I started playing SimCity and Lemmings when I was just a sprite (my mother was as obsessed as I was at two), which put my best foot forward in systems thinking.

I started playing SimCity and Lemmings when I was just a sprite (my mother was as obsessed as I was at two), which put my best foot forward in systems thinking. Then I was on to SimEarth, the Island of Dr. Brain, the Incredible Machine, Railroad Tycoon, Theme Park and Civilization. I played Nethack: it was exciting because the graphics were simple enough (heh) that it seemed like I could do it on my own. Then there was a 'game maker' video game that I forget, and the I played Cyberstorm but my first experience really doing coding was in making levels in Warcraft 2 and Starcraft with heavy use of the trigger system. Then I got 3D Studio Max, and learned MaxScript as my first serious programming language, but my machine was so underpowered I didn't end up making many scenes, just models. (I learned a lot about NURBS, though!) The games that really had the most effect on me were Alpha Centauri and Sacrifice. Alpha Centauri was amazing from a game standpoint, but what really hooked me was the science, philosophy: in essence, literary merit. Every technological advance was at least plausible, but included a wonderful quote from one of the main characters, or a famous philosopher or scientist from our past. It was this game that really immersed me in our intellectual history, and held me fast to science. Sacrifice was a beautiful game. There was a big map making contest run, and I poured myself into it. I couldn't legally compete (I was 12) but Shiny let me anyway, despite the objections of some of the other competitors. Of the 21 finalist maps, 4 of my maps were there :-) I got fourth place, and I won a nice sound system which I gave to my brother. It was the first creative endeavor where I competed and won against those much older than me, and it was a lot of fun to make things and win something. And people played my maps for a looong time :-)