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Munchkin village mayor tries to go to space
Computer programmer touts commercial space tourism
By Daniel Carter
If, while passing over the 360 Bridge, a driver looks west over the water, he may see a small lighthouse on the shore.
Farther inland and out of sight is a brightly painted group of structures where, on the 4th of July, Richard Garriott, dressed as the Mayor of the Munchkin village, greeted guests to his party. The Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion were there, along with the Wizard himself. The guests wore overalls and work clothes; they thought they were going to a barn-raising. North of the Munchkin village sits the foundation of Garriott's unfinished mansion. Guests had arrived expecting to work on this house, which someday will contain secret passages, bedrooms whose walls rotate so sleepers wake in different rooms from where they fell asleep, a three-story dining room (the center of which is a platform that can be raised and lowered), an observatory, and a master bedroom with a lift to raise the bed closer to the glass ceiling and the stars. On the 4th of July, guests were taken to an enclosed room, a simulated thunderstorm struck and everyone rushed into a "storm cellar" - the backs of moving trucks, which took guests to the Munchkin village for the real party. When he's not working, Garriott throws famous parties. And he tries to get to space. He programmed his first computer game, Akalabeth, in 1979 after graduating from high school. Its sales earned him more than $150,000. While studying at UT-Austin, he made Ultima I and II, medieval fantasy games that featured Garriott himself as Lord British, ruler of the fictional Brittania. They earned him enough money to drop out of college and start his own company, Origin Systems Inc. Garriott appeared on billboards and at conventions in a Prince Charming-esque costume and became a well-known force in the gaming industry. Before it was disbanded in 2004, Origin was one of the most influential developers of computer games, starting the massive multiplayer trend in 1997 with Ultima Online. Now Garriott spends his time in Austin developing games for his new company, NCsoft, and keeping up with promising new rockets and shuttles. The Texan strives to present all information fairly, accurately and completely.
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