My Weblog

No more booze...

Alcohol is bad. Or more to the point, my tolerance of it has become atrocious. After a fun filled evening at a friends drinking and all pretending to play wii, the following day I felt awful. Well, at least until lunchtime. My wife told me she has never heard anyone vomit quite the way I do. For some reason of late, I have taken to throwing up the next day and not the evening before. Why this has suddenly occurred I have no idea, but to say that it is most unpleasant is an understatement. My wife and I have both decided that a small break from the booze may be in order. I know, I know, call me sissy all you want, but since leaving my last job I just can't drink.

Whilst working at a design agency, the usual lunchtime format was to nip down the pub and sink a few bevvies. And to be fair, most lunchtimes 2 pints of Heineken (the stronger better version that came out in the last few years, not the 3% abv) would be supped and on occasion, 3. This sometimes led to very little happening in the afternoon (especially Fridays) but on the whole this all or nothing approach worked well. Since moving to Climax, lunchtime beers are very far and few between, which means that evening beers are more considered and generally not drunk as readily. I feel I have failed, and know that at least one member of the Broadway clan will be disappointed. Sorry Phil. Sorry.

To matters anew, work is quite quiet at the moment. I have very little to do at the moment (we are just working from the bug database now, and I have 0 bugs which is nice) and so my mind wandered to my blog that I have not updated in while.

On news outside of work I am currently working on a wedding invite for a friend, and also finally I am getting another friend kickstarted into the music industry. Has has been wanting to make a music video for sometime, and this year he really wants his band (Hexagram www.myspace.com/hexagramuk) to really take off. This is where I come in. I have another friend that Aaron is paying to film the thing (www.charhousemedia.co.uk), and I have offered to edit and do post processing on it. I am kind of excited as it has been ages since I did any video work that was for something other than my day job, so hopefully this will be a fun little jaunt back to Premiere and After Effects. :D

Right best get back to work, but I promise to post the video when we have something together.

TTFN...

HNY....(no....not horny)

Good grief, here we are, 2008!! Happy New Year to all of you (am sure there is at least 6 of you). Hope you all had restive times (doubtful those of you with children) and that you had great times all round. My holiday season (yeuch...I hate that term, but nevermind) was pretty good. Another year older (27!!) my folks came to ME for Christmas (usually the other way round, but the past 2 years I have spent it with Mads and some friends, but this being the first year we were married we thought family may be a good idea) and we ate too much, drank too much, the usual tomfoolery occurred (this time involving whistles, don't ask) and of course the good old EyeToy.

My birthday was great, but very much hit the age where it really is just another year and you don't get excited. I hate that. I loved not being able to get to sleep the night before your birthday and Christmas. Mads got me some lightguns for my PS2, as we were looking for games that we could both play together (without having to resort to buying a Wii, which I refuse to buy on principle that it has been out for a whole year now and has still not come down in price at retailers (and eBayers are making a small fortune off)) but were not particularly complex. Not saying Mads can't understand a game, more that she just isn't interested enough to learn all about it. The great thing about lightgun games though is that they are pretty straightforward. Aim at the screen, and pull the trigger.

My favourite moment was coming downstairs (I think I was hanging washing out) to find Mads sat on the sofa (staring very intently) playing one of the mini games. Again. And again. And again. Mads is a card fiend (loves Solitaire on the computer (so much so that she has actually worn part of the built in button on my laptop)) and is now a lightgun fiend. She is actually getting rather good. She still refuses to hold the gun right, but heck, she can shoot just fine (better I keep telling her if she Jack Bauers up like myself) and is a good partner to have in 2 player.

We had a 3 bird roast for Christmas dinner. This was good fun, and involved a goose, a chicken and a pheasant. It tasted fantastic, and I would definitely have one again. It comfortably fed 6 adults and one child, and we were being rather generous with our portions. Present wise, we got mainly things for the house. I would normally say depressing, but this was actually great. Got some more crockery for our dinner service (not exciting perhaps, but VERY useful) some Global knives (which are AMAZING to cut with (veg that is, I would not know about people)) some scales and other bits and pieces I fail to remember. Still, my kitchen feels complete now. All I want is a bigger one. (Kitchen that is...cheeky!!)

New Years was uneventful. We had various offers to go to parties,  but neither of us were particularly bothered. We were going to see Mads' mum and StepFather Joe, but they went back to Spain. So in the end we decided to just stay put. No pressure to stay up, no hangover the next morning. Good times. :D

Right, best get back to work. I am trying to suss blend shapes in Maya. I have not done it in AGES, and it is taking far too long to get my brain working the right way again. Still, at least it's Friday...

TTFN

Christmas woes...but there is still goodwill

So at the weekend, some idiot managed to reverse into my wifes car. God knows how (according to the witness what he was doing made very little sense) but he then proceeded to drive off at spped, with no intention of swapping numbers or anything. Marvellously we had 2 witnesses, and we managed to get a plate from them. This is all good news so that hopefully the police will track the little bigger down, as well as insurance finding them. My only worry is if the car was stolen. That would suck. I await with baited breath...still it was really nice that people so readily volunteered to be witnesses. Maybe the Christmas spirit is well and truly flowing. :D

Work has of course slowed down this week. A lot of people have left already, and now we are getting people in dribs and drabs leaving. I am here till Friday, and then it is my birthday on Saturday! Good timing. I will be the ripe old age of 27. Definitley getting a good view from this high up, but I can't really complain...

My adventures into 3D are improving dramatically, and I am almost getting quite fast at modelling. I'm sure I am overly fussy with things though. An object has to be correct before moving on, whereas when I work in 2D, I am much more slap it together and then correct it as get further into it...

Anyhoo, Merry Christmas everyone if I don't post again before the big day, best wishes for the New Year and any other jazz you can think of... :D

Side note...

Its my Dad's birthday today. He is 60. I got him a Nintendo DS with Brain Age (something like Brain Training I think). I wonder how he will get on...

3D or not 3D...?

This week I have been learning how to model and texture objects in Maya 5 (yes I know, it is an old version, but it happens to be we what our toolsets are configured for at work). This is quite a large thing for me. Some friends who I lived with at Uni were very good at it (one of them now works at Frontier (I think he still does) as a modeller) but it is something that always eluded me. I think the early programs had interfaces which just made you want to cry, and that put me off a bit.

In my first job at TRL, I started doing some 3D, but this was mainly engineering style stuff, in which I used Rhino3D (Still I think, one of the best modelling tools there is since having dabbled now and then into 3D before actually giving it a serious go). The stuff I am doing now is fairly low Poly, but there is still a sense of satisfaction in having created something in 3D and then textured it. I am actually starting to get quite quick at modelling, and texturing is what is slowing me down now, which is surprising. I can find things actually done quicker in 3D and can see certain aspects of my job becoming easier with some 3D knowledge, and other aspects of my job positively improving the overall quality which is immensely pleasing. It has almost got me thinking back to education, and maybe doing a masters in something.

The problem here is, that I am quite comfortable doing my job, and don't want to give it up in anyway, but due to the nature of it, it maybe quite difficult to get time to do it, especially with deadlines and so forth....thoughts anyone?

Anyhoo...time to go and see what mad/stupid/insane (delete as applicable) Jeremy Clarkson is up to this week on Top Gear that I recorded last night. Bless Sky Digitial. Bless it. I just wish the hard disk that I replaced inside the box was as reliable as the old one before it died. If anyone knows where I can get a 5400rpm Maxtor HDD that ISN'T refurbished and is PATA I would be very pleased. :)

And just quickly...

Heroes has suddenly got good again. Last 3 episodes have been BRILLIANT. Apparently Tim Kring (the series creator) has apologised for the slow start this season. I care not Kring!! It's all super-powers now isn't it?!?! You know it to be true. :)

Update time...but not for the PC.

Hooray! Some time to update the blog. Actually that is a complete lie. I have no free time, so I am borrowing some time from...well...somewhere else. I imagine if you look at the time this post goes up you will see what I mean... :D

So an update on all things me (after a gentle nudge from a friend)... Silent Hill: Origins is finally out  for the PSP, and is indeed doing fairly well from all accounts (even EDGE gave it a 7 in their December issue, which we couldn't be happier with and apparently rates alongside Assassins Creed (yes, you read this right, in EDGE, go figure??)). We have a steady 80-82% positive reviews on Metacritic, so for a game that really should have bombed and fallen at every hurdle (I mean comeo on, we made this game in 6 months!!) everything is actually quite cheerful. As for what I am working on at the moment, I am not allowed to say very much. We are working on an Action RPG at the moment, built in the Unreal 3 engine. I was working on this for a while, but got called back to do what I am currently doing, as it was deemed that since I was familiar with it, it made sense for me to do it. Cryptic? Hopefully I will be able to reveal all by the end of January.

Elsewhere in the studio we are doing some Wii development (no idea what) and pulling out some old tech (The Serious Sam engine) which we produced on PS2 and Gamecube.

Home life is all good. Thinking about moving house (I always seem to be saying that to the people I meet...) but we are still in 2 minds about it, especially during the current housing climate. I would love to get out of Southsea, but we may be here for a while longer yet. I suppose all the while I am here, getting to work is very simple... And apparently Christmas is less than 4 weeks away. I am fairly organised, I have my wife's present, my sister/sister bf present and kind of got my parents sorted...

We are having a 3 Bird Roast as well, which I am dead excited about. Not the traditional one inside another, but joined in a weird Silent Hill like monstrosity. Pheasant, Goose and Chicken. Should be fun, but a good thing my parents are coming over, as mum is a dab hand in the kitchen. Also I hope to be doing a bit of freelance work as well. Currently I am doing some logo design (which I REALLY must finish, but I am being slack) and also a video showreel for makeup-artist. Not started that, but it will be a good excuse to expand my After Effects skills, and make a bit of money at the same time.

Finally, my PC died the other night (rather annoying) and I am sure it has something to do with a Windows Update going wrong. It is mended now, and Team Fortress 2 has been dutifully re-installed (Valve ID: thedingaling). I think I will turn off automatic update from now on, and just install what I think is worthwhile. Could be a bad idea, but nevermind... shame my blog has no Automatic Update...p'raps for the best though. I can see it now:

Monday 12th Nov, 2010: Didn't login

Anyhoo...best post this (having copied it out of notepad) and get on with some real work. Till Monday (at the earliest)...

Where...

....has this year gone? Time has been eaten by many things, and I keep seeming to forget to update this blog. My wife sent me this the other day, and it has taken me a while to track it down on YouTube for sharing. Unless you have or have had a cat, this probably won't make much sense, but alas I recognised this from Mr.Jingles, one of ours...

Always pay your designer...

A friend (who I happen to be doing some design work for) sent me this today. It made me laugh a lot. How that ever made it to print I don't know. And probably don't want to.

No more heroes here...

Having been an ardent fan of NBCs critically acclaimed series 'Heroes' for sometime now, I am now suddenly forced to reconsider my opinions. For those not in the know, Season 2 has begun airing, and through various methods I have been keeping up with the show as it airs. After 6 episodes I have come to the conclusion that the writers have either lost their magic (powers?) or are pulling a Lost on me and setting things up for later episodes. The story does not seem to be progressing anywhere, (or at least at a painfully slow waste) and the 'twists' can almost be seen from a mile off. Yes, there is some interesting ideas with Hiro (Nakamura) and there is plenty that still needs explaining, but overall I can almost say it has dropped off my radar. I will certainly continue to follow it in the hope that it picks up again (like Lost) but feel somewhat let down.

That, coupled with the fact that NBC has cancelled the Origins series (I believe this was 6 standalone episodes that would introduce us to some new characters and the public would then vote as to which one made it into the 3rd season) probably due to the impending writers strike and I am, to say the least, rather disappointed.

However, on the flipside, I have started watching a new program called Pushing Daisies which is rather entertaining. If you like Tim Burton quirky, then you will probably enjoy this.

Also, Silent Hill Origins (the game I was working on recently) as had (so far) very favorable reviews ahead of its release date (stateside) next week. My smug meter now full, it is time to think about wasting my last hour at work...