06/28/06

Beyond Halo

AUTHOR

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I am Mike Galazka, creator of Beyond Halo. I am a 3D designer from Connecticut. Despite its age, I am most skilled at using GTK Radiant, the program that was used for RTCW, RTCW: Enemy Territory, Quake, and the backgrounds for Beyond Halo. I have been using said program for several years now, along with Photoshop, to create vast environments that I mainly just use for screenshots, make into an occasional RTCW:ET map, or just save and forget. While GTK may not be the greatest of programs, I am also quite skilled in using Wings 3D, Bryce, Poser, and the Warcraft 3 Editor. In addition to 3D, I also draw quite frequently, mainly dragons and military related things but also concepts or random things.

I am a gaming enthusiast, and can often be found in front of my 360 on Oblivion or PDZ. I sometimes play older games like Colonization, Marathon, or Final Fantasy VIII using an emulator on my computer, particularly if I'm feeling nostalgic. If someone is using the 360, I usually just search Wikipedia and Snopes for random crap (I am full of random knowledge - I could write a book) or sometimes playing Warcraft 3, Starcraft, or some other games.

Regarding random concepts, I am full of ideas. Back some three or four years, I started making a Warcraft 3 map that became impossible to work on because of the flow of ideas in my mind and the constant revision, insertion, and development of the world in question. All I ever managed to do with that was release the intro movie, release a level to a prologue, and turn a one-level concept from a random sketch into a three part epic into a four part saga into a massive total conversion mod that collapsed pretty much over night. This is also evident in the several dozen RTCW maps I've made over the years that usually included some awesome concept and then incompleteness as new ideas came to me. Maybe I should do something with all of my ideas, considering that I have about eight or so good games, some fully developed, in my head at this current moment.

Basic Information:

Name(s): Mike Galazka, Mike, CytoToxic Blade, KillR

Location: Connecticut

Interests: Gaming, Drawing, 3D, Giant Swords, Dragons, Firearms, Hiking and Mountain Biking

Computer: An Ancient HP Pavillion 7867 that's been massively modded: 200 gig HD, 512 RAM, ATI Radeon 9700 Pro Graphics Card, 1 GHz, Intel 3, Windows XP, USB 2.0, Not even close to a big enough powersupply (some components fail to initiate at times, like my Zen MicroPhoto or Windows itself)

Laptop: HP Pavilion zv6130us Notebook, 80 gig HD, 512 RAM, DVD Burner, 2 GHz, 15.4" Widescreen, Windows XP

Tools: Mouse and Keyboard (Wireless), Wacom Tablet, Mechanical Pencils, Numerous types of erasers (at least 6 that I use at once, each with a specific purpose), architectural ruler, Micron, Sharpies, Nameless Brand Mech. Pencils

Favorite Books: Numerous game novelizations (Warcraft, Halo, Baldur's Gate, Perfect Dark Zero), The Art of Halo, 1984, The Odyssey, Sun Tzu's The Art of War, Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo (random comedy at its finest), America the Book

Favorite Games: Halo, Halo 2, Morrowind, Oblivion, Final Fantasy VIII*, Perfect Dark Zero, Warcraft 3, Starcraft, Age of Empires 2, Marathon, Marathon 2, Marathon Infinity, Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate 2, Planescape: Torment, 

Favorite Consoles: X-Box, X-Box 360

Favorite Movies: Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, Shaun of the Dead, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet (The modern adaptation, truly brilliant!)

Favorite Shows: Trigun, House, Futurama, The Boondocks, Family Guy, King of the Hill, The Simpsons, Real Time with Bill Maher

Favorite Comedians: Bill Maher, George Carlin

Favorite Bands: Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Queen, KISS, Jimi Hendrix, Mötley Crüe, Pink Floyd

Favorite Cuisines: Chinese, Japanese, Indian, French, Mexican, Polish

Favorite Beverages: Dr. Pepper, Pepsi, Sobe, Shirakiku Ramune Drink, Snapple Elements, Mountain Dew (all varieties), Black Cherry Vanilla Coke, Ginger Ale, Cappuccino

Favorite Characters: Master Chief, Any Elite or Hunter, Cid Highwind, Joanna Dark, Ro Koji, Any Chocobo, Cait Sith, Red XII

Concepts I've Dabbled In: Time Travel, Magnetic Transportation Pipelines, Wrist-Computers, Crossbows, Military Body Armor, Zanbatous and Giant Swords, Oil Rigs, The Brent Spar, Clockwork Machinery, Holographic Computers, The Great Library of the Future, Fusion Reactors, Triple Triad, Nightrider, Nailguns, Railguns, Starships, Propulsion Systems, Who Killed Kennedy, Installing Sights onto a Staple Gun (successful!), Integrated Weapon Designs, Teleportation, Faster-Than-Light Travel, The Origin of the Universe, Zombies, Powersuits, Black Holes, Spiders, Memory Crystals, Polearms, Paintball

*I owned FFVIII, whereas I only rented VII twice. Hence, I spent so much time in VIII.