,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, An interview of ciph (kuski of month on August 2001): ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' -= When did you start playing? =- I started playing back in 1998. So, that would be about one year after across was first released. -= Ex-teams and why did you change teams? =- CAN, AR, TWN, c0ol, BB, ____ : CAN (team Canada) was my first team, it was a really cool team, made up of myself, pr0 (from my city), and Byron (from local city). I did not leave CAN, but we just changed our name to AR (Active Riders) near the end of Across, so that we could take some members outside of Canada. I quit AR when pr0 and Byron retired from Across because they couldn't have fun anymore, errrrrrrr, when I had 54 team records, hehheh! :). TWN was a dope team for me, best team *experience* yet. It was great because I met some really cool people while I was in it, such as Pajen, Starchild, Mr Oizo and Garion! Eventually, that team broke down and I was teamless for about 8 months or so! I then joined c0ol but that was dumb, because Deadelous and Janne quit the next day, hehe!! Ok, this is sounding almost zCaLiC now...Anyways, I joined BB then and I was really happy to join with /DC, EML, TheGepi and Csyberib0rtdude!! But alas, EML quit team to join Jeppe so BB is gone. I am joining new team soon and it will be an ill team, so get ready! -= Current total =- 42:38:44 -= Location =- British Columbia, Canada. In a city close to Vancouver, called Coquitlam. -= Across Career briefly? Any WRs?, World Cup I and II and so on.. =- I had a nice across career, but I did not höyl very much, except for Warmup, which I had WR for ONE TABLE!!! My only internal WR ever. My totaltime in across was down to 39,xx when elma came out, and I haven't played across very often since then. Unfortunately, I was not at too great at Across so I didn't play the first 2 World cups very much at all. I did make 1 Level for world cup though. It was level 11 for World Cup I. I was quite proud at the time to have my level as World Cup level! -= Do you still like Across? Why/why not =- I think across is a really cool game. It's such a basic game, yet many people still played it, ALOT! I play across every couple of weeks, just to check out some really cool replay(s) that I used to have or maybe a replay from one of the World Cups. I do not really enjoy playing it as much as I used to though because I am not used to the "roughness" of the vertex's. So that gets frusterating! -= How did you get Across/Elma? Was it your worst mistake? or the best? =- I like my Across-getting story. I first found across in some computer magazine i had, on a demo disk. I installed it and, of course, I sucked! So after few days I deleted it! Then about 4 months later I was at friends house and we came upon it on the Internet, so we downloaded the demo and höyl'd through it. I thought it was really COOL! I remember I liked Long Haul the first time I tried the game :) Of course, getting Across/Elma was the BEST thing I have done on my computer ever! This little game has had my interest for 3+ years and it's amazing. -= Favourite internals / most irritating internals =- Internals are the some of the greatest levels ever created in my opinion. I find that my favorite level is the level I am höyling at that current time. But my favorite levels of all time must be: Warmup (Across), Tunnel Terror, Headbanger, Labyrinth Pro (my FAVORITE!), and Apple Harvest. I think that Hooked is a *really* annoying level because I have driven 12,xx three times, that pisses me off! So now I never play Hooked ever. -= Best WRs in your opinion? =- TheGepi's High Flyer is a nice drive! Pajen's Tunnel Terror is also very cool! In my opinion, Joni's Upside down is most impressive drive in Elma I think, even though Jeppe has beaten it now (so he says). He drove that time so SOON when Elma started, that's amazing. Pajen's Headbanger is crazy. Jokke's Fruit in the Den is incredible I think. And finally, I think that YeeS has a pretty nice time on Tricks Abound! -= Who in your opinion is/was the best player in the world? =- This one is very hard. I think that in mid Across, Champi0n was best, he had some great times, and great totaltime. Then of course zeth was also awesome in Across. Also, I think that Pajen, Psymorph, Jokke, Joni, Jeppe and Zyntifox are all verrry good. If I had to pick ONE best player from past, it would be Champi0n, and the current best player I would say is Pajen, because he has such a great Totaltime. I left of Dr Luni because, even though he is great in Wcup, I think he would be much cooler if he played some more internals. Deadelous and Dezz are also starting to get nice times. -= Are there some kind of external contests you like? =- I like World Cups, and skint0r's contest levels. I think I höylä'd my OWN levels the most though, hehe! I like them. -= Best lgr in your mind? Which lgr do you use? =- I feel Trials.lgr is cool LGR, but I am currently using the Default LGR. Also, the LGR i made, CANADA.lgr, is a sleskt creation. -= Mention some good things you have gotten with Across/elma? =- I've had some FUN nights of playing, and it's a great feeling to get a new best time. Also cool to talk to some cool Across/Elma players. -= Mention some bad things you have gotten from Across/elma? =- Sometimes i played Across instead of doing my homework, that was GOOD, but then teacher *whines* you haven't done work, BAD. :) -= What is the most frustrating thing you have faced in your career? =- Playing for a long time on a tough level, like Labyrinth Pro, and not getting any results. -= Your best achievements? =- Getting my level in World Cup I, and this beautiful Kuski of the Month honor! -= How much did you play in your sickest period? How much these days? =- One weekend when I was playing Labyrinth Pro for first time going for bounce, I played 12 hours in 2 days, that was quite alot. Nowadays, I think I höylä about 6-12 hours a week, but that is just a guess. -= Best memories with elma? =- Getting some nice times, and talking to World Class höylä's for the first time, that was exciting for me! -= Best Elma friends? =- Hope I don't forget anyone, if I do, I'm sorry! skint0r is funny guy and his friend Karen is hot :) Karlis is höyl cool to me. Pajen, Eliaz and Mick from WRS are awesome people because they are trustworthy and very friendly! Mengerle is really nice guy, and I've known him for quite a long time. All the Danish riders, especially team RDK, are some cool guys! Csybe/Ribot/rQ-E% is cool IRC buddy, he's funny to talk to, and his mom is sexy!!! Also, /DC is really cool guy, and he's good teammate! Damn, cannot forget Onla, he's cool, has some crazy finnish hip-hop to send me sometimes, and swos is cool too, I like his web-cam! Pexi is great (and my oldest) buddy from Across/Elma. -= What gets you still playing Elma =- Fun to get new Best Times, and it's a challenge to lower my Totaltime and try to get into Top10 or Top15. -= What do YOU think should be improved in an eventual new version of elma? =- Graphically speaking, I think the game is nice the way it is. Maybe just add some new textures for the ground that are really nice. I think the best thing that could be done for Elma is an Internet feature, that would allow players to connect to a game, and then Battle against each other LIVE, with all times made go into the same Top10, or play multiplayer with someone from a different computer. Also some fixes in the Editor, like being able to Resize/Copy/Reverse a Polygon. -= Do you have a life when playing elma? =- Of course! I play Elma most of the time either at like 1am-2am or something, after I come home. Other then that I play maybe if I have some time before Dinner or something. #across takes more of my time than Elma itself! But ya, Elma does not really interfere with my *Life*, it is just in my extra time. -= How about battles? =- I have played quite a few battles before, I think they are a very good (maybe BEST?) way to see how good someone really is. If someone can get a great time on a level right away, that proves they are a good kuski! Battle's are very competitive too, so that makes them funner! -= You've got some negative feedback about playing elma from your friends? =- Some of my friends think Elma is cool, like Bowza, s2h, and from Across days, pr0. It is just girl-friends that I have who find Elma stupid and slow, because they are dumb!!! hehe, Other of my friends that think it is stupid/slow game can shut there mouths, because they have NO TASTE! :) -= Which games do you like beside Elma? =- Nowadays, I just play Elma basically, but in the past I played Action Quake 2, Halflife, many NBA games, some Nintendo Emulator stuff, and of course, 100's of other games not worth mentioning. -= Have you thought about if you could stop playing Elma soon, or anytime? =- I've thought about it many times! Usually it results in a few months of stopped Internals completely and then I can play a little after. I definately COULD quit Elma, but I am happy playing it for the time being! -= Are you at the top of your career now? If not, so when? =- I would say I am at the top of my career thus far, I will still get better though. -= You made some levels for elma right? Say something about them. =- My website is "http://ar.raw.net/ciph" and there you can find 36 contest levels + 6 levels i made in while in AR/TWN. If you have any balls, you will go and höylä some records there! Do it! Thanks! -= Was it a surprise to be voted for the kuski of month? =- Of course not, I am incredible! Aren't I??? -= Mopolauta, any opinions? =- Well, I have 300+ posts, the most on the board, haha, so I would say i've had my share of messages on it, I think it is best way to get your point/opinion knows except for maybe #across. It is a good place to have interesting topics/conversations with people. -= Your opinion about MC Studios, MUe's Elma animations and Elma Crime =- MC Studio's made some cool songs, and I enjoyed listening to them! I think MUe's animations were very original and were great work! MUe is truely dedicated to Elma and I respect him for that. Elma Crime is an Amazing Production by MUe, it is really cool to see some real-life kuski's in the movie. MUe rox! -= Your relation to OLP =- I played through the levels, and I had WR on Short Neck for a few tables, but I have played less than 5 hours of OLP for sure. It was good idea, but I think that internals are better, so I play them. -= Why that nick, ciph? =- At first my nick was cipher, which I just thought of one day back 4 years ago or so. And then I just removed the *er* because that was the sleskt thing to do, 0k!1 -= Your real life. Do you have it? Tell something (any girlfriends? school, work, other interests etc) =- Real life? My life consists of 8 hours per day of Elma!!! Just kidding! I love to play basketball and volleyball, they are both really fun and good excerise and fun to be with friends in them. School is important to me too, but I would have to say sports are more important to me, heh! I don't really want to talk about girlfriends and that kind of stuff here because that is *personnal*, but if you must know, I am married to Britney Spears. -= Please write here something about the game, fellow kuskis, moposite, #across, whatever =- Well, I first must say that the Moposite is the greatest site on the internet, Abula and px have put *so much* work into it, and that is great to see, Keep it Up! To my fellow kuski's, I must say be loyal to your team, that only applies to some people, most people are already loyal. ELMA RULES! ciph 1 September 2001