arcattackandClaude Opus 4.8
1e647e39d7
Lynx supplied a photo of the period credits page (preserved at reference/manual/credits_page.webp). It confirms, corrects and completes the oral-history identifications: - ECH = Eric Huffman (Audio Director / 3D audio framework) -- corrects the uncertain "Eric Nichols" guess - JMA = Joanna Mason (Simulation Code and Cameras) -- inferred mapping confirmed - CPB = Chris Brewer: "Secondary/Auxiliary Screens and Low Level I/O" -- the exact MFD gauge/mode layer this project reconstructs - GDU = Gabe Underwood: "Simulation Code and 'Mech Internal Systems" -- the heat/coolant/generator/seek economy - Full roster: Jordan Weisman (producer/designer), David McCoy (art director), J.M. Albertson (technical director), Bill Redmann (corporate director of technology), plus Corson, Edsall, Ciolek, Olsen, the artists (Burlington, Molitor, McCoy, Story; Allen Workshop: Bonilla, Peters) and sound (Bing McCoy, Effinger, Huffman). - 10 software engineers + 6 artists == Lynx's "maybe 8 dev, 6 art" memory. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
76 lines
4.3 KiB
Markdown
76 lines
4.3 KiB
Markdown
# Original Developers — BattleTech (Tesla 4.10, Virtual World Entertainment, 1995-96)
|
|
|
|
This project reconstructs a game that a small team at Virtual World Entertainment built three
|
|
decades ago. They deserve to be named.
|
|
|
|
**Sources, strongest first.** (1) **The printed credits page** — supplied by VGL Lynx on
|
|
2026-07-21, preserved at `reference/manual/credits_page.webp` (period document; the definitive
|
|
roster below). (2) *Source archaeology*: the surviving 1995-96 file headers carry per-file
|
|
modification tables with author initials (`// MM/DD/YY WHO what`). (3) *Oral history*: the
|
|
initials were first identified from memory by **VGL Lynx** (who was in the room — "I was there
|
|
the night we got to watch a Thor walk on terrain in multiplayer for the first time, on a Red
|
|
Planet map") with additions from **Cyd**; the printed page then confirmed and corrected the
|
|
recollections.
|
|
|
|
## The credits page (verbatim)
|
|
|
|
| Role | Name |
|
|
|---|---|
|
|
| Producer and Designer | **Jordan Weisman** |
|
|
| Art Director | **David McCoy** |
|
|
| Technical Director | **J.M. Albertson** |
|
|
| Audio Director | **Eric Huffman** |
|
|
| Corporate Director of Technology | **Bill Redmann** |
|
|
|
|
**Software Engineers**
|
|
|
|
| Specialty | Name |
|
|
|---|---|
|
|
| Framework and Simulation Design | **J.M. Albertson** |
|
|
| Secondary/Auxiliary Screens and Low Level I/O | **Chris Brewer** |
|
|
| Low Level I/O Design and Programming | **Marek Ciolek** |
|
|
| Framework and 3D Video Rendering | **Greg Corson** |
|
|
| Animation Simulations and Tools | **Jerry Edsall** |
|
|
| Macintosh Design and Programming | **Garth Hermanson** |
|
|
| Framework and 3D Audio System | **Eric Huffman** |
|
|
| Simulation Code and Cameras | **Joanna Mason** |
|
|
| Graphics Research and Art Tools | **Ken Olsen** |
|
|
| Simulation Code and 'Mech Internal Systems | **Gabe Underwood** |
|
|
|
|
**Artists & Animators** — 3D Art and Animations: **Tom Burlington, Duane Molitor, David McCoy,
|
|
Lex Story**; Allen Workshop 2D Art: **Victor Bonilla, Tom Peters**.
|
|
**Software Tools Group Leader:** Ken Olsen. **Sound Samples/Designs:** **Bing McCoy, Tom
|
|
Effinger, Eric Huffman**.
|
|
|
|
Ten software engineers, six artists — matching VGL Lynx's recollection ("dev team was maybe 8
|
|
people, 6 people on art; MUNGA by a smaller internal team, crossovers, everything internal")
|
|
almost exactly.
|
|
|
|
## Initials in the surviving source ↔ the credits
|
|
|
|
| Initials | Person | Their credited specialty | Seen in (examples) — and what this project found there |
|
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
| **JM** | J.M. Albertson (Technical Director) | Framework and Simulation Design | `BTDIRECT.HPP`, `BTMSSN.CPP/.HPP`, `BTTEAM.CPP` — the mission/director framework |
|
|
| **ECH** | **Eric Huffman** *(corrects the oral-history guess "Eric Nichols")* | Framework and 3D Audio System | `BTCNSL.CPP`, `BTMSSN.*`, `BTREG.CPP` |
|
|
| **CPB** | Chris Brewer | **Secondary/Auxiliary Screens** and Low Level I/O | `BTL4MODE.CPP/.HPP`, `BTL4GALM.HPP`, `BTL4GRND.HPP` — the MFD gauge/mode layer this project reconstructs; his 30-year-old `BTL4MODE.HPP` mode-bit table answered a 2026 bug |
|
|
| **GDU** | Gabe Underwood | Simulation Code and **'Mech Internal Systems** | `GAUSS.CPP/.HPP`, `SEEKER.HPP`, `BTSCNRL.CPP` — the heat/coolant/generator/seek-voltage economy this project spent days inside is his |
|
|
| **JMA** | Joanna Mason *(the inferred mapping, confirmed)* | Simulation Code and Cameras | `BTREG.CPP/.HPP`, `TURRET.HPP` |
|
|
| **GAH** | Garth Hermanson | Macintosh Design and Programming | `BTCNSL.CPP` |
|
|
| **MC** | Marek Ciolek (hardware-side initials, per Cyd) | Low Level I/O Design and Programming | (the RIO/serial layer) |
|
|
| **AC** | *(still unresolved — raised by Cyd for hardware design; not on this credits page)* | | |
|
|
|
|
## Notes
|
|
|
|
- **Jordan Weisman** — FASA co-founder and the creator of the BattleTech universe — is the
|
|
credited producer/designer.
|
|
- The credits page may correspond to one of the pages missing from our manual scan
|
|
(`reference/manual/Tesla40_BT_manual.pdf`, p2-3 noted missing).
|
|
- As David "Auric" Hernly put it when these names came up: *"They were inventing the future."*
|
|
People still walk up to the 30-year-old pods at Gen Con and, per Auric, "their minds are
|
|
blown... STILL."
|
|
|
|
## Corrections
|
|
|
|
If you are one of these people (or know them) and a name, spelling, or attribution here is
|
|
wrong: corrections are gladly taken — this file exists to credit you properly.
|