TheAllThing

17 апреля 2017, Dublin City, Ireland

# Понедельник 20 твитов

Hello everyone! My name is Owen and I work at the nexus of playfulness, art and science. You an usually find me at @TheAllThing

8:49

My main work is DEEP, an experimental VR game controlled by breathing. You can check it out here
exploreDEEP.com

10:57

I’ve been working on DEEP for 4 years now, ever since the Oculus Rift kickstarter launched

10:58

It started as a side project, something I did during the free hours on the weekend, now it is my main focus.

10:59

For the first year I worked alone, then I teamed up worth the wonderful @Niki_Banda and ever since we make it together

11:00

But it is not just us, there is a @skooter500 who makes the fish AI and @ParadoxicalRec who does the music and sound

11:01

And there is an amazing team of behavioural scientists that test and measure the game

11:02

Our aim is to make an effective digital intervention to anxiety and depression

11:02

Terence Mckenna once said, the drugs of the future will be computers, and the computers of the future will be drugs

11:03

We strive to move in this direction

11:04
@gdunderhood Have you considered smartphones as alternative controllers? I mean, breathing into the mic and stuff? :)

I am actually going to try some mic input soon twitter.com/vedmich/status…

17:41

The amazing @EvanBalster who works on @SoundSelf gonna help me hack something together

17:43

Most of my work right now is VR related. I have been making stuff since I got my kickstarter DK1

18:39

I really dig VR a lot. In my view, it is a new medium, a new thing all together, rather then a computer gamer peripheral

18:40

In fact, I don't think games are gonna be the main use of VR, rather it will be used for creativity, work and education

18:41

With a little games and chill out experiences mixed in

18:42

Buy who the hell knows, I'm just some guy

18:42

No one predicted minecraft or 50 shades of grey or snapchat or any of the other big media winners of the last few years

18:43

And nobody knows what's gonna happen with VR

18:44
@gdunderhood So, you don't think that we gonna have some AAA-like titles on VR in the near future? :)

I don't think so, not in the next year anyway. Not profitable enough and anyway, I don't think people wanna play lo… twitter.com/i/web/status/8…

19:57

# Вторник 17 твитов

This is where I work, in a co-working space in Dublin where I rent a desk pic.twitter.com/VOnpGv95BO

9:19

I really need a work space to be productive, I go mad if I try to work from home for more then a day or 2

9:19

My day today
9:30-into office, emails, admin and catchup
11- call with Cambridge, my main freelance client
12- press interview

9:57

13:30- lunch with fellow dev (it's good to see people)
14- actual desiogn and development work for the rest of the day

9:58

My primary income comes from contract design work
The last one I finished was the Ice Cream Headaches expansion for Guild of @dungeoneering

15:18

But the main one I work on new is a big VR project for Cancer Research UK

15:19

We are building a cancer laboritoty in VR
here's how it works

15:20

A tumor is removed from a mouse or person and frozen
A special microscope is used to slice the smaple in very very thin slices, a few atoms

15:22

these slices are photographed and the images are sent to a team of astronomers (yeah astronomers!)

15:23

they use the same tools they use to get the position of stars from their telescope images to get the shape and position of each cell

15:24

the slices of cells then go on to be desolved in a special bath and their cellular and genetic information is extracted

15:26

this is where me and my team come in, we take all this data and rebuild the samples in Unity

15:27

the sample can then be manipulated and analysed in all sorts of ways

15:28

and the scientists can view the disease in its native 3d form rather then in 2d images and slices as they normaly do

15:29

If you are interested you can check out the project here
cancerresearchuk.org/funding-for-re…

15:30

the hope is the super rich data can lead to bespoke and more focused treatment plans for people and hence extend life and increase survival

15:31

We hope to make our software free to the public soon and open source as much as possible

15:32

# Среда 16 твитов

With my contracting work done yesterday I am free to work on my passion project today. Right now that means DEEP

8:23

We showed it in a gallery in London last week, a really fancy place pic.twitter.com/Z1qafmPptq

8:24

It was my first time showing it to the public in about a year and there were a few new features we were testing

8:25

And as always showing the work let's me know where the real problems are. Which, for me anyway, is usually a surprise

8:28

There are 2 areas in the world where the player is getting lost, I am going to work with Niki to create new paths in these places

8:28

Another big problem we uncovered is that the main code for the player in the game has finally grown too bloated and old

8:30

I am going to spend the day rewriting that, which is something I need to do before adding any more features or fixes

8:30

Todays job of rewriting the main player code is going ok.
Sometimes I feel like everytime I start a big programming job I change style

13:38

How do you write your code in Unity? One big component that does everything or little separate components for each job

13:40

Behold, the horrifying Unity GameObject I am rewriting today
This is what happens when I wait to long to cleanup my… twitter.com/i/web/status/8…

14:36

This object I supposed to know how full the players lungs are
There are 3 possible ways to know this

14:40

1 - my custom hardware
2 - xbox controller inputs
3 - the game breathes automaticly and you sync up with it

14:40

But now I want to add more
Vive controller movment
Vive Tracker
Head Movment

14:41

But the problem is that the current implementation is a mess so I am trying to clean that up first

14:42

for example, you cannot currently switch input when the game is running and there is no way to change it in stand alone builds

14:42

but I will fix that today, then I need to fix all the player code which is also kind of all over the place pic.twitter.com/A1x5okxLOt

14:44

# Четверг 19 твитов

I wanted to be a full time game developer/designer for the last 12 years or so, and it took about 10 years to make it happen

8:30

I started off studying in a small community college here in Ireland. Back then there were no real jobs here and no community to speak of

8:31

After the course I managed to get a job as a QA tester in vivendi. That was 10 years ago

8:32

I worked on World in Conflict (good), a FEAR expansion (bad) and a Crash Bandicoot PSP game (ugly)

8:33

I was not testing for gameplay or balance, but for translation. I had to make sure all the strings had been ported to the right language

8:34

It was pretty bleak and uninspiring work and when vivendi was sold to activision I failed the interview to say on board and was let go

8:35

After that I left games fro a while, going back to work in IT
I was a system administrator in a mortgage company for a while

8:45

when the housing market tanked I started fixing peoples computers at home
not the worst job, but weird and unpredictable

8:46

Then, one day, Peter Molineux was speaking at a local college
This was when he still riding high on Fabel but already there was cynicissm

8:47

But my trepidation was swept away, he gave an amazing a passionate talk
I was back in!

8:48

I convinced the college to let me enrol in their new Masters in Digital Games
This was kind of them as I did not actually have a degree

8:49

The workload was really high and I started to have trouble balancing the coursework and the computer fixing,I found it tough to switch gears

8:51

That's when I came upon the idea of teaching
Teaching game design would let me keep my head in the same space, deepen my skill and earn €€

8:52

I emailed every single college in the city that had a game programme offering my services
To my delight and surprise one got back

8:53

Up until last year, that is how I made ends meet
Teaching was the main back bone of my earning
It is a good route

8:54

As it allows you a good deal of free time, access to hardware, software and desk space and most importantly, inspiring students

8:55

I still teach 1 class a week, not for the money now, but because it keeps me fresh and stops me from getting into a rut

8:56

If you are interested in teaching a Game Design course everything you need can be found in @StoneLibrande's amazing GDC talk and website

8:58

# Пятница 18 твитов

The game development community here in Ireland and Dublin is really strong, we have all sorts for studios and creators

14:28

But it was not always this way, 5 years ago (when I graduated) there was little to speak of.

14:29

Popcap was here but they closed just as became qualified
There were a few people talking about games but always from a business or tech view

14:32

This was the first thing to change and I think it was the biggest part of kickstarting the industry here. A number of events were set up

14:33

.@dublingamecraft began to run regular 1 day game jams. This was a great place to get together and make things

14:34

A LOT of the successful teams here in Dublin were started at one of these jams. If you have not been to a game jam before GO DO ONE

14:35

If there is no game game in your area SET ONE UP!

14:35

The other event that emerged in this time was a One Game a Month Club
These folks would meet up and a pub each month

14:36

Someone would pick a theme, and the club would all make a little game based on that theme for next time

14:37

Well that was the idea. Usually about 3 people actually made a game and the rest just hung out

14:37

But hanging out is important!
Game dev can be lonley work and it can get isolating

14:38

1 Game and Month acts as a constant slow rolling game jam for hte community here. It is super great

14:39

Around that same time I started @DubLUDO
This was my main contribution to the community here

14:40

Every month we went to a pub, brough our semi functional prototypes, gave feedback, drank beer and chatted
Couldn't be simpler

14:42

If there is no local game dev scene in your area starting something like this is probobly one of the best investments you can make

14:42

All you need is a Facebook event, a pub willing to reserve a few tables and 2 other people that want to make games to come along

14:43

The first one I ran had abotu 10 people at it, by the time I wrapped it up we usually had more then a hundred.

14:44

I never spent a penny on it, and I had a great time running the events and seeing it grow

14:44

# Воскресенье 23 твита

Hello team, it's my last day with you, if there is anything you would like to hear about please let me know

9:41

And if anyone has any questions about VR design, teaching game design or running game design events just let me know

9:42

I have been working at becoming a game designer (as opposed to developer)for the last 5 years & honestly I only now feel I'm finding my feat

10:18

One of the things that helped is reframing the skill as a vocation, something to be mastered over decades or a lifetime

10:19

No one would expect a doctor, painter or engineer to be good after a few years and I don't think game design is any different

10:20

This really helped me struggel through my weaker work and have patience with myself

10:20

The best thing for getting better at game design faster we playing and studying boardgames

10:21

You need 2 things to be an apprentice level game designer
1- The Language
2- Game Desing Literacy

10:22

The Language is important
You need to have a name for something to think about it and play with it and change it

10:23

The God of magic and the God of writing is the same God in my country and many others

10:24

Once you have a name for a thing you can work with it

10:24

You can pick up the Language by reading game design books, watching GDC vault videos and listening to game design podcasts

10:25

You can even make up your own if you like

10:25

But this is only half the battle you need Literacy

10:25

You must become like a cook, carefully tasting your designs pic.twitter.com/DouVTeqPPI

10:27

You will see what is missing and where is it lacking bit it it only with Literacy you will know what to add

10:28

This need some pepper
That needs some tension
They need some sugar
and this needs more predictability

10:29

The best way to get literacy fast is to play and study as many boardgames as you can
Boardgames are great for game designers as you

10:30

I teratogenic directly with the game rules and systems ..as opposed to computer games where it is all done through expensive art and edifice

10:31

If you can build up a literacy of mechanics, interactions, systems and experiences you will have a pallet of options

10:33

when trying to solve a design problem or add a new feature or just start a new project

10:33

Thanks for being with me this week folks, if you want to stay in touch you can find me at @TheAllThing

20:59

.@TheAllThing As per tradition, here is my desk
This is actually cleaner the usual pic.twitter.com/qrPpatdqKN

21:01

other