About 4D Realms

4D Realms - About The Site

Abandoning The Old Name
I decided to switch to a new hosting service after several years of above-average increases in costs associated with my old hosting service. As I was doing so, I decided that I had also outgrown the domain name I had been using for the last 15 years or so. The old name just didn't seem to suit me, anymore. That probably has something to do with the fact that it was based on a CB handle I chose when I was a teenager. I later started using the same handle on BBS's and online. I also used it as my author name on game levels I designed. I started my own BBS and named it based on that handle. This later morphed into a website name when I made the move from Fidonet and Linearnet to the internet. After so many years of using the same handle and the same BBS/website name, I decided that it just didn't fit.

Coming Up With A New Name - And A New Site Direction
I wanted the new name to have some meaning for my life at this point in it. I have evolved so much since I was a teenager and I wanted a name which reflects where I am as a person today. I thought about it, all the while thinking about what I could use as a domain name - and checking to see what was available. I wanted a website name which could be used as a domain name, too - or at least a shorter variation of the site name. It didn't have to be associated with a handle as I had decided to stop using what amounts to a fake name and just use my own. I thought about my last name, but no, that didn't really embody the idea of what I wanted the site to be. And, by the way, what exactly did I want the site to be? I decided that at the least, the new site should be an outlet for my creativity. I don't really care so much anymore about getting up on a soapbox and ranting. This doesn't mean that I'm not going to speak my mind whenever I want, but that's not what the site is going to primarily be about. After all was said and done, I decided on something that embodies our existence as I see it. We live in a world of three dimensions, plus time (often referred to as the fourth dimension). Humanity's yearning for understanding our cosmos drives a passion in me and I want this site to reflect that - at least a little. So I started homing in the idea of a name which invokes the concept of four-dimensional reality. I also wanted a shorter domain name than I had previously used. And with a .com extension.

What's Available And What Suits Me?
I started looking into domain names which would give the impression of our four-dimensional existence, while being short enough to suit me (and keep my email short enough that I could use my name instead of initials and still fit it into most other websites' email forms). While I was looking at possibilities to see what was available - and not being auctioned with current bids in the thousands of dollars - I remembered something from my past that still resonates today. One of the things I really enjoy and keep doing - depsite never making any money from it and getting little-to-no recognition for it - is level design. I currently am still making levels for Unreal Tournament 3 (and waiting longingly for the next installment in the series from Epic), even though it has hardly any following anymore - I really should start building for a newer game. Anyway, I got to thinking about where this passion started. It was when my wife's dad introduced me to the 1996 game Duke Nukem 3D and the level editor which came with it. I have never lost the passion which started with that old game. And then it hit me: The developer of Duke Nukem 3D was 3D Realms. I wanted to invoke four dimensions (and Duke Nukem 3D was really only 2.5D as they put it, not true 3D). So I checked to see if 4drealms.com was available. Guess what....

The Final Decision - For Now....
So I went with 4drealms.com as my domain name and 4D Realms as the site name. It certainly invokes the four-dimensional reality in which we find ourselves (I'd like to be a theoretical physicist if not for all the math and my lack of formal education in that field). And it is an homage to the studio who created the game which ignited such an incredible creative passion in me. A passion I didn't even know existed until it was unleashed.

The Logo
I then quickly whipped up a logo which is itself an homage to 3D Realms (see logos below - the original 3D Realms logo on the left, their new logo on the right). Leaving it static would be enough of an homage to them, but I wanted my new logo to be mine, not theirs, and to have more meaning for the new site.

What differentiates 3D Realms from 4D Realms the most? The addition of the concept of time as a dimension. And what better way to show that fourth dimension than to animate the logo? Oh, and while I'm on the subject, let me add that I completed the original construction of my new logo using UnrealEd3, the level editor used for Unreal Tournament 3. I moved the top of the logo and rebuilt the scene with the lighting for each turn in the animation, taking screenshots using Windows 7's Snipping Tool. I processed the images using Corel's Paint Shop Pro and built the animation with Jasc's Animation Shop. Shucks, I may not even use this logo on the full version of the site (save for this "About" page) once design and construction are done, but it sure sets the mood right now, doesn't it?

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