My answer: Age Of Empires II
It was the year 2000 when I got my hands on this wonderful game when I was studying in first year (XI). I was obsessed by the game, it's story line, game play, sound track, everything just settled into me.
I still remember the first mission's clip: "Behold, the horde of Genghis Khan arrives", and I journeyed through Genghis Khan, Saladin, Joan of Arc, William Walace, oh all that history, what I learnt and what this game taught me, all so true.
I loved the strategy making, playing god, completing the missions till I heard Fajr's adan (yes that was the first time). I remember some of the campaigns exactly how I played them as though my moves were recorded in the pages of history.
During those days, I was just a user of computer, using MS word, playing games, chatting, surfing with a calculated usage of internet (right, I typed my mails in the notepad, connected to the net, pasted them, hit the send button and disconnected), maintaining a notebook of the usage of my 5 hours of net. So, in those days I started thinking about it, you could make a software as beautiful as this just by being a computer science student and having the right amount of passion!!
And so I narrowed down the field of my future studies to be Computers, it was never going to be Medicine as I despised being a doctor (although I loved biology) but Electrical engineering or even a PHD in physics was a possibility.
And I am a very satisfied person to be a Software Engineer and to have that powerful feeling "yes I can make (develop) that".
It's possible in other fields as well, arts, designing, modeling, writing, engineering etc. but the diversity and speed that is found in developing softwares is unmatchable. You have all the elements: creativity, design, architecture, process, engineering, mathematics, equations, business, entertainment, elegance, beauty, you name it.
Was I wrong back then?
