Welcome
Welcome to iQuest Studios! Here, you will find my personal portfolio of PHP/MySQL scripts as well as my blog, which contains a collection of posts on varying topics.
History/Introduction
iQuest Studios was actually meant to be a web development company (in fact the logo above was meant to be the official logo), founded by me in 2005 . At that time, I was only 14, and fairly naive, and together with some like-minded online “buddies”, I thought I could start a successful web development business that will bring me big bucks. However, I did not understand the workings of the huge market and so as per expected, my plans failed repeatedly, both due to my own procrastination, inexperience and a host of other factors.
However, at that time, I just learnt PHP and MySQL (mainly through delving into other projects’ source code and a few reference books), and was largely excited about creating my own script. So I embarked on an ambitious project - to create a complex online browser based game (titled Project Extension) based on a simple PHP game - which dragged on till early 2007 when I finally threw in the towel, though by late 2006, I have lost most of the steam due to other personal commitments such as school.
In 2005, I also started on Advanced Login System, which is my most popular script to date. This project was mainly inspired from another login script that was on an online forum, which I participated actively in as I was bouncing from web host to web host due to a non existent budget. It was largely popular in the forum, but I thought I could improve it with a few more features, and so I embarked on creating the first beta, which, given my inexperience, worked relatively well. This script will prove to have the largest potential.
2006 was probably my most active year in web development. I was working on Project Extension and Advanced Login System, as well as a new script, the Integrated Contact Form, which never achieved the same level of popularity as ALS, but nevertheless was a great learning experience for me. Given my own school schedule (I wasn’t doing very well in my studies then) and 3 projects to juggle, I actually managed to release a first public release of Project Extension (albeit the fact that it was largely incomplete and full of bugs - but hey, with a little fixing, it actually works!) and a major revamp (on the surface) of ALS. Progress on Integrated Contact Form was also progressing steady, with 4 minor updates within the year.
In 2007, I know I have to give up on the idea of iQuest Studios as a full fledged web development company, given that it is the year I am graduating from High School. For a period of time (starting in late 2006 I believe), I worked with Abstract Illusions for a while and I toyed with the idea of turning iQuest Studios into a one-man web development studio developing mainly open source scripts and maybe occasionally accepting a client to make some money. But apparently, I was still too busy with school and my own personal life, but in 2007, I released both Preview 1 and Preview 2 of the third ALS version, both of which containing major engine revamp. in that year, my efforts were mainly concentrated on developing UG Portal - a school project - which won me a High Distinction Award in my school’s Project’s Day Competition.
By late 2007, I have given up hopes of iQuest Studios of ever being a money maker and as such, decided to convert it to my personal portfolio and blog. Following a copyright issue with ALS, I decided to encode all future versions of my scripts, though they will be free for download and there are options to configure the look and feel. I am generating a meagre income through the occasional sales of source code of my script or some kind donations now, and I must say that by doing so, it has allowed me to strike a balance between my personal life and my web development life that I am quite happy with.
Now (2008)
Now, this site, as above-mentioned, serve as my personal script portfolio and of course as an avenue for users to download my scripts. In fact, I doubt I can spend much time doing web development for the next two years as I will be taking my GCE A Levels next year and due to other commitments. But still, I do hope to put in some time into continuing development of my projects.
More…
If you want to know more about myself as a person, click the About Me link above. You can download my scripts on the Products page, read my daily ranting under “Blog” and reach me via the Contact Me link above.
Enjoy your stay here.
Wu Xiao Tian - 15th May 2008