The Definition of Wellington's Summer
Sunday January 27, 2013
The Metservice says that we're supposed to have a sunny spell for a whopping ten days in a row. Not sure if this is unprecedented for Wellington, but it certainly seems like something novel since I've been here. Plenty of things have been happening to take advantage of the summer weather!
After badminton yesterday, I celebrated Australia Day with a few of my workmates with a low-key barbeque. There was plenty of fine meats to be had, and lots of good old fashioned Australian racism too (JOKE). I was sad I couldn't stay for longer as I had to rush to the Sprig and Fern for Matt and Claire's engagement party. Good to catch up with people and form some sort of plan for the trip down south in April. Looking forward to it!
Last weekend was Wellington anniversary, and I went to the Game Master exhibition at Te Papa with Jordan and Loic. Highly recommend it and had heaps of fun there - there's an impressive collection of video games there dating back to the old arcade-style games to the newest consoles - Wii, PS3 and Xbox360 - and with the advent of mobile gaming in the past few years, some iOS and Android games as well. I was blown away by how well some of the arcade games had aged; while some were very difficult to play, they're still incredibly fun and it was interesting to play them with their original control schemes - joysticks and track balls galore.
The exhibition really brought back the nostalgia, with Sonic 1, Sonic 2 and Super Mario Brothers showcasing the pinnacle of platformers in the 1990s, and in comparison how these IPs have evolved and branched out to Sonic Generations in 3D on the Playstation 3 (though I was having a bad time with this) and New Super Mario Bros on the Nintendo DS. Moving on from the Sega and the Nintendo sections, there was Blizzard (Starcraft 2 and Warcraft III), Will Wright (Sim City... and then his later games like Spore and The Sims which I didn't care about), Tim Schafer (Day of the Tentacle and Monkey Island), a large open area for Dance Central, Singstar and Rockband, then a section for Indie games and mobile games, including Castle Crashers, Braid, Flower, Flow, Journey, Minecraft, Fruit Ninja Kinect, Jetpack Joyride, Chopper 2 and of course, Sidhe's own brick-breaking phenomenon, Shatter!
There was some kid playing Shatter when I arrived and he was playing it wrong. I suggested he hit the Right Ctrl button to unleash Shard Storm against the first boss, but he ignored me and continued being wrong. Jerk.
I have been playing Sonic 4 for a while, which I bought on Steam over Christmas, and like Sonic Generations at Game Masters, I was having a bad time with it. The physics are all wrong and there's no sense of momentum in the game. The trajectory of Sonic as he runs and jumps feels difficult and nothing like what his good old 16-bit days felt like. Though the game is pretty, it simply doesn't compare to Sonic 2 or Sonic 3 on the Genesis, and it's a pity that the series has devolved to this state. Frustrated from this experience, I turned to Lego Lord of the Rings. The game has some great humour and lots of content, but is quite easy and the first few stories can feel tedious and grindy. I've progressed to the point where I have lots of abilities, so it's much more interesting and fun now.
Works has been going well. Before I left for the US, I was supposed to be on a particular "barfing rainbows" project; I was reassigned onto Rise of the Guardians on my return and since its completion in November, I have been maintaining the company's core code base - as well as the fantastic Game Jam week we had to finish the year. Though the barfing rainbows project was also supposed to finish in November, it's been extended until March and I'm fortunate enough to be put back on that project. Most of the game is there and functioning, but it's a very valuable IP so we want to make sure that the metagame and the UI system are high quality and well polished. Looking forward to seeing this out on the App Store!
Posted by Jeremy at 10:17am on Sunday January 27, 2013 :: 0 comments :: 
Back in Wellington
Monday January 7, 2013
First post of the new year. Not quite back at work yet - my past self was wise enough to apply for these first three days off as time in lieu. My sleep schedule is all wrong and I'm still quite tired.
New Year's Eve was really nice. I had some friends over for a potluck dinner which turned out to be a feast of meats and deliciousness. There was ample food to go around and plenty of leftovers for the next day. We played a few games of Spaceteam and Taboo before heading out to the peninsula to watch the Sky Tower's annual "worst New Years fireworks I've ever seen". We ended the night in style with a glass of strawberries in Lindauer.
It was such a fine day the next day that we met at Wing Wah for an impromptu yum cha, then went to Cornwall Park to spend the afternoon. We talked a lot about goals and resolutions for 2013 and decided that to start off the new year, it would be a great idea for Alice to go pet a sheep in the paddock. Sadly this mission failed. Nevertheless, after giving up, Alice randomly blurted out that she wanted Steamboat, and so plans were set in motion for Steamboat at mine. Awesome!
Equally as random was our decision to head out to the Pinnacles in Coromandel for a day trip trek. Planning for this took approximately 20 minutes. We met at mine at 7am and began the two hour drive to Thames, via Greenlane Countdown for some supplies and McDonalds for some breakfast. After some dusty gravel roading, we reached the base of the track around 10am. It was another brilliant day, with ample sunshine and a light breeze to keep the temperatures down. The trail led us through some classic New Zealand bush, full of beautiful greenery. We reached the Pinnacles Hut around 1pm for lunch, and then the glorious peak around 2pm for some fantastic 360 degree views of the Coromandel Peninsula. And of course the first thing people do is check their phones for 3G reception and post to Facebook. We returned to the carpark in just under 3.5 hours to start the drive home at 6pm. Despite some traffic woes along State Highway 2, we were back at mine at 9pm. Day was seized!
I spent Thursday cleaning the house in anticipation of my parents' return from Malaysia, but enjoyed yet another round of Peking Duck from Sun World with some ex-colleagues and current colleagues. Mitchell and David were feeling a bit adventurous, so we made our way into town and got some milk tea from Hulucat. Asian things that you can't get easily in Wellington :( Their taro milk tea with mango pudding is still as good as I remember.
On Friday, I was at Charlotte's house for hers and Jono's engagement party. Though it was a bit windy, the barbeque was stacked full and grilling a multitude of steaks and sausages. We did run out of gas though, so we resumed cooking on the frying pan. There was plenty of food to be had and it was great to meet the rest of the bridal party, with plans in motion for the stag do as well! Exciting times... Jono and Charlotte's wedding will be only one of three weddings I'm going to this year!
I had dinner with my parents and grandmother at Star Cafe on Manukau Road on Saturday, then went to Ben's for some games afterwards. I got to play Mafia as a real player for the first time in forever, and dominated as a civilian (bahahah). Some interesting rules in this game, I didn't quite like the voting and trial system, but thought that it was interesting that the sniper dies from guilt if he doesn't shoot a Mafia. Might just steal this for my own games ^_^
Sunday was church in the morning, Mexicali Fresh in Newmarket for lunch, DotA in the afternoon (it was grim...), a quick catch up to see my nephew before leaving, then a BBQ with the CSC at Sarah's. Good to see them, even if it only happens once, at approximately the same time each year. I felt a bit bad for turning up (almost uninvited too, trololol), eating, then rushing off to catch my flight.
And so today is Monday and even today is drawing to a close quickly (I've had two naps today). I've had a great Christmas and New Years but it's time to head back to work... soon.
Posted by Jeremy at 10:28am on Monday January 7, 2013 :: 0 comments ::
How do I summer
Saturday December 29, 2012
For the first time since I arrived in Auckland, it has been brilliantly sunny. I took advantage of the great weather by doing some laundry, naturally, and within a few hours all my clothes were dry! It's amazing!
I did more than just laundry though, a bunch of us went out to Karekare Beach, near Piha, just to chill in the sun. Though some dark ominous clouds rolled over around 3pm, they were nothing more than extra sunshade and the conditions remained warm and pleasant.
Just got back from an epic Korean BBQ place out on the shore called Arirang with my friends from CompSci. So much news to catch up on... no one ever keeps me informed :(! There was a huge amount of food and I was blown away by how cheap it all was as well. I tried freshwater snails for the first time, as well as cold noodles, and was spoiled for choice with the multitude of delectable side dishes. Nothing in Wellington comes close to the quality AND quantity at this place. Huge thanks to Laura for sorting everything out and cooking all the meat for us.
Yesterday I caught up with some ex-colleagues - Vaughan and Roy - as well as Alan, who had driven my car up to Auckland from Wellington via Taupo. We played a few games of pool and had a great meal at Erawan Thai on Jervois Rd. It was a little weird seeing my car up here when I didn't drive it up... after dinner we went our separate ways and I ended up at Ben's house for some board games (and Spaceteam!) until 1am. Citadels is slowly becoming a favourite of the group!
On Thursday I went for yum cha with my sister and her family. Nephew is still as adorable as ever, and was well behaved at the restaurant. It's so good to go with my sister because I get to eat things that my friends don't normally eat, like tofu and tau fu fa. I spent the afternoon just catching up with them, and then playing with my nephew after his nap. I feel so proud to be his uncle!
And finally on Wednesday, I went into town to check out Boxing Day sales. Yeah, it's not really like me at all. Queen St was full of people (lots of Asians lololol) looking for bargains; peering into some of the small shops, they're crammed packed with people who can barely move around, such is the utter madness of these Boxing Day sales. As for myself, I purchased a few items from the Warehouse: some bedsheets, new shoes, some socks.... nothing really that exciting. I remember walking around thinking about how much I hate shopping and that I can finally say I did the Boxing Day thing and that the amount I save doesn't feel like it justifies the chaos I experience in the shopping malls. Never again.
Posted by Jeremy at 9:21am on Saturday December 29, 2012 :: 0 comments ::
It's Christmas Time
Tuesday December 25, 2012
I have to admit, I'm a little jealous of all my friends in Wellington posting these pictures of the glorious weather, while in Auckland it's overcast and windy and wet. In any case, the weather has never stopped us celebrating Christmas and having a good time.
Yesterday I introduced my friends to Spaceteam on iOS and also played a bit of Citadels too. Dragon Gate! In the afternoon I had to rush off to Pak n Save to prepare for a small Christmas Eve dinner at home, as well as supplies for Christmas lunch the next day. It was totally chaotic there, with hundreds of others running around the supermarket trying to finish their last minute shopping. Thankfully I was done with plenty of time to spare and had a good meal with Mat and Jono, despite two last minute cancellations from Tom and Andrew.
And today's Christmas plans were great as well. So nice to catch up with my sister and her family - my nephew is almost two years old now (how time flies...) and full of laughter and energy. Now that he's walking and talking, he's a lot of fun to play with and absolutely adorable. He even knows how to high five! I'm sure there will be many more memorable moments to come.
Wishing you all a Merry Christmas, wherever in the world you may be!
Posted by Jeremy at 6:52am on Tuesday December 25, 2012 :: 0 comments ::
Wrapping up for Christmas
Sunday December 23, 2012
We had a game pitching session at the start of the month in the hopes we'd be able to generate some ideas for a Game Jam session in the last week of the year. Thanks to some quick last minute work by Jimmy, I put forward a pitch for an idea that had been festering for a few years. From the 19 pitches that were presented, 9 were chosen by senior management to go through as prototype candidates for Game Jam, mine included!
The great thing about the format of Game Jam this year is that everyone voted for pitches that they wanted to play and wanted to work on, and then everyone was assigned to a team they voted for. Having the initial buy-in meant that each team was passionate about the idea and were motivated to do they best they could. It works in a similar way at Facebook and Valve, I believe; you recruit your coworkers by marketing your idea and if they are interested, they'll join your project team.
In any case, what my team achieved in a single week was phenomenal, and indeed the other 8 prototypes were absolutely stunning as well. There was a great sense of camaraderie and appreciation for the amazing amount of talent the company has, and it was truly a wonderful way to end the year. I had a lot of fun in this past week, and we will be eagerly waiting to see which games make it to fu production next year.
In celebration we had some food and drinks at the Fork and Brewer on Friday night, and then the last badminton for the year on Saturday morning. In the afternoon I cleaned all the things and scurried off to the airport for the last flight to Auckland.
Ironically the Metservice has forecast rain for the next 10 days in Auckland, while Wellington gets a better forecast next week. Sure enough it rained a bit today, but that didn't dampen plans to play DotA2 and meet up with my workmates for some delicious Peking Duck at Sun World, and a few drinks at the Cock and Bull to end a great night.
Holidays are awesome.
Posted by Jeremy at 11:22am on Sunday December 23, 2012 :: 0 comments ::