Plan for James Lupiani

Reflections on IGC/boot camp/my internship at GarageGames.

First, let me apologize in advance, as I won't be feeding you eye candy for this entry. I'll write a Torque development project update next. On to the critical updates...

As the year progressed, it became more and more clear there would never be a better time to make a big change. With my contract at Catalina Marketing scheduled to end or extend, savings in the bank, and an itch to do more development, my planned trip to IGC became a long-term stay as an intern at GarageGames. I also had the opportunity to attend Stephen Zepp's boot camp, which I highly recommend for anybody just getting started with Torque. An enormous amount of the Torque knowledge that took so long to absorb through IRC and the forums was covered in just three days.

Being immersed in this technology again has led me to put more time into my own personal project, which to this day remains mostly behind the scenes. I think I've lacked the confidence in my ability to complete it, especially after some of the setbacks I've had working with others. Besides, who needs excuses if you can bail out and not lose any face, right? Maybe that's another reason Torque has so many licensees but so few released games. I feel Jeff Tunnell's pain in that respect, but the same stubbornness that has me continuing to work on my game is what's gotten me this far in the first place. That being said, I'm trying to make the mental transition from hobbyist to professional, and part of that is realizing that if I don't get something out and learn from it, I won't be seen. I've heard that message a lot lately, and it's hit home pretty hard. I think it's time for me to take some more risks.

Now then, the internship! I'm working with Rick Overman on the next incarnation of the GarageGames web site. For this run, the changes are mostly to do with usability: the navigational layout of the site has changed considerably, making it way easier to get around. The most visible change I've worked on so far has been adding categorized/sorted browse pages so it's easier to find games and tools. There are lots of minor changes and fixes throughout the code, and some stylistic tweaks yet to be finalized. Joe Maruschak's been encouraging me to flex my elusive creative side by instructing me in graphic design (a topic often elusive to us coding types).

Games? No, not yet... I came here to learn about the industry from the experts and get some real development time in, regardless of the project. It would be a shame to make it all the way out here and not work on a game, though. We'll see. Given that few coders seem to be masochistic enough to do web development full-time, I think I'm needed on this project more than anywhere else.

And feeling useful is pretty damn important to me right now.