I like assisting fellow game developers and I regularly get letters on how to program games. I consider myself an average game developer, an improving game designer and just an okay programmer. I wrote one article on game programming - that's all I have to offer - and for me programming is a way to put my vision across. If there were another way to make games, perhaps I would do it.

However, for people who query, I usually direct them to a few of the excellent game programming sites out there, such as Game Programmers 99 (http://www.gamedev.net) and The Game Programming Megasite (http://www.perplexed.com/GPMega).

A lion share of the letters I get are asking "What did id use to create Quake?" or "I would like to make my own version of Ultima Online. What should I use?"

However, I can't shake the feeling that their questions aren't as simple as what they are asking, and so I feel like I can't quite answer them successfully. Don't get me wrong: I read my magazines and do my daily research to make sure I'm aware of what's happening in the industry.

However, all I can offer are specs - I read id used Visual C++ (I forget which version) to create Quake 2. Now what?

This leads to an unfortunate truth of our mindstate - the advantages of being a "little guy" are ignored or, more often, not realized by the solo/hobbiest game development community.

We can get away with a game about driving a school bus. Or about fighting plaque on a huge set of teeth (Does anyone remember Tooth Invaders on the VIC-20?). Or about a rainbow bucket with angel wings catching stars.

And we can use QuickBasic (Hello Magnum Games!). Or COBOL. Or Visual Basic.

You see, it doesn't matter WHAT language we use. It doesn't matter how MARKETABLE our game is. How the heck does it play? Is it fun?

But, for the most part, we're here, scrambling for the big time.

We want Final Fantasy XI. I want to make an ode to Zelda. You want to make Quake 5 - not 4, but 5. Why? Why do we put ourselves through that?

Now, I'm only addressing the hobbiest, including the "Someday perhaps I would like to make a professional game..." group, not the "I will be a professional programmer/designer/etc. in the next couple of years, and this game demo is going to get me there."

I have multiple careers, so video game development for me may become professional later, but it's optional. I'm talking to people in a positon similar to mine, who just enjoy game development and don't plan on it paying the bills.

Hey, if you aren't going professional, just relax. We are in a great position. We can do anything we want, however we want.

On a personal level I have been torn between making something mainstream and immediately pallatable or going completely "Salvador Dali" and changing the rules of the game.

Amidst my turmoil, as I wrote this column, I realized that the fact that I HAVE this turmoil is a blessing. I can make something completely mainstream and straightforward or I can blow away the previous standards of what a game is - or I can find a happy medium and do both to a lesser degree.

I don't need committee approval. No one's paying me to do this. As wrestler-turned-Minnesota-governor Jesse Ventura once said, waving his arms, "See, no strings."

We all have this power. We all have this option. There are no limitations except time, vision and persistance.

Just go out there, David, and do your thing.

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Written by Damon Brown.