The Syzygy Cult is (at present) an association of five high school students, forming the Syzygy Cult itself, along with Brett Thayer and Ben Birney who worked as independent contractors for the Syzygy Cult. Mostly located in and around Portland, Maine, they were shocked to discover that their regionalism was shattered by the inclusion of a resident of Utah.
About the Individual Members of the Syzygy Cult
Dustin Mitchell is one of the main Syzygy Cult programmers. He was drawn into the Mantra project claiming “I’ll just write the blitters, and you guys can do what you want,” but by the time it was all over he had worked on just about every part of Mantra. Hobbies include schoolwork, Pepsi, schoolwork, Pepsi, and when all that’s done, Pepsi and programming. Sex, drugs and rock & roll aren’t really a part of his life, but he loves theatre. He is a Junior at Waynflete High School.
Jake Beal is one of the programmers for the Syzygy Cult, and holds responsibility for the Mantra MapEditor (“It work’s don’t it? At least sort of”). Jake lives in Portland, Maine and also goes to Waynflete High School, where he is a Junior and a fixture in the computer room. His other interests include theater, piano, getting his driver’s licence, and writing.
Macneil Shonle is another programmer for the Syzygy Cult. Also a Junior at Waynflete High School. He likes: computers, weight lifting, philosophy and hanging out. And, unlike Jake Beal, Mac has his driver’s licence already. His best advice to someone is: “Take it easy,” something that he himself should do more often… Anyway, things are on the up and up for him, and he looks forward to future projects from The Syzygy Cult.
Gabe Ganberg is the person most directly responsible for Mantra’s plot, the actions of the monsters, and the general game design, and is also a Junior at Waynflete High School. He is not a programmer, although he plays one on TV.
Ben Cote is the tallest member the Syzygy Cult. His interest including theatre, show tunes, shiny things and twiddling with his fancy hardware. His main contribution to Mantra was hanging around and bothering the programers. Not to mention dancing Irish jigs while quoting Andrew Lloyd Webber shows. He can be reached at “Ben.Cote@Frntline.com” or Ben Cote @ Maine-Line BBS, 1-(207)-499-2999.
Brett Thayer is a 28 year old free-lance Illustrator/Designer living in Salt Lake City, Utah (no man’s land). Graduated with a B.A. in Fine Art from the University of Utah in 1991. Brett created nearly all of the graphics for Mantra, for which the Syzygy Cult is eternally grateful.
Ben Birney was born in Washington DC in 1979. He grew up in North Yarmouth, Maine, using Apples and Macintoshes. He attended public school until eighth grade, when he finally became fed up with being taunted as a computer nerd, and transferred to Waynflete School, where he is currently a sophomore. He learned to program in C and has used his ten years of piano experience to write MODs. After finishing the MODs for Mantra, his current projects include a tactical war game, an arcade style spaceship game, and a soon to be released in-play said for Dungeons and Dragons called: DM’s Aid.
