Lazy Bastard: Among many other things, you co-hacked the Final Fantasy VII Debug Room code with CzarDragon, which changed video game hacking forever. What was your inspiration for this?
RPGod: Heh, I remember this, I had JUST gotten my GameShark Pro, and I was playing around with some codes. I remember seeing CzarDragon's room modifier code on the Official Gameshark Message Boards. At this point, I still strongly thought that maybe a reviving Aerith scene was very much intended to be in the game, and so I decided to go through every room in the game to see if anything was left behind on the disc. I came across the now famous debug room, and was really excited.
I spent about 45 minutes just exploring it and thought it was pretty neat. I came back on to the forums, and posted it, but I had NO idea it would become as big as it did. I remember some of the biggest gaming sites posting about us. The GIA had nothing but praise, IGN called it hacker vandalism. It was pretty awesome.
Lazy Bastard: You were one of the founding members of GSHI (in fact, you were the only member besides Lazy Bastard...er, me...in the beginning). What do you think precipitated the need for a place like GSHI back then?
RPGod: I think we just wanted a place we could hang out and talk, without the bullshit of the official forums. The GSHI was OUR place, and WE made the rules.
Lazy Bastard: What is your favorite code/hack that you hacked?
RPGod: Hmmm, probably the Debug Room for FF7, just cos it was the first big thing I was a part of hacking. It really started something, back then.
Lazy Bastard: What is your favorite code/hack of all time?
RPGod: That's a tough one. I remember back in the day, there were so many cool codes that I loved. But I think the most recent one would be for the PC version of Final Fantasy 7. I don't know if this really counts, but these guys found a way to modify the files for the game so that it would replace the field models with the battle models, so we get much more detailed models in events and such. They have gone so far as to rip cloud from crisis core, and insert in into Final Fantasy 7 PC. Kinda neat!
My second favourite was the debug menu for Final Fantasy Tactics. It was just really really cool.
Lazy Bastard: Who would you say influenced you the most in the video game hacking scene? Who did you 'look up to' when you first entered the scene? (doesn't have to be the same person for both)
RPGod: I don't know if I had any influences going in. I have just always loved seeing and doing things in games that we are not supposed to see/do. When the GameShark Pro came out, it gave me an opportunity to do just that.
Lazy Bastard: What was your first code/hack?
RPGod: I'm not sure if it was the very first, but it's the first I remember. It was in 1993, and it was for the NES. I had an old Game Genie, and I used to just write random sentences with the letters available, and then see if they did anything. Usually it was inappropriate language and things like that.
The Game was The Muppet Adventure, and the code was "IAGAYT" and the code would let you go straight to the last level. Kind of random, but cool nonetheless.
Lazy Bastard: What do you think is the most difficult type of code/hack to hack, and why?
RPGod: The really cool ones. Anyone can do unlimited lives, unlimited health, unlimited time/arrows/bombs, etc etc etc. But ones that do truly cool things always seem to be much harder.
Lazy Bastard: What is your favorite type of code/hack?
RPGod: Same as the last one. Really unique ones, or ones that let you do and see things you are not supposed to.
Lazy Bastard: What is your least favorite aspect of hacking?
RPGod: Heh, when I'd be working on hacking something, and then it would crash, and I'd lose all my progress. That always sucked!
Lazy Bastard: What do you like least about the hacking scene?
RPGod: I don't know if I can comment on this one, as I have been out of the scene for a long long time.
Lazy Bastard: Which game did you find the most fun to hack, and why?
RPGod: I always loved messing around with Final Fantasy Tactics. There was just so much to it, plus it's one of my all time favourite games.
Lazy Bastard: Did you ever hack an awesome code, or find an address in memory that would've yielded an awesome code, but then lost it somehow?
RPGod: Yeah many many many many many many many many times. I was always too lazy to write things down, and I'd say "Oh man, there's no way my playstation will crash, I'll be fine dude!" and then...... crash! It always seemed to happen.
Lazy Bastard: What was the most difficult, 'hair-pulling' hack you've ever accomplished?
RPGod: I remember when I finally got a no battles code for Xenogears. That was so damn hard to find! I don't remember how I finally did it, but it was really weird.
Lazy Bastard: Was there ever a code you just couldn't get to work quite correctly (something you hacked/attempted to hack)?
RPGod: I was trying to make a code for Castlevania SoTN that would make it so bosses would be available to fight over and over, but it never really worked.
The other big one was Kartia. I loved that game. I found "debug menu", in a string of hex in the game's menu system, and I tried long and hard to figure out how to access it, but never managed to figure it out.
Lazy Bastard: Aside from hacking and gaming, how do you like to spend your time?
RPGod: I don't hack games anymore, but I still love playing games. I write music, and play guitar bass and I'm learning drums. I love playing pool and going bowling with my friends. I spend a lot of time at the gym, and I love rock climbing.
Lazy Bastard: What do you think must happen for the video game hacking scene to continue to thrive?
RPGod: I don't hack anymore, but I'd have to say, we need hacking devices on the newer platforms. That's the only way, I think. There will always be a scene for the old consoles, but we would need to see it on the new ones as well.
Lazy Bastard: One last question: if you had one thing to say to current, aspiring, and future hackers, what would it be?
RPGod: Hacking was something I loved doing, and although I don't do it anymore, it was a lot of fun, and I met some really cool people. Keep doing what you love to do, and you never know what you may hack.