Where did the time go?
To those of you who are currently following me. Whoah, long time no see. To those who aren't, this is hopefully a way to catch up.
What have I done in the last 3 years?
Work
When I last posted, I was working for Blackboard, still on the UBC campus. I had just gotten back from PAX 2006. In August 2007, Blackboard announced that they were offering relocation to Washington DC to about ninety percent of the people in Vancouver, the other 10 percent were being let go. A third of the relocate people could choose to stay in Vancouver and keep their jobs if they wanted.
I had the option of moving to Washington DC, or quitting. After some serious thinking, I tentatively choose DC while applying to various local companies. The day of the deadline I was still waiting to hear back from a company. It came back no. I was going to DC. 1 week later Next Level Games interviewed me, and offered me a job. I stayed in Vancouver but lost out on the severance package. Oh well.
At Next Level I was working on an undisclosed game, the predecessor to what became Punch Out. I hadn't worked in games before, and I hadn't worked in C in forever so things were very new and exciting. I didn't realize that the game didn't have a solid direction, and probably wasn't going to make it. When they canceled the project, I was let go. They had 1 project with a lot of people ramping off, and I was the new guy. I had a really good time there, and so getting let go hurt.
I picked myself up, and got going on interviews. There were quite a few good ones, in the end it came down to Rockstar, Relic, and EA. It was a tough choice, but I'm pretty glad I chose Relic. I've been here for the past 2 years. I've worked on Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts, Company of Heroes Online, and Dawn of War II. I really like the people here, and am really happy with what I'm working on.
Personal
I proposed to Nicola sometime in January or February 2008. We were married Nicola Oct 5th, 2008.
Our first child is due Dec 7th, 2009 - no we don't know the gender, yes we do have names picked. yes we know it's not twins.
Snowboarding has been decreasing in frequency the past few years. I still enjoy it, but Nicola hasn't been able to wear contacts, so it's not been as much fun for her. I hope to get in 10 days this year, but with the child coming, we'll see.
I sold my car this spring. I'll miss it, but I wasn't using a car. If I need one I can borrow Nicola's
Been playing a lot of World of Warcraft.
I stopped playing ultimate on a regular basis. I miss it, I don't miss organizing people for that every week.
Cool vacations of note
- China for work, march 2008. Even though we worked way too much the trip was awesome. I probably won't get sent to Korea for CoHO but I probably wouldn't complain if I did.
We've been going to Portland for a weekend in the late fall the past few years for a WoW guild meetup. That has been a lot of fun. Looking forward to going again this year.
- Mexico for Mike and Shelly's wedding.
- Had an awesome time at Shannon and Jordan's wedding this summer in the Okanagan.
- PAX every year. It's getting easier to wrangle people, there were 11 of us over 2 rooms ( or 14 of us over 4 rooms if you really want to count. ) It has been awesome every time.
Biggest thing that jumped out and got me to pay attention to it at PAX this year?
Borderlands looks awesome. I'm probably going PC, depending on who of my friends I can convince.
Other things i saw
- Starcraft 2 and left for dead 2, but those are probably self evident. The wow expansion looked typical. Wow is starting to lose it's luster
What have I done in the last 3 years?
Work
When I last posted, I was working for Blackboard, still on the UBC campus. I had just gotten back from PAX 2006. In August 2007, Blackboard announced that they were offering relocation to Washington DC to about ninety percent of the people in Vancouver, the other 10 percent were being let go. A third of the relocate people could choose to stay in Vancouver and keep their jobs if they wanted.
I had the option of moving to Washington DC, or quitting. After some serious thinking, I tentatively choose DC while applying to various local companies. The day of the deadline I was still waiting to hear back from a company. It came back no. I was going to DC. 1 week later Next Level Games interviewed me, and offered me a job. I stayed in Vancouver but lost out on the severance package. Oh well.
At Next Level I was working on an undisclosed game, the predecessor to what became Punch Out. I hadn't worked in games before, and I hadn't worked in C in forever so things were very new and exciting. I didn't realize that the game didn't have a solid direction, and probably wasn't going to make it. When they canceled the project, I was let go. They had 1 project with a lot of people ramping off, and I was the new guy. I had a really good time there, and so getting let go hurt.
I picked myself up, and got going on interviews. There were quite a few good ones, in the end it came down to Rockstar, Relic, and EA. It was a tough choice, but I'm pretty glad I chose Relic. I've been here for the past 2 years. I've worked on Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts, Company of Heroes Online, and Dawn of War II. I really like the people here, and am really happy with what I'm working on.
Personal
I proposed to Nicola sometime in January or February 2008. We were married Nicola Oct 5th, 2008.
Our first child is due Dec 7th, 2009 - no we don't know the gender, yes we do have names picked. yes we know it's not twins.
Snowboarding has been decreasing in frequency the past few years. I still enjoy it, but Nicola hasn't been able to wear contacts, so it's not been as much fun for her. I hope to get in 10 days this year, but with the child coming, we'll see.
I sold my car this spring. I'll miss it, but I wasn't using a car. If I need one I can borrow Nicola's
Been playing a lot of World of Warcraft.
I stopped playing ultimate on a regular basis. I miss it, I don't miss organizing people for that every week.
Cool vacations of note
- China for work, march 2008. Even though we worked way too much the trip was awesome. I probably won't get sent to Korea for CoHO but I probably wouldn't complain if I did.
We've been going to Portland for a weekend in the late fall the past few years for a WoW guild meetup. That has been a lot of fun. Looking forward to going again this year.
- Mexico for Mike and Shelly's wedding.
- Had an awesome time at Shannon and Jordan's wedding this summer in the Okanagan.
- PAX every year. It's getting easier to wrangle people, there were 11 of us over 2 rooms ( or 14 of us over 4 rooms if you really want to count. ) It has been awesome every time.
Biggest thing that jumped out and got me to pay attention to it at PAX this year?
Borderlands looks awesome. I'm probably going PC, depending on who of my friends I can convince.
Other things i saw
- Starcraft 2 and left for dead 2, but those are probably self evident. The wow expansion looked typical. Wow is starting to lose it's luster