Shapes & Lines

 Grunts: Skirmish, a “Game In A Week”

I’ve recently been working with the crew over at Push Button Labs on a project that allowed me to do a little character development, which was a blast. Tim was my team lead at Garage Games on Fallen Empire: Legions before we both left, so everything just sort of clicked.

The focus and scope of the project changed a good bit between the time I was contracted and the version you see now. The iterative approach that PBL took, allowed for low pressure rapid development that made working on the project very rewarding.

I have worked on a few RTS games in my time, but it has been a while, and it was nice to get my hands back into the game. The iterative approach was sort of like getting to play with modeling clay like did when I was a kid and just make cool stuff. Then mush it all back together again and make something else even …more cooler.

I’m looking forward to this project going live and seeing what develops from it.

You can see Jeff and Tim’s thoughts on the project and development process here and here.

-Todd

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Today is my Birthday.

I took the day off and everything is awesome. …except the weather here in Eugene which is pretty gray at the moment. But that’s ok, I am beginning to get use to it a little.

I had breakfast with a friend and some good conversation. And in case I didn’t say so before, thank you for that.

I am in week four of the 100 push up challenge, and so far I am hitting all of my goals, or at least coming very close. I haven’t been able to do anything close to 100 push ups since before my shoulder surgery, so this will be an interesting experiment. Check back on a couple weeks to see the results.

Sunday I signed up for the EWEB Half Marathon Run to Stay Warm. All proceeds benefit EWEB’s Customer Care Program to help pay for the heating bills of the needy. By “needy” I don’t mean high maintenance sort of needy. I mean financially challenged needy.

It should be a good ramp up to the Eugene marathon that I will run next May.

It has been a busy month on the running front, wonder what I will get myself into next.

And finally one last bit before I go for a late afternoon hike in the rain. It has all been said before, but here is a quick Top 15 list “Best Things About Being A Guy”.

(in no particular order)
1 Movie nudity is virtually always female.
2 A five day vacation requires only one suitcase.
3 Your bathroom lines are 80% shorter.
4 You can open all your own jars.
6 Guys in hockey masks don’t attack you.
7 You can kill your own food.
8 Your underwear is $10 for a three pack.
9 You don’t have to shave below your neck.
10 You can write your name in the snow.
11 You can eat a banana in a hardware store.
12 With 400 million sperm per shot, in a worst case scenario you could double the earth’s population in 15 tries, at least in theory.
13 If you retain water, it’s in a canteen.
14 Someday you’ll be a dirty old man.
15. You don’t have to curl up next to a hairy butt every nite.
 
-Todd

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…or Epilogue depending on how you want to look at it.

The Captain America shoes were awesome! (see last post). I survived the performance group training and it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. However, I am gonna have to up my game if I am going to do the shoes justice.

The Monster Dash 5k was a blast!  I ran in costume as skeleton along with a saucy German Beer Wench and Maynard the Dog. Maynard was a real dog not a costume. And true to form, Maynard liked me as most seem to for some reason. …Dogs that is.

There were Trick or Treat tables along the run which I raided for Peanut butter cups. Followed by a quick lesson in dodging an oncoming bike while stuffing my face. There was a Buddy the Elf, a Bubba Palin, and a guy that looked like he impaled a baby Unicorn with his torso.

Jerry Stromme, one of my Duathlon cohorts took 3rd in the Masters division of the 10 miler with a blistering 1:12:50  That’s about a 7:25 mile pace if I did my math right.

On the business front I’m working on a bunch of projects, none of which I can show off yet. Until then, this is gonna look a lot more like a personal blog than it was originally intended.

1- Never ever cook pasta sauce in your birthday suit. Nuff said.

2- The body doesn’t remember pain. Which is probably why I had to relearn the pasta thing. The mind does, conditioned response and all of that.

3- Honey is awesome with peanut butter, and not half bad with tuna.

4- And last but not least, no matter how you stack, sort or organize it, there are never enough hours in the day, days in the week, or months in the year.

Given the training I have been a student of my whole life, I am acutely aware of the value of applying the lessons learned to every day life. As Musashi said “make your everyday stance your fighting stance and your fighting stance you everyday stance”.

The superficial lesson directly relates to martial discipline, but the deeper lesson is that if any wisdom is valid, then it should be universally applicable.

These days a big part of my training is running, …and getting back around to the point I was making about there not being enough time. One of the lessons I am learning as the miles add up, is to leave it all out there. Put your heart into every step and have no regrets. The run will be over before you know it.

Sounds sort of familiar and a lot like a good rule to live by. Leave it all out there. The run will be over before I know it.

I bought my first pair of track shoes this weekend. I have to admit that I was influenced a little bit by their Captain America aesthetic.

I’ll begin attending the Thursday night performance group training starting this week, so I will be putting them to good use.

I know my brother Shingo will appreciate the them, so a picture is included.

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My slightly inebriated cohorts.

I would not really describe myself as a runner, at least not yet. I’ve only come to it in the past few years. In comparison to most of those I run with, I’m a complete amatuer.  But I am persistent.

I participated in the Beaver Fever Duathlon this past Sunday. A Duathlon, as the name implies, is a two discipline event, unlike a Triathlon which is three disciplines. In this case, the Duathlon was a run, bike, run event. 5k, 30k, and 5k respectively.

So I got invited to participate in this race and was even offered a bike and helmet to use, which quickly eliminated any reasonable excuses I had for not participating. Besides, how can any self respecting guy say no when a pretty girl hits you with a challenge of strength and endurance?  …maybe that’s just me.

This was my first non combative multi discipline event and I was very excited about the challenge. I had no expectations going in, other than finishing at all cost. This would also be my first race since the nasty ankle injury I suffered in the Hood to Coast relay last year.

The running portions I knew would be no problem. However, I expected that the cycling portion of the event was going to be a butt kicker since I hadn’t done any regular cycling in at least ten years. But how bad could it be right?

My plan was to take it a bit easy in the first 5k, figuring that I would need the strength for the 18 mile cycling stage. Once I survived that I would burn up whatever I had left in the final running stage. Well, it’s always nice to have a plan.

Just before the race I hopped on the bike for a quick spin to test out my loaner. I cycled the gears a “bit”.. Rule #1 Make sure you know exactly how your equipment works. Then I made a minor height adjustment to the seat… Rule #2 Make sure all of your gear is ready for use.   In short order, both of these rules came back to bite.

Coming into the transition after the first 5k I was looking forward to seeing how well I could preform on the bike. Deven aka my race recruiting bike loaning sponsor extraordinaire, was geared up and on her way like a pro. I was a little behind her but figured I would make it up with some hard work.

That plan fell apart in the first 200 meters, as I realized that my earlier test ride had only educated me on how to cycle the gears in one direction… just picture a cartoon character with their legs spinning a hundred miles per hour but going nowhere fast.

After stopping by the side of the road for three or four minutes that seemed like an eternity, I deduced the working of my derailers by a very Cat In The Hat like process of elimination “nope that didn’t work, nope, still no, no uh-uh” YAHTZEE!”

And away I went.

About a mile into the race I made a left turn onto a relatively short uphill stretch. At about the half way point I could see a very unhappy looking girl stopped on the side of the road with her bike upside down. Race or no race, I was raised to always help a lady in need. Besides, I was not expecting to finish in the money, so no real sweat off my back.

I had her chain fixed and she was on her way in about a minute, getting myself moving was another matter…

Rule number #3 Never stop your bike on an uphill climb without first shifting to the appropriate gear to resume your climb.

About the time I got my bike geared right and pumped my way to the top of the hill Murphy’s laws struck again. I attempted to settle into my seat and get a nice rhythm going for the ground I had to make up, only to be poked in the baby makers by my seat which had become loosened and now stood at full attention.

This brings us back to rule #2. It’s a rule I already new, I just failed to apply it. And every time I tried to set down I was reminded of why it’s important.

So I had to stand up for the whole 18  miles. Before it was done, there were a few more stops to offer help to other imperiled riders and see if they had the tools I needed to fix my way too friendly seat. No such luck.

To my amazement I hit the transition into the second 5k and felt really strong in spite of my unconventional ride. Then my feet hit the ground and I tried run. My butt and hamstring was so cramped up that I had about a 12 inch stride. Irresistible force meet immovable object.

Smeared with chain grease, Gu energy gel, and sweat. Butt cramped like a vice and stomach growling, I slogged through the second 5k like a geriatric speed walker.

Not exactly the triumphant return to racing that I was hoping for. But I finished, didn’t come in last, and I had a blast doing it. Can’t wait to do it again.

-Todd

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…Roger that.

The FPS Environment Pack update is live and available in the Garage Games store. You can see the Image of the day announcement Here, if you are interested.

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This is just a quick post announcing the imminent release of the free update for my FPS Environment Pack.

You can see the whole post over on the Garage Games forums.

Also, here is the demo video, and below it a link to a polysoup collision test.

See the polysoup collision test Here.

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When I arrived in Eugene in June of last year, I hooked up with the Eugene Running Company and started logging miles in attempt to get myself back in shape.

Several months prior to relocating to Eugene to work with Garage Games, I had clocked my best time ever in a challenging (very hilly) 10k on Catalina island off the coast of southern California.  …unfortunately, I came home and tripped over a 15lb weight I left on the floor …busting a toe in the process. I was limping on that for over 5 months.

Back to the future, starting with the Eugene Running Company was a bit of an up hill battle ( jogging 3 miles almost killed me), but thanks to their awesome support, training, and encouragement of staff like Laura and Liisa I went on to smash my previous 10k record several months later.

Very much to my surprise, Liisa (that’s Liisa with two i’s), landed me a last minute spot on a team running in the Hood to Coast Relay. Two days of cramming into a mini van with strangers, racing from relay point to relay point, no sleep, little food, steep hills, rain (only chance for a shower), and running like hell all sounded like too much fun. It was an awesome opportunity and there was no way I was going to pass it up.

Life has a way of repeating its self. As fate would have it, getting ready for my 3rd and final leg of the race, I badly roller my left ankle and hit the ground like a sack of potatoes, splitting my knee open in the process. I knew I had a short route for my last leg, a little over 3 miles, so I figured I could run it before the swelling set in. There was no way I was going to let the team down, beside “what else could go wrong”?  …that’s when the wind picked up and the rain started pouring. I hate running in the rain, but such was my karma.

I finished with a slower pace than I would have liked, but I finished, handed off to the next runner and crowded back into the van to head off for the next relay point. The team finished, we partied and celebrated on the beach with the thousands of others, and a good time was had by all.

…Two weeks later I rerolled the same ankle on a 3 mile hike south of Eugene in Brice Creek. The universe has a way of making its point.

That ankle injury plagued me for a long time, over six months, and by that time I was working an absolutely stupid amount of hours on Fallen Empire: Legions along with the rest of the dev team. But that’s another story.

So I have been back running regularly (more like a controlled stagger) for a couple of weeks. Yesterday I hit my 100 mile mark! That’s 100 miles logged with the running company group. I scored my “100 Mile Club” shirt and a sweet penguin bobble head! Thanks Liisa!  :O)

Better late than never. 500 mile club here I come.

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Everything is in full bloom here in Eugene and I have been loving it.

I beat the dust off of my running shoes and have been logging miles every chance I get. A little too many it seems, as I have managed to strain my knee and was forced to take the last several days off. …which means I actually got a little work done on a content pack update.

Talk about collecting dust, this free update for my FPS Environment Pack has been all but done for over a year, but work in the studio and the demands of life have taken priority.

I’ll be really happy to get this finished and move on to the half dozen or so other packs in various stages of development.

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This is just a quick post to scratch and itch I have been having.

When I was a little boy, I would crawl blurry eyed out of bed before the crack of dawn to watch repeats of very old Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor cartoons, follow by the slightly less old Spiderman cartoons.

They weren’t old to me, I had never seen ‘em before, and I ate it up …along with my giant bowl of Captain Crunch or Lucky Charms. Something about the basic ideas resonated with me back then, and they still do.

Time passes, the world changes and we grow up. But the basic truths of right and wrong are still there, even if obscured by hallow facades and beset by lawyerly arguments and rationals. I blame MTV, but that’s another blog altogether.

I have had the good fortune and privilege of knowing a few real superheros in my time, those at the point of the spear. In the face of all their own bewildering contradictions and those of this screwed up world we all live in, underneath, they look a whole lot like those brightly colored heroes that inspired my summer days.

Which leads me in a serquitous way to an interview with Frank Miller on maxim.com that can be found here. “10 Rules For Being a Superhero”.

Obligatory pic - this is a very old marker sketch I did on piece of poster board. It’s based on cover design from an old comic book.

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