,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, An interview of Jalli (Kuski of Month on June 2003): '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' -= When did you start playing? =- I guess I started actively somewhere early 2001. Dunno precise date. -= Ex-teams and why did you change teams? =- FBE, founded by me (and some friends). My brother sent in with this team first two events in WC4. Otherwise me only real member. Joined EMA since I liked all people there and I wanted to get a real team. I already knew most of the ppl in team and they all were really great guys. Then I got an offer to join ICE and since EMA no longer were as active as earlier and I also got along great with the ppl in this team, I decided to join ICE. Great team with great people. -= Current total? =- 39.35.80 -= Top5 newest and oldest personal records? =- Well, I don't have all recs where I am right now but we can try to find them: No guarantees, qualified guesses :P Newest: Mopoupdate 21st December 2004 and I think these are the most recent 22.39 Islands in the sky (I really have 21.02, px just didn't like the bounce) 46,95 Headbanger 1.01.96 Fruit in the Den 1.29.73 Double Trouble 18.21 Loop de Loop Oldest: Mopoupdate March 31st 2003 18.26 Twin peaks 59,44 Tunnel Terror 1.06.25 Serpents Tale Mopoupdate April 14th: 1.26.66 Animal Farm Mopoupdate May 5th 41.63 Quick Round -= Across Career briefly. Any WRs?, World Cup I and II and so on.. =- I managed to beat my friends in amount of rotations in one jump on warm up, besides that nothing special really :P -= Elma career? =- Well, lets see if we remember this. I and some friends started playing elma in school late 2000 or something. We found elma pretty soon after finding across. Whilst they never really started to play that much I got hooked. I tried to get them to play and "we" started the team FBE. I even got them to sign up for Elasto Mania League, but they didn't play anyway... At this point I had of course found Moposite and gotten impressed with all recs and that. I couldn't believe that I would managed to get my tt any lower than 50. The first compo I think I sent a rec too, was some event in Los Cup held by Xhomaz. I also rmember sending two recs to the lev pack section in moposite and I was so proud to find my list on some well hidden list on Moposite. I've always been competetive and this really set me on fire. I played some other compos on moposite like lgr-levels and such. Then I started noticing psys incredible pipe replays. I guess he was idol =) I started playing pipelevs and found out that they weren't that hard really. "Just press space alot of times so head gets really thin and won't hit edges..." not really, but the turning thingie helped me to finish these levs and make some good times. Prolly my proudest moment came when this was news on Moposite: 27th Jan 2002 Look at Special Contests, new pip0r guru has born: Jalli [FBE]. After that I just keeped on playing pipes a while and got a nice recognition. However, the "breakthrough" for me as a "good" kuski came during WC4. My goal b4 the cup was to get top20. In end I got 5th (4th when darm removed) During these 6 months I played and played and played... I could play one lev in world cup 12 hours to improve 0.02 and still keep my patience. Before the start of wc4 I had worked my tt barely under 46. After we had played some events and I had done surprisingly well, we got a weeks rest, so I improved my tt to under 43 in a few days. It was at this point I did the shortcuts like ff, lab pro and such. Then wc4 continued and I started climbing in the rankings. I guess I was one of those stubborn enough to play like mad the entire cup. (with a few exceptions when I was away from home ;/) Getting the 2 (later 3) event wins was something really special to me, especially the first one where I showed I can do more than just pipes ;) Second one was a pipe where I easily got 50 apples first week and didn't play that lev as much next week :P. At the same time I got special status on mopolauta after this lev: Pipe King. After 20 events had passed I found myself 2.25 points behind Karlis. I'm still convinced this is due to an FM-conspiration... Nostrada getting caught gave Karlis more points than anyone else, so I'm currently considering starting a foundation in order to get nost back his world cup points and me in top3 in WC4. Well, I'll beat him in WC5 anyway... ;) After playing WC4 in FBE on my own, I joined up with EMA. It was in this team I got my first internal wr. In the period between the end of wc4 and me joining EMA I got some help from TomCat and discovered a "new" way of doing Tunnel Terror. I started talking in #across about ez wr and started playing. I joined EMA and got some more nice moves from Raider, but at the same time he started playing Tunnel Terror as well. After 3 weeks I finally managed to beat the wr with a time 59.7x, the old wr was Jeppes 59.91 I think. Finally, I thought, I can take a break from this level. Then Raider turned up with 59.62. one more week of playing for me. 59.44 next week and that still is my personal record. My first wr was on table #120 updated March 30th 2003. Then we started looking if there were other "ez wrs". After looking at some recs circuitous looked like a nice lev. Cloud had 24.18 and that time didn't seem good. After a bit(...) of playing I managed to get 24.11. Raider was also playing though. Suddenly I spy in out teamchan that he made 24.08. I enter elma again, start playing circ. 6 mins after he told his time I tell my new time 23.81. One of the funnier memories in EMA, at least for me. Well, I continued playing some internals and making a few wrs. Flat Track, The Steppes, Hooked and even Bowling, some styles found on my own and some got from Jsim. All of them were beaten though, most with quite a clear difference. The newest levs I've had wrs on are Uphill Battle and Curvaceous. Here I've just exploited the fact that new styles have been published and gotten a better time in first updates after the styles were published. Really a nice way of getting wrs on many different levs :P. My only current wr is 22.56 in circuitous. Quite a lot faster than my first "wr"-time 24.11. I still remember Cloud claiming darms rec with same time (22.56) unbeatable and incredible. Well, at least he now as admitted that it is beatable, even though my time only is same as darms. ;) When playing for wrs my internal tt went down. The only periods I've been playing to get tt down after getting under 43, has been when I've been close to braking minute limits. Only exception was now lately, when I just wanted to get in top15 tts, and hopefully get an internalist status in Community History once (hint hint) since Abula once said that I had to promise to get a top15 tt if he should gimme that status. Well, to be completely honest I did play some tt earlier too so Stini wouldn't be too cocky ;) Oh, I and Totti left EMA to join ICE somewhere in there ^^ -= Do you still like Across? Why/why not =- I don't play across anymore no. Doesn't work well in xp, but I don't think I'd play it anyhow. The smoothness you get in elma isn't in across and that is annoying. -= How did you get Across/Elma? Was it your worst mistake? or the best? =- The first time I played across was on a comp belonging to a son of a couple my parents hang out with. The son wasn't there :P I found the game in a folder literally names "shitty games" I remember I beat all the times he had made but then I got to Tunnel Terror and couldn't understand how to take topleft apple. At that point I didn't know hanging was possible. This prolly was a few years before we entered this millenium. After that I didn't play for a long while. Then some friends started playing on their laptops in school and it was from them I got it. First across and then elma pretty soon after. If I were to call it a mistake it prolly is one of the better ones. -= Favourite internals / most irritating internals =- This varies a lot. I can't really say I have any internal level which I hate, but I guess some levs have always been funny to drive. Tunnel Terror is maybe the best made internal of all. Lots of styles and most of them even are funny. Circuitous also is a lev I appreciate of course. If I have to choose some lev to be in other end of list atm I think I would go with sink or something. But even Sink can be funny if you're in the right mood. -= Your own best WRs? =- I'll have to say 22.56 circ. When I'm a bit tired of elma this is one of those special recs that can get me in a good mood again. Also it is the only wr I currently have on table. The rest of my wrs have had a tendency to be completely knocked out and beaten by lots, like 0.26 in a lev like the steppes, so I'll stick with circ 22.56 from table #182 updated September 12th 2004. -= Best WRs in your opinion? =- I'd go with Luther's downhill, mr's The Steppes (even though I might've found out how to get that good time :P), TorInge's Enduro and maybe zweq's gravity ride. -= What's the limit of WR times? =- There are no limit so to speak. As long as ppl play elma the tt will keep sinking. If elma 2 comes and becomes more popular than elma, then I guess the tt will stop quite fast, but predicting the future is hard to do. -= 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? =- The Elasto Mania League was a really great concept. This was extremely fun to participate in. A system with relegation and promotions and such would be max fun, but I guess it is very hard to do all the work to keep a compo like this going. Other than that I tend to like cups more than lev packs. The moments when results are released are always something special, especially WCups. I'm not the very creative guy so I don't have any suggestions to new competitions unfortunately. -= Best lgr in your mind? What lgr do you use? =- I use Highq.lgr. This is in my opinion the best lgr since it has such high usabilty. Nice Textures is also nice, not to mention Pirate.lgr. Pirate I feel has very limited functionality though, even though it is very very nice. Especially in Pirate.lev. -= Mention some good things you have gotten with Across/Elma? =- Lots of friends from many different countries. Better chess knowledge thanks to Stini. Many pleasant experiences. Also I dunno if I would've studied in Trondheim where I'm studying now if it hadn't been for Phillip who I talked quite much with on IRC b4 we finally met when I moved up there. -= Mention some bad things you have gotten from Across/Elma? =- Well, I get some social activities have gone passed me, but not to any large extent. I managed to keep my grades in school during WC4 so I don't think I've lost anything there. Maybe some annoying moments when you've played a lev for a few weeks and still have to play some more. After a while you learn to appreciate this too though :P -= What is the most frustrating thing you have faced in your career? =- To be completely honest I think it was losing to Karlis with 2.25 points in WC4, allthough as I've mentioned b4 this was a clear FM-conspiracy :P It was a rather grim feeling to come third in last even, with Karlis on place b4 me getting exactly enough points to pass me. But hey, there are more WCs to come :P -= The biggest mistake of your Elma career? =- Not playing more in last event of WC4, sleeping is overrated... -= Cheating, what feelings? Do you use level unlocker/1.11hb/1.2 etc? =- Cheating sucks, nothing more to say about that. I don't use the level unlocker as I don't use train levs as such. I've gotten some train levs from other kuskis a few times but I have never used much time on those. When I first do something right I want it to be on real lev. I don't find anything bad in using it though I might add. I use 1.11hb and don't see a problem with that. You get some nice functionality things which I appreciate. 1.2 is just fine too, but I don't have a need for all those new stuff in that upgrade, so I'm still using 1.11hb. -= Elma tuning, have you tested? Opinion about it? =- Vsync unfortunately does have a major effect on gameplay on many levs. First time I really noticed this was when I was driving 24htt together with TorInge. After that I've been changing vsync on my home comp and atm I prefer off. At my parents hourse I still haven't managed to change it though ;/ I don't like this effect tuning has, but I say we learn to live with it instead of fighting against it and hope next version of elma won't hame same type of differences. -= Best kuskis and teams? What are the things you value in another kuski/team? =- When talking about teams there are no way of getting away from FM. This is a great team with great ppl. WNO has some skilled kuskis as well and I have to mention my own current team ICE, where all of us are very skilled imho. I also find all team members to be very nice in general not only with me but with others as well. (Possible exception of Luther, who has a tendency of being a bit rude, at least when drunk ;*) I appreciate people with a sense of humour, who are honest and generally enjoyable. The best kuskis atm I guess is TorInge and zweq. I think the rest of us has a far way to go to catch up with them. -= Your best achievements? =- I'd say 4th position in WC4 and also a few wrs :) -= You are looked upon as the very best pipe player in the elma scene, how do you feel about that? =- I'm very flattered to be considered that. There are many great kuskis out there who also excells at pipe driving and being considered to be the best is really something that makes me proud. I guess I've played pipes a bit much. Pipes are fun, but I beg you, please don't use the form "pie" when talking about pipes, it sounds awful :P -= Do you do any other neat finger-related stuff like playing violin, repairing watches, pick pocketing etc? =- I have twisted fingers. I have total control of the movement of my fingers. For example I can easily bend the outer part of my finger (the part with nail on :P) like 90 degrees when rest of finger is kept straight. I also have very small fingers so I actually use one finger on each arrow button when playing. Left: indexfinger, Right: littlefinger, Up: ringfinger, Down: midfinger. Now you go try... Also I've played a bit on playstation and I certainly liked the "press-buttons-as-a-lunatic-games" like International Track and Field. Always fun to run a 100m dash in less that 8 seconds :) -= How much did you play in your sickest period? How much these days? =- I guess my worst period was during WC4. Then I think I played almost every minute where I wasn't at school, eating, playing football, in the bathroom or sleeping. I could play like 8 hours on a schoolday if I didn't have football trainings, and like 15 hours on weekends. This happened on a few occasions I guess, but normally a few hours less. -= Have you had Elma dreams? =- I know I've had a few, but I don't remember them. Prolly some making new weird styles not possible in real internal levs. (Or slapping Karlis around a bit with a large trout just after WC4 had finished maybe) -= Strengts and weaknesses as a player? What moves you like/dislike? =- I'm stubborn as hell and therefore I think I can call myself a Höylä. I can be able to find some good styles, but I often tend to miss even the most elementary route. I like tricky things usually, but bounces can be somewhat an annoyance. Generally I like levs that are challenging, therefore I claim that I like the challenging moves... I dislike all speed loops (atm) :P -= Tips for average players? =- Don't start by doing the hardest things... I see kuskis with 4.xx on lab pro complaining about how hard the bounce is. Of course it's hard. Imo ppl should get more basic skills b4 trying something hard. What is the point of using all your time making lab pro bounce and get 3.3x when instead you could play other levs get more skills, and drive 3.0x without bounce ;) Also another main point is to play and to play alot. Practise makes the champ. This will give results. -= Best memories with Elma? =- All wrs, especially the first, wc4-event wins and finishing impsy easy all sent shivers down my spine. -= First time at #across? =- The place was really quiet I remember. Noone talked for like ages when I first joined. I can't say I was impressed by all the names though... ;) I've always been rather shy so I didn't speak up either, but after a while when I started making some times here and there ppl started talking to me and that way I got more into the scene. I didn't have a clue wtf (m)IRC was all about and I still dunno much. At least it is fun there :P -= Best Elma friends? =- Teammates of course; TorInge, Stini, Totti, Cloud, MJXII, Luther, also Tantal and Phillip who are studying in same uni as me. The we have all nice ppl in #net_riddle where we like to twist our brains. All norwegian kuskis out there, especially the ppl at NEM; Thanatos, ToTaL, Cubein, and Cfilorvy and I'll have to mention SveinR too. I can also mention old teammates allthough we don't speak so much anymore; J-Sim, Raider, Vandmanden, MIF. I think I can mention most ppl in #across as friends too, you know who you are. -= Thoughts about Elma meetings? =- They are great. I participated on the first NEM (Norwegian Elma Meet) in Sandnes with Thanatos, ToTaL, Cubein and Cfilorvy and it was very fun. Meeting other kuskis irl is really fun. It makes you feel less like a nerd :P It brings something fresh into the scene, makes it more dynamic so to speak. I've also recieved a few phone calls from a few kuskis and even though I hate talking on phone it was a bit fun... Currently I'm studying in Trondheim and here I've had the great pleasure to meet all the (other) current Norwegian WR-holders. Phillip, Tantal and TorInge. I and TorInge did that 24htt thingie together and I must say, after those hours sitting next to him watching him do the most insane things with ease, I've never felt like a worse kuski... At the same time it was really great to see that it is possible to be that good without cheating. It gives me something to reach for. :) -= What do YOU think should be improved in an eventual new version of Elma? =- More statistics at least. If you had asked people playing across what they wanted in a new version in elma I don't thinks they would've answered some of the things they really appreciate in elma compared to across. Like the smoothness wasn't a big option when only across was around (I think) I like to be surprised and I just hope the game will be as great as its predecessor. -= How about battles? =- Even though I'm not very active at #battle most of the time this is something I really appreciate. If you somehow manage to get a bit tired of elma, playing battles always gets you back on the track. I have to admit I do download and try and even finish a few more levels than I tell time on and I know this is not popular, so I'll try to improve myself, but I just have a tendency to want to win and therefore not tell my time if I'm not winning. Btw I whane more Mopobattles!!! =) -= Have you got any negative feedback about playing Elma from your mates? =- The natural teases comes every now and then I guess, but nothing really negative. I guess some people might consider me a weirdo for playing it this much, but where's the fun in being normal? -= What games do you like beside Elma? =- I like Adventure games like The Longest Journey and the Gabriel Knight series. I also like puzzling, so I guess you can tell I like the sort of games that teases the brain. I'm not an fps fan, but I do like some strategy games. Also I like most sport games. -= Did you buy Elma? Why not? =- Hmm, the wording of these questions implies you already knows the first answer so I'll just confirn; no I haven't bought elma :( When I first started play I was very new to internet and buying stuff here and such. Also I'm cheap :P Definately gonna buy new version if it comes though... -= Have you thought about if you could stop playing Elma soon, or anytime? =- I've had periods where I've been dame tired of elma. Usually only have to play some pipes for a while to get back motivation. I don't have any problems staying away from elma in holidays and such so I guess I could've managed without the game, but it is the scene that keep driving me back.(Not that the game doesn't rulse =)) So many nice ppl having this game in common. Many friendships I don't want to lose :) If the scene dies and nothing special happen I guess my interest in elma eventually will die out but in that case I'll always remember the good times this game has given me. -= What gets you still playing Elma? =- Without the great scene I think it would be hard to keep playing elma as long as I have. All the great people who share the same hobby as I do. Also I'm very competetive so these sort of "competitions" are really fun for me. For example, having a wr is something special even though it is in a relatively unknown computer game. -= Are you at the top of your career now? If not, when? =- I'll be on top of my career when I crush Karlis in WC5 :) -= Forecast the future of Elma. How the scene will be in five years? =- Really hard to tell, at least I'll be pwning Karlis in WC6... -= Was it a surprise to be voted for the kuski of month? If it was who should have won in your opinion and why? =- The nominees: skint0r: One of the best level makers ever. Member of one of the best teams in the scene, IC. He has a TT under 42, even though he doesn't play internals much. He is definitely a very skilled player. He has been around for a very long time, he even participated in the first event of WCup 1 >> #across operator, updater of Moposite's Lgr section, arranges the Mopobattles, LOM rater. He has recently made yet another brilliant website where he will publish the skinternals >> LazY: Anyone who has battled against LazY will probably agree with me when I say that he's one of the most skilled players ever. He has the third place in the Mopobattle standings, with 3 event victories. He's not an internal höylä (actually not a höylä at all), but his TT is still 42.xx. If he played more he could no doubt have made himself more noticable in the scene. He has an OLP wr, a Lost Internal record and a good TT, and is ranked high up on the Kinglist. He also won one WCup event and did well overall in the cup. ZeiZei: ZeiZei might not be on the top of his career right now, but his past efforts more than make up for that. He has has many WRs, one on the current table. His TT is under 40, he's doing well on the Kinglist, he has the second best OLP TT in the world and the third best Lost Internals TT. He did quite well in the last World Cup. magicman: Has been around for a long, long time. He finally got his first WR in Bowling some tables ago. He has a good TT (under 43), and he did very well in WCup 4. He ended as the highest ranked Swede with 7th place. He's a very nice guy, and he literally smiles all the time. Jalli: Jalli is most famous for being a pipe king. He has proved time and time again that no one can rival him there. For example he got the award for the best replay in GAA03 with his Impsybility Hard rec. He has had some WRs, currently he has the WR in Flat Track. He improved his TT 3 minutes from 45.5x to 42.5x in very short time some months ago. He won 2 events in the last World Cup and ended as the best Norwegian. He's been doing quite well in Mopobattles. I was very honoured to win against these very nice and skilled kuskis. I can't say I was surprised because I think my piping recs braught me lots of fame and many votes from kuskis who didn't know the others as well. Also since I had just taken Flat Track wr I think that helped. Imho all these kuskis deserve a KOM-award, but you will never hear out of my mouth that I didn't deserve it :P -= Mopolauta, thoughts? =- I'm here all the time. If you checked which comp most times on here during a day I think I would be quite high up there. I tend to read everything, except maybe a few threads that are mostly spammy. A great forum where one can discuss loads of stuff both elma and non-elma. Always something exciting when opening site and finding out that someone has made a post. At least if it is someone who usually write something relevant :P -= Opinions about Elma Crime, MUe's animations and stuff like that. =- Elma Crime is great. So nice initiative to make such a movie and this is what along with all other stuff keeps the scene alive and kicking. Great supplements to a great game. -= What's your favourite Elma website (not moposite)? =- Hard to tell, I don't usually check other sites that often. I used to check Danish site but not that much anymore, but it was, and I guess still is, a great site. Mopocorner is also a very nice page even though I'm rarely there... -= Your relation to OLP? =- Non existant. I've tried all levs but that's it. -= Why that nick, Jalli? =- I was called Jalli when I went to primary school and I guess I had this in my mind when picking nick. My real name is Jarle and Jalli just became a natural nickname. -= Your real life. Do you have it (school/work, other interests etc)? =- Currently studying in Trondheim. First year out of five towards a master of technology, physics and mathematics. I'm into most sports since I generally like competitions. I've also gotten more and more into chess after I got my mind set on beating Stini once during 2004. I managed it roughly 10 days b4 my time limit went out \o/ I also like to hang out with my friends and we play som rpg and play Singstar YEASH¨! -= Write something about the game, fellow kuskis, moposite, #across, etc =- Totti is cute :* -= How did this interview make you feel, like a moviestar? =- It was a bit stressy since I thought it would be done faster than it was. It really takes some time. It did feel a bit like being a celebrity though and all in all it was a fun experience :) -=[16:34:21] jalli: what part of the kuski/bike you watch when youa're piping + and don't you get headache from all that spacing?=- I watch the wheels. Keep them straight, watching head can be a bit hard if you take a look at my recs ;) I don't get headaches either, I find it the most easy way to drive pipes. Besides the recs are much cooler that way... -=[16:51:06] do you put razors in apelz and give them to children?=- No I don't, I only give them to dogs... -=[16:52:56] how much apples do you eat a month?=- This varies quite a lot. One month I can eat 0, one month I can eat 10. In december 2004 I've eaten 1 :P -=[16:55:17] Jalli_ICE is it true you think im idiath?=- Naah, I just think you're a weirdo :) -=[16:58:28] Have you ever sneezed in the middle of a great run, so that it destroyed the possibilities for a record, and ruined the run?=-a Well no I haven't. But I think I have finished impsy hard with a sneeze around apple 18, slow run :P -=[17:23:51] when did you know you could be something in this game?=- The moment I saw that some records was possible and I started beating them. I'm generally competetive as said a few times above and as usual I wanted to be best and kept on getting better and better. -=[21:20:15] jalli, whats your opinion on modern day pornography?=- Antz explained this nice: [21:20:59] old is big bushes and black-n-white [21:21:07] ugly fatty chicks [21:21:13] i prefer modern myself -=[21:24:40] your favorite type of alpine sking and why?=- I like slalom cuz the gates are funnier than in other kinds, sach wobbly... =) -=[21:25:38] do you think i will ever get to write a kom interview?=- Since the new three years rule came... No :P -=[21:26:37] in which sport do you think females have the most attractive bodies and of course men=- Hmm, hard question. I think I'll have to say water polo for females since I've only seen two girls who played water polo and they were hot as hell. Nice percentage there... For men I really dunno. Edit: Forgit to mention Volleyball for females here :P -=[21:27:44] did you watch julblocken, your opinions on it if you did?=- I did nat -=[21:28:20] your favorite brand of laundry powder=- Omo color -=[21:28:46] what tv character do you feel you can most relate to and why?=- My first thought was Al Bundy but then I started thinking and realized that that is something he doesn't do alot of... I find myself to be a mixture of stereotypes in which you often find on tv. Therefore I don't think there is one single tv-character I can relate myself to beyond a certain extent. -=[21:32:11] "why do u love totti?"=- Totti is cute :* Jalli 1st January 2005