20 Questions with Jay "Multiviper" Young

[+Fates 63]

20 questions with…

 

Jay “Multiviper” Young of Multiviper.com, arguably the largest Falcon 4.0: Allied Force multiplayer server on the web.

 

www.Multiviper.com

 

 

1. Why the callsign Multiviper? What’s the significance?

 

The callsign was originally going to be the name of the server since the F-16 is called a Viper and there was going to be multiple players on the site, I came up with “Multiviper’s Server” and somehow I morphed into the callsign. It’s all Good. 

 

2. Is F4AF the only flight sim you play or are interested in?

 

Right now yes, F4AF is the only simulation I play. If and when Lead Pursuit releases another sim, I am sure I will be playing that as well and I will have a dedicated server for it.

 

3. What drew you to creating a site like MVS? Why invest so much time and effort?

 

I bought my first computer back in the early nineties, just to play flight simulations, and Falcon 3.0 was my favorite out of all the ones available back then. I dreamed of the day that a sim would have stable multiplayer capabilities, like Lead Pursuit has done with F4AF, and with the same level of complexity that F4AF has.

 

4. Tell us about what you do in the real world. I understand that playing games and sims is not just your hobby…

 

I am an Oracle Database Administrator as my day-to-day “real” job, so I guess you could say that I use computers for both work and play.

 

5. As most F4AF pilots know, you can fly more than just the F-16 in F4AF, albeit with some limitations… What is your favorite aircraft to fly, and why?

 

I don’t really have a favorite aircraft, but I do enjoy flying the F-16 the most in F4AF just because it has the correct cockpit modeled in the game. I like the immersion of it. I just don’t feel like I am flying another aircraft type unless I am looking at its own 2D cockpit model and 3D cockpit model. It’s a suspension of disbelief thing.

 

6. Do real men wear pink, or is that just a myth?

 

Myth. Real men wear chartreuse…

7. When doing missions on the Multiviper server, do you have any favorite mission type, or any mission preference at all?

 

I like the ground-pounding, of course, air-to-air is also great, but I would rather be in low dropping bombs on the enemy. It seems more intense than waiting to dodge a missile from 20 miles out. Close up A2A is great also. I like the close-in knife fights.

 

8. When version 1.06 of F4AF was proven unstable for multiplayer, LP quickly had a fixed version of the game .exe available for open testing on your site. For quite a while, Multiviper.com was the only server that had it, and so you were the only game in town, so to speak. What is the relationship between Multiviper.com and Lead Pursuit, if any?

 

I run a public F4AF server. It is not private. All are welcome and invited to fly online here. This, and the fact that we are so well known in the F4AF community, is why we received the beta .exe. The relationship between Multiviper.com and Lead Pursuit is you guys, the pilots that fly their simulation… Plus they know they can get on the Multiviper TeamSpeak server at anytime, and get real feedback from the pilots on the server about any issues, or any in game bugs.

 

9. Is Multiviper.com around to stay, or are you one of the many multiplayer sites that come and go quickly?

 

Well, Multiviper.com has been around for over a year now, and I have no plans to take down the site. I think the reason behind the success of the server has been the 24/7, have fun and enjoy yourself, approach that we take at Multiviper.com. Not to mention the wealth of knowledge that a lot of the pilots have to impart to newer, greener pilots, and their willingness to help out the new guys and get them up in the sky and having fun in as little time as possible.

 

10. You’ve had problems with TeamSpeak hackers in the past… Have you had similar issues with the actual F4AF server and/or the Multiviper web site? What steps, if any, have you made to thwart these kinds of disturbances?

 

I can’t do much about the TeamSpeak hackers except to warn my Server Admin’s not to grant (SA) rights to anyone without prior authorization, or to grant any weird or extraordinary request from unregistered or registered users. The Multiviper.com web server had some weird happenings once, but since then I have beefed-up the firewall and virus protection. It would be a lie to say it was 100% secure, but if someone were to hack into the server, it would not take more than a day or so to get it back up and running again, as it is a dedicated F4AF server with backup imaging and recovery processes, and with no secret government documents on it whatsoever.

 

11. What does it take to fly on the Multiviper.com server? Is there an admissions process as there is on many other sites? Do you need to demonstrate any particular skill level? Is there some type of military style hierarchy or chain of command?

 

It’s easy to sign up at Multiviper.com. You do not need any particular skill level to fly on the Multiviper.com server, the only things that are required are a good broadband internet connection capable of sustaining a minimum of 128k on the upstream (with TeamSpeak working, so figure a minimum of 160k) and 256k minimum downstream speed (approximately 300k with TeamSpeak), reading the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) which is posted on the Multiviper.com web site, and signing up on the TeamSpeak server. Voice communications are a must have for Falcon, and TeamSpeak is required on the Multiviper.com server. If you can meet those requirements, then you’re in. We do not have a military-style chain of command, Multiviper.com is about having a good time and enjoying yourself flying with others. Basically, anyone should be able to jump right in and fly at just about any time, regardless of skill level.

 

12. Rate your skills. Would you characterize yourself as a good F4AF pilot? Who on the Multiviper site that you have flown with, impressed you the most with their skills, besides me naturally <flick, flick>? We understand that this is subjective of course, but let’s put their callsign in lights anyway…

 

I am happy enough with my skills when I don’t hit the ground… I would say that I get better every day at flying the sim, and that is what intrigues me the most about F4AF. I learn something new every time I fly, and that is a Good Thing™.

There are several excellent pilots that I fly with on the server. To name a few there… Kidvicious, MVS-Viper, Chandawg, Rainmaker, Gas, you (MVS-Skater), MVS-Khronik, OzCougar, Langy, MVS-Laugher, Rocky, VIP, Red Rover, JPClark, BlackAngel, Wicked, Panther, Teej, Shabo, Passive, Evil Koala, Blaze, Ricardo, and countless others… Sorry if I forgot anyone’s name, but there really is just a huge wealth of excellent, talented pilots on the Multiviper.com server.

 

13. What is the most challenging thing to do in multiplayer F4AF right now?

 

Surviving!!! There is an all-out Sea/Air/Land war going on and it’s up to you and the other guys on the server (with a little help from the AI) to stop the enemy from advancing. But I would really say that multiplayer dog-fighting is hard as hell to get proficient at.

 

14. Are children welcome on the Multiviper.com server? What’s the recommended age for pilots there?

 

That’s a tough question... Depends on the kid. I can’t control the language or the content and context of what is said on the Multiviper TeamSpeak server, so the kid would have to be old enough to deal with that aspect and be mature enough to be able to handle it. Other than that we really do not impose any age restrictions on our users.

 

15. Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the Communist Party?

 

No. I can honestly say that I have never worked for an oil company. 

 

16. What is your stand on the F4AF mods issue? Are you for opening up F4AF to open community modding, as in the original Falcon 4.0 release, or are you in favor of LP’s approach of having modder’s submit their works for approval and inclusion? Which model so you think is the better approach?

 

I think LP’s approach to this issue is the correct response for the overall good of the community. When flying multiplayer, we all need to be on the same page so to speak… If we have 12 people on the server with 12 different installs, bad things are bound to happen.

17. What’s next for the Multiviper site? Do you now support other games and sims, or do you have plans to support other games/sims in the future?

 

It would have to be a great simulation… It would have to live up to Falcon’s gold standard of excellence in order to be considered. There are not too many sims out there that can be measured favorably against that yardstick.

 

18. How big is the Multiviper site? How many registered users do you have, and what is the most F4AF pilots you’ve had online at once?

 

We currently have over 1600 registered users on the web site, and over 900 registered users on the TeamSpeak server. The biggest package I believe we have put together is a 24-ship package. It crashed the server pretty quick, and we had to pair off into smaller packages, but that was early on, with version 1.03 or 1.04. I think with the updates LP has done, and especially now with version 1.07, it might well be time to try this again sometime soon and go for the 32-ship gorilla package. I know we have maxed out the (50) slots available on the TeamSpeak server quite a few times, so a 32-ship package is a definite possibility, IF F4AF can handle it. But generally there are around 10 to 20 pilots on the TeamSpeak server at any given time.

 

19. Tell about a particularly fun or exciting mission you had on the Multiviper server…

 

It would have to be the first 12-ship package we ever flew on the server. There was nothing particularly outstanding about the mission itself, but just the fact that we had that many people flying together trying to complete a common goal… Strike the target, and make it home alive. That made it one of the coolest and most memorable mission, despite the fact that we routinely fly packages of 16 ships or more now.

 

20. What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?

 

Google it baby!!!

 

That’s it! You’ve successfully survived 20 Questions With! Thanks a bunch for your time Multi.

 

No problem dude, any time.

 

 

Well, we hope you’ve enjoyed the first installment of 20 Questions With Multiviper, and we hope you’ll join us again for the next installment coming to CombatAce.com soon.

 

If you like to see someone in the Sim Community or run the gauntlet on 20 Questions With, or if you’d like to submit a question that you’d like answered on 20 Questions With, drop me a line and we’ll try to make it happen for you here at CombatAce.com

 

Ed “Skater” Lynch

skater@combatace.com