An Interview with Oliver - 2008
Our latest interview is with Oliver, the infamous Phantom Orange/Olive Shirt Guy! So far, he's most well known for his game appearances, both on Twin Skies and Neopets. In his interview, he reveals what's coming up for TS, and some of the exciting things he's responsible for behind the scenes!
TSH: Hey there Ollie! How have you been lately?
Ollie: Very good, thanks for asking. Things have been pretty busy lately, with the launch of the Twin Skies website, and getting the Witchery 101 game up and running. I'm really excited about Twin Skies, and it's great working with Adam and Donna again.
What is your official title at Twin Skies?
I'm the Lead Multimedia Developer at Meteor Games.
When did you join Meteor Games?
I joined Meteor Games in July [of 2008].
What are you responsible for at Meteor Games?
I am responsible for the Twin Skies Flash Mini-Games, as well as other Flash applications, like the Twin Skies 3D Model Viewer. Maintaining the Flash Gaming System (all that
behind-the-scenes stuff, like game preloaders and score submissions), is another one
of my responsibilities.
What is your current project, and can you tell us anything about it?
My current project involves sap... lots of sap!
Can you tell us anything about future games?
Yes, there will be plenty of them. :) And we're always looking forward to hear what type of games our users would like to see on the site.
Do you know if, like Neopets, we will be able to get avatars based on achievements in a minigame?
Hmmm... maybe, most definitely, could be, highly likely, dunno, and yes, we're planning on having avatars on the site.
Will our game scores, when submitted, go up on a High Scores Table?
Yes. We're working feverishly on getting the Flash Gaming System and the PHP back-end set up.
Can we look forward to you doing a Video Blog Interview anytime soon with Mr. Mannino?
Well, I'm kinda camera shy *winks*, but keep an eye on the Twin Skies Blog, you never know what's going to happen next. Until then, enjoy Tom in "Attack of the Mutant Nerf Bullet."
How do you feel about the Meteor Cam being right behind you?
Cam? What cam? There's a cam behind me? OMG! *hides behind Rex*
Why do you hide yourself in your games?
First, I used it as a signature for my games (and I still do), but when I saw how much users enjoyed searching for my caricature, I turned into some sort of treasure hunt, where I would hide myself in other parts of the games as well - mostly as a rare power-up - that's my way of giving back to the TPOSG community :)
Do you miss working at Neopets?
I miss many of the great people I used to work with at Neopets, but working at Meteor Games is waaay more fun.
What made you enjoy coming to work every day? (If one can enjoy coming to work every day :P)
What made and still makes me enjoy coming to work every day, is the fact that I get to be creative. Either by developing game concepts, or composing and recording music, and of course by creating fun and engaging games... like Witchery 101. You should check it out :P
Out of all the cool things you did at Neopets, what was your favourite work?
I'm pretty proud of the latest installment of Destruct-O-Match, even though I know that a lot of users hated me for re-doing their favourite game not once, but twice. :)
TROTRODS turned out really great as well - unfortunately it never got a lot game plays... I blame it on the awkward Shockwave plug-in ;)
How is Red Hot Roxy?
RHR is currently in hibernation... but you can buy our debut album on most of the major online music distribution sites. We've also released 4 songs from that album on the 'Riding Shotgun' soundtrack by TokyoPop.
Editor's Note: Amazon has the aforementioned CD available here as an MP3 download! (Not to mention the cool music clips you can preview!)
You mentioned that you had a tattoo on your arm—what is it of?
It's a Dragon. I got it done in 2000, which was the year of the Dragon.
And finally, why was your shirt not orange in Witchery 101?
Well, I've been wearing the orange shirt for quite some time now, and I really needed a colour change, so I went with Olive. (Truth is, that Donna complained about the smell of the old orange shirt, and she threatened to call me The Phantom Smelly Shirt Guy, if I didn't get a new one. ;))
This page was written by Dave and last updated on May 31, 2019.
