Hi, I'm Garry Newman - creator of Garry's Mod - AMA!

Why Garry's Mod? It's essentially the most generic title possible. It's like if George Lucas had called Star Wars "George's Movie."

I know. It's terrible. It happened on accident really - because I didn't expect it to become a big thing.

I guess it has the advantage of lowering everyone's expectations.

If you could give it a different title, what would it be?

sandbox or something

Years ago, on the first iteration of GMod that had Lua, I started a server one morning before school and I was testing the "Hide & Seek" gamemode, looking what it was like. Well apparently the server was referred to the public master server list, because you joined it ("garry :D" with the Facepunch image on the scoreboard). You said "Hi", I said "Hi", and we started playing. Thing is, I had to eventually go to school and I shut down the server without saying anything. I felt like an ass. Even though I've talked to you more after that, on GTalk and on WAYWO, I never did apologize for that. So sorry?

I remember. I'm still angry.

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Hah! There aren't any rules. Valve are like, here's the code to the engine, here's the source to all the maps and models. Have fun!

The only real rules are common sense rules.. like don't give the source code out. Valve are really really cool. They're always willing to help, but they mostly get out of the way.

I'm sure if I was playing with anyone else's IP there'd be a bunch of rules like - don't make this character look stupid etc. But they understand it all.

How do you feel about Valve's current lack of support towards modding, considering the current SDK base is from an engine branch over 6 years old?

It's kind of weird. But people started moaning the same about the HL1 SDK right before HL2 was released. So maybe something big is coming.

What do you plan to do outside of Garry's Mod?

It's hard.

I always want to do things outside of Garry's Mod.. but I always get sucked back in. It's making that much money, and that many people are playing it - that I'd feel like I wasn't doing my job if I wasn't working on it.

We started staffing up our office this year. So we're experimenting with other game ideas. We're trying not to aim too big though - I don't want to make AAA games. So we're hoping to find a nice indie mid level game to work on.

What is your favourite part of having created something so successful such as Garry's Mod?

"The most rewarding part was when I got my money"

How did Garry's Mod come to become a product as opposed to freeware?

I was talking to Valve and they asked me if I wanted to sell it on Steam. I laughed and said no "who would buy it!?". Then a couple of months later they said something like "you should really think about selling it". So I said - yeah fuck it - why not. It was an excuse to re-code it from scratch - that swung it for me.

Proof and account checks out. What feature/part of Garry's mod are you most proud of? The Physics? The ridiculous amount of highly successful gamemodes? Do you have a favorite gamemode? Edit: Additionally, what is your opinion of virtual reality such as the Occulus Rift?

We haven't got our rift yet. It should be coming out in the next batch. From what I understand it's stunning - but low res. I can't say anything other than that yet other than I'm really looking forward to it.

It's weird but I'm most proud of the community, the addons and gamemodes they create are a million times better than what I could ever dream to come up with.

Thanks for the reply, quick follow up, what would you like to see from a "next-gen" engine, perhaps the rumored source 2 for example? Is there anything you've always wanted to bring into Gmod but lack of technical support blocked it? General opinion of the source engine?

Bigger levels. No lightmapping. On the fly level creation - with no compiling at all needed. Better physics.

If Valve release a brand new engine, will you create a sequel to Garry's Mod or stick with the original game?

It'd have to be something I'd have to think about. I do like the idea of a blank canvas, starting again. But it all depends on how moddable the engine is etc.

Someone told me that they're not going to license Source 2, so we might be SOL.

Hi Garry. I used to be very active in the community, was a volunteer modeler/dev/forum moderator for the Wiremod team. Map size limitations are one of the reasons I eventually quit playing.. at some point you just run out of stuff to create within the confines of a small map.

Have you ever thought about writing your own standalone Garry's Mod from scratch so you aren't limited by someone else's engine? Well obviously you've thought about it, I'm sure.. but are there any plans?

Do you have the technical know-how to do that, if not, what about getting a team together?

I'm pretty sure I could make my own engine etc. The hurdle for me is the content. Part of me thinks Garry's Mod is popular because of the characters, maps and props from Half-Life/CS/TF2. I'm not sure it would be as popular if it was just a bunch of models we made?

Isn't source almost 100% prerendered light, with like 6 dynamic lights?

It's a wonder valve is able to do so much with it.

No source does have dynamic lights.

Is there discussion of Rift support from Gmod?

We should have Rift support within the next month or so. We're merging to Valve's latest code now - which I think includes support for it.

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Yeah! Gabe told me it's his kid's favourite game right now!

Where did you learn to code? How did you get get started in the Valve modding community?

I had learned C++ a year or two before I made GMod. It was all self taught.

When I started making Garry's Mod I couldn't code for shit. I made a full 2D game engine in C++ with DirectX - but I didn't understand the Source engine at all. Coding Garry's Mod gave me a real education in it.. to the point where I actually understand stuff I'm changing now(!)

Were you able to build on your early code, or was it so bad/unusable that you had to start from scratch?

It got re-written from scratch a few times. I mean - up until about version 6 I wasn't even using any kind of source control.. so when I had an unexplained crash bug I couldn't just revert and see what I did wrong. It makes me embarrassed just to think of it.

Ok guys! That's enough for now.. my eyes are going funny and I haven't done any work.. back to coding! Thanks for the love!

Have you actively played Garry's mod in the last five years? What's your favourite user created mod? Thanks for the greatness of gmod!

It's something that kind of hurts me, that I don't play it as much as I should. When I start playing I see problems and things I can make better - so I start coding. Then the coding leads to more coding.. and I'm coding it more than I'm playing.

I do try to jump on a server every now and then and see what's new.. but I'd say 90% of my ingame time is reloading scripts/materials and testing.

Hey, why should I purchase Garry's mod?

Christ, I didn't know the questions were gonna be this hard.

Everyone's different, so it might not be for you. There's a lot of addons and gamemodes that make it a completely different game.. and it's pretty cheap. But maybe check out some videos and see if you think it's your kind of thing. Maybe talk to some friends about playing together too.

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I think the chances are pretty high

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I dunno. You could say that SFM doesn't for in either?

Any ETA for a Linux port?

I know I've been saying this for a long time. But Very Very Very Very Very soon.

There was a hold up because Awesomium took a long time to release a Linux version. Then they released a linux version and not a mac version. They've since sent me a mac version - so we're all go!

How did your ant farm project went?

They all died. So I rebuilt it. And they all died. So I rebuilt it. Now they're alive but I only ever see 2 on the surface walking about.

Yo Garry, what's your favorite color?

citrus green!

What did you think about gmod 13? I heard it broke many things.

Yeah - it did break a lot of things. It's one of those things that we needed to do to evolve. I decided that it would be best to break a ton of addons in one big patch - than break things every couple of weeks for a year.

We needed to change the way some stuff worked - so it was going to break anyway. So we took advantage of it - and gave the community 3 months warning that it was gonna happen.

People still hate it. They wish they could go back to 12. But I'm positive that if they went back to 12 now they'd be the first to complain and want to go back to 13.

The best thing I can do is to listen to people and try to make 13 acceptable to them.

What were they big changes other than the move to Source 2009?

I refined a lot of how the Lua system worked. It was working - but it was all tangled and messy. There were systems on top of systems that didn't need to exist.

Do you miss Hezzy?

Yeah he was a cool guy

So what is this I heard about you suing someone on kickstarter? Any story behind it?

It was the opposite way. They own the trademark to "GMod" and threatened to sue us unless we promoted their product and made the community stop shortening Garry's Mod to GMod.

What are your top 5 favourite games of all times?

Black and White 2 (I can play over and over) Half-Life (mainly for hldm) Darwinia (every replay surprises me) Dead Rising ( <3 slow stupid zombies ) GTA Vice City ( <3 80s )

GTA Vice City ( <3 80s )

Are you going to be looking into Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon? It's 80s to the MAXX.

^{I'm sorry, but the 80s demand that you spell "Max" with two Xs and all caps. I sincerely apologize.}

I'm not so much into the Far Cry games. The first one was alright - but I kind of felt that although the graphics were better, it was just shooting guys in a forest. I'd already done that.

Did you expect Garry's mod to be a huge hit amongst the gaming community?

No. I was only making it to play around with the engine. So it started out just being made for myself. Then a few guys on SA's forums saw it, so I started tailoring it to them too. Then it snowballed.

What's your primary operating system?

Windows 8

Why is there so much banning on facepunch?

There's a lot of idiots and trolls on the internet. Ans our forums seem to be a honey pot for them.

We started off ban heavy because I didn't want to have forums. The community convinced me to have them - so I decided that if we have them I'm not going to let them turn into an awful bad spelling trolling calling each other faggots pile of shit. So I banned everyone I thought fitted into that category - which was a lot of people.

Have you played Trouble in Terrorist Town? Thoughts?

Or alternatively, what's your favourite custom gamemode for GMod?

I have had a lot of fun in the cinema gamemodes. It's weird - but watching youtube videos with people in a game server is kind of addictive.

Do you and the JBMod guy(s) ever talk anymore? Can you give any insights/anecdotes on that time when you were competing with JBMod?

I vividly remember the rivalry between the fans of each mod. Watching the features build between the two, every week or so a new version coming out that would leap-frog the other mod. I was actually a staunch supporter of JBMod back then, calling GMod the knock-off. What a crazy time in gaming.

Not really. It's all in the past. Snakez posts on our forums sometimes. HL2World has closed down. There's no competition anymore.

It is kind of funny to think back. But to be fair to JBMod, Garry's Mod would be nothing without them. I started it out of frustration of how slow they were at developing it. Then the competition with them spurred me on more than anything else could have.

Garry J. Newman.... whats the "J" stand for? inb4 Jay

James :)

What usually happens when you join a server?

Everyone goes apeshit. They all crowd around me. A few of them start yelling at the rest to calm down and leave me alone. They all start to argue with each other.

Would you like to work at Valve, or have they in fact offered you a job there?

On the other hand, how does it feel to be recognized as THE Garry of the gaming world? (I mean, naming the game/mod after yourself)

Also, how is the Kinect support coming along? Haven't heard a lot about it lately.

I love Valve. I once sat in on a talk on their interview process though.. and I would not make the cut!

Kinect support is in - and working!

http://wiki.garrysmod.com/page/Using_The_Kinect

What makes you say that you wouldn't make the cut?

Their interview process is intense. Half my coding is done with google open on another monitor. I wouldn't be able to write a program out on a whiteboard!

Get any fly hunnies due to your success?

Hah! Nope! Nothing!

In your opinion, what's the best way to get sucked into Garry's Mod? I bought it and couldn't figure it out, and after watching some tutorial videos I somehow just lost interest.

Yeah - like tomato3017 said - a lot of people like Spacebuild. If you're in more of a casual mood and don't want to work out a ton of technical stuff then just jump on a TTT server.

How do you work on the same project for so long? Do you ever get bored or lose interest?

Garry's Mod is such a huge thing. If I get bored of one aspect I can work on another aspect.

Shit! didn't think you'd do it today. Hey great mod though, I've been here awhile. In my opinion I thought Garrysmod could of been a lot more if it went in the direction with toybox and multiplayer toybox. I used to kill so much time in there.

Also where do you see garrysmod going from here? Do you ever plan on upgrading the engine/making a game similar or with a new engine?

Yeah we've just started toying with the idea of trying it on another engine. But it's only experiments right now. The current version is gonna be the current version for a while yet.

We're you surprised at how fast Garry's Mod grew and all the stuff people made. also how' you come up with the idea for the game?

It wasn't really an idea. It was just something that happened. A tool to make ropes. Then a tool to weld objects together. It was totally organic.

What if your favorite video that has been made in Garry's Mod?

My favourites are all totally old ones. I think it's a nostalgia thing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1u6jy_Qfw9I

Do you ever get confused with Gary Numan?

Yes. It's getting less nowadays, as the people who know who he is are dying off. But every so often someone will tweet me saying they just heard me mentioned on the radio.

Honestly all I want to say I love what you created. Thank you for the countless hours I have sunk into it. But my question is did you ever think that it would become what it has? What direction did you think it would take?

No. I didn't have a direction for it. It was just something I did because I was bored and taking a break from another game I was working on (facewound).

Whatever happened to that sidescrolling zombie game? I submitted a couple shitty billboards for it like 8 years ago on SA :p

I remember!

GMod took priority. The code was total shit. It was unsustainable. I released the code for it about a year back.

What did you do before Garry's Mod? Do you still do it?

I was working on an indie game called Facewound!

What's the best part of your day? I know for me on the weekends, it's hopping onto my favorite TTT server then playing for hours. (Also thanks for making such a versatile game where you can pretty much do anything you want with anyone!)

It's crazy to say, but I really love what I do. So my favourite part of the day is when I wake up - because I have the most amount of work time in front of me.

What was your favourite feature to code/implement?

I had a shit load of fun implementing the kinect stuff

Were you the guy with a reputation of being a raging asshole on CSNation or am I thinking of someone else?

Haha! Yes! That was me!

I was a grade A troll!

Do you have any plans to expand Garry's mod's capabilities to include a custom world editor? for the average user, Hammer is too cumbersome to efficiently create maps. A mapping tool would greatly increase the number of creative projects which do not only consist of physics objects.

Not in this engine :(

What advice would you give an aspiring game programmer? Any tricks or habits you have that help you code or just work better?

Thanks for doing the AMA! Love Garry's Mod!

Code as much as you can. Even if it's hard. It starts to go in eventually.

Don't be scared to code stuff you think is useless and will never get released. It's all good practice.

Look at other people's code. People who are much better than you at coding.

Never stop learning. If you think you have learned everything, find something you don't understand and learn it (templates).

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I don't think I had any setbacks.

Oh. I announced that GMod was gonna be sold on Steam before signing anything with Valve. That was kind of embarassing.

And I faxed the contract upside down 3 times. So they got about 60 pages of blank paper from me.