Xbox-scene.com: May you introduce yourself?
^Blazed^: My name is ^Blazed^ and I'm one of the members of Team Avalaunch
TJ: I'm The Joker, one of the Team Avalaunch members
lys: Well, I'm lys, also a Team Avalaunch member (big shock, huh)
jjsmither: I’m jjsmither (aka Devenic) and I'm the fifth Beatle
r0wdy: I’m r0wdy also a Team Avalaunch member and the one that gets blamed for breaking everything.

Xbox-scene.com: Since when did Avalaunch start developing?
^Blazed^: We started developing Avalaunch 1'st of April 2003. Back then we were 3 developers; lys, TJ (The Joker) and myself. Some people didn't believe us back then because of the date and TJ's nick :)
TJ: Depends how one look at it. XB-FTP and XTOOLBOX is two major parts in avalaunch, which Blaz and me made. The skeleton was made somewhat earlier in 2003 by lys - and 1.april we started the development on ava itself. No one believed us due to date and my nick though.
lys: Yeah, like Blazed and TJ said, it started out looking like an April's Fool (especially because of to TJ's nickname). The idea of Avalaunch itself came to us when I went to have my xbox modded. I spent a while talking to TJ, and we had a little discussion about what the xbox-scene really needed. Then it came to us - the dashboards were really inflexible. So Avalaunch was born. It didn't have a name. It didn't have any code at all.
jjsmither: r0wdy and I were asked to join Team Avalaunch after we hung around the #avalaunch channel, and we clicked with the team. I had been using xToolBox (released by Blazed under the name TriTium) and was interested in what he was up to with Avalaunch. I started working on xISO xFER (took over for L!M!T) and really enjoyed talking with the team. We had some very good technical discussions, and then TJ asked if we wanted to join the team.
r0wdy: I have been helping out other projects and when XBSM was released. I started testing for jjsmither on xISO xFER. We had spent many long nights and I drank lots of coffee. After working with jjsmithers and TeamX4 I thought both had great ideas. I saw the first pictures of avalaunch and knew it was going to be interesting. So jjsmither and I started hanging out in the #avalaunch channel and talking with the team. Connected jjsmithers and TJ_CRS to talk about an area both were working on and the rest is history.

Xbox-scene.com: What was the primary goal of the Avalaunch Dashboard?
^Blazed^: We're all hardcore developers that really gets a kick out of developing, so we just wanted to make a dashboard that we wanted to use for us self, but with a different approach and look and feel than EvoX.
TJ: primary goal in my eyes back then was to make a dashboard I would feel didn't have the limitations evo-x has, and I needed something that could do so much more. If I recall correctly, we passed the technical goals in mid May or something, now we just keep adding as we go.
lys: Basically, we wanted to make something we'd like to use ourselves. If the regular Xbox Joe likes it as well, that's a huge plus - but not really critical. We get a kick out of good feedback though! We still have a huge number of features we'd like to implement; so don't expect Avalaunch to drop dead any time soon. The niftiest features are yet to come.
jjsmither: My primary goal is to have a dashboard that lets me manage my Xbox, the way Windows has Explorer and a bunch of other tools, and have fun while getting there. EvoX got me started, but it really isn't much more than a launcher. I help the team in any way I can to make that goal, and keep priorities and a vision.
r0wdy: Well, just having fun with the guys on the team. Don’t think any of us are in an competition just creating something that we all want for ourselves. Sometimes we just start talking about a new feature and how that would be cool to have. Then the next thing you know is that we are working on it. Teamwork with other groups is also been great experience. I can only imagine how much could be done in the scene if groups worked together as well as we have tried to.

Xbox-scene.com: So in other words it wasn't intended to blow away evolution-x and become a new standard in the xbox community?
^Blazed^: True. Both TJ and me had previously released FTP clients for the XBox (xb-ftp and xToolBox). When we got Avalaunch up and running, and knowing all the features that we wanted to put in there, we decided to release it to the scene, so that they could try it out for themselves.
TJ: Nah, not really. In fact I personally always hoped that few people would use ava, because that leaves us programmers a bit for ourselves. Fun that people likes it though - but too many thinks we're into any "competition". I believe all dashes have their place. :)
lys: I have to agree with Blazed and TJ. I like the fact that most Avalaunch users are pretty into the Xbox themselves (modders, other programmers, and the xbox old timers). That makes the bug reports better and the overall quality a lot better. There's nothing more frustrating than explaining the same stuff over and over a hundred times. But seriously, if people want to use Avalaunch, that's great. If not, I feel more like it's their loss
jjsmither: It really seemed more like a learning exercise than any "blow away evox" attempt. If it turns out to accomplish that then it's a coincidence. This is a big community, and everyone will have their preferred dashboard. Avalaunch is gaining a lot of momentum, so it looks like it will always have some loyal user base.
r0wdy: We as a team can take nothing way from EvolutionX and their dashboard. Hell, they helped everyone get started. So props to them for their work. This is just fun for us and people seem to like avalaunch. That’s great but we are not here to take anything away from any other group that is developing for Xbox scene. Avalaunch is pretty damn cool and has lots of great feature now and to come.

Xbox-scene.com: Were you surprised by the success of Avalaunch it had with only Alpha releases?
^Blazed^: Yes, we were overwhelmed by the positive response. I think that the scene learned a lesson when the NexGen dashboard team decided to halt their development, and they (the users) didn't want that to happen again. So almost all the feedback we have gotten has been constructive and really appreciated. I think that our success is a result of that we try not to be ignorant and arrogant, and that we tries to listen to the feedback.
TJ: Yes, it exceeded all my expectations. Even some of our major bugs were "accepted" to a certain degree, and tons of people used avalaunch as an application just "to have it there". Other people like xbox-saves.com saw early our development and went out of their ways to help us out.
lys: Oh yeah. I'm most surprised about how well they received our "buggy" versions. We've made a couple of releases that weren't all that stable. Fortunately, I think by then our users had gotten used to our release frequency, so they expected a bug fix release pretty soon. I really have to say thanks for all the great bug reports. Some of our users are doing some pretty heavy testing too!
jjsmither: I'm not surprised by the success, because I started out as a user like everyone else. It's a really cool product with a lot of potential. The team is motivated and very open to ideas. There's already a bunch of innovation in there, like the xbox-saves downloads and auto-updates. These are the things that draw me to the product, and TJ/Blazed/Lys just keep surprising me with new ideas, and how fast they implement them.
r0wdy: Not too surprised since as a user I couldn’t wait to play with it either. Every time we start talking some else in the team has another cool idea. I think that is what make it such a big hit. We keep surprising people every time there is a new release. It will be interesting to see what avalaunch has become when it is 1 year old. I don’t think any of us on the team are close to being out of ideas we would like to put in it.

Xbox-scene.com: What are your future plans and goals for Avalaunch?
^Blazed^: Our future plans and goals are constantly moving as we still receive so many good ideas for new features, so it's hard to tell what we'll end up with. Our first major goal is of course having a stable dashboard so that we can shift from Alpha to Beta :)
TJ: Haven't really thought too much about it, more low-level work will come - so many fun things can be worked out. Flashing, with bank support and direct support for some of the major mod-kits is in place within short time. When everything feels stable, it's renamed from alpha to "public beta" or something.
lys: For me, I'd definitely have to say the major goal is the new UI engine. I've been working my ass off for several hundred hours coding it so far.
jjsmither: My major goal is to make Avalaunch as solid as possible. I also want to help TJ put together the defrag we've been working on. I know my box could really use it. I'm really anxious for the new UI; Lys and Blazed and I have discussed it quite a bit. My other goal is to see more support in Avalaunch for some of the things I'd like to add to xFER, taking it way beyond simple ISO extraction. Stay tuned :)
r0wdy: We all just want it to be bug free and a solid product. The new UI coming soon and jjsmither working on xFER. TJ and ^Blazed^ always have some surprise for the next release. So just keep a look out and provide the team feedback.

Xbox-scene.com: Where can users submit Feature requests or some feedback and maybe bug reports?
^Blazed^: We don't currently have a web site for Avalaunch, and most of the scene tends to use the forums at www.xbox-scene.com. We got the opportunity to have our own forums at their site, so if the users want to read about the latest releases or give some feedback they should head over to the “Official Avalaunch Forum” at
http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?act=SF&f=34
lys: Until we get the web site back up and running, the xbox-scene forums is the place for everything Avalaunch-related
jjsmither: I occasionally add features to the TODO list if I see them in the #avalaunch channel. It depends on how tired I am, and how much I like the idea. It's always worth discussion there because others can expand on the idea and it becomes a dynamic conversation without the delay in a forum.

Xbox-scene.com: in what version can we expect Scandisk and Defrag to be implemented?
^Blazed^: We're almost done with the Scandisk part, just some small issues left, so we're kind of ready to start moving the contents of the different sectors around on the HD. It's not possible for me at the moment to say which version of Avalaunch that will include this feature, but it shouldn't be that far into the future. Having said that, if we really messes up this defragging none of us will have a working XBox. LOL
TJ: Tough question. At the moment we're swapping drives to avoid destroying our drives - and that goes slowly. I believe that already in 0.48 you will start seeing functions that is read-only... just to let people try it out and let the program see if it encounter unsolvable problems.
lys: The scandisk and defrag tools are really TJ's department, so I'll agree with anything he says on that issue :)
jjsmither: It's summer, and between some hardware failures (both Xbox and PC) and family responsibilities, the team has been quite busy. So pinpointing a version for something as invasive as defragging a hard drive is a little tough. We're going to want to do some serious testing before we open Pandora's box.
r0wdy: Well, seems like even with summer we have been able to still release some new things but the more interesting stuff will come after everyone is done with summer. Like lys said “When it gets cold then it is time for some coding” and TJ just got released from parole so all those ideas bottled up in his head for the last month are starting to see light of day. ^Blazed^ and jjsmither are always tinkering with something.

Xbox-scene.com: We thank you for the interview and more for helping a lot in the creation of Avalaunch Dashboard.
May the progress go on as well as before.
TJ: Hope people will like it - that’s all that matters to me, no matter the amount of people we're talking about :-)
-TJ / team ava
^Blazed^: It's my pleasure. I would like to use the opportunity to thank all the people that have been so kind to us and those who want to help out :)
^Blazed^
Team Avalaunch
jjsmither: Thanks for the interest in Avalaunch. Stop by the channel anytime you want some cheeky humor. ;)
jjsmither (aka Devenic)
lys: Thank YOU for having the interview :). I'm hoping for some real progress this fall/winter. We have lots of ideas ready, and are just struggling to find enough time to finish them.
r0wdy: Thanks for all the feedback and the team work we have received from other groups. Thanks for the interview and hope people will see where we are coming from.
To all the other developers out there is just one thing. Keep up the creativity! Doing outstanding things! L8tr