Tag Archives: Just sayin’

Global Game Jam 2013: My Experience

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Last weekend, I participated in Global Game Jam 2013, an event where, in the span of one weekend, people from around the globe makes games. And let me tell you, it was an awesome experience!

Friday, everyone met up at DePaul who was participating, singed up, and we watched the Keynote, which was very cool. Then, we got the theme our game was supposed to center around, which was a heart beat (something that can connect everyone from around the world, they said). I thought the theme was interesting, and after forming teams, we went right into brainstorming. Unlike a lot of those at DePaul, my team consisted of people I didn’t know. I think next year I’ll go into it with friends, but I figured being in a team with strangers would be a good experience, and it was. I had a lot in common with them, and when I find someone to talk about MegaMan Battle Network with, it’s always awesome!

By the time 8PM rolled around, we had our game idea, Murica. We went with a fat guy rolling around and eating various junky foods, trying to balance how much he was eating with how full he was and how fast his heart was beating. You lose when you have a heart attack or starve. It was supposed to strike at a theme about America’s obesity problem due to fast food while being funny and silly.

Saturday, I woke up at 7:30, got to DePaul by 9:30, and began working. At first, we were mainly doing some level design and getting lists of tasks we needed to get done while we waited for our programmer to finish the content pipeline for his engine. Because I was one of the producers, I dipped out now and then to check on some of my friends’ teams (and troll them. LOL), which was very fun, especially when I had one of my friends text someone, “We in there! #swag #yolo.” By the time 5PM rolled around, we had almost all of our art assets done, and by 9PM we were switching engines from our programmer’s custom engine to XNA because his engine didn’t have the ability to rotate a certain way (in programmer’s term, he had no forward Vector, which is bad. LOL). After XNA finally installed on his computer, he began translating everything to it, so the rest of the team relaxed and chatted. Unfortunately, we had to switch engines again due to a content pipeline problem XNA was giving us, and so we switched to Unity so more of us (there was only him and I programming, and since he had his own engine I really hadn’t been programming) could work on the project. By the time 3:30AM on Sunday rolled around, many of the teams looked very tired, and a couple teams were done and polishing. We had just finished a beta minus our heart and stomach features in Unity, and it was awesome. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find the time and means to learn the many aspects of Unity and put everything in that we wanted, but what came out of it was a playable demo, and I think that’s what’s important.

By 11 AM, most teams were done and submitting (you can see a screenshot of my game as the header image for this post), and so everyone was pretty much relaxing and chatting about how they wanted to sleep. I know I sure did! At 11:30 judging began, and after all of that, I went home.

Global Game Jam 2013 was really awesome, and I will definitely be joining next year if I can! I learned a lot about producing, a lot about Unity, and I realized that I still have a long way to go before I can program with the big boys. Also, I should’ve taken more pictures so I could’ve put some in this post. LOL. Next time!

Just sayin’.

REVIEW: Django Unchained

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Let’s talk about Django Unchained.

Plot:
 
The plot is simple – Django, a slave, is freed by a Dr. Schultz (I’m probably spelling that name wrong. LOL), and is told to help him find the Riddle brothers. Afterwards, the two journey to find Django’s wife. The story is an adaptation of an old german legend, and to be frank, I think it’s pulled off quite well.
Acting:
 
For me, Tarantino‘s films are at their weakest when it comes to the plot, and their strongest hen it comes to acting and atmosphere. Django Unchained is no exception: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Samuel Jackson, and Leonardo DiCaprio are all brilliant. I love a film where you can tell the actors are enjoying their roles, and you can definitely tell it here.
No word in this film is wasted, the dialogue is as witty as ever, especially during the KKK scene (which is my favorite scene in the movie)!
Atmosphere:
 
Django Unchained is set in the United States just before the civil war. That means there’s slavery, and in classic Tarantino style, the film throws political correctness to the wind and makes sure the film is true to its setting, and that’s something I like about his films. Apparently, some people are taking offense to Django Unchained, and all I can ask is why? If you can’t bear to hear the word ‘nigga’, don’t watch this movie, but don’t feign offense just because the film tries to emulate what it was actually like back during those times.
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Anyone who is a fan of Tarantino (like myself) should go see this movie. I think it’s one of his better films, and is definitely my favorite amongst them.
Rating: 5 out of 5 (stars)
Just sayin’.

REVIEW: The Hobbit

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Years after enjoying the Lord of the Rings trilogy, I was really excited to see The Hobbit. After all, when I read the books, The Hobbit was the first one I read, and I still remember it well. How does the movie stack up? I’d say it does splendidly.

I’m not going to go into detail in case you want to read the book, but it follows the book quite closely, which is really nice. The character arcs and development all follow the book’s path, which is great, because there are some really nice arcs, especially Bilbo‘s and Thorin‘s as they come to accept – and even welcome – each other’s company.

Now, there were a few parts that confused me. The part where Gandalf and Saruman are talking and the part with the Forest Wizard (I completely forgot his name. LOL) are two such parts that I don’t remember being in the book. Fortunately, some friends of mine explained that these were parts from the Appendices, which are extra bits of story at the end of the books explaining some of things that the reader never read about, such as those two very parts. This does one very important thing for me – explain why this is going to be a trilogy.

You see, when I first heard that The Hobbit was going to be a trilogy, I thought to myself, “how in the hell are they going to make one book a trilogy?” Well, the Appendices are the answer to that question, and I think it’s an awesome idea now that I know it’s not just the book, because they go through half the book in the very first movie.

Now, as for the look of the movie: as I mentioned in a previous entry, I saw it in 48fps, which completely changes how the movie looks. But, the look is very similar to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, which is very nice. The grandeur landscapes and towns all look fantastic, and even the Shire looks awesome. And in 48fps, it’s simply eye candy.

Oh, and the music, much like the trilogy, is fantastic.I have a soft spot for medieval sounds, however, so the music may not be your cup of tea. I definitely enjoyed it, though.

The Hobbit is a movie any Lord of the Rings fan will enjoy, especially those whom have read the Appendices, but don’t think that someone new to the series wouldn’t enjoy it. It’s got plenty of action, adventure, and good development and plot. Nothing stellar, but definitely solid. And believe me when I say that seeing it in 48fps is worth it.

Rating: 8/10.

Just sayin’

One Year

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Today marks the day of my first blog entry last year when I made a resolution to start and keep one. It’s been a pleasure writing for all of you who read my blog every week, and I want to thank you all for reading!

I look forward to a new year full of awesome stuff to write about!

Just Sayin’.

A resolution of the New Year variety

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Ah, New Year’s Eve; that time of year where people say, “I’m going to do x 3 times a week,” or, “I will stop x’ing”. But that’s not all – it’s also the the time when people try to start with a fresh slate. Unfortunately, that usually isn’t the case. It’s incredibly difficult to habituate something you’ve been wanting to do for a long time. When that next New Year’s Eve rolls around, your resolution may, in fact, be the very same one you had the year before. Talk about depressing.

So, tonight, whether you’re partying into the New Year, working, or enjoying a quiet evening this New Year’s, take it upon yourself to not only make a New Year’s resolution, but to add on a resolution to keep the resolution you just thought up. When you tell your friends what your resolution is, tell them that it’s to keep the “do x”, or the, “stop y”.

Maybe that’ll help.

Just sayin’, happy New Year!

Merry Christmas…

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Eve! Yes, a blog post on Christmas Eve wishing all of my readers a Merry Christmas! This post will be the shortest post I’ve ever made. I mean, I could ramble on about how I’m just typing up sentences to lengthen this post so it wasn’t just me wishing everyone a Merry Christmas…

But who does that?

Just Sayin’.