Universal Jedi

Although my gaming coverage has been frugal of late.

On January 23rd 2004 my review for Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy was published on Inside Mac Games (IMG). Now, nearly three years hence, Aspyr is providing a Universal Binary at no additional cost to the consumer. Like Blizzard they should be applauded for embracing such an ideology.

Aspyr Media's promised Universal Binary update for Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy has been released, giving owners of Intel Macs the chance to enjoy the popular action game. The patch also fixes network gaming and adds support for Apple's version of OpenAL, a 3D audio library.

In Jedi Academy players assume the role of a student who must choose between the light and dark sides of the Force while facing a new threat to the Jedi Order.

Here are the release notes for the patch from Aspyr:

• Jedi Academy is now a universal binary. Mods that use code DLLs will likely have to be rebuilt as Xcode-based universal binaries.

• The multiplayer app now disconnects from servers properly, and no longer forces you to quit and relaunch.

• Now uses Apple's version of OpenAL, which allows for true 3D audio.

I haven't played Jedi Academy for sometime. This might be the motivation I need to enroll for the Fall/Winter semester.

The Gemini Apes

The following is a reprint of a feature written for my online portfolio.

A fascination with media production began when I was bought an Hitachi portable tape recorder (its contemporary is an Apple iPod). I started recording off television, my favourite television shows, and listening to the sounds back without the picture (mentally envisaging a different version). I would narrate stories and record conversations and sounds. It became a form of education via entertainment.

This acute interest in "the theatre of the mind" also encompassed Radio drama! The catalyst was BBC Radio Four’s dramatisation of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ (1981).

During the second year of the BA (Hons) Media Production degree I specialised in audio and video. And undertook a 10 minute audio documentary. Director Dirk Maggs kindly agreed to an interview concerning his successful comic book to radio adaptations, which included DC Comics' 'Batman: Knightfall' (1994) and 'Superman: Doomsday and Beyond' (1993).



In 1998 Dirk invited me to work on 'The Gemini Apes'. My role as a studio assistant involved foley and sourcing original and prerecorded material from The Soundhouse's extensive recording library. This included original content from Skywalker Sound.



Meeting Christopher Lee (he played the character of Drake) during 'The Gemini Apes' recording sessions, was truly a defining moment. This was prior to his career renaissance in 'The Lord of the Rings' and 'Star Wars' prequels. He is a gentleman and formidably intelligent. Christopher regaled us with myriad anecdotes. One of which concerned Johnny Depp with whom he was shooting Tim Burton's 'Sleepy Hollow' (1998).

From a journalistic perspective. Breaks during the recording sessions were a plumb opportunity to network with writers from Starburst, SFX and Dreamwatch magazines.

Tales From The Bat Cave

In 1994 BBC Radio One broadcast Batman: Knightfall and enthralled lunchtime listeners. Bob Sessions played the titular role with such panache and gravitas that many Batfans, myself included, consider his to be the definitive performance. When Bob emotes “If you’re threatening me, get in line!”, he’s not bluffing.

In 1996 I was introduced to Bob Sessions, by Dirk Maggs, and asked him if he would like to participate in my video major December Duet, which was in pre-production for a summer shooting schedule. Nick Smith, my long time friend and creative partner in crime, wrote an astonishing poem for the screenplay and Bob generously agreed to perform it.

Far from passion, pain and guilt
In caverns far from inn or church
Their kind in coldness ever dwell.
With folded wings they take the hanged man's perch
Dead men's spirits in the air
Blind to the fate that nature gave
We envy their winged escape
Yet share their destined grave.
So high yet seeing naught but dark
Our souls with burdens great
Leathered limbs caress the sky
Gods blinded by the weight
The wheel turns, the spirit memories remain,
A never changing face,
More sooted than the world below
Too numb to change their place.

Dirk Maggs recorded the performance at the award-winning Soundhouse Ltd Recording Studios in May of that year. And has kindly taken the time to transfer the original DAT studio master to CD-R. d you are the man!

Listening to it again after all these years (I seldom revisit self-produced creative), I deeply regret not making more of its raw narrative power. Although Bob Sessions is no longer alive, this is a small tribute to his memory from two Batfans. Here, for your delectation and listening pleasure, is Bob's incomparable reading of Nick’s poem (MP3).

Dirk The Daring

During my second year of undergraduate study (1994-95) Maya Personal Learning Edition (PLE) was unrealized and Computational Geometry Algorithms Library (CGAL) was incomprehensible to the mathematically challenged; producing a lavish storyboard is one thing, translating it into binary code is quite another.

Putting my lofty CGI ambitions on the shelf to collect dust (so-to-speak), I specialized in audio and video production. These two mediums* have held me enthralled since childhood and BBC Radio Devon had already broadcast several of my documentaries on their now-defunct teenage magazine programme 90 Miles Per Hour (1990).

At the time BBC Radio One was broadcasting (in Dolby surround) Batman: Knightfall (1994). I decided to produce a 10-minute documentary comparing and contrasting the adaptation of comic books into audio form. Producer/Director Dirk Maggs had established himself as an audio auteur and graciously invited me to the Soundhouse recording studio to interview him during post production on The Amazing Spiderman (1995). And there I made Dirk’s professional acquaintance. Famed comic book artist Dave Gibbons (Watchmen, 1985) was able to provide his own insight, via a studio link, too. It is my intention to publish this documentary online in RealAudio format.

In 1998, whilst in the gainful employ of Reuters Business Information, Dirk hired me as a foley artist/studio assistant on BBC Radio 4 family drama The Gemini Apes. During the recording sessions I met screen legend Christopher Lee and the affable Garrick Hagon; who portrayed Luke Skywalker’s ill-fated best friend Biggs Darklighter in Star Wars. The majority of Garrick’s exorcised scenes, from a New Hope, were not reinstated in the recent DVD release to the detriment of the story.

Presently, Radio Four is broadcasting The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy - The Tertiary Phase. And, as ever, Dirk’s audio production is at the vanguard of broadcasting technology. You can listen to an experimental 5.1 mix (with suitable decoding equipment) online now.

[*I’ve always been perplexed by individuals who are anxious to stereotype and pigeonhole! The following question appears to be enshrined in interview vernacular: What part of the media are you most interested in? The honest answer is the media in all its rich diversity.]