Game Design Geek

Well, what can I say other than I had an interesting vacation of sorts. I was pretty much chomping at the bit on Wednesday the 19th of October. I really wanted to get away from work and relax. I got word that my 2 weeks of comp time was approved that afternoon from the producer and the next thing I knew was that I was outta there. I went home and threw a few more things into my car that I was going to need and then got online and paid some bills that would probably be due in my absence.

I got on the road somewhere around 9pm and I was off to Salt Lake City. I had a great time visiting friends there. I also got some time to blow off some steam and get out. That’s something that I haven’t done in quite some time.

While I was in Salt Lake City I got a chance to get an interview with Smartbomb Interactive, a small game studio in downtown Salt Lake. This is the game company that a friend of mine from the Collective went to work. It was great seeing Preston again. Well, needless to say that even though it was a short inverview, it was a very productive one. As I walked out of the interview I was feeling very good about things, and no more did I get halfway out of the Salt Lake Valley, my agent called me to tell me that Smartbomb was very impressed and that they had made me an offer. And of course, missing Salt Lake as much as I have in the last year and a half, I accepted the offer and drove home back to California thinking of how I was going to work this all out.

So now it comes down to telling friends that I have made at The Collective that its time for me to move on and write the next chapter in my life. A lot of things happened to me during my stay here from March of 2004 to November of 2005. Some good, some bad, and some that I’m not quite sure how they were. I made some new friends, and in turn really pissed some people off. Hopefully a lot less of the latter.

I’m packing now, funny because I just unpacked to move into this crackerjack box of an apartment. I have to admit that as apartments go, this isn’t a bad complex at all and that I was very happy here during my short stay. But I’m also excited that I have a chance to move to a place where I can actually afford to buy a home.

Well, I guess this is it. Its just after midnight and I checked in my last level. This is it according to the programmer, no more changes or bug fixes. I am pretty much done. Fitting that my last level that I work on is the freeway. I have been seeing it featured in all the Getting-Up ads and I have to say its pretty cool to see you work in print in all sorts of magazines and on TV.

This is by far the highest profile thing I have worked on to date and I’m loving it. I think that from here on in I can pretty much write my own ticket on where I want to work and on what project that I want to work on.

Man, I don’t think I will know how to act when I don’t have to be at work every day. I cant imagine a day without having to come to work for hours on end. I have to admit thought that I am really in need of some serious vacation time. As of right now I think that I could literally leave this place for over a month or more with all the time I have saved up.

Good morning bitches! Hehe, that seems to be the general greeting here at work. About a few months back Marc Ecko threw a party for all of us here at the collective to celebrate the really good showing we have at E3. During that party there were ballons that had a picture of Marc’s face saying “Work Bitches” on it. Lets just say that I taped that balloon to my workstation as motivation to get the game done. And as I look up at it this morning I see that the ballon is about the size of a pear instead of the size of a watermellon. And as the game winds down and gets booted out the door for public consumption I think to myself, thank god. I am so tired. I think that working the insane amount of hours I worked are starting to catch up to me.

So, the weather is changing. I go outside this morning and it wasnt the normal 70+ degrees and sunny. Damn, where did the summer go? Another summer and I pretty much missed it. I have to say that Im somewhat dissapointed that I didnt get to spend more time playing golf. I have made a pact with myself that next summer that I will play at least once a week and hit balls at least 30 times or more. My game has pretty much went into the toilet and I need to get it back before it goes away forever.

Car is doing good, although I really need to figure out what that rattling noise is under the hood. You would think I would spend more time in my car considering how much the darn thing is costing me. I want to get the windows tinted, and get some better rims and tires.

Ok, I rambling…I better get back to work and see what bugs I have left waiting for me. Soon boys and girls I am going to escape the plantation and get to somewhere where I can totally forget work exhists. Just think, wouldnt that be nice?

Things are going good. I have been in a better mood lately, but I have to admit that I am totally wiped out. I don’t have a lot of energy, mostly due in part that I work from 10am to about midnight and sometimes later 7 days a week. That much work (sitting in front of a computer) without exercise is not really all that healthy for you. I really am looking forward to some time off. I plan on visiting some friends in Salt Lake City, and probably spending some time in San Diego.

Work is going good, we have basically been told not to touch the game at all and leave it in the hands of the programmers to fix their bugs. We occasionally have to fix a few showstoppers here and there, but mostly it consists of a lot of sitting around and waiting for things to break.

I’m really not getting very good sleep lately. My Murphy bed isn’t exactly the most comfortable, and I have found that if I am in it for more then 6 hours I am very uncomfortable. I would love to break down and buy a new mattress, preferably a memory foam mattress. The problem is that they cost about $1600.00 for a Queen size. Last time I checked I don’t have that kind of money laying around. I kinda blew any extra money away I have every month on my new Mustang. ( it and cheap feeding a Mustang).

I have been trying to sneak in some work on Urban Terror when I can in between working 15+ hour days on Getting-Up. I am hoping that I can dedicate some serious time to it while I’m on my vacation. You know me, I feel that if I’m not working that I am wasting valuable time.