A Heartfelt Goodbye from Lucas and HIS GAME!

So, this is it! This is the end! I regret to inform you that today is my very last day at Smiley Guy Studios. It's a little bittersweet. I'm pretty sad that I'm leaving. I sat on the bus this morning just thinking about the fact that this may be the last time that I ever go this route. (I know its too sentimental but get over it!) But I'm also feeling as though the skills that I have learned here will be with me forever. I finish this year feeling more knowledgable and more confidence than I did when I started. I found fields that interested me and really dug into what makes someone good at that job. I immersed myself in the Toronto video game community and wrote a 50 page sit-com pilot! These are things that wouldn't have even occurred to me to do prior to this year. 

Aside from that, within the studio I met a ton of awesome people. They were always willing to answer my questions or just have a good conversation. Before coming here, I was quite frightened of the "real world." The point where you become an adult and all the fun gets sucked out of you. The people here however, have showed me that that's not the case at all. Most love what they do and have a good time doing it. I have to admit, when I first got here I was not quite sure whether or not Brad was joking most of the time. It's a kind of humour that takes you a little while to catch on to.

And finally... The Game! It's done! I feel really proud of what I have done. To be honest though, as an outsider who doesn't know about me; it would look quite unimpressive. The art isn't amazing and the code is pretty sloppy but I feel it's a real accomplishment. I've really never done something like this and all the skills that I used were acquired earlier this year. I acknowledge that it has flaws, but it's a stepping stone. My next game will be better, then my next will be even better than that! I'm just happy that it works. There were a few points where I wasn't even sure that this would be possible at my skill level. There had to be a few major concept changes to make sure that the game was even possible, but I pulled through. I have something now that although it may glitch out at some points, someone can sit down and play it. If you're wondering where it can be played, I have it hosted on a website which I'll link to below. I'm going to update it one more time before I leave, just fixing a bug that makes the player spawn in the wrong place and a simple mixup with one of the cloud tiles. It's not a big deal, the game works the same without these changes. It's just a matter of aesthetics. 

To end this off, I'd like to tie it back to one of my first blogs. As I walked in today, I noticed the dancing Jewish man figurine. I figure I'll leave it here for two reasons. 1) There are so many objects and trinkets laying around the office. I'm sure everything reminds a few people of a story or an experience, so I want something here that is a reminder I was here (as odd a reminder as that is).  2) I really don't want that thing back. Like, honestly I don't want to lose any more sleep over the thought of that thing on my shelf. Please. Keep it. 

I'd like to thank Julie and Mike for even after having poor prior experiences with co-op students, accepting me to work here. The year had a huge positive impact on me and I'm sure I won't be forgetting it any time soon. 

The Game: http://www.cavemenjointlink.com/

Lucas Gets Some Competition

Not a ton has happened this week because of Victoria day and a doctor's appointment on wednesday this has been my only day in this week.  So, I want to express my excitement towards another workplace factor:

MORE INTERNS!

My blogs are going to be less lonely on the Intern Blog! I read all of their posts from last week and I have to say that I have some serious competition. They all draw so well! I don't think firework gifs will be enough to win the blog-battles anymore. 

Also, I only have two more weeks here...  Time really flies. On the subject, I'm going to spend the weekend doing work on the game. It's going to be done by next Friday! It's sort of bittersweet. 

On another side note, Mike intercepted me on my way in today and we had a really good chat about literature. Specifically Catcher in the Rye (Holden's such a phoney). I'm building up a summer reading list so he's going to send me some titles that have had an impact on him. I'm looking foreword to it.

Lucas Gives a Speech

So, this wednesday was the Northern Co-op breakfast. It was pretty cool to see what everyone had been doing for the last year. Mr Rowell had asked me to do a speech which was pretty cool. There were seven other people doing little speeches and we each got up and spoke for about a minute. I was asked to talk about how as opposed to waiting for the teachers to set up interviews last year, I went out and did the job search on my own. I think it went really well. I also got a certificate for speaking! It's fairly fancy. Julie got one as well for putting up with me the entire year. 

Otherwise, the week has been fairly uneventful. Work with the game is on track. I finished another book. I'm probably going to see Godzilla today. I'm looking foreword to that.

Lucas is Wrapping it Up

Hello people of the world! This week has been on the less-eventful side but nonetheless, everything is still in motion!

The game is almost done, just minor changes are being made now and I'm prepping for the final version! It's really cool to see all the work finally come together. I'm looking foreword to it.

Unfortunately, the short film that I was talking about last week will have to be postponed. My film-making friend and two of the actors are unable to put in the time due to exams so we'll be doing it during the summer. I am slightly disappointed because I'm a teenager and I crave immediate gratification but it's probably for the best. We'll end up not having to be so rushed and not confined to a small amount of time.

On a side note, I read "Of Mice and Men" and "the Catcher in the Rye" this week.

Still sleep deprived.

Lucas Continues to Shame Us All With His Energy

Ok, this week has been a busy one! I'm just going to go through the list of things that have been pulled together over the course of this week. Seems like the best way to do this.

1. Co-op: So, the write-ups for our final culminating projects were due this Wednesday. I'm pretty happy with mine. I of course, made a game. I borrowed a huge amount of the code from the work that I have done here at SGS so that cut down the time that I had to spend on it my a monumental amount. Despite that, it looks and plays completely different. I also had to do a powerpoint presentation to the class. I think that went really well too.

2. Writing: Last week when I finished my pilot episode, Julie sent me a link to withoutabox.com. It's basically a hub for film festivals. I was looking through the site to find a script-only festival but I was having difficulty finding one that had parameters that fit my pilot. However, I did find a bunch of student short film festivals. I figured... why not just write one of these? So I did. I have a good friend who is in the film program at Earl Haig (It's an arts school). He's going to help me shoot it. I am going to direct. And I'm also doing the casting this week (There are enough drama-geeks at my school would be up for it). We're going to film next weekend. It's only going to be about 5-7 minutes so the filming shouldn't be too laborious. I have however, started making a call sheet for the times that all the actors need to be there. Just so that we can manage the time well.

3. Reading: I know this is a bit off topic, but from tuesday till now, I have read two novels. I felt like mentioning it just because it's been quite intensive. My sister gave me "A Fault In Our Stars" by John Green. It was really good. I went out and got "Looking For Alaska" which is also by him on wednesday. That was really good as well. I need more sleep.

Lucas is Becoming an Inspiration to the Rest of Us

I feel really good about this week! First off, I'm on schedule with the game now! I had a my check with Aman this morning and I got some criticism on the tile set and character. He told me that I should take away the colour of the player overtop of the tiles to make sure there's enough contrast of the two. Apparently, it's helpful for colour-blind people as well as making sure that the player is always clear seen. He is also going to send me some of his previous tile sets so I can make some comparisons. I'm going to make some tweaks on them then on monday we'll lock it. Feels good to not be behind! 

On a side note, I finished my Pilot! I've been doing some work on my own on a TV Pilot. I had finished a treatment and started  the actual spec two weeks ago. Now I'm happy to say that it's done! It's 55 pages. I don't think I've ever written that many pages of anything. Mike said I should send all this stuff to him and we can talk about it. He's already given me some pretty brief do's and don't's of the industry and I'm really exited to hear more. I'll probably start writing more specs. Now that I've already gone through the motions of doing this first one, it should be easier from here on out.

One Good Intern Helps Another

This blog is a little off schedule. Just because the last week and a half has been really wonky. I've been at home with a fever since thursday so I haven't been into the studio but I was able to do some work on my own time. First, I'll start with a bit of a progress report with the game:

 

So as of now, I am done programming. I had to do a quick map loader to use the tiled (.tmx) map files in java but it worked out fine. I have a few very basic maps. The player can walk around and attack stuff and it's all very fun. I'm now starting on the art. I'd like to have time for two really polished tile sets. However, with time restraints I may only have time for one. It won't be the end of the world though. 

 

Also, heres the (very very very) rough tile set that I have been working on:

 

 

 

On a side note, I've been talking to Elizabeth about my interest in television writing. She was able to send me some very useful packages from her classes on things including how to make a good pitch, to a character development sheet. Since I've been home sick with a ton of free time, I was able to complete a 12-page treatment (Like a pitch) and I have about 10 pages of a pilot episode. Elizabeth also sent me some samples so I had a bit of a grasp on what the format should look like. 

 

 

Lucas Full Speed Ahead!

Wow, first blog since I've been back!  There's a lot of progress that's been made in terms of the game that I gotta blab about so stay with me for a moment.

First of all, all the classes are done. It's really been tough to get through it all. I was met with a few unexpected challenges with the code but overall, I'm really happy with it and I'm glad it's mostly done. Now all that's left is to actually put everything where it's supposed to be. For now, I already have a player and some enemy placeholders. I'm using a legend of zelda tile-set for now, just so that I don't have to spend all the time making one from scratch.

 

I've been spending most of my time just building levels. This is really where I shine. Now that the code is done I can really have a lot of fun with the map building. I can have people actually play it and get real criticism. I have run into a few bugs but nothing major that I haven't been able to fix in a few minutes. Hopefully no bigger game-breaking issues arise. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Lucas is as Exciting as Fireworks

This week has been slightly less eventful than last few so I'll try to keep this interesting! After reading Elizabeth's blog last week I feel like I need to make mine even more exiting just to simply one up her's. Maybe theres a way to add explosions or fireworks. 

So this week has been one filled with music, I have a show today at the Opera House and I've been running around frantically selling tickets. It's been somewhat stressful because it's the biggest audience I've ever played for but it's still pretty exiting. The comics have still been coming out bi-daily like I said they would last week. I'm actually fairly surprised and impressed with myself that the followthrough has been up to par. 

Also, here's a .gif of some fireworks for the excitement factor

Lucas Delves into Comics

Hello Internet!
So, some more stuff happened in the last week. Remember those valentines day cards? Well, I enjoyed making them so much that I decided to do more! Well, they're not cards but little comics with the same style/humour. It's really just me doodling and captioning them but I'm having a good time at it. I'm trying to do one every day. Just as a challenge to see if I can actually come up with something funny that regularly. Here's the link http://thebakerycomic.com/ I think it's going pretty well so far. I put up the site on Wednesday and I'm getting just about of 100 page views every day that I put up a comic so if I keep this up I should have an audience in no time.

Lucas is a Crazy Romantic

Happy Valentines Day!!! It's actually a little late seeing as how this is being written on the Saturday but I hope that makes up for it. I had a... interesting valentines day. Long story short, I was stuck with nothing to do on a Friday night so I sat down on Facebook and asked if anyone wanted me to draw them valentine's cards.

The response was overwhelming.

I only had time to get 18 of them done but I think they're pretty funny. The drawing in them is pretty bad on two accounts:
1. Time constraints
2. I can't draw.

However, I think the point was communicated. I had a pretty good time doing them overall. It sort of led me to pick up Adobe illustrator and attempt to get the hang of it for if I ever wanted to do something similar. Maybe I could do a comic-like-thingy. I think that'd be fun. Some people at SGS could give me some pointers.

Lucas Makes Smiley Guy Look Good

So, this week was the co-op job fair! I made a presentation board and made Smiley Guy look really good. (At least I think) A few of the grade 10 students seemed really interested so don't be surprised if next year my position is in high demand. As well, I found out that my school has a video game making club. I was sort of baffled that I had absolutely no idea about this. So I went and found out why. The club isn't much to scoff at. It was really just a bunch of people sitting around and playing Dota. So I got an idea.

For the past few weeks or so I've  been going to events at this place called Bento Miso. It's a space for gamemakers to go and work during the day. I know whole teams of people who's entire production just work out of Bento. They also host events by night. So I figured, why not see if I could book a night where the club from my school could come out. I could get a speaker to talk about the industry and how to get a good start. That sort of thing. It wouldn't just be for Northern, I could speak to other schools and do a general High-school-aged event. That sort of thing doesn't exist as of now so why not give it a try? I think it would be fun and really get the ball rolling. 

Lucas' Eye on Waterloo

Ok! So, this week was pretty sweet as well. First of all, The game jam was awesome! It was super intense and straining (I barely had time to sleep.) It was also pretty rewarding seeing as how I have something to show for my time there.

I'm sorry to say that anyone reading this will have to wait one more week to play it just because me and my friend are in the process of cleaning it up a bit before we put it up anywhere. I can say however that you play as a giant eyeball and navigate through a maze without touching the walls. I hope that explanation is sort of adequate.

Also, I'm going to be entering the Junior Waterloo Programming Competition. It sounds big and fancy but it's really just a test. If you score high enough, you can win money and scholarships! It takes place near the end of February so I'll be going in for extra help sessions at school. I'm really looking forward to it.

Lucas Goes Above and Beyond to the Toronto Global Game Jam

Today is very exiting! I have basically been looking foreword to this weekend for the last month or so now. It's so exiting because, this weekend is my first game jam! Yup I'm going to be in the 2014 Toronto Global Game Jam (TGGJ) For those of you who are not familiar with what this is; A game jam is basically where you make a game in a set amount of time. Usually that amount of time is a bit un-realistic though. So basically you binge game making and eat a lot of Chinese food.

Today I'll be going down to the George brown campus for the entire weekend to work my butt off, only leaving for minimal amounts of sleep. I've never really been to one of these so I'm not sure what to expect but hear they're super intense and awesome.

Also, I'll hopefully have a game to show for my time there when the weekend is over. I'll be honest, the game's probably going to suck. That, however, is to be expected. It's more about the experience. No matter how it turns out I'll be posting a lint to it here next week so get hyped! 

Lucas' Game - First Stage

So now that I'm back from the break it's time to get down to business!

Me and Julie mocked up a schedule before I left for the break. It basically plans out my time from now until the end of the school year so that by the end I have a kick-ass game to show for my time here. The first week is dedicated to concept.

So far, the first week has passed and my little prototype/concept game was approved! It is a little odd so I'll do my best to explain what it is:
 It's a 2d top-down game. The whole point is that there are puzzles but all the puzzles are hidden. I plan to make subtle hints with oddities in the tile sets to lead people in the right direction. I hope that made sense.

I'm still using images that I either downloaded from the internet or spent maximum 30 seconds on so it's not really visually appealing but I'll include a picture.

Over the next few weeks I plan to expand on the idea and figure out new ways to keep it engaging. I also just realized that this is the first blog that was entirely on something that happened at work. Sweet!

Lucas' Blog and New Video Game

It seems as though I haven’t put up a blog here in awhile. It may in fact be because Julie hasn’t been on my case about it. Maybe that isn’t such a bad thing though. Over the last two or three weeks a lot has happened. So now I can write about all of in a huge blog. How exiting! Well first of all, anyone who reads these would probably know that I’ve been learning Java and Javascript. Well, I’ve been finally putting those skills to work. A few weeks ago I started building a small platformer game with a friend of mine.  I’ve also been doing one on my own but I’ll talk about that later. I’m having a really good time at it. They're not super fancy now but it's a start.

            I’ve been going to some game-related events and been meeting some really cool people.  Some of them have made games that I actually played and so I enjoyed meeting the minds behind them, it was fantastic. I got a twitter account so I could connect with all these people. If I learned anything from these events, it’s than networking is everything. Everyone likes to follow each other’s projects and I need a way to tell people about what I’m working on so I started the “LUCAS TENNEN DOES STUFF” blog. There isn’t much there yet but there is definitely more to come: http://lucastennen.blogspot.ca/

            Over the last week and a half or so I have been working by myself on a small puzzle game called “AM I REAL?” I actually just put it up two days ago (can be found on my blog). A bunch of the work was done at Smiley Guy and I’m happy about how it turned out. It's really short, only takes about 10 minutes to get through but its my first one, so cut me some slack.  I’ve been watching the number of plays go up, refreshing the page every hour or so and I’m exited to see that over 200 people have played it! It’s a pretty big deal considering that the number before was zero. Overall the last few weeks have been busy and amazing and hopefully there will be many more like them. I should also throw out some random co-op related blurb like I usually do... I can do that next blog...

Am I Real

Cavemen Joint Linl

More Ramblings from Lucas

This is a very exiting blog. I have news of the utmost importance. For the first time ever, I am going to have a consistent reader. Yesterday I half-hazzardly told my friend Hilary about what I do here and she insisted on reading all of the blog posts. Now I can write knowing that someone is reading which is nice. Now these may be more than me sitting and spamming the keys on my laptop and autocorrecting each segment of random letters until they make a little sense. This is going to be a turning point on blog quality. Not to say that they were bad before. They were pretty decent, but now they can be incredible. They will take on a life of their own and cross over into whole new virtues of though. It will be like that episode of Futurama where bender becomes so smart that he IS the universe. It’ll be like that. Except with my blogs.  

Now, knowing that there’s a reader I feel like this is one-sided conversation. I like conversations, which are two ways. So I may say “How are you doing today?” Right now at this moment there will be no response. It would be odd if there was, because I’m currently alone in my house. (On a side note: I just had the strangest though. What if I posted this then I hear from behind me in a slithering voice “I’m doing fine.” That would scare the shit out of me. Like honestly if nobody hears from me in the next 24 hours, you know what happened.) So for the sake of making this more conversation-like, if you read this get in contact with me. I’m completely serious. Call me up and say “Hello Lucas, I just read your blog and wanted to let you know that I am having an absolutely wonderful day because I just read your blog and it just puts me in the best spirits.” If that is not the response then the call is not really needed. For the sake of saving time, I’ll just say here; “Thank you for the call. My day is fantastic too. I already know how good my blog is but its nice to hear it said out loud.” I don’t think more would need to be said on the subject but if you feel the need to go on flattering me with praise of my writing style then nobody is stopping you. 

         

Java’s coming along well too. I started making GUI’s (Graphic user interfaces) and it's neat to see someone interact with something I make.  Maybe I should make a GUI to organize all the calls that I get from people who want to praise my blogging skillz. I’ll put it on my to-do list.

Lucas Learns about Code and the Rock Horror Picture Show

I feel accomplished! I feel inspired! although I also feel like taking a nap... Last night was Halloween! It was a ton of fun. I went with a few friends to see Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Bloor Hot Docs Theatre. I can easily say, it was the strangest thing I have ever seen and the most fun I've had in awhile. What really baffled me about it, was that most people knew all the lines. Not just the lines, They  were shouting things in-between the lines. There was a ton of dialogue that was just the crowd shouting at the screen in unison. Whats so great about this is you can't learn and memorize these lines from watching the movie. Yes, most of the people had been there before. many, many times. Oh, did I mention what I dressed up as? I had a lampshade on my head and an alarm clock on my shoulder. I was a one night stand. needless to say I would have been the coolest kid at any party.

Earlier in the week, I started making a text-based game in java. Its pretty exiting to see something that I made actually work. Its fairly simple and the cove is very disorganized but it runs and one could actually sit down and play it. It only takes about 30 seconds to get through, but its a start. More on that later though.

Internal Musings from Lucas

Bloggedy Bloggers? Yes, That was the only contents of an email I just received from Julie. Sometimes I feel she’s too nice. Ill be just about to carry on with my Friday night when I get such an email. I almost feel as though she should just let me forget. Then I would have to deal with the consequences of not putting up a blog. I couldn't imagine what it would be though. I'm sure the people at SGS would find some form of hilarious punishment. Make me wear a dunce hat or something like that. 

      This week to be honest has been fairly uneventful. I've been having to do an obscene amount of writing for school. Essays, reflection papers and yes... blogs. I find that Smiley Guy is a nice break from that though. Not that its a break! I still do work! Just the change in environment is relaxing. Instead of running from class to class stressed about the work that is due or the quiz coming up. I just get to sit down and immerse myself in something for a few hours. The best is I walk away and on the streetcar I have a sort of revelation. I tend to say to myself "Huh, I know something that I didn't know two hours ago." I find that this doesn't tend to happen often in every day life. Its a nice feeling. Also I get strange looks from people wondering why I'm talking to myself. 

Anyways, next week is Halloween so I'm sure there will be more to talk about. Just a heads up though, my costume is going to be awesome.

Lucas Switches Focus and Discuss' Eye Strain

Something about this week seems shorter. It may be because is was...

      Near the end of last week I had been working a bit on some java code and really enjoyed it. So that is what I have devoted this week to. Java, Java, and more java. I even took up drinking coffee for the occasion. On Tuesday a friend of mine sent me a program that he was having troubles with. In between some of the strangest conversation I have ever witnesses, Brad was able to help me to correct it. It was my first "bug-fixing" experience and I can fairly say that it was quite satisfying when the program worked. All it did was calculate interest in a bank account for a certain amount of years, but it's a start. 

 

      On a side note; since its the beginning of the year, my co-op instructor has had a plethora of questions concerning our workplace. Every time we are asked about the conditions, I am ever so tempted to start rambling about how they "let me out of the cage every now and then" and how "The slave labor isn't as bad as it's made out to seem." Of course that would cause other problems so I'm forced to bite my lip and answer honestly. believe me, It's difficult. We had to fill out a sheet on safety in our workplace and little to none of it applied to me since I sit at a desk for the majority of my placement. I don't see myself getting injured unless I get a compulsive urge to put my head through one of the brick walls. Anyways, I got all ready to write about all the fire-breathing dragon in the back room of Smiley Guy Studios when Mr. Rowell pointed out that this was for legitimate marks. So instead I spoke about the dangers of carpal tunnel and eye strain. The power of good posture and taking small breaks to make sure your eyes don't explode. There may have been a few lines thrown in about how steep the stairs are too.