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September 26, 2007
Screenshot hell
Working in videogame development is a vastly entertaining process most of the time. Then you have weeks like this... good god.
Screenshots are something I have taken over this year on Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction. Now I learned quickly on Resistance: Fall of Man what a pain in the ass these are. I got some good ones back then, but getting used to our art team's criticism and pickyness is a challenge. I still took several key shots, including one of the Back of Box shots.
We had lots of disasters with Resistance shots, resolutions coming out wrong, lighting being off, no shadows, etc. There are all sorts of crazy things that happen with a game in live development. On top of that, there are a bunch of debug options you need to adjust to pull good screens.
With Ratchet, there have been no major issues... until this week. Electronic Gaming Monthly, Gamepro, and PSM are running reviews. They need screenshots. I started taking shots on Monday, and got 10 good ones.. plenty. It was a 12-hour day. First thing that morning, I find out that they aren't going to work due to a bug that is causing them to be blurry... I then go back and look at every build of the game we sill have. We don't keep all the builds, just to a certain date, and the previous build I was using for shots was no longer available...
I spent yesterday tracking this stuff down... finally around 6, our tech team, got a hack fix to me. I spent four hours trying (mostly successfully) to replicate my approved shots. I then spent all of today trying to get more and get action shots. I finally sent those off around 4:30... finished with 3 days of hellish screens... of course, an hour later we get a request for one more shot with a specific weapon.
an hour in the game, and I have an approved shot just getting its levels adjusted.
Looooooong three days.
-Will
"Long days, long nights, the feeling's just not right, I pick up my pen and pad and start to write."
Posted by badwillhunting at 06:58 PM | Comments (0)
September 25, 2007
Visions of the future
Everyone talks about what it would be like to be able to see the future, or to know what's going to happen next. But is it really possible? I'm not sure entirely, but it seems to make sense that there is some ultimately way to know what's coming next.
When I was younger, I would occasionally have a very vivid and specific dream --- many times these dreams later came true. I discounted this a lot based on deja vu, or something not being specific enough, but eventually, it came together into some very specific dreams where I realized that I had indeed seen something that was going to happen before it did.
Fast-forward to college. The clearest incident of this ever was when I found out that someone specific was going to forget that it was my birthday. It came in the shower in the form of a voice in my head - a very distinct one, and it also said something distinct about the conversation. Less than 6 hours later, it went down exactly as described. Since then, that voice has been accurate.... shockingly so. It doesn't always give me a complete foreknowledge, but I learned of betrayals, I learned of things happening that I couldn't have known about, and I have avoided some huge pitfalls that were right in front of me.
What is that voice? I'm not entirely sure. Could it be my brain reacting to the environment, but perceiving it in such a way that it can feel the flow of events? Perhaps. Could it be a hallucination, something I'm imagining or maybe my instinct, a gut feel? Could it be a higher power? I think I've never made any mistake to say that I believe in God - though my beliefs there have evolved strongly over the years.
Personally, at this point in my life, I do believe it is God. It's not a voice I can just call upon, or have any real way of getting an answer, but it has never, ever failed, and it always has seemed to show up at key moments, steering me towards something.
I'm sure some of you will think I'm batshit crazy. And honestly, I sort of do myself. But it works for me. And I've been relying on this voice for nearly 5 1/2 years now... it seems to be working for me.
Just some very interesting thoughts. I already know what you're going to leave in the comments, so go ahead, but I really do already know. (joking... haha... maybe.)
-Will
Don't need money, don't need fame
Posted by badwillhunting at 12:30 AM | Comments (0)
September 23, 2007
Melancholy - Parting is such sweet sorrow
Kristin was here for the past few days, hence the lack of posting. She got in Thursday afternoon - we had 6th row tickets for the Arcade Fire show at the Hollywood Bowl. The show was fantastic, though she hadn't slept at all and we barely got a nap in before being interrupted by work phone calls for both of us. Oh well. I had an absolute blast at the show though and we passed out when we got back.
The rest of the weekend was fun too, Oliver, her dog was along for the ride and we spent a lot of time playing and hanging out with him. He grew to get pretty fond of me, even letting me take him out to go to the bathroom this morning without her, which is pretty impressive since he's so skittish. We played Ratchet & Clank, had a couple good dinners together, and just really enjoyed spending time together - we hadn't seen each other in almost a month.
Now I'm at home, on a Sunday afternoon, and somewhat melancholy. It just all went by too quickly. I think it's harder because her schedule is insane for the next month, and I really don't know when I'll see her again - hopefully during EForAll Expo, but as far as quality time away from the gaming scene, it may be end of October/into November.
I never really have been someone to be emotional when I leave family and friends behind. I think when Tim moved from Lincoln was a rare occasion when I cried. I was somewhat emotional when I moved from Lincoln to Los Angeles when I pulled out of the driveway and then out of Lincoln, knowing I wasn't going back. Kristin leaving the hotel in Seattle last month, and dropping her off at the airport today, have both stirred those really strong feelings in me. I'm not sure what to make of them or how to deal with them. I'm just sort of surprised by them right now.
-Will
Your hair, it's everywhere.
Posted by badwillhunting at 04:08 PM | Comments (0)
September 18, 2007
Fall Cleaning
Given my visitor that arrives on Thursday afternoon, I've been busting my ass cleaning my apartment. I've completely scrubbed my kitchen and bathroom, done the floors, everything... my bedroom and living room are mostly picked up, with some dusting/windexing/vacuuming needed... need to wash the sheets and do a little laundry, but other than that, it's pretty much go time after some grocery shopping.
I can't wait for this weekend. :-)
-Will
With the birds I'll share
this lonely view...
Posted by badwillhunting at 11:42 PM | Comments (0)
Yes, I've returned to the land of the bloggers
I'm back. Really. I'm going to try and keep this thing updated.
We'll see how it goes.
-Will
Posted by badwillhunting at 01:00 AM | Comments (0)
When did I hit this run of bad cards?
I usually view myself as a rather lucky person - and I don't want to say my luck has been all bad the past few weeks- because there has been good. But I can point to some significant things in the past couple weeks that are testing my patience right now. First was the car accident I got into the 405... still need to call a body shop, but I've just been swamped. Then of course there was the blowout loss. Work has been crazy with its own challenges. Now there was a phone call last night that resulted in a serious mind-fuck for a good friend of mine and is causing some issues.
Argh. I just need to refocus in the next couple days on getting the podcast out the door this week, and then hopefully I can get some things sorted out this weekend. I need a turn of luck though, I can't have this rough streak running into this weekend. That would just be right out.
-will
They'll simply say it's shitty and refuse
Posted by badwillhunting at 12:53 AM | Comments (0)
September 17, 2007
National Embarrassment
Well... Saturday didn't go exactly as planned. The day was good, but Nebraska was embarrassed by USC... we made the final score look respectable against their reserves... but 35 straight points by USC made us look silly. It was painful to watch, but I won't leave a game early (the sole exceptions were both work-related), and I stood through it and watched the Huskers fall apart. We have some serious issues on defense that need to be corrected.
Outside of that, being in Lincoln was fun. I ate at Bread & Cup, which was really good and really cool. Wish I could go there more! Kevin is awesome and it's cool to see his dream come alive and actually taste it.
Went to Misty's the night before the game, had never done that before and it was cool to finally experience that "tradition." Got to see Steve Waid from Nerd Camp there briefly, and again later, when we were both at Eppley leaving on Sunday. I saw my sister in the Northstar marching band, caught some drinks with JDE people and said happy birthday to Katie Thommasset.
GameDay was much more chill. I slept in, ran some errands with family, and then had a nice big meal at Lazlos with some good beer before watching the debacle. My uncle and I then went to Old Chicago for another couple beers and a snack and watched Florida State take care of Colorado.
The weekend sort of flew by, but it was a lot of fun. I got home exhausted, but managed to fight through and stay up until 3 am or so talking online and continuing to clean.
I've got company coming this weekend, more precisely on Thursday and staying through Monday morning. Really excited about this weekend, should be relaxing and fun. Arcade Fire at the Hollywood Bowl on Thursday from the 6th row is going to be amazing. And we're planning on watching the Husker game in Orange at Danny K's. Hopefully the result is better than against SC. :-)
-Will
And I would explode just to save your life
Posted by badwillhunting at 03:25 PM | Comments (0)
September 13, 2007
I know, I know
I'm terrible at keeping this blog up. I just forget I have it sort of. I haven't been keeping up with my friends blogs either. Probably part of the problem.
The past two months have been incredibly rewarding and jam packed. E3 was in the middle of July, we had a lot of work leading up to it and then random circumstances came into play and my life over the next two months took a dramatic twist that I couldn't have seen coming.
Since then, I've been swamped with work and travel. I spent a weekend in New York City with our lead MP programmer, our producer and a Resistance tournament. My brother came up and I hung out with him as well. That weekend involved drinking, gaming, Broadway, the WTC, and more.
I found myself in Seattle, spending the weekend at PAX - but more importantly, getting a chance to validate the previous six weeks of e-mail and phone calls. After skydiving, eating amazing food and just hanging out - it was pretty much one of the best weekends I've ever had. I closed it off by spending time with Matt Johnson hiking and hanging out, as well as seeing his new place and dog. Then, I had dinner with my family - grandparents, aunt, and my aunt, uncle, cousin and the newest addition to the family 4 week old Selah.
A few days later, it was off to Lincoln - where I saw Johnson some more as he stayed with me at my parents for Matt Brand's wedding. I went to the football game, ate at the Oven and Lazlos (twice), and it was just good to be home for a while. The wedding was fun too, with lots of friends I hadn't seen and a lot of time to catch up.
Last weekend I was in San Diego, hanging with Ashley and Amber, and watching football with them. Always good to see Nebraska play with friends.
Mere hours from now, I'm taking a flight back to Nebraska for the USC/Nebraska game. The first instance during my lifetime of Nebraska facing the #1 team in Lincoln. Also the first time ever that team isn't Oklahoma. This is a huge game, a statement game. On paper, it doesn't look good, USC should win. But College Football is about heart, intangibles, and willing yourself to win. The crowd will be ready, will the players? We'll find out. GameDay is in town that morning, and I'll have plenty of other time to get good food and hang out. Looking forward to it.
Next weekend is promising to be interesting. It's a continuation of E3 and Seattle, and it opens on Thursday with the Arcade Fire at the Hollywood Bowl (a show I have 6th row tickets for). Given everything since Seattle, I am very excited - though I had a 3am MSN message throw a wrench at me this morning that could change everything. Move to London? That said, I wouldn't ever get in the way of a great opportunity, but it's not exactly what I was expecting when I woke up this morning.
Anyways, I realize I've been rather vague about some aspects of the past couple months. With extra doubt caused by this morning, it's particularly intentional at this aspect. I hope to share a lot more with you in the future, and I hope to keep this updated a little bit more regularly from here on out.
Until then, you all are in my thoughts. If you are in Lincoln this weekend, call my cell. I'll be around.
-Will
If the snow buries my, my neighborhood
Posted by badwillhunting at 10:49 AM | Comments (0)