Fox's Den SAQ   (Seldom Asked Questions)

Why make a Starfox website?

Because I love the original Starfox very much, and also because there isn't much information about it.

What's so great about Starfox?

There is no simple answer to that. You should probably discover a good answer by browsing this site, and the SF64 rant page is an especially good place to find my various SF praises!

Basically, Starfox has always represented to me everything a video game could and should be. I love many other games, but always return to this one.

What's my background?

Online, I go by the alias Nightfox. I'm just a fox from Ohio who fell in love with SF when he was a pup. My paws have been holding Nintendo's controllers since late 1989, and there will always be a Nintendo in my house! (Sometimes I'd rather live in a den like real foxes but I have no idea how to change into one. I wish I had Calvin's transmogrifier gun or his cardboard box!)

StarFox is one thing that got me acutely interested in computers. I spend most of my free time with video games, computers, and electronics. I'm also in love with foxes: I look for them in the wooded areas of my town all the time. The urban sprawl makes it difficult.

How was the site made?

I used various text editors, including vi (Unix) and BBEdit (Macintosh). For the graphics, I used Photoshop running on a Power Macintosh and the GIMP (Linux) for odds and ends.

I began scanning pictures on January 20, 2000. At the time, Fox's Den was hosted on Apple's servers. They were horrnedously unreliable (just like Laserwriters, iBooks, Mac OS a.k.a CrashNow). Anyway, Fox's Den came to Tripod on Sunday, July 30, 2000. I've updated it constantly ever since, and will continue to add text and pictures to it when I have time.

Images

All of the images on this site were rendered or scanned by me. Exceptions are noted. This site is for you to enjoy. But please don't copy and take credit for my stuff, especially the images. I'm not trying to be immodest, but I did work very hard on them (especially in the art section).

We StarFox fans have to stick together. Feel free to link to my site. If you want, I'll link to yours, too.

My first Starfox experience

Sometime around Christmas 1992, when I finally got my Super NES, I also got issue #44 of Nintendo Power. That month, there was one game that really caugut my attention... Star Fox.

It was in an article about two new technologies for the Super Nintendo, the Super FX chip, and the CD drive. At the time, I didn't even own a CD, but I knew what a chip was. And by pouring over the screenshots, I got the feeling that Star Fox was something special, or, at least, very interesting.

As Nintendo Power provided more coverage of Star Fox, I knew I had to play it. I finally got my chance at Sears. I was shocked to walk in one day and find a huge Arwing in the World of Nintendo department! Although the front was cut off, from inside, it felt perfect. There was a television and a demo game inside. It was right there, in the Arwing at Sears, that I played Star Fox for the first time. I suppose it is only natural that after a few minutes, my mom came back and said, "No. We're shopping for pants." That was the last time I ever saw one of those Arwing displays.

The first time playing Star Fox is an experience I will never forget. I remember the Cornerian green, blue, and white; the doppler-effected sounds of passing ships and buildings; the shadows, the lighting on some objects, and the Arwing's subtle reactions to Newtonian physics (it seemed to hover). I actually felt as though I was flying. And of course, the game was so FUN! People like to clear spaces. I was a proud Goomba-stomper. since 1989. But shooting things with the laser was different. I loved every little explosion! I even loved it when my Arwing exploded (the music was so dramatic, and the screen went red). Star Fox was the best, most amazing thing in the world to me.

About a month after the Super Star Fox Weekend contest (which I missed... ~sniff~), I had finally saved enough of my own money (and convinced my mom to help out with the rest) to buy Star Fox.