AN INTERVIEW WITH ASIA CARRERA (MAY 24, 2000) - by Hunglo

Asia: I'm pretty beat. I set aside this afternoon to clear out the avalanche of UT fan mail that's been pouring into my mailbox non-stop ever since I posted my darned AsiaBot skins, and I've been typing and typing and typing for 5 or 6 hours now, with no end in sight... DOH!!

UnrealCore: First of all, how does a hottie like yourself who I'm sure is one of the busiest women in the United States get involved and find time to participate within the unreal community?

Asia: Hottie? Don't believe the hype. Without the big hair and fake eyelashes, I'm actually just another geek who prefers sitting in front of a computer on a Friday night to drinking and partying, or whatever it is that 'cool people' do these days... LOL... I actually stumbled on Unreal by accident - I've never really liked playing games on my computer (the 'games' folder is always one of the first things I delete right after installing windows) My boyfriend Clarke bought Unreal for himself and a newbie pal to play, and as usual, he handed it over to me to install and configure for them. I'd get the proggie up and running, figure out the gist of what to do, and then give them a quick overview, so they could start playing right away, without wasting any time with manuals or helpfiles! Hehehe! We'd gone through this routine many times before, and I'd never had any interest in continuing the gameplay after handing the reins over to them... until now. This was the first time any of us had ever played a LAN game, and we all got a huge kick out of seeing and hearing each other's reactions as we fragged our asses off.

UnrealCore: What kind of response have you been getting from the release of your skins?

Asia: Oy vey, I can't believe all the fuss being raised, just because I like playing Unreal! I'm still trying to figure out what I did that merits all this attention!?! I mean, I'm thrilled that everyone likes my Asiabots, and the UT gamers have welcomed me with open arms, but I'm really rather embarrassed, because all I did was admit to playing a game I'm addicted to, just like the rest of you guys! I nearly wet my pants when one of the actual designers of Unreal emailed me, and I started to panic, wondering what I could possibly say to a geek of such stellar magnitude. Before I could come up with anything, the rest of the UT programmers all sent me emails as well! I even had an Activision P.R. guy offering to hook me up with QuakeIII so I could compare it to Unreal, hehe! I read on a few UT chat boards that some people suspected me playing Unreal was nothing but a cheap publicity ploy, and all I can say is - I wish I could take the credit for coming up with such a successful publicity coup, but the truth is, I feel like I just got hit with a 'HeadShot!' Hell, if I'd known my silly newbie bots were going to undergo this much public scrutiny, I would have spent a lot more time tweaking them, and if I'd known how many downloads they'd be getting, I definitely wouldn't have hosted them on my server, or put my email addy in the readme files!!

UnrealCore: Do you find games like Unreal Tournament to be a great escape from reality? Maybe release some built up feelings of anger and agression?

Asia: Yeahhhhhh!! I'm the type of person who won't say two words if there's more than one or two other people in the room, but you should hear the language I suddenly start spewing after a few hot rounds of UT. UT gives me Touret's Syndrome - I start yelling obscenities at the screen like an idiot LOL! UnrealCore: How do you rate the worl wide web community now compared to then (Then being years ago, are the people cool now as aposed to geeky, so on and so forth and anything else you'd like to add)? Asia: I'm glad that the internet community is finally starting to accept that maybe it IS possible for an adult film star to be computer literate, and perhaps even an intelligent participant in various online activites! When I first started making my website years ago, it was an uphill battle for me to convince people that it really was ME sitting there at my computer, a total newbie, yes, but determined nonetheless to put together my own little homepage if it killed me. When I heard rumors like "Oh, her husband Bud really runs the site for her", I would get so frustrated, because I was working so hard, yet people refused to give me credit for any of it. (FWIW - Bud uses AOL to surf. 'nuff said.) Two years later I took on Linux, and at first I was happy when the Linux geeks took notice, but when I read their bulletin boards, so much of the commentary was just negative, scornful disbelief, that I left in tears, and never mentioned Linux on my site again. This time around, I looked over six different UT chat boards, and several dozen postings, before I found a single skeptical naysayer on the subject of me making UT AsiaBot skins. I can't explain how good that felt, to see that after all these years, I've actually convinced some of the people out there that I'm not a total moron! Hooray! LOL!

UnrealCore: Ever played UT Naked?

Asia: Yeah, doesn't everyone?

UnrealCore: So what made you decide to do UT Skins? Asia: As soon as I saw an article in a gaming mag discussing the possibilities available to UT gamers through UnrealEd, the thought hit me like a lightning bolt - wow, maybe I could make my own AsiaBots!! I remember the moment clearly - I was sitting in a bubble bath, relaxing and reading, but when that bolt hit me, I jumped to my feet to tell my boyfriend about my great idea, and then I went running out to my computer, suds and all, to get started working on it right away.

UnrealCore: Have any tips or tricks you would like to share with the Unreal community? Asia: No way! How am I gonna kick anyone's butts if they use all my best tricks against me? LOL! UnrealCore: What do you think of all the multiplayer maps created by users like yourself? Have you ever tried making a map?

Asia: I would like to learn how to make maps, but I'll be damned if I can figure THAT one out by myself. I've spent time puzzling over other people's maps in UnrealEd, but it's still beyond my grasp at this point. Remember, I have no one to ask or to turn to for help, because there just isn't anyone else in pornoland who can give me the answers to those pesky questions like "How do I import new textures for my botskins into UnrealEd?" Doh!!

UnrealCore: What are you wearing right now? Asia: Baggy jeans, combat boots, my back brace (too many years of lousy posture at my computer - my own stupid fault), and a Maximum PC tshirt. UnrealCore: Ever thought about joining a clan? If so I know where a good right here (shameless plug).

Asia: I can't play UT online, because I live on a remote Malibu mountaintop, miles from anywhere, and I don't even get a full 28.8 connection. Right now I'm logged on at 26.6. I'm not going anywhere near a UT server online until I get a DSL line hooked up here. (hopefully by the end of the month, fingers crossed...)

UnrealCore: Alot of people online these days geek out, mostly online but sometimes I find myself talking about PC's and the www in public. You ever geek out?

Asia: I have no choice. Because I'm considered 'the industry expert' on computers and the internet, everyone I see on movie sets and magazine shoots wants to ask me questions on 'how to make a website', 'how to buy a good computer', y'know, the standard newbie queries... I'm like a walking FAQs page for the adult industry LOL!! But that's cool - I always remember how I wished I had someone I could have asked for help when I was just starting out, so I'm happy to help out now.

UnrealCore: What do you think of the women in UT? If you could change one thing, or body part on them, what would it be?

Asia: The boots! I wear big clunky combat boots every day myself, but I'd like my bots to wear something a little more feminine than those big ol' astronaut boots, especially if I'm putting them in a push-up bra and g-string ROFL!! UnrealCore: Last but not least. Have you ever played UT in a rumble seat?

Asia: Yeah, my boyfriend has one. It made my butt numb. Pretty silly gadget, IMHO, but I'm in no position to point fingers at anyone for buying silly computer toys that they really don't need... hehehe...

UnrealCore: Thank you for taking the time to participate in this interview. We've got some great stuff here. Maybe we can hook up and frag some ass some time!

Asia: Get on GTE and Earthlink's ass about my DSL line, and we'll be in business!

It's people like Asia that make the unreal community tick at times. Myself and others would like to personaly thank her for taking part in this interview.