) who owned a free web hosting... thing. It wasn't exactly a company; it was just a thing that he did. I've never actually thanked him for hosting it, so I'll do so now. Thanks, mate. You were a great help. The first website I made wasn't very good - design-wise, but it did the job. It even had a poll! I would show you it if I could, but it's been taken down. However, I've always attempted to improve my skills and ever so slowly I have. I'll show you some of my latest works later on.
Yeebaagooon and Omega Studios
Somehow, me and Yeebaagooon got to know each other. I'm so glad we did. He then showed me a brilliant map he started where four AoM players were planning to destroy the n00bs, but were bombarded by a 999 warhead. I laughed so much that my stomach burst with more pain that you could ever imagine - not to mention that almost fell off my chair, which gave me a greater shock the highest drops from the biggest roller coasters in the world combined! We just knew we had to make the Pwn The N00bs RPG (
Yeebaagooon had founded his own design team called
I started to hate my user name, which was "Titan602". It was n00by and didn't reflect how much I had changed. Therefore, changed it to "Mephiles" in 2007 and recently, I've shortened it to "Meph" (it's not meant to be a drug).
Kalos Design Studios was declining. It had extreme inactivity. Even Chon Katarn was more inactive than usual. I'd never seen him after that and I knew that I was incapable of saving the team. It was impossible for anyone to do so. Therefore, merging it with Omega Studios was the only option. It became a very controversial topic in both parties, but it all worked out in the end. It also ended up with me and Yeebaagooon leading Omega Studios together.
More Maps and More Inactivity
Pwn The N00bs won an award for Best Multiplayer Map in the Semi-Annual Scenario Design Awards. It was and still is the only award I have ever won in Heaven Games. I was thrilled. Hopefully I'll win another award one day...
Me and Yeebaagooon were making more and more fantastic maps. It was great to work with him, because we always had a laugh. My most favourite of the maps that we made was Desert Conflict (
Designing with Yeebaagooon has allowed me to discover that making scenarios can be fun and exciting when you do it with a friend. However, working with him has changed me into a different person, personality-wise. He's had such a heavy influence on me. At one point, I became extremely obsessed with 47 and had a hatred for Americans. Even still, the outcome of that influence made me into a much better person. I'm much more maturer and it's fantastic to be like that. I don't know how the hell that happened though, because he's a
Omega Studios eventually became inactive as well, so it was merged with Purple Design Studios - a very well managed team. However, it was not like the KDS-OS merge were I led Omega Studios as well. Instead, me and Yeebaagooon were just normal members of Purple Design Studios. It felt strange for me, because I didn't know what it was like to be a normal member of a design team. I was always the leader or co-leader. I eventually quit and so did Yeebaagooon.
The Lost Spirit
I eventually got bored of designing for Age of Mythology... somehow. Every time I tried to return, I failed. It was annoying, but at the same time depressing. Coincidentally, Yeebaagooon was going through the same problem, but he recovered. It still haven't. The only map that I managed to release in 2008 was Lunar Beach (
Throughout my life, I was raised as a Christian in a Christian family, but I was never a true Christian (don't worry, I'm not trying to convert you
When The Corruptor was eventually released, I was more thrilled than Dawn French in a room full of chocolate bars! I watched it and I loved it. I had waited for so long. So long! It must have been four years. However, I always remained faithful to Vandhaal and M0nTy and I'm glad I did. What they produced was beautiful and magnificent and I can't thank them enough for working so hard on it.
One of the reasons why I stopped designing for Age of Mythology was because I was occupied by other things unrelated to the game. At the start of 2008, I became a very huge fan of the Ace Attorney series. They're fantastic games on the DS that I recommend. I even have all the soundtracks! I've got all of the games. I joined Ace Attorney Online (
In the beginning of 2009, I managed to get myself going again, but only for a moment. I now have a few maps half finished that I'd love to release. I can't even remember what they are, but that's probably because I suffer from memory loss. I'm surprised I've been able to write so much detail in this autobiography!
The Return to Brilliance
I'm finally returning to designing for Age of Mythology. Not yet though. Now that Yeebaagooon has completed Codename Ripto, we can start working together again and we all ready have plans. I can't wait to see what the future holds!
[Insert amazingly witty signature here.]
Me and Yeebaagooon's scenarios | Download The Corruptor
[This message has been edited by Mephiles (edited 08-03-2009 @ 05:14 AM).]