| Boomer |
I had to be away for a while but its good to be back here working with you again Nathan. To kick things off just let me ask you, where do you live? |
| thedoctorpepper |
"I live in a wonderful town on the south coast of England. Often referred to as ‘God’s Waiting Room’, Eastbourne is a town, which attracts many retired folk as it's renowned for being friendly and peaceful. The sun shines here more than anywhere else in the British Isles and we’re generally protected from unpleasant weather such as rain and wind. This is because Eastbourne is encircled fully on one half of the town by rolling grassy hills called ‘The South Downs’ where wildlife is plentiful and the picturesque scenery is highly respected throughout Europe. Eastbourne is coastal town and is bordered with the English Channel to the South. The sea is generally cold here throughout the year, but the golden sunlight quite compensates for this minor factor." |
| Boomer |
Sounds like a great place to live and grow up! Do you come from a large family? Tell us about your family, any brothers, sisters, dogs, cats or fish? |
| thedoctorpepper |
"I live in a quiet suburb of the town with my Mum and Step-Dad. My two older sisters (19 and 21 years old) have both left the home to pursue an adult life elsewhere in the country, with one of my sisters currently studying for a degree in Ecology and Conservation; you can rest assured that I mock her for this (in a friendly manner of course!). I consider myself to be very lucky: although sadly my parents are separated, my Dad is a great man and lives less than a mile from my Mum’s home in Eastbourne and so I can see him whenever I like. He lives with my Step-Mum and one of my Stepsisters whom I write many of my songs with (see further down this interview). I am a cat-lover all the way, and we’ve nearly always had cats. At the moment, in my Dad’s home, we have a silky gray British Blue called Smokey. She’s a daft creature and continually keeps us all very amused with her antics and increasingly erratic behavior; after-all, she is 16 in human years." |
| Boomer |
Hmm, that makes me about 200 in cat years, no wonder my bones creak when I stand up. No wonder I feel so old. How did you get your name 'thedoctorpepper'? |
| thedoctorpepper |
"The name thedoctorpepper came about in the summer of 2002 while chatting in some chat rooms online. I love the drink ‘Dr Pepper’ and always have done; in fact, I think that I was drinking a bottle of it at the time. I tried using several different chat names based on the name ‘Dr Pepper’ and eventually came up with the combination: thedoctorpepper. It stuck." |
| Boomer |
Well it does seem to fit your personality, that’s for sure! What are your hobbies and other interests besides RCT stuff? |
| thedoctorpepper |
"I’m an artistic type of person in every aspect; I act and I used to dance, but torn cartilage in my right-knee means that I don’t do any sport at all these days. More importantly, however, I enjoy music of all kinds. With my Stepsister, I write songs based mainly around my Christian faith, and although most will probably never be used anywhere, I feel that it’s something very important to me. I sing a little bit and play the keyboard. One day in the future I hope to learn how to play the guitar. I’m a sound engineer and have worked semi-professionally for several years (while making a lot of money for it) and I obviously love this job. I’m proficient with most forms of technology - but just don’t talk to me about washing machines or irons." |
| Boomer |
(Laughing) or, if you are like me… automobiles! Under the hood it might as well be from mars, I’m useless, forlorn and lost on car engines these days. What are your goals and hopes for the future Nathan? |
| thedoctorpepper |
"I’m at that stage of my life where I don’t have any clear-cut ambitions. I’m a 15 year-old-teenager and I’m not at the stage where I can say exactly what I want from life. I have many different interests; for instance I am a semi-professional sound-engineer and have worked for many different clients in the past few years despite being so young. I enjoy working with computers and basically anything technical. In terms of family and other similar aspects, I certainly want to get married one day and have children. I’m a Christian and I’m passionate about God and living for Him, so I trust in Him to plan my future for me, that way I know that it’s all going to be good from my point of view and that nothing will ever go drastically wrong."
|
| Boomer |
What plans and hopes do you have for the future of RCT2.com?
|
| thedoctorpepper |
"RCT2.com was where I really came ‘out of my shell’ in the RCT community. I’ve enjoyed playing the game for several years, but I couldn’t find anywhere that I fitted in. Eventually when I arrived here in October, I didn’t post at all. I merely uploaded several hundred-track designs to the Ride Exchange. I think that I was still very shy and I didn’t really start to get involved until about Mach of this year. With that in mind, I consider this site and community as one of the most precious things in my life (excluding friends and family). I hope that we continue to see this wonderful place grow and attract new people from all over the world. I don’t have any firm plans for the site just yet, but whatever happens in the future, I want this site to continue to be managed for RCT fans by RCT fans and I also want to see the standards, morals and atmosphere we’ve all helped to create maintained in every possible way."
|
| Boomer |
Speaking of RCT, what is the name of your best RCT Park and is it available here for download?
|
| thedoctorpepper |
"Unlike most RCT fans, I don’t specialize in making parks. Instead, I focus all of my gaming energy into creating successful roller coasters. My personal favorite, which is available for download is ‘The Dr Pepper Supreme’ which is a huge steel-twister made in RCT1. You can get it from the Ride Exchange right are at RCT2.com."
|
| Boomer |
What is the name of the best RCT Park you have ever seen and who made it?
|
| thedoctorpepper |
"My favorite RCT ever made is without any doubt what so ever: 007 Park made by Austin Powers and Titan. I simply adore every aspect of the park from the wonderful architecture to the stunning ride designs. The scenery is great and I’d certainly pay to visit this park one day."
|
| Boomer |
A lot of time goes into making these RCT Parks, how much time do you give to this site and playing RCT?
|
| thedoctorpepper |
"Some may say that I need to get a life (and I’d agree!) but I spend between 1 and 6 hours at RCT2.com every single day! It’s crazy really - I read through every post that is made in the forums no matter who it’s by, and I know the members like the back of my hand. I know all of their personalities and I know their personal talents within RCT. I only spend a maximum of 1 hour a day on RCT/RCT2 because I love the community so much."
|
| Boomer |
What do you most want to see in future add-ons that aren’t in RCT yet?
|
| thedoctorpepper |
"Quite simply: I want to see those object limits lifted, I want to see a better path selection system (like In RCT1), I don’t like the fact that the windows ‘collapse’ when you’re not hovering over them and I wish that there was just more room for creative input within the game in general. Wouldn’t it be great if the game had a built-in object editor or something like that?"
|
| Boomer |
Yes I would like to see that too! What do you most dislike about RCT2?
|
| thedoctorpepper |
"It’s no secret that I have always preferred RCT1 than RCT2 as a game. I just think the makers of RCT2 were trying too hard and failed to improve upon the success of the original game."
|
| Boomer |
Same question about www.rct2.com, what do you want to see in its future and what do you dislike the most about it right now?
|
| thedoctorpepper |
"Perhaps the only thing that I don’t like about RCT2.com right now is that a tiny minority of members are impolite and slightly aggressive in their nature. This makes my experience at the site a little unpleasant at times. Also, I just wish that more of the guests would join our community so that I can meet them and get to know them even more."
|
Thedoctorpepper…. Has left the house! It was great getting to know the "Pepper man in RCT land" a little bit better, but there was an odd thing that happened right after this interview that I feel worth mentioning; right before Nathan left I had watched him shake the ice in his glass and drain the last precious few drops of Dr. Pepper from his upturned glass and set the empty glass back down on the table. But as I headed for the door to turn out the lights and call it a night, I saw it! Sitting on the table was a full glass of Dr. Pepper! Frosty was the glass and a sweet hissing head of foam bubbled and foamed over the top lending elegance to the dancing ice cubes playing within the sodas sweet embrace.
Some things are best just left alone; I just shook my head, turned out the lights and softly closed the door behind me.