Joyo

Hey have you ever wondered what a game developer looks like when the BBC show up to interview him an hour after launching a flagship title after a month of crunch-time?

KINDA LIKE THIS:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12615599


Surpringly compos mentis, trust me.  I'm dead chuffed.  I love my team, I love my boy y'all are so fucking great I hope we ULTRA-SUCCEED.

OH YEAH The game launcched.

And I am in San Francisco for GDC

And I am late for breakfast

GOTTA RUN

BTW here is a list things going on in my life, which may also explain how poorly I've done with the "talk to internet more" resolution that I'm definitely going to write down any day now.


1. Negotiated renewal terms for the house and: I can have pets! Small pets. Caged pets. I want rats! Rats are terrific. I emailed a breeder a week ago, but she still hasn't gotten back to me.

2. ALSO: Work! We are in the Final Crunch. We launch the game on Feb 15th. There has been much overtime. There shall be much more. Outside of work I have been doing very little other than eating, sleeping and:

3. Minecraft! Good wholesome fun. 1m users agree. On Peaceful mode with draw distance set to maximum it's also a very soothing affair (hence its current appear to half of our office). I bought probably 40 games over the Steam holiday sales and guess what I've played instead? Hint: MINECRAFT.

4. Right after launch, I am going to Asheville, NC, home of NOAA for a big launch event. The uh...town is hosting it, I believe? I just found out about this but it will require *press training* so...eep?

5. laurashapiro and her SO is coming to stay with us in March! We shall then away to Cardiff to Vidukon.

6. Vidukon! I would love to make a vid for Vidukon. Or just another vid in general, really. We'll see how work/work-addled psyche allows for spare time.

7. Also in March: I get older! Friends get married! April: Ian gets older, we go to Chicago!


Life is busy, and in mostly a good way and wow there are lots of neat things to look forward to!

Internet, I will try to tell you about some of them.

A confession: I have not been following U.S. politics in detail since...oh, I dunno...2006.

Well, that statement is misleading. Okay, so not "misleading" so much as...entirely false. Let me restate:

I keep informed enough to know what's going on, and on occasion I'll read in depth analyses of events/individuals but I keep it in the most emotionally-detatched way possible. If there's one thing my expat status has done for my political sensibilities, it's to provide me the emotional distance to keep the ugliest details of the frankly pathological rhetoric of American politics. I've always strugged with the tone that we conduct our discourse with, and good god but it's actually gotten *worse*. At least, the worst bits of it are floating ever-closer to the mainstream. I look at the events, I look at the names, I look at the more academic-flavoured assessment of those names and events...I skip the emotion (unless it's an analysis of the emotion!). I skip the (purely) politics blogs. I skip the pundits. Hell, I almost always skip the "comments" section on any given U.S. politics story.

I always struggle for the words to describe what a relief that is. And you know what? I know what those comments will say, anyway. There's a few major flavors of "Americans respond to American politics" commentary pages, each which their own structure and major recurring characters and pattern of discussion. I could draw you charts. And every time I get whimsical decide to read them anyway, it's all right there again. There are no surprises, there are no additional insights.

This is entirely true of UK politics pages, however this is different.

As it turns out, I am American. America is my homeland. This is a part of my identity that, after 4 years abroad I am starting to embrace. I can even say it without the "I know we've got problems, but..." qualification now, and everything. I don't care anymore if simply stating that leaves someone unaware of how excellent my brain is at balancing concepts national identity with the actions of governments with the interrogations of the very notion of the state, and how thoroughly I have interrogated concepts of patriotism and the constant really rather sexy internal conflicts I juggle across these subjects. I can live with this.

I'm a liberal atheist. My formative years were spent nestled round the buckle of the Bible Belt, in a very conservative, very Christian town. My mother was/is a left-center Democrat, and until recently my Dad was a hardline Independent with frequently diametically opposed views. I was living at home during the 2004 presidential campaign, and it was *fucking horrible*. I have also struggled with articulation and self-expression for my entire life, and the constant tension between the thoughts in my head in all of their nuance and the ideas as they emerge from my mouth/fingers were and are a perpetual source of stress. If I finish this entry, it will have taken no fewer than 2 hours. (just because I hardly post does not mean I don't constantly draft entries). I think the *emotion* of U.S. politics affects me because my own (frequently strong) emotions coupled with the aforementioned communication problems leaves me feeling trapped and helpless.

Now, after a morning mis-spent reading the comments on the BBC site re: the shooting of Arizona Congresswoman I watched the public statement by the Sheriff of Pima County on the shooting.

And where the defensive callus has already been rubbed thin, it feels now like an old wound has been opened. I was in tears by the end.

The only thing I could come away with, after watching this man publicly struggling to come to grips with what has happened in his state, in the county under his protection, in his *home* and what *has been* happening since the 2008 elections, is what can only be described as *pain*. I've been thrust back into the *feeling* of U.S. politics, and watching one person appear to genuinely struggle with such a horrific expression the ugliness of it has cut right through me.

My country is hurting, and like a trapped, wounded animal it will continue to thrash and tear at its own flesh in desperation until...until what? We've been here before, but what is it going to take this time?



Comments disabled, because I've seen enough comments today.

I started my festivid assignment, *finally*. I'm feeling good about it, the idea is clear and it the vid pleases me, so can't complain on that front.

Speaking of fronts, that paragraph is a total front for the true purpose of this post: We have a sick fox in our garden.

Late this morning Ian yelled "Amy look out the back window!"

This is code for "there is a feathery or fuzzy thing in the garden which is by its very nature relevant to your interests"

It's usually our resident green woodpecker, but today it was...a little fox.

A very sick little fox. It's always weird to see a fox strolling around in broad daylight, nevermind laying down in full view to scratch and bite at itself for 20 mins.

( Vulpine Rescue Adventures! )

So, I'm a games designer (official title: Junior Designer. I don't have a badge yet, but I get to hold the map?). We're a small team at an indie studio in Oxford with a socially concious remit.

One of the reasons my posting and commenting has been particularly light the last few months is because of work. The good news is that the game goes up for preorder on Friday, 29th October on our own web shop, as well as on digital stores Seam (omg), Direct to Drive, and Impulse.

Pre-ordering gives you access to the open Beta, where you can help us improve the game before it's final release in February.

If you like light strategy games, know people who do or have just been won over by this fetching piece of video production, have a peek, and spread the word.



note for Fannish Friends: We made that trailer in-house. And by "we" I mean one person. 3 points for guessing who.

I'm being inspired by several other people on my read-stuff-people-write list.

Here a life update:

I did not steal the kitten.

A month ago, we saw him for the first time, to our surprise sitting in a tree. On sighting us, he mewed down to us. TINY. KITTEN. MEWS. He was interested for a good 10 seconds, but then set about DEFEATING THE TREE with his fearsome kitten claws and teeth.

It made me happy (KITTEN TINY BLACK KITTEN). It made me sad (there shall be no kittens for Amy, for some time yet).

We saw him semi-regularly after that, warned by the tiny bell on his collar that he was stalking through the bushes AHA YOU HAVE GROCERY BAGS I WILL PERCH. Other times he bravely defeated my hand, realized it wasn't a actually a bird, and bounced off. Rambunctious, fearless, aloof. KITTEN.

( Kitten: How I Did Not Steal It )

Note; This is just the con report in text. I'm going to do a separate Vid Recs/reaction post, because a: People should like things that I like and b: It will be good for me?

Okay, I'm going to write this now, because once I get back to work it's just gonna get sucked down the vortex of "LATER I PROMISE". But as a warning: I am sitting in Oxford, having dragged myself kicking and screaming awake from a nap, thinking "man, it was really nice of pipsqueaky to take us to Dairy Queen for Blizzards and then drop us off at our house an hour ago".

You guys, that happened *yesterday night*. IN A DIFFERENT COUNTRY.

Also, I didn't take notes so this is all pulled directly from the labyrinth that is my *brain*.

ETA: Didn't finish it, try Saturday Morning Sunday PM brain instead. ANYWAY

VIVIDCON 2010:

( Pre-Con: Zombie Apocalypse??? )

( Thursday: Meeting People, Registration, House of Meat )

( Friday: Vidshows )

Ok, wow. That's a lotta post. I think I should break this into sections. Behold, Pt 1.

This is a Vividcon post. If that means anything to y'all, read on. Well I mean, read on if you want to read on, just, if you don't know what Vividcon is you will be a bit confused.

SO...two things:

1) I FINISHED MY SHOSHANNA VID. JETLAG HELPED. IT'S IN VVC PREMIERES. IT MIGHT NOT SUCK. IF IT DOES, I WILL BE TOLD. NO PRESSURE, ME. In lieu of photgraphs I provide you with this illustration of how this makes me feel: :D D: :D D: :D

I want to vid more. I have ideas queued up.

2) I am really looking forward to VVC. Straight up. Hopefully the flight won't fuck my ankles up as much flying to Texas did so I can dance as hard as I can. OMG I haven't seen some of you guys in a *year* OMG MORE PLEASE. And I get to see *caaaaaaaats*. I am so animal deprived, you guys. I just spent 6 hours at a street festival gazing longingly at people's puppies.

Apparently I am tired and rambly, and therefore you do not get more substance in this update. Whoops.

It would appear I have a DW account now.

Here is an introductory post that is probably as good as any other introductory post I'd have done.

It is actually the transcript of a "conversation" I have just had.

Me: So I was going to join the doctorwho comm but then I read the front page of doctorwho comm and now I do not want to join doctorwho.

AD: laughs

Me: ...I do like the icons, though.


I think that sums up quite a lot of things about my relationship to fandom, really. I will grab bits and snatches of it and surround myself with fans who do not do things like say "I literally do not see race but I need to know for my fic so can you tell me what race Mickey and Rose's baby would be?" and "Amy Pond is a slut on account of her shortened skirt and self-confidence YES/YES???."

EHEM. Time for work...