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>
4.3 KiB
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.