Ken Friece
Ken Friece was a Dreamcast developer. He started developing NesterDC together with Takayama Fumihiko. When version 3.0 of NesterDC was released, Takayama took over the project and Ken retired from the project.
Links
Interview with Ken Friece
DCEmulation: So, Ken where are you from and how old are you?
Ken Friece: I am 24 and originally from Columbus, OH. My current job took me to the Washington DC area, where I have been for the past year.
DCEmulation: How long have you been programming?
Ken Friece: I started programming around 3 years ago, and have been hooked ever since. :)
DCEmulation: Currently, you have gotten a good grasp of Megan Potter's libdream, but what did you start off programming with (pc and tools) when you first started to seriously program as a hobby?
Ken Friece: I started programming in C++ using g++ in a unix environment, doing college programming assignments. Most of the programming that I have done has been in unix, linux, or cygwin, using C or C++.
DCEmulation: What past projects have you done? (hobby projects)
Ken Friece: Nothing major. I wrote a Yahtzee game in java to learn the language. Other than that, the most challenging thing that I did was code a simple compiler in C for a college project.
DCEmulation: What are you working on next with NesterDC? Do you have any other projects in the works? :)
Ken Friece: Sound will be my number one priority in version3. Another possible improvement is a better user interface. I have received many emails from people about how difficult it is to navigate through the game selecton menu with 1000+ games. I really don't understand why people have that many games, considering only a handful of them are GOOD!!!
Although I haven't started another project yet, a few other ports have been getting some serious thought lately.
DCEmulation: When did you come up for the idea for NesterDC?
Ken Friece: I stumbled upon Megan Potters site and compiled ghetto pong. The idea of programming for a console was awesome. I started to change things around in ghetto pong, and was also looking at the source code to nester. That's when the idea came to me. The Dreamcast already had ngine-snes9x, sintendo, and DreamSNES, so another SNES emu would be pointless. I knew that I could port nester from looking at ghetto pong source, libdream examples, and nester source. I looked at the source code from many emulators, and nester seemed to be one of the most well organized and coded.
DCEmulation: After your last release, I've been salivating. When might the next release be?
Ken Friece: If I told you then I would have to kill you :) Just kidding, I don't even know when the next release will be. Giving a date will just disappoint people if I can't make it, and add stress to the project. Remember, NesterDC is a hobby.
DCEmulation: Ken, when did you get into the DC Emulation scene and what do you think about it? Ken Friece: I got into the DC Emulation scene around 7 months ago, and have enjoyed every minute of it. Its great to see a new project pop up, and existing projects improve.