rob23

- 1000m below the surface in an active underground mine, pitch black, surrounded by operating heavy diesel machinery, only illumination was the "think light" on my IBM thinkpad x60

- On a remote glacier in the Yukon

- In the Amazon jungle, fairly remote, being serenaded by monkeys and swatting mosquitoes and huge ants

Because the year is 2000-2002 and you are embarking on writing a game engine targeting PC, Mac, Xbox, Playstation, and any other consoles or platforms that come onto the market before your engine is finished. Compilers and standards compliance was a shit show. Things like EA-STL might look silly nowadays, but there are many great reasons why companies rolled their own stuff back in the day.