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Posted by Chris in Personal
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Thursday, May 08, 2008 |
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We're also considering getting a special train pass for a few hundred euro that will let us travel all around europe with no charge. First on our list, Paris. I'll let you know what all the hype is about.  Write Comment
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Posted by Chris in Personal
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Wednesday, April 30, 2008 |
Today is "queen's day". It's like someone thought it would be cute to let the monkeys out of the zoo and give them all alcohol. It's a city-wide party where for one day the ground is repaved with trash and broken bottles, every corner becomes a toilet, and the tribes people here dance around in groups of thousands. It's a little depressing how civilized behavior can be switched off at a moment's notice, like the only thing keeping the primates walking upright is the street lamps at night, and once they burn out it's every ape for himself.
I'm at the halfway point! Now we're counting down to the end of the project. In a little over a week we should have a playable demo, with no guarantee of quality! I'm nervous about a lot of things. It's just a game though, it's the experience in general that interests me. I'm learning a lot.
I haven't had much of a chance to get out in the past 2 weeks. I've actually been staying at the office past midnight every day, I even slept here one night along with venom. But spring is here, and so far it's awesome.. All of the trees are blooming and it's still a bit chilly. Perfect weather. I'll try to take some photos this week.Write Comment (1) |
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Posted by Chris in Work
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Tuesday, March 25, 2008 |
That's me now. We fired the other artist last week. It's really amazing how much of a negative impact a single really stupid person can have. Next week we're flying in one of my favorite artists to be on the team! VenomGFX
I've rewritten the game concept with the help of Sacha from the Peach project. The original concept was formed from a freethinking exercise where you write down all of the totally random ideas that pop into your head. Well we ended up pooling together EVERY idea, brilliant! Things toned down gradually but now that the other artist was sent packing, it made sense to then tackle the second biggest problem with the project. I've sweated out this project for too long, but I'm actually starting to have fun now.
Then there's the weather. It's rained, snowed, and hailed here for the past 4 days straight.
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Posted by Chris in Work
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Saturday, March 08, 2008 |
..is the exact number of stairs I have to climb to get to my apartment, and the number of minutes I'm on my bicycle each day. I don't mind, my legs are going to be huge after another 5 months.
I haven't posted much about work simply because we haven't gotten much done yet. There's a lot of learning going on. There's really only 2 working artists on the team, so we have to cover the entire field ourselves including animations, characters, environments, special effects, menu designs, and learning to work with the game engine, Crystal Space.
I won't be getting out much this weekend. Monday is a big day. After a successful graphics prototype is released I can relax.Write Comment (4) |
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Posted by Chris in Personal
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Wednesday, March 05, 2008 |
The primitive bewilderment of watching the water sparkle wears off quickly once you realize a lot of the thousands of houseboats lined up along the edges of the canals aren't connected to any plumbing system. Beauty is surface deep here. When you look around at the brilliant structures and layout of the city you almost believe for a second that the people will be different too. But everything is typical, and as an "experiment in freedom", it fails at being impressive. There's nothing new or unusual about the corruption here. Like anywhere else, all is vanity. It's a relaxing environment, but otherwise has little to offer someone who wasn't looking to waste time. It has museums, yeah, dozens of them, but they're art museums, and sex museums, and marijuana museums. Big deal. Art is a luxury, afforded by the few significant people that advance civilization to the point where luxuries can become lifestyles for the rest.
As just an environment though, this is the place to be. As simple as it is, sitting on a bench at the park alongside a canal is the most peaceful thing I know of. The people I work with are great, especially my boss. He's very animated, and probably the most cheerful guy I know next to Nathan, who likes to hug everyone and has a permanent grin. I've been staying at work to around 10pm every night. It's just a pleasant place to be, even when I'm not working.
Work itself is going a bit slow, but things are picking up pace. This is the first week I've actually gotten a bit excited about the game because we finally doubled back to some kind of sane realistic work plan. By Monday we HOPE to have some really nice graphics to show everyone. Today I met with the embassy to apply for a work visa, so I'm now legal!
This weekend I'll take some more photos. I'll try take good ones this time too.
And hi Gram! Thanks again to you and mom for another package. The Irish potatoes are delicious, and I hope you have a really nice time out in Florida. Leave some comments and tell me what you guys are up to there.Write Comment (3) |
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Posted by Chris in Personal
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Tuesday, February 26, 2008 |
..so it's said, but Susan B. must not have had a family like mine to spoil her. After 'working' until midnight, I went back to the apartment to open my package from home, and on top of some clothing and things I had asked for, I found all of this inside! I was grinning from ear to ear as I pulled everything out.
This picture is missing the 4 or 5 boxes of cookies they had already sent a week ago. Just another example of how my family is always there for me, even when I'm halfway across the world.
The Blender Institute offers educational courses to financially support its projects, and today I actually gave a 3 hour lesson along with Campbell, the Australian member of the team, on some of the tools used in blender. I handled a majority of the lesson, and it was a really great experience in teaching. The plan was for me to do as little as possible! But because to a total miscalculation of how much time it would take, I ended up talking for about 2 hours, without a glass of water. That's hardcore. I'll be doing a few more of these courses throughout my stay here, and I'm looking forward to it.
This week we should have some kind of playable prototype of the game, woo. It's something I look forward to. Getting to that point, however, is still going to be a hell of a lot of work. A realistic approach to our workload was outnumbered during all of the discussions.
You know what I miss? Of all the insane things I could list here, it's television, the most insane of all of them. I only watch 2 shows. I hate that damn thing, but something like turning on the mythbusters and eating lunch after waking up at 3pm because I spent all night working on projects , is one little reason I can't wait to be home again.Write Comment (5) |
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Posted by Chris in Personal
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Sunday, February 24, 2008 |
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Posted by Chris in Personal
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Friday, February 22, 2008 |
If you find yourself loving the weather in Amsterdam, wait 5 minutes. It rains here literally every other day, and that's normal all year round. It's a good thing we do everything by bikes here or we'd miss out on such pleasant weather. Actually even in the rain it's still nice to be outside, and in contrast the sunny days are an absolute godsend.
Today I went to the skate shop, and went broke getting myself a skateboard. It was the very first place I've gone to where the people actually spoke english. And good news, it's very unlikely that I'll get deported for skating.. The guys told me the police simply don't care that much, about anything, except not having working lights on your bicycle. I really lucked out finding a few english speaking skateboarders.
Last week we started on some real game content, and the next week is going to see a lot of advancement in the project, finally. It's getting a bit more exciting now.Write Comment (1) |
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Posted by Chris in Other
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Monday, February 18, 2008 |
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When posting comments now, you'll notice a new validation code you'll have to type in before submitting. This is because spam bots have found my blog and have been automatically posting things. The validation code just makes sure a person is sending the comment, and not some automatic spam program. Write Comment (1) |
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Posted by Chris in Personal
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Sunday, February 17, 2008 |
...and I'm still living out of my suitcase! Our dishwasher was broken up until yesterday, so maybe now I can stop hoarding plates and silverware in my room so they don't become part of the encrusted mass of dirty dishes standing a foot taller than the rim of the sink. Technology seems to cripple people's awareness of their own two hands. Heh, I swear one day soon this blog will have some real content.
Here are a couple photos I took this weekend. Most of them are skate spots I found to show friends back home. I can only hope I don't end up getting deported for skateboarding. The first image is from my balcony out back. The second is one of the museums at the central park, and the third is a set of bridges at the University of Amsterdam. They connect to a small island in the center and it's really amazing to walk through. It's warming up a bit, so I'll try to get out more often and take some more photos.
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Posted by Chris in Personal
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Sunday, February 10, 2008 |
Churchill said that if you find yourself going through hell, keep going. Maybe I should've taken his advice, but what fun it was constantly looking up expecting fire and brimstone to rain down at any moment.
You can never truly understand what is meant by saying 5% of the population totally sustains the other 95% without throwing yourself into an environment like this. The insignificance of these people was so concentrated that it materialized into a light ground fog. It was a place for hopelessly impulsive people to get together and feign self-importance through shear numbers.
There was nothing special about it, nothing complex, and nothing new. The ground was slimey, the streets were tight, the women were diseased, the men were queer, and the food was really expensive. It's not the kind of place for any sane self-respecting person. But dinner was good. I had the spare ribs.
Our computers are up and running! We've had beautiful weather all weekend, and here are a few photos I took yesterday. The first photo is the street where I live. I can't wait to see it in the springtime. The last photo is a picture I took from our office window, we're right across from a canal. It's awesome.
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Posted by Chris in Personal
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Saturday, February 09, 2008 |
My first week is over.. Because of a lot of work I hadn't had much of a chance to get out and enjoy the city. Even on a bike, everything moves way too fast to really appreciate it.
Both teams got together and went out last night to a Thai food restaurant. The food was great, even though I'm not sure what most of it was. I'm almost positive some of it was squid. It was a good start to the weekend.
This morning I got up and out early with the intentions of getting lost to see more of the city. I learned that photography in Amsterdam is easy, you just point and shoot. It's difficult to take a bad photo, it's so beautiful here. I wish I could share some of the ones I took, but our computers aren't set up yet. It was the first sunny day, too, and even the wind took the weekend off.Write Comment |
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Posted by Chris in Personal
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Tuesday, February 05, 2008 |
The grass is definitely greener on the other side. Really, the grass was the first thing I noticed when the plane landed. It's really really green, and some places have a strange form, like a field of lumps.
The plane ride was nice. I had unfortunately chosen a seat right next to the bathroom, and so the attendants decided to move me up to another window seat, gave me free headphones for the movie, and offered me free alcohol.
Finding my way from the airport to the office was confusing. Everyone native to Amsterdam speaks pretty good english, but the 30 people I asked for directions were all tourists. Then I came across a crazy guy who was heading back to his boat home, and stopped to chat a little about world war 3, politics, and destiny. He called me his divine messenger, for bringing him all the news from the states.
My office is right along a canal. There are waterways everywhere. I cross 5 bridges to get to work. It's incredible.
This laptop has no software to resize photos to fit on my page nice, so once I get my own computer set up, I'll start putting them online. This Thursday we get our supercomputers!Write Comment (4) |
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Posted by Chris in Personal
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Tuesday, January 29, 2008 |
A wise man once said "some men are born great, others have greatness thrust upon them, and then there are those of us that have it both ways." =) I have an amazing 6 months ahead of me, and I'm grateful for everything that has lead up to this point and this opportunity. I've set up this blog to keep in touch with my family and friends, because in just 4 days I'll be thrown into the Bohemian pits of Amsterdam and there is a good chance that I'll be swallowed alive.
I'm the Lead Artist on project Apricot. We'll be working on an open source computer game based on an animation that another team, Peach, is producing. The project kicks off on February 4th in Amsterdam, where team members from 8 different countries will get together at the Blender Institute!
Here's the video I submitted to get on the team. I managed to get accepted and have since learned that anxiety is everything it's cracked up to be. I didn't have much time to work on presentation, so everything just spins around. This is a low quality youTube version, you can download a higher quality video here. You can also check out some of my other work, and high res screenshots of my demo reel on this page.
For artists reading this, on this blog I also plan to write about my personal learning experiences in the game production process, and maybe even post some extras that don't make it onto the DVD or the official Apricot blog. During the project I'll also be lobbying to set aside as much time as possible towards educational material for the DVD. So pre-order one to help us out, and I'll make sure you learn something and have an awesome game to play.
Once I get comfortable I'll be posting as often as I can. Expect lots of photos. Stay in touch and leave some comments! Or send me an email at
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. I'll miss everyone.Write Comment (5) |
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