In May 2006 I was interviewed for a website called minddrain.org, which now appears to have vanished from the internet so I have recreated the interview below.
Minddrain: Tell us a bit about yourself. It doesn't have to be too
personal, just the fundamentals.
Dom: I'm currently an 18 year old student from Manchester in the UK.
My hobbies (other than playing videogames) include Films (both
domestic and foreign) and I listen to a lot of stand-up comedy. I run
a website called System Crash and you may also find me hanging out on
the GameFAQs and High Impact Halo forums.
Minddrain: We all know that Dom Dunc is a shortened version of your
real name, but how did that name come to be?
Dom: My full name is Dominic Duncombe, which is a bit of a mouthful
and I don't particularly like hearing it, so I always introduce myself
as Dom. So when I first got into using the internet on a regular basis
in the late 90s I tried to think of a name that was cool and easy to
remember and just came out with this shortened nickname. Strangely,
since I use Dom Dunc in my email address and MSN screenname, that
nickname has crossed over into my normal life and is used occasionally
by my friends.
Minddrain: What was your first experience with videogames and what
game(s) caused you to become a gamer?
Dom: My first memories of videogames are of playing on my elder
brother's ZX Spectrum (a cheap British PC from the 80s) but those are
so vague that it's hard to say if I really enjoyed it too much. The
thing that really sticks in my mind as what caused me to become a
gamer was when I received a SNES for Christmas one year. It was games
like Earthworm Jim, Donkey Kong Country and of course the Super Mario
Bros. series that cemented a love of video games (and platformers in
particular) in my mind. In fact, I have a SNES hooked up to my TV
right now with a copy of Donkey Kong Country 2 in the cartridge slot.
Minddrain: What was your first exposure to tricks and glitches?
Dom: Well my brothers and I had always used cheats and codes we found
in gaming magazines or heard off friends, but I think it was probably
when I first fell accidentally through the castle tower in Super Mario
64 in 1997 and ended up behind the front door that was the first time
I'd discovered something that was really cool in a game that I hadn't
been told how to do. Many years later, I began dabbling in game
programming and became re-interested in glitches and found David
Wonn's fantastic site (at that point already defunct).
Minddrain: Out of all of the tricks and glitches you have performed,
which one is your favorite and why?
Dom: Of the glitches I've had a hand in I'd probably put The Chuck-ya
glitch and the Dry-Pipe glitch in SM64 on a level pegging. The reason
being, as I stated before, that I got into glitching through a
hobbyist interest in programming, and these two glitches really expose
how the game is programmed and basically allow you to mess with the
programming until you get the result you want. It's a little hard to
explain but I love any glitch that gives you GameShark-like abilities
with no modification.
As for glitches I wasn't involved with I'd say the Mew glitch in
Pokemon Red/Blue and the glitch in GTA: San Andreas that allows you to
visit any interior in the game (including the ones that were cut out)
for the same reasons.
Minddrain: At what point did you think of creating System Crash and
what kind of experience has having a website been?
Dom: My original idea for System Crash was to replace David Wonn's
dead website as a one-stop-shop for tricks and glitches for any
game/system because I thought that if I was interested in this stuff
(and Wonn's site had millions of hits) then there's obviously a demand
for websites like System Crash. Running the website has been a great
experience, I've made several online friends and I've learnt a lot of
useful skills involving video capture and editing. When I started the
site I vowed that I would shut the site down if it became too much
like a job for me, and the fact that it's still there shows that it
remains a fun past-time for me.
Minddrain: Obviously your most recognized example of glitching was
when you found the 16 star glitch in Super Mario 64. Were your
surprised by all of the attention you got from it?
Dom: Since I'm not sure how many people are aware of the full story
behind the 16 star completion I'll take this opportunity to set the
record straight: The backwards longjump glitch that allows you to
bypass the infinite stairs was found by a GameFAQs member called
Gera2000 in an old Mexican gaming magazine. The trick was then applied
to the 50 star door by Brightguy, and then I included the MIPS glitch
to bring the total needed down to 16. As for the attention, I was
quite surprised, I knew it would be interesting to a small circle of
fans but when links started popping up on sites that had nothing to do
with SM64 I was a little shocked. I think it was the inclusion of a
video to show sceptics that it could be done and wasn't just some kid
yanking their chain that lead to it spreading as far and as fast as it
did.
Minddrain: Discovering the 16 star glitch had a huge effect on the
speed running community. What do you feel about speed running and how
do you feel about your contribution to it?
Dom: Speed running is part of a group of hobbies that I call
meta-gaming, which includes any playing of a game in a way other than
the way in which it was intended. So I feel a certain amount of
camaraderie with the speed-running community and I feel a proud when I
see one of my glitches used in a video. However for me, the coolness
of a glitch outweighs its usefulness for speed.
Minddrain: While playing a game are you actively searching for
glitches or do you just take them as they come?
Dom: It all depends on my mood at the time, when I play multiplayer
with my friends I obviously play the game in a normal way but when I'm
playing on my own it'll depend on whether I feel like a little light
entertainment or if I feel like getting down to some hard work
(looking for glitches can often be quite difficult and repetitive).
Usually when I get a new game I won't look for glitches until I've
completed it at least once and got as much enjoyment out of it in the
normal way as I can.
Minddrain: What advice do you have to offer to someone that is looking
for glitches and trying to do tricks in videogames but is having
trouble?
Dom: OK, first make sure that you've played through the game a couple
of times, then do some research on the net to see what tricks and
glitches are already out there for that game, and try to understand
how the glitches work from a programming perspective. Your goal here
is to get to know how the game works inside out so you know what will
happen to the engine even before you try something. This will save you
a lot of time chasing false leads. Also good practice is to read up on
existing glitches and try to either extend them or see if they can be
applied at a different point in the game.
Minddrain: Is there any other random commentary you would like to add?
Dom: Yes, I would like to thank Scott 'sdkess' Kessler of
vortiginous.com for generously hosting all my glitch videos, and I
would like to wish you luck with this site, I hope you have a lot of
fun and much success.