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Tweaker

From Sonic Retro

Revision as of 20:43, 2 September 2010 by Tweaker (talk | contribs)

<forumuser name="Tweaker" /> Tweaker is a rather controversial, yet generally well-liked member of the Sonic scene. Administrator on Sonic Retro, as well as a frequenter of other popular sites within the scene, Tweaker is an experienced reverse-engineer of the Sonic the Hedgehog games for the Sega Genesis. Ringleader of Team Megamix and a very active member of the scene, he is sometimes known to have very vocal opinions regarding certain manners, but strives to encourage a positive attitude amongst the scene regardless of subsubstantive being a faggot.

He has done a lot to increase understanding of the music code in Sonic games. This includes games such as Sonic 1, Sonic 2, Sonic 3, the prototype Sonic Crackers and others, such as Knuckles' Chaotix, and any other Sega Genesis game that uses the SMPS music engine.

History

Tweaker first joined the Sonic Community in November of 2003 as a lurker and newbie at the age of 13. He was introduced to the "Sonic secrets" aspect of the Sonic fandom through a rather generic, but comprehensive website called Sonic United. From there, he learned about Hidden Palace Zone and other scrapped Sonic 2 levels, which instantly triggered his interest in the scene. The mere idea of tons of leftover content existing in the Sonic games he had played for years was amazing, and he wanted to know more.

Humble Beginnings

Tweaker's first introduction to a Sonic scene message board was on Sonic CulT in February of 2004, under the username supershadow342. He had initially only posted once or twice at the CulT to gain validation; once he did, he spent the majority of his time reading the forums and trying to get a feel of the board. It was not until July of 2004 that he decided to get involved in the scene at large, where he posted his first ever ROM hacking attempt at the CulT, getting a resounding total of zero replies.

Branching Off

Deciding that it was time to branch out, Tweaker then decided to join Simon Wai's Sonic 2 Beta, where he made completely useless, horribly laid out posts that did little more than interrupt legitimate conversation around him. Once he used up his 20 trial posts, he was forced into Pending Approval. No longer able to post, he joined the SSRG in August of 2004, where he would occasionally post, but primary absorb the plethora of hacking knowledge exchanged amongst various forum members. Sceners like Rika Chou, Sonic Kid, and StephenUK would collaborate with him and help him obtain vital knowledge of the Sonic engine that would help him in the future.

In September of 2004, he would join Sonic Classic and the Invision Power Board incarnation of Area 51. This would be his first introduction to the "fluff" portion of the scene. However, Tweaker had foolishly come in contact with someone who claimed to have a "Sonic 2 Alpha" over AOL Instant Messenger, and enthusiastically posted the resulting log on both boards. Although it damaged his credibility, sceners like Nayr T'nargh sympathized, recalling their own similar experiences and providing him with encouragement. He would occasionally post on both boards, though not frequently, from then on.

Back to SWS2B

In January of 2005, Tweaker took it upon himself to re-register on SWS2B with his new alias, Tweaker. He acquired the name from Sonic Tweaker, a program by drx, which was on his desktop at the time. At this point, he was very careful not to make any ties to his former identity, constantly using a proxy and making smart use of his posts. At this time, ICEknight had revealed that the desert level mockup in a magazine article related to Sonic 2 was not called "Dust Hill Zone," as many people had thought, but instead "Sabaku" or Desert Zone. He used many of his trial posts participating in this conversation, as well as to post the earliest version of Sonic 2 Megamix, called "Sonic 2 Remix" at the time. He became a full member within a few days' time, sealing his place as an accepted member of the scene.

While it was eventually revealed that Tweaker was a PA dodger, Simon Wai decided to grant an exception. Tweaker would then spend his time on SWS2B participating in the board as a whole, and making various breakthroughs in the SMPS engine, thanks in part to saxman for initially helping him understand the engine. At this time, however (as with a majority of the board), Tweaker appeared as a jackass to many people, incorporating various obnoxious memes into his posts in order to gain acceptance by fellow members. As a result, he got into conflicts with many members such as Stealth, who Tweaker had betrayed on more than one occasion for the sake of public acceptance.

During this time, Tweaker also had a short stint as a staff member on Sonic CulT. This did not last very long, however, as inexperience with the board culture lead to conflict among many of the established members of the website. This forever marred his reputation amongst members such as Sazpaimon and Borisz, leading to jokes such as "tweaker pinned a gay topic" and various joke bans.

Adminship

In September of 2006, Tweaker was chosen as one of the new co-admins for The Sonic 2 Beta Page by LocalH, following Simon's departure. This decision was met with massive controversy due to his ideas as to what the board should be like, in contrast to what other board members wanted the boards to be like. Various bouts of drama ensued following his inception as an admin, including tension which eventually lead to the creation of The Glowing Bridge and S2B Topic 9093.

Following these incidents and the board split, Tweaker stayed on as admin, slowly shaping the board culture to accommodate ROM hackers and technical discussion, rather than the off-topic and meme-centric culture which had plagued the board beforehand. This was met with mixed views, and eventually lead to a second board cleanout, but it seemed that the level of board drama went down significantly afterwards.

During this time, Tweaker became a staff member on The Sonic Stadium and SSRG; he would later resign from both positions.

Getting Classy

In September of 2007, Tweaker and Scarred Sun would have various conversations over AIM about the parallels between S2Beta and Sonic Retro; this eventually lead to the merging of the two sites into one, with the established board complementing the established wiki. This decision, along with many others, brings the site to its present day state.

Today

File:TweakerPic.jpg
Tweaker's amazing figure. You know you want it. You were born to want it.

These days, Tweaker continues his focus on Sonic Retro and all related aspects. He has recently contributed music towards Sonic Boom, continues work on Sonic Megamix, is frequently featured on the Sonic Retro Podcast, and can often be found in community Skype conferences hosted by InstantSonic and Katzu Niku. He also works on musical productions--both covers and original compositions--and enjoys playing the keyboard in his spare time.

Contrary to popular belief, Tweaker is very open to having a chat every once in a while with new bright and shining faces. In fact, you should give him a ring sometime! He's probably in the Sonic Retro IRC channel. Why aren't you in there? >:(

Projects

Community Status

Former Status

Aliases

Tweaker has been known by many names over the years. Such names include the following:

  • Nibesto
  • SonicTweaker
  • DJ Tweakster
  • supershadow342
  • Dirty Justice

External Links