blog.erwintang.com

I can tell the game is almost done because I actually had time to go to the movies tonight. Nearly two months after everyone else saw it, I finally viewed The Transformers. While everyone else takes for granted movie-going as a simple and easy way to be entertained, I was genuinely delighted just to be in a movie theatre.

I technically did no work on the weekend either. Though I did stop in at the studio on both days of the weekend, it was just to check up on things and to see if I was need to put in a fix for something. I wasn’t needed either day, so on Saturday, it was off to Nigel’s b-day dinner and on Sunday, it was off to do some shopping downtown.

A couple more days and skate. will be done.

Garrett mentioned me in one of his latest posts. I would have really enjoyed getting in on the Memphis Blues part of the evening but oh well.

I’m about to eat a blueberry muffin.

In a previous post I mentioned how my good friends Nic and Marcia came back to Vancouver for a visit. They brought with them their first child, Nyah who I had the pleasure of meeting. During lunch, Nyah spit up some of Marcia’s breast milk onto my shirt. I finally have a photo of the blessed event. Despite the little accident, Nyah is a delightful little baby.

There have been a ton of people who have poured many hours of work into the game I’ve been working on. Sometimes when I’m at work late, I ask myself, “Outside EA, does anyone really care that I’m expending all this effort into making this a better game?”

For some developers, they’ll never know the answer to that question because there’s no way for the general public to provide their thoughts on an unreleased game. Lucky for us, there’s the EA forums, which has been a way for the public to tell us what they think. A few days ago, we had to announce that there was going to be a small delay in releasing the demo on Xbox 360. It was originally going to be out on the 15th of this month but it will be later now.

There was a lot of hectic activity on the forum after we made that announcement. A lot of people were disappointed. In amongst those posts, however, was one user who tried to put it all in perspective:

“Scotty B’s the man. everyone dont get mad at the devs for this mishap its not there fault. once you get the game i can assure you all it was worth the wait. All of you guys that have worked on this game are GODS to me cause i actually take skateboarding seriously and you guys have made it possible to play an acutuall [sic] real skate game which i have been waiting for all of my life. i can wait for this demo as long as it takes and no one should be complaining. Ide [sic] like to see you make a game as epic as this ones gonna be.

Thanks to all of you at Blackbox you have basically made my dreams come true with this game. Once i get this game (which i have already paid for) i will cry in the car until i get home because i will be soo exited.

First Trick goin down: Kick back lip.

thanks again you all are gods.”

So there you have it. At least one guy out there appreciates our hard work. He even called us gods. That’s a nice touch. Also, I’m glad he’s excited about the game but I hope he won’t really cry in the car on the way home.

Despite working roughly 12 hours a day for who knows how long it’s been, I do manage to sneak away for some social time once in a while. Today was such an occurrence when I went out to dinner with my friend Kate who has just returned from a whirlwind tour of the world. This was my first time seeing Kate since just before she left for Australia.

We chose to go to Steamworks for dinner since it was close by, even though I think Steamworks is completely overrated and is actually a pretty mediocre eatery. Anyways, we were able to find a table downstairs near the window that afforded us a view of water. Our waiter turned out to be a gentleman who I shall call “Tory” in this post.

Now I knew we were instantly in for a unique waitering experience as soon as I saw Tory. Tory sported a very well-groomed pornstache that would make most men in the 70s jealous. He had grown it to a perfect length, not too long to have it look like a handlebar but long enough to evoke that “bow-chicka-wow-wow” feeling.

Tory, while polite, also had a bit of cheekiness that I could not help but respect from a food service point of view. When Kate asked him if it was possible to get a whole wheat bun for her veggie burger, Tory instantly responded with:

“Not a chance.”

He smiled when he said it, so it kinda made it ok. Plus, I couldn’t help but stare at his pornstache.

Overall, Kate and I had a great time at dinner. In the end, we rated Tory’s service as overall good with a few points deducted for screwing up Kate’s order slightly. We did, however, add points for the pornstache.

Gwilli, otherwise known as Greg, is leaving his current job and taking a new one that’s closer to his home. This new move means he won’t be able to lunch with Garrett and I anymore. To celebrate his new job, he took us to Costco and then the Tinseltown food court. I’ve never really had high praise for that food court. Sadly, I was right again. The highlight of the lunch was seeing Greg get a 1 Tb drive. That’s enough to fit every Zamfir CD that’s been released.

Read all about here.

I almost forgot the milestone but today is my one year anniversary as a software engineer at EA. It’s been an interesting and difficult year, not difficult bad, just a lot of work. A lot has transpired in the last twelve months.

If you know me, you know I’m fond of reflecting on past times and this case will be no different. I almost didn’t take the EA offer because I didn’t think I was “good enough” to be at EA. The decision was really difficult at the time since I didn’t want to screw up what I had already.

Well, one year later and I have absolutely no doubts or regrets about my decision. I also know now I am certainly good enough to be an EA SE. Having said that, I realize I am far from the best SE at EA and there’s a lot for me to learn still. It’s this combination of being comfortable in my abilities while realizing I can improve that puts me in a position that I like.

What a mistake it would have been to have not taken the offer. My goal in grad school was to work on a big triple-A title on next-gen consoles. skate certainly fits that description. It’s a privilege being part of the team that’s making skate. I’ve seen so many new things that EA does that I would have missed out on at a smaller company. Just the fact that people are even talking about our game in appreciable numbers on the Internet is a real treat.

Of course, it hasn’t been all party hats and gold coins. I’ve worked a lot of OT and I’ve essentially given my life to this game for about half a year. It’s a lot to ask for out of people and I hope the higher-ups at EA realize this. Actually, I do know some managers realize this, they’ve told me. I know they’ll try to make it up to us. The only question is, what will they offer us?

So, it’s year one done and I don’t know how many more in the future. It was a good decision and I can’t wait to get skate out the door.

What you will need:

* 2 cups flour
* 1 cup butter, softened
* 1/2 tsp baking powder
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 1 egg
* grated rind of one lemon

Directions:

1. Sift flour and baking powder together in a small bowl.
2. Cream butter, add sugar slowly, mixing well.
3. Mix in egg and lemon rind.
4. Add flour/baking powder mixture, mix in well.
5. Shape into balls about the size of a golf ball, place on pan, flatten slightly with the bottom of a glass.
6. Bake at 300° for 15 to 20 minutes, just until a bit golden on the edges.
7. These last well if kept in a tightly covered container, and actually taste even better after a day or two as the flavors develop.

Um, I’ve never tried this recipe. I wrote it down on a cocktail napkin a few months ago when I was at the Cecil. Let me know how it turns out.