I come from a house in which CDs cover one of the walls completely so I really have my music taste broadened.
I listes to almost everything - from classic, through jazz and good ol' rock'n'roll, to modern alternative and trip-hop (lately).

Music is one of the things I need when I'm working on a game. Without it I couldn't focus at all. The bad things is that I tend to sing with my WinAmp .

Can't really blame people.

When you are a big company, you can tell everybody in the world to buy Diablo 2, even if it looked like shit in its first version. But when you are a small indie studio (or just a single hobbyst), you will have to do everything yourself and people still won't die to get your game, even if it's the best thing since sliced bread.
Of course if someone is making cheap attempts at guerilla marketing and then bitches that he was treated unfair, it's only his/her fault.
Still I don't believe that making "hey I'm Bob" post in the introduction thread and giving few "wow, cool" cooments to other games, would change anything.

Wow - this thread is definetely not something that you see on your average forums. Nice.

Well...

So my name is Tom Grochowiak, I'm a starting indie dev from Poland (yeah - we actually got PCs here ). I'm with games since I was a little kid. Just like any other member of this boards I guess...
Being seven, I've spent countless hours before my uncle's Amstrad PC. Ahh those times - Pacman was something really complex and Sultan's Maze scared the crap out of me back then .
When I've discovered that pencil + paper might equal drawing (and not just zigzags), my young mind spawned a wonderful idea: "Hey! Games are cool but none of them are perfect. I could just make my own and rock!". I'm still thinking this was a good idea.
So I've started making games - at first they were some board-like nightmares (I actually made my mates to play them), but since I've made another big discovery (that PC can be used to something else than gaming), I've started to turn my ideas into a binary code.

Funny thing - I've never ever wanted to study computer science. For me games were just something that shouldn't be treated as obligation - they were meant to be fun.

While having too much time studying Polish Literature (I'm a grandson of rather "big" Polish poet - it's just stronger than me ), I've started working on my first "serious" game - MAGI. Actually it was just another hobbyst project until I saw that it really appealed to people. I've said to myself: "WTF am I doing?! I'm making games since I was a kid and I haven't even thought about turning it into my profession? Okay - it's time to correct that mistake".

It took me almost two years to get hang of all of the indie business/ways and to make my game to the sellable quality. Right now, posting on this boards, I definetely feel it was all worth it.

And outside of the games? I'm just yet another romantic dreamer-type guy interested in art, music, cinematography, literature (etc... you get the idea) and trying to spend his time in the most pleasant possible way (likely with my better half). I'm definetely more of a humanist than an informatician.

I see that many of you posted whole galleries of screenshots from various games, you've played. I think I'm too lazy to do it, especially that there were so many of them. Still - here's my photo:



Well, that's it. Hi guys.

[Name:]

Hey,

Recently I've finished working on a project that kept me busy for quite some time. It would be just great if it could be featured on TIGS.

The game's pretty unique and might provide some good fun to people that like magic and don't mind some thinking every now and then .

Here's the press/promo stuff:

Information:
Name: MAGI - Magical Strategy Game
Category: Strategy/RPG
Requirements: Windows 98/2k/Me/XP, DirectX 8+
Download Link: Free Demo

Game's content:

In this magical cross between a strategy and RPG, you choose one of ten different characters and start dueling your opponents in a battle of skill, tactics and wits.
Hurls fireballs and meteors, summon mighty creatures to your aid and waste your opponents with dreadful curses. Discover your very own strategy to win and test it through the course of magical duels.
Gain power and knowledge and who knows... maybe you will be able to challenge the Death herself and attain immortality.

Game features:

- 10 playable professions - each with different set of special skills.

- Over 50 different spells and abilities. Each balanced and designed to be useful and effective.

- Challenging opponents that adjusts their AI to the skill and progress of the player.

- Particle effects making for a great visualisation of the magical spells.

- Epic music by Rob Westwood.

- Short and intensive battles. Perfect for those free 15 minutes.

- Balanced and challenging gameplay. Many different strategies to try - each has its advantages.

- Collectable Insignias for your most outstanding achievements.

Screenshots:


Links:

* MAGI demo *

Official Website

Forums

Buy the Game

Oh - and remember to have fun...