Hope all is going well for you all!
Today I make a presentation for the company that will decide exactly how much money the project will continue to be given, and ultimately how much revenue share I and the rest of the development team get of the final. I'm a bit anxious, but it should go alright.
Only, like, 3 weeks until I fly back!
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Wednesday August 25 0928
Hong Kong was really awesome to visit, and I made sure to get around and see it for the day I was there. When I came to Shanghai, I was expecting crowded streets with dozens of big signs hanging over it, but got wide sidewalks and avenues: that's because my picture of China was Hong Kong basically. All the buildings are tall, there are hundreds of pawn shops, whole streets of fashion shops and boutiques, and thousands of money changers. There are British-style trams and taxis, bank towers left and right, and a full-blooded racial class system: Mandarin, Western, Indian, Cantonese, which makes for a really weird place. All the streets are named after western names: I stayed my night in an alley hotel off the intersection of Jordan and Nathan street (which apparantly have their own wikipedia article...)
Hong Kong is in two parts: Kowloon and Honk Kong, with the former being on the "inland island", and the latter being this pickle-shaped isle with a steep mountain range along the center. Hong Kong is centered on the strait formed by their proximity, which is called the 'Harbor'. The skyscrapers are mostly on the isle, but the biggest skyscrapers are in Kowloon. This is a recent picture: my hotel was nearish to the tallest skyscraper in the middle-right.
Hong Kong is tropical: it kept raining, then dry, then raining, then dry, the whole time I was there. I had to buy an umbrella from one of the 7-Elevens (which are EVERYWHERE). All the western chains were represented, and I'd have to say the part of Hong Kong below the third floor is entirely dedicated to shops and public businesses. It's a great place to spend all your money away, I bet.
As a sidenote... The Chinese Bureaucracy is truly Grand and Harmonious. I was really dreading my visit, imagining an even more incomprehensible DMV. The truth, though, is that getting my new visa took a total of an hour spread over two days (application, then pick up the next day). And it's not like I was the only one there that day: there were at least 100 people in front of me in line. However, the lady next to me in line was a television executive, and she answered some questions of mine about the extent of Chinese television regulation and censorship, and I think that caused my net approval of the bureaucratic efficiency to be counterbalanced.
So yea: it is one of the only times I've actually regretted forgetting my camera at home, and I think I'd do a better job relating about my visit in person. It was indeed a very interesting visit, with lots of sights and sounds: I'd be happy to go visit again for a longer duration. Shanghai is probably better to live in for my purposes, but Hong Kong is certainly more rewarding if you are wanting to visit somewhere Eastern but still have some home comforts.
Hong Kong is in two parts: Kowloon and Honk Kong, with the former being on the "inland island", and the latter being this pickle-shaped isle with a steep mountain range along the center. Hong Kong is centered on the strait formed by their proximity, which is called the 'Harbor'. The skyscrapers are mostly on the isle, but the biggest skyscrapers are in Kowloon. This is a recent picture: my hotel was nearish to the tallest skyscraper in the middle-right.
Hong Kong is tropical: it kept raining, then dry, then raining, then dry, the whole time I was there. I had to buy an umbrella from one of the 7-Elevens (which are EVERYWHERE). All the western chains were represented, and I'd have to say the part of Hong Kong below the third floor is entirely dedicated to shops and public businesses. It's a great place to spend all your money away, I bet.
As a sidenote... The Chinese Bureaucracy is truly Grand and Harmonious. I was really dreading my visit, imagining an even more incomprehensible DMV. The truth, though, is that getting my new visa took a total of an hour spread over two days (application, then pick up the next day). And it's not like I was the only one there that day: there were at least 100 people in front of me in line. However, the lady next to me in line was a television executive, and she answered some questions of mine about the extent of Chinese television regulation and censorship, and I think that caused my net approval of the bureaucratic efficiency to be counterbalanced.
So yea: it is one of the only times I've actually regretted forgetting my camera at home, and I think I'd do a better job relating about my visit in person. It was indeed a very interesting visit, with lots of sights and sounds: I'd be happy to go visit again for a longer duration. Shanghai is probably better to live in for my purposes, but Hong Kong is certainly more rewarding if you are wanting to visit somewhere Eastern but still have some home comforts.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Tuesday August 17
Urghk... my visa is about to expire and apparantly I have to fly to Hong Kong and stay overnight Thursday-Friday while they handle it. I just hope I'm back in time to see Chris off to Britain, and I'm really not very enthusiastic about this abrupt itinerary, and vaguely pessimisstic about being able to figure out what I'm supposed to do alone in Hong Kong dealing with a pseudo-Chinese bureaucracy of Doom.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Wednesday August 11 1453
Yeah: I'd be coming back to the states for the whole of October (arrive late September, leave early November), and I think I'll visit Mom during that time for a few days, because I'm pretty sure I can afford a domestic flight. I just need Mom to tell me the timing of Alek/Dalin's visit: I'd love to bring my belated wedding pressie with me.
I'm pretty sure I owe obligatory pictures, so here are some from Huzhou:
A picture of me lately:
Pretty bridge in Huzhou:
I'm on a muvvafuggin' boat:
I'm pretty sure I owe obligatory pictures, so here are some from Huzhou:
A picture of me lately:
Pretty bridge in Huzhou:
I'm on a muvvafuggin' boat:
Monday, August 9, 2010
Tuesday August 10 1033
Everything going alright here. Blake, the guy who brought me here from online, left the company after a period of inactivity, so I'm a truly one-man design team de jure now. The company is eager to bring me back, so I've told them I'm willing to do another 6-month stint in return for the entirety of October off and a pay raise. It's a pretty sweet job here, where I get to do a variety of creative, math-y, and design tasks and get to work pretty independently.
It's also kind of nice to be able to live comfortably *and* save real money at the same time, a winning combo. For example, assuming only a lackluster income for the game, my revenue share will easily pay my monthly college loan payments each month for several years. Free apartment is a huge boon too, and it's been a pretty good proposition so far. Those two together go a long way to eliminating the small amount of debt I have. I am able to tuck away ~$700 each month right now without having to skimp too much on my living: that's money saved for troubled times and future possibilities, and it's nice to have earned myself a cushion from scratch, building entirely on familial social support and my own hard work.
The only drawback is being so far from friends and family, and so I've made clear to the company I'll not do another 9-month stint again: that's far too long to be back home. However, given the opportunity not only to finish this game, but to actually initiate a game of my own design and assemble the design team of my choice is something I've always imagined I'd like to do, and I'm quite excited. Certainly more exciting than finding a US Census Bureau statistician position. I mean, I've been making games since when I was little, so when I am given a budget, a whole art team and a bevy of programmers with the only constraint being that the game must be 'multiplayer', you can only imagine the possibilities.
What kind of game should I make? An MMORPG set in my imaginary world? Make a variant of Emperor of the Fading Suns where everything works? Some enormous game a la Animal Crossing? A game consisting purely of explosions? Who knows!
It's also kind of nice to be able to live comfortably *and* save real money at the same time, a winning combo. For example, assuming only a lackluster income for the game, my revenue share will easily pay my monthly college loan payments each month for several years. Free apartment is a huge boon too, and it's been a pretty good proposition so far. Those two together go a long way to eliminating the small amount of debt I have. I am able to tuck away ~$700 each month right now without having to skimp too much on my living: that's money saved for troubled times and future possibilities, and it's nice to have earned myself a cushion from scratch, building entirely on familial social support and my own hard work.
The only drawback is being so far from friends and family, and so I've made clear to the company I'll not do another 9-month stint again: that's far too long to be back home. However, given the opportunity not only to finish this game, but to actually initiate a game of my own design and assemble the design team of my choice is something I've always imagined I'd like to do, and I'm quite excited. Certainly more exciting than finding a US Census Bureau statistician position. I mean, I've been making games since when I was little, so when I am given a budget, a whole art team and a bevy of programmers with the only constraint being that the game must be 'multiplayer', you can only imagine the possibilities.
What kind of game should I make? An MMORPG set in my imaginary world? Make a variant of Emperor of the Fading Suns where everything works? Some enormous game a la Animal Crossing? A game consisting purely of explosions? Who knows!
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Friday August 6 0853
This week was alright, but not the best: it's a shame I'll only have one best week in the whole of my life. :-)
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Monday August 2 1416
We've been having publishers coming by and checking out the game at work lately. The one who came today was the same publisher who did the Asian distribution of Fallout and, more importantly, the Baldur's Gate series.
Woot!
Woot!
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