Getting Used to Things

NYC was (and still is) a rush of experience! Transforming from country boy to city-slicker is awfully time- and energy-consuming.

 

Still, I’m working on games in my free time! I’ve decided to go with ActionScript3 for a couple of projects. I’d like to make an in-code prototype for water first to test the limits of the libraries I’ll be using (Flixel and Nape, both free for use!). Once that is ready, it should be its own stand-alone game; I’ll rip out the guts of the water solution and apply it to other projects.

 

I’m thinking about a particle-box approach to support buoyancy, splashing, and dynamic falling water. Wish me luck!

Moving …

This week is gonna be pretty hectic, but I hope I get to say all my good-byes before I leave on Thursday.

Time to pack and leave South Jersey for a long time again. If you wanna visit in NYC, let me know and I’ll shoot you my new address.

Thanks, TxVia!

I just had a wonderful interview with TxVia, and an offer was extended. I’m so glad and relieved to hear that news!

Happy New Year!

Happy 1/1/11, everyone!

My New Year’s Resolutions are to save more money than I did last year (which will be a pretty sum), and to feel more confident about my side projects.

That being said, I finally have a new video camera! The prototype is back in action for those who would like to see it!

Have a great new year, and hopefully I will see you in it.

Cheers,

Stephen

Pickle Prototype Nearly Done

I’ve had to work a lot of overtime for ARC Interactive these past few weeks, so I’ve had limited time to work on the puzzle prototype. Still, it’s coming along, and iterations have already changed to make the game more fun, interesting and, most importantly, balanced. It also has a story concept set in Mural Land, a tiny world within a happy wall painting. I think it’s goofy enough to feel heartwarming.

 

Prototyping

So, my video camera (if you could really call this hunk of plastic a camera) is super blurry from anywhere more than three inches away.

As Tuco said to the sheriff, "you can't even read!" What a waste.

King Pickle!

Trying to release a puzzle game by Christmas!

(aka Super Puzzle King, aka King Pickle and the Secret Tagline)
I’m making a paper prototype tonight and taping it tomorrow. I won’t post it until I have some of the game ready, though.

Keep your eyes peeled — updates will be fast and furious.

 

South Carolina and Homeward

After an unsuccessful try in Colorado, we finally found some Phish tickets for North Charleston in South Carolina! They weren’t cheap, but getting them at face value was definitely better than double or even as high as *quintuple* price.

 

This venue was pretty insane... I was front and center!

 

We decided to skip Utica due to my friend’s finances, but that’s fine. This trip has been an adventure indeed.

Even if we hadn’t found tickets, this whole trip has been a huge learning experience. I finally camped in some beautiful mountain ranges, supported myself for relatively little money, and found new friends and confidence.

I even met a new friend named Don who needed help with his clothing business. One minute, I was a programmer, and the next minute I was selling dresses from Thailand to beautiful ladies! I never imagined that it would be as much fun as it really was! When the weekend was over, he offered me beautiful clothes to bring home to my family; I don’t think I’ll ever forget him.

 

The lightshow cannot be done justice in photos.

 

The show was fantastic — worth the entire trip — and I’m going to save the free recording of the show for everybody to hear! If you want a copy, feel free to ask me whenever you’d like.

Now, of course, it’s time to get back to work. I planned and programmed for ARC throughout the trip, but full-time is calling and I can’t ignore it! I will still have something to look back on when I need a little push at work. That’s why I went on this trip in the first place.

My notes from the trip should help fantastically on my side projects, too. My inverter didn’t work on the trip, but now I’m excited to get to work!

University of Colorado

Wow, this campus is nice. Aside from all the alleged bureaucracy issues around  here, I’m actually kind of jealous. It sort of reminds me of Stockton College back in New Jersey, but UC has a lot more applied science and chemistry wings. Most of the people we’ve met so far have been very friendly! They were surprised by the fact that Christian and I travelled so far to get here, and still have so far to go. I hope we can find some people to go to the concert with us.

Programming will be a problem: right after we left Lake Michigan, the power inverter for the car gave up the ghost. That means no more work unless I can find an electrical outlet… and on this trip, doing as much as possible while driving was supposed to be key.

Thankfully, we have some downtime tonight so that I can get as much work done as I can. Notebook paper can only go so far with code!

For now, it’s time, once again, to try and find a shower, and hopefully a place to stay…

Lake Michigan

After eleven hours of driving through pitch darkness, from Allentown to Lake Michigan, I’ve learned that trying to do programming work is very difficult. It’s less that the keyboard is frittering around and making it hard to type; I just couldn’t concentrate well enough to think about what I wanted to do in such a cramped space.

Moving some other items out of the truck cab might help. Trying to do it at 12 am wasn’t a great idea either!

I’m going to go enjoy Lake Michigan’s sights today, though, so I’ll be putting the computer back down until later. Sadly, with so much plan-changing so far, I haven’t gotten a lot done yet. Hopefully I’ll be able to get some real sit-down time in once we hit Colorado.

Cheers!