I really like this video a lot.
Category Archives: Personal Blog
Entries from my personal journal
Insomniac! (double meaning!)
I signed the offer and faxed it away on Monday, so it’s official: I’ll be spending this summer at Insomniac Games as a game design intern.
I am EXTREMELY excited about this internship! Insomniac has always held a special place in my heart, as it was Spyro the Dragon which nudged me back into console game obsession in high school (my Playstation was my very first console which I purchased with my own money, aww). The Ratchet and Clank series has also captured my imagination, and I’m always a little wistful that I never have time to devote to any of those games like I was able to with Spyro.
Anyway, this will definitely be a big exciting adventure of a summer, and I’m looking forward to it! If anyone has tips on finding temporary living quarters in LA, I’m all ears.
On the topic of insomnia, I seem to be suffering from it. I’ve had trouble sleeping as of late, which I’ve blamed on a number of things (mostly the weather) and I’ve tried to alleviate it through a number of means. I rearranged my room (moving my bed has always helped sleeping issues in the past) but to no avail. I even tried sleeping on the couch, remembering the time that Scott mysteriously couldn’t sleep in his own bed, and so slumbered on the couch for a long while. Today, I didn’t even take any afternoon naps!
I’m not sure what the deal is. Perhaps I am nervous about this summer? Perhaps I am merely stressed out from project work? Perhaps it truly is the weather? Hmph, I just wish it would right itself!
I did make myself useful in these past wee hours by cleaning and purging my belongings. I’m hoping to get rid of a good deal of “stuff” so I won’t have to deal with dragging it to California and back. I did wind up with about four bags of Goodwill fodder, so that’s a start.
As long as I’m seeking advice, if anyone has insomnia cures or tips, I am listening!
My Little Dreadsteed
(x-posted to wow_fanart)
A billion years ago, someone posted a picture of My Little Dreadsteed, and I thought “that’s awesome! I want to make one of those for my warlock friend!” and everyone said “You should!” and I said “Okay!”
I actually finished most of this a long time ago, and then it came to rooting the mane…zomg, I don’t see how those MLP customizers do this on a regular basis!! Anyway, it’s done, and my friend squealed in delight upon giving it to him…
Spring Break (woo)
Back in the Bandology office after Spring Break. It wasn’t particularly much of a break, but that’s okay. Several things of note happened…
1) Will and I made amazing headway in the Bryan Scary project. I’m very happy with where we stand right now, and I know we can finish the video in time for their album release. I KNOW we can! It’s just going to take continued and consistent work.
2) I started playing Urban Dead again. I’d played often when Kevan first came up with this gem, and had great fun, and then just sort of fell out of the loop. It’s a good time to start playing again, for the zombies have more of an upper hand than they ever have! It makes playing a survivor rather exciting. I have a zombie character as well, in the temporary Monroeville map, but being a low-level zombie is not much fun. I only managed to find a horde once, and the rest of the time it’s been shambling around alone, getting knocked down by survivors left and right. I enjoy playing the survivor much more.
3) I picked up one of my WoW alts, a hunter, and decided that I want to learn how to kite. Kiting is tricky business, and difficult to do well, and I want to be able to do it! There was also more WoWing in general during spring break: an instance here, a battleground there, a round of WoW-and-go-Seek to top it off…Good fun times
Now, though, it’s back to work! We’re at the halfway point with Bandology this semester, and there’s still so much left to do!
Wanted: Cloud-drawer
Attention internet!
The Shredding Tears music video project is in dire need of a member with the following credentials:
1) Has Flash
2) Can draw clouds
A number of our aeronautic scenes are sitting one step away from “done” due to the fact that we need convincing clouds in the sky. Our lead artist, Will “I can draw clouds” White is too busy cranking away the animation work to render us out some good Flash clouds.
If you have the above credentials, and the thought of sitting and drawing a bunch of cloud formations per our specifications makes you say “huzzah, that sounds like fun!” or “you know, I need more clouds for my portfolio anyway…” please reply!
I can’t offer anything in terms of payment, except that you’ll be credited on the video. Reply if interested!
GDC Summary
So at the end of the day, I went to Ubisoft to meet up with my mentor for the last time. Joe came along too, such that I wouldn’t have to walk by myself.
The greatest thing about winning this scholarship was definitely the mentor program. Chris is such a nice guy, with lots of industry experience, and is completely devoted to helping young people coming into the industry from an education route. I’m certain he’s a person I will keep in touch with! Joe and I thought it would be awesome if IGDA had a mentoring program beyond the GDC scholarship, because it’s such an incredibly helpful opportunity to have a mentor; someone with much more experience than you that you don’t have to worry about impressing, but instead are able to ask questions and come to with stories and concerns.
The first thing I’m doing when I get home is writing my mentor a nice little thank-you card. I imagine that Chris would be the sort of person who would love to bring Ubisoft to the ETC in a similar way that many other game companies do, though his schedule as a producer is so busy that this might not be a possibility. Even still, I feel very grateful that I have this awesome person to go to for advice and help whenever I need it.
It seems Andy wasn’t the only one to catch a cold at the IGDA party. We’re sitting in the airport and the Schell Games crew showed up, towing a few sniffling, coughing, sore-throated members of their own. We’re all on the same red-eye flight back to Pittsburgh, so that’s pretty cool.
In closing, I’m really glad I had the opportunity to come to GDC. It was exhausting, yes, but a fantastic and worthwhile experience that I will not take for granted!
GDC Thursday and Friday
So I fell behind on my daily updates, whoops! Thursday was largely uneventful. I worked the career floor and talked with a lot of different companies. I went to one panel about the Future of MMOs, but it grew so snippy and snarky that I decided to duck out early, especially after learning that Andy had met up with Bryan Cash on the expo floor. <3 Bryan Cash! We had a lovely lunch, but the rest of the afternoon was lost to me. I had forgotten to take my medicine the day before, and so was quite exhausted and in a lot of pain by the afternoon. Andy, growing more and more ill by the day, was also ready to turn in, so we went back to the hotel and had a very restful evening. Today was much better (and I kept my exhaustion in check with a Mt. Dew). I saw two very interesting talks: one about Entrepreneurship and Pandemic, and one which was an Expo of start-up companies (none of which were game companies, but which had some innovative tie to the game industry: patch clients that doubled as social networks, microtransaction management services for MMOs, and the like). After lunch, we hit up the career floor to watch Andy impress the crowd with his Guitar Hero skills, and then the expo floor again to play some of the Independent Game Festival games. For now I'm relaxing and considering attending the Portal post-mortem. At 5 I'll be visiting my mentor at Ubisoft, and then the lot of us ETCers will be flying back to Pittsburgh on a red-eye. All in all, I'm very glad I came to GDC. There was much to learn and many people to see, and I feel it was well worth it, and am thrilled to have won the scholarship. I am, however, exhausted to the core of my bones. So many people! I am drained and dry, but still excited to get back to the ETC and apply what I've learned to Bandology. I will, however, likely need a full day of sleep to catch my brain up, and another full day of emailing follow-ups to everyone I've met at the conference. Hooray for GDC! Hooray for Lisa Brown: Game Designer!
GDC Wednesday Afternoon
So, we didn’t make it to Ubisoft this afternoon, but that’s okay. Instead, my mentor and I walked the Expo floor, and it was great fun times! There were some interesting setups, yes, but mostly we just had fantastic conversations about this and that and the other. My mentor is brilliantly easy to talk to.
We ran into Brenda, and I introduced the two, and we had an intriguing conversation about improv acting and its role in the industry (and in all industries! Everyone should take an improv class, in my opinion). We also had fun scoping out our favorites of the Independent Games Festival (go World of Goo and Polarity! Also? AudioSurf is FREAKIN AMAZING).
This evening I spent chillaxin with Andy (who is a bit sick, as are many people, I blame the IGDA party!). We watched Robot Chicken and MythBusters and a fantastic show about sea critters (if I see a cuttlefish on TV, I can’t resist) and have a lovely time. We finished off the evening with a great Bandology meeting, and I’m excited about my return to school and the work I’ll be doing.
Looking forward to another exciting day tomorrow!
I am a Game Designer
This morning at GDC, I made a career change.
Now, don’t misunderstand, this wasn’t an on-the-fly decision. It’s something that’s been bubbling and building for a couple of months now. Last night, Tracy and Andy tipped me over the edge by suggesting I would probably get the most out of a design internship this summer versus any other type.
This morning I went to talk about High Impact’s production process, given by one of their lead designers. I had a moment of recognition that truly, I was sitting on the wrong side of the court. After the session, I plopped down, pulled out my laptop, nudged Jesse online and said “I think that maybe I should be looking for a design internship and not a production internship.”
He responded, “I think you might be right.” I could almost hear him smirking through the internet, the knowing smirk of someone who’s known this about me for a good while, but was nudging and waiting for me to figure it out on my own.
Commitment! I spent the next couple of hours sitting on the floor of the convention center, frantically rewording my website and reworking my resume. Andy stopped by between sessions to sit with me and help revise my resume. Jesse stopped by to sit with me for support. A smattering of other ETCers stopped by to see what I was up to, and when I relayed my sudden career change, responded with, “Well, DUH!”
Why does everyone else figure these things out about me before I do?? Nevertheless, the changes were made, and I’m ready to hit the Career Expo tomorrow with my new goal. Huzzah!
Other highlights today included a big Bandology lunch (with past and present members alike), then a session given by Bungie on Matchmaking in Halo 3. It was extremely informative, though now I have Fiddler in the Roof stuck in my head.
Now I’m chillin and waiting for my my mentor, such that we can go adventure at Ubisoft. Huzzah!
GDC Tuesday Afternoon
Well, I’d intended to go back to see another session, but instead I spent most of the afternoon sitting and chatting with Drew and Activision Jason, and later, Brenda. It was a fine chat about the history and motives behind GDC, the role of educators in the conference, and my curious foray into Game Design. ETCers and other industry folk joined and left our table in a steady stream. This was a much preferred environment for me compared to a packed session, especially in my sleepy state.
After a leisurely dinner at the food court, we returned to our hotels to prepare for the giant IGDA party being thrown tonight. I promptly fell asleep. I doubt I will be scorned for skipping out on the party, nor will my absence likely be noticed (they are expecting 2000 people to attend). The fact of the matter is, I’m exhausted, and the conference proper hasn’t even begun yet! I need to rest up if I intend to survive the rest of the week at all.
I blame the large amount of people, which quickly drain away my energy. Andy says I should just pretend every person at the conference is actually a dog, since puppies seem to give me so much energy (Brenda agrees, thinking it would be extremely fun to think of what breeds people would be). Activision Jason says that creating a defensive energy bubble around oneself is a learned skill, and that I merely need to work my way to 375 (how I grind this skill, I have no idea).
For now, I’ll call it an early night. There’s a session at 9am tomorrow that I really want to go see, so an early bedtime won’t hurt in the least!