TGN: Where were you born, and where did you grow up?
AM: I was born in Dallas, TX and grew up there. I left Texas at the age of 24 and moved to California. After that, I moved to China in 2004 and have lived here since. My home now is with my family in Shanghai, China.
TGN: What games were important to you during your childhood?
AM: One of my favorite games as a kid was called ‘street salad’ and involved ziplock bags, dirt, and old veggies. Everyone fills their bag with dirt and veggies then places it in the street. If your bag gets hit by a car, the other players must sample a bite from it. I invented this game when I was 7 or 8 and played it with my sisters. If you’re talking about video games? I played the usual arcade games (Defender, Sinistar, etc) at the local quicky mart shop when I walked home from school. But I don’t recall any of them being particularly important to me. I grew up poor so I didn’t have access to ‘real’ video games until I was already out of childhood.
In terms of importance in life in general… certainly DOOM and Quake as those were the games (and id was the company) that radically altered my course in life (for the better).
TGN: When did you first get interested in programming computers?
AM: My first real programming job was at the age of 13. My uncle enlisted me to write a program using ‘formulas from NASA’ to generate information used to build geodesic domes. My uncle built domes around Texas for a number of years. And this program allowed him to input a specific size and then get a massive print-out of all the various angles, lengths, and materials needed for any particular design. Looking back, I have no idea how I even did that. But he bought the computer and gave me the task and it lit a fire under me.
TGN: What mechanics shops did you work in, and what was your favorite part of being a mechanic?
AM: I only ever worked at one shop as a mechanic. That was in Plano, Texas and was called Kelly’s VW Repair. My favorite part about being a mechanic was simply the fact that I learned to be very good at diagnosing and repairing things. It made me proud that I could drop a transmission out of a VW bus, replace the clutch, and have everything back together again in around 30 minutes. To this day, the skills I learned during that time are still being used – and I am now passing a lot of that knowledge to my son and daughter. Knowing how to turn a wrench is a very good thing.
TGN: Can you tell us a bit about how John Carmack discovered you were into programming?
AM: These questions seem to suggest that I am a programmer. I am not. My time at id was mainly focused on level design. Though I was involved in ‘programming’ related to Quake C.
As for John, I’m uncertain why he picked me out as someone to invest in. But it started with him inviting me to beta test on DOOM. The skill requirement for that was basically “can use a mouse and shoot things” but it might have been during subsequent conversations that he learned of my story (being left to fend on my own, an interest in computers, etc) and decided to help out. John is a very helpful guy.
TGN: What was your favorite part of working at id Software?
AM: Level design was a zen experience for me. I could sit down, start work on a map, and effectively vanish from existence for hours. There are few things as meditative as getting lost in design like that. I also quite enjoyed the ‘testing’ of those maps via hours of Deathmatch.
TGN: What was your favorite level or project you worked on, for Doom, and Quake?
AM: For that era, I’d say that DM4 was my most vivid memory of cranking out a map in a few hours, testing it, and realizing I’d created something very pure and good.
TGN: Which game that you worked on, are you most proud of.
AM: The Alice games – and Alice: Madness Returns in particular. A:MR wasn’t just about developing a game but the story is also linked to my moving to China, building a development studio, and achieving a ton of ‘firsts’ along the way. The only thing since, to make me more proud, would be my kids.
TGN: What is your favorite progamming language, and favorite computer you have ever used to code or design?
AM: Again, I am not a programmer by trade so I can’t properly answer this question with any sort of deep understanding. But in terms of daily use, I’d say Python simply because I use it often for projects (Arduino, Rasberry Pi stuff) and it works.
TGN: Is there any current or upcomming projects you are working on at PlushieDreadfuls you would like to share with readers?
AM: These days, we’re focused on growing our audience outside of the US. That means we’re planning for pop-up stores in Japan, China, and other countries around the region. We may even work toward permanent physical locations in a few countries. Aside from that, the team continues to crank out interesting designs based on requests from our fans. And I’m constantly impressed with how the final products are improving in terms of quality and detail. Very excited to see what the next few years have in store!
TGN: I can not thank you enough American, for the fantastic interview.
Please visit his website PlushieDreadfuls which you can find in my ‘Links’ section.
Thanks American!
TheGameNarrative 