Dannye - Interview

[VenomX]

What's your favourite vehicle in VC? (Bazrun)

I'd have to say I don't really have a favourite vehicle, in any of the games. Sure I suppose there might be periods where I'd use one vehicle (or one type of vehicle) more than another, but that changes all the time. My last two main stunting videos had me in cars more than anything, but that then led me to bikes because I'd gone so long without paying any attention to them.
 
Have you ever considered yourself as a weird method stunter? (Puzzle)

I'm not entirely sure what I'd consider a weird method (except perhaps for some of the really strange & confusing  stuff featuring multiple vehicles that I've seen in semi-recent SA videos) in the first place, but I'd probably go with no. I wouldn't categorise myself as sticking to the stranger methods, I stunt using the same methods that everyone uses, and am rarely on the forefront with creative new ideas. The only real difference with me is there's a few of the more common methods that I tend to ignore, or use less, but most of the time that's just because I don't enjoy doing them (which is in turn partly due to just not being very good at doing them in the first place).

What do you prefer about "alternative vehicle stunting" compared to "regular stunting"? (Mr.Magic)

One aspect I used to particularly enjoy was the challenge involved in re-creating previously landed "regular stunts". I know that's not everyone's cup of tea, but I remember during the stunting process of Get Tanked, I drew alot of my ideas from previously landed bike stunts, and I had a good time trying to figure out how to work a tank into the equation (for example, one of the stunts was an old PB of WW's in Portland - that was very satisfying to pull off in a tank).

On the other hand, there's the great aspect of being able to try stunts that either wouldn't work, or wouldn't be anywhere near as cool, if done in a 'regular vehicle'. Again they might not impress everybody, but it sure is fun coming up with them, and pulling them off (for example my tiny water gap in a bus from Tandem).

And lastly there's just how awesome it is seeing what kind of crazy, unimaginable stuff other stunters can continually come up with (the whole NB crew for example).

What do you think about the "creative versus big air"-discussion? Personally I think a stunt is a stunt and you should try to categorize them as little as possible. (Mr.Magic)

That sounds good to me. Every stunter has their different tastes as to what style(s) of stunting they enjoy the most, and there's nothing wrong with them sticking to what they like doing - in fact its great, because it usually shows in their videos.

What do you think about the FL On/Off discussion? (JayFoxRox)

Well I use Frame Limiter on, because it just seems normal to me, its the only way I've ever played the game. Turning it off, or changing it's limit, aren't anything I wanna do because it seems just plain weird, and I like the way it is to begin with. I don't have much more of an opinion on the topic, as I don't really care about it any more than that.

What kind method do you most prefer, and what do you least prefer? (Raining)

Well I've probably already hinted at some of this in my previous answers, BSMs and PBs for example. But don't get me wrong, I don't really have much of a problem with them, I just tend not to do them very often - I don't mind seeing them in videos, nor doing some myself from time to time (usually in a small capacity, such as part of a combo, where my inability to get any decent bump off them is less of a factor  ). There aren't really any methods I can think of off the top of my head that I really dislike, although I can say that the more unnatural a stunt looks (ie. ridiculous use of warping/teleporting vehicles [perhaps into weird locations], use of waaaay more than 2 vehicles, etc), the less chance there is that I'll enjoy watching it.

Why did you decide to start modifying SCM's? (Blaze) What were your originals plans for the main scm, and what do you think now, a couple of years later, about its success? (StuntKing)

It was all San Andreas' fault  . There was a little while there, Mid to late '05 I suppose, where I was stunting pretty much just in San Andreas. I eventually came to the conclusion (foolishly enough, just after I had been offered a position in a crew, had shown my interest, and agreed to whip up a few SA stunts for an audition of sorts) that San Andreas stunting wasn't really for me anymore (well, certainly not solely), so I went back to stunting in Vice City. I had gotten so used to the aids offered by SACC that stunting in VC just seemed crazy without it.

It was around that time that SCM-based VC car spawners were being spread around the forums (two-ways, four-ways, etc), and I had to say I was curious - I really wanted to know more about SCM coding and how to do it. Eventually it was clear that this could in fact be a solution to at least some of my problems. I started by opening up one of the spawners and trying to understand it, fiddling with it, and adding to it - making it a 5-way spawner, then a 6-way, then up to an 8-way. Things continued to progress - at this stage it wasn't too hard to come up with ideas, as a stunter, I knew what I wanted in the mod - so I guess essentially (at the beginning there at least) I was just making a mod I wanted to use.

It eventually developed (with quite a bit of help and support from members of GTAS) into a sweet tool that I wouldn't stunt without, and I am glad that some of you guys enjoy using it too. Where would I be without it? I don't know, insane surely  .

What SCM (VC,SA, ETC) was the most hardest to make/mod?  (Sucre)

The VC one for sure, because it was the first. I was learning while creating - I'd want to put in a new feature but first I'd have to figure out how the hell to actually do it. Thankfully the similarities in the scripting engines between VC and SA lead to a relatively pain free conversion process. (VC->LC was almost totally copy and paste, while VC->SA was copy and paste with syntax change, switching a few functions, and adding/removing a couple features).

How did you get the Concept of Freeplay, and create it? (Blaze)

This was another tool that started with me wanting to learn more about a certain aspect of modding the GTA games - in this case I wanted to learn about Memory Editing. You always see trainers, tools, etc utilising it, and see discussion of memory addresses discovered over at GTAF, but there wasn't a whole lot of info for a beginner wanting to get into it. One day, while looking harder than previously, I found exactly what I had been hoping for, a great tutorial, one that was essentially a really simple VC trainer (using a programming language I was comfortable using), with comments/descriptions of each line of code. This allowed me to start learning it in a similar manner to how I did with SCM coding, just looking at the code and fiddling around with it.

Once I got the hang of things I thought the best test would be to make a tool that would enable/disable the way the game switches to a Cinematic Camera Angle after not moving the mouse for a certain amount of time in a replay. (As you may well know, such a tool already existed, but I didn't have that tool, and didn't want it). Anyways, once I finished making it, I guess had the beginnings of Freeplay. I started looking at other things I wished I could do in replays but couldn't, and progress continued from there.

What did you use to make Freeplay? (DarkPhoenix/Nightking)

I used C++ to code it (hence the lack of a GUI  ), and I used a tool called T-Search to help in finding memory addresses, locating/editing assembly instructions, and testing/debugging. Thats pretty much it, as far as I can think of at the moment. Oh, and use of the Windows Calculator for nice and simple Hex conversion. Ah yes, and also a tool for playing VC in a window - that helped as I could see the memory changes happening real time (being able to see & use the game at the same time as seeing the TSearch window).

Was [Freeplay] really hard and different to make, or once you got the basic idea it was similar to main.scm? (Rod)

Yeah I'd say both harder and quite different. In ways the development process was similar, but there was a lot more 'unknown' in working on Freeplay. There was comparatively less documentation out there (at least that I could find) for Memory Editing in GTA, so unlike with the USCM, I had to spend a great deal more time working things out for myself. Since we are talking about editing the memory of a running game, this translates to a shit load of hours spent scouring through assembly code - not alot of fun, but yet, quite rewarding when things go your way and you finally figure out something you've spent ages on.

Did you get exited as fuck when you found out how to edit replays, something that many though was impossible? Cause I would xD (Rod)

Whenever I completed a function of Freeplay, I was usually pretty excited. The moment when I realise that all those hours spent staring at ASM code has paid off, that I've made a new feature, that works, and I wanna use it - that was always a great feeling. Especially with some of the more complicated functions, ones that I seriously don't want to know how much time I spent on them - freeze camera for example. I think it was about 3:30am one morning when I finally cracked that, I felt I deserved to finally turn the computer off and go to bed, and yet it took me ages to get to sleep because I was so excited.

Did you tinker with other programming related things before making tools for GTA, and what and how did you learn? (Samurai)

I sure did, ages before the opportunity came to work on GTA mods & tools. I think the first ever programming language I worked with was Q-Basic. I think one of my brothers at the time was doing an assignment using it for high school, and I found it interesting, so I started making little (pointless, simple) programs in it. The next programming language I worked with would have been Visual Basic - I chose every computer subject at high school that I could (which, wasn't that many really, but anyways), and this is the language we worked in. After that came C++, the one I am most proficient in now (and then a host of others I was introduced to during university).

What was the first ever program you scripted? (Deflicted)

For programming in general, something in Q-Basic as I talked about above. One of the earliest programs I remember writing in it was a simple one where it asked you a few questions, and based on your answers said something along the lines of "you are cool" (the answers I would give lead to this) or "you are gay, go away". Another early one I remember involved me typing in a bunch of cheats for Playstation 1 games, and then you could fire up the program, type in the game name, and it'd print them on the screen for ya (yes, it was that pointless  ). For GTA-related programming, SCM scripting, it would probably have to be one of the ones where I added 1 more car spawn to a 2 or 3 way car spawner.

OK, how did you find editing the Community video? Was it fun or did it drag a bit? What did you think of people's reactions? Just generally talk about it overall, decisions you made and how you feel now its out. I know it's not a real question but it would make interesting reading anyway. (ofthemountain)

Well, when I first put up my hand as an option for editor, I really did feel like editing a video, and now I have done that to such an extent that I probably wont get that feeling again for a long while now  . It was a nice change to work on something big, which involved alot of people - although I certainly did feel the added pressure to make sure I didn't fuck up too bad.

I really let myself go all out with the intro, trying a whole bunch of different ideas (many of which were new to me, and thus I had to learn quite a lot first). Thankfully the light-hearted, fun approach of the Austin Powers-esque intro allowed me to include all of those very different ideas into the one package. Planning was all about coming up with crazy things that could happen in time with the music. The fireworks, just one of the ideas, was one I had come up with ages ago - I had always wondered if I could (just for the fun of it really) recreate fireworks in Vice City. Once I discovered the joys of the particle system, I realised that indeed it was possible (and blood fireworks were born  ). Even with the serious emphasis on timing in the intro, I decided early on that I wanted to challenge myself more - make the whole intro happen in one shot, no cuts, which meant I really had to get the timing of every single event spot on. That was insanely hard, with many events happening simultaneously, but I think the outcome is great.

Although it might seem hard to believe, I am not even a very big fan of the Killers  , seriously. I chose Mr Brightside first because I just liked the song, and figured it was something I could edit to. After that I did however have trouble finding a second song, nothing else I could come up with really seemed to 'fit' with it. Eventually I came to the conclusion that the only thing "I" could get to work with it was another, similar Killers song. The hunt lasted a while and only came up with one result, Midnight Show (a great song, one I had never heard of before).

Recording the stunts was good, as it gave me a chance to really test out Freeplay in all its glory. Sure I had tested each feature as I developed it, but only now using it in its proper context was I able to get a good feel for it. I tried not to go overboard with its use, and I don't think I did. One thing I took away from that process was a great deal of respect for the Cinematic-Camera-related functions, which allowed me to get some of my favourite angles of the video (VenomX's taxi BB, Mythic's LC BSM, Ruchy's water gap, just to name a few). You may notice the random little clip at the very end of the video, that was the result of a bug caused by the 'freeze replay but not camera' function of Freeplay, that occurred while I was trying to record Donfikeegd's army grind - for some reason I liked it, and kept it, and ended up giving it a home right at the end there.

Was "freeze game world feature but still can move mouse" feature in freeplay specially made to use in the community video? Did you find that main part first song before making that feature or after, if before then after listening to it for the first time did you have plans to do before making that feature or those plans occurred right after adding that feature? Or you made that feature even before the community video organizing lol? (Killerstunter)

The Freeplay feature was made before I started work on the video. Making use of it in the intro to the first song was not something I planned. For a long time, the first few seconds of the first and second songs were left blank, I hadn't bothered trying to think of what to chuck in there, but I knew I'd figure something out. Later down the track I did finally did start thinking, and what you see in the video is what I came up with.

How long did you spend scripting the intro of the Comm video? (SnowMan)

Hmmm, that's a good question. I don't really know for sure, it certainly felt like I spent a shit load of time on it. I can tell you that the first backup I have (yeah I make lots of backups along the way, good for when I fuck something up later on, save it, and need to go back to the old way) is from the 15th of May, and the date on the final code is the 22nd of July. Of course that probably doesn't mean a lot, since I don't know how much time I spent on it each day (also there was a hefty gap in progress from when the stunting period ended, and I had to start editing - till towards the end of editing when it was time to return to the intro and finish it) - that said, there were some days where I spent alot of hours working at it.

Who inspired you to stunt in the way you do when you first started? Are there any people that you get inspiration from nowadays, or do you find it easier to make something out of nothing now? (ofthemountain)

I spent my early days of stunting over at the PGTA forums, so any videos posted there, or on the main PGTA site, would have been some of my earliest influences. I do remember drawing A LOT of inspiration from the early ATS videos (both crew, and ones made by select members) that were posted there. Also the constructive advice from the VRC team at PGTA (which in fact included a bunch of the ATS guys), who reviewed my first released stunt video, Vertigo, I'm sure helped inspire me to continue stunting.

I draw alot of inspiration nowadays from watching stunt videos - whether I just feel inspired to stunt in general after watching a video (such is the case with any NB video for me), or I come up with a specific stunt idea from watching a certain stunt in a video. I am occasionally able to still come up with something out of nothing, but (at the moment at least) I am finding that happen less and less, and when it does happen, it's more often than not a stunt that is stupidly difficult to do.

Who inspired you to try taxi stunts and excel in them? (Brandon)

I don't really remember exactly who or what inspired me in regards to taxi stunting. I'm not sure if it was a single taxi stunt, a video with a bunch of taxi stunts, multiple videos, etc, I just don't remember. If I were to guess it'd probably be, at least partly, from any taxi stunts that appeared in early videos by the ATS crew/members (Nitzkit did quite a bit back then?), perhaps even the first of the Off Duty's (but I can't remember when I first watched that - although I can definitely say even if that entire series of taxi videos didn't inspire me to 'start' taxi stunting, it certainly inspired me to 'continue' it). Whatever the case, I was definitely drawn to that type of stunting. Probably another aspect would be that I was shit at bike bumps, so I avoided them wherever possible.

There are always vids which make you want to stunt after watching them. Which vids have gave you this feeling? (Tackleberry)

As of late, every single NB video, or video involving a NB crew member, would fit into that category. Also everything of Samurai's just has 'that' feeling. In fact your's & TMS's videos have been a great inspiration as well (Outro and Voyage been just a couple that 'do it' the most for me). I'm sure there's many more.

What is your favourite part of GTAS and what is the worst part? (Macsta)

Being a part of a community of guys that have the same passion for stunting that I do, and being able to share & develop that passion with them. Thats gotta be one of the best parts. As for the worst part, I dunno, not something I really think much about, so I can't come up with anything in particular at the moment.

You joined ATS, made useful tools for stunting and now you're editing the com vid. Is there anything left you feel you want to do before your interest of stunting is gone? (Tackleberry)

I can't help but feel that my interest in the process of stunting is fading as of late. Its just that I find myself more tempted to work on one of those tools you talked about than actually fire up the game to land some stunts. Perhaps its just another rut, I get them from time to time - I still enjoy watching videos so the spark certainly ain't gone yet. As for anything else I want to do, good question... I dunno. I suppose there's always been guys on the forums that I've wanted to do projects with and/or get to know more, because they seem like cool guys. Thankfully I have had that opportunity with some of them, but not all of them.

After like... 2 1/2 year you released "Found", how did you feel when you finally landed the finisher for the GTA SL 4? Did you ever imagine that you would land it one day? (donfikeegd)

I totally didn't see it coming, I didn't even see myself trying it ever again. It was only my laziness at being unable to think of a new idea for that SL challenge that lead me back to it  . It sure did feel great landing it though, I couldn't believe it for a second there. Perhaps around a year from now I'll finally be able to land my unicorn stunt from the end of Get Tanked.

How does it feel to be one of the most highly respected stunters around here? Don't deny it, even you know it! (Rocka)

I don't know what to say, ummm.... cheers?

What are some hobbies/activities outside of stunting that you're into? (Samurai)

Sport-wise I love soccer (indoor and outdoor), I've played it for years and years, and will hopefully continue to do so for more to come (I also enjoy tennis, golf). I enjoy reading. I like doing trivia. Oh yeah, and I thoroughly enjoy watching movies and TV shows.

What did you study at UNI? (Nitzkit) What are you doing for work? (FIGHTER)

I studied Computer Science, it was a three year degree. I finished at the end of last year and don't yet have a full-time job - I haven't even started looking, I've kinda been having an extended bludge. Not sure how long it'll last. I haven't been doing entirely nothing though, I have been working occasionally the period.

What is your occupation and does it contribute or relate to your knowledge of GTA? (Haywire)

Well doing not much certainly helped in regards to finding time to work on stuff like Freeplay and the Comm Video  . While not much of the stuff I learnt in my uni degree was that directly relevant to the development of USCM/Freeplay, some of the background knowledge in programming languages (such as assembly language), and the general programming practices that I picked up, definitely helped.

How would you pronounce your name? (RedX/Brandon)

I like to say 'think of it as DannyE' (ie. Danny E). I have been told that some people thought the 'nye' combo meant the name had some relation to New Years Eve, that is not true (and very random  ).

When did you first see first generation GTA (GTA1 and GTA2), and when did you see one of the next generation games (GTA3, GTA: VC, GTA: SA)? (JayFoxRox)

I never had or played GTA1 or 2, and still haven't to this day. My first real experience with the series was with GTA3.

If there would be one thing you could change in: VC - what would it be? If there would be one thing you could change in: SA - what would it be? (JayFoxRox)

(VC) Add the ability to move the camera with the mouse while driving in-game. (SA) Remove the ability to move the camera with the mouse while driving in-game. Wait... that doesn't make sense

What's the most expensive thing you've broken? (Hoff)

I can't think of the most expensive thing I've directly broken, but where I live, when anything electrical (computers, TVs, that sort'a stuff) breaks, I've usually been the last person to use it, or its been in my room at the time of failure, etc. So apparently I'm more about indirectly breaking stuff, lol. My brother's computer is the latest example of that - why had I been trying to use it? Because I thought I'd be able to do some higher quality recordings for the comm video - so perhaps its slightly all your fault's too  .

Which GTA character would you want to be for a day? (Hoff)

You know you stunt too much when you play the GTA games as much as you do, and yet actually struggle to think of all the characters  . This is tougher than I thought, who even are some of the more interesting characters?

Would you be fit to run an actual country? As in being the president. (The type of person you are etc.) (Kert)

I'd have to say no. Amongst the many (many, many, etc  ) other possible reasons, one would have to be that I am certainly not smart enough. I'm quite happy to leave the job to characters made up by Aaron Sorkin though (I am obsessed with the West Wing... I couldn't help myself  ).

Cheers guys, thanks for the questions.

[puzzLe]

Ooh, long answers, awesome interview, fun stuff to read

[Mr.Magic]

Your intelligent and thorough answers made this a very gut read.

As of late, every single NB video, or video involving a NB crew member, would fit into that category.

feeling's mutual, baby.

[FIGHTER]

long read zzzz lol thanks for anwserign Dannye

[RedX]

Read it all, DannyE you rock

[Herb]

good read, and a quite long one too. i can definitely tell ur intelligent from ur answers.

[Caio]

You may notice the random little clip at the very end of the video, that was the result of a bug caused by the 'freeze replay but not camera' function of Freeplay, that occurred while I was trying to record Donfikeegd's army grind - for some reason I liked it, and kept it, and ended up giving it a home right at the end there.

[

 



Great interview

[Ghost]

feeling's mutual, baby.

Is that the sequel to the community video?

This was an interesting read

[Macsta]

Awesome to read man, great answers

[FTO]

read them all..nice

[ofthemountain]

That was awesome, some of the most thoughtful and thourough answers in this section. However, I am still going to call you Dann-yee

[Brulla]

A lovely interview!

[varial]

reading =)

[Turtle Dick]

Great interview man! Interesting answers

[Aries]

It's sure nice to see all the maturity that this community can rustle up. Great interview and gives me more of an insight into the mystery that is Dannye. Thanks for taking the time to answer peoples questions, and sorry I forgot to ask a question.