Category → Development Blog
Rebirth, to Death, to Rebirth
For the next few days, I’d like to spend a moment each day rehashing a post from one of my original blogs before they all evolved into my shiny Multiblog. Today’s is from almost two years ago, back when I was still completing my graduate studies at NYU. I had started “Interaction Faction” as a means for venting my game development and design snafus, which were daily at the time. I was also angrier/more emotional about programming back then, probably because my thesis was my first serious coding project.
From May 8th, 2008, on “Interaction Faction”:
Taking a moment from my critique of game design, in an hour of desperation I offer to you my ray of hope through this epic retelling of adversity.
Death. All I could think about was how to throw my shiny UT3 collector’s box around my apartment, as the editor, just days before a presentation of a project, would not allow me to look at the properties of my builder brushes. Oh, the window would show, but you know those delicious dark gray sub-boxes? They remained unopenable, shut like a nun’s panties. Crawling around the UT3 forums proved futile until one post, one booming voice echoing:
“When judgment is at hand, delete the UTEditor.ini in the UTGAME\Config files in your Documents folder, for the righteous shall be saved.”
Well, I wasn’t saved yet – it didn’t work. HOWEVER, deleting UTEditor.ini along with its cohorts UTEditorUserSettings.ini and UTEditorKeyBindings.ini was successful. The editor was restored to harmony and joyous modding.
I hope this solution also helps those with unreasonably skewed brushes and other varieties of bizarre parameters that the editor saves for the following session… for your convenience!
Reflections on Theses Past
In a few months, I will celebrate the first anniversary of graduating from NYU with a Masters in Music Technology. It will also be my thesis’ first birthday.
I recently read over both my undergraduate AND graduate theses. Yes, both. I did them a day or so apart, and took notes during the entire process.
The writings appear to be worlds apart. My undergraduate work is stuffy; it doesn’t sound like me writing, perhaps more like a professor or two being channeled as I pushed that project out the door. My graduate thesis – although under greater technical restraints – reads as more relaxed, conversational dive into a niche audio programming/designing topic. I’m glad to have a “professional” outlet for my thoughts (this blog!), and to see that my writing style doesn’t pass away with my last thesis.
Anyway, back to the recent thesis, which has raised a few questions about how to proceed in my non-freelance, non-otherpeoplework life:
- Working with Flash, Java, and Javascript concurrently isn’t wise. It worked in most browsers for the most part, but it’s begging to break if I’m not babysitting it every time a new major browser is released or something changes with one of the three languages.
- Flash or Unity? I’m still torn on which to develop side projects in seriously. I’m always working in Flash, but after developing two simple games in the medium, I’m not sure that it’s the way to go anymore.
- JMSL and JSyn have my hands tied. Moving solely to Flash or Unity makes using either library quite difficult, if not impossible. Therefore… should I consider translating the aspects I like into a new audio library? Unlike these existing libraries, I could gear it towards the specific needs of a reactive or interactive soundtrack.
- If I make a new library, I will also need MIDI supported tools to quickly import composition ideas. This, to me, is a must for getting what I want working/out the door in a reasonable amount of time. I’ll be making these tools myself, though, on top of whichever methods I develop.
I suppose these are the big questions I need to pan out for the near future. I’m feeling better about taking a break from my thesis/kicking myself about the millions of things I didn’t solve with it. It’s easy to get lost with so many different kinds of technology coming about every day. Dare I say it… there may be too many imagined possibilities, freezing the average sound designer in an icycle of indecision.
