About the Creators of Everlasting Journey

The Developer and Author

Name:Darrell Fortae

Occupation: Software Engineer

Hello.� I hope you enjoy the web site I have put together to explain a little bit about Everlasting Journey.� I started developing my own roleplaying system in high school when I was playing Advanced Dungeons & Dragons with my friends.� We quickly discovered how unrealistic AD&D was, along with many other roleplaying games.� I decided to make a paper and pencil type system that was a combination of the best features of the many games I had played.� I was always the Game Master (Dungeon Master), and in having this job, quickly realized what worked and what didn�t.� My friends patiently waited while I constantly adjusted the rules.� After playing this system for about a year or so, I finally realized this was something special.� We all enjoyed playing this new game so much, I decided to write a Quick Basic program to handle most of the administration of the game, as I discovered it was too much detail for humans to keep track of efficiently.� My friends, once again, suffered through this period of change.� In the end, it was an excellent game.

In 1994, I decided to really dig into making this system a complete computer game.� Originally I choose to do the programming in Visual Basic and C. While developing the majority of the game in these languages, I had been working heavily in Java. Java has come to be one of my favorite languages so I started converting the whole thing over. In the end, the game will be much more robust and fun. Also, all future games I develop will have an awesome base to start with because of the reusable quality of Java. With the creation of VolatileImages and usage of DirectDraw with the 1.4 Java Runtime, games in Java have become a reality. Without this new graphics support, I wouldn't have even considered doing it in Java.

����������� What about me?� I am a software developer/engineer for a local consulting firm. I also have many hobbies that consume my time.� First, I enjoy anything that has to do with computers (imagine that).� I also enjoy bodybuilding and strength training, roleplaying, reading horror and sci-fi books, martial arts (Jeet Kune Do), cars, space, tennis, and watching T.V. �

����������� I began programming around the age of 11 when my dad hired an independent programmer (John Knoderer) to teach me how to program.� That is when it all began.� I have studied and worked with computers ever since then.� I graduated from SIUE (Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville) with Bachelors of Science in Computer Science in 2000.� � What languages do I work with?� Mainly Java, C#, C/C++, Forte/UDS, SQL, HTML, and Visual Basic.� I have also worked with Scheme, Assembly, Java Script and VB Script, GWBasic, and Qbasic.� What is my favorite language to use?� If I only had one to pick from and suggest for people to learn, it would have to be C++, even though I personally feel Java and C# has a lot more potential in the present and future. C++ makes one learn about memory management, pointers (reference types), etc. which is crucial for understanding software development more thouroughly.

����������� I am also doing the graphics for the game at this time. My brother, Ed Fortae, was helping with graphics in the beginning of the game. He has not been working on the graphics for the past year or two, thus I am the one doing most of the graphics now. So, I have been juggling graphic time vs. software development time.