And just like that, I woke up feeling pleased by what I've accomplished and how far I've come in my life.
Yesterday my teacher told me to relax, I'm studying too much - lol yes, that's what teachers say to their students nowadays - and that I should take a day off to do something else. And there are two main things I've always loved doing: drawing and playing the piano. I've tried taking up my drawing, but I've realized that the piano, actually keyboard, is more giving and brings me peace, so I turned around to give it yet another chance in my grey life. Since I just watched the final episode of Kimi ni Todoke, a not so great anime, I simply Youtube'd a tutorial of its opening theme, one of the worse openings I've heard. Yet I stood infront of my keyboard and aped the female hands as they went right and left over a beautifully sounding piano.
Now I can play the entire opening with achords etc, yet still with a lot of flaws, but it's ok, with a little more practise I should be enjoying the song with no major problems.
This is pure joy to me. I picked a song I didn't even like, but the thrill in deconstructing it into notes, simple key presses, and then create amazing flows that follows a rhythm, a mood, and kind of create a predictable storyline, is never-ending. It's... pleasing. I have no words that describe the harmony I feel in deconstructing songs and reconstructing them again - in a way that I feel attached to! Like it was my turn to tell that story. It's amazing. I guess this is why I love being a programmer as well, I love construction.
I surely should play more piano.
In a few days I plan to learn another song, most probably it's going to be an anime song. Ages ago I began learning the popular Vampire Knights opening, but it's really advanced, so I wonder if I should postpone it and take something light and easy to remember. Oh well, I'll get back to this when time comes.
As for Army of One, the game project I'm currently developing - did I say that I'm going to publish it in the game portal Aluna Games? :D Head over to the Army of One Forums in Aluna Games if you haven't been there yet =)
The development is going well, today I managed to boost the speed of the "wurm" to over 400km/h, just crazy stuff! The slip ratio is much better too, it doesn't slide like before so more control to the people!
The vehicle flips are inevitable (especially when you fly off a cliff with 400km/h), but it's not a problem but a feature, as I'm dealing with fairly realistic physics here, and here's an example of how to use it - with atleast 150km/h, drive into a tunnel and up on it's walls, keep accelerating and you've made a flip with the entire vehicle! =) It already looks nice, and with sound effects it should be sweeeet!
Yeah... that's me enjoying work. I consider writing about the newly released Marvel vs Capcom 3, which I ofcourse had to buy already, as I got in love with it at a game expo in November. My 10 year old sister is beating the pride out of me, so I need to be better already! Until then - take care!
/Kweiko
Visar inlägg med etikett Random. Visa alla inlägg
Visar inlägg med etikett Random. Visa alla inlägg
23 feb. 2011
2 feb. 2011
Having a cool dad
Yesterday
Me: *coming in to the living room* hey dad, how about playing video games a little?
Dad: ehh... ok, put on that fighting game that your sister was playing earlier...
Me: which one, this? This? Then which console, PS3? 360? How did the joystick look like when she played? You don't know..? Ok do you want to try out BlazBlue?
Dad: No I wan't men and women fighting.
Me: but these are men and women.
Dad: ...
Me: ok, let's try on Tekken (5) on PS2. *change console and start game, choose beginner mode and Lei Wulong, give the joystick to dad*
Dad: *BUTTON SMASH BUTTON SMASH BUTTON SMASH* I won!! Round 2! *BUTTON SMASH BUTTON SMASH BUTTON SMASH* I won again!!
Later on during night
Me: *entering the living, seeing my dad button smashing again* how's it going? :D
Dad: ooh that girl (Capoeira Christie) is really strong, I have to watch out! *beats her* like that! Now she learns to stop moving like a snake!
Mom: You're hitting those buttons too hard, I can't even sleep! :(
Dad: Ok I'll shut it down, just because I love you!
Today
Mom: I'm off to the doctor, goodbye!
Dad: Ok, goodbye! *waits for mom to exit and close the door* Yes!! Kweiko, put on that game while I run to the toilet!
Me: *coming in to the living room* hey dad, how about playing video games a little?
Dad: ehh... ok, put on that fighting game that your sister was playing earlier...
Me: which one, this? This? Then which console, PS3? 360? How did the joystick look like when she played? You don't know..? Ok do you want to try out BlazBlue?
Dad: No I wan't men and women fighting.
Me: but these are men and women.
Dad: ...
Me: ok, let's try on Tekken (5) on PS2. *change console and start game, choose beginner mode and Lei Wulong, give the joystick to dad*
Dad: *BUTTON SMASH BUTTON SMASH BUTTON SMASH* I won!! Round 2! *BUTTON SMASH BUTTON SMASH BUTTON SMASH* I won again!!
Later on during night
Me: *entering the living, seeing my dad button smashing again* how's it going? :D
Dad: ooh that girl (Capoeira Christie) is really strong, I have to watch out! *beats her* like that! Now she learns to stop moving like a snake!
Mom: You're hitting those buttons too hard, I can't even sleep! :(
Dad: Ok I'll shut it down, just because I love you!
Today
Mom: I'm off to the doctor, goodbye!
Dad: Ok, goodbye! *waits for mom to exit and close the door* Yes!! Kweiko, put on that game while I run to the toilet!
14 jan. 2011
Inspiration chock
Lately, I've been spammed by artists for a concept artist position I announced a couple of days ago. Which is lovely, because I've been looking for one for a month and time is slipping away - almost time for next deadline!
Luckily I found a couple of great artists to help me out, and going from no concept artist to four concept artists is a big win, even though not all of them are professional or are working for free. With so little time to next deadline, I need all boost I can get. Question is how fast they can work? Remains to see!
All this talk about concept art made me hungry for drawing again - and inspired! I've been looking through maybe 40 different art galleries on fantasy and sci-fi and animanga drawings, some where astonishing, others where breathtaking. And there were those that weren't much of a hype. Nevertheless, they all inspired me to start sketching again, as I had put down the pen for quite some time now. Not that I didn't want to sketch, but partly because there where no time, and partly because I had this awful period of no inspiration whatsoever. As soon as I tried to draw a line, that line was horrible and had nothing at all to do with what I tried to accomplish.
Maybe something happend during my birthday - right, I turned 22 on Jan 8th *yay* and am leaving more of those freaky teenager hormons behind like never before! Seriously -.-' No big party or a birthday cake, just me, my sister and my friend spending the night i turned 22 with watching a cozy movie. Or that was the plan. The movie, Twilight Eclipse, caused both my friend and my sister to scream and shout and take sides like it was a football game, and there we sat rifftraxing the whole thing. Anyway, that could have had some impact on my inspiration!
And since my brother forgot about my online project and didn't pay for the webhotel where all my work is, the website is down at the moment. Ofcourse I've fixed this, but it will take a day for it to get reactivated. And that gave me time to start sketching! ^^ (turning bad energy into positive energy, check!)
Typically, I've started with manga again, and that's the way I want it. What I was surprised by, was that I tried drawing a masculine character, with some success!! Not even when I used to draw, did I manage to draw a masculine face, so I really feel the inspiration flushing my brain *wooh!*
With three, rough character sketches, I feel I've started to remember what I learnt during a character design course I took last year. And all those books and websites I've visited, and the tutorials I've followed... My hand has begun to have some connection with the pencil I'm holding (a BIC pen with 0.07mm lead, my favorite weapon). Honestly, I feel in heaven.
This year, 2011, is a promising year. Leaving 2010 has been such a relief, and now, not only do I think I'm ready for a job, but also that I think I'm more satisfied with myself, I code but don't have to stop drawing because of that. And I'm also building up my skills to become more administrative and a great leader.
Yes, I've discovered that I really enjoy managing projects, to put up a stable and exciting plan and to have everything planned out - I feel safe building the road before walking on it! And somewhere inbetween I also manage to act as a designer, writing my GDD, thinking properly about what's important, what to highlight, what to take on later, where in the process I am and what next step should be. It's a funny thing that if anyone had asked me about these things six months ago, I'd have looked totally dumb and wouldn't have anything to say about it. As a matter of fact - been there, done that. I wonder what my teacher thinks of my progress now... :P
More roles to take on? Well I finally bought a system camera, a Nikon, and shocked my parents with the total price - Happy new year mom and dad! - and now I'm so pleased by the control I have over the settings! I can finally take some experimental photos and have fun with capturing moments. And take awesome pictures ofcourse!
What more to come? I've been thinking of an iPhone lately... I'm not much of a cell phone person, I use whatever works to call with, but with an iPhone, I can try out that "Game Dev Story" game I've been longing for to try out, and have more games than Snake 2 and Sudoku to enjoy during buss drives. Hmmmm....
Luckily I found a couple of great artists to help me out, and going from no concept artist to four concept artists is a big win, even though not all of them are professional or are working for free. With so little time to next deadline, I need all boost I can get. Question is how fast they can work? Remains to see!
All this talk about concept art made me hungry for drawing again - and inspired! I've been looking through maybe 40 different art galleries on fantasy and sci-fi and animanga drawings, some where astonishing, others where breathtaking. And there were those that weren't much of a hype. Nevertheless, they all inspired me to start sketching again, as I had put down the pen for quite some time now. Not that I didn't want to sketch, but partly because there where no time, and partly because I had this awful period of no inspiration whatsoever. As soon as I tried to draw a line, that line was horrible and had nothing at all to do with what I tried to accomplish.
Maybe something happend during my birthday - right, I turned 22 on Jan 8th *yay* and am leaving more of those freaky teenager hormons behind like never before! Seriously -.-' No big party or a birthday cake, just me, my sister and my friend spending the night i turned 22 with watching a cozy movie. Or that was the plan. The movie, Twilight Eclipse, caused both my friend and my sister to scream and shout and take sides like it was a football game, and there we sat rifftraxing the whole thing. Anyway, that could have had some impact on my inspiration!
And since my brother forgot about my online project and didn't pay for the webhotel where all my work is, the website is down at the moment. Ofcourse I've fixed this, but it will take a day for it to get reactivated. And that gave me time to start sketching! ^^ (turning bad energy into positive energy, check!)
Typically, I've started with manga again, and that's the way I want it. What I was surprised by, was that I tried drawing a masculine character, with some success!! Not even when I used to draw, did I manage to draw a masculine face, so I really feel the inspiration flushing my brain *wooh!*
With three, rough character sketches, I feel I've started to remember what I learnt during a character design course I took last year. And all those books and websites I've visited, and the tutorials I've followed... My hand has begun to have some connection with the pencil I'm holding (a BIC pen with 0.07mm lead, my favorite weapon). Honestly, I feel in heaven.
This year, 2011, is a promising year. Leaving 2010 has been such a relief, and now, not only do I think I'm ready for a job, but also that I think I'm more satisfied with myself, I code but don't have to stop drawing because of that. And I'm also building up my skills to become more administrative and a great leader.
Yes, I've discovered that I really enjoy managing projects, to put up a stable and exciting plan and to have everything planned out - I feel safe building the road before walking on it! And somewhere inbetween I also manage to act as a designer, writing my GDD, thinking properly about what's important, what to highlight, what to take on later, where in the process I am and what next step should be. It's a funny thing that if anyone had asked me about these things six months ago, I'd have looked totally dumb and wouldn't have anything to say about it. As a matter of fact - been there, done that. I wonder what my teacher thinks of my progress now... :P
More roles to take on? Well I finally bought a system camera, a Nikon, and shocked my parents with the total price - Happy new year mom and dad! - and now I'm so pleased by the control I have over the settings! I can finally take some experimental photos and have fun with capturing moments. And take awesome pictures ofcourse!
What more to come? I've been thinking of an iPhone lately... I'm not much of a cell phone person, I use whatever works to call with, but with an iPhone, I can try out that "Game Dev Story" game I've been longing for to try out, and have more games than Snake 2 and Sudoku to enjoy during buss drives. Hmmmm....
31 dec. 2010
Reviewing 2010
Finally. Another year.
So much have happend and I've been thrown on and off stuff to deal with. This year has really been a tough year, really torned me out, and I won't miss it.
Despite that, I remember my post January 1st 2010. It was chaotic and I was in panic. I was afraid not to be good enough for anything, I didn't know what to do after the graduation, and I had communication issues with my family haha. Let's review that.
First, the graduation, I nearly didn't get to graduate! I and my partner had problems with finding a subject and it was impossible to write about stuff as we had so much to do with another course and we weren't good at communicating with each other. Then I was on my own the last month, and failing would have a huge negative impact on me, I panicked. Three weeks before the final deadline, I talk to my tutor and I notice he's given up on me, although not completely, he knows I'm a hard worker, but with three weeks and almost nothing done... But I tried. I sat day in and day out and researched, read, wrote, organized... I slept at 5 o'clock and woke up by 7 or 8. Tough times, but I managed to write a thesis - and I'm proud to say I got a B (in Sweden we don't have B+ or B- etc) - two points from full points because obviously I didn't meet the previews deadlines. Oh well, it turned out really great, thank God.
Even the other course, my project work with 5 others, was a mere catastrophy, due to lack of passion and skills. I hard a hell of a hard time managing the development the last two months, and as the term ended I was so tired I could cry. But I also managed to get a B on it. Hard work pays.
As for the rest of my list from last year's promises blog post:
¤ MORE PROGRAMMING -> Check!! I feel confident enough to work with other, and to work independently. As a project manager I've a better grasp at how the process goes and how to use methods to manage that.
¤ Less stress! - well, I've been through a lot of personal things so I never fullfilled this one :( But thinking about it, I do think that I've more peace in my mind now as I've... well, leveled up in some way! I just hope next years don't bring as bad news as this year did.
¤ More drawing - yah! Although not at the moment, but I've taken a character design course which taught me LOTS of tips and to draw bodies.
¤ Organize time better - forget about that. Don't even bother to discuss is. Just.. don't.
¤ Play more games - Check! A bit better now as I've graduated. Although I'm still not an avid gamer (do I need to be one to become a highly skilled programmer/game developer?), I buy plenty of games, even old PS2 titles (while cursing the stores for not sharing my money with the developers since the games are too old).
The most difficult task I thought was:
¤ Be nicer to my family - Success! Well, it's a long way to go but we really are relaxed with each other now. I think after all we've been through, like when mom hada stroke and stayed abroad for three months, I and my dad had to face each other and like... talk! I mean really talk, like there was nobody else to talk to (there wasn't). And so our conversations began to be more relaxed and he actually tells me he loves me now :P man, we really had issues before... As for the rest of my family, we become closer, but my sister who's 18 yrs old, she been behaving alienish and it feels like nobody knows her anymore. I hope 2011 will bring some nice changes on that as well.
And now, here I am, I have a bachelor's degree in computer and system sciences, I'm much better at programming and project management, I'm studying international game produciton on an advanced level by managing a game project with 4 others located in Sweden, USA and Great Britain. I've organized everything myself and am working independently.
My promises this year are to finish this project on May/June and have a nice, polished game on my portfolio. Another promise would be to build a proper prortfolio - for this I'll need to gather my old work and make it downloadable or something. Oh and... hahaha, a friend made me promise to start looking for love xD
Well, this year's challenges, although harsh, have been a huge level up for me, and I'm not afraid anymore - I'll enjoy life and step proudly into 2011.
Happy New Year, everyone!
/Kweiko
So much have happend and I've been thrown on and off stuff to deal with. This year has really been a tough year, really torned me out, and I won't miss it.
Despite that, I remember my post January 1st 2010. It was chaotic and I was in panic. I was afraid not to be good enough for anything, I didn't know what to do after the graduation, and I had communication issues with my family haha. Let's review that.
First, the graduation, I nearly didn't get to graduate! I and my partner had problems with finding a subject and it was impossible to write about stuff as we had so much to do with another course and we weren't good at communicating with each other. Then I was on my own the last month, and failing would have a huge negative impact on me, I panicked. Three weeks before the final deadline, I talk to my tutor and I notice he's given up on me, although not completely, he knows I'm a hard worker, but with three weeks and almost nothing done... But I tried. I sat day in and day out and researched, read, wrote, organized... I slept at 5 o'clock and woke up by 7 or 8. Tough times, but I managed to write a thesis - and I'm proud to say I got a B (in Sweden we don't have B+ or B- etc) - two points from full points because obviously I didn't meet the previews deadlines. Oh well, it turned out really great, thank God.
Even the other course, my project work with 5 others, was a mere catastrophy, due to lack of passion and skills. I hard a hell of a hard time managing the development the last two months, and as the term ended I was so tired I could cry. But I also managed to get a B on it. Hard work pays.
As for the rest of my list from last year's promises blog post:
¤ MORE PROGRAMMING -> Check!! I feel confident enough to work with other, and to work independently. As a project manager I've a better grasp at how the process goes and how to use methods to manage that.
¤ Less stress! - well, I've been through a lot of personal things so I never fullfilled this one :( But thinking about it, I do think that I've more peace in my mind now as I've... well, leveled up in some way! I just hope next years don't bring as bad news as this year did.
¤ More drawing - yah! Although not at the moment, but I've taken a character design course which taught me LOTS of tips and to draw bodies.
¤ Organize time better - forget about that. Don't even bother to discuss is. Just.. don't.
¤ Play more games - Check! A bit better now as I've graduated. Although I'm still not an avid gamer (do I need to be one to become a highly skilled programmer/game developer?), I buy plenty of games, even old PS2 titles (while cursing the stores for not sharing my money with the developers since the games are too old).
The most difficult task I thought was:
¤ Be nicer to my family - Success! Well, it's a long way to go but we really are relaxed with each other now. I think after all we've been through, like when mom hada stroke and stayed abroad for three months, I and my dad had to face each other and like... talk! I mean really talk, like there was nobody else to talk to (there wasn't). And so our conversations began to be more relaxed and he actually tells me he loves me now :P man, we really had issues before... As for the rest of my family, we become closer, but my sister who's 18 yrs old, she been behaving alienish and it feels like nobody knows her anymore. I hope 2011 will bring some nice changes on that as well.
And now, here I am, I have a bachelor's degree in computer and system sciences, I'm much better at programming and project management, I'm studying international game produciton on an advanced level by managing a game project with 4 others located in Sweden, USA and Great Britain. I've organized everything myself and am working independently.
My promises this year are to finish this project on May/June and have a nice, polished game on my portfolio. Another promise would be to build a proper prortfolio - for this I'll need to gather my old work and make it downloadable or something. Oh and... hahaha, a friend made me promise to start looking for love xD
Well, this year's challenges, although harsh, have been a huge level up for me, and I'm not afraid anymore - I'll enjoy life and step proudly into 2011.
Happy New Year, everyone!
/Kweiko
28 nov. 2010
New website
After reading a lot about wordpress here and wordpress there, I thought I might as well start promoting myself a bit more (lol better late than never) and make an account there, blogspot was awesome, but currently only WordPress has a plugin to show content from Unity (the game engine I'm currently working with). I don't think I relly need any plugin to show the content, but it would make the process much faster and easier, so I went to wordpress.com and made an account!
I took my time choosing theme and organizing everything, but then I realized - I can't install plugins! Then followed a short time of research which resulted in the facts that I'm on the wrong site! It should be wordpress.ORG not .com, and that the .com site was for blogging, just like blogger.com (but I have to admit, I like blogger more, especially the stats that show where the readers are located!) while wordpress.org is a CMS (Content Management System) that's downloaded to a server to manage your site - and this one could be used with plugins. Oh! Luckily, I allready have my own space on my brother's server, I just thought it was too demanding to manage it, I've tried. Not that I don't have the knowledge, but I have no time, although I know how to code in xhtml and css, all I want to do really is to blog about my progress in game dev and show my work.
So wordpress.org it is!
It really felt differently, now I can manage my site much easier and effectily. But I had to search for hours for a good stats-plugin that shows where readers are located. I've found one now so I'm really happy :)
It still needs more stuff to get done, more content to come and fill the site soon, and I still need to figure out how to change domain name to the one I bought two months ago, www.kweiko.com, but meanwhile here's the current link: http://kweiko.abbascenter.com
Hope you like it!
/Kweiko
I took my time choosing theme and organizing everything, but then I realized - I can't install plugins! Then followed a short time of research which resulted in the facts that I'm on the wrong site! It should be wordpress.ORG not .com, and that the .com site was for blogging, just like blogger.com (but I have to admit, I like blogger more, especially the stats that show where the readers are located!) while wordpress.org is a CMS (Content Management System) that's downloaded to a server to manage your site - and this one could be used with plugins. Oh! Luckily, I allready have my own space on my brother's server, I just thought it was too demanding to manage it, I've tried. Not that I don't have the knowledge, but I have no time, although I know how to code in xhtml and css, all I want to do really is to blog about my progress in game dev and show my work.
So wordpress.org it is!
It really felt differently, now I can manage my site much easier and effectily. But I had to search for hours for a good stats-plugin that shows where readers are located. I've found one now so I'm really happy :)
It still needs more stuff to get done, more content to come and fill the site soon, and I still need to figure out how to change domain name to the one I bought two months ago, www.kweiko.com, but meanwhile here's the current link: http://kweiko.abbascenter.com
Hope you like it!
/Kweiko
10 nov. 2010
3 months and game making
3 months since last update! That's been a while! I've had family issues and moving from one apartment to another and boring stuff that I'm glad is partly over. On the other hand, I've been working with my minigame Army of One (working title), that I originally started building with the help of a tutorial series on Youtube. That was during summer when I thought that my programming skills still sucked and I had to do something about it. Feeling a bit more comfortable with programming, I developed it and added stuff like score counter and timer.
One day I got email from my university, saying that they will show students' work during Gamex 2010, the biggest game convension in Scandinavia. I first hesitated to participate but two weeks later I signed up! It was really a fun and inspiring experience but I had to work really hard to make my game-ish prototype really playable and worth to show. I added better graphics (but still a programmer's art really...), made a highscore list, changed the environment and the whole menu design, added sound effects and more eye candy. I'm really pleased with what I've achieved during such a short time, and don't feel like a noob anymore :P
The evening before Gamex, I got an email from the responsible saying that my game isn't working properly!! I panicked and a started to try and fix stuff, the problem lied within the frame update because of the processor. I had from the beginning programmed all movements so they won't be frame dependant, but the problem now was that since it was lagging, the avatar leaped through the small level and even if that's fair in a racing game, it's totally unneccessary in my game. Then everything was different - what went fast on my computer went really slowly on the other computer, so I really had to customize the code for that computer from distance, fixing problems I couldn't see :S
Late at night I received the awated email, saying that it works, the character isn't as fast as it should be but it's still playable and working pretty well. Rest assured, I fell on sleep and the next 4 days, 4th-7th of November, I spent on Gamex LIVING the game industry :P
Gamex was the best thing happening to me during 2010, I slept a little, I didn't eat while there, and because of the high volume on everything, I screamed my voice off during the conversations. But I loved it, I really felt "this is my home" and enjoyed every minute being there - so much that the guard had to come get me when I and my friend was playing Marvel vs Capcom 3 after closing time! XD
I've also started "studying" in a distance based 1 year long course! During this year, until June 2011, I'll be working on a game project, and I decided to remake Army of One and really develop it to be a proper game to publish, this time also in Unity game engine. It's so exciting and I get great advice from different tutors and teachers, and I'm putting my soul into this one. Right now I'm on the conceptualization phase and not everything is set, but after two meetings with my tutor, my head is soon exploding from all the inspiration!
But I still need a few more people to work with me, I'm doing this project with my brother who's the producer, but I'm the director and need atleast one or two more to help me with the programming and with the design/concept arting. If things goes well, the production phase will start during January 2011.
I'll blog more about my progress so stay tuned! But right now I really have to wash the dishes!
Cheers
/Kweiko
One day I got email from my university, saying that they will show students' work during Gamex 2010, the biggest game convension in Scandinavia. I first hesitated to participate but two weeks later I signed up! It was really a fun and inspiring experience but I had to work really hard to make my game-ish prototype really playable and worth to show. I added better graphics (but still a programmer's art really...), made a highscore list, changed the environment and the whole menu design, added sound effects and more eye candy. I'm really pleased with what I've achieved during such a short time, and don't feel like a noob anymore :P
The evening before Gamex, I got an email from the responsible saying that my game isn't working properly!! I panicked and a started to try and fix stuff, the problem lied within the frame update because of the processor. I had from the beginning programmed all movements so they won't be frame dependant, but the problem now was that since it was lagging, the avatar leaped through the small level and even if that's fair in a racing game, it's totally unneccessary in my game. Then everything was different - what went fast on my computer went really slowly on the other computer, so I really had to customize the code for that computer from distance, fixing problems I couldn't see :S
Late at night I received the awated email, saying that it works, the character isn't as fast as it should be but it's still playable and working pretty well. Rest assured, I fell on sleep and the next 4 days, 4th-7th of November, I spent on Gamex LIVING the game industry :P
Gamex was the best thing happening to me during 2010, I slept a little, I didn't eat while there, and because of the high volume on everything, I screamed my voice off during the conversations. But I loved it, I really felt "this is my home" and enjoyed every minute being there - so much that the guard had to come get me when I and my friend was playing Marvel vs Capcom 3 after closing time! XD
I've also started "studying" in a distance based 1 year long course! During this year, until June 2011, I'll be working on a game project, and I decided to remake Army of One and really develop it to be a proper game to publish, this time also in Unity game engine. It's so exciting and I get great advice from different tutors and teachers, and I'm putting my soul into this one. Right now I'm on the conceptualization phase and not everything is set, but after two meetings with my tutor, my head is soon exploding from all the inspiration!
But I still need a few more people to work with me, I'm doing this project with my brother who's the producer, but I'm the director and need atleast one or two more to help me with the programming and with the design/concept arting. If things goes well, the production phase will start during January 2011.
I'll blog more about my progress so stay tuned! But right now I really have to wash the dishes!
Cheers
/Kweiko
14 aug. 2010
Ramathan Kareem
Today is the second day of Ramathan. This year, in Scandinavia the fasting goes on for 20 hours and I thought that I would die of hunger but after two days of fasting my body has amazingly allready adjusted to the new food schedule *level up*
I really love the family atmosphere during Ramathan. Usually everyone is busy with school or work or with life itself, not spending time with the family like in good old days, but when Ramathan comes, we all appreciate each other for helping each other out (everyone acts too lazy, and when one of us really do something besides lying on the bed or crashing on the sofa, he or she will be seen as a hero). Everyone tends to gather in the living room and just be together, watch TV or a movie together and we just LOVE everything that is served to us. Dad is the one who fill the plates and he really cook awesome food, but when Ramathan comes he's like an artist with food!! Atleast that's what it seems like, because that's how much we appreciate everything :P
I use to compare Ramathan with Christmas, living in Sweden I know how cozy and special Christmas is (even though Swedes aren't as Christmas lovers as the Americans) and I recognize the feeling in the air, everyone's happy faces and the dark, cozy days that makes you think coming back home to the family is just too wonderful... that's what Ramathan feels like. :)
Meanwhile, we're moving to my sister's appartment temporarily, so it's going to be really tight for a while! Nevertheless, I think for that mere reason, it's going to be even more cozy and family-ish when all the girls sleep next to each other, like we used to do when we were kids. The little room is filled with girlish stuff à la our family: PS1, PS2 and the PS3 :P Unfortunately, the 360 will be in my brother's room (well it is his after all...). 90% of the time, my little sister is going to have kidnapped the TV to Nickelodeon-land, while I and my other sister will have our laptops to do our work, study or spend our freetime by enjoying TV-series and anime episodes. My other little sister will surely have the floor for herself - she likes dancing! So yeah, it's going to be tight like hell, but we finally get to spend a lot of time with each other like before. That's what Ramathan is for, isn't it? :)
So, Ramathan Kareem, people!
I really love the family atmosphere during Ramathan. Usually everyone is busy with school or work or with life itself, not spending time with the family like in good old days, but when Ramathan comes, we all appreciate each other for helping each other out (everyone acts too lazy, and when one of us really do something besides lying on the bed or crashing on the sofa, he or she will be seen as a hero). Everyone tends to gather in the living room and just be together, watch TV or a movie together and we just LOVE everything that is served to us. Dad is the one who fill the plates and he really cook awesome food, but when Ramathan comes he's like an artist with food!! Atleast that's what it seems like, because that's how much we appreciate everything :P
I use to compare Ramathan with Christmas, living in Sweden I know how cozy and special Christmas is (even though Swedes aren't as Christmas lovers as the Americans) and I recognize the feeling in the air, everyone's happy faces and the dark, cozy days that makes you think coming back home to the family is just too wonderful... that's what Ramathan feels like. :)
Meanwhile, we're moving to my sister's appartment temporarily, so it's going to be really tight for a while! Nevertheless, I think for that mere reason, it's going to be even more cozy and family-ish when all the girls sleep next to each other, like we used to do when we were kids. The little room is filled with girlish stuff à la our family: PS1, PS2 and the PS3 :P Unfortunately, the 360 will be in my brother's room (well it is his after all...). 90% of the time, my little sister is going to have kidnapped the TV to Nickelodeon-land, while I and my other sister will have our laptops to do our work, study or spend our freetime by enjoying TV-series and anime episodes. My other little sister will surely have the floor for herself - she likes dancing! So yeah, it's going to be tight like hell, but we finally get to spend a lot of time with each other like before. That's what Ramathan is for, isn't it? :)
So, Ramathan Kareem, people!
8 maj 2010
Discipline ftw!
Mom's back! Finally! She's been through so many troubles, that she's weaker now than when she left, but I'm so happy she's back - the housewifey version of me has been put on the shelf [NOT] once and for all.
As for the final project, the major changes has been on the level design, we've now got two tutorial levels with colliders, textures and lighting and the first real level is designed and being implemented right now. There are traps (spears traps and steam traps) set and ready to be used. I've become the one handling all interactions with the props and items in the world, and it's very fun, except that there are not a few naughty bugs in the physics implementations.
We now have a somewhat playable tutorial level, but now the real battle begins with the fun factor - we need better guidance for the player. For the real level we also need to make the pace faster by putting in more challenges, and I have to implement the scoreboard! The portals that is supposed to teleport you between rooms is working, but we need to place them in the game. Although it's very simple, it needs to be done. The GUI system is nothing near done, but much of it depends on whether we'll use achievements/collectibles/timers and stuff, and in which level we'll use them, but much of the implementation is done allready.
Our biggest problem right now is to point all undone tasks - which is my duty - and make people work - which should be their own duty! Two students in the team, who tragically are the two of three programmers in the team, seem to have taken vacation or something, they don't answer on email, or when I call or send them an sms. One of them has been like that since the beginning, the second has been like that for a couple of weeks, which really was bad timing since we had a presentation last Wednesday.
But we're still up and running! And I won't quit until I get my PASS on this course (and of course, as good a demo as possible), or die trying. Discipline ftw!
As for the final project, the major changes has been on the level design, we've now got two tutorial levels with colliders, textures and lighting and the first real level is designed and being implemented right now. There are traps (spears traps and steam traps) set and ready to be used. I've become the one handling all interactions with the props and items in the world, and it's very fun, except that there are not a few naughty bugs in the physics implementations.
We now have a somewhat playable tutorial level, but now the real battle begins with the fun factor - we need better guidance for the player. For the real level we also need to make the pace faster by putting in more challenges, and I have to implement the scoreboard! The portals that is supposed to teleport you between rooms is working, but we need to place them in the game. Although it's very simple, it needs to be done. The GUI system is nothing near done, but much of it depends on whether we'll use achievements/collectibles/timers and stuff, and in which level we'll use them, but much of the implementation is done allready.
Our biggest problem right now is to point all undone tasks - which is my duty - and make people work - which should be their own duty! Two students in the team, who tragically are the two of three programmers in the team, seem to have taken vacation or something, they don't answer on email, or when I call or send them an sms. One of them has been like that since the beginning, the second has been like that for a couple of weeks, which really was bad timing since we had a presentation last Wednesday.
But we're still up and running! And I won't quit until I get my PASS on this course (and of course, as good a demo as possible), or die trying. Discipline ftw!
22 apr. 2010
Are you Chilling?
There's that extremely helpful guy who overheard someone talking in his phone: "Where are you chilling? You don't know the place? Ok, I'll try to find you!", and so he felt the urge to help and started to ask people around "Are you Chilling? No? Excuse me, are you Chilling? Hello, are you Chilling?"
A couple of hours later he found himself being on the beach. "Hi, are you Chilling?" he asked somebody sunbathing, who grinned back and answered "yepp!!". The exhausted man gave him a slap and yelled "Then what are you doing here?! People are looking for you!"
The first (and only) time I heard this joke was in high school, but somehow I remembered it while thinking about myself right now. I'm the producer of our team and have to plan a lot of things, I have important stuff to program, I have the GUI design and implementation to do, the dissertation to work on and the individual projekt to atleast START with. And what am I doing? Chilling!
Things are looking better, I have to admit that. Our level designer seems to be hyped by the fact that he gets to do the tutorial levels too and plan everything - good for him, really. But not all the team members are as optimistic as him and I really can feel the team power meter getting lower and lower. Have to do something!! My fellow programmer have worked her hands off and the designer seems to have given up on this project being fun to play. Our artist feels like hell's upon him and the third programmer in the team... well he disappeared again! He's been doing that all the time, but I thought I had him this time. Even the hands off-programmer tends to hide nowadays. Things that were supposed to be designed this week seems to be unfinished, but according to our plans, this sprint (which lasts until Sunday) is the last production-sprint and there will be no more drastic changes and new inputs. Next Monday it's feature stop!
Yet I'm still chilling. Is that ok? Am I still sane? I hope my optimism is not due to me loosing all my adrenaline. Maybe, my brain is being I Don't Care-ish, but my conscious doesn't get it.
Either way I think our game will be fun to play. I've seen the level design, it's not finished yet but our level designer seems to have some talent hidden under the hoods. At least enough for this project. I like the way he thinks and solve stuff, so I'm leaving that up to him. I myself am trying to get the GUI system up and running, but GUI design is harder than I thought. I'm not aiming at a complex system with lots of stuff to see and chose, but the look and feel of everything is so hard to determine! Why is it so hard to determine where to put a simple little button? Or how it should look. Does it even matter that much? I'll only push it to play the actual game for God's sake!! Am I missing something here? I definitely do, with my over-optimistic attitude and everything...
Let's take a look at another side of my life: my post apocalyptus, aka. after graduation. I have no clue what will happen, and since I'm such a planning freak, it freaks me out even more!!
Thing is, mom can't stand it anymore, she wants to live in our home country, so everyone is working to fulfill that wish. My poor parents have gotten through and sacrificed a lot of things for the sake of protecting us - now is our turn to return the favor! What that has to do with my post apocalyptus? Well, the initial idea was to study here in Sweden, but then mom persuaded me to rest for one year before continuing with the Master's degree. Then my brother persuaded me to go to London and do my Master there (he's living there now). But then mom got very ill and she went to Kuwait and now she refuses to continue living in Sweden. Understandible, I must say. But, now my brother is doing his best to get into business in Kuwait so that he gets a residence permit and buy an appartment or house where he and my parents can live. Eventually they will get an rp too. And now they try to persuade me to study in Kuwait. I can't find any Masters on computer games programming in Kuwait!! What I think that I've decided is to take distance classes while tagging along the family to Kuwait. But now I have to check for which requirements there are on courses to be counted as advanced enough for the Master's degree. With that approach I can manage to put up my own Master! Handy eh? And exhausting... But honestly, regaining harmony into the family spirit is priority #1 right now, so I can end up being anywhere on this lovely planet with neither a school nor a job to go to.
Jee, I'm really talented at WHINING! Gosh, I'll stop. You know what? let's turn this plate over to a better side:
I want to go indie! I think that suits me very well. Flexible, minding my own business, working at my own pace... I can have another job on the side, as long as I get to make my own games. I think it goes great with the post apocalyptus planless days - if there is no work to do, I'll make up work to do!
There are a few persons I already know I'd like to work with. Maybe I'm being naïve now, but I really look forward to work with people overseas, people from other countries, to get a mix of ways of thinking and percepting things. Also, there is atleast one competition I plan to participate in and I hope to find out more. I also plan to do some experiments in my games, I want to compare different styles of programming, different styles of games and even different graphics to see what it provides for the gameplay. I'm sure the answers are obvious but in this way I feel like making the game developing process only more interesting. Come summer and sweep me away!
A couple of hours later he found himself being on the beach. "Hi, are you Chilling?" he asked somebody sunbathing, who grinned back and answered "yepp!!". The exhausted man gave him a slap and yelled "Then what are you doing here?! People are looking for you!"
The first (and only) time I heard this joke was in high school, but somehow I remembered it while thinking about myself right now. I'm the producer of our team and have to plan a lot of things, I have important stuff to program, I have the GUI design and implementation to do, the dissertation to work on and the individual projekt to atleast START with. And what am I doing? Chilling!
Things are looking better, I have to admit that. Our level designer seems to be hyped by the fact that he gets to do the tutorial levels too and plan everything - good for him, really. But not all the team members are as optimistic as him and I really can feel the team power meter getting lower and lower. Have to do something!! My fellow programmer have worked her hands off and the designer seems to have given up on this project being fun to play. Our artist feels like hell's upon him and the third programmer in the team... well he disappeared again! He's been doing that all the time, but I thought I had him this time. Even the hands off-programmer tends to hide nowadays. Things that were supposed to be designed this week seems to be unfinished, but according to our plans, this sprint (which lasts until Sunday) is the last production-sprint and there will be no more drastic changes and new inputs. Next Monday it's feature stop!
Yet I'm still chilling. Is that ok? Am I still sane? I hope my optimism is not due to me loosing all my adrenaline. Maybe, my brain is being I Don't Care-ish, but my conscious doesn't get it.
Either way I think our game will be fun to play. I've seen the level design, it's not finished yet but our level designer seems to have some talent hidden under the hoods. At least enough for this project. I like the way he thinks and solve stuff, so I'm leaving that up to him. I myself am trying to get the GUI system up and running, but GUI design is harder than I thought. I'm not aiming at a complex system with lots of stuff to see and chose, but the look and feel of everything is so hard to determine! Why is it so hard to determine where to put a simple little button? Or how it should look. Does it even matter that much? I'll only push it to play the actual game for God's sake!! Am I missing something here? I definitely do, with my over-optimistic attitude and everything...
Let's take a look at another side of my life: my post apocalyptus, aka. after graduation. I have no clue what will happen, and since I'm such a planning freak, it freaks me out even more!!
Thing is, mom can't stand it anymore, she wants to live in our home country, so everyone is working to fulfill that wish. My poor parents have gotten through and sacrificed a lot of things for the sake of protecting us - now is our turn to return the favor! What that has to do with my post apocalyptus? Well, the initial idea was to study here in Sweden, but then mom persuaded me to rest for one year before continuing with the Master's degree. Then my brother persuaded me to go to London and do my Master there (he's living there now). But then mom got very ill and she went to Kuwait and now she refuses to continue living in Sweden. Understandible, I must say. But, now my brother is doing his best to get into business in Kuwait so that he gets a residence permit and buy an appartment or house where he and my parents can live. Eventually they will get an rp too. And now they try to persuade me to study in Kuwait. I can't find any Masters on computer games programming in Kuwait!! What I think that I've decided is to take distance classes while tagging along the family to Kuwait. But now I have to check for which requirements there are on courses to be counted as advanced enough for the Master's degree. With that approach I can manage to put up my own Master! Handy eh? And exhausting... But honestly, regaining harmony into the family spirit is priority #1 right now, so I can end up being anywhere on this lovely planet with neither a school nor a job to go to.
Jee, I'm really talented at WHINING! Gosh, I'll stop. You know what? let's turn this plate over to a better side:
I want to go indie! I think that suits me very well. Flexible, minding my own business, working at my own pace... I can have another job on the side, as long as I get to make my own games. I think it goes great with the post apocalyptus planless days - if there is no work to do, I'll make up work to do!
There are a few persons I already know I'd like to work with. Maybe I'm being naïve now, but I really look forward to work with people overseas, people from other countries, to get a mix of ways of thinking and percepting things. Also, there is atleast one competition I plan to participate in and I hope to find out more. I also plan to do some experiments in my games, I want to compare different styles of programming, different styles of games and even different graphics to see what it provides for the gameplay. I'm sure the answers are obvious but in this way I feel like making the game developing process only more interesting. Come summer and sweep me away!
1 jan. 2010
My First Blog 2010
So folks!
A new year, a new decennium... What are your promises, your wishes, your sacrifices and your plans this year?
I have been waiting so long for this year to come, because I'll finish school and.. (see?) I'm still used to say "school" even though I'm a graduate student x) If all goes well, I'll receive my Bachelor's degree this summer!
This means a lot of changes to come, it really is scary, so scary I can't decide what to do and what to expect. All my life I've been relying on going to school. Sure, I have worked during a couple of summers and stuff, but this year it's for real! I guess it's called "starting a carreer". Scary! Do I know enough to do my work? Do I have the proper attitude towards other people? Will I be accepted as I am? Am I prepared for getting a real job??? OMG Where would be suitable for me to work and do they even recruite noobs like me or should I just go commite suicide?
*calming down*
My first blog this year and I'm freaking out. Good start for my new plans. (What plans?)
But let's NOT call them plans then.
But I have made some promises:
¤ MORE PROGRAMMING - as a programmer, I suck! My goal is to graduate in June, without sucking in programming! X(
¤ Less stress! - I stress a lot and sleep a little, and I want to get rid of that! Even though someone told me I was born programmer because of that xD
¤ More drawing - I love drawing and I know I can get much better. If I only spent more time drawing. I need to organize my time MUCH better! Yes, that should be included too!
¤ Organize time better - Or maybe I should say: Organize time. Hopefully I'll get to the "better"-part soon enough.
¤ Play more games - I don't play games often. And ironically, since I began study game development I've been playing even less than my sister who's a researcher on Rheumatology -.-' (I AM ashamed)
¤ Be nicer to my family - that's a kind of secret one. Everyone is talking about how smiling makes your life longer and "love the ones who loves you" and stuff. I DO love them. I really do. But I'm not gonna fake any smiles or pretend I'm not irritated by their mistakes. This year I'll try NOT to get irritated. People DO mistakes. And I'll try to appreciate my family more. Then I won't have to fake any smiles.
Sadly, the last one seems the hardest one of them T_T
Happy New Year To You All!
A new year, a new decennium... What are your promises, your wishes, your sacrifices and your plans this year?
I have been waiting so long for this year to come, because I'll finish school and.. (see?) I'm still used to say "school" even though I'm a graduate student x) If all goes well, I'll receive my Bachelor's degree this summer!
This means a lot of changes to come, it really is scary, so scary I can't decide what to do and what to expect. All my life I've been relying on going to school. Sure, I have worked during a couple of summers and stuff, but this year it's for real! I guess it's called "starting a carreer". Scary! Do I know enough to do my work? Do I have the proper attitude towards other people? Will I be accepted as I am? Am I prepared for getting a real job??? OMG Where would be suitable for me to work and do they even recruite noobs like me or should I just go commite suicide?
*calming down*
My first blog this year and I'm freaking out. Good start for my new plans. (What plans?)
But let's NOT call them plans then.
But I have made some promises:
¤ MORE PROGRAMMING - as a programmer, I suck! My goal is to graduate in June, without sucking in programming! X(
¤ Less stress! - I stress a lot and sleep a little, and I want to get rid of that! Even though someone told me I was born programmer because of that xD
¤ More drawing - I love drawing and I know I can get much better. If I only spent more time drawing. I need to organize my time MUCH better! Yes, that should be included too!
¤ Organize time better - Or maybe I should say: Organize time. Hopefully I'll get to the "better"-part soon enough.
¤ Play more games - I don't play games often. And ironically, since I began study game development I've been playing even less than my sister who's a researcher on Rheumatology -.-' (I AM ashamed)
¤ Be nicer to my family - that's a kind of secret one. Everyone is talking about how smiling makes your life longer and "love the ones who loves you" and stuff. I DO love them. I really do. But I'm not gonna fake any smiles or pretend I'm not irritated by their mistakes. This year I'll try NOT to get irritated. People DO mistakes. And I'll try to appreciate my family more. Then I won't have to fake any smiles.
Sadly, the last one seems the hardest one of them T_T
Happy New Year To You All!
12 aug. 2009
Entering The Stage
I'm so bad at keeping this up, maybe it's due to me being both lazy and busy - there're always things to get done.
My previous blog was too complicated so I quit writing for a long while - of coarse due to me being busy. Now I'll try this blog to see how well it suits someone like me - from what I've seen, this may be a good blogsite for me (it's google stuff, after all) so I'll try to update it often, at least for the sake of getting my memories and thoughts written down somewhere.
Yes, Welcome to my world! Have a seat and enjoy, but mind your time - you might forget about that while being fascinated by me! ;)
Take care
/Kweiko
My previous blog was too complicated so I quit writing for a long while - of coarse due to me being busy. Now I'll try this blog to see how well it suits someone like me - from what I've seen, this may be a good blogsite for me (it's google stuff, after all) so I'll try to update it often, at least for the sake of getting my memories and thoughts written down somewhere.
Yes, Welcome to my world! Have a seat and enjoy, but mind your time - you might forget about that while being fascinated by me! ;)
Take care
/Kweiko
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