Matt

It's time to learn, kids!

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 20:56:16 GMT

At long last, Conspiracy Code has been announced! To refresh your memory (if it needs refreshing), this is the game we created that teaches a full course of high-school American History. You beat the game, you've taken the course - enjoy your credit. For video, a demo link, and lots more information, you can check out the Virtual School's website on it right here.

We're already very deep into work on its successor (we started on it shortly after the original went into Beta with students around late January), but it's nice to see the announcements going out and articles popping up all over the place. Here's hoping it's well-received by the students as well as the press, heh.

StarTrekStarTrekStarTr-

Mon, 11 May 2009 03:32:24 GMT

Okay, yes, it's awesome - it seems like every reviewer on the planet (or at least 96% of them, going by current aggregates) loves the thing, so I won't take up much of your time adding my voice of praise to the hordes. Basically, lemme just say that it's a good movie. Setting aside the entire franchise and all its attendant baggage, this is really just a lot of fun that holds up no matter how you approach it. If you're a fan of the series, there will be a lot of in-jokes and references to savor, but really, this is just an entertaining flick.

Of course, as with all things intended to entertain, your mileage may vary - after years of disappointing Star Trek feature films, I was looking for entertainment first and faithfulness second, and while far more than lip service was paid to the latter, I believe this film's creators had a very similar equation of cinematic desire in their heads as they went about crafting this bit of eye candy. So head in expecting explosions, snappy dialogue, whizz-bang special effects, some crazy sci-fi trappings, and a surprisingly likeable cast of characters, and I think you'll be just fine.

In the end, it's still no Bad Boys II, but then again... what is?

Quo'in it up!

Sat, 28 Mar 2009 16:24:19 GMT

Seeing Lexa's post has inspired me to write one of my own. I see the last time I actually posted anything was August of 2008, so perhaps I'm a bit overdue - but hey, just like Lexa, the status has remained quo for quite some time. Well, except for proposing to Simone - I'm engaged now. That part probably merited a post... a bit closer to when that event actually occurred. Hmm. Come to think of it, perhaps I'm just getting lazy with LiveJournal. Ah, well.

Anyway, some interesting things have been going on lately (besides the whole engagement thing) - our American History-teachin' game is now in Beta with real students, and doing very well. We're working on a new project or two that I can't tell you about yet, and things are pretty awesome on that front. Actually, we just took part in a massive voice-acting audition session at my old graduate school, FIEA. Nearly a hundred potential voice actors came to show their stuff to local gaming companies (like EA and n-Space) as well as us! We found some really good voices for the upcoming title we're working on, and it was a lot of fun - though very tiring - to go through all those applicants.

Oh, and on Monday, I take my very first business trip up to Columbus, Ohio to help give a presentation on all the cool stuff we've been doing. Should be a neat opportunity, though it saddens me to have to wake up at 5:00 AM and put on a tie for it. Other than that on the work front, we also moved offices - now we're in a really nice place in the heart of downtown, next to alllll the restaurants. Tasty, tasty restaurants. Mmm. I also have an office with a door now, and it's the biggest non-exec office - though I do share it with a fellow producer. Our setup is highly spiffy, and I like it a great deal.

Now that work has calmed down a bit, I'm also slowly but surely getting other much-needed elements of my life in order. For instance, I finally got around to locating a good dentist so I can have regular cleanings and such, and I'm in the process of doing the same for a physician. Healthy! I've also got a bit more time to actually play games, which is nice - there are a lot of good ones out there now, and I have my plate full. A good problem to have, though.

Overall, life is good. I hope to be able to update you all a little more frequently, as I feel I've been neglecting this avenue of communication a bit... but really, I just included information about a dentist visit in this, my first post in about 7 months. Not a whole lot goin' on, heh! Anyway, have a great day, all - be well.

Ahh, vacation!

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 05:22:53 GMT

Brazil was awesome, and Kung Fu Panda, which I watched on the plane on the way back home, is actually really fun.

That's the short version.

The long version begins at home on Thursday evening nearly two weeks ago, as Simone and I prepared for our trip. A mighty scare occurred when Simone was unable to find her passport and we tore not one but two houses apart looking for it until we finally located it around 2:00 AM. Phew. I stopped by work the next day for a quick meeting, then headed out around lunchtime to meet up with Simone, her sister Michelle, and her boyfriend, Charlie. Together, the four of us grabbed lunch and headed for the Orlando airport, where we hopped a flight to Delta's hub in Atlanta, Georgia. Our connecting flight to Brazil was set to leave from there at 8 PM.

Then there was a little "mechanical problem," which I can only imagine involved a pitched battle between the flight crew and a horde of gremlins deep within the guts of the plane, because it's hard to believe anything else could delay us for over six hours. Seven-dollar airport meal vouchers were little consolation, I assure you. The flight finally left Atlanta around 2:30 AM, which meant that the following Saturday we spent in Brazil after it landed is something of a blur to me. However, one of the things I do remember is being elated by was my first taxi ride, which brings me to one of my first sets of observations on Brazilian culture:

Taxis are Awesome: Besides buses, the primary form of public transportation in Rio de Janiero is actually the taxi. There are tons of cabs swarming the city's streets, and having to wait anywhere for more than five minutes for a ride happened only once (and that was in a deserted area around midnight after half our party had already gotten one). Most of the time, you stepped up the street, stuck out your arm, and BAM! - a taxi driver would swerve across three lanes' worth of traffic and be there for you. When you want to go somewhere in Brazil, you do it in a taxi, and you do it fast, which brings me to my next point.

Driving in Brazil is Madness: But effective madness, I might add. The city's streets are controlled chaos, with things moving forward at a good pace, and everybody treating lanes and red lights like suggestions. This echoes a recurring theme in Brazil, which seems to be that they are proud to have things at the point of being utterly screwed up and yet still in complete working order. This is not a dig, incidentally, because while everything is crazy and feels halfway jury-rigged, it all still works just fine. Think of it as more of an awed compliment.

Rio is Cool: Every taxi ride was a treat, honestly. Driving through a brand-new foreign city is great fun no matter how you slice it, and one full of incredibly diverse architecture, really interesting graffiti (it was everywhere, and some of it quite talented), and enormous mountains is like icing on the cake. Rio is simply huge, and when you drive at night, seeing its densely-packed slums light up the hillsides like stars is just flat-out neat. This also highlights an odd property-value disparity, in which places higher up are actually cheaper, and places lower are more affluent. Interesting.

That first day, we settled into our new digs, which was an apartment owned by Simone's parents right on the beach at Copacabana. There was a breathtaking, sweeping view of the enormous curved beach right out our window. Simply beautiful. I'd also like to take a moment to point out that Simone's parents are amazingly awesome for providing just about everything on this trip and being the most gracious hosts ever. After we'd gotten setteld, we headed out to see a live Brazilian ~~soccer~~ football match at Maracana stadium. More points:

Brazilians Love Soccer: No, you don't understand. You might say that Americans love football, but if you do, then it may be better to say that Brazilians live soccer. Their enjoyment of the sport transcends mere athletic competition and becomes a social glue. Parts of Rio support different teams, and they support their teams with a special ferocity, because each one is their team, like a big sibling. Walking down the streets when a game is on, it's common to see several onlookers hovering around outside a cafe with a TV inside, entranced by the game going on inside. Every kick, every penalty call, and every twitch of the ball is met with attendant shouts and cries. Goals are moments of transcendant bliss for the fans of the winning team, and there are signs in nicer restaurants that say "No Dancing on the Tables" for a reason. It is not uncommon to see buses of fans waving flags and chanting fight songs that roughly translate to "They're gonna take it up the ass!" zoom past you on the streets.

Brazilians Are Closer: In line with the above social commentary, Brazilians also have a much greater sense of community than we do. There's a prevailing sense that everyone around is your fellow man, particularly if they're cheering for the same team as you. Sure, they're as adept as anybody at ignoring the homeless and the ever-present street vendors, but amongst the general populace there's a sense that they just plain like each other more than we Americans like each other. Heck, it seems like we can barely tolerate each other, sometimes. We need to have an Argentina of our own to make fun of and hate for cheating in soccer, I think.

Portuguese is Sweet: It's like somebody threw French and Spanish in a blender and added a dash of Italian. Hearing it spoken by somebody who's fluent is both beautiful and annoying, because it all flows together smoothly and sleekly, sounds cool, and is sometimes very hard to peel apart and get at individual words. Even worse is trying to mimic some of the pronunciations, which led to incidents like Charlie and I saying the word for "Apple" approximately eighty billion times over the course of the trip as we tried to learn it correctly.

After the soccer match, which featured a personal cheering section and makeshift fan band for the home team, among other things, we headed back to the apartment for some rest. Over the next few days, we explored more of Brazil, met a good deal of Simone's extended family, and went on several more adventures. In these few days, I found something really enjoyable about Brazil: they respect your intelligence there. See, you can get messed up in Brazil - easily. Elevator doors will cut your fool hands off. Don't even think you have the right of way in traffic, because those cars will run your ass down if you dare defy their speeding metallic might. Take a look at these pictures of a playground. This is an awesome playground, and it would never exist in the states. I'm betting it sees its fair share of broken child limbs every damn day, and it's still open. Look at those 20-foot drops. Look at the enormous Inclined Plane of Death. It is unforgiving to the unwary, and great fun for the careful. I wish I could have played on it as a kid.

Basically, Brazil has no frivolous lawsuits. There is no nanny state. It's your own damn fault if you screw up like a moron, and I love that. I mean, it's not perfect - if you try to return broken electronics, for example, they will assume you were an idiot and broke them, and never give you your money back. But still - I really did appreciate that things could be cool and effective and not worry so much about the possible aftereffects on morons. Coffee is hot, for chrissakes!

Moving on. Other highlights from the trip included a visit to Petrópolis, the summer home of the Brazilian Emperors, located in some gorgeous mountains not far from Rio. Hands up - who knew Brazil had Emperors? I sure didn't. Apparently they showed up in Brazil right around the same time Napoleon showed up near Portugal with conquest on the mind. Funny that. We also went to Pão de Açúcar, which is also known as Sugarloaf Mountain, which you should all remember from Moonraker, because it has those cable cars that Bond fought Jaws on. It's also got some ridiculously beautiful views. Take a look at this shot I took on the way to the second peak. It also had tiny monkeys.

Of course, no visit to Brazil would be complete without a trip up to Enormous Jesus, which, though it occurred on a particularly cool and overcast day, still offered some beautiful views (that's Sugarloaf Mountain in the middle, there, and behind the mountains to the right is Copacabana)! Finally, we also saw a famous Bossa Nova singer named Maria Creuza in a very nice little club - interestingly, we heard her sing "The Girl from Ipanema" in the original Portuguese while we were actually in Ipanema!

Food-wise, Brazil has much to offer the average traveler, though pickings are a bit slimmer for vegetarians. Expect to eat a lot of cheese, bread, and cheese-bread. For you, most of the standard restaurant fare will begin to blend together into a warped Italian cuisine after not too long. Also, their pizza needs MOAR SAUCE - I hear it's very Italian-inspired, but I also hear I like sauce. As for vegans, well... you'll be in a bit of a tight spot, I think. Good luck if you want to expand too far beyond fruits, rice, beans, and veggies.

In any case, Brazil was great. I had a very fun time visiting interesting sites and meeting cool people. I also had a bit of a refreshment on how at least a part of the world views America - and it's pretty highly, believe it or not. America is looked to as the place you go when you've "made it." Saying someone went to America for their field is like saying they got very successful. Our culture is everywhere in Brazil, particularly in the form of movies, and although the whole customs/immigration process is constantly bemoaned, most people are very positive about us in general. For all the cynicism in our inward-looking views, it's nice to see an outsider's perspective or two - and see it be so positive. Sometimes, you have to leave the country to find new things to appreciate about it, I think. Then again, prostitution is legal in Brazil and there are boobs on public TV, so... we could always get even better, y'know.

Anyway, there you have it - a wonderful time was had by all, and I'd like to go again. Can't ask for much more.

Zoom!

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 22:15:03 GMT

It's vacation time, ladies n' gents - that's right, I'm finally taking a (short) break away from the hustle and bustle of work, responsibility, America, English as the primary form of communication, and this side of the equator. I'm goin' to Brazil.

My flight leaves tomorrow at 4 PM, and I'll be spending over a week in those foreign lands, visiting Simone's extended family, bribing corrupt officials, evading gangs of hoodlums and/or monkeys, and experiencing the sights and sounds of South America. I should certainly have some interesting stories to tell (and probably pictures to share), so stay tuned.

With luck, I should see you all in a week or two! Without it, I'll probably end up in those infamous Brazilian sugar mines we've all heard horror stories about. So... wish me luck?

Bye!

Movie! And things!

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 05:10:45 GMT

Heya all!

Been a while since I posted, yadda yadda - point is, you should all see WALL-E, 'cuz it's awesome. Seriously, this thing is like joy on celluloid; an utterly deep, enjoyable, happy, and damn funny movie. Probably one of Pixar's best, and currently vying in my heart of hearts with The Incredibles for my favorite film out of that incredible studio of theirs. It's adorable and fun, and a sheer triumph in terms of graphics, animation, and storytelling. Makes me feel lucky to live in an age where these sorts of visual wonders are available for all to see.

On the job front, things are proceeding as usual - no real major updates there. Work is going well, I'm makin' videogames and enjoying it immensely, and the project's going swimmingly. I think it's going to be something really special once all is said and done.

As for recreation, I tried mountain biking on a "beginner" course last weekend. It was highly painful, and though I figured my biking to work every day for the better part of a year would've helped, I should have realized that that sort of thing is accomplished on paved roads with - and this is the important part - no incline whatsoever. Florida roads - completely level. And sane. Contrast this with the mountain biking course we went on at a local park, which had towering hills with murder in their hearts, trees with sprawling root systems that lashed out to catch you and send you spinning end over end into magma sand, and microscopic trails with cruel drops into raging rapids or dense thorn-covered rock bushes on either side.

Needless to say, it was a harrowing experience of spiraling doom, but I made it out through the other end only slightly scathed. All in all, I'm glad I did it (and lived), though I'm not sure how keen I'd be to do it on a regular basis. Especially with my poor bicycle. That thing was not made for the brutal thrashing I put it through, and I think it responded in kind with many well-placed jabs and slams to my body's weak point (it's the crotch, for those of you who haven't read the strategy guide). Perhaps with a more capable bike and cyborg legs, I will be more capable to endure such an endeavor.

In any case, that's my quick update for the evening (and the past few weeks/months). Nothin' too earth-shattering going on, but I thought it'd be nice to let you all know that I haven't yet fallen off the face o' the Earth (came close a couple of times on that trail, though)! I hope all is going well for you, and as always, I wish you good times!

Mmm...

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 15:34:48 GMT

Oh, Brawl, how fantastic you are.

Yes, Super Smash Bros. Brawl was finally released last Sunday, and yes, it's a wonderful thing. I'm just thankful it doesn't have a fully ranked matchmaking service like Xbox Live. I don't know what people are complaining about, honestly; I know it would be the end of me if I had that much access to that many Brawl players in that competitive an environment. As it stands, I can still be a productive - if sleep-deprived - member of society.

Also excellent is the fact that you can use the Gamecube controller and the controls are identical. That way, I don't have to use the wiimote and nunchuck combination, which, though possibly effective, is a little difficult to adapt to after spending years controlling Brawl's predecessor on the Gamecube. I went to the Gamestop release night tournament, and even though I got to the semi-finals, the fact that they required you to use the nunchuck/wiimote combo spelled my demise. It was like... well, it was what I imagine it'd be like to build a pyramid of champagne glasses with a construction crane. Also, in this scenario, you are partially lobotomized and epileptic. And a baby.

Needless to say, Sheik was freakin' out like a spastic moron with detached retinas. Upon extensive in-depth testing, the game seems as different from its predecessor as Melee was from the old N64 version, which I feel to be a good thing. It's a whole new ballgame, and the characters are much more balanced this time around. I look forward to practicing back up to my old skill level, but am not at all disappointed that the translation has leveled the playing field for now - it's to the game's credit, I feel. That said, Captain Olimar and the Pokemon Trainer are both pretty awesome.

So long, Melee - hello, Brawl. It's good times.

House!

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 18:57:07 GMT

Now that Simone has gotten settled in and we've gotten some more furniture for the apartment, things look very nice indeed! I've included a snapshot of the living room, which underwent the most drastic makeover aside from Simone's room (pictures excluded due to laundry pile). We've added a table, couch, and shelves, moved the TV, and made it look all nice n' snazzy. Here:

Nifty, eh?

Huh.

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 20:22:19 GMT

Hearing about other people's dreams can be boring. I understand this.

Still, I feel I simply must relate to you my dream from last night, which involved me getting into a literal pissing contest with Chuck Norris. The standards were based on distance, strength of pee stream, and time held. He won, of course, but conceded that I'd had less practice lately since our last match-up was so long ago - apparently, having pissing contests with Chuck Norris used to be a regular occurrence for Dream Matt.

Man, Dream Matt is awesome.

Oh, and by the way...

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 16:22:46 GMT

I forgot to mention the awesome Christmas present that Simone made for me. I brought it in to the office and they loved it. In fact, they loved it so much that one of my co-workers took pictures of it and posted them online.

Take a look at them here!

Granted, you probably won't know what the heck it is if you haven't played Portal, but to that I say you should playitnowomg. It's so good. So very, very good.

AGH!

Sun, 06 Jan 2008 21:11:58 GMT

Simone and I just got tons of furniture for the house. We got a good deal of it from IKEA, which we went to yesterday.

Yesterday was Saturday.

Unbeknownst to me, apparently the weekend is the time during which the ENTIRE population of Orlando decides to go to IKEA, judging by the immense throng of people there. There were so many shoppers that the gigantic parking lot was full, and people were parking in rows on the grass in front of the place, covering an unpaved area that almost doubled the standard parking area. You'd think it was a tourist attraction. First Disney, then Universal, and now IKEA. Don't get me wrong - the store itself is really slick and well laid-out, with lots of cool displays and neat, well-priced stuff. The surging crowds, however, kinda put a damper on the experience, what with them being everywhere. The place was so crowded that there were traffic delays on the highway off-ramp a mile away from the store.

I asked our cashier if it was like this all the time and she turned her weary, shell-shocked visage to me and whispered "Yes. Always." Her eyes had a far-away, haunted look in them. She went on to say that the weekdays weren't as bad, but the way she said it made it sound as though they weren't "as bad" in the same way that getting hit by a truck isn't "as bad" as being hit by a freight train.

Still, we did get a lot of cool stuff. Once it's all set up and situated (gimme a week), I'll take some pictures and post 'em to let you judge how awesome it is. In other news, Simone starts classes tomorrow, and we begin ramping up work on our next game. Should be fun times ahead. I'll keep y'all posted!

Christmaaaaaas!

Tue, 25 Dec 2007 05:20:14 GMT

Ahh! This time of year never gets old. I love it, love it, love it. I hope you're all having a very happy holiday season. Tonight, as is family tradition, we opened our Christmas presents. I got my mom the Planet Earth BBC miniseries on DVD, and I got my dad a really good kayak paddle (they're planning on getting a kayak soon - I suppose it would've been a pretty bizarre gift, otherwise...). For my part, I got a slew of excellent gifts; there were two games - Super Mario Galaxy and SimCity 4: Deluxe Edition - both of which I've been looking forward to a great deal, some very nice pants (so I don't have to wear the same pair of jeans all the time), and an absolutely gorgeous 8-inch Global Chefs kitchen knife. This thing is fantastically sharp (I managed to cut myself twice in the span of a minute after opening it), exquisitely balanced and constructed, and fiercely pretty. I can't wait to use it.

These were all pretty impressive, but I got one more that topped 'em all. It was the most interesting one I received, and it was something I'd never expected. It came in a plain express mail envelope, and at first glance was nothing more than a simple stack of papers paperclipped to a CD. Upon closer inspection, however, I realized just how amazing it really was: a meticulously-researched, ludicrously-detailed genealogy study of one half of my family tree (my father's side), stretching way, waaaaaaay back. Besides a more recent family tree going back four generations, this gift included a book (on the CD) written in 1888 detailing the early history of my family. This book included a description of one "Ralph Earle," who is my (if I'm counting this correctly) great grandfather times ten (that's a lot of "greats"). He arrived in Newport, Rhode Island in October of 1638 (just 18 years after the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Rock), and appeared to work as a carpenter, innkeeper, and local treasurer.

I'll understand it if you're not as interested in this particular gift as I am - it definitely works on a more personal level than most. I must say, though - there's something really gripping about researching your distant origins. I think it's amazing to read about the earliest members of one's family tree. I mean, this book is just a treasure. The guy who wrote it - Pliny Earle - starts off with the earliest mention he can find of his family, which is in the time of Henry the Second (crowned in 1154 AD), from a book called the Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland. He gives the little excerpt he found: "So far back as the seventh (year of the reign of) Henry the Second, John de Erlegh paid five marks for the scutage of his lands at Beckington."

Wow. Scutage! Whatever that is! Actually, hang on - I bet Wikipedia knows something... *click* *click* *read* *read* ...okay, it's something of a 'knight's fee,' which was whatever monetary or military service was required of a fief to support one knight. Interesting. Anyway, the point is... 12th century! Is that cool or what?! ...well, maybe just cool to me. Still, I highly recommend checking out your family histories if you can. Trace it as far back as it'll go. There are some really interesting stories to be found, and some pretty interesting links. Who knows? Maybe somewhere waaaay back in the mists of time, we're related.

Scary thought, eh?

Edit: Holy crap, my ancestors are in Wikipedia.

And lo, I am now older.

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 21:08:51 GMT

Today's my birthday, and it's a nice one - 25! I've made it a quarter of a century, which I think is a nice, accomplished way of putting it. After this birthday, I don't have much to look forward to in terms of new social powers until I qualify for social security, but the one I did just unlock is pretty awesome. That's right - the ultimate test of maturity. The true rite of passage. The most revered capability of adulthood and quite possibly the end goal of all civilized endeavors... and now it's mine.

I am going to rent so many cars.

Mmm, mmm! Weekend!

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 05:17:22 GMT

Ahh, what an excellent weekend. Simone came down to visit me from Baltimore, which was great! Among many other fun activities, the two of us attended a birthday party at the house of my good friends Libby n' Steve - see, both me n' Libby's birthdays are coming up at the end of the month, so we decided to hold a joint party to celebrate! There were a lot of people there and good times, I daresay, were had by all. Libby n' Steve got me a Wiimote for my birthday, which is a very good gift considering that Simone got me... a Wii! Wooha!

Now I'm playing with power! ...or has Nintendo changed their slogan? Ah, well - point is, I've got their super-cool, absurdly-hard-to-get system, just in time for Super Smash Bros. Brawl to be... wait, what? What was that? Just in time for it to be delayed until February?! GAH! Oh, precious Smash, how I miss you so. However, to tide me over, Lexa sent down a birthday present, too - the exceedingly mysterious - and awesome - Mystery Game of Awesome, whose cover art, though crude, promises both "Exprrrrrrosions!" and "Boobular Lady" (no mention is made of boobular ladies, but maybe the one they do have has really, really big boobs to make up for their absence).

Upon opening the case, however, I was shocked to find it contained a copy of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. They must have mixed up my order at the factory, but no matter - I hear Twilight Princess is an excellent game in its own right, so I shall content myself with playing it (thanks, Lexa!) on my sleek, glossy new Wii (thanks, Simone!), perhaps while using two Wiimotes (thanks, Steve n' Libby!).

In other gaming news (if you think about it, is there really any other kind when it comes to me?), I recently acquired the Orange Box and have found it to be a ridiculously good deal... and I mean "ridiculous" in the sense that "there has never been a deal this good for a new videogame release." Truly, there are some phenomenal games included in this compilation; this is a real treasure trove of FPSery, lemme tell ya. However, I'd like to point out that one title stands above the rest: Portal. This game is wicked-fun on a level that's rarely achieved in gaming. Basically, it's all about carefully navigating increasingly-complicated testing chambers using a "portal gun," with which you can create portal entrances on certain surfaces, allowing you to drop out of a far-off ceiling by running through a dimensional hole in a nearby wall, for instance. Elevating this gameplay into the stratosphere is the delightful AI running the tests, GLaDOS.

In fact, GLaDOS is surprisingly entertaining to an extent that I really don't want to discuss her too much for fear of ruining the surprise for you. Suffice it to say, she's so hilariously passive-agressive and prudishly menacing that having her as your guide/antagonist makes playing through the game an absolute joy. Ah, if only more games had writing - and puzzle design - of Portal's caliber. In any case, if you like your insane physics-bending puzzlers to come with a spot-on sense of humor, I'd suggest checking out Portal. Oh, and the other four games that come in the Orange Box aren't half bad, either.

Anyway, I think it's about time I got on to bed. Have a great night, all, and I hope you had good weekends, as well!

The colors! The colors!

Sat, 01 Sep 2007 05:44:23 GMT

The world seems so much more wonderful, all of a sudden. The air is crisper, the colors more vivid, and the computer fans more... um... whirry. Yes, dear friends, I have just come into possession of a brand-new, top-o'-the-line computer.

It's a very pretty thing. Our IT guy (he does hardware/software/networking support for both FIEA and 360Ed) put it together for me as a favor - we went over a potential hardware list together, he ordered the parts off of Newegg.com (if you haven't been, it's a highly excellent electronics website with lots and lots of good deals), and a week or two (and one painfully-large check) later, I had my machine. Hmm. Lot of parenthetical asides in that previous sentence. Ah, well - whatcha gonna do? Anyway, I learned that it really pays to have a professional put things together for you - he knows his stuff, and even overclocked the system a little.

Now, as my intent in getting this new system was to take advantage of the latest upcoming wave of advanced games (the ones using new DirectX10 graphics), I was forced to make a hard decision concerning its operating system - yep, I went with Windows Vista. Boo, hiss! Anyway, after spending two days setting up my system with Vista Ultimate, I have come to the following conclusions:

Vista is slick as hell. It's all swoopy and graphical and cool, and smells like the future.

Vista is infuriatingly incompatible with a great deal of programs, particularly if you go with the 64-bit architecture (basically, you can go 32-bit, which most of today's systems use, or you can pick 64-bit to take advantage of extra memory - 4 GBs of RAM and up - and other cool future-related possibilities).

Vista has some ludicrous bugs and design problems, some of which stem from its aforementioned incompatibility. As an example, moving a shortcut icon from something like the My Computer window to my desktop results in that icon disappearing from space and time. It's there, but I can't find it. I need to Arrange Icons in order for it to appear. Dragging the icon from the Start Menu to the desktop, however, presents no such problems. As a result, I now drag all my program shortcuts to the Start Menu first. It's kind of like a little journey for them. A little annoying journey.

Vista was designed with slack-jawed troglodytes in mind. However, you can disable most (if not all) of its troglodontic features, such as the much-maligned - and rightfully so - User Access Control. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this delightful feature, it basically prompts you with a "Do You Want to Allow This Thing You Just Started Up to... You Know... Start Up?" confirmation prompt every time you try to do anything. Yeah... that little bit of fun got disabled so very, very fast.

Despite all this negativity, Vista does do a lot of things better. It feels smoother and sometimes even more intuitive than anything that's come before, and its got a boatload of neat ideas lined up beside the bad ones. It is, after all, easy to pass over a dozen nifty little cool features due to one blindingly annoying one. However, all of Vista's swoopy awesomeness comes at a price - I'm sure that on a lesser computer, it would strangle its resources like a starving python attacking a capybara (that's right - I just worked capybaras into my simile). To sum up, my conclusion is that Vista's the operating system of the future... but that future isn't exactly here, yet.

However, that's not to say my early investment hasn't had some significant payoffs. Like I said, my main purpose in getting this rig put together and shackled with Vista was to take advantage of the newest and swoopiest games. Today, I tried out the first intended target: BioShock. Now, it's entirely possible that you haven't heard of this one, particularly if you don't pay much attention to the videogame industry. It'll probably come to your attention sooner or later, however, as it's been getting insanely positive reviews from just about everywhere under the sun. The review aggregates are something like 96, which, statistically speaking, puts it in the top tier of the highest-reviewed games of all time. BioShock is a first-person shooter. It's set in 1960, in an underwater city named Rapture, built by an industrial tycoon and scientific genius named Andrew Ryan who has a love for Ayn Rand's way of thinking. By the time you arrive, however, this sunken metropolis has self-destructed, its inhabitants driven insane due to overuse of their bizarre gene-warping technologies and its once-proud art deco-inspired architecture decayed into a rust-filled, leaking tomb. Setting the game on the ocean's floor allows the designers to use all kinds of cool level building tricks and a massive array of water-based effects (they apparently hired one guy to work solely on water, in particular), and the end result is that this game looks gorgeous.

Running on this computer with everything dialed up to the max, this is probably one of the most beautiful games I've ever seen. I'm not sure if one game alone can validate a decision to buy a new computer, of all things, but BioShock is certainly a step in that direction. Besides looks, the game is also exceedingly well-designed and captivating, not to mention deeply disturbing. It's creepy, atmospheric (great sound effects), and just plain wicked, in some parts. Certainly worthy of all the hype it's been getting, I say.

Anyawy, I do believe I've gushed about it enough. In conclusion, BioShock is all kinds of eerie awesomeness, and my new computer is highly shiny and delightful. Now... it's time to be getting to bed, methinks. Have an excellent evening, all!

Whoa.

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 19:35:34 GMT

So, I design videogames for a living. Now, you'd think this on its own would make a typical day at work pretty hard to top, but today was even more awesome than usual. See, around 1:30, a coworker leaned over and informed me that there was to be an ice cream social in the lobby of the building in which I work, going from 2:00 to 4:00. Needless to say, I was uncertain whether or not this was true, but the idea of free ice cream was too good to pass up. About half an hour ago, a few intrepid coworkers and I braved the descent to the lobby. The elevator doors slowly slid apart to reveal...

...free ice cream! It was so great - they even had balloons! Besides your standard vanilla and chocolate ice cream, there was a huge toppings bar that included waffle cone crumbles and peanut M&M's. They were even root beer floats available! We're all going back down in about fifteen minutes for another round.

So... um... I guess I'd better get back to work for now, but writing this entry was important - the world needed to be informed about the situation. It's... well... ice cream.

Ah, routines...

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 20:55:32 GMT

Just today, I got to thinking - I don't update this journal nearly as often as I used to! In fact, my post volume has dropped off significantly since leaving New College. This sort of thing has snuck up on me, and I'm not sure what to think of it. I'm pretty sure it's all due to the big routine of work, however. At New College, there were so many more opportunities to goof off and do more stuff at all hours of the day. Now, it's more confined to the time block after work is over. I think that's the hidden reason behind my lack of interesting stuff to post - the evil routine! Dun dun dunn!

Ah, well. Routine or not, things are going pretty well. Simone headed up to Baltimore last week, which is definitely not a happiness, but other than that I'm enjoying things here. Work is proceeding nicely, with the exception of this morning, when the entire office was crippled by a ruthless Flash game. Seriously, all productivity ground to a halt for over an hour straight as we all tried our damnedest to solve the horrific puzzles within the Impossible Quiz! This thing is a brutal destroyer of the soul, and I advise those of you with a stubborn nature to avoid attempting to beat it. I got to question 79 and gave up. Apparently, there are 110 questions in all. Cruel, cruel, cruel. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Oh, and me n' Simone watched the sneak preview of Ratatouille they showed the Saturday before last. It was awesome. I think it might be my favorite Pixar film after The Incredibles (which has superheroes in it and is therefore the best movie ever, so maybe it shouldn't count). Ratatouille is freakin' great - it's just... so damn fun. It made me happy. Y'know, I can't really remember the last time I was in the theatre and a film just made me feel good, with no reservations. Go and see it, and enjoy. Also, I highly suggest being ready to go out to dinner someplace tasty afterwards, because it'll make you hungry - they did an amazing job with the food in that film. CGI is gettin' crazy!

Okay, I'm gonna go back to work - got some sound effects to put together for the Burn Center game. Oh, boy! Explosions!

News, news, news...

Thu, 03 May 2007 16:24:20 GMT

The DC trip was great fun. I arrived on Wednesday in the late afternoon, rode the Metro over to my hotel- actually, hang on a moment. Before I get any further into my trip, I have to tell you all that the Metro is freakin' fantastic. I love that thing. Public transportation rocks in DC. One of the coolest things I saw on the whole trip was in the Metro, too - Simone and I were riding the red line from Metro Center to Chinatown, and on the tunnel wall on the left-hand side of the train, there was an awesome advertisement. It was a series of images highlighted in the darkness via glow-in-the-dark paint or LEDs (or something), designed to animate when driven by at high speeds. Basically, it was like a massive flipbook that came to life as the subway zoomed past. So damn cool - it must've taken them forever to design it and make it happen (it was a Microsoft ad, by the by). From a little bit of Googling, I understand that this sort of thing is taking place in subways all over the world, for all sorts of companies. Still, it's the first I'd seen (or heard) of it.

Anyway, I got to my hotel, dropped off my luggage, and then walked around the area. It was right next to George Washington University, and the whole place seemed pretty nice. There was even a little farmer's market selling highly expensive food. I tried their cheese samples and bought a Fiji apple - was tasty. Thursday was the day things really got going, though - I left early in the morning to head to the Entertainment Software Association headquarters in downtown DC. They have some very nice offices there, with an expansive and sprawling conference room filled with all the next-gen systems. I met my fellow student presenter - a nice guy from DigiPen - and together we demoed our games to the ESA guys, particularly my contact, Stevan Mitchell. Everyone was highly impressed by Opera Slinger. That done, they bought us lunch at a fancy-schmancy place nearby called Clyde's, and then we took off in a taxi for the Rayburn House Office Building, just a short walk across the street from the Capitol.

Incidentally, for those who are wondering... yes, I did end up doing the singing.

Once the setup was complete and everything began, there must have been about two hundred people in the presentation hall. We got introduced to all sorts of people, including politicians and entertainment industry higher-ups. Simone met me there, and it was definitely good to have her support. The whole thing was highly swanky - they even had waiters carrying trays of hors d'oeuvres, including chocolate-dipped strawberries. Delicious! Everyone was dressed to the nines in fancy suits and dresses and the like. Oh, and yes, I wore something nice, too. No elastic band shorts and sandals. More's the pity, I say. In any event, after a slight delay (I suppose politicians aren't a punctual lot) a bunch of people talked about copyrights and intellectual property, and then the two of us showed off our games. Accordingly to everyone I spoke with, particularly our ESA friends, it all went extremely well. They said it was a perfect presentation and a big hit, so I suppose my singing wasn't too bad. It was a noisy hall, in any case, so perhaps some of my less-melodic moments didn't carry as well. All to the better, then.

Once it was all over, we packed up, said our goodbyes, and headed off. The next day, we visited the Smithsonians, seeing the Natural History Museum and the Air and Space Museum, followed by dinner with Simone's dad, who was in town on business. On Saturday, we joined Lexa and her boyfriend at the National Zoo - it was my first time there, and I really liked it. It's a nice place, and they have lots of cool animals. On Sunday, we went to the National Art Gallery, the Botanical Gardens, and Georgetown. Finally, we headed off on Monday, but not before Stevan Mitchell from the ESA contacted me and asked if I could stay another day to do a video interview for them. I didn't want to push my luck with my job, so I arranged to have the interview done back at school, and then upload the recording to the internet so they could get it from there. Steve seemed quite happy with that idea, and we got it all done on Tuesday - it worked out well.

So, in conclusion, a most excellent trip. Finally, tomorrow, I head to my graduation at UCF, where I'll be getting my Master's degree in Interactive Entertainment. Should be cool! Simone and my parents are coming into town to see it, and we'll all be spending Saturday together afterward, which should be nice. As for work, things are going well - I'm putting out design documentation at a highly prodigious rate, and my employers seem quite pleased with my progress.

All in all... good times.

Hey now.

Tue, 24 Apr 2007 16:07:43 GMT

So, ready to hear about some craziness? Well, the short version is that, around 1:00 PM tomorrow, I'll be leaving on a flight for Washington, D.C., where I will be singing in front of Congress.

Yeah. Crazy.

Here's the long version - Thursday, April 26th, is apparently World Intellectual Property Day. In order to celebrate this event, a whole bunch of IP-related organizations are throwing this big celebration that will include a Creative Showcase. Seven different groups representing just about every facet of the entertainment industry will be presenting that showcase, most importantly (for the purposes of this story) the Electronic Software Association. See, they'll be showcasing videogames, particularly student-made projects. Apparently, they went through Electronic Arts, which went to Ben Noel (the guy in charge of FIEA), who went to me.

And now, as a result, I'm going to be showing off Opera Slinger to a whole bunch of industry and political higher-ups. Heck, the secretary of commerce is their special guest. Cool, right? Well, perhaps I need to couch this in slightly more italicized terms: I have to sing in front of congresspeople, the representatives of seven different entertainment industry organizations, and the freakin' Secretary of the United States Department of Commerce, and I am tone deaf. Gah!

So this should definitely be an interesting event. My current hope is that I can get a representative of the dreaded RIAA (yes, they'll be there too) with singing talent to help show off the musical portion of the game in my stead, because while I may be perfectly content talking in front of anybody, I will be the first to admit that I can barely beat my own game on 'Novice' difficulty. By the way, if you want to read the official press release for the event, check it out here.

On the lighter side of things, I got the ESA to change my departure flight to Monday, so I'll be spending the entire weekend up at D.C. on vacation, and Simone is coming up to join me! Not only that, but we'll be meeting Lexa on Saturday and going to the National Zoo! As you can see, I'm really looking forward to the whole post-Thursday part of the trip! Thursday, however, is going to be scary.

So wish me luck as I go to do battle with Aria, the Opera Queen, in front of some of the highest higher-ups in the land!

...damnit, I'll probably have to wear something nice, too.

Good lord.

Sun, 15 Apr 2007 07:24:34 GMT

Okay, I've just arrived back home after watching Grindhouse. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this movie, it's actually a rather unique little creation - two films, screened back-to-back, inspired by the classic 'grindhouse' movies of the past. The two films are Planet Terror, by Robert Rodriguez, and Death Proof, by Quentin Tarantino. They're joined together by several fake trailers for non-existent (and it is a shame that they're non-existent) films.

Now, what I'm going to recommend in terms of watching Grindhouse is something I'd never think I'd be saying about a film. If what I'm about to describe appeals to you, then you need to go see this movie, and then walk out in the middle of it. It's the only way to enjoy it.

That said, Planet Terror is awesome. It's a zombie movie, filled with all the carnage, violence, explosions, one-liners, and raging whirlwinds of gory chaos that one should expect from the genre, only better. It's like every zombie/B-grade horror movie you've ever seen, but it's somehow fantastically new and wondrous, with more insane destruction than you can believe. It's got some moments of sheer brilliance, as well as mutated face-melting glory. In short, it's like they took a look at all my immature, childish dreams for an action movie, and decided to make that movie. It's a thing of hideous, hilarious, horrific beauty, and my life is all the richer for having experienced it.

Sound like fun? Go see it. Go see it, and stare agape at the sheer testosterone-drenched insanity of at all. I loved it so, though I know it will never, ever be for everyone - and that may include you, so be forewarned.

Death Proof, on the other hand, doesn't even belong in the same ballpark, let alone the same theater. In fact, it belongs in some alternate dimension of suck. It's... god, it just sucks. It's not like it's without its moments, but then again, few films are without any redeeming characteristics. Thing is, you shouldn't have to sit through an hour and a half of brain-searing suck for about two minutes of cool. I really don't know where to begin - it's just such a letdown on every level that it threatens to consume Planet Terror in its unholy maelstrom of terribleness.

In another venue, on its own, Death Proof might just have been a boring, unimpressive cinematic blip. Here, though, it takes on a life of its own, mutating like some wretched monstrosity from beyond the stars. This is something you have to understand in order to fully fathom my hatred for this film: its existence next to Planet Terror literally threatens that zombie-riffic masterpiece. By being placed side-by-side, it gains the potential to infect and warp the awesome, unpretentious fun that was Planet Terror with its high-concept, low-grade, good-for-nothing crap.

It's as if the two films were vehicles, traveling across the screen together, and one of them was infested with writhing, demonic tentacles, and it was threatening to grab and derail the other car, which was not only traveling along just fine on its own, but is also a beautiful, awesome car! Wouldn't you want to do something to protect that pristine car and all its happy passengers? Such is the source of my Death Proof loathing.

So there you have it. Grindhouse is a unique experience, and one that I believe you should only sit through a little over half of (head out once Death Proof begins). Again, I must reiterate that Planet Terror isn't for everyone - it's dumb, loud, and full of madness, but damnit, it's also fun. It's having so much fun with itself that I'm smiling just thinking about it.

Anyway, I believe I've ranted/raved about this sucker quite long enough. I hope you found this little review of mine informative or - at the very least - entertaining. That's all I've got for the moment, so... have a pleasant evening, all!

GDC, whee!

Thu, 22 Mar 2007 15:21:10 GMT

Hello all - yes, I know it's been quite a while. The basic run-down of the past month has pretty much been me trying to get a job in the games industry by sending off resumes and working hard to enhance my portfolio of skills. In particular, I've found out that having some scripting knowledge (scripting is like junior-level programming, in a way - it's not about changing the engine and the deep code of a game, but rather manipulating and setting up events in the game world) is extremely helpful in getting a job. As such, I'm trying to learn as much as I can right now.

Besides just trying to ramp my brains up to the next level, I also attended the Game Developer's Conference two weeks ago - and it was awesome. We had a great time showing off our game (Opera Slinger), and had a number of nifty little adventures. So nifty, in fact, that they had me write a blog entry to be shown on the Game Career Guide (Gamasutra's sister site). It's got lots of neat pictures and tells the tale of our journey to San Francisco and the marvelous Game Developer's Conference!

Check it out!

I'll try to keep you delightful people up-to-date on my doings in the coming month, particularly if some incredible piece of news such as an OMGJOB comes along. Stay tuned...

Mmm, mmm, news!

Fri, 16 Feb 2007 20:01:55 GMT

More interesting news from the videogaming front! I haven't been up to too much this past month beyond side projects intended to help improve my portfolio and Opera Slinger PR, but one item in the latter category has just shown up on the web! Midway through January, I wrote up a large, detailed postmortem describing the trials and tribulations of Opera Slinger's development cycle. It has finally been posted on its intended website: Gamasutra! So... click that link and check it out!

Also, I may have news for you all on the all-important hiring front in the near future! I won't know anything until early next week, but here's hopin' that all goes well.

Also also, I will be attending the 2007 Game Developer's Conference in early March to help promote Opera Slinger. It's being held in San Francisco, and it should be a fun trip!

All around the world...

Fri, 05 Jan 2007 16:59:23 GMT

This is so cool. Mentions of Opera Slinger have been popping up on Gamasutra, GameSetWatch, and even a few stranger places... I mean, just what the heck is this?! While you're Czeching that one out, also note that the Germans and South Koreans have their eyes on us.

Apparently, our Lead Programmer has already gotten two interview requests from game companies. I am simply amazed. This is awesomeness to an extent I could not have imagined.

Woooooooooha!

Fri, 05 Jan 2007 03:09:42 GMT

Remember how I mentioned that we were entering Opera Slinger in the 2007 Independent Game Festival's Student Showcase? Well, they just announced their finalists today and Opera Slinger has been selected as one of the 10 Student Showcase winners out of 102 entries! You can check out the news on IGF’s main page at:

http://www.igf.com/

We're going to the Game Developer's Conference, baby! Yahoo!

Merry Christm- hack cough

Tue, 26 Dec 2006 19:32:44 GMT

Well, vacation continues to be non-eventful and relaxing, which is a good thing. Unfortunately, fate decided to give me a special Christmas present in order to spice things up. That's right - on Christmas Eve, I woke up with the Cold from Hell. Y'know what, fate? This is not funny. Grow up.

This illness is actually quite impressive. It's kinda like the holiday sampler basket of infection, with a sore throat that lasts n' lasts! Seriously - you know how most colds begin with a sore throat that just peters out and leads into other symptoms? Not this sucker! As for the rest of the thing, it seems content to just hang around forever - I can tell already that this'll be one of those "slow burns" that won't leave your system for days and will eventually turn you into a horrible zombie. Or maybe it'll go away eventually. There's always hope!

Also, perhaps calling the cold a "sampler basket" was a bit misleading. In reality, it's more of a "greatest hits" compilation of woe. We've got your everlasting sore throat, angry coughing, stomach unhappiness, phlegm... this baby's got it all! Definitely a high-quality illness. At least we know fate doesn't skimp when it comes to gifts.

Anyway, I hope you are all enjoying a happy holiday season, and remaining free from infectious disease!