IGN:
Smtgr14
Position I'm Applying for:
Technical Builder (Or grunt if there's still room)
Why recruiting me is a good idea:
I make it my business to know how the technical aspects of how a mod works in the game. I'm essentially the go to guy for all your questions, I spend most of my in-game time building some crazy wonderful contraption, improving an old one, or just testing mod interaction (things like, if X mod does this with items and I use this item from mod Y, will it still work? Or will the game explode violently?). In addition, because I'm not a fan of pure aesthetics, my build work and either look nice, or are covered up in a way so they look nice (or I have a back room where the magic happens and I pipe materials in and out). My friends often come to me with their questions when we play together instead of using the mod wikis.
I know my way around most of the mods, but I really excel when it comes to railcraft, industial craft^2 and applied energistics. I can set up almost any process to automate and I have a lot of experience with computercraft. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the more advanced aspects of Lua, but I can make auto routers for train stations based on the carts a train has and create databases.
Some of my most impressive builds have been on a private server (whose IP I'm told not to mention) in the rail networks, I can make full featured train terminals, stations, platforms, and passenger/tagged cargo management. In fact, on this private server (where we had the immibis periphals installed) any employee who operated the rails (for construction, management, scheduling, engineering), could view which users were in our terminals, platforms and trains, and restricted areas. This system was based on how UPS tracks mail parcels.
Below are some screen shots from one of our "Line Terminus" stations, only one track services the town. I just finished this station for the new town. Here are some links (though I did add a description on imgur if anyone is curious about what exactly I'm showing you):
EDIT: Renovations to the station have just been completed and traffic is flowing again, I got screenies just before the rush! Get them while their hot!
I would work best with city planners as those are the ones who would need to set public transportation routes. I'd be happy to accommodate any request they have, I enjoy a good challenge! I work best when I have a clear idea of what I'm trying to make (functionally), what my limitations are, and when I have creative input from others. I like what everyone tells me, whether it be "Nice work.", "That won't look very good.", and my favorite: "what if we did X instead of Y?"
I'm also a very easygoing person, I like to help out where needed and I negotiate instead of fight. I may be a little "snarky" every now and then, but who isn't? I'll listen to everyone I can whenever I can about anything they want to talk about, as long as it doesn't distract anyone from their musings.
What I would like to do for this server if I'm accepted:
As you could probably see from above, I love logistics. I can build transit systems with the such high quality and simplicity, anyone can give simple directions and obtain a general schedule for train arrivals and departures. This would make mass transit a wonderful solution for the players. Of course I can't do it alone, I'll need help and I'll welcome everyone. Just not at first as having 20+ player to help when the station hasn't been laid out is a waste of everyone's time. I plan to only ask for help where its needed, not because I feel lazy. I only ask in return that when someone asks if they can help and I say no or if I sound mean, not to take it personally. When working on mind boggling builds, its easy to lose one's calm and want everyone to leave him/her alone. I mean no ill will to others, in fact for those who have heard of a show call "The Amazing World of Gumball", I'm often described as having the temperament of Darwin (almost non existent).
I can contribute hours of time to the server as I have plenty of free time at home. Just don't expect me to build on the first few days, I like to see what I'm up against and the "theme" of an area before just throwing blocks down. As far as actually building, expect it to be an unstoppable force, I'll keep building and breaking, and changing until I finally come up with something beautiful. The train station in the images above, expect something completely different within a few weeks. I'll come up something better by then.
A few things that should be known:
My build teams cannot have lack of autonomy (as in "military intelligence"). Not that having this trait makes you a bad builder or a bad team player. I just won't be able to lead that type of person very well. I can't have every person helping me ask "What should I do now?" every ten seconds. I'm better at leading by example and then leaving others to their work. If a grunt can build a wall that is five blocks high, thirty three blocks long, made of cobblestone and has vertical pillars of oak logs every ten blocks. Then I will be able to lead him/her. If I lay out the bottom layer of a wall and ask a grunt to build it up to six blocks and add a oak wood roof and he/she does it, I can lead him/her. If a grunt comes to me ever few seconds to say "Did you want the wall three or six blocks high?", then I can't lead him/her.
I like to be building with others, not giving instructions the entire time. I'll give a basic idea to everyone and send them to their jobs, then I will get to mine. I don't slack when there is work all around me. It makes me feel useless. It makes me feel like I have taken advantage of others. I don't like either of those feelings. I enjoy working for the community as a whole rather than acting in my self interests (unless you count the getting emotional fulfillment of helping others as a self interest).
EDIT: I looked at a few other application made by others and felt I should include this tidbit of information:
I saw a few others who are applying for a position similar to mine. A ProfessorZ seemed like a great person to build with, he and I share the same story (IC was the first mod and so on...) and a similar humble attitude. I would hope that other builders on the server are just like that. Those are the people I really enjoy working with, especially if we work on small pieces of the same, larger, project.
Please consider my application for your build environment, its exacly the kind of server I've been looking to lay on for a while now. And finally, if your read this far, I thank you from the bottom of this post (get it? this is the bottom...of this post.) and wish for you to have a nice day (or night). If I cannot have the position of technical builder, I would like to be considered for a grunt position and go from there.
Also, if you sneezed while reading this, "bless you", or whatever your culture says when that happens.
And a shoutout to ProfessorZ:
I've built things just like you have in the past and sadly, I've lost them as well. Is that where you derive your motivation to rebuild it better, faster, smaller, smarter, and blockier? Like I do? Or are you motivated simply by having the device again?
