1986-1992 The proto-Flatlander takes various computer programming courses in high school and college. Free time is devoted to playing games like Space Quest, King's Quest and Ancient Art of War.

1993-1994 Little or no computer-related activity.

1995 The proto-Flatlander reads a PC Magazine review of a new game called Descent and thinks to himself that it would be pretty fun to play, if only he had a computer.

1996-1997 The proto-Flatlander begins to acquire knowledge on the inner workings of computers and at last acquires one. Specs: AMD 486DX-4 100, 8MB RAM, c. 800MB hard drive, 14.4K modem, no-name video card, 15" monitor. Sound card and CDROM drive not included. Copies of Descent and Descent ][ are soon acquired, along with the first of many upgrades (solely for gameplay): Goldstar 4X CDROM, Creative SB16 sound card, 16MB of additional RAM, and a joystick. Flatlander (then known as Flatlndr due to eight character DOS filename limit) is born, and begins battling through the robot-infested mines of the PTMC. Internet access acquired shortly thereafter via (gasp) CompuServe, and early searches for online information include material related to Descent. Discovery of Usenet, and lurking at alt.games.descent starts. Discovery of Kali and online play, but not attempted due to hardware limitations.

1997 Later in the year, another upgrade to a 33.6 modem. Kali serial acquired, and online play begun, partly due to prodding by a co-worker named Arran.

1998 First major upgrade: New case, Pentium II 266, Creative 3D video card, 56K modem, more memory, bigger hard drive. Gameplay improves. Later in the year, acquisition of dual Pure 3D Voodoo 2 12MB video cards, installed in SLI configuration. Much discussion on alt.games.descent about upcoming release of Descent 3. Launch of Flatlander's first Descent-related website, tentatively named Flatlander's Descent Hangout, located at the now-defunct free webhost Xoom. Very little information at first. With release of Descent 3 demo and several user-created development tools, creation of very first Descent 3 Windows theme begun.

1999 Windows theme released in January, with Flatlander's Descent Hangout as the homepage. Expansion of website begun and information about the robots, weapons, vehicles and lifeforms of Descent (all three versions) uploaded. In May, site name changed to Pyro Descendent. Release of Descent 3. Discovery of DBB and initial registration and lurking. Flatlander and Arran attend UberFest '99 in June in Atlanta. On return, decide to try having some LAN parties, with ultimate aim of holding a large LAN fest in Orlando. First LAN party held September 25, attendees were SolidAir, Vicarius, Sup and Peartman. LAN parties continue once a month in Arran's garage.

2000 LAN info initially posted at Pyro Descendent, then at Arran's website. Neither satisfactory, so Outbound Gaming Network formed in January. Initially planned to focus on various multiplayer games, including Descent. Information about Worms Armageddon added, by SolidAir. In March, one of the earliest Descent 3 gameplay mods, Frag Tag, is released, and is mirrored at OGN. In May, last regularly-scheduled LAN party held. Cessation of LAN events due to burnout on Flatlander's part and lack of public interest in large LAN event in Orlando. Sporadic, small LAN parties held every six months or so. Arran "departs" from OGN, which is now solely run by Flatlander. Site revamped, with more emphasis on Descent-related information. Pyro Descendent is removed from its Xoom host and becomes a "hosted" site at OGN. Tracking of Descent 3 related mods begins in earnest. Over the remaining course of the year, information from Pyro Descendent is gradually integrated into the main site, until only an archival shell remains. Continued upgrades: AMD Athlon 650, Voodoo 3 3500 AGP, more memory, bigger hard drive, CDRW, etc.

2001 Main focus of the site becomes tracking Descent 3 mods of all kinds, with this portion of the site gradually growing from one page, to three, to multiple pages tracking as many known Descent 3 mod projects as possible, with information, links, images, downloads and news. Other Descent-related content added, including the final integration of the former Pyro Descendent content, singleplayer level reviews and custom audio taunts and ship logos. Occassional LAN parties held. Expansion into other games begins with addition of some content about the Midtown Madness series of games. More upgrades: AMD Athlon Thunderbird 1.33, Voodoo 5, more memory, bigger hard drive, etc.

2002 Information about Descent re-focused: singleplayer level reviews dropped and a history of the Descent series added. Worms section expanded and area dedicated to nTrap added. Continued tracking of Descent 3 mods and the Descent IV project. Upgrades: AMD Athlon XP 2.0

© 2000, 2001, 2002 Outbound Gaming Network
Modified: 04/11/2008