,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, An interview of kuiva (kuski of month on December 2002): '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' -= When did you start playing? =- i finished all the tracks in september 1998..before that i accidentally noticed the small growing web community and the irc-chan and it motivated me to play more. -= Ex-teams and why did you change teams? =- i joined team fin in the beginning of 1999 and that has been my only team. -= Current total? =- 47,54 in elma. -= Top5 newest and oldest personal records? =- (check the last modified times of your replays) heh...well: newest: flat track - 16,84 25.12.2002 loop de loop - 18,75 16.12.2002 hangman - 15,83 9.07.2002 ramp frenzy - 1,05,41 3.07.2001 slalom - 42,06 3.07.2001 oldest: new wave - 1,45,34 20.2.2000 framework - 44,67 20.02.2000 tunnel terror - 1,08,87 21.02.2000 hill legend - 20,38 22.02.2000 enduro - 58,03 22.02.2000 -= Across Career briefly. Any WRs?, World Cup I and II and so on.. =- i started playing total time in september 1998 and my goal was to get on pexis(pekka_t's) top20 tt-list. around february 1999 i got to top10 and was very proud. we had 4 team fin members in top10 at the same time.cool. i had a wr in the turnaround. anyway...around that time the hard styles came briefly one after another. headbanger, zig zag and laby pro. i had poor luck in sucseeding in them and my motivation dropped and soon after i quitted playing internals. i played the first world cup and i was 4th in the final standings, which is maybe my best achievement in across/elma besides the tt-top10-placement. the second world cup started very soon after the first one had ended(few months or something) and i didn't have motivation to play it fully..i did play it a little though. -= Elma career? =- when elma was published i pretty much hated it...many across players stopped playing and i was very close to do that too. i played a little internals at the beginning but it wasn't fun. luke arranged a team cup in where my team participated. we got to the final round and in there we beat fm and won the whole thing=). i won few events in the cup and the one which at the end brought the victory to us. i started playing wcup3. i had good placements in the beginning...few top3 places and was top5 in the standings...but i stopped after 7 events or something. i don't remember why i stopped...some bad results and/or lack of motivation probably. (summer of 2000) then i fully stopped playing elma..i started again little less than year from that. played some skint levels and took part in the elma league. i won the 3rd division=). (summer of 2001) then i retired again...a year from that i heard from a new elma-meet and decided to take part..of course i got intrested in playing again. i started of with some alp-levels, which are pretty good. and then the world cup4. which is going quite nicely=). i've had some very cool placements: 2 event-wins and 9 top5 placements after 19 events. -= Do you still like Across? Why/why not =- it's a good game. i like it -= How did you get Across/Elma? Was it your worst mistake? or the best? =- i got across from internet and i bought elma when it came. i have played across/elma a lot..but if i wouldn't have played elma then it would have been some other game..probably..so i don't think it was a mistake to get addicted. -= Favourite internals / most irritating internals =- turnarounds are nice and umm...flat track=) and self life. i've always hated headbanger. -= Your own best WRs? =- i've only had a few wr's in internals. don't know about them but imo my best record is on skint70.lev=). -= Best WRs in your opinion? =- don't remember whose it was but self life across-wr in january-february 1999. maybe mazors. couldn't break it.. -= What's the limit of WR times? =- twice -= Are there some kind of external contests you like? What kind of contests do you like? Are there any new competitions you would like to see? =- im not playing elma right now but i like good externals and cups and tournaments -= Best lgr in your mind? What lgr do you use? =- i had the basic lgr but then i switched to some karlis' fucked up lgr and haven't got the energy to change it back. -= Mention some good things you have gotten with Across/Elma? =- some irc-friends and the feeling of achieving something when i see my name/nick in lists and tables. -= Mention some bad things you have gotten from Across/Elma? =- at some times i spent too much time playing -= What is the most frustrating thing you have faced in your career? =- in across trying to play headbanger and zig zag. -= The biggest mistake of your Elma career? =- well i have died a lot of drives that could have been good times. really!!1 -= Cheating, what feelings? Do you use level unlocker/nitro etc? =- i have used unlocker. cheatings is bad m'k. and i don't like that software hardware tuning thats going on nowadays..thats week imo. -= Elma tuning, have you tested? Opinion about it? =- oh there was a different questin for this...shits. -= Best kuskis and teams? What are the things you value in another kuski/team? champion was good. and many others. -= Your best achievements? =- top10 placement in across tt. 4th position in first wcup. 3rd position in fourth wcup. 2 wcup event-wins in wcup4. some wrs. kuski of the month thingie. team cup victory. elma league division victory. -= Do you do any other neat finger-related stuff like playing violin, repairing watches, pick pocketing etc? sometimes when im alone and i feel a bit funny and..hm well..nothing. no piano or guitarplaying. -= How much did you play in your sickest period? How much these days? =- now i don't play at all. at some times i played over 2h a day for many months or something=) -= Have you had Elma dreams? =- a few. the weirdest was during wcup4. the dream must have lasted for hours. i saw this track in front of me and i just höyled it..from beginning to end over and over again. sometimes i died and changed styles and all that. -= Strengts and weaknesses as a player? What moves you like/dislike? =- my determination and höyling ability are good. i don't like hard tricks and i don't like tracks that go way over a minute. -= Tips for average players? =- do quality höyling. don't just play around. try things and tricks and routes and plan your playing. -= Best memories with Elma? =- elma meets were nice -= First time at #across? =- spring 1998. -= Best Elma friends? =- the doods in elma meets and few other finnish players. -= Thoughts about Elma meetings? =- entreatingly entrancing -= What do YOU think should be improved in an eventual new version of Elma? =- it should be made so that tuning wouldn't affect the game -= How about battles? =- fun -= Have you got any negative feedback about playing Elma from your mates? =- not much. -= What games do you like beside Elma? =- tetris, doom, terra nova, minesweepper, warcraft3, mortal kombat, tekken, fallout. -= Did you buy Elma? Why not? =- i did. -= Have you thought about if you could stop playing Elma soon, or anytime? =- i stopped after wcup4. maybe i'll start again sometime in the future. -= What gets you still playing Elma? =- umm.. -= Are you at the top of your career now? If not, when? =- -= Forecast the future of Elma. How the scene will be in five years? =- apes will rule the world. i think that elma could be around for another 5 years. -= Was it a surprise to be voted for the kuski of month? If it was who should have won in your opinion and why? =- it was a small suprise because i had been retired and i thought that the new players wouldn't give me that much credit. -= Mopolauta, thoughts? =- haven't visited in a while but it was ok before. -= Opinions about Elma Crime, MUe's animations and stuff like that. =- well...it could have been better...but it was ok=). -= What's your favourite Elma website (not moposite)? =- FOX96 site...or the old NN-site with the fireworks.=) -= Your relation to OLP? =- not related. -= Why that nick, kuiva? =- kuiva is dry in english. when i started ircing and had to have some nick i chose that. no special reason. -= Your real life. Do you have it (school/work, other interests etc)? =- right now i'm in school(maybe someday im gonna be a construction-engineer!!11 \,,/) and live with my girlfriend. -= Write something about the game, fellow kuskis, moposite, #across, etc =- not much elmastuff in my mind right now since i don't play. beginning of this interview i wrote during wcup4 and the rest now. kuiva, october 11 2003