Week 834

What’s this? I’m blogging about my work on a weekly basis – a simple way to track and archive whatever it is I spend my time on.

Last week I spent a lot of time on my NOS op 3 report, and on my 3D graphics article for KIJK, but I’m still behind on both. I hate the feeling of not being on top of things, especially with other projects coming up. (Wasn’t 2015 going to be the year of the hybrid writer?) Hopefully I’ll be able to make a lot of progress with these two this week.

On Monday I rewrote my first tech column for KIJK, based on the feedback I got from the editorial team. It’s funny how much more time a rewrite can take than an original version, especially when doing something for the first time. In this case it’s all worth it, as I’m trying to set the tone for a longer series.

On Tuesday I visited Two Tribes for an all-hands RIVE session. Together with the audio guys at SonicPicnic we looked at the progress and planning of our robot hacking shooter/platformer. Afterwards I installed my Two Tribes PC at home so I’ll be able to work on the in-game conversations remotely.

That afternoon, I wrote a review of the Wii U puzzle platform game Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, which appeared in nrc.next on Wednesday: Geen idee wat er om je heen gebeurt, en dat is juist de lol (Blendle-link).

On Wednesday, I finished my profile on interactive storytelling experts Telltale Games for the Dutch Official PlayStation Magazine. My column for the magazine was discontinued, unfortunately, together with the other columns, and this may turn out to be one of the last studio profiles I do for it too. Instead, I hope to do more interviews for the periodical.

On Thursday, I sent an application letter to the Dutch Game Fund, as they were looking for advisors. This feels like something that would fit in with my profile, so I thought I’d see whether they can use my help.

Somewhat related is the column I read at Literature on the Screen (for which I was an advisor too), that I posted on the same day: Het kampvuur, en wat er allemaal wel niet mogelijk is. I also updated my timeline.

Also related, and also on Thursday, was the news that the Dutch Foundation for Literature denied my appeal (on mostly reasonable grounds), so it seems like I’ll have to complete my long gestating epic novel Sexy Sadie without government funding. Well, OK.

That afternoon, I visited the Games and Interaction department of HKU to talk with Teun Dubbelman, who is Senior Lecturer and Course Leader there. It seems like I’ll teach a writing class there starting in February, and may be doing more in the future. Let’s see how natural teaching comes to me.

To close off the day, I had a cup of tea with Jurjen Tiersma, as he was passing through Utrecht on his way back home from Rotterdam.

Finally, I spent a long weekend exclusively with my daughters, as my wife was away, and the three of us made a short film that I proudly present below.