There was a 3d-Design magazine in my local bookstore sometime in '98. It had an article about Free 3D Programs, Plugins, etc. So I bought it. Blender was at ver 1.3xx or 1.4x (only Linux). Downloaded it, tried it, put it away for a couple of months. Started back up with ver 1.5xx for Linux. Then eventually a Windows version came out. I think it was 1.59.
I found Blender somewhere on the web - though I can’t remember where. I tinkered with it for a while, got bored with the ridiculously primitive things I was making, and left it on my computer for a year or two. I only started making a real effort after I downloaded 2.23 a while back.
Depends on which Peter that is. 
If he is an old timer, what was his nickname on blender.nl (or here).
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He’s the creator (together with xyr@no of course) of ‘Hellstation’, a game partly influenced by “S’Hill”, which I’m sure for you brings back some bad memories, I can’t remember why though…
Peter is ‘world famous’ in the realtime engine forum.
Anyway, back on topic, back in around 2000/2001 I also found a link to the Blender site in a ComputerArts magazine, when I saw the gallery, some of the work (especially the one by Petr Mores, the fallen over chair with the cloth on the wall) sort of reminded me of ‘SH’, which I was and still am quite obsessed with. So I downloaded it, and unlike most people I didn’t really have trouble finding my way around the GUI. Texturing and lighting was not really a problem for me, modeling however is something else, never quite learned that, no matter how many tutorials I went through, but then again I don’t really have much time for that anyway…
we just got cable in NZ, and it was one of the first things i saw on techtv 8)
Can’t remember exactly why I was looking, but I think it was because I was planning to try and create some demo images and animations for my game (the game is text based, though), and I knew I needed to find a good free program and learn it first (game’s likely a few years off). Browsed through Tucows and stumbled across it.
Imp
You all have such vivid memories of that catalystic moment.
I’ve only just got here and I can’t actually remember what made me download Blender. I was hunting around the net for something but I can’t remember what.
In any case, the funny thing is that I noticed on my hard drive the other day another Blender folder. I thought when I had installed Blender it had somehow created another folder. It confused me but I didn’t think too much about it.
Anyway, I had a look a couple of days ago and it was actually Blender 1.5. I had actually installed it way back when for some reason. I don’t know why but I obviously didn’t like it much at the time if I forgot it was even there.
Oh well - that’s my (un)interesting story.
I suppose I’d better post my story since i started the thread 
I heard about blender from a friend (actually a friend of a friend who later became a friend…does that make sense?) and went and downloaded it.
I took a little while to figure out all the buttons (well obviously not ALL, but the important ones) but still stumbled for a while.
I picked the wrong tute first, i understood meshes and the proportional vertex moving and stuff like that, then after a few really boring renders i found out about lamps, and then after almost a month i made the amazing discovery of “materials” (serious, maybe not a month but still serious).
That’s when i realised that blender was worth using, and really got stuck into it and it’s been my maoin boredom buster ever since.
BTW, like the new avatar?
I found Blender last October, after searching thru google for free 3d apps. At the time I was rebuilding GTA3 to my specs (for my own use and amusement) and I needed a better modeler than the one I had, Z-modeler.
Blender just seemed to fit and the rest is robotic history.
Sonix.
It was mentioned on the Anim8or (a basic CG modelling/animation tool for beginners) forum. Checked it out 'cause anim8or started to get too restrictive.
I saw the screenshot on the frontpage of davecentral.com in '98. That link now leads to freshmeat.net but anyway…
I downloaded it, and like dreamsgate, I deleted it after a few hours. The next day I remembered the name of the program and went looking for it on the web. Found the .nl site and a VERY helpful community.
In my honest opinion, one of, if not the best, freeware program I have ever seen.
(I do have to give honors to my friends at GUG (Gimp Users Group),though).
Why did you bump the thread?
Um… Valarking, I’m pretty sure I remember seeing you here before it went open source. If your memory’s rearanging itself this young, you may want to quit school, get a job, and start saving for a nursing home now. 
Imp
I found it pretty soon after I got the internet at home. I was on download.com if I remember correctly and looking for 3d apps, and I saw blender was a popular pick. At the time I thought it was far too good to be true, a fully fledged 3d app that fitted on a floppy?! 
I was wildly confused about the interface, but perservered and ended up buying the 1.5 manual which was invaluable. That was still in the C-Key days, so my modelling was limited to incredibly tedious and painful hand sewing of meshes that involved thousands of polygons, mainly because of my own inexperience in 3d… (when I found the ‘smooth’ function I almost cried :))
I proceeded to go on a huge recruiting mission, trying to convert everyone I knew online to this brilliant app, one of whom became the webmaster for this site, but unfortunately my own zeal was hamstrung by my computers rather budget specs. Trying to make a game in blender 2 on a p233 with 64mb of ram and a 16mb non 3D card is a very painful experience, and I moved more into the 2D web design world. I’ve always kept a close eye on Blender tho, and its great to see it as an open source piece of software. I really hope it will be improved by the community so it can become more of a ‘respected’ application
gtman!!!
This is both a greeting to gtman, and an answer to the thread topic
Howdy Kib! I’ll try and be a good boy and drop around more often
I’ll mail you instead
heard about it in a yabasic forum. still have to thank the person who posted about it there but i don’t know who it is 
. and i can’t find the post anymore.
d52477001
I had just got Linux, and my winblowz 3d prog wouldnt work.
So after some extensive searching, I figured that Blender was the best.
And damn was I right.
Seriously, when a new version is released I strongly recommend posting up there in all three main categories: Windows, Linus, and MacOS X. That’ll increase the exposure just from folks who look to see what’s new out there for their machines.
Damn glad someone posted to the OS X list awhile back…
-Bischofftep
for those who know german language:
from a really good magazine ‘digital production’ back in 1998 ( watch out: i DON’T work for them 
)
it used 2 be a v1.5, still no help, no manual and a bloody steep learning curve… started it on my sgi ( and it remains there ).
rob