I know I haven’t updated in a while, but I’ve been a little busy looking for an apartment in Baltimore and trying to figure out what I need to do to start this Internship that Big Huge Games is setting me up with. Yeah, they gave me an internship instead of a flat out job, which is a little disappointing, but I can kind of understand that it’s been a while since I’ve been immersed in the whole game development thing, and because of that, I didn’t do the greatest job of demonstrating knowledge of optimization and how the hardware works with what you are coding. I’ve ended up looking at it as kind of a probation period since they said the good people get promoted to actual programmer in a reasonable amount of time. They’ll also be paying me enough that I should be able to support myself and still have a little fun on the side, even as an intern, which at least gets me out of my parents’ house. I’ll still be a little poor for a while, but I don’t mind being poor for a little bit longer.
So I found a place in Timonium that should be very close to work, which will be nice. I might even be close enough that I could ride a bicycle to work instead of driving so I don’t turn into a fat bastard from all this sitting around doing nothing. I’m hoping this place will be a decent place to live, but it seems to be pretty much impossible to tell without having lived there. Review sites are basically worthless since most people don’t bother doing any reviewing if the place was good and all the people who complain about pest infestations or whatever probably only have themselves to blame. I did end up staying completely away from one area based on several complaints of having windows broken and things stolen, which is probably the fault of the area they were in, rather than the reviewer leaving food around the house. I’m hoping this’ll be a tolerable place to live and I won’t have to hound maintenance to constantly fix problems, but we shall see.
News
Big Huge Games
I just responded to an email from Big Huge Games setting up another date for an on-site interview. Apparently things got a little hectic with the finals of their Rise of Legends tournament so things started falling through the cracks. Unfortunately, I was one of those things that was a little neglected. Anyways, we should have another date set up for the 14th next week so I might be able to finagle a job out of this whole fiasco after all.
Also, I’d like to steal an idea from The Colbert Report and take a few moments to put Stouffer’s, purveyors of easy to prepare, prepackaged meals, On Notice. I believe it was this Stouffer’s Teriyaki Chicken Skillet meal that I ate last night. I followed the cooking instructions and it tasted about as you would expect from a decent preprepared meal-in-a-bag, nothing special, but certainly edible. I’ve never had any problems with these types of meals from other brands, but something Stouffer’s uses in their meals knocks me out for at least a day and all day today I’ve had stomach aches and felt like I was going to vomit. Now excuse me while I spend the rest of the night pitying myself and trying not to regurgitate the last few meals I’ve had all over my room.
News
Big Huge Games, The Colbert Report
The interview with Kush Games did not go well, in my opinion. It probably also didn’t help that it didn’t seem like they were looking for someone entry level or that their programming tests when I got there were pretty ridiculous. So I wasn’t wildly surprised when a few days later I got an email from them saying they didn’t have any openings for me. I’ve already described what I thought about their whole interview process to so many people that I’m sure I’m going to leave something out and this will sound even more like a sore loser, but suffice it to say I probably wouldn’t have taken the job had they offered it to me. Why make someone travel across the country in order to do more tests that could have been done without all the wasted time and expense of traveling? Then on top of that, the one problem that I had real difficulties with was one that you would have a huge advantage with had you seen the solution before, which is the worst test of a person’s abilities possible. Anyways, enough bitching, I didn’t get a job I probably wouldn’t have liked and that’s over.
Moving on, when I returned from California, I discovered I had an email from Big Huge Games inviting me out to an on-site interview with them. They offered two dates, so I emailed them back saying I preferred the first date. I didn’t get an email back confirming the date or any travel information, so I emailed them again. Today is the day the interview would have been had anything happened. I did everything I could think of to try to make this interview work without having a phone number I could call and clarify what was going on, which, as far as I can tell, isn’t published anywhere. So I’m feeling pretty jerked around from every direction right now. Hopefully my next round of applications and interview goes a bit better than the first round.
News
Big Huge Games, Kush Games
I just saw that the team that made ICO and Shadow of the Colossus is working on a PS3 game! Anybody that knows me, knows that I turn into (more of) a gibbering, drooling idiot any time either of those games comes into conversation, so I’m pretty excited. If Metal Gear Solid 4 hadn’t already clinched it, this would ensure my eager purchase of a PS3, in due time, hopefully once the price for the system has come down a little. If it hasn’t by the time either of these games is out, I’ll probably get in line and bend over like everybody else. And like it.
In other news, I’m flying out to Camarillo, CA tomorrow for an in-person interview with Kush Games on Friday. The more I hear from them about it, the more it sounds like I essentially have the job and they just want to get to know my personality a little bit to make sure I’ll fit in and show me around the place. So, hopefully I’ll have a job, finally, and I can get on with collecting all my precious trinkets. It’s a little annoying that Tony and Darryl are on the other side of LA, but I’m sure we’ll find the time to hang out occasionally at least. Anyways, yes, much exciting news.
Games, News
ICO, Kush Games, Metal Gear Solid 4, Shadow of the Colossus
I ran across this little story browsing the internet tonight and I feel I should repost it here for two main reasons. One, it’s an awesome story that will probably make anybody who likes watching the History Channel laugh, and two, I want to be able to remember what book it’s from so I can buy it later. I guess I’ll put a break after the first part, since it is kind of long.
“SR71 - Speed is King
An excerpt from “Sled Driver” by Brian Shul
There were a lot of things we couldn’t do in an SR-71, but we were the fastest guys on the block and loved reminding our fellow aviators of this fact. People often asked us if, because of this fact, it was fun to fly the jet. Fun would not be the first word I would use to describe flying this plane. Intense, maybe even cerebral. But there was one day in our Sled experience when we would have to say that it was pure fun to be the fastest guys out there, at least for a moment. It occurred when Walt and I were flying our final training sortie. We needed 100 hours in the jet to complete our training and attain Mission Ready status.
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Literature
