arcattackandClaude Opus 4.8
fe1cc0d79c
Source archaeology (the per-file modification tables in the surviving headers) surfaced six programmer initials: JM, ECH, CPB, GDU, JMA, GAH. Read to VWE veterans on the project Discord (2026-07-21), VGL Lynx -- who watched the first multiplayer Thor walk terrain on a Red Planet map -- identified them: Jim Albertson, Eric Nichols (uncertain), Chris Brewer, Gabe Underwood, Joanna Mason (mapping inferred), Garth Hermanson; hardware initials MC = Marek Ciolek (AC unresolved), via Cyd. Team size per Lynx: dev ~8, art ~6, MUNGA by a smaller parallel internal team with crossovers, no outsourcing. Identifications marked T3 (oral history, as-typed spellings) against the T0 initials; a corrections invitation is included. Linked from context/project-overview.md. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
56 lines
3.2 KiB
Markdown
56 lines
3.2 KiB
Markdown
# Original Developers — BattleTech (Tesla 4.10, Virtual World Entertainment, 1995-96)
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This project reconstructs a game that a small team at Virtual World Entertainment built three
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decades ago. They deserve to be named. This file records what we know, how we know it, and how
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certain we are.
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**Sources.** (1) *Source archaeology*: the surviving 1995-96 file headers carry per-file
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modification tables with author initials (`// MM/DD/YY WHO what`). (2) *Oral history*: on
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2026-07-21 the initials list was read to VWE veterans on the project Discord, and **VGL Lynx**
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(who was in the room — "I was there the night we got to watch a Thor walk on terrain in
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multiplayer for the first time, on a Red Planet map") identified the people behind them, with
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additions from **Cyd**. Names are transcribed as given in that conversation; spellings are
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as-typed by the recollector and may be approximate. Treat identifications as community
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recollection (T3), the initials themselves as source fact (T0).
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## Programmers (initials found in surviving source headers)
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| Initials | Name (per VGL Lynx) | Seen in (examples) |
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| **JM** | Jim Albertson *(typed "Jm Alberston")* | `BTDIRECT.HPP`, `BTMSSN.CPP/.HPP`, `BTTEAM.CPP` — mission/team/director layer |
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| **ECH** | Eric Nichols *(offered for "Eric"; initials fit imperfectly — unconfirmed)* | `BTCNSL.CPP`, `BTMSSN.*`, `BTREG.CPP` — console/registration |
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| **CPB** | Chris Brewer | `BTL4MODE.CPP/.HPP`, `BTL4GALM.HPP`, `BTL4GRND.HPP` — the L4 cockpit mode/gauge layer |
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| **GDU** | Gabe Underwood | `BTSCNRL.CPP`, `GAUSS.CPP/.HPP`, `SEEKER.HPP` — scenario + weapons |
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| **JMA** | Joanna Mason *(mapping inferred from the conversation flow — unconfirmed)* | `BTREG.CPP/.HPP`, `TURRET.HPP` |
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| **GAH** | Garth Hermanson | `BTCNSL.CPP` — console |
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The **MUNGA engine** (the shared sim/render engine under the game) was, per Lynx, "being
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developed/catered by a smaller team at the same time," internal to VWE, with crossover members.
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Its headers in our tree survive mostly through the 2007 RP411 Windows revision, so its 1995
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author trail is thinner here.
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## Hardware design (the Tesla II pod)
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Identified from initials **MC, AC** raised by Cyd:
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| Initials | Name (per VGL Lynx) |
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|---|---|
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| **MC** | Marek Ciolek *(first offered as "Marek Cooley", immediately corrected)* |
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| **AC** | *(unresolved — the reply also mentioned "Violet"; mapping unclear)* |
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## Team size (per VGL Lynx, 2026-07-21)
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> "Dev team was maybe **8 people. 6 people on art.** MUNGA was being developed by a smaller
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> team at the same time. Crossovers in the dev team too. Everything internal."
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No outsourcing. For scale: this ~15-person core shipped a networked 8-pod simulator with
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per-subsystem heat/power/coolant economies, full damage zoning, an authored per-map/time/weather
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environment system, and the physical cockpit integration — in 1995. As David "Auric" Hernly put
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it in the same conversation: *"They were inventing the future."* People still walk up to the
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30-year-old pods at Gen Con and, per Auric, "their minds are blown... STILL."
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## Corrections
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If you are one of these people (or know them) and a name, spelling, or attribution here is
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wrong: corrections are gladly taken — this file exists to credit you properly.
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