First pick in the 2015 draft Gern. The Gern44 Interview

[Padreman]

Another Modding Genius in the forum. Member since 2009 has been thanked over 1,200 times here he is Gern44


When and what version did you start playing OOTP?

I actually started coming to the forums before I ever purchased OOTP. The first version I bought was OOTP X. I played the demo for 9 prior to that however. The community got my hooked long before the game ever did.

What's feature of the game you love most?

That would definitely be the team customization,primarily through the ability to create custom logos and jerseys. The ability to customize entire Leagues worth of teams to your liking gives the game an amazing level of immersion.

The first time you see the players in your jerseys with your logo pasted on the team page, it really triggers something inside that says"this is MY team". Really, its all about the level of customization. Any game that lets you create a Facial Hair Mod (thanks Bobble!) is clearly all about the modding.

What's favorite baseball team (any league)?

> I'm born and raised around Boston... I've a card carrying member of Red Sox nation since around 1975. I can't imagine ever moving and rooting for any other team.

How old you?

44. Which is not the 44 in my tag name. THAT 44 is a tribute to the Diesel, John Riggins.

To digress from the original question, I'm a football fan first and foremost, and as such, I'm a Patriots fan. When I was a kid, the Pats stunk. The 80's and early 90's were a mess. Even the first Pats Super Bowl in '85 was a disaster. So I latched on to a 'good'team... in the other conference... the Redskins.

Where are you originally from?

Raised in Winthrop Mass... The only town from where you can watch the sun set behind Boston.

Are you a family man?

Yup. Wife, 7 year old son, 6 year old daughter and a pair of 8 year old lapdogs. Oh, and some really ugly fish.

What do you for a living?

By trade, I'm a Senior Windows Systems Administrator/Engineer.

Besides OOTP do you have any other hobbies or interest?

I spend my Sundays glued to the TV watching football. If I could have any job, I'd be a Football Coach. Not a head coach,but an offensive or defensive coordinator. I still love studying the nuances of Buddy Ryan’s 46 defense.

I do like to play some video games. I used to love Madden (I have Madden 10), butman does it stink now. I still play NFL2K5 on my 360 from time to time. Ilike MMO's and play Guild Wars 2 mostly now and am looking forward to Elder Scrolls online. I play League of Legends from time to time but very casually, as I pretty much stink and I hate all the rage. I think I've sunk probably too much of my free time into Path of Exile which is Free on steam.

Your known as a modder or creator; what was the first you made for OOTP and do you still have it?

I'm not sure I'm a modder. I think I'm just a logo and jersey creator. I started with logos and they were bad. Ugly. Really ugly. But fortunately I got better. Mostly because I learned how to use Photoshop Elements. I played around making some cool graphics signatures. Googling "signature tutorial" became a daily thing for me. More than creating logos, I learned how to clean up logos for people to use in OOTP. I think that is probably the most useful aspect of what I’ve learned to do.

I evolved from logos to jerseys pretty slowly. There has always been demand for jerseys, so I gave it a shot. My first ones were horrid... but people seemed to like them better than the default ones, so I kept at it. I'll hit on the Jerseys morein the next question.

What individual item or project you made for OOTP are you most proud off?

The jerseys template that I've been able to develop. It's pretty hacked up, but I think most people can find something useful in it. It started from a collection of templates I downloaded courtesy of Deft, NoPepper and Reds1 to name a few. If you've seen any of my jerseys, you've seen the much too short contributions tag at the top. Those guys deserve so much credit. I can't tell you how many times I've gone back to their work for something, even now I often hit up Justafan or Davwms for help cleaning up or creating something.

And now I'm gonna ramble on a bit.

I think the evolution of the jersey design is verycool. The first thing I found that allmine required was the jersey shading layer that gives the jersey the wrinkle sand the shadows. There are many versions now, but I think the one I like best and use came from Davwms. I'm not sure if he made it, or found it or what, but its great. There are a lot of great tweaks that have been developed over time... the collar shadow and shading and the jersey piping for example.

I wish I could recall who it was that started the 'shortsleeve' trend, but I now consider that the 'norm'. To me, this was the second big leap (after the wrinkles/shading) that really improved upon the looks of all the jerseys. And I've always been found of the 'shadow' that I was able to create that shows under the end of the shortsleeve. It’s such a small thing, but tome, it adds a lot.

During the creation of a couple of jerseys, I accidently moved a couple layers the wrong way, and hit upon the idea for the 'under arm shading' layers that I consider a 'must' for all my jerseys. I think this is really the 3rd and last'requirement' of all my jerseys.

If the OOTP team asked you be a consultant what will you change, add or remove for new version of the game?
I'd love to have the ability to use code to add Jersey Numbers to the front of the jerseys. I'm sure it wouldn't be easy, but given what can be done with the Player Cards, it certainly seems like a feature that could be added.

What other modder's work do you personally enjoy?

How can I answer this without omitting someone?? I can't. But I have to give credit to those I can remember. Justafan and Davwms put together some beautiful work. Silvam has an amazing volume of jerseys and logos. There are so many guys I don't see around anymore, like Athletics and Reds1... and so many new guys helping out and learning.

The best part is that there as so many different takes one on everything. Everyone has a different way of making logos and jerseys, so almost all the requests you see posted in the forums now are answered by someone,which is great to see.

Is there any other game or show your currently enjoying you would like to let us know about?
I already rambled on about that above, so I Won't bore you again.

[TribeFanInNC]

Thanks for your contributions in making everyone's individual OOTP experience better!

[eriqjaffe]

Originally Posted by Padreman

Even the first Pats Super Bowl in '85 was a disaster.

I respectfully disagree.

[Gern44]

Originally Posted by eriqjaffe

I respectfully disagree.

It's all about perspective.

I remember watching the Bears smother the Rams and Cowboys in those 85 playoffs. Singletary vs Dickerson especially was amazing.

[The Game]

Nice to see a Buddy Ryan fan, wish his kids were even half as good as he was.