Programming... simultaneously the most rewarding and frustrating activity in existence.

The title pretty much says it all; I used to do some programming in other, simpler languages back in the day (nothing too intense, though). The main thing I remember from that experience is continually failing again and again and again, then finally achieving some minor success by being able to print a sentence in a certain font and color. For some reason, however, it was the most satisfying feeling in the world to print that sentence as I'd coded it, like a victory after a long and grueling war with the computer.

Kismet programming, or more correctly scripting, is equally frustrating and rewarding-- the battle with the logic puzzles it presents at every turn is a hard one, but such tiny victories as remembering to add collision or getting matinee to do what you want it to do make it all worth it.

Overall I'm understanding all of the material in the class as it's presented, it's just a matter of remembering where all of the settings I'm supposed to be messing with are. Eric says that as we continue on it'll get easier, and if he's right then I'm not worried one bit.

3D for Games is has a vicegrip on my soul...

Two things about this class have absolutely ruined me: character concepting and Zbrush. For those of you who don't know, those two items of business pretty much make up EVERYTHING we've done so far in the class, so this means that the course itself has absolutely ruined me. At the same time, though, it's some of the most fun I've had since coming to Ringling, so... I'm... not really sure where that leaves me. Could be awful, could be great; we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

Zbrush is easy enough to describe-- an interface that was very difficult to understand, for me, anyway, and the sheer amount of creative control you get over your work is just intimidating as hell. Character concepting, however, is a bit different. You see, the reason why that's got me in a rut is that a week after mostly everyone else has finalized their characters, I'm still here building up new heroes from scratch. First we had rifle-paladin, then we went to undead-hunter in the employ of the Vatican, then a lich-hunter, and pretty much all of those were shut down in one way or another. I've finally settled, though, and it feels like a massive weight has been lifted off of my shoulders.

I've decided to go with a recurring character that I've been iterating since I was in sixth grade-- a magic bard by the name of Jiece. Not only will the rigging be significantly easier than it would've been for my paladins and hunters (who all wore long coats), but I feel like I'll be much more focused and passionate when it comes to my work with him, as was pointed about by fellow GAD, Spencer Curtis. Hopefully the next few weeks turn out less work-intensive in this course; I love my work, but too much of this stuff is unbearable.

JUST remembered how to find this site...

And now it's bookmarked, so we won't have that problem again. Time to post all of the posts I've been thinking about posting but kept forgetting to! First thing's first: OH GOD SECOND SEMESTER ALMOST HALFWAY DONE WITH COLLEGE WHAAAAAT. WHAT. What.

The difficulty of these classes, or just the workload in some cases, is really much more intense than I'd bargained at the beginning of this semester-- it's time to buckle down and get sh*t done. Here's to becoming the greatest asset to the game industry since Miyamoto! AWAAAAAY!

    Cheers,
        Me.