So at the end of the day, I went to Ubisoft to meet up with my mentor for the last time. Joe came along too, such that I wouldn't have to walk by myself.
The greatest thing about winning this scholarship was definitely the mentor program. Chris is such a nice guy, with lots of industry experience, and is completely devoted to helping young people coming into the industry from an education route. I'm certain he's a person I will keep in touch with! Joe and I thought it would be awesome if IGDA had a mentoring program beyond the GDC scholarship, because it's such an incredibly helpful opportunity to have a mentor; someone with much more experience than you that you don't have to worry about impressing, but instead are able to ask questions and come to with stories and concerns.
The first thing I'm doing when I get home is writing my mentor a nice little thank-you card. I imagine that Chris would be the sort of person who would love to bring Ubisoft to the ETC in a similar way that many other game companies do, though his schedule as a producer is so busy that this might not be a possibility. Even still, I feel very grateful that I have this awesome person to go to for advice and help whenever I need it.
It seems Andy wasn't the only one to catch a cold at the IGDA party. We're sitting in the airport and the Schell Games crew showed up, towing a few sniffling, coughing, sore-throated members of their own. We're all on the same red-eye flight back to Pittsburgh, so that's pretty cool.
In closing, I'm really glad I had the opportunity to come to GDC. It was exhausting, yes, but a fantastic and worthwhile experience that I will not take for granted!
Friday, February 22, 2008
GDC Summary
So at the end of the day, I went to Ubisoft to meet up with my mentor for the last time. Joe came along too, such that I wouldn't have to walk by myself.
The greatest thing about winning this scholarship was definitely the mentor program. Chris is such a nice guy, with lots of industry experience, and is completely devoted to helping young people coming into the industry from an education route. I'm certain he's a person I will keep in touch with! Joe and I thought it would be awesome if IGDA had a mentoring program beyond the GDC scholarship, because it's such an incredibly helpful opportunity to have a mentor; someone with much more experience than you that you don't have to worry about impressing, but instead are able to ask questions and come to with stories and concerns.
The first thing I'm doing when I get home is writing my mentor a nice little thank-you card. I imagine that Chris would be the sort of person who would love to bring Ubisoft to the ETC in a similar way that many other game companies do, though his schedule as a producer is so busy that this might not be a possibility. Even still, I feel very grateful that I have this awesome person to go to for advice and help whenever I need it.
It seems Andy wasn't the only one to catch a cold at the IGDA party. We're sitting in the airport and the Schell Games crew showed up, towing a few sniffling, coughing, sore-throated members of their own. We're all on the same red-eye flight back to Pittsburgh, so that's pretty cool.
In closing, I'm really glad I had the opportunity to come to GDC. It was exhausting, yes, but a fantastic and worthwhile experience that I will not take for granted!
The greatest thing about winning this scholarship was definitely the mentor program. Chris is such a nice guy, with lots of industry experience, and is completely devoted to helping young people coming into the industry from an education route. I'm certain he's a person I will keep in touch with! Joe and I thought it would be awesome if IGDA had a mentoring program beyond the GDC scholarship, because it's such an incredibly helpful opportunity to have a mentor; someone with much more experience than you that you don't have to worry about impressing, but instead are able to ask questions and come to with stories and concerns.
The first thing I'm doing when I get home is writing my mentor a nice little thank-you card. I imagine that Chris would be the sort of person who would love to bring Ubisoft to the ETC in a similar way that many other game companies do, though his schedule as a producer is so busy that this might not be a possibility. Even still, I feel very grateful that I have this awesome person to go to for advice and help whenever I need it.
It seems Andy wasn't the only one to catch a cold at the IGDA party. We're sitting in the airport and the Schell Games crew showed up, towing a few sniffling, coughing, sore-throated members of their own. We're all on the same red-eye flight back to Pittsburgh, so that's pretty cool.
In closing, I'm really glad I had the opportunity to come to GDC. It was exhausting, yes, but a fantastic and worthwhile experience that I will not take for granted!
GDC Thursday and Friday
So I fell behind on my daily updates, whoops! Thursday was largely uneventful. I worked the career floor and talked with a lot of different companies. I went to one panel about the Future of MMOs, but it grew so snippy and snarky that I decided to duck out early, especially after learning that Andy had met up with Bryan Cash on the expo floor. <3 Bryan Cash!
We had a lovely lunch, but the rest of the afternoon was lost to me. I had forgotten to take my medicine the day before, and so was quite exhausted and in a lot of pain by the afternoon. Andy, growing more and more ill by the day, was also ready to turn in, so we went back to the hotel and had a very restful evening.
Today was much better (and I kept my exhaustion in check with a Mt. Dew). I saw two very interesting talks: one about Entrepreneurship and Pandemic, and one which was an Expo of start-up companies (none of which were game companies, but which had some innovative tie to the game industry: patch clients that doubled as social networks, microtransaction management services for MMOs, and the like).
After lunch, we hit up the career floor to watch Andy impress the crowd with his Guitar Hero skills, and then the expo floor again to play some of the Independent Game Festival games. For now I'm relaxing and considering attending the Portal post-mortem. At 5 I'll be visiting my mentor at Ubisoft, and then the lot of us ETCers will be flying back to Pittsburgh on a red-eye.
All in all, I'm very glad I came to GDC. There was much to learn and many people to see, and I feel it was well worth it, and am thrilled to have won the scholarship. I am, however, exhausted to the core of my bones. So many people! I am drained and dry, but still excited to get back to the ETC and apply what I've learned to Bandology. I will, however, likely need a full day of sleep to catch my brain up, and another full day of emailing follow-ups to everyone I've met at the conference.
Hooray for GDC! Hooray for Lisa Brown: Game Designer!
We had a lovely lunch, but the rest of the afternoon was lost to me. I had forgotten to take my medicine the day before, and so was quite exhausted and in a lot of pain by the afternoon. Andy, growing more and more ill by the day, was also ready to turn in, so we went back to the hotel and had a very restful evening.
Today was much better (and I kept my exhaustion in check with a Mt. Dew). I saw two very interesting talks: one about Entrepreneurship and Pandemic, and one which was an Expo of start-up companies (none of which were game companies, but which had some innovative tie to the game industry: patch clients that doubled as social networks, microtransaction management services for MMOs, and the like).
After lunch, we hit up the career floor to watch Andy impress the crowd with his Guitar Hero skills, and then the expo floor again to play some of the Independent Game Festival games. For now I'm relaxing and considering attending the Portal post-mortem. At 5 I'll be visiting my mentor at Ubisoft, and then the lot of us ETCers will be flying back to Pittsburgh on a red-eye.
All in all, I'm very glad I came to GDC. There was much to learn and many people to see, and I feel it was well worth it, and am thrilled to have won the scholarship. I am, however, exhausted to the core of my bones. So many people! I am drained and dry, but still excited to get back to the ETC and apply what I've learned to Bandology. I will, however, likely need a full day of sleep to catch my brain up, and another full day of emailing follow-ups to everyone I've met at the conference.
Hooray for GDC! Hooray for Lisa Brown: Game Designer!
GDC Thursday and Friday
So I fell behind on my daily updates, whoops! Thursday was largely uneventful. I worked the career floor and talked with a lot of different companies. I went to one panel about the Future of MMOs, but it grew so snippy and snarky that I decided to duck out early, especially after learning that Andy had met up with Bryan Cash on the expo floor. <3 Bryan Cash!
We had a lovely lunch, but the rest of the afternoon was lost to me. I had forgotten to take my medicine the day before, and so was quite exhausted and in a lot of pain by the afternoon. Andy, growing more and more ill by the day, was also ready to turn in, so we went back to the hotel and had a very restful evening.
Today was much better (and I kept my exhaustion in check with a Mt. Dew). I saw two very interesting talks: one about Entrepreneurship and Pandemic, and one which was an Expo of start-up companies (none of which were game companies, but which had some innovative tie to the game industry: patch clients that doubled as social networks, microtransaction management services for MMOs, and the like).
After lunch, we hit up the career floor to watch Andy impress the crowd with his Guitar Hero skills, and then the expo floor again to play some of the Independent Game Festival games. For now I'm relaxing and considering attending the Portal post-mortem. At 5 I'll be visiting my mentor at Ubisoft, and then the lot of us ETCers will be flying back to Pittsburgh on a red-eye.
All in all, I'm very glad I came to GDC. There was much to learn and many people to see, and I feel it was well worth it, and am thrilled to have won the scholarship. I am, however, exhausted to the core of my bones. So many people! I am drained and dry, but still excited to get back to the ETC and apply what I've learned to Bandology. I will, however, likely need a full day of sleep to catch my brain up, and another full day of emailing follow-ups to everyone I've met at the conference.
Hooray for GDC! Hooray for Lisa Brown: Game Designer!
We had a lovely lunch, but the rest of the afternoon was lost to me. I had forgotten to take my medicine the day before, and so was quite exhausted and in a lot of pain by the afternoon. Andy, growing more and more ill by the day, was also ready to turn in, so we went back to the hotel and had a very restful evening.
Today was much better (and I kept my exhaustion in check with a Mt. Dew). I saw two very interesting talks: one about Entrepreneurship and Pandemic, and one which was an Expo of start-up companies (none of which were game companies, but which had some innovative tie to the game industry: patch clients that doubled as social networks, microtransaction management services for MMOs, and the like).
After lunch, we hit up the career floor to watch Andy impress the crowd with his Guitar Hero skills, and then the expo floor again to play some of the Independent Game Festival games. For now I'm relaxing and considering attending the Portal post-mortem. At 5 I'll be visiting my mentor at Ubisoft, and then the lot of us ETCers will be flying back to Pittsburgh on a red-eye.
All in all, I'm very glad I came to GDC. There was much to learn and many people to see, and I feel it was well worth it, and am thrilled to have won the scholarship. I am, however, exhausted to the core of my bones. So many people! I am drained and dry, but still excited to get back to the ETC and apply what I've learned to Bandology. I will, however, likely need a full day of sleep to catch my brain up, and another full day of emailing follow-ups to everyone I've met at the conference.
Hooray for GDC! Hooray for Lisa Brown: Game Designer!
Thursday, February 21, 2008
GDC Wednesday Afternoon
So, we didn't make it to Ubisoft this afternoon, but that's okay. Instead, my mentor and I walked the Expo floor, and it was great fun times! There were some interesting setups, yes, but mostly we just had fantastic conversations about this and that and the other. My mentor is brilliantly easy to talk to.
We ran into Brenda, and I introduced the two, and we had an intriguing conversation about improv acting and its role in the industry (and in all industries! Everyone should take an improv class, in my opinion). We also had fun scoping out our favorites of the Independent Games Festival (go World of Goo and Polarity! Also? AudioSurf is FREAKIN AMAZING).
This evening I spent chillaxin with Andy (who is a bit sick, as are many people, I blame the IGDA party!). We watched Robot Chicken and MythBusters and a fantastic show about sea critters (if I see a cuttlefish on TV, I can't resist) and have a lovely time. We finished off the evening with a great Bandology meeting, and I'm excited about my return to school and the work I'll be doing.
Looking forward to another exciting day tomorrow!
We ran into Brenda, and I introduced the two, and we had an intriguing conversation about improv acting and its role in the industry (and in all industries! Everyone should take an improv class, in my opinion). We also had fun scoping out our favorites of the Independent Games Festival (go World of Goo and Polarity! Also? AudioSurf is FREAKIN AMAZING).
This evening I spent chillaxin with Andy (who is a bit sick, as are many people, I blame the IGDA party!). We watched Robot Chicken and MythBusters and a fantastic show about sea critters (if I see a cuttlefish on TV, I can't resist) and have a lovely time. We finished off the evening with a great Bandology meeting, and I'm excited about my return to school and the work I'll be doing.
Looking forward to another exciting day tomorrow!
GDC Wednesday Afternoon
So, we didn't make it to Ubisoft this afternoon, but that's okay. Instead, my mentor and I walked the Expo floor, and it was great fun times! There were some interesting setups, yes, but mostly we just had fantastic conversations about this and that and the other. My mentor is brilliantly easy to talk to.
We ran into Brenda, and I introduced the two, and we had an intriguing conversation about improv acting and its role in the industry (and in all industries! Everyone should take an improv class, in my opinion). We also had fun scoping out our favorites of the Independent Games Festival (go World of Goo and Polarity! Also? AudioSurf is FREAKIN AMAZING).
This evening I spent chillaxin with Andy (who is a bit sick, as are many people, I blame the IGDA party!). We watched Robot Chicken and MythBusters and a fantastic show about sea critters (if I see a cuttlefish on TV, I can't resist) and have a lovely time. We finished off the evening with a great Bandology meeting, and I'm excited about my return to school and the work I'll be doing.
Looking forward to another exciting day tomorrow!
We ran into Brenda, and I introduced the two, and we had an intriguing conversation about improv acting and its role in the industry (and in all industries! Everyone should take an improv class, in my opinion). We also had fun scoping out our favorites of the Independent Games Festival (go World of Goo and Polarity! Also? AudioSurf is FREAKIN AMAZING).
This evening I spent chillaxin with Andy (who is a bit sick, as are many people, I blame the IGDA party!). We watched Robot Chicken and MythBusters and a fantastic show about sea critters (if I see a cuttlefish on TV, I can't resist) and have a lovely time. We finished off the evening with a great Bandology meeting, and I'm excited about my return to school and the work I'll be doing.
Looking forward to another exciting day tomorrow!
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
I am a Game Designer
This morning at GDC, I made a career change.
Now, don't misunderstand, this wasn't an on-the-fly decision. It's something that's been bubbling and building for a couple of months now. Last night, Tracy and Andy tipped me over the edge by suggesting I would probably get the most out of a design internship this summer versus any other type.
This morning I went to talk about High Impact's production process, given by one of their lead designers. I had a moment of recognition that truly, I was sitting on the wrong side of the court. After the session, I plopped down, pulled out my laptop, nudged Jesse online and said "I think that maybe I should be looking for a design internship and not a production internship."
He responded, "I think you might be right." I could almost hear him smirking through the internet, the knowing smirk of someone who's known this about me for a good while, but was nudging and waiting for me to figure it out on my own.
Commitment! I spent the next couple of hours sitting on the floor of the convention center, frantically rewording my website and reworking my resume. Andy stopped by between sessions to sit with me and help revise my resume. Jesse stopped by to sit with me for support. A smattering of other ETCers stopped by to see what I was up to, and when I relayed my sudden career change, responded with, "Well, DUH!"
Why does everyone else figure these things out about me before I do?? Nevertheless, the changes were made, and I'm ready to hit the Career Expo tomorrow with my new goal. Huzzah!
Other highlights today included a big Bandology lunch (with past and present members alike), then a session given by Bungie on Matchmaking in Halo 3. It was extremely informative, though now I have Fiddler in the Roof stuck in my head.
Now I'm chillin and waiting for my my mentor, such that we can go adventure at Ubisoft. Huzzah!
Now, don't misunderstand, this wasn't an on-the-fly decision. It's something that's been bubbling and building for a couple of months now. Last night, Tracy and Andy tipped me over the edge by suggesting I would probably get the most out of a design internship this summer versus any other type.
This morning I went to talk about High Impact's production process, given by one of their lead designers. I had a moment of recognition that truly, I was sitting on the wrong side of the court. After the session, I plopped down, pulled out my laptop, nudged Jesse online and said "I think that maybe I should be looking for a design internship and not a production internship."
He responded, "I think you might be right." I could almost hear him smirking through the internet, the knowing smirk of someone who's known this about me for a good while, but was nudging and waiting for me to figure it out on my own.
Commitment! I spent the next couple of hours sitting on the floor of the convention center, frantically rewording my website and reworking my resume. Andy stopped by between sessions to sit with me and help revise my resume. Jesse stopped by to sit with me for support. A smattering of other ETCers stopped by to see what I was up to, and when I relayed my sudden career change, responded with, "Well, DUH!"
Why does everyone else figure these things out about me before I do?? Nevertheless, the changes were made, and I'm ready to hit the Career Expo tomorrow with my new goal. Huzzah!
Other highlights today included a big Bandology lunch (with past and present members alike), then a session given by Bungie on Matchmaking in Halo 3. It was extremely informative, though now I have Fiddler in the Roof stuck in my head.
Now I'm chillin and waiting for my my mentor, such that we can go adventure at Ubisoft. Huzzah!
I am a Game Designer
This morning at GDC, I made a career change.
Now, don't misunderstand, this wasn't an on-the-fly decision. It's something that's been bubbling and building for a couple of months now. Last night, Tracy and Andy tipped me over the edge by suggesting I would probably get the most out of a design internship this summer versus any other type.
This morning I went to talk about High Impact's production process, given by one of their lead designers. I had a moment of recognition that truly, I was sitting on the wrong side of the court. After the session, I plopped down, pulled out my laptop, nudged Jesse online and said "I think that maybe I should be looking for a design internship and not a production internship."
He responded, "I think you might be right." I could almost hear him smirking through the internet, the knowing smirk of someone who's known this about me for a good while, but was nudging and waiting for me to figure it out on my own.
Commitment! I spent the next couple of hours sitting on the floor of the convention center, frantically rewording my website and reworking my resume. Andy stopped by between sessions to sit with me and help revise my resume. Jesse stopped by to sit with me for support. A smattering of other ETCers stopped by to see what I was up to, and when I relayed my sudden career change, responded with, "Well, DUH!"
Why does everyone else figure these things out about me before I do?? Nevertheless, the changes were made, and I'm ready to hit the Career Expo tomorrow with my new goal. Huzzah!
Other highlights today included a big Bandology lunch (with past and present members alike), then a session given by Bungie on Matchmaking in Halo 3. It was extremely informative, though now I have Fiddler in the Roof stuck in my head.
Now I'm chillin and waiting for my my mentor, such that we can go adventure at Ubisoft. Huzzah!
Now, don't misunderstand, this wasn't an on-the-fly decision. It's something that's been bubbling and building for a couple of months now. Last night, Tracy and Andy tipped me over the edge by suggesting I would probably get the most out of a design internship this summer versus any other type.
This morning I went to talk about High Impact's production process, given by one of their lead designers. I had a moment of recognition that truly, I was sitting on the wrong side of the court. After the session, I plopped down, pulled out my laptop, nudged Jesse online and said "I think that maybe I should be looking for a design internship and not a production internship."
He responded, "I think you might be right." I could almost hear him smirking through the internet, the knowing smirk of someone who's known this about me for a good while, but was nudging and waiting for me to figure it out on my own.
Commitment! I spent the next couple of hours sitting on the floor of the convention center, frantically rewording my website and reworking my resume. Andy stopped by between sessions to sit with me and help revise my resume. Jesse stopped by to sit with me for support. A smattering of other ETCers stopped by to see what I was up to, and when I relayed my sudden career change, responded with, "Well, DUH!"
Why does everyone else figure these things out about me before I do?? Nevertheless, the changes were made, and I'm ready to hit the Career Expo tomorrow with my new goal. Huzzah!
Other highlights today included a big Bandology lunch (with past and present members alike), then a session given by Bungie on Matchmaking in Halo 3. It was extremely informative, though now I have Fiddler in the Roof stuck in my head.
Now I'm chillin and waiting for my my mentor, such that we can go adventure at Ubisoft. Huzzah!
GDC Tuesday Afternoon
Well, I'd intended to go back to see another session, but instead I spent most of the afternoon sitting and chatting with Drew and Activision Jason, and later, Brenda. It was a fine chat about the history and motives behind GDC, the role of educators in the conference, and my curious foray into Game Design. ETCers and other industry folk joined and left our table in a steady stream. This was a much preferred environment for me compared to a packed session, especially in my sleepy state.
After a leisurely dinner at the food court, we returned to our hotels to prepare for the giant IGDA party being thrown tonight. I promptly fell asleep. I doubt I will be scorned for skipping out on the party, nor will my absence likely be noticed (they are expecting 2000 people to attend). The fact of the matter is, I'm exhausted, and the conference proper hasn't even begun yet! I need to rest up if I intend to survive the rest of the week at all.
I blame the large amount of people, which quickly drain away my energy. Andy says I should just pretend every person at the conference is actually a dog, since puppies seem to give me so much energy (Brenda agrees, thinking it would be extremely fun to think of what breeds people would be). Activision Jason says that creating a defensive energy bubble around oneself is a learned skill, and that I merely need to work my way to 375 (how I grind this skill, I have no idea).
For now, I'll call it an early night. There's a session at 9am tomorrow that I really want to go see, so an early bedtime won't hurt in the least!
After a leisurely dinner at the food court, we returned to our hotels to prepare for the giant IGDA party being thrown tonight. I promptly fell asleep. I doubt I will be scorned for skipping out on the party, nor will my absence likely be noticed (they are expecting 2000 people to attend). The fact of the matter is, I'm exhausted, and the conference proper hasn't even begun yet! I need to rest up if I intend to survive the rest of the week at all.
I blame the large amount of people, which quickly drain away my energy. Andy says I should just pretend every person at the conference is actually a dog, since puppies seem to give me so much energy (Brenda agrees, thinking it would be extremely fun to think of what breeds people would be). Activision Jason says that creating a defensive energy bubble around oneself is a learned skill, and that I merely need to work my way to 375 (how I grind this skill, I have no idea).
For now, I'll call it an early night. There's a session at 9am tomorrow that I really want to go see, so an early bedtime won't hurt in the least!
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
GDC Tuesday Afternoon
Well, I'd intended to go back to see another session, but instead I spent most of the afternoon sitting and chatting with Drew and Activision Jason, and later, Brenda. It was a fine chat about the history and motives behind GDC, the role of educators in the conference, and my curious foray into Game Design. ETCers and other industry folk joined and left our table in a steady stream. This was a much preferred environment for me compared to a packed session, especially in my sleepy state.
After a leisurely dinner at the food court, we returned to our hotels to prepare for the giant IGDA party being thrown tonight. I promptly fell asleep. I doubt I will be scorned for skipping out on the party, nor will my absence likely be noticed (they are expecting 2000 people to attend). The fact of the matter is, I'm exhausted, and the conference proper hasn't even begun yet! I need to rest up if I intend to survive the rest of the week at all.
I blame the large amount of people, which quickly drain away my energy. Andy says I should just pretend every person at the conference is actually a dog, since puppies seem to give me so much energy (Brenda agrees, thinking it would be extremely fun to think of what breeds people would be). Activision Jason says that creating a defensive energy bubble around oneself is a learned skill, and that I merely need to work my way to 375 (how I grind this skill, I have no idea).
For now, I'll call it an early night. There's a session at 9am tomorrow that I really want to go see, so an early bedtime won't hurt in the least!
After a leisurely dinner at the food court, we returned to our hotels to prepare for the giant IGDA party being thrown tonight. I promptly fell asleep. I doubt I will be scorned for skipping out on the party, nor will my absence likely be noticed (they are expecting 2000 people to attend). The fact of the matter is, I'm exhausted, and the conference proper hasn't even begun yet! I need to rest up if I intend to survive the rest of the week at all.
I blame the large amount of people, which quickly drain away my energy. Andy says I should just pretend every person at the conference is actually a dog, since puppies seem to give me so much energy (Brenda agrees, thinking it would be extremely fun to think of what breeds people would be). Activision Jason says that creating a defensive energy bubble around oneself is a learned skill, and that I merely need to work my way to 375 (how I grind this skill, I have no idea).
For now, I'll call it an early night. There's a session at 9am tomorrow that I really want to go see, so an early bedtime won't hurt in the least!
GDC Tuesday Morning
Today was the day of scholar activities, and I am quite worn out! In the morning we all met up and went over to Three Rings Design for a tour. This was great, because it was one of the companies I wasn't able to see on the West Coast Trip. Three Rings is a fantastical place, visually, and their company model is one I am fond of. They were very friendly and open, and are giving all the scholars alpha test accounts for Whirled.
Afterwards, we met up with our mentors, which was the most exciting part of the day for me! They matched up each of the scholars with an industry professional in the line of work we were interested in. Mine is a producer at Ubisoft, and is really cool. We wandered off to figure out our schedule for the conference, and had a fabulous conversation about production and the game industry in general. He's going to arrange a tour of Ubisoft for me (the studio here is mostly a publishing house with a small development team).
He set off to another meeting and I wandered about until I found Carlos, who is also doing computery sorts of errands. Tonight is the big IGDA party, which I may go to, but am sort of dreading. Large gatherings of people drain me to the bone. But who knows, it could be fun!
For now, I think I'm going to go seek out that bean bag chair lounge again...
Afterwards, we met up with our mentors, which was the most exciting part of the day for me! They matched up each of the scholars with an industry professional in the line of work we were interested in. Mine is a producer at Ubisoft, and is really cool. We wandered off to figure out our schedule for the conference, and had a fabulous conversation about production and the game industry in general. He's going to arrange a tour of Ubisoft for me (the studio here is mostly a publishing house with a small development team).
He set off to another meeting and I wandered about until I found Carlos, who is also doing computery sorts of errands. Tonight is the big IGDA party, which I may go to, but am sort of dreading. Large gatherings of people drain me to the bone. But who knows, it could be fun!
For now, I think I'm going to go seek out that bean bag chair lounge again...
GDC Tuesday Morning
Today was the day of scholar activities, and I am quite worn out! In the morning we all met up and went over to Three Rings Design for a tour. This was great, because it was one of the companies I wasn't able to see on the West Coast Trip. Three Rings is a fantastical place, visually, and their company model is one I am fond of. They were very friendly and open, and are giving all the scholars alpha test accounts for Whirled.
Afterwards, we met up with our mentors, which was the most exciting part of the day for me! They matched up each of the scholars with an industry professional in the line of work we were interested in. Mine is a producer at Ubisoft, and is really cool. We wandered off to figure out our schedule for the conference, and had a fabulous conversation about production and the game industry in general. He's going to arrange a tour of Ubisoft for me (the studio here is mostly a publishing house with a small development team).
He set off to another meeting and I wandered about until I found Carlos, who is also doing computery sorts of errands. Tonight is the big IGDA party, which I may go to, but am sort of dreading. Large gatherings of people drain me to the bone. But who knows, it could be fun!
For now, I think I'm going to go seek out that bean bag chair lounge again...
Afterwards, we met up with our mentors, which was the most exciting part of the day for me! They matched up each of the scholars with an industry professional in the line of work we were interested in. Mine is a producer at Ubisoft, and is really cool. We wandered off to figure out our schedule for the conference, and had a fabulous conversation about production and the game industry in general. He's going to arrange a tour of Ubisoft for me (the studio here is mostly a publishing house with a small development team).
He set off to another meeting and I wandered about until I found Carlos, who is also doing computery sorts of errands. Tonight is the big IGDA party, which I may go to, but am sort of dreading. Large gatherings of people drain me to the bone. But who knows, it could be fun!
For now, I think I'm going to go seek out that bean bag chair lounge again...
GDC Monday Afternoon
The summit talk after lunch was all about revenue models for Free-to-play games, and was very interesting. It was also very popular, and the room was so crammed full that I had to escape afterwards for a re-charge.
Wandering about, I found that the convention has a bean bag chair lounge in the middle of the floor outside the exhibit hall! Brilliant! I chilled out for awhile, soon joined by Tracy, Edmundo, Jake, and Alyson. I decided to sit there on a bean bag and work out what talk I wanted to see in the afternoon, and promptly fell asleep. Doh!
Upon waking, I walked back with Tracy and Jesse. There's a big, glass-enclosed carousel outside the convention center that looks very fun, and Jesse and I resolved to ride it before GDC is over. "I will have to schedule a time this week to ride it," I said.
Jesse turned to me with the most incredulous, laser-eyed glare he could muster and scoffed, "I'm not scheduling when I ride the carousel." I barked back in defense of my inability to be spontaneous, and Tracy berated us both on the silliness of a glass-enclosed carousel to begin with. It was all in good fun, of course. We parted ways with Jesse and returned to the hotel.
Tonight, I met up with the other GDC scholars for dinner at the food court. There are an abundance of interesting people, and many a business card was exchanged. One girl is going to be a first-year at the ETC next year, so I am determined to get her properly introduced to Jesse and Drew.
Yay networking!
Wandering about, I found that the convention has a bean bag chair lounge in the middle of the floor outside the exhibit hall! Brilliant! I chilled out for awhile, soon joined by Tracy, Edmundo, Jake, and Alyson. I decided to sit there on a bean bag and work out what talk I wanted to see in the afternoon, and promptly fell asleep. Doh!
Upon waking, I walked back with Tracy and Jesse. There's a big, glass-enclosed carousel outside the convention center that looks very fun, and Jesse and I resolved to ride it before GDC is over. "I will have to schedule a time this week to ride it," I said.
Jesse turned to me with the most incredulous, laser-eyed glare he could muster and scoffed, "I'm not scheduling when I ride the carousel." I barked back in defense of my inability to be spontaneous, and Tracy berated us both on the silliness of a glass-enclosed carousel to begin with. It was all in good fun, of course. We parted ways with Jesse and returned to the hotel.
Tonight, I met up with the other GDC scholars for dinner at the food court. There are an abundance of interesting people, and many a business card was exchanged. One girl is going to be a first-year at the ETC next year, so I am determined to get her properly introduced to Jesse and Drew.
Yay networking!
Monday, February 18, 2008
GDC Monday Afternoon
The summit talk after lunch was all about revenue models for Free-to-play games, and was very interesting. It was also very popular, and the room was so crammed full that I had to escape afterwards for a re-charge.
Wandering about, I found that the convention has a bean bag chair lounge in the middle of the floor outside the exhibit hall! Brilliant! I chilled out for awhile, soon joined by Tracy, Edmundo, Jake, and Alyson. I decided to sit there on a bean bag and work out what talk I wanted to see in the afternoon, and promptly fell asleep. Doh!
Upon waking, I walked back with Tracy and Jesse. There's a big, glass-enclosed carousel outside the convention center that looks very fun, and Jesse and I resolved to ride it before GDC is over. "I will have to schedule a time this week to ride it," I said.
Jesse turned to me with the most incredulous, laser-eyed glare he could muster and scoffed, "I'm not scheduling when I ride the carousel." I barked back in defense of my inability to be spontaneous, and Tracy berated us both on the silliness of a glass-enclosed carousel to begin with. It was all in good fun, of course. We parted ways with Jesse and returned to the hotel.
Tonight, I met up with the other GDC scholars for dinner at the food court. There are an abundance of interesting people, and many a business card was exchanged. One girl is going to be a first-year at the ETC next year, so I am determined to get her properly introduced to Jesse and Drew.
Yay networking!
Wandering about, I found that the convention has a bean bag chair lounge in the middle of the floor outside the exhibit hall! Brilliant! I chilled out for awhile, soon joined by Tracy, Edmundo, Jake, and Alyson. I decided to sit there on a bean bag and work out what talk I wanted to see in the afternoon, and promptly fell asleep. Doh!
Upon waking, I walked back with Tracy and Jesse. There's a big, glass-enclosed carousel outside the convention center that looks very fun, and Jesse and I resolved to ride it before GDC is over. "I will have to schedule a time this week to ride it," I said.
Jesse turned to me with the most incredulous, laser-eyed glare he could muster and scoffed, "I'm not scheduling when I ride the carousel." I barked back in defense of my inability to be spontaneous, and Tracy berated us both on the silliness of a glass-enclosed carousel to begin with. It was all in good fun, of course. We parted ways with Jesse and returned to the hotel.
Tonight, I met up with the other GDC scholars for dinner at the food court. There are an abundance of interesting people, and many a business card was exchanged. One girl is going to be a first-year at the ETC next year, so I am determined to get her properly introduced to Jesse and Drew.
Yay networking!
GDC Monday Morning
So for today, Bandology split up between the Casual Games Summit and the Worlds in Motion Summit. I went to the latter, which is about virtual worlds and massively multiplayer experiences (as Jesse says, "it sounds like a girl came up with the name to that summit," at which I shook my fist threateningly, at which he smirked).
I picked the summit to learn what I can about MMOs to apply to Bandology. What I discovered, to my surprise, is that there exists in this industry an animosity between "virtual worlds" people (Second Life, Social Networking experiences, etc.) and "mmo game" people (WoW, Club Penguin). This startled me, as I'd never perceived the friction between the two groups until today in this room!
The first two speakers were so-so, but the third guy from GoPets () gave a great talk about Game Interface over User Interface. I think I absorbed a lot of Bandology-relevant tidbits from that talk.
For now, I must finish my lunch and head back to the summit. Stay tuned for more!
I picked the summit to learn what I can about MMOs to apply to Bandology. What I discovered, to my surprise, is that there exists in this industry an animosity between "virtual worlds" people (Second Life, Social Networking experiences, etc.) and "mmo game" people (WoW, Club Penguin). This startled me, as I'd never perceived the friction between the two groups until today in this room!
The first two speakers were so-so, but the third guy from GoPets (
For now, I must finish my lunch and head back to the summit. Stay tuned for more!
GDC Monday Morning
So for today, Bandology split up between the Casual Games Summit and the Worlds in Motion Summit. I went to the latter, which is about virtual worlds and massively multiplayer experiences (as Jesse says, "it sounds like a girl came up with the name to that summit," at which I shook my fist threateningly, at which he smirked).
I picked the summit to learn what I can about MMOs to apply to Bandology. What I discovered, to my surprise, is that there exists in this industry an animosity between "virtual worlds" people (Second Life, Social Networking experiences, etc.) and "mmo game" people (WoW, Club Penguin). This startled me, as I'd never perceived the friction between the two groups until today in this room!
The first two speakers were so-so, but the third guy from GoPets () gave a great talk about Game Interface over User Interface. I think I absorbed a lot of Bandology-relevant tidbits from that talk.
For now, I must finish my lunch and head back to the summit. Stay tuned for more!
I picked the summit to learn what I can about MMOs to apply to Bandology. What I discovered, to my surprise, is that there exists in this industry an animosity between "virtual worlds" people (Second Life, Social Networking experiences, etc.) and "mmo game" people (WoW, Club Penguin). This startled me, as I'd never perceived the friction between the two groups until today in this room!
The first two speakers were so-so, but the third guy from GoPets (
For now, I must finish my lunch and head back to the summit. Stay tuned for more!
Sunday, February 17, 2008
GDC-bound
Today I fly off with my project team to the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.
I am extremely excited, if not a little nervous (this will be the most gigantic conference I've ever attended). On Monday I'll be attending a summit about MMOs, hopefully to absorb what I can learn to apply it to Bandology. Tuesday I'll be running about with the GDC scholars (I won a scholarship to attend GDC, so there's all kinds of perks with that). The rest of the week I'll be running about to this session and that, and maybe this party and that, and whatever social networking you tend to do at conferences.
I am armed with a stack of business cards and a tiny notebook, and we shall see what GDC brings!
My goal is to blog a bit about each day, but even if that doesn't happen, I'll likely be twittering left and right if you like bite-sized updates.
I am extremely excited, if not a little nervous (this will be the most gigantic conference I've ever attended). On Monday I'll be attending a summit about MMOs, hopefully to absorb what I can learn to apply it to Bandology. Tuesday I'll be running about with the GDC scholars (I won a scholarship to attend GDC, so there's all kinds of perks with that). The rest of the week I'll be running about to this session and that, and maybe this party and that, and whatever social networking you tend to do at conferences.
I am armed with a stack of business cards and a tiny notebook, and we shall see what GDC brings!
My goal is to blog a bit about each day, but even if that doesn't happen, I'll likely be twittering left and right if you like bite-sized updates.
GDC-bound
Today I fly off with my project team to the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.
I am extremely excited, if not a little nervous (this will be the most gigantic conference I've ever attended). On Monday I'll be attending a summit about MMOs, hopefully to absorb what I can learn to apply it to Bandology. Tuesday I'll be running about with the GDC scholars (I won a scholarship to attend GDC, so there's all kinds of perks with that). The rest of the week I'll be running about to this session and that, and maybe this party and that, and whatever social networking you tend to do at conferences.
I am armed with a stack of business cards and a tiny notebook, and we shall see what GDC brings!
My goal is to blog a bit about each day, but even if that doesn't happen, I'll likely be twittering left and right if you like bite-sized updates.
I am extremely excited, if not a little nervous (this will be the most gigantic conference I've ever attended). On Monday I'll be attending a summit about MMOs, hopefully to absorb what I can learn to apply it to Bandology. Tuesday I'll be running about with the GDC scholars (I won a scholarship to attend GDC, so there's all kinds of perks with that). The rest of the week I'll be running about to this session and that, and maybe this party and that, and whatever social networking you tend to do at conferences.
I am armed with a stack of business cards and a tiny notebook, and we shall see what GDC brings!
My goal is to blog a bit about each day, but even if that doesn't happen, I'll likely be twittering left and right if you like bite-sized updates.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Snow!
The other day we had a great snow, and the ETCers went out and built a GIANT SNOW MONSTER. It was a true group effort.
Here's a video clip of us getting the top half up onto the bottom half.
He's starting to lean over, slowly, and is probably a safety hazard. Oh well!
Here's a video clip of us getting the top half up onto the bottom half.
He's starting to lean over, slowly, and is probably a safety hazard. Oh well!
Snow!
The other day we had a great snow, and the ETCers went out and built a GIANT SNOW MONSTER. It was a true group effort.
Here's a video clip of us getting the top half up onto the bottom half.
He's starting to lean over, slowly, and is probably a safety hazard. Oh well!
Here's a video clip of us getting the top half up onto the bottom half.
He's starting to lean over, slowly, and is probably a safety hazard. Oh well!
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Adventure Time!
I am so excited about our next Game Design assignment!
The assignment is to run a one-shot adventure game session using a very simplified D&D-derived ruleset. Many people in the class have never played a table-top roleplaying game before, so they created groups based on experience. The assignment is in association with studying the challenges of interactive storytelling.
I'm considered the "expert" of my group, and so have to run my one-shot first, so that others may follow my example. Pressure! I haven't DMed a game in ages, but I think I've learned a lot I can use from the most recent games I've played in.
This should be a ton of fun, and I'm thinking back to some of the Nobilis one-shots we did in the past for ideas on how to run a good, condensed story. However, it's been awhile since I've used the D&D ruleset; my mind is still fresh with Nobilis and Dogs in the Vineyard.
First thing's first, time to think up a fun story. For you, internets, if you've played a tabletop rpg one-shot that you really enjoyed, share the experience? What was fun about it? What did you like better or worse than a campaign over an extended period of time? Tips? Tricks? Advice? Ideas?
The assignment is to run a one-shot adventure game session using a very simplified D&D-derived ruleset. Many people in the class have never played a table-top roleplaying game before, so they created groups based on experience. The assignment is in association with studying the challenges of interactive storytelling.
I'm considered the "expert" of my group, and so have to run my one-shot first, so that others may follow my example. Pressure! I haven't DMed a game in ages, but I think I've learned a lot I can use from the most recent games I've played in.
This should be a ton of fun, and I'm thinking back to some of the Nobilis one-shots we did in the past for ideas on how to run a good, condensed story. However, it's been awhile since I've used the D&D ruleset; my mind is still fresh with Nobilis and Dogs in the Vineyard.
First thing's first, time to think up a fun story. For you, internets, if you've played a tabletop rpg one-shot that you really enjoyed, share the experience? What was fun about it? What did you like better or worse than a campaign over an extended period of time? Tips? Tricks? Advice? Ideas?
Photoshop Advice
Helpful photoshop advice for those of who use Photoshop, but maybe don't use some of its more advanced features.
Adventure Time!
I am so excited about our next Game Design assignment!
The assignment is to run a one-shot adventure game session using a very simplified D&D-derived ruleset. Many people in the class have never played a table-top roleplaying game before, so they created groups based on experience. The assignment is in association with studying the challenges of interactive storytelling.
I'm considered the "expert" of my group, and so have to run my one-shot first, so that others may follow my example. Pressure! I haven't DMed a game in ages, but I think I've learned a lot I can use from the most recent games I've played in.
This should be a ton of fun, and I'm thinking back to some of the Nobilis one-shots we did in the past for ideas on how to run a good, condensed story. However, it's been awhile since I've used the D&D ruleset; my mind is still fresh with Nobilis and Dogs in the Vineyard.
First thing's first, time to think up a fun story. For you, internets, if you've played a tabletop rpg one-shot that you really enjoyed, share the experience? What was fun about it? What did you like better or worse than a campaign over an extended period of time? Tips? Tricks? Advice? Ideas?
The assignment is to run a one-shot adventure game session using a very simplified D&D-derived ruleset. Many people in the class have never played a table-top roleplaying game before, so they created groups based on experience. The assignment is in association with studying the challenges of interactive storytelling.
I'm considered the "expert" of my group, and so have to run my one-shot first, so that others may follow my example. Pressure! I haven't DMed a game in ages, but I think I've learned a lot I can use from the most recent games I've played in.
This should be a ton of fun, and I'm thinking back to some of the Nobilis one-shots we did in the past for ideas on how to run a good, condensed story. However, it's been awhile since I've used the D&D ruleset; my mind is still fresh with Nobilis and Dogs in the Vineyard.
First thing's first, time to think up a fun story. For you, internets, if you've played a tabletop rpg one-shot that you really enjoyed, share the experience? What was fun about it? What did you like better or worse than a campaign over an extended period of time? Tips? Tricks? Advice? Ideas?
Photoshop Advice
Helpful photoshop advice for those of who use Photoshop, but maybe don't use some of its more advanced features.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Assassin's Creed
Amidst all the scrambling work for Bandology and Game Design, I have had moments of rest from time to time. On Saturday I took to watching Joe play Assassin's Creed for a good part of the afternoon. I played a bit myself, but preferred to watch (I think there is some inherent Little Sister gene in me that lends itself to pleasantly watching someone else play a game).
I really like the game, of what I've seen. Its approach to stealth, what with hiding in plain sight and blending in socially, makes it a few points closer to true stealth arts than any other stealth game I've seen. I appreciate this very much. It's also pretty and engaging and makes you feel like a badass.
The weird, matrixy, modern-present/memory-past scenario is a little off-putting and puzzling, but I like how they use it to explain away anachronisms you experience in the memory world. It was a very clever means of keeping a consistent world, I thought.
I'm not sure when Joe will have another chance to play, as GDC looms on the horizon, and after that we'll be in crunch for pretty much the rest of the semester. Alas, such is life.
I really like the game, of what I've seen. Its approach to stealth, what with hiding in plain sight and blending in socially, makes it a few points closer to true stealth arts than any other stealth game I've seen. I appreciate this very much. It's also pretty and engaging and makes you feel like a badass.
The weird, matrixy, modern-present/memory-past scenario is a little off-putting and puzzling, but I like how they use it to explain away anachronisms you experience in the memory world. It was a very clever means of keeping a consistent world, I thought.
I'm not sure when Joe will have another chance to play, as GDC looms on the horizon, and after that we'll be in crunch for pretty much the rest of the semester. Alas, such is life.
Assassin's Creed
Amidst all the scrambling work for Bandology and Game Design, I have had moments of rest from time to time. On Saturday I took to watching Joe play Assassin's Creed for a good part of the afternoon. I played a bit myself, but preferred to watch (I think there is some inherent Little Sister gene in me that lends itself to pleasantly watching someone else play a game).
I really like the game, of what I've seen. Its approach to stealth, what with hiding in plain sight and blending in socially, makes it a few points closer to true stealth arts than any other stealth game I've seen. I appreciate this very much. It's also pretty and engaging and makes you feel like a badass.
The weird, matrixy, modern-present/memory-past scenario is a little off-putting and puzzling, but I like how they use it to explain away anachronisms you experience in the memory world. It was a very clever means of keeping a consistent world, I thought.
I'm not sure when Joe will have another chance to play, as GDC looms on the horizon, and after that we'll be in crunch for pretty much the rest of the semester. Alas, such is life.
I really like the game, of what I've seen. Its approach to stealth, what with hiding in plain sight and blending in socially, makes it a few points closer to true stealth arts than any other stealth game I've seen. I appreciate this very much. It's also pretty and engaging and makes you feel like a badass.
The weird, matrixy, modern-present/memory-past scenario is a little off-putting and puzzling, but I like how they use it to explain away anachronisms you experience in the memory world. It was a very clever means of keeping a consistent world, I thought.
I'm not sure when Joe will have another chance to play, as GDC looms on the horizon, and after that we'll be in crunch for pretty much the rest of the semester. Alas, such is life.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Birthday times!
First off, thank you all so much for your dice comments! They were all very helpful and intriguing, and I jotted things from each of them in my brainstorming log. My game is ending up similar to the "dice darts" concept, except that I'm using a super magnet, and using bolts and nuts as dice in the same way that Pass the Pigs uses plastic pigs as dice, scoring based on what position they land in (this is until Monday, when I can get some magnetic paint from our facilities admin, and I'm going to try using normal dice).
More details on that later. For now, birthday report!
Andy, my producer, nagged me about what I wanted to do for my birthday, saying he would organize it for me. This is a great gift, as coordinating people can be tiresome. I only wanted one thing for my birthday, and that was to go ice skating!
When I got home on Friday night (well, really very early Saturday morning, so it was already my birthday) I was surprised by a cake that my roommates had baked and left for me. How thoughtful! I had a piece before bed, and another for breakfast ^_^
My project team -- Andy, Joe, and Carlos (Edmundo couldn't make it) -- went to the skating rink this afternoon, and had a very fun time skating! We were soon joined by Max, who gave me a great big birthday hug. Ice skating was tons of fun, but we all fear for the 'morrow, where we will likely be too sore to walk. All worth it!
We then set back to the ETC and picked up some of the iMobile team -- Jake, Alyson, and Rich -- and went to Primanti Bros. to eat dinner. Primanti Bros. has the distinction of being "the place in Pittsburgh that puts french fries on your sandwich" suggested to me early on by Ken. It was delicious!
Rich, ever mindful of the fact that I don't drink alcohol, said that they should get me smashed for my birthday...on energy drinks. I thought he was teasing, until we met back at the ETC, where he entered with an armful of energy drinks and a tube of squeezable sweet tart candy. I humored him by drinking the Amp...it was awful! Later, Andy showed back up, got me off the ceiling with a broom, and we both decided no more energy drinks.
That didn't stop Joe from harassing me and attempting to peer pressure me to down the rest of them. It was all in good fun, though. Ballers, if you ever meet Joe, you will notice the striking similarities in personality to Ken. The two of them should never meet, or they will destroy the world with their inappropriate wit!
The rest of the evening was spent Rock Banding and playing games, and Bryan Cash showed up to play as well. Will would be so proud of me, as I have graduated to playing on hard on both bass AND guitar in Rock Band. However, I do cheat a little. I play sitting down, and use the tiny buttons on the base of the neck. The buttons are smaller, closer together and I can reach the orange one without moving my hand too much. Even still, I consider this a grand accomplishment!
We spend the last moments of my birthday watching Clone High on youtube, and even when the clock passed midnight, Jesse sent me a Happy Unbirthday picture. It has been quite a full day!
And now...crashing from the caffeine high of the energy drink (those things are probably worse for you than alcohol) I sleep. Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes today!
More details on that later. For now, birthday report!
Andy, my producer, nagged me about what I wanted to do for my birthday, saying he would organize it for me. This is a great gift, as coordinating people can be tiresome. I only wanted one thing for my birthday, and that was to go ice skating!
When I got home on Friday night (well, really very early Saturday morning, so it was already my birthday) I was surprised by a cake that my roommates had baked and left for me. How thoughtful! I had a piece before bed, and another for breakfast ^_^
My project team -- Andy, Joe, and Carlos (Edmundo couldn't make it) -- went to the skating rink this afternoon, and had a very fun time skating! We were soon joined by Max, who gave me a great big birthday hug. Ice skating was tons of fun, but we all fear for the 'morrow, where we will likely be too sore to walk. All worth it!
We then set back to the ETC and picked up some of the iMobile team -- Jake, Alyson, and Rich -- and went to Primanti Bros. to eat dinner. Primanti Bros. has the distinction of being "the place in Pittsburgh that puts french fries on your sandwich" suggested to me early on by Ken. It was delicious!
Rich, ever mindful of the fact that I don't drink alcohol, said that they should get me smashed for my birthday...on energy drinks. I thought he was teasing, until we met back at the ETC, where he entered with an armful of energy drinks and a tube of squeezable sweet tart candy. I humored him by drinking the Amp...it was awful! Later, Andy showed back up, got me off the ceiling with a broom, and we both decided no more energy drinks.
That didn't stop Joe from harassing me and attempting to peer pressure me to down the rest of them. It was all in good fun, though. Ballers, if you ever meet Joe, you will notice the striking similarities in personality to Ken. The two of them should never meet, or they will destroy the world with their inappropriate wit!
The rest of the evening was spent Rock Banding and playing games, and Bryan Cash showed up to play as well. Will would be so proud of me, as I have graduated to playing on hard on both bass AND guitar in Rock Band. However, I do cheat a little. I play sitting down, and use the tiny buttons on the base of the neck. The buttons are smaller, closer together and I can reach the orange one without moving my hand too much. Even still, I consider this a grand accomplishment!
We spend the last moments of my birthday watching Clone High on youtube, and even when the clock passed midnight, Jesse sent me a Happy Unbirthday picture. It has been quite a full day!
And now...crashing from the caffeine high of the energy drink (those things are probably worse for you than alcohol) I sleep. Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes today!
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