Tag Archives: Life

Personal Project Overload? Reboot.

A frequent problem of mine – coming up with too many tasks to do in my free time. Its something that plagues me when I’m too busy to add to the list; I have to keep piling it on. A backlog of games/books/movies, new projects, blog updates, clean out files on my computer or desk, picking up gardening, trying new recipes, begin an exercise program, catch up with old friends, and the list can go on and they do and they multiply. Often it leaves me just sitting and staring at the wall, not knowing which way I should be turning and my brain scattered across the room. Or even worse, it ends with endlessly streaming through Facebook posts and articles, mindlessly going where everyone has gone before. I feel lucky when it’s more productive procrastination, cleaning the apartment and reorganizing my desk, both usually on my “Household List.” In the end comes down to me not getting anything meaningful done.

Continue reading

Quick Post before bed.

Some things I am noting:

  • Nose is too wide.
  • Eyes may be wrong shape or do not come inward enough, producing an effect of them being too far apart or small.
  • Lips still need more work. – If anyone has any tips on lip sculpting in Zbrush, now would be the time.
  • Ears got pulled out too far in repositioning.

quickie

I really want to finish this model so I can light and texture him.  I have another model I am supposed to be starting Friday, which turns out to now be today.  😀  Also lighting and rendering homework, graphic design freelance and everything I have to do for moving and keeping my life afloat.  

Basically, for anyone who reads this, I am saying I am working at a constant rate.  Tomorrow/Today will be a big day.

%

Anyone that truly knows me, knows I have a massive problem when faced by percentages. I get clammy, disoriented, then I lapse into an unholy fit of focus. Thoughts fly through my mind, “not again,” “that could be 100,” and “whoever created the percent symbol is a genius.” Coping with it not moving is not an option. Walking away, definitely not an option. It must be conquered and it will be conquered by me. The left side of my brain rejoices, while the right side says, “Oh crap, not again.”

What brought this up is work. We implemented a percentage into our system and now it haunts me in good and bad ways. (Ambiguous enough?) It did bring up games in my head, as does everything. What is it about seeing my status, that gets me through the game? I am 3 times more likely to finish the game if I have that goal. (Scientific poll with myself.) Games, such as Morrowind, fall to the wayside, because I am unable to grasp a foreseeable goal. My LinkedIn profile is even at 100%, because I couldn’t let it sit at 95%. It made me sad.

The question really is, does this help gameplay? Is this something that enhances the player’s experience, or does it throw your game into a pile of other games that have to be completed for completed sake?

I prefer the status bar, because it helps me visualize my progression. There is a need to know I am being productive in my environment and I want to see by how much. I felt very accomplished plowing through 33% of Jak and Daxter in one sitting, but I wouldn’t have known that unless they gave me all the tools to see that progress. How many orbs do I have from that one area at the beginning of the game. There are a lot of games that have managed to get so complicated that they require the status bar, or the player would never know what they are missing. Confusion and irritation would take over and the game would end up at the wayside.

I think what it comes down to is the player’s preference in how they want to perceive the game world. How detached from the reality of the game do they want to be. Do they want the game broken down into goals for them, or do they want to have a playpen where they create their own goals for an infinite amount of time?

At least we don’t have percentage bars on our lives. That would be depressing, and raise the question, “Why is yours going 4 times slower than mine?”