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The Visit - As I remember it

While getting ready for a short vacation in Spain (not far from Malaga) I scribbled down Rebel Act Studios phone number, just in case I should come up with an idea to pay them a visit. It turned out to be useful…

It was certainly not something I had planned to do due to the short period of time staying in Spain and other concerns as distance and cost. No matter what, this was one of those 'one time opportunities' I know I would regret if not going thru with it. The very next day of my arrival to Spain I made the phone call and the following Monday I bought the flight ticket; It turned out to be a wise decision.

Destination: Rebel Act
I was picked up, Tuesday 14th March, at the Madrid Airport by Juan and Teresa (which is working for Juan on Marketing/PR at Friendware). From there we headed for the office: the office where it all happens. While sitting in the car I suddenly realized that I hadn't prepared myself at all for the meeting with Rebel Act or the game. I got a bit perplexed, but still I immediately felt comfortable with these two truly nice people. I was on my way to Rebel Act Studios!

To my surprise the office building was quite like I had imagined. The only thing that hadn't struck me was that Friendware and Rebel Act Studio was in the same building, but needless to say it is quite logical. Great! I get to visit both Friendware and Rebel Act!

The excitement grew as the elevator took us up to the third floor. This is where Friendware was; a typical and organized office landscape. Just a quick peek before we headed to the stairs,
which lead down to the 2nd floor and Rebel Act Studios.

Juan, at the entrance of the building

The contrast was pretty clear; from the bright-lit 3rd floor we now moved into a room with clusters of computer-desks in the shadows of the dimmed light. Music mixed with sounds from the game; grunts and metal against metal. Wow! This is the kind of place I'd like to work! Xavier met us on the way in: another pleasant meeting. I'm not sure how to describe this man; he's tall with a friendly face and I found it impossible to tell his age.

A bit vacantly, trying to absorb the view of the developers in work on Blade, I was guided into a glass-room. Some kind of a meeting room I think. This room was at least as dark as the rest of the place, if not darker. Being left alone, for only a couple of seconds, I curiously looked around, in a quick turn. Turning towards the developers made me slow down and gaze - curious and eager to greet them - until my eyes pointed directly at a computer with two monitors, placed in the corner. One of the screens was displaying Blade; ready to play! I took a quick look over my shoulder to ensure that no one was looking; as if I were about to do something I wasn't allowed to. Just a quick turn

The monitor was displaying the Knight, standing in a dungeon barely lit up by a torch on the wall. I took a second glance over my shoulder; faster this time, as if I didn't care if the entire team was standing behind me. I gently moved the mouse to one of the side and was delighted with what I saw; the character turned to the right and the shadow followed the movement perfectly. Juan and Xavier had entered the room; it was time to be introduced to the team.

First meeting with the Team
The programmers were filling the first group of computers. Xavier introduced me as I greeted them with a handshake and a hello. I tried to picture myself the team photo and the belonging names, but it was an impossible task at the moment. I remembered most of the faces, but the names vanished in the air as I heard them. I remembered Arturo as I've been chatting with him on IRC.

The next group was the artists and animators. With wide-open eyes, fumbling between their faces and their monitors, I found placing names was just as hard here.

F.left: Jose Dario Halle, Daniel Delgado,
Javier Rollón and Luis Miguel Quijada

The last group was the level designers and the sound technician. I lost myself in the names again, but it didn't bother me that much. Of course I remembered Enric from IRC. I was certainly going to sit down and have a chat with him later.

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