So yeah, I'm still an unemployed bastard. And yeah, it's only been two weeks, but it seems like two months. I've pretty much applied to everything that's available in the Austin area, so now it's a waiting game for bites. I hate waiting. And I don't want to move again. I would have reapplied at NCsoft Austin (where I worked prior to Spacetime), but they're not hiring designers. It could be because TR isn't taking off as fast as hoped, so they're not interested in replacing those who've left (like me). Oh well.
So with my extra time in searching for employment, I’ve come across amusing stuff on the intertubes.
Central Park is weirder than you think.
Pandemic makes the best game related movies EVAR.
I might be the only person on this planet who thinks Guitar Hero and Rock Band are about as exciting as clumped cat piss, but this game looks like a definite winner!
BAHAHAHA!
Rockstar playing it safe.
“Maybe you’ll get lucky and he’ll die.”
That’s about it. Now I’ll resume with becoming the world’s greatest super villain (I have my work cut out for me). First I have to dig my secret underground lair, so that might take a while. Then I’ll have to find henchmen… I suppose I can wrangle up the corner spare change beggars – they’ll work for cheap. Anyway, I obviously have a lot of work to do, so cheerio!
Monday, January 21, 2008
Monday, January 7, 2008
I got laid off - HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Nope, I'm not BSing, I really got laid off. NCsoft pulled funding and unfortunately that meant Spacetime had to cut several positions. Here's the poop from Spacetime's website:
Welcome
We know it's not the norm but at Spacetime Studios we've always been about communicating when we can. For two years this has been in good times but we want to put out a message to the community before the rumors start.
Our project has been cancelled by the current publisher. Yeah it sucks, and we don’t believe anyone who says otherwise at a time like this. Regardless of how you look at it, we won’t be entering production in the immediate future, so we are retrenching and unfortunately had to let 12 folks go. There are always wild rumors at a time like this so we wanted to be as specific as possible to the number and circumstance. All 12 employees released were given extended benefits, severance and will be supplied letters of recommendation. These were good folks and we are not happy about it. We’ll do anything we can to help them land somewhere else. If you are a developer and are looking for good folks, drop us a line at jobs@spacetimestudios.com.
The cancelled game was our primary project and we have a complete MMO engine w/ networking infrastructure, tools suite, and next-gen rendering engine. The company remains extremely committed to the IP and once all mutual obligations have been completed between the publisher and ourselves we intend to explore every possible avenue to see that our team’s collective vision come to fruition.
We want to stress that there are no bad feelings with NCSoft. There is a tremendous amount of mutual respect between our companies. They have conducted themselves with honor and integrity, and we would work with them again in an instant.
We are still here, stable and strong, and running a little bit lighter while we figure out our next move. What does not kill us makes us stronger said the philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche. That may be true, but it isn’t pleasant. Wish us luck and good fortune.
Even though I'm known as a grumpy sucker, I bear absolutely no ill will towards Spacetime. They are great people and it's a goddam crime the game we were working on got the proverbial axe (though I'm hopeful it'll see the light one day since it's a kick-ass game).
What can I say, it's the nature of the business and shit happens - a lot - in this industry. I'm sure I'll find something out here in Austin. And if I don't, I'm more than happy to let the wife go out to be the bread winner while I become Mr. Mom. We've gotten through rough patches before and we'll get through it again. That's life, have a cookie.
Peace.
p.s. Oh, if you know of any game companies in the Austin, Texas area that's looking for senior game designers, lemme know, please.
Welcome
We know it's not the norm but at Spacetime Studios we've always been about communicating when we can. For two years this has been in good times but we want to put out a message to the community before the rumors start.
Our project has been cancelled by the current publisher. Yeah it sucks, and we don’t believe anyone who says otherwise at a time like this. Regardless of how you look at it, we won’t be entering production in the immediate future, so we are retrenching and unfortunately had to let 12 folks go. There are always wild rumors at a time like this so we wanted to be as specific as possible to the number and circumstance. All 12 employees released were given extended benefits, severance and will be supplied letters of recommendation. These were good folks and we are not happy about it. We’ll do anything we can to help them land somewhere else. If you are a developer and are looking for good folks, drop us a line at jobs@spacetimestudios.com.
The cancelled game was our primary project and we have a complete MMO engine w/ networking infrastructure, tools suite, and next-gen rendering engine. The company remains extremely committed to the IP and once all mutual obligations have been completed between the publisher and ourselves we intend to explore every possible avenue to see that our team’s collective vision come to fruition.
We want to stress that there are no bad feelings with NCSoft. There is a tremendous amount of mutual respect between our companies. They have conducted themselves with honor and integrity, and we would work with them again in an instant.
We are still here, stable and strong, and running a little bit lighter while we figure out our next move. What does not kill us makes us stronger said the philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche. That may be true, but it isn’t pleasant. Wish us luck and good fortune.
Even though I'm known as a grumpy sucker, I bear absolutely no ill will towards Spacetime. They are great people and it's a goddam crime the game we were working on got the proverbial axe (though I'm hopeful it'll see the light one day since it's a kick-ass game).
What can I say, it's the nature of the business and shit happens - a lot - in this industry. I'm sure I'll find something out here in Austin. And if I don't, I'm more than happy to let the wife go out to be the bread winner while I become Mr. Mom. We've gotten through rough patches before and we'll get through it again. That's life, have a cookie.
Peace.
p.s. Oh, if you know of any game companies in the Austin, Texas area that's looking for senior game designers, lemme know, please.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Happy (Gregorian) New Year (and stuff)
(Gregorian Calendar)
So, did everyone have a good holiday season? I hope so. I know I did.
For X-Mas this year my wife and I decided to come up with a new plan that will guarantee we each get what we want. My wife went out and shopped for the items she wanted (mostly clothes – blech!) and I wrote down exactly what I wanted – an Xbox 360 Elite with an extra wireless remote, wireless network adaptor, and a wireless remote recharger for two (evidently she wanted to shop around to get the best deal rather than “trust” me to hunt for the best deal, insinuating I might not be a patient man!). So between the two of us, we each got exactly what we wanted for X-Mas. Yeah, it’s not romantic, but it beats the hell out of getting a pink bunny outfit and having to pretend that I like it! And thanks to my mom giving me a gift certificate to Gamestop, I bought several good, used games at their “BUY 2 GET 1 FREE” sale. The list of 360 games I acquired are:
Bioshock
Dead Rising (I get to kill zombies in a shopping mall – how frakin’ cool is that!)
Condemned: Criminal Origins
Burnout: Revenge
EA Sports: Fight Night Round 3 (yes, I hate EA, but this was a used game and EA didn’t get any of my money for it, so suck it. Besides, it’s the best and only boxing game on the 360 and the knockout replays are epic… and my meathead heavyweight fighter is named Mallet “Bam Bam” McBride – I gotta play it!)
Crackdown
Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (great coop for the wife and me, and Chewie can wear a top hat – A FRIGGIN’ TOP HAT – WOOT!)
And the kid? Well, let’s just say that Santa must’ve played favorites looking at all the loot she got. Meh, she’s an only child and dammit, if we want to spoil her a bit here and there, then so be it. She’s a wonderful little tyke, anyhoot!
All-in-all, this was a great holiday season. Even my mom visiting was very pleasant!
But alas, I’m now back at work, but that’s a good thing. For one, the paycheck allows me to pay for stuff, and for another thing I actually like it at Spacetime and I love the project I’m on. Nice change of pace, I gotta say.
Aside from playing with my Xbox 360 in the evenings when nothing’s on the boob tube (writer’s strike and all), I’ve also been indulging in the fun that is EQ2. I cancelled my WoW account (again) since I just wasn’t interested in playing another character up to 70 and besides, since I already had a hunter at level 70 that means I won the game, right? At least that’s what I keep telling myself.
As for EQ2, I discovered the joy that is the Bruiser class. I made a Barbarian Bruiser by the name of Tohr (good, tough guy name from some non-descript fantasy book/game/LARP/PnPRPG/taking-a-crap-moment/etc) and I’ve been enjoying beating the crap out of the indigenous wildlife and non-agreeable locals of the land. It’s even better since I don’t need to use a weapon, so I save a bunch on not having to constantly upgread weapons. The visuals are a mixed bag, with questionable art direction and the game engine still runs like a gimpy old man with an enlarged prostate running through wet tar. But the game play is really first rate and there are a bunch of things to do. Plus there’s no Barrens Chat of any sort, which is a plus to anyone who knows what the hell I’m talking about.
I also took advantage of Turbine’s payment “sale” of sorts for Lord of the Rings Online. It’s basically $9/month if I sign up for 3 months, which I did. I liked it the first time around when it came out, so I figured I’d give it another shot. It’s still fun and not too much has changed, but I’m having a much better time in the Monster Play PvP area than before, thanks in large part that there are now more than enough level 50 players for me and the other “creeps” to shoot at. The thing is, the “freeps” (what the good guys are called) are so much more powerful than any of the “creeps” (the monster fellows) that it makes it very difficult for an up-and-coming monster to make their mark in Middle Earth. But it’s fun regardless, and kills are extra special because it is so hard.
I also saw Live Free or Die Hard over the break, and I have to say I liked it as much as all the other Die Hard flicks. It’s over-the-top-John-McLain-has-way-too-many-hero-points fun that just can’t be beat.
Anyway, I’ve rambled too much as it is. Perhaps I’ll update this here bloggy thing again within the week. Not that I’ll have anything MORE interesting to say, but whatever. It’s good typing practice.
So, did everyone have a good holiday season? I hope so. I know I did.
For X-Mas this year my wife and I decided to come up with a new plan that will guarantee we each get what we want. My wife went out and shopped for the items she wanted (mostly clothes – blech!) and I wrote down exactly what I wanted – an Xbox 360 Elite with an extra wireless remote, wireless network adaptor, and a wireless remote recharger for two (evidently she wanted to shop around to get the best deal rather than “trust” me to hunt for the best deal, insinuating I might not be a patient man!). So between the two of us, we each got exactly what we wanted for X-Mas. Yeah, it’s not romantic, but it beats the hell out of getting a pink bunny outfit and having to pretend that I like it! And thanks to my mom giving me a gift certificate to Gamestop, I bought several good, used games at their “BUY 2 GET 1 FREE” sale. The list of 360 games I acquired are:
Bioshock
Dead Rising (I get to kill zombies in a shopping mall – how frakin’ cool is that!)
Condemned: Criminal Origins
Burnout: Revenge
EA Sports: Fight Night Round 3 (yes, I hate EA, but this was a used game and EA didn’t get any of my money for it, so suck it. Besides, it’s the best and only boxing game on the 360 and the knockout replays are epic… and my meathead heavyweight fighter is named Mallet “Bam Bam” McBride – I gotta play it!)
Crackdown
Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (great coop for the wife and me, and Chewie can wear a top hat – A FRIGGIN’ TOP HAT – WOOT!)
And the kid? Well, let’s just say that Santa must’ve played favorites looking at all the loot she got. Meh, she’s an only child and dammit, if we want to spoil her a bit here and there, then so be it. She’s a wonderful little tyke, anyhoot!
All-in-all, this was a great holiday season. Even my mom visiting was very pleasant!
But alas, I’m now back at work, but that’s a good thing. For one, the paycheck allows me to pay for stuff, and for another thing I actually like it at Spacetime and I love the project I’m on. Nice change of pace, I gotta say.
Aside from playing with my Xbox 360 in the evenings when nothing’s on the boob tube (writer’s strike and all), I’ve also been indulging in the fun that is EQ2. I cancelled my WoW account (again) since I just wasn’t interested in playing another character up to 70 and besides, since I already had a hunter at level 70 that means I won the game, right? At least that’s what I keep telling myself.
As for EQ2, I discovered the joy that is the Bruiser class. I made a Barbarian Bruiser by the name of Tohr (good, tough guy name from some non-descript fantasy book/game/LARP/PnPRPG/taking-a-crap-moment/etc) and I’ve been enjoying beating the crap out of the indigenous wildlife and non-agreeable locals of the land. It’s even better since I don’t need to use a weapon, so I save a bunch on not having to constantly upgread weapons. The visuals are a mixed bag, with questionable art direction and the game engine still runs like a gimpy old man with an enlarged prostate running through wet tar. But the game play is really first rate and there are a bunch of things to do. Plus there’s no Barrens Chat of any sort, which is a plus to anyone who knows what the hell I’m talking about.
I also took advantage of Turbine’s payment “sale” of sorts for Lord of the Rings Online. It’s basically $9/month if I sign up for 3 months, which I did. I liked it the first time around when it came out, so I figured I’d give it another shot. It’s still fun and not too much has changed, but I’m having a much better time in the Monster Play PvP area than before, thanks in large part that there are now more than enough level 50 players for me and the other “creeps” to shoot at. The thing is, the “freeps” (what the good guys are called) are so much more powerful than any of the “creeps” (the monster fellows) that it makes it very difficult for an up-and-coming monster to make their mark in Middle Earth. But it’s fun regardless, and kills are extra special because it is so hard.
I also saw Live Free or Die Hard over the break, and I have to say I liked it as much as all the other Die Hard flicks. It’s over-the-top-John-McLain-has-way-too-many-hero-points fun that just can’t be beat.
Anyway, I’ve rambled too much as it is. Perhaps I’ll update this here bloggy thing again within the week. Not that I’ll have anything MORE interesting to say, but whatever. It’s good typing practice.
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