Job HUnting "Fun"
Current mood: stressed
Category: Jobs, Work, Careers

Yeee-up! Been a long time since I virtually scribbled 'round here. But, then again, a lot of stuff has been happening 'round these parts, and none of them particularly good. Wait, scratch that… Let's just call the experiences "learning" experiences. Yeah, that's more accurate...

Where do I start…? First, let's do a brief flashback of things that happened in the last eight or so months that have developed into said learning experiences.

• I used to work at NCsoft on Tabula Rasa. However, a development house that was working for NCsoft was developing a game that was, in my opinion, nothing short of JAWESOME (combination of jaw-dropping and awesome). I waited until Tabula Rasa shipped and then transferred over to a company called Spacetime to work on said game of jawesomeness, which would be published by NCsoft (see, still keeping it in the family, so to speak).

• About three months into working at Spacetime, NCsoft decided to cut funding for Spacetime and our jawesome project, Blackstar in the beginning of January – HAPPY FRAKIN' NEW YEAR FOLKS!. Why? Who knows? Some bean counter must not think that a fun game might be marketable. Maybe it was a relative of the same mental giants who shut down Black Isle way back in the day. I don't know. All I do know is that I still think it was a bad move and that Blackstar was destined to be a winner. But what do I know. I only design and play video games on pretty much every platform. Bean counters are obviously "teh smardder" folks.

• So then it was back to hunting for another game design job. I would have gone back to NCsoft, but they had layoffs a couple months after Spacetime – not good times. Now, one would think in a town that has over 40 different game development studios that there might be an opening for a seasoned designer who has five titles under his belt. Well, here's what I ran into, without giving names of the companies I spoke with:

• One company who interviewed me had the director and lead designer speak to me in a phone interview, even though I lived five minutes away from their studio. I'm guessing there must be very high security for their super awesome game they must be working on, even though their last game had an average rating of 5.5 out of 10. But hey, I'll play along. So, after 45 minutes of the director asking me to describe bovines and make a game out of pretty colors (the lead said nothing through the whole thing), I was done. No questions about my past game designing efforts, what I brought to the projects, my philosophies on game design, etc. Nope, they just wanted LSD induced descriptions of "stuff." So I said goodbye to "Jay and Silent Bob," thinking that I answered their inane questions well.

As it turns out, I had an acquaintance on the inside that let me know that the director had a phobia against senior designers, thinking that they "carry too much baggage." Some people would call that "EXPERIENCE," but again, what do I know. Anyway, the result was that evidently I didn't answer the director's questions exactly how he wanted me to and so downgraded the position from a senior designer to a staff designer. Hey bub, good luck on your next 5.5/10 game! BTW, that staff designer position is still open after six months – go figure.

• The next company showed some promise compared to that last one. I applied as a senior content designer. I interviewed with everyone on the team (admittedly it was a very small, core team of leads and directors). The interviews went well and I got along with everyone. I even got to see what they were working on and gave feedback, which they nodded to in seeming approval. At the end of the five hour interview, the director tells me that they don't yet have content development tools, though they'll probably have the tools created in a few months. But hey! They told me they'd hire me on the spot if they had the tools, despite the fact they've been in pre-production for about three years now!

Well, it's been six months and they're still saying it'll be about another three months or so until they have content development tools. And the senior content designer position is still open on their site. I'm starting to think their game is in the same league as the Loch Ness Monster – people talk about, and some people have actually seen it, but no one can prove that it really exists, or ever will exist. Gotta love this industry, eh?

• This next gem really frosted my frijoles. I submitted my resume for a senior content design position and was emailed a week later by the lead. He asked me to make a module using a six year old dev tool (in the game industry, a six-year-old tool might as well be a bucket of cow urine and a clay pot of dry dirt). Though I thought this was a lame request considering I shipped more titles and used more varied and relevant dev tools (some as recently as THIS YEAR) than the lead I was corresponding with, I sucked it up and spent the next two weeks making said module. After two weeks of learning the scripting interface, implementing content, scripting events, and thus making a little, fifteen minutes worth of what I considered fun and funny game play, I emailed it to said lead designer and anxiously awaited feedback. I got it pretty quick. The email I got was that he was going to leave on a week's vacation and would "hopefully" get to look at the module when he gets back. Hey bub, no rush or anything! It's not like I need to make mortgage or anything… oh wait!

A week and half later, I'm still waiting for a response. So, I wrote said lead designer an email. He replied by asking me if I preferred world building or content implementation (creating quests, writing dialogues, placing and scripting encounters, etc.). I said I enjoyed both, but if I had to choose, I'd choose content. Wow, I thought, there's progress here. Maybe I'll actually come in and speak to people fact-to-face! No chance. I get an email back stating that what he's really looking for at this time are world designers (another name for a level builder) and that he had no openings for content designers. But hey, once one comes up I'll be the first to hear from him! Keep in mind that this "lead" knew all along I was applying for a CONTENT design position - all our conversations and emails had to do with a senior CONTENT designer. So hey, thanks for wasting three weeks of my life, you fraking tool! I hope you dislocate all your fingers on your MS ergonomic keyboard. That's pretty much all I can say about this guy.

 

I did eventually get hired as a lead content designer up in the Boston MA region. I even ended up leaving my family down in Austin to try and sell the house while I worked at this other company and lived in a crappy studio apartment in a not-so-nice part of a town called Framingham. It sucked being apart from my wife and five-year-old daughter. I would come back to visit them every three or four weeks, but that made it even harder to be separated from them, especially since the housing market is in the crapper. But I kept up hope that the house would sell and that we would buy something almost comparable up in the Boston MA area. Boy, was I wrong.

 

Who knew that the Boston MA area is MORE expensive that SoCal? Certainly not me. I went to look at houses all around the Boston MA region and found that for 2½-x the amount I paid for my 2,800 sq.ft. house with a pool in Austin, I could get a POS, run down shack complete with a car frame on cement blocks and a broken toilet on the lawn. YIPPEE! So after almost three months of separation, the house not selling and seeing one POS shack after another that was going for about $500k, I had to bid adieu to my lead design position at the company in Boston MA. It was getting to the point that it was more expensive for me to work at this company than to be unemployed in Austin TX. There were a couple of very poignant other factors that contributed to my leaving, a lot of which were bait-and-switch scenarios in the company that I did not find amusing or promising for a career move, but suffice it to say it would have been disastrous to uproot my family and move.

 

So here I am today, currently looking for employment. Unfortunately, none of the positions that I'm being considered for are in Austin, TX. There just isn't squat out here for designers. The same thing is happening to a fellow senior designer that got laid off around here. He even experienced that exact same shenanigans from the companies I applied to down here! I'm starting to think there's a super villain mastermind down here that's pumping a scentless gas into the atmosphere that causes mass brain farts among the hiring managers within the games industry in the Austin, TX area. Prove me wrong!

 

Anyway, even though I wanted to stay here, it looks like I'll be moving anyways. At least the places I'm being considered at don't have the prohibitive costs of living as Boston MA does. Plus these companies are definitely on the ball and would be an excellent career move for me.

 

In the meantime, the wife is working more hours at her part-time home gig to make ends meet while I go through the slow process of interviews and such. Nothing moves fast in the games industry, except maybe growing waist lines. But hopefully something will come to fruition soon, because I need my game designing fix, dammit - the PAID game designing fix, that is. The important thing is, though, that I'm once again with my family and that we're healthy, even though we're a tad stressed.

Currently playing : Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures Release date: 2008-05-20

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Time Keeps Tick-Tick_Ticking in My Head...
Current mood: dorky
Category: Blogging

So yeah, I'm still an unemployed bastard. And yeah, it's only been two weeks, but it seems like two months. I've pretty much applied to everything that's available in the Austin area, so now it's a waiting game for bites. I hate waiting. And I don't want to move again. I would have reapplied at NCsoft Austin (where I worked prior to Spacetime), but they're not hiring designers. It could be because TR isn't taking off as fast as hoped, so they're not interested in replacing those who've left (like me). Oh well.

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So with my extra time in searching for employment, I've come across amusing stuff on the intertubes.

Central Park is weirder than you think.

Pandemic makes the best game related movies EVAR.

I might be the only person on this planet who thinks Guitar Hero and Rock Band are about as exciting as clumped cat piss, but this game looks like a definite winner!

BAHAHAHA!

Rockstar playing it safe.

"Maybe you'll get lucky and he'll die."

That's about it. Now I'll resume with becoming the world's greatest super villain (I have my work cut out for me). First I have to dig my secret underground lair, so that might take a while. Then I'll have to find henchmen… I suppose I can wrangle up the corner spare change beggars – they'll work for cheap. Anyway, I obviously have a lot of work to do, so cheerio!

Currently playing : Burnout Revenge Release date: 07 March, 2006

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I got laid off - HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Current mood: disappointed
Category: Life

Nope, I'm not BSing, I really got laid off. NCsoft pulled funding and unfortunately that meant Spacetime had to cut several positions. Here's the poop from Spacetime's website:

Welcome

We know it's not the norm but at Spacetime Studios we've always been about communicating when we can. For two years this has been in good times but we want to put out a message to the community before the rumors start.

Our project has been cancelled by the current publisher. Yeah it sucks, and we don't believe anyone who says otherwise at a time like this.  Regardless of how you look at it, we won't be entering production in the immediate future, so we are retrenching and unfortunately had to let 12 folks go. There are always wild rumors at a time like this so we wanted to be as specific as possible to the number and circumstance. All 12 employees released were given extended benefits, severance and will be supplied letters of recommendation. These were good folks and we are not happy about it. We'll do anything we can to help them land somewhere else. If you are a developer and are looking for good folks, drop us a line at jobs@spacetimestudios.com.

The cancelled game was our primary project and we have a complete MMO engine w/ networking infrastructure, tools suite, and next-gen rendering engine. The company remains extremely committed to the IP and once all mutual obligations have been completed between the publisher and ourselves we intend to explore every possible avenue to see that our team's collective vision come to fruition.

We want to stress that there are no bad feelings with NCSoft. There is a tremendous amount of mutual respect between our companies.  They have conducted themselves with honor and integrity, and we would work with them again in an instant.

We are still here, stable and strong, and running a little bit lighter while we figure out our next move. What does not kill us makes us stronger said the philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche. That may be true, but it isn't pleasant. Wish us luck and good fortune.

Even though I'm known as a grumpy sucker, I bear absolutely no ill will towards Spacetime. They are great people and it's a goddam crime the game we were working on got the proverbial axe (though I'm hopeful it'll see the light one day since it's a kick-ass game).

What can I say, it's the nature of the business and shit happens - a lot - in this industry. I'm sure I'll find something out here in Austin. And if I don't, I'm more than happy to let the wife go out to be the bread winner while I become Mr. Mom. We've gotten through rough patches before and we'll get through it again. That's life, have a cookie.

Peace.

Currently playing : Everquest: Rise Of Kunark Release date: 13 November, 2007

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Happy (Gregorian) New Year and Stuff
Current mood: blissful
Category: Blogging

Gregorian Calendar

So, did everyone have a good holiday season? I hope so. I know I did.

For X-Mas this year my wife and I decided to come up with a new plan that will guarantee we each get what we want. My wife went out and shopped for the items she wanted (mostly clothes – blech!) and I wrote down exactly what I wanted – an Xbox 360 Elite with an extra wireless remote, wireless network adaptor, and a wireless remote recharger for two (evidently she wanted to shop around to get the best deal rather than "trust" me to hunt for the best deal, insinuating I might not be a patient man!). So between the two of us, we each got exactly what we wanted for X-Mas. Yeah, it's not romantic, but it beats the hell out of getting a pink bunny outfit and having to pretend that I like it! And thanks to my mom giving me a gift certificate to Gamestop, I bought several good, used games at their "BUY 2 GET 1 FREE" sale. The list of 360 games I acquired are:

Bioshock

Dead Rising (I get to kill zombies in a shopping mall – how frakin' cool is that!)

Condemned: Criminal Origins

Burnout: Revenge

EA Sports: Fight Night Round 3 (yes, I hate EA, but this was a used game and EA didn't get any of my money for it, so suck it. Besides, it's the best and only boxing game on the 360 and the knockout replays are epic… and my meathead heavyweight fighter is named Mallet "Bam Bam" McBride – I gotta play it!)

Crackdown

Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (great coop for the wife and me, and Chewie can wear a top hat – A FRIGGIN' TOP HAT – WOOT!)

And the kid? Well, let's just say that Santa must've played favorites looking at all the loot she got. Meh, she's an only child and dammit, if we want to spoil her a bit here and there, then so be it. She's a wonderful little tyke, anyhoot!

All-in-all, this was a great holiday season. Even my mom visiting was very pleasant!

But alas, I'm now back at work, but that's a good thing. For one, the paycheck allows me to pay for stuff, and for another thing I actually like it at Spacetime and I love the project I'm on. Nice change of pace, I gotta say.

Aside from playing with my Xbox 360 in the evenings when nothing's on the boob tube (writer's strike and all), I've also been indulging in the fun that is EQ2. I cancelled my WoW account (again) since I just wasn't interested in playing another character up to 70 and besides, since I already had a hunter at level 70 that means I won the game, right? At least that's what I keep telling myself.

As for EQ2, I discovered the joy that is the Bruiser class. I made a Barbarian Bruiser by the name of Tohr (good, tough guy name from some non-descript fantasy book/game/LARP/PnPRPG/taking-a-crap-moment/etc) and I've been enjoying beating the crap out of the indigenous wildlife and non-agreeable locals of the land. It's even better since I don't need to use a weapon, so I save a bunch on not having to constantly upgread weapons. The visuals are a mixed bag, with questionable art direction and the game engine still runs like a gimpy old man with an enlarged prostate running through wet tar. But the game play is really first rate and there are a bunch of things to do. Plus there's no Barrens Chat of any sort, which is a plus to anyone who knows what the hell I'm talking about.

I also took advantage of Turbine's payment "sale" of sorts for Lord of the Rings Online. It's basically $9/month if I sign up for 3 months, which I did. I liked it the first time around when it came out, so I figured I'd give it another shot. It's still fun and not too much has changed, but I'm having a much better time in the Monster Play PvP area than before, thanks in large part that there are now more than enough level 50 players for me and the other "creeps" to shoot at. The thing is, the "freeps" (what the good guys are called) are so much more powerful than any of the "creeps" (the monster fellows) that it makes it very difficult for an up-and-coming monster to make their mark in Middle Earth. But it's fun regardless, and kills are extra special because it is so hard.

I also saw Live Free or Die Hard over the break, and I have to say I liked it as much as all the other Die Hard flicks. It's over-the-top-John-McLain-has-way-too-many-hero-points fun that just can't be beat.

Anyway, I've rambled too much as it is. Perhaps I'll update this here bloggy thing again within the week. Not that I'll have anything MORE interesting to say, but whatever. It's good typing practice.

Currently playing : Fight Night Round 3 Release date: 20 February, 2006

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To Boldly Go and Step Off Fat Bastard Part Deux
Current mood: happy
Category: Games

..So yeah, as the one or two of you that actually look at my page may have noticed, I'm no longer at NCsoft working on Tabula Rasa. I've moved on to Spacetime Studios to work on an as yet unannounced game of space fighting greatness, or as quoted from our website, "Spacetime Studios' unnamed project is a massively-multiplayer online game that features a unique combination of space flight and role-oriented (RPG-style) combat." Yep, that's about all I can say about the game, other than I haven't been this excited about working on a game since I started working on Fallout 3 back during the Black Isle days (it still pains me that BIS effectively shut down and the project was canned, but life goes on and I'm in a much happier place, now. *playfully grabs at imaginary butterflies*). Oh, and here's the one and only screenshot from our site:

Check out the Spacetime Studios website for updates and developer blog posts.

Now onto part deux of this blog – the Step Off Fat Bastard section. The one or two of you might know from my previous, infrequent blogs that during crunch time on Tabula Rasa there was a weight loss challenge at NCsoft (yeah, great time to watch calories, during crunch – BRILLIANT!). I lost 20 lbs. and have been successful at maintaining that weight. Now it's time for me to lose another 20 lbs., so I started back at watching what I eat and upping the intensity of my cardio and weight training at the gym. It's kicking my ass, but it's supposed to, right? We'll see how that goes with the holidays coming up and all the sweets that come with it, but I'm feeling pretty confident about all of it.

Speaking of games, in particular MMORPGs, I've re-upped my World of Warcraft account after taking a few months off, and I've been playing Everquest 2 during that time off from WoW. With WoW I've put my level 70 Night Elf Hunter (no Mohawk) on indefinite leave until I get the urge to grind for gold, faction, or whatever, and am now leveling up my Orc Warrior named Puuk (naturally enough). There's been enough fixes to the beleaguered and often ignored Warrior class to warrant me another try at this character, which is level 51 at the moment. It's been fun so far, mass murdering the indigenous life in the Blasted lands, but I can't wait until Puuk is 58 so I can get into the Outlands. Plus the gear at 51 is pretty non-existent, so I can't wait to get some good gear from the Outlands, as well.

Currently playing : Everquest: Rise Of Kunark Release date: 13 November, 2007

9:59 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Austin GDC Bound
Current mood: curious
Category: Games

So tomorrow I'm off to the Austin Game Developer's Conference. I'm not usually the social butterfly kind of guy, but I thought this would be interesting to go to because (1) I'm a game designer in this industry, (2) I've never been to a GDC before, even though I've been in this industry for 9 years now, (3) I might actually learn something, and (4) there'll be a lot of lunch money to steal. I KID!

Anyway, I'll post my thoughts on this upcoming experience for the one or two of you who might actually glance at this page. Be afraid, be very afraid...

Currently listening : One Day Remains By Alter Bridge Release date: 10 August, 2004

5:45 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

A Top 10 List - YAY!
Current mood: annoyed
Category: Life

What can I say, I'm a grumpy bastard with little tolerance for what I perceive as dumb (which is most things). As such, there are a plethora of things in life that I find intrinsically annoying (hey, I used "intrinsically" and "plethora" in the same sentence – how fucking annoying!). A lot of these annoyances pop up within the hallowed, somewhat pungent walls of my gym; my personal haven for releasing my pent up, festering rage. So, without further ado, here is my list of –

Top 10 Things that Annoy Me in the Gym:

1. Screaming Bowel-Ripper Man:
   1. We've all seen him. He's the narrow shouldered imbecile in the three-sizes-too-small tank top. This is a fellow who piles on far too much weight on any given weight lifting apparatus, barely lifting it off the rack with a fart inducing grunt, moving said overburdened weight roughly three inches within the positive and negative rep, screaming with power-lifting intensity that would embarrass Bill Kazmair and possibly shoot one's colon across a crowded train station, and then proceed to slam the ridiculous weight back on the rack. This, of course, is followed by intense scanning of the room in the hopes that fellow, yet lesser, lifters are staring in awe at this marvel of modern weight lifting.
2. The Nose Hair Melter:
   1. Before any given day of weight lifting, I "enjoy" thirty minutes of high intensity cardio on one of the many elliptical treadmills. I usually choose one that is far away from other people because, well, I really don't like people. Sometimes I can merrily stride to nowhere without anyone next to me, other times it is unavoidable. However, in either case there will always be someone within nose's reach who has the breath of a Bull Mastiff that just got done eating its own shit and then licking its own balls for the better part of the day. No matter how far away this individual with Death's breath is, the repugnant aroma of cadaver and melted ass will waft over me. And, if I'm really lucky, this master of Hell's Potpourri will expel a tidal wave of foulness with a huge WHEW! several times during their run/pedal.
3. The Sauntering Muffin-Top:
   1. When I was a bouncer many, many moons ago, we had inside the ticket booth a sign that read, "Spandex is a privilege, not a right!" The same can be said for cutoff shirts. I'm a firm believer in knowing one's own limits. It is because of this that I don't wear Speedos when I go swimming or parade around with my shirt off thinking that I'm built like Michael Jai White. However, within the confines of the Gym (henceforth known as "the gym"), there are individuals who are either delusional about their limits or have never gazed upon their frame in a mirror. I'm talking about the females who saunter around in cutoff tops and hip-hugger spandex, exposing their midsection like they were built like Haley Berry, when in this realm of reality they are built like Carolyn Ray. If I wanted to ogle muffin tops, I'd go to Winchell's Doughnuts. With men, see item 1, Screaming Bowel-Ripper Man with the three-sizes-too-small tank top happily outlining a waistline that'll make the Michelin Man feel downright svelte. Know your limits, people, know your goddam limts!
4. Captain Disgusting:
   1. This guy (and it usually is a guy) is the living, breathing embodiment of the word "BLECH!" He is shaped like an lumpy egg, has more body hair than a spider monkey, a comb-over hairstyle that would make Montgomery Burns envious, wears a loose tank-top that reveals an Amazonian Forrest of armpit hair and skin tags, wears shorts that ride far too high above the knee and into said individual's crack, and sweats more than a new fish during shower time at the state pen. Oh, and he never uses, or even brings, a workout towel to clean up after himself.    
5. Wannabe Sword Crosser:
   1. There is no stereotypical version of this individual, yet it is one thing that aggravates me to no end. When I look for a locker to use in the locker-room to leave my stuff during my workout, I always look for a locker that is far enough away from another used locker that, should I use my locker pre and post shower, there won't be an individual right next to me doing the same thing. However, nine times out of ten when I return to my locker that WAS blissfully far away from other used lockers, there will be some smack-tard who is getting undressed and using the locker RIGHT NEXT TO MINE! It doesn't matter that there is a wall of empty lockers on the other side of the wall. Nope, this mental giant gravitates to my fucking locker region, maybe in the hopes of crossing swords, I don't know. I mean, why else would he ignore all the other empty lockers and choose one that is right next to an occupied one, namely my locker? And, the cherry on this cake is that this dim-witted gnat-brain also falls into item 4, Captain Disgusting. I might as well be in prison with all the hairy man-ass I regrettably see in the locker room… right next to my locker… even though there are empty lockers elsewhere…
6. Man-Sauce Sprayer Guy:
   1. In the desperate hope of finding compatible mates within the machinations of human society, there are questionably male individuals who have bought into the inept advertising of Axe Body Spray, or as I refer to said spray, Man-Sauce. These misguided "dig-me's" (a term my wife coined about men who think they are the greatest gift to womankind) lurk in the men's locker-room – and usually choose the locker right next to mine (see item 5) – and await the right moment to spray their hellish spray. That "right moment" is usually right after I return from cleaning myself off in the showers and am about to put on fresh, clean clothes before going about the rest of my day. Nothing says "I'm a brainless ass-pimple that latches onto everything advertised to my demographic" like the half-man who nukes a large section of locker-room with his Axe Body Spray. I'm convinced said individual has no functioning olfactory within their freshly Biore Stripped nose, because if they did then they'd realize that said body spray is the odorifous equivalent of honey-baked armadillo shit lodged in a skunk's ass crack. Even after the bombardment of the Man-Sauce spray, the lingering half-life of the vapors could give a nuclear detonation a run for its money.
7. The Jibber-Jabberer:
   1. This "special" individual, and by "special" I mean the kind that requires a helmet, can be either male or female. Simply put, this idiot non-savant talks incessantly on their cell phone while sitting on a popular piece of exercise equipment – and by "popular" I mean one that I like to use. They usually move when asked to, however, that move is always accompanied by an expression of being "put out" and/or completely bothered. Often-times I've fantasized about bludgeoning said individuals with a 150 lbs. dumbbell.
8. Equipment Zombie:
   1. Normal zombies will permanently die if you shoot them in the head, thus destroying their brain. I don't believe this tactic would work with the dreaded Equipment Zombie. Said zombie would have to actually possess a brain in order to destroy it. You can find this creature lurking in every gym, usually around the busy times. There they sit on a desired piece of exercise equipment, huffing and puffing with exhausted agony, however they never actually did anything to warrant the mysterious huffing and puffing. They just sit, panning the room waiting for their next hapless victim. If approached by someone and asked if they could work-in during the zombie's rest period, the creature will gaze back at their victim with cold, dead, witless eyes and attack with, "I've only got a couple more sets," and remain planted upon said equipment.
9. The Crop Duster
   1. This befouled beast is not necessarily exclusive to the gym, however it is more heinous within the gym since most people need to breathe deeply during their exercises. This unsavory creature will usually attach itself to a wandering group of exercisers traveling between exercise machines, usually in high traffic areas. Many-a-times I've been exerting large amounts of energy trying to move weight around, taking in deep breathes to replenish my body and maintain good form, only to be victimized by the Crop Duster during inhaling. The Crop Duster knows this is the best time to strike since not only will I smell the rancid blast, but I'll also inadvertently end up tasting the unholy fumes. In my haze of pain and nausea, I'll try to identify the hellish beast that desanctified the air around me, but lo it is a wasted effort. The Crop Duster has blended into its surroundings, remaining forever a mystery of the unnatural.  
10. Mystery Sweat
    1. This is more of an event than a certain individual, though I'm pretty sure it is caused by an individual of questionable hygiene and even more questionable upbringing. In any given day when I go to the gym, I'll inevitably come across a piece of equipment I want to use that is covered in the sweaty excretions from some sub-human that has disappeared. I'll look around for the sap that isn't using a workout towel, but alas I cannot find said individual. Where did this mound of excreted bodily fluids come from? Is this quivering liquid actually secreted, or is it actually a living creature, like The Blob, waiting for some hapless soul to plant their ass upon it so it may enter its victim rectally and hence take over their body? I may never know for certain, but what I do know is that I don't want to contaminate my own towel with this ooze of alien origin, so I usually try and find another piece of equipment that doesn't have a lignified alien nesting upon the seat.

Currently playing : World Of Warcraft Expansion: Burning Crusade Release date: 16 January, 2007

6:31 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Raven Software Senior Artist Glen Angus passes away
Current mood: sad
Category: Games

A good friend of mine and former colleague at Raven Software passed away yesterday. If you ever played any of the X-Men Legends games, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, or the Magic the Gathering ccg, then you're familiar with his work. He was smart, funny, caring, and my life was richer having known him. I'm posting the below link so people can see his work, give their condolences and possibly make a donation to the family fund (his son has autism). http://www.ravensoft.com/glen_angus.aspx

Thank you in advance.

Damien

4:05 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Happy Picture Time and the "C" Word
Current mood: drained
Category: Life

Yes, for all two of you who actually pay attention to this space (me and my other personality, Phineas Hogglsnort, evil mastermind behind the sticky booger stuff that glues CDs to magazines) I have new pictures to view! I present pictures of my new (well, roughly new since it's been about 4 or 5 months now) automobile, my family, and Phineas in plastic jewelry. My ego must stipulate that these pics are of me before my recent weight loss, so waist size and double-chins appear larger than in reality. Also of note, I cannot take credit for the picture choices that grace this lonely space since my wife has access to this account and decided it needed more pictures. Needless to say, I have no control over anything in my life, I'm just a passenger chained to the floor of life's paddy wagon.

So, now to the dirty, filthy stuff - the "C" word! It is a word in the game dev community that is full of hate, loathing, fear, gastro-intestinal discomfort and questionable hygienic practices. I'm speaking of CRUNCH time! We at NCsoft working on Tabula Rasa are in full crunch mode to get the game out. This means 12 hour work days and periodic crawling into a fetal position in the corner of our respective offices, sobbing and urinating. This means the family we have, if we have a family, forgets who we are. This means our children, if we have children, call the postman "Daddy" since they see him more than their actual parent. This means that fatigue is so prevalent that there are more days when I wear my underwear on the outside of my shorts than the other way around. God help us if I decide to go "commando" one day during the end of crunch. Then again, that might be kinda fun...

So now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a corner in my office that has my name on it (it's written in crayon) that's just aching for tears and urine. Ciao!

Currently playing : Puzzle Quest Challenge of the Warlords Release date: 20 March, 2007

8:11 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Step off you fat bastard!
Current mood: chipper
Category: Life

I've been into weight lifting, fitness, MMA, and all that other physical shit for a long time, now. However, after getting into the game industry, and especially having a kid, my fine fighting form has dwindled into a thick, muscle-fatty of dispropotionate waist size. I've lived with this girth for several years, now, moving from a lean and hard 225 lbs. to a hefty (yet oddly sexy) 275 lbs. But enough is enough!

About 8 weeks ago, we at work started a weight loss competition. Feeling flabby over what muscle I had left on my body, I naturally entered "for fun" (there is a monetary challenge, but my wife put the kibosh on it, but that's another story, and I entered the contest under the "for fun" category - no money necessary). With no further motivation other than to get into fighting shape and just be healthy once again (I want to get back into Brazilian jiu-jitsu again, too), I've successfully lost 20 lbs. so far! Pants that were once tight are now loose around my waist! Oh happy days! However, the journey must still continue. I've still another 25 lbs. to go before I'll feel comfortable again giving and receiving the plethora of painful locks within the grappling arts, let alone even waddling into a studio and throwing myself into the fray of grappling training.

So, why am I writing about my weight battle? Because I'm building path-finding at work and it freakin' takes forever, plus it locks up my computer for anything else remotely productive, so what the hell!

Currently playing : Lord Of The Rings: Shadows Of Angmar Release date: 24 April, 2007

5:54 PM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment