May 2009
1 post
Status Update
Slowly working my way through various How-to and tutorials for BlitzBasic and tinkering and experimenting with it as I go along.
Set up a side tumblr blog for logging my progress
* http://brimstonelabs.tumblr.com/.
April 2009
4 posts
Status update
Doing some reading on BlitzBasic.
Challenges in team development
Building a harmonious team can be extremely rewarding, but is a never ending journey. The adage “it’s not the destination but the road you travel to get there” could not be more true!
Yet, in a world that increasingly focuses on short term rewards for the individual, creating a culture and mindset which favors mid to long term investment, as well as robust interpersonal relationships, and good...
Food for thought - goal setting
Every project needs goals and rewards, especially in an industry that’s more often than not rough, and thankless at best of times.
After successful team building, development pipelines have been tried and tested, and theoretical budgeting has taken place, the next step is to set our sails and work towards a common goal. Luckily, the games industry has a variety of competitions that attract...
1 tag
IT Setup
Bought a new DELL XPS laptop about 6 months back, leaving the DELL Latitude free for business and hobby projects.
Until now I’ve been pretty slack setting up a system purely for game development.
This new setup includes an assortment of administrative, audio, visual, and programming tools for the job. The most unexpected application is one called “HourGuard Time Sheet” which...
July 2008
10 posts
Game Development
Progress is being made in the software side of our game development.
A few revelations have made some tools more accessiable to our programmers, and will speed up our development pipelines somewhat.
We plan on featuring more of our concept artists work in the games prototypes. This will give our artists some more time in the limelight.
.com.au
Im in the process of negotiating the aquisition for orrey.com
The outcome is uncertain, but all in all, the domains owned by a broker who go about purchasing mass domain names and trying to sell them for a proffit.
What they fail to acknowledge, is that “orrey” falls outside their business directives and goals, as it does not realte to ANY of the fields they claim to...
More about the Store
Added some innovative product lines to the store. These can also be used as a streamline purchasing tool for refering existing comission based customers to the store.
Enjoy.
Store
Replaced some of the store icons to help them mesh better with the current theme.
Products
The online orrey store is up and running via paypal . It can be found under the “products” link. Need to fix some of its stylesheet but its not urgent.
Renaming “products” to “store”
ATOM/RSS Posts
Discovering a way to filter/sort/relocate the RSS posts in a more ‘reader friendly’ way.
Working on e-commerce plugins and intergration.
is linking the remaining members RSS feeds and tinkering with the site.
Finaly found a theme that I semi like for orrey.com.au. Have now linked my tumblog to its RSS feed. Its automagical!
August 2007
1 post
“Due to the technical skills required for making and repairing clocks,...”
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clockmaker
July 2007
3 posts
I’ve line up a paid art job for my sexy-sexy artists. Assuming we can deliv
er on what our new client wants.
Our client wants some comic work for his line of healthfood.
Dear one and all. I have officially began working at a print and signage co
mpany. Here i will obtain experience and connections for the CWU, and poten
tially access to our own printing machines.
You may blow me in the closet after lunch.
With luv
aby
A quick heads up. I will be offline for the next 3 weeks as i am moving hou
se. I can respond to mobile emails.
June 2007
4 posts
Forms of Government →
bluetongue.com
So I called bluetongue today to chase up the Chief Operating Office of their company, only to find that it has previously been bought out by THQ a few years ago! Not only that but my key contact had resigned. Well drat! But its not all bad news. The fellow I know was instrumental in Bluetongues success that lead to their assimilation into THQ. This bodes well for the development of the CWU if I...
On Game Design
Game Design “There are many types of designers: set designers, fashion designers, graphic designers, etc., etc. All of these professions are linked by a common concept of creative “design” which is the ability not only to conceive of an idea, but also to conceive of its implementation, execution, and application in a collaborative manner. We’ll come back to each of these...
IndiGame Development Comp →
Apparently the 15th indi game development compertition is running in South Africa. This could be a good way to get some media attention for our projects along with the possibility of funding acquisition. Important to note the potential strings that may come hand-in-hand with the funding provided by winning this comp.
May 2007
18 posts
Steampunk Keyboard →
No, we don’t have computers in the CWU, but maybe we can organize these for all out team members at some stage to help get them in the “groove”
Brief History of typewriters →
Here is an interesting look at the history of typewriters. While the use of electricity within the CWU is limited to experimental practices, the information age is starting to boom with the invention of automated methods of writing onto paper, which are then stored within library ‘databanks’
Hansen Writeing Ball →
Retro Laptop →
Smith Premier typewriter →
Some examples of Anime Steampunk →
Psychology of Play →
UK Respirator Evolution →
An interesting look at the development of the UK gas mask.
Website & Locations
In a discussion with Donald earlier today, we considered the potential to have the CWU GEARS website divided into sections that imitate that of a city within Jord. For example, the content authors (scribes) would visit the “Libary” where they would get access to the CWU lore, and editing/authoring tools to make proposed changes and additions to the lore. Anyone else who wanted to read...
Clockwork Universe Donation (PayPal) →
We can now accept donations for the CWU. All donations will be tagged with “CWU Donation” and can be easily accounted for. Future goal; to create a CWU PayPal business account, and have a script that provides an auto-update of the CWU banks balance.
CWU Funding (Bootstrapping) →
An interesting look at methods to avoid outside investment (and control) into our project.
New Earth Time →
Was looking for a standardized chronometer, and remembered NET time. It may be useful to apply to the CWU fiction as it resembles the 360 degree rotation of a clock, and resembles the rotation of the earth in a more mechanical manner than conventional chronometers.
Reality Mechanics →
Not an creditable source of information, but an interesting read onto a fellows musings over the nature of Reality. How does this relate to our project? The CWU is an alternative reality. There for, attempting to understand our own, can help a little in creating a ‘deviating version.
The Floating Brothel →
Invokes some interesting ideas for the CWU.
Adam's Google Calander →
April 2007
20 posts
[Misc] Neato
The mobile posting feature is rather neat. Not sure how its done, but it would be great to have something like that for our Blogs that run on Gears. That way we can post ‘live’ information from conventions, and other events with ease.
[Managment] Note
Its important to note that the “Core philosophies” below are in reference to management, more so than design. However, the way in which we manage our teams will impact how our tools are designed, which is why I’m taking a moment to list these important points about Gen Y.
[Managment] Responsibility
It makes contributors feel significant, valued, and otherwise important. Most people will expect a degree of responsibility. With responsibility often comes challenge, a force that many people of generation Y thrive on.Suggested solutions Divide and assign various chores and governance over project goals. This can also promote team work and a sense of shared collaboration.
[Managment] Prupose & Meaning
This means giving people real opportunities to contribute something to the projects that we work on. No one wants to be a paper-shuffler, where those chores are best left to scripting tools anyway. Supporting a charity/fund/cause can also provide additional meaning. Giving those who work on the projects a sense of ‘higher duty’ Suggested solutions Write automated scripts and provide...
[Managment] Team Philosophy
So, I’m reading this book on Generation Y as appart of my personal education. Its been surprising how well the goals of some of our projects such as Gears fits into the desires of this generation. Not surprising however, as all of us are members of this generation, myself included.O.K here are some core desires that we will need to ensure are accommodated in each of our teams infrastructure....
Steam Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_clock http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:FardierdeCugnot20050111.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_shower http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Lsfestival.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traction_engine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrow_gauge#Overview http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_re_metallica http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Batteuse_1881.jpg...
[Design] Thought Seeds
Just a few stray thoughts I put down to play with later. What do you think? The general idea is to create a complete system to explain the human body as a mechanical construct with some quasi-supernatural (unexplained) elements.
Understanding Human Physiology, CWU style!
Circadian rhythm (chronobiology) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronobiology Within each person exists an oscillating time...
Phil: I am not dead, it just seems that way.
Adam: No problem dude. This month looks crazy for you. Best of luck with the horrendous workload!
Food for thought
Its best to keep our focus on the wiki framework/content management system, I’m just throwing up these points as a record for future reference.
Dave: like I have discussed before.. its kool to have lots of record.. and documentation systems.. but if the people responsible aren't _actively_ involved in maintaining them.. then its quite pointless.. its the equivalent of using pin-boards.. useful for adverts.. but not alot else.
Adam: But doesnt any project ultimatly depend on the interest of those working on it?
Dave: hence my leaning towards more integrated.. interactive development environs..interest isnt the issue.. its communication...remote dev.. is _critical_ to have the best possible comm and a dev env suited for it.. while wikis are a kool idea.. and others.. they still lack that core communication interaction - like an enterprise project management system would have. My current dev for instance with ds.. is suffering heavily from this.. and we are using all sorts of paid tools to do this.. as well as some OS gear.. it concerns me.. that even the most simplest miscommunication.. or.. more to the fact.. non communication.. results in quite severe development issues.
Adam: Aye