Five years ago, Halloween shifted from the pale shadow of a commercial holiday from my youth to one of the most defining moments of my life - ranking up there with my marriage and the birth of my son. The reason? Natural Selection.

Sure, in itself the release of a Half-Life mod isn't anywhere near as important as my wedding day or my son's birth, but factor in long-term effects and suddenly it's right on par. By way of NS, I met a guy by the name of Ken Banks, who teamed up with me as one of the first members of Nightwatch. A man by the name of Jim Hughes, then of Raven Software, noticed Ken's NW and NS work and snapped him up for Quake 4. When another opening cropped up, it was Ken who got me on the shortlist, and I joined Raven a few short months later. I've lived in Wisconsin and Texas, I'm on my third major title (fourth if you fudge the numbers with an unannounced prototype while at Raven), and had the opportunity to meet and work with an incredible cross-section of industry talent. All spawned by the simple act of building one map.

Would I have made it as a professional level designer without Natural Selection? Quite possibly. There's no question, though, that I'd have gone without the opportunities and experiences that have followed in the five years since, and for that I owe Charlie, everyone else involved with NS, and every person who played it a huge thanks.