Month: October 2011

Usually when a game I worked on is released, I make sure that I get a retail copy so that I can play it soon after its on store shelves. The latest game to have my name on it was Fight Night Champion. Though it was released at the beginning of March of this year, I only just received a playable copy of the game tonight. EA honoured my request and laid me off before FNC was done. When the game shipped, they sent me my plaque and a copy of the game. Unfortunately, it was the PS3 version of the game and I don’t own a PS3. I gave that copy to a friend. My desire to see my handiwork in action was never very high for FNC. I’ve written about this before but my time on FNC was not very enjoyable. I felt very little respect from the other engineers on my team and I was doing the game development equivalent of digging a ditch as my main responsibility. As you might imagine, I wasn’t in a hurry to throw a copy of FNC into my Xbox 360. I must be clear though, my attitude towards the game is no reflection on the quality of the game itself. FNC managed to get an 86 Metacritic score which is a great accomplishment. None of my work on the game helped to get that score… ’cause you know, digital ditch digging.

Like I mentioned above though, I finally managed to snag a copy of the game tonight. The first thing I did was to go look at the credits. Was that a bit vain? Perhaps. The reason I wanted to see the credits was because I wanted to know what category they would slot my name under. Usually, a game’s credits will have a category for “Additional Programming”. This is reserved for people who aren’t formally on the team but might have contributed a small amount of engineering work. Even putting in a weekend’s worth of work can get your name into that list. I was on the FNC team from April of 2010 to October 2010. Because I got booted (at my request) from the company, I was afraid they’d stick me under “Additional Programming” for seven months of work (which is a substantial amount of time). To my relief and to EA’s credit though, they included my name in the main list of software engineers. So if you look at the credits for FNC, you’ll see my name mixed up with the names of the engineers who actually did the important work.

It’s sad how my attitude towards FNC is in stark contrast to my absolute enthusiasm for my first Xbox 360 title, skate. For that game, I would have told anyone on the street that I worked on it. I bought many copies of skate. and gave them away to friends because I was so proud of what I had helped make with so many amazing people. Man, I think I know how Cuba Gooding Jr. feels like now. Fear not though, loyal readers, Prototype 2 is going to be pretty good. Stay tuned for that.

I just wanna give a shout out to two readers from Vancouver and Maryland who’ve been using Google to search this blog. I’m not sure exactly who you are but I have some theories. Anyways, hello to the both of you!

Earlier this week, I mentioned I was feeling like I was going to get sick with a cold. That has indeed happened. It’s not a terrible cold but my sinuses are a bit stuffy and my throat is a bit scratchy still. I hope a cough doesn’t develop, that would be very, very bad. Any cough that I have lingers with me for weeks.

While I’ve been writing this post, I’ve also been listening to the fire/rescue online scanner for Vancouver. I missed some details but emergency rescue personnel are on scene at either a creek or beach where a 50 year old man has been pulled from the water with hypothermia. He’s alive and conscious but they need to get this guy warmed up. I believe there’s some environmental challenges which are preventing the paramedics from getting to him. It sounds like firefighters are with the victim and they want to put him in a basket and haul him out of where ever he is. Oh man, am I turning into one of those guys that go to their basements and listens to emergency radio scanners for entertainment? Oh there’s an update, I think the incident is at Lynn Canyon because someone just mentioned Lions Gate hospital.

Ok, I need to go to bed.

In a previous post, I detailed how a camera crew from G4TV visited Radical Entertainment where I work. During the same visit, Activision Social Media Manager, Dan Amrich and his wife Katrin were also at Radical. I didn’t know it at the time but Amrich was going to write a blog post about his visit. They were given a tour of the studio by Ken, the studio head at Radical. I knew they were coming close to our area so Matt, one of the lead programmers, and I wondered what we should be doing when they came by. Matt said we should do the popular “let’s have two people looking at the same monitor as we both point towards something on the screen while looking fascinated” routine but it seemed cliched.

When everyone finally came around, both Matt and I actually stopped working. Ken asked us a few questions about what we were working on. After we replied, a picture was taken and that’s what you see above. Unfortunately, that picture is not representative of how we go about making games. First, we do not make games by using a PS3 controller as I am holding in my hand in the picture. Despite what this commercial implies, actual game making involves, at least for me, pounding away at the keyboard until the compiler finally recognizes everything I’ve written. Second, most of the time, I do not have a rather goofy smile on my face as I’m working. In fact, in this stage of the project, I’m more likely to have a furrowed brow as I wonder why something isn’t working or why someone dumped a bug that has nothing to do with me in my bin. Lastly, though it appears I’m pointing out to Matt how tight my graphics are, we don’t usually point out what we’ve finished to another person. I suppose if it’s something really, really cool we do but we’re at the bug fixing stage, so we’re just trying to get as many issues corrected as possible. I also want to point out that I’m slouching horribly in that picture which is probably why I had terribly tight back muscles for that entire week. Sit up straight people!

I’ve written in previous posts that I don’t dream very often or if I do, I can never remember the contents of the dream. Last week, not only did I have two separate dreams in one night, I also remembered both of them.

I don’t remember every exact detail about my first dream but I do remember the main detail of it. It was a fairly normal dream in that I was in the “real world” except that at one point, I made the shocking discovery that my apartment contained bed bugs. I suppose after having written a multi-post series about my own real battle with bed bugs, this wasn’t a surprise thing to dream about. In my dream, I can vividly recall discovering those oval, mahogany coloured bastards on some of my possessions. It seemed so real but then I woke up to a darkened room and I was in my bed. I was so relieved that it was a dream and that I didn’t have to deal with bed bugs again. Knock on bed bug free wood.

As the relief washed over me, I gently put my head back on my pillow and closed my eyes so that sweet, restful sleep could come to me again. I did not know at the time that I was going to dream again before the morning arrived. In my second dream, the world was a bit more surreal. I found myself in an apartment that had many levels but each level was quite small in comparison. I suppose it was a very tall apartment with a small footprint. For some reason my sister was there with me on the same level that I was on. I noticed that door to the outside was unlocked. I went over to the door to lock the deadbolt. As I locked the door, I noticed a shadow pass behind the peephole. I thought, man good thing I locked the door, it seems like someone is right behind the door. As soon as I finished that thought, the whole door appeared to move inwards as if it hadn’t been locked nor even connected on its hinges. It was coming straight back at me. I panicked as I didn’t know who was behind the door nor how the door was logically moving like that. I didn’t have time to think about it some more as I immediately awoke. It took me a second to realize I was again in my bed, safe and warn.

I went back to sleep again and that was thankfully the last dream of the night. I’m hesitant to call them nightmares because it wasn’t all that frightening just a bit exciting. And that’s how babies are made.

I spent a portion of my late afternoon putting together a bookcase that I bought from Ikea yesterday. I actually had to buy a rubber mallet to assist me in putting all the pieces together. The instructions showed a picture of a regular hammer (shaped like a hammer for nails) but had I used one of those, I would have definitely dented major portions of the bookcase. I’m quite fond of my rubber mallet. You can strike things without leaving a mark or dent.

Anyways, after finishing construction of my bookcase, I took a breather and enjoyed a well-chilled soft drink. It was then I noticed my throat was a bit scratchy. I thought maybe I had breathed in some dust from the furniture box. I then spent the next little while watching the hockey game out of Columbus. When the game was over, I realized my scratch throat was now becoming a sore throat, one that usually is a prelude to a cold.

I currently feel fine otherwise but my throat is definitely indicating that a cold is probably on its way. I think I’ve only had two colds this entire year. That’s a pretty good year for me. There is a slight chance that I won’t get any more sick than this but the odds aren’t in my favour. I’m gonna get some sleep and see how I feel in the morning.

By the way, I love referring to myself as “Daddy” when I get sick because I know Sarah from Australia enjoys it when I do that.

For decades, people have entertained themselves by listening to police, fire, and rescue radio scanners. Part of the appeal is being able to listen to various emergency dispatch calls that go out. All of this is happening in real time, no depending on the local news to report to you hours later. It used to be you needed to buy your own scanner if you wanted partake in this hobby. Like with so many other things, the Internet has made things much easier and more accessible.

The radio scanning community for the province of British Columbia now shares its scanners with the rest of world via the Internet. Their web site, ScanBC, provides streamed access to the various radio systems used by the province’s emergency responders. The most interesting ones include E-Comm Vancouver, E-Comm Surrey, and Skytrain. The first two cover fire and rescue for western and eastern part of the Lower Mainland. The Skytrain scanner lets you listen in on the system that Skytrain attendants use to communicate with main control. What’s noticeably missing are scanners for the police. It’s my understanding that police communications in the Lower Mainland cannot be monitored with scanners that are available to the public. This is quite understandable as I imagine being able to listen in on police radio chatter puts law enforcement at a disadvantaged position.

Nonetheless, the existing services available are quite entertaining to listen to, especially on the weekends. On Saturday night, I was able to hear some quite interesting things. On the Skytrain scanner, I got to hear the chatter while Skytrain attendants prepared to shut down the rapid transit line for the night. One attendant warned control that a particular inbound car contained a “hot lunch”. I am pretty sure that did not mean that a passenger had forgotten their food on one of the trains. The E-Comm Vancouver scanner was especially lively. Given it was the weekend and that scanner includes fire/rescue for downtown Vancouver, it was an interesting night. Most of the calls came from the downtown area. I heard requests for assistance involving “hemorrhaging”, “chest pains”, “fire alarm activation”, and “fall”.

The most interesting call happened about 3am as I was thinking about going to bed. There was a “structural fire” in Vancouver involving a house. The firefighters that came on scene reported to dispatch that they couldn’t even get in through the door. Apparently, there was a massive amount of debris blocking the entrance and they were requesting a chainsaw. Then the firefighters reported that there was an assumption that someone was still inside the house. The fire became a tw0-alarm fire and more personnel were brought on scene. It was then reported the house was a hoarder’s house and that’s why they were having so much trouble getting inside the house. They finally were able to get a few dudes inside to confirm if the house was empty. Keep in mind, the fire wasn’t even out at this point. Someone then decided it was getting too risky as the fire was still raging, the house was filled with junk, and they were concerned the house was not structurally safe anymore. What few firefighters had managed to get inside were pulled back out and accounted for. It was at this point I went to bed.

When I woke up the next morning, the fire had made the local news. As of this time, they still hadn’t confirmed if the house was devoid of people at the time of the fire. If you’re ever bored, check out the ScanBC web site. They also have a Twitter account which distills the most interesting calls into convenient Tweets.

I just wanted to share a little bit of wisdom/advice/suggestion to you, my loyal readers. I admit I cannot take credit for this useful nugget of information as it was told to me by a friend. Nonetheless, I believe it’s worth sharing.

Are you ever late for something? A job? A date? Meeting someone? An interview? This is one way to explain your tardiness or absence without getting into any trouble or having to explain yourself further. If someone challenges you as to why you were missing or late, just say:

Oh sorry, I had diarrhea.

According to my friend, this usually ends the conversation and the person who is questioning you will almost never continue to probe any deeper. I myself have not used this tactic but I’ve sure come close several times. It’s a bold strategy and you want to make sure you’re ready to go through with it. When you say it, you can’t be embarrassed or shy about it. Just state it as plainly as you can, as if you were gone because of a doctor’s appointment.

If you happen do actually try this sometime, let me know how it goes.

In my last post, I wrote how I have about seven weeks left at Radical Entertainment before my contract ends. I’m happy to report that before I leave, you now have the chance to see where I work. G4TV did a little story on us last week and it aired today in the afternoon. The reason why they came to the studio was to chronicle the adventures of some contest winners. A few game retailers worldwide partnered with Radical to hold a contest. The winner would get flown out to Vancouver, come visit Radical, and get their faces photographed. Those photographs would then be turned into art assets so they could be placed as pedestrians in the game. These people would literally be in the game.

So last week the winners, who came from around the world, arrived at the studio for the visit. G4TV came along to document the visit. A camera crew filmed the whole thing, from the airport, the hotel, and of course the studio visit. They must have filmed hours of footage but it got all edited down to less than three minutes. If you look really closely at the video above, I actually make an appearance at about 1:30. For those who don’t have eyes like Legolas, I’ve circled myself in the image below:

Can you see the spinach that was stuck in my teeth that day?

Since leaving grad school in 2005, I’ve kept track of my finances. One of the stats I look at is the amount of money I pull in after taxes vs. the amount of money I spend on a monthly basis. This is an excellent indicator of how much I’m saving and the trend over the year. Before I bought my apartment, on average for every two dollars I made, one dollar was saved and went into a bank account. The ratio was slightly less favourable at the beginning of my career since I made less but it’s a good ballpark figure.

At the end of August, I looked at my numbers in my virtual ledger and realized it was not a good summer for saving money. For the months of June, July, and August, I actually spent more money than I made. This likely meant my net worth actually decreased over the summer which sucks. There were some special circumstances to those months though. I spent more than usual in June because I went to a wedding in Winnipeg, which included airfare and hotels. June was also my sister’s wedding and I’m not ashamed to admit I gave my sister and my brother-in-law a generous gift. I’m an awesome brother, it’s what I do. I almost broke even in July though I was still in the red slightly. August was another expensive month since I paid for my father’s car insurance as his birthday gift.

I saw September as a chance to get back into savings mode, so I challenged myself to save one dollar for every two dollars I brought in. I didn’t have any strict rules for the month, I just was aware that I wanted to save more. I definitely went out less during September. It didn’t mean I stayed at home every single night but it did mean I might have made dinner at home on a night I could have went to a restaurant. I also did not buy any clothes during the month of September. This was mostly because I just didn’t see anything at Banana Republic that I liked more than anything but it stills counts! I also made some effort to eat lunch at the studio more often. Since food is provided at work, this probably saved me at least $10 a day in lunch money. Since the game I’m working on is in full swing, we get OT dinners. That meant if I worked late, I got free dinner. I admit, there were a few nights where I traded my effort in fixing bugs for some din-din.

Somehow, at the end of the month, I was able to reach my goal of saving one dollar for every two dollars I made. I actually didn’t even use a single coupon during the month. Let’s see how much I can save in October!

I looked at the calendar on the weekend and realized it was already October. Not sure about you but September flew by for me. I can’t tell if it’s a good or bad thing when a month of time disappears like it was just minutes. When I realized it was October, I also realized another fact. Unless something changes in the short term, I will be unemployed in about seven weeks. My contract at Radical ends on November 18. The contract was originally supposed to end in October but I received and accepted an extension in August. With the original schedule, I’d be looking at less than four week of employment at this point.

This is new territory for me. This is only the second contract job I’ve ever had and will be the first one that I’ve been able to take to the intended end date. We all know what happened with my first contract job. I know a lot of people would have started to line up the next gig months ago if they were in my position but I have to admit that other than some cursory exploration, I haven’t done any serious work towards finding new employment. There are several reasons for that. First, many gaming companies don’t do a lot of hiring during the holiday season. I say this even though UFG brought me on last December but that was rare. In any case, I don’t expect too many opportunities to be there before the new year rolls around. Second, I’m actually looking forward to having some time off. Outside of a four day weekend in June, I didn’t take any vacation at all this summer. It’s going to be cold and rainy, possibly even snowy in late December and the thought of being able to sleep in late while everyone trudges off to work makes me all warm. I’m super behind in my video game playing and movie watching, so it’ll be a great time to be entertained and inside, where it’ll be warm. I’m also thinking about taking a vacation somewhere sunny and pleasant. The plan is to go somewhere that has a tennis pro where I can play tennis for a week.

I know when I bought my apartment and took on my mortgage, the prospect of being unemployed and still having to make mortgage payments scared me. I’ve gone through that once already and it wasn’t a big deal at all. I hardly live paycheque to paycheque so a lot of potential worries don’t come into play here. I’m looking forward to having some time off in less than two months!