Im going to be doing a quick introduction and then we can talk about the creation of this website.
Im a 16 year old Orthodox Christian and amateur coder who enjoys creating things. For as long as I can remember, my passion and dream has been to create a game that will tell a fullfilling story, and be a part of someone elses childhood, just like how I have had many games be part of my childhood, such as Trine, Minecraft, Team fortress 2, Left4Dead and many, many more. Currently, Im working solo on this goal - using the Godot Engine to create games, though I hope to start a game studio some day in the near future.
Being interested in programming and videogames naturally also leads to me being interested in how games had once been coded back in the days of Quake (another phenomenal game) because of this interest in how Quake and Doom had been coded, I slowly became interested in the machines used to run those games. This led to me becoming a bit of a geek as I began getting interested in the parts that make up a computer, seeing as games like quake and doom used code to really, really, manipulate and be very efficient with them. I assume this is because of the low standards of RAM back then though haha. I also, because of this, became an avid fan of building computers, (I partly blame the Linus Media Group) and every computer I can remember having has been prebuilt or built/messed with by me. Naturally, my interest did not stop at only the computers and their parts. I also enjoyed looking at the OS's (Operating System) of those computers. This led to a period of my life where I would keep installing different OS's onto my computer and trying them out. Off the top of my memory, as im writing this, I've used Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 7 (the best OS by far), Linux (POPos), Linux (Ubuntu), ReviOS, GGos, AtlasOS and many, many more operating systems. Currently, I use Windows 10 and have no foreseeable plans in the future to change OS's. Windows 10, although not as good as windows 7, does indeed provide better and more up to date support for problems, not to mention, the majority of people use it. Windows 10, is a mediocre OS, with bloatware, and an ugly stylistic theme. Personally, I miss theming and Windows 7 was one of the best Windows for that purpose. I have to say, for the longest time, Windows 7 was my main OS, not only because it was incredibly easy on the eyes, and allowed alot of customisation but because it was extremely light-weight. I believe Windows 7 was the peak of Operating Systems, with unparalleled looks, functionality and efficiency. For the longest time, I kept stubbornly using it even after Microsoft cut support for it down, i even used it on a few laptops i had before, though i admit for laptops, Windows 8.1 was the best.
I have to say, I MISS THEMES!
I miss themes. If you watched the video, im sure you can relate. Windows 10 isnt as customisable, and windows 11 is even less customisable, but ive managed to make my windows feel just like home (windows 7). This lack of customisation, however, INFURIATES me. I hate it, and these big corporations are the cause of it. All they do, as the internet ages and becomes more centralised, is become a carbon copy of everything else around it, with no room for creativity, expression or innovation. This is terrible! Terrible, I tell you. This is companies becoming more controlling, and power-hungry. Im sure that the thought process of these companies is the following: "We already steal your data, and we already take your money. We may as well make the experience as "modern" (ie. bad) as possible"
Naturally, this view that I hold has led to me appreciating and being interested in free, open source software (FOSS). Partly because of the freedom that FOSS apps naturally have, since their code is open for all too see, and usually allows community improvements/committs. Another reason for my appreciation and interest in FOSS apps is that it is FREE! I love that, since im a bit of a penny-pincher. I also love, how FOSS and decentralisation just fit together like a glove. An example of this is my Mastodon/Fediverse page. Everything just fits like a glove. For example, you know how twitter and facebook are censoring people for having politically incorrect thoughts? In a decentralized world, in decentralised FOSS, that can't happen. You know how banks refuse to let you spend your money on politically incorrect products? In a decentralized world, in decentralised FOSS, that can't happen. This is almost exactly the philosophy of the "old net", a period of time from around 1980 - 2009. The old net was operated by the people and NOT corporations like it is today. Look at what companies like Google have bought up and now control. We went from topic specific web forums to corporate owned and operated social media platforms, which now have advertisements embedded in their feeds. I love how the old net was amateurish. It was all hobbyists. Long before Google was a thing, searching Lycos or HotBot for "Corvettes" was likely to bring up "Jack's Corvette Page" rather than Chevy.com. Corporations were barely even be on the internet then and where they were everything was just as amateurish as everything else. Forums were like a barbershop. The same 20 people were active in most of the discussions and over the course of a few years, you got to know some of them pretty well And because of that, there were less trolls and bubble thinking, leading to you finding your own place and a community you can be in. In the end, this all just loops back to CUSTOMISATION! The old net was all about expression! About being creative, and innovating, making sure you stood out and showing your interests everywhere! Everyone was different, and you would never have the same theme as someone else. There was a certain charm to things, something nostalgic and retro and just intrinsically alluring. I love that. That is so magical.
This isn't my first website. I've made many, many other short small websites, although the list of the ones i actually published onto the internet could be counted onto one finger. My main focus, after all, is on game development. Therefore, what i focus on is games, and i watch a huge amount of documentaries, gameplay, other developers and their devlogs in order to do this. Ive created many clones of games, a cookie clicker clone, super mario and quake clone too with each one being at different stages of completion, and at a minimum being atleast playable. Perhaps one day this website will have a section dedicated to my early games. This website was made as a portfolio, or a gallery, and its purpose is to simply be a place to showcase all of my work, show my experience, and simply a place where you can find out more about me.