LA Career Event and old friends

Hello my friends,

I hope you guys had a great week last week. My week went very well I had a lot of fun at the career networking event. I also got a chance to see a bunch of different people I hadn’t seen in a long time. I also had a lovely time exploring LA. My first day down I met up with a friend, her fiance, and a few of her friends. We went to little cafe in Hollywood and just hung out for a good hour or so. It was nice seeing them as they moved to LA before I moved back to Seattle. After that I went to my hotel to prepare for the event.

The event itself was awesome. I got to wear my new suit that was my graduation gift from my mom. When I got to the event it started off well as I saw one of my old bosses was working the event, so we chatted for a good amount of time. While walking around the event I ran into a lot of old friends from school and hung out with a close friend and his uncle for lunch. I also met a lot of new people. It was very exciting. The event was lacking in gaming companies, but I still gave my resume’s out to a bunch of cool companies. After the career fair part was a mixer. At the mixer I was able to chat with a lot of different people. I also will be working on a new side project with my close friend, and I look forward to telling you guys more about it in the future.

Well till next time my buddies. I hope you guys have an awesome week and I look forward to telling you guys all about what else is going on.

Growth and Preparations

Hello everybody,

I hope you guys have had a great week. This week has been pretty easy for me. I didn’t do much that is cause for celebration. I did, however, prepare for a trip to L.A. I’m taking tomorrow. I’ll be spending two nights down there. The reason I’m going to L.A. is because of a career event I’m attending. It’s exciting as I’ll be meeting different people and I will get a chance to reunite with some people I haven’t seen in a long time. I’m very excited for the event, I made two resumes to try and better fit the industries I’ll be meeting.

This week was also a good week for making plans and helping out CelleC and Black Banshee. I’ve been working on two different games lately. I came up with a naming system for over a hundred characters in one of our games. I also am going to be creating a new story for a different game. We decided to get rid of the original story for the game and rework it. It’ll be interesting to rebuild this story, but I’ll have to create an example first before we decide if we go with it. Either way I’m excited for it.

Well till next week you guys. I’m looking forward telling you guys all about the career event and how well it goes. Well till next time.

Starting and Hunting

Hello my friends,

I hope you guys had a wonderful week. My week went pretty well. I spent a lot of my week working on stuff for Tales of Mahabharata’s expansion, job hunting, and starting work for some other games. The stuff for Tales of Mahabharata was wrapping up the last few quests and editing. The rest of the writing should be in editing and finished soon. The rest of the expansion will hopefully move smoothly along, but the studio was having some issues. I also applied to some jobs this week and I’m hoping to hear from them soon. It’s always nice to hear and see the people that have been willing to help me. It’s heartwarming and humbling. I hope I can make them proud and get a good job.

The rest of this week I spent working on different side projects. A friend I helped in college reached out and asked me for help on a story. So I created a basic outline for the story I have planned for his game. It’s an interesting concept and I look forward to seeing the story I could make in it. I also further expanded my Game Design Document (GDD) for my personal project. I’m giving the game the title “Order of the Forest.” I’m having a hard time staying focused on it with everything else going on. I’m excited about the game though and I hope to learn a lot making it.

Well till next week you guys! I hope you do awesome and I look forward to letting you guys know what happens.

Beginning D&D Campaign

Hello my friends,

I hope your week has been going well. My week has been very relaxing only a few road bumps. I spent this last week working on different documents. I’ve been writing and editing things for Tales of Mahabharata. Hopefully, they’ll be finished soon. I also spent time with my dad and his side of the family. We played different games and had a lot of fun. We also started a D&D campaign.

With the beginning of this new campaign I’ll have a chance to create a whole new world as well. I’m excited to come up with new stories. It will be interesting though to see how it develops. My brother and I did a mini-adventure in the world I was building, but I quickly learned how strong a level one character is versus kobolds. My brother’s character quickly fell unconscious. It’s difficult though to plan a campaign with only my dad, my brother, and I. I’m used to campaigns with at least four people. I’ll have to get better at planning around this, or find more players.

Well till next week you guys. I hope you all do well and I look forward to letting you guys know how everything is going.

Bollywood & New Kittens

Hello my buddies!

I hope you guys have been having a good week. My week has been pretty relaxed. this past week I put the job hunt on hold for a moment. I instead had to focus on editing and working on the story for Tales of Mahabharata expansion. I enjoy working on it the research itself is very fun. I tend to watch Bollywood shows and read a lot for my research. Some of the old Bollywood episodes are amazing. They also have really good music. So it’s been nice to dive back into it a bit. I’ve also started making a GDD and Story Bible for a game I would like to make in my spare time. Right now the game is more than likely going to be a 2D platformer so that I can encourage myself to learn code and basic art. It should be a lot of fun!

My mom also got two kittens this past weekend. One is a boy and the other is a girl. They’re siblings so they love to play together. The boy is named Moonpie, he’s a very mellow cat. The girl is Soleil, she’s very energetic. They’re quite the pair. Moonpie loves my feet and legs for some reason so he tries to climb them or play with them whenever I sit down to eat. He’s scratched me up quite a bit. They’re cute and fun like babies, but I’m more of a dog person so it’s been interesting.

Well till next week you guys. Have a fun time and enjoy the beginning of Fall!

Week of Rest

Hello my friends,

This past week has been very relaxed and easy. The most stressful parts of this week was the job hunt and the fact the Destiny 2 raid was released. The only reason the raid was stressful was because if you beat it by Tuesday you get access to a special jacket. Sadly, I did not get the raid finished. I will not get that cool jacket more than likely. Other than that my week went pretty well. I applied to several jobs and my cold went away for the most part. It was nice.

This weekend we also had a graduation party for me. It was a bit belated, but it was fun. It was cool to see a lot of people I haven’t seen in a long time. I got to talk to several people I haven’t seen since elementary school. I also got to see one of my oldest friends. My sisters and I always said she was our other sister, and she said we were her siblings. It was the first time we had all been in the same location in awhile. It was also really nice to hear the continued support from my family and friends who all believe in me and want to help me. I look forward to getting out into the industry.

Well till next week you guys. I hope you guys have an awesome week.

PAX and the PAX Pox

Hello my friends!

          I hope you guys are doing great! I apologize for not posting last week. PAX was amazing but kept me very busy. Another thing that happened was I got sick and am still sick. Luckily I'm not super sick it's only a bad cold. It's just a pain in the butt and making it harder to do stuff. It just reminded me of the need to bring hand sanitizer. Even though I got sick I had an awesome time.

           PAX was a blast. I was lucky enough to be invited to help out with a booth for a company named Ybryd Games. They're a small indie publisher for games titled YIIK, World of Horror, She Remembered Caterpillars, and Va-ll Hall-a. It was awesome to help them out. The only downside was the week of 12 hour long days. Those were countered by the great people and the exhibitor pass I had. These all helped me greatly when it came to networking with people and exploring the show floor. I played all sorts of games and got to expand the list of game companies I'd like to apply to. Hopefully, I'll be able to get guidance from my new compatriots that I met at the con.

           Well till next time you guys! I hope you have continued health and success. Next time we'll chat hopefully I'll be all better.

Pushing Forward

Hello my friends!

           This past week has been pretty lax. I spent most of it just looking for jobs and talking to my connections. I also met with some friends that I haven't seen in a long time. It's pretty stressful, but I'm pushing forward and keeping my hopes up. I've met a lot of awesome people and have a lot of people who have been kind enough to vouch for me. I'm hoping to hear from some of the companies I applied to soon. Whether it is a yes or no this will allow me to have a better idea of where I'm going.

           This upcoming week is also PAX West. I have been allowed to help at a booth of a friend from GDC. I'm super excited to be at the convention and explore. Who knows I may also be able to meet more people that can help me out. I'm also looking forward to seeing what games and panels will be going on at PAX. All in all I'm sure it'll be an awesome event and I look forward to further exploring it. I'm super excited to check it out!

           Well till next time you guys. I most likely won't be posting till Tuesday as PAX goes until Monday. I look forward to telling you guys about how it goes! Have an awesome week!

Brief Moment of Rest

Hello everyone!

           I apologize for the late post I was very busy yesterday. This past week was my first week being back in Seattle after graduation. It's been a fun week and it was a great way to show off the city to my friend that came up with me. We went to all of the different tourist destinations that we could. We also ate at many of the different restaurants in Seattle. We went to a Funko store in Everett. We also checked out Pike Place Market and the Piers. For food we went to Dick's Drive-In and Ivars. It was nice to just explore the city for a week and relax.

           This week is going to be a week of job hunting and meeting with people. I'm going to be fixing up my different platforms, including this website. I've been in contact with different people form around Seattle and I'm attempting to setup different meetings. I'm hoping these will help me get a better understanding of the job market and possible job opportunities. I'll also be updating my resume. I also have plans to help a friend at PAX West and I can use that to help meet more people.

           Well till next week you guys! I hope you have a wonderful week and I look forward to all of our futures.

Graduated and Back Home

Hello my friends!

           I'm sorry for the late post I was very busy yesterday with family. This past week has been pretty exciting. I got to hangout with family and go to Disney and Universal. I packed up all of my stuff to ship to Seattle. I also got to graduate from my degree. It was an awesome and fun week. I'm now back in Seattle and spending the week with my family again. My roommate also came up to Seattle with me. It's his first time up here so we're going to do all of the classic tourist things before he returns to Florida.

            As for my graduation it was bittersweet. I'm excited to have walked and am now free to go into the world. However, I'm sad to have left my family in Florida. I'm looking forward to pushing myself hard in the industry. I want to return to the Florida, and Full Sail, to see my Florida family and help students. It is time to move forward with my next set of goals. First is to get a job of course. The second is to then return to the school and help the students. Then third would be to become a Hall of Famer for my school. I want to be someone my school and people can rely on to help and work as hard as possible to push them forward. It's exciting and new, so the future is bright.

            Well til next time you guys! I look forward to keeping you informed of everything. I hope you have a fun week and an exciting future.

The End of my Masters

Hello my buddies!

           I'm sorry for not posting last week. I've been super busy. Last week I had my final BTS. It was very bittersweet. It was so much fun. I was a stage manager again, but this month had a special twist. We had a guest for the months career development panel. Our guest was Tionne "Tboz" Watkins, the head singer of TLC. She was really cool and fun to hang out with. It was also pretty funny when Garry Jones, Full Sail's President, found out it was my last one. He started joking about foreseeing a course failure in my future. He also would call me out during the panels for graduating soon and other stuff. Then it was really cool because I got to hear how many people were interested in helping me after graduation. The experience was really heartwarming and it was an honor to work with these different people. I look forward to returning for BTS in the future, but next time as a speaker.

           This was the end of my Masters program. Now I move forward into the world. I have graduation this upcoming Friday and the next day I fly home to Seattle. The entire program was without a doubt amazing. The ups and downs, the new experiences and a great way for me to grow my portfolio and network. The program led to me going to GDC and being able to expand my skill set. I'm so happy with my experience in my program. I may have faced all sorts of issues or problems in my experience, but they were all worth it. I learned so much via all of these problems. I'm excited but scared about my next steps. Who knows what will happen next, but without a doubt it'll be exciting.

           My studio also released the game I've been working on. It's currently in early access on steam for $4.99. The game is named Tales of Mahabharata. It takes an ancient Indian epic and gamifies it. I had a lot of fun working on it so check it out and tell me what you think.

           Well till next time you guys! I hope you have a great week and are ready for the future.

Halfway Done with the Final Month

Hello my friends!

           This past week has been a bit exhausting. I've been super busy with everything that I've been working on. However, it's been worth it. We're so close to releasing our game Tales of Mahabharata for early access. I'm so excited for it. We've been running our Facebook and trying to post frequently. This allows us to build our audience and hopefully gather a following. It's been an awesome experience.

           The other aspects of this week are all school related. I've been wrapping up this month. Today I finished making my poster presentation and I'm going to be getting feedback on it soon. I've been able to combine all of my research and create an argument for my topic. I believe I've said my topic before but just in case, my topic is "How to Improve Narrative." I go into detail on my findings and the options I feel should be taken. I'm excited for everything that is going on and what the future holds. I'm a little nervous, but I believe in my capabilities and I'm ready to end my Masters with a great presentation.

            Well till next week my friends! I have BTS next Saturday so I maybe a little late. I hope you guys have a great week and everything goes well.

Nearing the End of an Era

Hello my friends!

           I apologize for the late post, yesterday was BTS and it kept me super busy. This past week has been really good. We were able to make a lot of progress on Tales of the Mahabharata, the game I'm producing. Our art is going to be finished next week. The rest is just implementation and polish. I'm super excited for the game to be finished. We got feedback from various industry professionals. They gave us valuable feedback and we already are working towards fixing the issues they may have seen. It was great to be able to hear their critiques and insight. I'm excited for when the game is released and you guys can play it.

           BTS was a lot of fun. I was a stage manager for the Career Dev panel. It's weird to think that this BTS was my second to last one. It was also one of my bosses final BTS, his name is Jim. I have been working BTS for so long I have gone through seven bosses. Out of my original BTS crew the only constants now are me and my other boss Andy. It's weird to see Jim leave the team and move to a different department. He was a great boss and someone I had a lot of fun working towards. This is just one step closer to the end, and I'm getting more and more anxious each day. However ,I'm also excited.

           Well till next my friends. I wish you an awesome week and I hope you have a lot of fun. 

Editing my Resume and a Busy Week

Hello Everyone,

             This past week has been pretty easy. The most difficult part was just wrapping up my Practicum. The other part has been studio work. With wrapping up Practicum the last part was an Excel spreadsheet where I had to make a feature list, master task list, and capacity plan. It was fairly simple creating the documents, but I had fun. As for my studio work we're in major crunch and it's pushing my time management skills. I feel though that I'm able to balance everything that's going on. I'm just at  a point where I have a lot more on my plate than I was expecting. I'm currently formulating my schedule for the week. My friends may be a little disappointed because I won't be playing much Civilization VI, but it's much needed.

           The other portion of this week is trying to improve my resume. I'm trying my best to make a resume that shows my work ethic and abilities. I currently lack in the experience that most jobs would like, so I need to make my resume impressive. I also need to create awesome cover letters. There are also other ways I'm trying to improve my resume. I'm trying multiple formats and I'm trying to get different people to read my resume. I feel I'm close to a good looking resume I just need to keep pushing. I also need to keep updating my website and showing off the stuff I'm working on. I'm ecstatic and want to move into the industry soon. I know it is difficult, but I'm hoping to get into it quickly after graduation. I've been lucky so far and I have a lot of great friends and connections that are willing to help me. I just have to make sure their faith is well founded. I'm confident I can deliver, and I'm hoping to grow more and more as I push forward.

            Well I look forward to talking to you guys next week. I hope your week goes great and you find success.

Practicum and a Game Jam

Aloha everyone!

            I hope your week has gone as well as mine has. This past week has been very productive. I was able to push forward with so much of my work. I also started my Practicum test. If you didn't read my last post Practicum is basically the final exam of my Masters program. We get to pick one of three tests that are meant to gauge our skills in the game industry. I chose the production test. This allows me to explain my production philosophies and the different ways to approach risks. I'm also required to create a task list and capacity plan. I personally love creating the capacity plan and schedule for a project. I like to coordinate the intricacies and uniqueness. It's almost like when you move into a new house and are setting up your room. The different levels and seeing the plan be put together is exciting. I'm confident in my answers for the test and I am excited to see my scores on it.

            As for the other reason I had a great week. The studio hosted a game jam for the game I am producing. We gathered the different team members and spent the entire focused solely on the project. We were able to come up with different plans and strategies to complete the game. We were also able to move forward with combining our different levels and art. The game is quickly coming together and moving forward. We have a lot of plans for the future, and I'm super excited for you guys to see it. The game is my pride and joy right now. We keep hearing great things from everyone who plays it. This makes me very excited to see what reviews we get on Steam. I'll let you guys know when we're ready to release.

            Well till next week you guys. I hope you guys have a great week and wish me luck on my Practicum!

Preparing for Practicum

Hello my friends!

            This past week has been an enlightening time. The game I am currently producing and leading has entered crunch. We also got to show the game at the Final Project Showcase (FPS). At FPS we got a lot of great feedback. It was a great way for us to find bugs and measure people's interest.  With us also being in crunch we've been making a lot of preparations for release later this month. I'm really proud of the game and I'm excited to see what happens with it.

            I've also entered into the second to last month of my Masters. During this month I will be in what is called Practicum. For that I will be taking a large test. For the test we are given a choice of what we want to do. There are three options: UX, Production, and Design. If you pick the UX test you have to come up with a test plan and answer various questions. The Production test requires you to make a production plan, schedule, and answer questions. Lastly there is the Design test. If you pick Design you then have to pick which version of it. The options include Narrative, System, Level, and Character design. The Design test requires you to make a GDD and various other options. My plan is to do the Production test. I am very interested in becoming a producer and feel that this test would be helpful to me. I'm also planning on doing the Narrative Design test as a portfolio piece. It should be a lot of fun.

            I hope you have a great week you guys. I'm excited and looking forward to let you guys know how Practicum is going.

Memorial Day

Hello my compatriots!

            This past week has been pretty boring. I haven't done much that's too exciting. Over this past week I've really only had class and work. It's been a lot of working and hanging out. I will say I did something that was fun this week. Five of my friends and coworkers, along with myself, started a game of Civilization VI. That was really the most exciting part.

            With today being Memorial Day it's nice having a day off. It's rare for me to have day to relax and just sit around. It allows me to make different changes to my schedule and work on things I haven't been able to. I'm still moving forward with job applications, but it's a little difficult. I'm having a hard time with figuring out what to do. I'm also having a hard time finding the motivation to fully go forward with the job search. I'm hoping to continue and find a way to show my skills.

            Well wish me luck! I hope you guys have a good week and can continue to be awesome.

The Magic of BTS

Hello my buddies!

            This past week has been a unique one. I've been working in all sorts of different areas this week. I got to go into the areas of development. This has been a pretty interesting experience. I'm starting to try and figure out the best ways to go about doing dev work for RPG Maker. I'm excited to push forward and expand the skill set I can use.

            I also had BTS today. I did something different for this one. Most typically I'm a stage manager, but today I was more of a floater. I was bouncing between different areas of work either holding doors or guiding guests. I also was invited to eat lunch with the President of my school and some of the different alumni. It was really interesting to be working in these areas and interact with these different things. BTS truly is a strange and fun work place.

            Well I hope you guys have a great upcoming week! I wish you the best of luck and I'll check in with you guys next week! 

Beginning the Job Hunt

Hello my friends!

            This past week has been very busy. I've had a lot of work going on for my studio. Its made everything more exciting and a bit stressful. I'm luckily getting to a point that is less busy. It's worth it though. This amount of work and stress is simply going to help me be more prepared for the future. I need all of the experience and skills I can get. This will push me further into the future and forward to a place where I can meet my goals.

            Going based off of my experience and busy week. I've begun to start looking for jobs. This has been a little daunting. I keep encountering jobs that I feel may be a bit out of my league. I'm trying to find the best path towards my future. Luckily, I've had a lot of help from all sorts of different people. These different things have combined to lead me to believe I can meet my goals. I am excited to push forward, but I'm intimidated at the same time. 

            Well I look forward to talking to you guys another time. I hope you guys have a great week and all of the best luck in the world.

Slowly Returning to Normal

Aloha my friends,

           I hope you guys had a good week. My past week has been pretty easy going actually. Everything is slowly calming down and returning to a more stable point. There are still issues that we are rectifying, but we should reach a more stable point soon. This upcoming week is exciting as well. We are getting even closer to being set and the game I'm producing is getting closer and closer to release. In this next week I should begin getting applications for Lead Narrative, Deadpool 2 is released, and the new Destiny Expansion comes out. This will be an entertaining week hopefully.

           So as for the production of my game it has been going great. We have hit a few road bumps, but none that halted us majorly. It has been a great learning experience for me and has taught me a lot about production and team management. I've had to work with my leads and balance the schedule. The biggest hurdles we've faced is artists that are constantly being pulled between games, and parts of our team not always being in studio. The first has only been an issue for certain aspects, but in general it just slowed down our process. The second hurdle has been a major one as our out of studio team members have had issues with communication. In general the production has been very smooth. I'm very excited for the game to be released, and I'm proud to have had such a large role in the game.

           Well I look forward to talking with you guys next week. I hope your week goes well and you get to have an entertaining time.