mrtwiggles

Happy Birthday Em!!!

I'm looking forward to tonight because we get to spend it together with a romantic meal. It's the first since we went out after christmas and the first i've cooked in ages. Emma seems happy lately which is excellent because naturally that makes me happy as well! I won't go into the details but she says that everything in life is falling into place finally...awesome...

It's been ages since I last updated. Not too much has happened really. I suppose the main things are that Ash broke his arm but his pot's coming off in a couple of weeks. Also, I've been moved onto a much better contract with lots more money! It also means I working with Halch for 3 months longer than originally intended and I get more support with training for new consoles which is what employers are looking for. If I don't get a permanent contract with Halch I at least have an uber-CV by the end of it!

New music seems to be pretty good at the moment. Lots of cool stuff on Kerrang radio which I listen to everyday at work. Biffy Clyro, Pink Spiders and Arctic Monkeys are good examples. Hehe...Brianstorm...

Anyway, gotta go and finish my dinner and have a dabble on MySpace... Intending to have a good look at band's "spaces" because they usual have new tracks and videos uploaded as well as general updates...cool...

Current Location: Boro
Current Mood: chipper
Current Music: Lawnmower...?

Last week went ok until about wednesday lunchtime. The new job began really well and I was already settling in. I spent the week with 2 of the team's artists - Seb and Rob. Both cool guys and made me feel welcome. Numerous phone calls to Emma from the middle of the week led to manys the misery. This ultimately led to the wedding being postponed and possibly even canceled. One of the main factors is money. I best not go into full detail about it all but ultimately...I'm very miserable at the moment. I was this *holds fingers close together* close to just leaving everything the other day but I even lacked the motivation to do that...which is a good thing I suppose. I'd be leaving too many good things alongside escaping the bad. It's a shame that we have been given a fresh start now that we're in Middlesbrough but it's not without it's major complications...and that's just between me and Emma. We have no gas to the house and have been freezing for the past 5 days, which isn't good especially for Ash. Me and Ash seem to be bonding a lot better nowadays as well (like I said not everything is bad). He's sleeping in his own room now. I didn't think it would take too long but the first night was sooner than expected! I'm sick of not having a routine but I suppose that comes free with full-time work. No time to do anything before and by the time I've finished, I get my tea and it's pretty much time to crash out...

Rant, rant, rant...

I wish I could say "exactly" how I'm feeling but can't really do this publicly so gonna keep my mouth shut...

BAH!

Current Location: Teh Boro
Current Mood: depressed
Current Music: Silverstein - Discovering the Waterfront

After over half a year of searching I have landed myself with a game programmer role! It's with a new company called Halch who have a project for the DS and PS2. The guys are cool and they've immediately made me feel welcome. They're based in the Victoria building at Teesside uni so it's another move back up there. I'm a little miffed that I haven't been able to get a permanent place sorted yet but I have a couple of backup plans so I won't end up homeless... The job starts a week on monday but it may only be temporary. It all depends on how we do with this project.

Apart from the job, nothing much has been happening. I've just got back from spending a few days at Bob's house in Boro. It was cool seeing peeps again and I'm looking forward to being around on a permanent basis...

It's a short entry but it's to the point...

Current Location: Donny
Current Mood: pleased

W00t! I have the new Cooper Temple Clause album! Although I have to admit that overall it's not as good as their previous work...maybe it's a grower though. It's cool when you buy an album early and then you see it advertised on TV and you can proudly say "I've got that"...and then usually have Ashton say shut up but still it's cool.

I've just checked my emails and had a whopping 41! It may not be many for some peeps but for me that's a lot. I have started to receive spam! After over 5 years of having this account I have almost completely avoided getting spam. The only time I did was when somebody signed up the whole of the SCM to various sites. I had all university emails forwarded to my hotmail account and therefore repeatedly got emails asking about penis enlargements and something about animals...(!). Anyway, the spam email I got was from some random address which simply gave me a weblink. Sorry but even I'm not curious enough to click on it...DELETED... I did got one positive email from Halch - a new games company based in teh Boro. They are looking for a full time programmer so I've sent them my CV and a link to my website. *fingers crossed*

Hopefully, we'll eventually be moving back up to teh Boro eventually anyway but having a job would give us the foundation we need to make the move. If that doesn't happen then we'll be staying in donny for a while with my parents (fun).

Anyway, I have to go now because the virus scan is almost complete. Programming has started once again!!! My first small project is actually for the wedding. Only a true programming can incorporate a particle system into a wedding! All will be revealed in good time... Oh and if anyone reckons they can create a 3D model of Tattershall castle before the end of April that would be awesome...

Ciao mother hubbards!

Current Location: Grim-sby
Current Mood: artistic
Current Music: What, run windows media player while doing a virus scan?

I'm still not having much look with the job hunt in Doncaster. I'm trying to get a place here because overall it's better for us long term, mainly due to job prospects. We may also get a house here soon through accommodation agencies run closely with the council. However, we do still want to return to Middlesbrough. Unfortunately we can't do this yet due to the lack of money. We could probably afford to "get by" with the council giving us housing benefit but we need to save up for the wedding. At least the wedding is definitely getting there when it comes to paying for it. $2400 (I can't find the pound sign on this keyboard, it's some crazy russian model so I'm sticking with dollars). Hmmm...russian model...there's a job prospect. Anyway, less than 2 and a half grand over 3 months isn't too bad between the 2 of us, but still probably not low enough to make the move back up to Boro.



***REALITY SOFA RANT***

Upon returning to Boro, I'll be getting back in contact with Digital City to talk to them about Reality Sofa and it's future. Obviously, G and Keet are both working at the mo which means that for a while it will remain a "side project" for them. Fingers crossed that it eventually takes off though...

I have a request - Can we have some kind of blog up on our site? Something which allows us to post anything relevant to Reality Sofa and our projects as we go along. It's a good way to keep a casual log of what we're all up to and if any "outsiders" want to know then it's all there (mainly thinking employers and/or publishers *boo*). Also, have we got any idea of how the site's being layed out? I could start writing some stuff to go up there... Introduction to the group, our goals, all that guff. I can also be writing up more game design documents. Get back to me on this because I'd really like to get the website moving soon... I may not be able to code at the mo but I've still got access to word which means I can get some typing done.

Also, I've talked to you both about Geir joining the team as an animator and space for another programmer. We should do audition type things or even...a reality TV show called C Factor where 3 judges (me, G and Keet) find programmers from across the UK and pick the best...it would be an awesome show... But seriously, we do need another games programmer. G has his expertise as a network geezer which obviously helps loads but I need more help when it comes to the graphics engine mainly. I can do various graphical stuff but I'm not confident enough with that side of stuff so need the support. I can't think of anyone at the moment... However, Geir has my vote for joining as animator so it's just up to you 2 for definite answers now - it must be unanimous. Us 3 would still be the "executives" however. I can't think of any other roles to be filled so that would bring our team to 5 which is still nice and compact. When we (eventually...) get our own studio, we need to spend some money on a sofa. Something which looks like the one currently on our website. Only us 3 are allowed to sit on it because it will officially be our "executive suite" - The Reality Sofa.

***END OF REALITY SOFA RANT***



Jimmy Eat World are releasing a new album this year! That's something I'm getting as soon as it comes out. Nobody will stop me!!! Also, The Cooper Temple Clause are releasing their new album very soon and wouldn't mind getting that either. I've been a big fan of them ever since they first started being played on Steve Lamacq's Evening Session. Good old Film Maker. Mmmm...tasty tasty music. That's another reason why I can't wait to get back up to Boro - there's a decent rock scene up there.

Current Location: Donny
Current Mood: stressed
Current Music: Queen - Under Pressure

Well, christmas is over for another year. It was good though because I spent it with Emma and Ash. Ash got pretty much everything you can think of. He's being a little shite lately though - biting, swearing, hitting, telling everyone to shut up and saying "f*** sake" when he's annoyed (which is quite often). He gets it from his mum....hehe...

My CD collection is coming along nicely. I finally got round to making an almost complete list. There's 69 albums on there at the mo but once I've finished compiling it, there will probs be closer to about 90. Since my last update I've got the following: Bullet for my Valentine - The Poison, Razorlight (The new one), Mercury Rev - The Secret Migration, Dragonforce - Sonic Firestorm (Long live the Power Metal Dream!), Silverstein - 18 Candles: The Early Years and Silverstein - Discovering the Waterfront. Silverstein are teh awesome!!! 18 Candles is a compilation of their first 2 EPs, a couple of acoustic tracks, a couple of live tracks and a hardcore remix of "Smile in Your Sleep" which is surprisingly really good!

I also originally got Pathologic for the PC but it repeatedly crashed so I swapped it for the Myst collection. I played Myst over 10 years ago and it's still awesome today. With a bit of help from my Dad I completed Riven last night. For those who have played it - what a buzz when you complete the marbles puzzle WITHOUT help! Started Myst 3 last night. The new camera style makes me feel nauseous...

Still not programming. Still not found a new job. Annoying. Hungry. Need tasty human flesh. (Sort of quoted from Parasite Eve 2. Long live Doctor Bowman. Yes I know he's dead but still...).

Music Zone is boned! The retail industry is boned! The internet is taking over and before you know it computers will take over all our jobs. Shortly followed by taking over our bodies and pretty soon robots will take over and we will no longer be born...but grown! In fields! In damn fields I tell you!!! Like a programmer - GROWN!!! Ahem...

I need sugar and to do something constructive...where's my chocolate orange?

Oh and it hasn't snowed yet this winter - *Shakes fist at global warming*

Current Location: Donny
Current Mood: ...What's new?
Current Music: My Chemical Romance - Cancer

This will probably be my last update before christmas. Emma and Ash are down until boxing day which is cool because I get to spend christmas with them. We had a spending spree yesterday which included getting emma's wedding ring. We just need to get mine now. I also picked up a few CDs (again): HIM - Dark Light and Lostprophets - The Fake Sound of Progress. It was in the wrong order, but I finally have all of the Lostprophets albums!!! W00t!

I have adjusted my career path slightly (again). I've decided to go back into teaching but at Higher level (A-Levels etc.). On Monday I'll be getting a phone call from my old secondary school, Danum, about the Graduate Teaching Programme (GTP). If I apply for that, I may be taken on as an 'unqualified teacher' in September.Possibly even before then because it takes a year at the most to complete a GTP but I have previous exp which may reduce how long I need to be on the programme. If I succeed with the application, assuming I pass the programme, I'll be guaranteed a full time position at Danum. I will be following IT and Mathematics. I've been told that generally secondary teachers follow 2 subjects so I intend to do A-Level maths and GCSE IT. Fingers crossed the phone call goes well. I know the teacher from back in school so it may help... As for programming, when I get a new PC it will probably be a part time 'job'. Hopefully, Reality Sofa will really take off as an indy company but we will have to see what the future holds for us...

My job at Smittys will end on the 21st January. They are impressed with my work but can't afford to keep any of the christmas temp staff on. I'm disappointed but can't do anything about it. Assuming I won't be starting any teaching stuff until September, the temp job hunt will start again after the new year.I've enjoyed it at Smittys so hope I find something similar...

Anyway, hope everyone has a good christmas!

Current Location: Donny
Current Mood: anxious
Current Music: HIM - Killing Loneliness

No I don't have a dog but I found a movie which is written and directed by (and stars) David Hewlett from Stargate Atlantis fame (although he originally appeared in SG1 for a few episodes...). It's also got his sister, his pet dog, Rachel Luttrel (Teyla), Christopher Judge (Teal'c) and Paul McGillion (Dr Beckett)! MUST SEE IT!!!

Last time I updated, I had bought Fable for the PC but it refused to work properly. Apparently many peeps have the same problem and it's software related rather than hardware which sucks because I have no control over that. Anyway, I took it back to Game and swapped it for Morrowind goatee edition, Command and Conquer Generals, Medal of Honour Allied Assault and Battlefield 1942. Morrowind has pissed me off because I was provoked into killing someone I needed to receive quests from. She told me to put the damn skirt on!!! Battlefield is still fun as it ever was even if it does slow down ridiculously to a frame every 3 seconds on any sea-based missions!!! That's no exaggeration...I had plenty of chance to sit there and work it out trust me. MOHAA has also pissed me off on the final missions where the snipers are invisible. Being difficult to spot is fair enough...they are snipers, but they can't be seen. I ran straight towards the direction the firing is coming from and I still can't find them. "NINJAS!" - Hobo. (Harlander may be the only one to understand that quote)

Teh missus and the child are coming down this weekend which means I get to talk to someone other than myself! AWESOME! Hopefully, we'll be getting a house soon but it will help when I get a full time permanent job rather than part-time temp. I've got a crappy evening shift tonight and tomorrow night which I'm not looking forward to but hey it's moneys. Oh and last week I earned enough to get taxed. A whole pound!!!! Damn you!!!

Unfortunately, I will be completely putting programming on hold for a while. I don't think I will get anything completed before christmas and after that I'll be without a PC. I don't want to start something which will mean months of waiting to finish the second half of what I start. It sucks but it can't be helped... Career stuff sucks at the mo...

Current Location: Donny
Current Music: SILENCE

I picked up Fable: The Lost Chapters for the PC yesterday for £15. After waiting ages for it to install, I discovered that it wasn't going to work on the laptop because it needs a 64MB graphic card...:( I then tried it on Kevs computer and it worked! At least for a few minutes anyway. It has a tendency to crash and when it does, I'm forced to restart the PC before getting it to work again. It's a pain in the arse and it's the game rather than the PC which is causing the problem. Many forum threads discuss the amount of problems the game has... Frustrating?

I've been working at Smittys for 3 weeks now and I'm settling in nicely. We each had a quota of 8 chocolate oranges to sell yesterday to reach our weekly goal. I sold a whopping 24!!! This makes me the Chocolate Orange Champion... I just wish the acronym was more encouraging...

Anyway, going to cut it short this time so I can get on with some work. I intend to have a basic Dragon Force style engine ready for christmas. I'm not 100% sure I can achieve this but hey it's worth a shot. Keith - Make me a 2D map and some very basic models to represent the various "waypoints" such as castles, villages, towers, etc. They only need to be very basic for now...

Thought for the week:
Can watching 4 seasons of Stargate SG-1 over 4 weeks be damaging to your health?

Current Location: Donny
Current Mood: blank
Current Music: Mazza - Disposable Teens

Hmmm...it's been a while since I last updated... I have a job! It's only part time though at the moment and it has no relevance to my career. It brings in some much needed money though so I can't complain too much. Very easy work, mostly dealing with old people which makes it amusing sometimes.

I don't gte much time to do any work now though. Partly because I've just been really disorganised and distracted by the new job. Now that I'm getting used to it, I can settle down and sort out a schedule to get some work done. I've postponed the production of the space game because it's too much to do alongside a job. I've started making a simple program to aid with my japanese. It will basically spew out random english words/phrases, kanji/katakana/hiragana or japanese pronunciations. You'll be given 5 alternatives and you select the correct one. It will depend on what option you select so you may be given an english word and be expected to select the correct kanji. Simple but useful for testing myself on what I've learnt in japanese. There are tests in the book I've got but obviously this doesn't allow a variation of the questions. This program will do the same thing as these tests but be completely random...

After I've done that, I'm going to begin work on an online Dragonforce game. Keith has given full approval of this a while ago when we were talking projects back in teh Boro and still agrees that it would be "teh win". The japanese thing won't take long at all to do and the way I'm going to construct it will allow me to add new words without recompiling the program, allowing ongoing updates as I learn more.

I started and promptly stopped playing Might and Magic IX. Damn it's so buggy! I got to a point where I was sick of completing a quest and not rewarded because it hadn't registered is complete... I started a new game of Kingpin. Fun OTT FPS where injured team mates constantly bleed everywhere!

Anyway, I'm going to get on with writing some of my "Mergence" story. It's been a while since I've done any and what I did do last sounded crap. Hopefully it'll go better today...

Current Location: Donny
Current Mood: ...I feel so sick...
Current Music: Hundred Reasons - The Great Test

A personal congratulations to My Chemical Romance for getting to number 1. It's not easy for bands like them to get anywhere in the charts so hitting the top stop is excellent! It's an amazing song with THE most epic intro I've ever heard! Really want the new album (as well as the All American Rejects - Move Along).

BUGGER - Stargate SG-1 : The Alliance has been canceled... MMORPG would've been great and more than likely my first MMO but sadly that will no longer be the case :(... Ah well, at least I've got plenty to watch still. Started watching all of it from the begining again...

Current Location: Donny
Current Mood: ...and disappointed
Current Music: All American Rejects - Dirty Little Secret

After months of discussion about where me, Emma and Ash are going to live, we have finally decided to settle in Doncaster if only for a couple of years. The plan to move back up to teh Boro fell through because we couldn't find anywhere to live. We kind of left it too late into the new university year...ah well...

The job search continues but only in Doncaster now. It's going to be pretty much a case of getting any old job. Although hopefully I will get a job in a bank because that pays pretty well with good hours and weekends off!

I haven't done much programming over the past few weeks unfortunately. Overall, I've hardly done anything constructive. I started making a new scenario with Aurora but have stopped because it's pointless spending ages on that when a new toolkit is coming with NWN2. I've got bored playing NWN now. I think I've overplayed it over the past month. I almost got to the end of SoU and didn't even start HotU. I started the EX game on Parasite Eve and I'm currently preparing to go through the "Chrysler Building" which is 77 floors of harder enemies and very little ammo...tough...

I've been watching the first season of Stargate Atlantis again recently. I still can't help but consider Rodney Mckay as my favourite character. He's such an arrogant, cynical bastard...he's awesome! There must be something wrong with me because i'm pretty sure he's there to be hated. Carson Beckett's also cool. You can't but laugh when an angry scotsman calls someone a "cheeky little bugger".

Current Location: Donny
Current Mood: ...just like Mckay
Current Music: Razorlight - Which Way is Out

I didn't get the job at Core Design...bugger. I'm waiting for feedback though from the company rather than from the recruitment agency simply saying that they wouldn't be proceeding etc, etc.

It's my birthday a week on sunday! I already managed to scrounge a couple of prezzies out of Emma :P. I picked up Hordes of the Underdark AND Shadows of Undrentide for £4!!! I expected to pay at least a fiver for each so pretty chuffed with that! I had a bit of trouble with getting them to work but nothing that a critical update couldn't solve. I'm still playing the main game with my spoony bard/fighter and will soon be getting ranks in a prestige class. I can't remember what it is but there's one for Bards and sorcerers I think the other class is. I also managed to get the Bahamut Lagoon translation patch working so playing that occasionally as well...

Work going slow, job hunting a bit crap...

Ah well, best get working on the game now.

(Hehe Bathmat Lagoon...well done spell check!)

Current Location: Grimsby
Current Mood: sleepy
Current Music: HIM - Drunk on Shadows

So I had my interview with Core Design yesterday and I have to admit; it went really well! I sat down for an hour long technical test which covered a lot of areas of programming. Fortunately I wasn't expected to know it all and it was mainly to determine what area of programming I work best in. I didn't have a clue about binary trees, was a bit unsure about image bit-depth and let's face it...I suck when it comes to playing about with character strings!

I then had a chat with their network programmer and one of the main graphical programmers. They generally seemed impressed and didn't act all superior like at the Bizarre Creations interview. I'm glad I didn't get that job because I really didn't like the place and felt unwelcome. But at Core it was the complete opposite! I even had a guided tour around the studio and everyone was really friendly. One of the sound guys was showing me what he was working on (I'm not allowed to give out too much info though...) and the audio side of games looks really interesting and is definitely something I would like to get into if I get the opportunity. Overall it turned out to be an enjoyable day even if it was a job interview...

Now I just have to wait until next week to get feedback from them. If it's all good, I'll be invited back for another interview and then possibly be offered a job! Fingers crossed!

Current Location: Donny
Current Mood: chipper
Current Music: Lostprophets - 4am Forever

W00t I have my second job interview tomorrow. This time it's for Core design; the guys behind the Tomb Raider series. I'm a little nervous but at least it's not as far to travel as Liverpool. They're based in Derby which is only an hour away by train...

I've been doing more work on the space game (which is still untitled) and it's coming along nicely now. There's a few videos on my website which shows off the solar system in all (well most of) it's glory! There's still a lot more work to do though including asteroids, the Kuiper Belt, the majority of the satellites (moons) around jupiter, saturn, uranus and neptune need more information to complete them.

I also got round to writing some of my new story - Mergence. It's set a couple of hundred years in the future with the discovery of multiple dimensions existing alongside but "out-of-phase" of each other, giving the human race new worlds to live on as population problems reach a climax. It's sounding good so far and Emma has given her nod of approval so it must be ok!

I bought Snow Patrol's new album (Eyes Open) yesterday which I've finally got round to listening to today. I was tempted to get Silverstein's "When Broken is Easily Fixed" special edition album but for some reason got the Snow Patrol one still. Ah well, it's on the top of the list for next time I get chance to buy a new CD. Although I would prefer "Discovering the Waterfront" which is their newest one (I think). Bah, let's face it, there's a ton of albums I intend to get. Fingers crossed I get this job then I can buy more! :D

I finally completed chapter 2 on NWN with my bard, although now she's cross-classed and become a fighter/bard. It gives me a few extra feats but less skill points which I was wasting anyway so it's good all round really. I'll probably reach level 20 mid-chapter which is annoying because a large section of the game will be left with wasted experience. They could've stretched it out a bit so I wouldn't max-out so quickly...but that's only coming from a lowly programmer who has spent most of his life playing computer games and the past 4 years designing and making them...what would I know of good game design...:P

I've also been playing Silent Hill. Damn it's got a good atmosphere. The monsters suck but it's when the monsters aren't there when it gets scary... I've just reached the hospital where I nearly died outside because of Ash. I brought the map up to pause the game and when I got back upstairs, Ash was holding the joypad while poor Harry Mason was being ravaged buy two scabby dog things! I killed the dogs but ended up on red health...close call... At least Ash likes computer games like his old man. Like I've said before, when he can read he'll be playing D&D! Awesome!

Current Location: Donny
Current Mood: anxious
Current Music: Snow Patrol - Headlights on Dark Roads

It's been a while since I last updated but to be honest not much has been happening...

While at my parents' house, I played a few games because of it being impossible trying to do work with Ash running around constantly. I started a new game of Patrician 3. I started at Newcastle (added using the map editor) and am currently a Councilor...w00t. Also, I finally started a game of Neverwinter Nights that I didn't give up on after the prelude. I'm about halfway through the second chapter with my bard "Tasha Blake". I chose a Bard because the constant complaints about them aroused my curiosity. They are actually surprisingly good! The Bard Song is so helpful during battles which makes them good fighters. On top of that is the spells they can use. I usually assign healing and summoning spells to aid me in battle. The conclusion...bards = win. Next time I play a tabletop game of D&D, I'll be playing a bard. Unfortunately, I don't know anyone in Donny or Grimsby who play so no idea when the next time will be...sucks. :(

Since coming back to grimes-by, I've managed to get a bit more work done. I'm continuing with the space-trading-sim and so far I have a pretty good simulation of the solar system. All I need to do is a bit more research into the moon data of the planets beyond mars and it will be looking great! Then I need an asteroid belt, saturn's rings and to sort out the "inclination angles" of the orbits of all the bodies. At the moment they are all on the same plane which is wrong but at least they are up there around the correct planets!

Current Location: Grimsby
Current Mood: ...as usual
Current Music: Hundred Reasons - My Sympathy

I've been up since 5:30 with Ash and he's now finally settled for the night... It's been such a long day. An hour journey on the train took 3 hours because a train in front of us hit a cow and they needed to get someone to take the cow off the tracks. Naturally, Ash was a bit whingey coz he had to sit down the whole time coz he can't really be running around on a train. We got a free bottle of water and a possible refund so it wasn't all bad.

Don't you just love it when life is all hectic? There's so many things I want to do lately but just don't have enough time in the day to do it all! At least I'm managing to read a lot more lately. It took me a year to finish a single book which is annoying, especially coz it was a damn good one. Ian Irvine's last installment of his "Well of Echoes" Series - "Chimera". People complain that Lord of the Rings is long but the series I've just finished is at least twice the size, possibly 3 times...and he's following it up with another series as well! A bit annoyed that he left it on a bitch of a cliffhanger. I've got to wait until at least xmas before getting it... I've started reading Maggie Furey's "Artefacts of Power" series again. That's another awesome series.

There's a lot more talk of going to Japan for our Honeymoon so I really need to get through my basic japanese script book. I'm also reading a "Rough Guide" to Japan but it's a bit out of date but it gives me a general idea of what to expect. I can still only remember two phrases (which is crap I know) - Sorry and Goodnight. But the guide has a good list of useful phrases although I intend to be able to have simple conversational skills by the time we go.

I need to do lots of programming. Jagex want me to learn Java with the intention of offering me a job if it goes well. They are impressed with my mathematical skills and think that my knack of adapting to languages will really help. Just waiting for them to email me now... I'm also supposed to be working on the AI for Peter's Dark Resurrection 3D project but still waiting for him as well. Keith wants me to work with him to make a Gorkamorka fan game (sorry if it's mispelt). I want to make a good start on the space sim I've spent hours researching for. I want to go through the chapters in my DirectX book and learn the basics of HLSL shaders. I think that's it for programming...

I suppose they're the main things I want to do at the mo...program and learn japanese...but it's just finding the time to do it...

On a lighter note...I didn't realise A (the band) had so many albums. I thought they had 2 but when I bought "Teen Dance Ordinance" I found out about "A vs Monkey Kong" and thought that was it. The other week I found "How ace are your buildings?" in HMV. I didn't have a clue they had another album! Awesome! I like my music but at the moment I'm relatively satisfied because I've bought 5 new albums in the past months (JJ72 - I to Sky, being the 5th).

Current Mood: exhausted
Current Music: PC - Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I'm sooo tired... Ash thought it would be a great idea if he got his Daddy up at half 6 this morning. Although to be fair he didn't know that I was watching Hot Chick late last night which finished at about 1. Hehe...it's so funny... I first watched it with emma a few months back but I couldn't resist watching it again. Oh and, yeah, 1 is late when you're a parent...trust me...

I've had to walk into town a few times this past week and it's really knackered me out. I have nice blisters on my feet and I'm getting growing pain style aches in my legs.

At least a recent visit to town was rewarding... I got a couple of new CDs. I feel guilty about spending teh monies but it's too late now...

Jimmy Eat World - Clarity
...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead - Source Tags and Codes

I think I have all the Jimmy Eat World albums now. I know I don't have the bonus demos CD for Futures but it's no biggy.



I've mainly made this entry to piss and moan about stuff... but I feel so crap lately I just can't be bothered to even do something I'm good at...

Maybe another time...

Current Location: Donny
Current Mood: exhausted
Current Music: Jimmy Eat World - For Me This is Heaven

I didn't get the Bizarre Creations job... They say I'm more suited for a games designer role! I got the impression that if they needed a games designer they would've taken me on! Shock! I've made whole goddamn games and they say I don't know enough "technical" stuff! How dare they! Although, it was a nice compliment that I have great ideas and enthusiasm...

Back to the job hunt then... At the same time I'll be concentrating my efforts on making a kick ass 3D graphics engine and game engine template, coming up with ideas for a game to work on with Keith and G and writing stories and/or game plots.





The waiting is finally over...

I got a 2:1 for my degree which I'm a little disappointed with (yes I'm greedy) but at the end of the day it's still an excellent grade so I can't really complain too much. Here's a break down:





1st Year (Mickey Mouse Year)
I know these grades aren't relevant but I find them amusing so feel obliged to share...

Principles of Computers 1 - A (84%)

Communications - C (56%)

Exploiting t'internet - A (100%) Strange I got 100% when I know for a fact I completely left stuff out!

Computing Mathematics - A (99%) The maths modules which covered mostly pre-GCSE and foundation GCSE maths. Keeping in mind you needed a C or above at A-Level, that makes the module retarded.

C Programming - A (83%)

Graphical Mathematics 1 - A (85%)

Introduction to Games - A (77%) I would have got a better A but I was full of flu that day. This module was retartedly easy...

Scriptwriting - C (53%) "Your artistic ability WON'T be marked so don't worry about crappy drawings as long as they're not stick-men" - Kat O'Connor (January 2003). "Your a shit artist and your marks reflect this accordingly" - Kat O'Connor (July 2003). "You lying cow!!!" - Me (Ever since then...)

Introduction to Games Technology - C (54%)





2nd Year (The second attempt at this one...)
A question remains in my mind regarding the "old route" second year - "Was it easier or harder than the final?"

Games Design - A (70%) I just scraped an A on this one (cheers Mike). My game was a Shen Mue style thing with the main character having the ability to morph into animals or control them for a short while. If anyone saw you, they would react realistically. I won't describe it all here but if you're interested let me know.

Object Technology 1 - D (49%) There's a bit of a kerfuffle about this and Games Design. Long story short...I have too many modules and would rather have Games Design rather than OT1 so I'm trying to get them swapped around. At the moment I've been credited for this and not GDE.

Graphical Mathematics 2 - A (82%) Fear my awesome maths skills...straights A's...

Games Software Design - A (70%)

Games Production - B (67%)

Programming for Visual Simulation and Animation - B (60%) Dynamic lights and a funky physics-based vehicle with crappy particle effects... Bouncy walls!!!

Application programming Interfaces for Games - B (64%) Space Debris, a 2D shoot-em-up (with RPG elements) made with the accursed Renderware.

Graphical programming - D (40%) Known as GPR by many. Shivers run down the spines of those who know about this module. This caused huge amounts of students to fail it was that obscene! It was toned down a bit when I re-sat the year but because I was swapping courses/modules around, I ended up NOT sitting the first assignment, forcing me to resit in the summer with a max of 40%.

C++ for Games Programming - A (79%) Generic Crystal Collector!!! Skating tigers, huge cacti and graphical anomalies aplenty.





Final Year
This is the main one I was waiting for. A couple of shocks but overall acceptable

Practical Project - B (65%) Age of Champions. The uber-RPG of doom. I spent an average of 25 hours a week on this for the main 20 project weeks, plus about 10 hours a week for 10 weeks before the project time to do research. That's roughly 600 hours spent on it!!! Expected an A really...bah!

Games Development - C (54%) Don't get me started about this module... Although, it did push me to create a kick-ass particle system!

Games Artificial Intelligence - A (86%) Tristan Inn. This was a pleasant surprise. A whopping 86% on a final year module!!! It is a piece of work to be proud of.

Games Physics - B (62%) WOW!!! I thought my marbles simulation was crap! Apparently my report was spot on though which pulled my grade up a lot. Cheers Julian!

Games Futures - D (44%) A bit miffed about this. I only just scraped a pass with my report "Computer Games to Virtual Reality: A small transition or a big jump". I know they were quite harsh to Keith as well. Definitely a module which was more difficult than it seemed. We all mocked it and we were all screwed by it...





This marks the end of university, apart from graduation day where we shall ascend and turn into giant snake demons! My academic work is finished after 18 years of hard grafting (well mainly the past 8 were important)! I hope everyone else has got grades they wanted/deserve...

Current Location: Donny...still
Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: The Used - Lunacy Fringe

Maybe not so bizarre really...apart from the fact it was with Bizarre Creations! It was an early start this morning. I usually get up early but not with the intent to do anything specific. At least not for a while a while anyway. I hate traveling and I hate interviews...having to do double traveling (there and back) and an interview all in one day naturally made be a little bit anxious in the morning. After force-feeding myself a weetabix and half a cup of coffee, I took a wander to the train station.

3 and a half hours later I arrived in Liverpool. I've never been there before but it seems like an ok place. I met the Bizarre Creations secretary person who does all the pick up/drop offs when it's "recruitment season" and I got a lift to the studio itself...

To cut a long story short, the interview went well generally. However, I doubt my chances, not because of lack of confidence either. Basically, I play a lot of RPGs and have created an RPG but I don't have much experience with the genres they tend to work with which seemed like an issue in my opinion. I'll find out towards the end of this week the outcome. The good thing is, they will reply whether they're interested or not which means I know where I stand. Also, I can get feedback to help with future interviews etc. If it's good news in the phone call, I'll be heading back to Liverpool for an interview with the executives (today it was with four of the main programmers on the team).

Oh the anxiety is fun! I am now waiting for my final year uni results AND interview feedback in the same week!!! ARG!

ps. Appropriate song eh?

Current Location: Donny (with a taste of Liverpool)
Current Mood: anxious
Current Music: AFI - Interview