The Greatest Solution

Maya got your undies in a bundle? Corrupting your files? Ruining your beautifully unwrapped UVs? Making you want to punch out your perfectly innocent monitor or display?

Well I've got your solution!

Loud music + empty apartment + chocolate =

unbundled undies.

Back to Normal

I live!

MIGS was truly something else (see pictures below). I stepped out of my comfort zone and met game developers from all walks of life. It was hard to keep the fan-girl inside of me from totally going beserk as I shook the hands of people whom I hope to work with (or for) someday.

The sessions I went to are invaluable to me. I feel as though each one gave me a new perspective, and they each sparked my creativity. I got very inspired and started creating some interface artwork for my personal project which I hope to really get underway once Christmas exodus comes. Thanksgiving break is underway, yet I do not feel any such "break". It's merely a transfer of location, one with turkey and mashed potatoes and loving parents, to do more work.

But I'm happy about it all.

I want to say a huge thank you to Warren Spector for opening MIGS with an inspirational speech about the future of game design (and how students like me will shape it some day). I have tons of notes on all of the talks I went to last week, but I don't want to bore you with silly words : ) . My trip to MIGS went as follows:

There was lots of this (dancing)

and this (more dancing)

And this (Rafi's hair).

After lots of exploring...



And panel-attending(which of course was the main event)...


--where is Jason?!--

We wrapped up the final night of MIGS with some awesome stereoscopic fun at Gamma3D.


None of us really wanted the trip to end, and despite the fact that we were exhausted, underfed, and over stimulated, MIGS was nothing short of kickass.

I'm starting my own adventures into prototyping, first getting over the hurdle of being somewhat artistically inept and unknowledgeable about any programming languages. Wish me luck!

I'm back to the normal day-to-day with a new perspective on my future and where I hope to be in the next five years.

Cheers

This week has been pretty hectic already, and with time it shall get worse. I have a moment to breathe, and therefore a moment to post.

MIGS is next week, and with it's arrival comes my first public speaking opportunity. Alongside Wes Knee, Brian George and Ann DeMarle, I will be talking about the UN project, serious games, and the Emergent Media Center. To say the least, I'm excited. I look forward to all of the interesting speakers.

We had our first All EMC meeting yesterday, and it was a blast to see the other projects. You never really realize how huge the EMC is until you have almost everyone who works there in the same room. The UN team did not have much to show, but we talked about our process and gave a brief description of our concept. It was fun.

After our EMC meeting, we had a quick IBM project meeting. We're really starting to get the ball rolling with that, although we all are a bit unclear as to our roles on the team and to what our client wants. We're hoping these questions will be answered on Thursday!

I'm starting my first 3D animation endeavor, and I'm looking forward to how that turns out. I am hoping I can scrape up enough time to make it kick butt. Studying animation is so interesting to me. The whole idea of understanding the way things move, down to minute details, is incredible. (The short animation before Wall-E, and the whole Wall-E movie in general, amazed me. P.S. Wall-E comes out on DVD today).

Mirror's Edge comes out today (? I think?), so I'm heading downtown to pick that up, even though I probably won't play it until the summer. Thanksgiving will be filled with school work, and Christmas break is devoted towards working on my own project. Any ideas for a game engine with reliable physics are greatly apprciated. Did I mention it should be cheap, too?

I started playing Animal Crossing: Wild World on my DS every night for about five minutes before bed. I find it is the only thing that can clear my mind. Sadly enough, its gameplay doesn't hook me enough to keep me up, but I appreciate that. I think once I learn all of the things that I can do in the game, I will get addicted. For now I just pick apples and sell them to Tom Nook. Wipee.

I planned on this being short, but, alas, it is not.
Another year down for me and Serge, today. Cheers to love!

Anticipation

In my last post I mentioned how I don't want to talk about politics here, but today is a special occasion. It is finally official. I've done my part now, I've got my sticker, and all I can do now is wait (and cross my fingers and hope and pray and all that jazz). It was an exhilarating experience to finally utilize my rights as a citizen. I have never been able to vote in an election before today, and it excites me that more and more of my generation are becoming of age to vote.

I feel really great right now. I'm excited about this election. I think that no matter what happens, it will be huge. Perhaps my perceptions are skewed, but I feel like this election pits the world against America. This election may determine if I stay in the country in the future, and I really don't want to be disappointed again.

For now I wait, and I don't mind waiting for this.

Remember, remember the MONTH of November

November is upon us, and this month marks a lot of exciting things, to say the least. For one, the election is on TUESDAY, and it is the first time that I can vote for a President. Unfortunately, Tuesdays are my busiest days, and Burlington tends to have very long lines at the polls. I'm hoping I can squeeze it in between classes. I am very anxious to see the result of this year's election. The world is counting on us; I cannot describe the look in the eyes of the many South Africans I spoke to when they asked me about Obama. I hate to get political in a blog post, but the world needs this President.

MIGS is coming up! Three days of video game glory -- my first big gaming convention. I can't wait to meet new people and get a real taste of the Montreal game development scene. Gamma 3D looks like a ton of fun. Congrats to the winners! I cannot wait to play your games on the 19th. (Thank you Heather for all of your hard work with Gamma and with us!) We're taking a tour of the Montreal Champlain campus, and that may be one of the deciding factors on whether or not I go to next year.

We have another UN deliverable coming up in a few weeks, and I think Lauren and I have this down pretty well. I could not have asked for a better partner, and I am so thankful. We're currently awaiting feedback from the EMC and from the UN on our document. Huge thanks to Nick, Alex and Bill for helping pull this thing together and practically reading our minds. The first step is over, and now it is time to move forward. I feel pretty confident about or design thus far, but I need to keep my critical eye open. I look forward to seeing and impacting where this goes.

Thanksgiving break is late this year, but it spaces out my vacation time quite nicely. I cannot wait to leave work behind and spend some time with my family. I finally got to talk to my father for more than five minutes this weekend, and we had a great conversation about the CIMIT conference and the future. Talking to my parents makes me miss them a lot, and well, I really don't know where I would be without them. I know I certainly wouldn't be here.

A good friend recently introduced me to a ton of new music (thank you Pete!!), ranging from Muse to Abandoned Pools, Flobots to Explosions in the Sky. The Crystal Method and RJD2 are next on the list, followed by a bit of Daft Punk. I fell in love with it all, and I'm taking my time going through it. It is the kind of music that makes me feel alive. Writing out these words makes me feel a hundred times more sympathetic towards Beethoven, but that is a side note. When music does this to me, I know that it is a passion.

November brings with it another year for us. Cheers to love!

"This is all we have, and all we have is everything. There are so many stars."
-Lethal Killers by Abandoned Pools