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May 2001 |
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Thursday, May 24, 2001 |
Another E3 has come and gone. This one was incredible, ...mainly because we didn't
have to show anything. It was one big party fest with plenty of things to drink,
smoke, and eat. I remember listening to an interview with Grace Slick of the
Jefferson Airplane a few ago in which she described meeting Jim Morrison of the Doors in
Amsterdam while on tour. She talked about how they would walk down the streets and
people would come up to them and give them all sorts of drugs. She would take one or
two, and save the rest for later. Jim would immediately take any and all of
them. This E3 was like that ;) I'm no web master or internet reporter, but I did
manage to take a few pictures...
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Friday, May 11, 2001 |
First and foremost, ...a happy, happy birthday to Mister Lowtax. We don't have the money
for 25 candles, but we do offer this 18 Sweat-Bespangled Nipples Salute instead!
Things are getting serious now, and I'm not talking about Sam. I get at least three
emails per week from people wanting to know which classes to take that would help them
become game designers. Well, it's almost official now, the University of Texas, Dallas , is starting an
accredited 4-year degree in Computer Game Design. Although not final yet, they are going
to offer some of the classes this Fall.
If you are indeed interested, please email David
Najjab. He is a professor/lecturer at the university and is establishing the
curriculum for the degree. Nice school, BTW, and if you are in the area and considering
higher education, I do recommend it.
Going there yesterday to meet the Dean and Provost was a prime example of
schadenfreude. The halls were littered with students studying for finals. I think I'd
rather get root canal than study for a final. I hate to admit it, instead of feeling
compassion and empathy, I was enjoying seeing them suffer.
Speaking of games and the rules of design, here's something interesting. I have heard,
and even muttered myself, expressions like "It was so real, just like in that
movie!" or "It was just like on TV!". These expressions are testimonies to
the "reality" we now live in. Here's another, …the lens flare effect. We
put lens flare (those bright concentric rings of glaring light when the player looks at
the sun source) in our games to make them look more "real", yet it is only
looking at the world through a lens that causes this phenomenon. If you look at the sun
with your natural eye, all you get are permanent little brownish red spots burned into
your retina.
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Tuesday, May 08, 2001 |
What a drag! What a drag! We all buried a friend yesterday, Doug Myers, and it will be a
long time before we recover. Doug was one of those truly cool people. We all know the
cliches said about everyone at their death, but Doug was one of the real exceptions for
which the sayings and laments were absolutely true. I only partied with Doug a few
dozen times, but I am going to miss him terribly. If you had to make a list of all the
people you know right now, and arrange them in priority of who you would want to leave
first, ...Doug would be near the very bottom of the tally, …even if you only partied
with him a few dozen times.
The funeral was packed beyond capacity. All were in tears. We're all still there.
I'm probably going to get into a little trouble for this, but here's the very first
screenshot of our current "project", …we love you, man!
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