Most people believe that cuss words are four letters long. Well, in the game developing world, a six letter word is one of the worst cuss words ever: Crunch. Most people have absolutely NO idea what a crunch is when not in reference to a work out routine, and I get that. Thus the writing to tell you about it. (Duh, Carissa, they know this.... )
Crunch is probably best described as follows: a work week in a day. No, really, thats what it feels like. Most people work for 8 hours a day, more or less. Sure, some people are workaholics and work 10+ hour days. The people at Dustin's office fall into both categories because of what their specific fields demand. Different stages of the process demand more time from different people. For instance, at the beginning when the concept is developed, you have a group (or groups) of people working on the base code. After that, you have different teams of artists, coders, testers, and problem solvers who bring their talents and efforts to the title. (I probably left some out and if so, I'm sorry. It's hard to keep it all in this brain of mine!) As time gets closer to the launch of a game, different teams step up and take charge of what they have to get done. Dustin is sort of in the "problem fixer" group, so as testers (people who play the game and find errors, problem spots, or just general things to change) come up with things that need to work, Dustin goes and basically fixes it. Therefore, his crunch time comes towards the end of a project.
At the first crunch, as I'd mentioned before, I mistook his long hours working as a disinterest in me and wanting to spend time with me. There was more than the long work hours, though. I noticed that when he wasn't working now that he was pretty absent mentally when we were together. He had a hard time keeping up with conversations and didn't really want to do anything but lay around and rest or sleep. Thankfully, he shared with me what he was doing and how draining it was for him. After about a month of this, and the launch happened, things got back to normal with us. Then, after moving to Dallas, another crunch came and his long hours started back up. Thankfully, I was able to take him food and hang out in the office with him sometimes, so I wasn't completely alone. I will say, though, that getting home at 3am for several weeks straight isn't the most fun of times.
Now in our third crunch, the hours aren't quite as bad, but they still aren't exactly what you would call ideal. However, I'm not worried. Dustin's absentmindedness isn't going to last forever... (at least thats what I keep telling myself. ;) ) Until the day comes when the game ships, we will push onward and forward knowing that the day is soon approaching when we will once again eat dinner together on a week night. :)
Other news: The Wii-U looks AWESOME and I cannot wait to get it. E3 had some great shows this year, and the Zelda anniversary was way awesome with their full symphony. Now, if I could only get someone to make a game that did laundry for me, I'd be set...
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Friday, May 13, 2011
The Beginning
Well, I've attempted to blog before but it never really took. So, like the old adage says, "If at first you don't succeed, try try again!"
Life as a game developers' wife is full of ups and downs. We, like our husbands and significant others, live, breathe, and sleep video/computer games. The difference is, we don't actually make the games. We keep the people alive who do. Sometimes they have normal work hours and get to come home and enjoy a normal life, while other times they work 15+ hour days where we hardly get to see them. If they aren't crashing when they get home, they continue to work on an issue they are having at work. I'm not complaining; I love my life. I love my husband. However, I don't always love the work. ;)
A little background on my husband and I's journey to where we are now:
In December of 2008, I started dating Dustin Land. I knew he was a game programmer, but had no idea of anything of his world. I had been involved in the online community before as a moderator on a forum, but hadn't really gotten into any of the programming side of computers or programs. Thankfully, I did understand how much the internet and it's community meant to Dustin. At the time, he was a remote contracted programmer working on a project called QuakeLive; a "pet" project which was the 5th main installment of a popular game Quake produced by id Software. At the time, the guys were gearing up for the BETA launch of the site. I had NO idea what I was getting into at that point. ;)
Dating life was great until February rolled around and Dustin started working basically around the clock. At the time, I was worried that he had lost interest in me or that he was just a workaholic and I wasn't sure I was willing to be with someone like that. In February of 2009, Dustin took me out for coffee which resulted in him telling me he loved me. :)( Say it with me now, "AWWWWWWWWWWWW!" ) He explained to me how this world works and that in a few weeks' time he would be back to normal hours. To my relief, he was true to his word and by the end of March he was back on his normal routine. I spent time getting into his world, watching matches online between different players, and watching the finals for the Street Fighter 4 championship. He started talking to me about Quakecon; a convention put on by "id" that was basically a huge LAN party* mixed with tournaments for different games for pros and regular players alike.
In August, he was asked to go to Dallas for the week prior to Quakecon to help set up, so he was gone for two weeks. That was a very interesting week to hear about for me, because little did I know that I would be attending the convention next year! (More on Quakecon later)
In December '09 we were married, and in May 2010 we moved to Dallas, TX for Dustin to take a full time position with id. Since then, I have realized that so many people have questions about what the world of gaming really looks like. Many people think it's just a bunch of nerds sitting in front of computers all day. Others go with the stero-type of socially awkward "man boys" who can't interact with "normal" society, so they cling to the computer for their identity. Although there ARE programmers that fall into both categories, it has been my experience that many don't fall into either. Sure, in order to be a programmer, you have to be a geek. However, that doesn't mean that you are socially awkward, as many of the people who work at id are married and have families of their own. I remember seeing so many children at the company picnic last year and remarking, "Wow! Gamers DO reproduce!"
I've grown to love the guys and gals that Dustin works with. The teams (groups of people that work on the different games) are very much like a family. I have found some great friends in these groups of individuals, some of which are the programmers/developers themselves, while others are the family members of said workers.
Ok, so I think thats enough of an intro for now. Feel free to ask any questions you may have about gamers, their lives, their families, or anything along those lines. I DON'T claim to be much of a gamer myself... I've only played through a few games and currently am learning how to play Quakelive.
Thanks for reading, and as the online world says, ttyl. :)
*LAN party: a "party" where people bring their own computers to game with one another. At Quakecon, a lot of people randomly show up with some of the CRAZIEST machines ever, made from anything such as an old radio up to a small motorcycle.
Life as a game developers' wife is full of ups and downs. We, like our husbands and significant others, live, breathe, and sleep video/computer games. The difference is, we don't actually make the games. We keep the people alive who do. Sometimes they have normal work hours and get to come home and enjoy a normal life, while other times they work 15+ hour days where we hardly get to see them. If they aren't crashing when they get home, they continue to work on an issue they are having at work. I'm not complaining; I love my life. I love my husband. However, I don't always love the work. ;)
A little background on my husband and I's journey to where we are now:
In December of 2008, I started dating Dustin Land. I knew he was a game programmer, but had no idea of anything of his world. I had been involved in the online community before as a moderator on a forum, but hadn't really gotten into any of the programming side of computers or programs. Thankfully, I did understand how much the internet and it's community meant to Dustin. At the time, he was a remote contracted programmer working on a project called QuakeLive; a "pet" project which was the 5th main installment of a popular game Quake produced by id Software. At the time, the guys were gearing up for the BETA launch of the site. I had NO idea what I was getting into at that point. ;)
Dating life was great until February rolled around and Dustin started working basically around the clock. At the time, I was worried that he had lost interest in me or that he was just a workaholic and I wasn't sure I was willing to be with someone like that. In February of 2009, Dustin took me out for coffee which resulted in him telling me he loved me. :)( Say it with me now, "AWWWWWWWWWWWW!" ) He explained to me how this world works and that in a few weeks' time he would be back to normal hours. To my relief, he was true to his word and by the end of March he was back on his normal routine. I spent time getting into his world, watching matches online between different players, and watching the finals for the Street Fighter 4 championship. He started talking to me about Quakecon; a convention put on by "id" that was basically a huge LAN party* mixed with tournaments for different games for pros and regular players alike.
In August, he was asked to go to Dallas for the week prior to Quakecon to help set up, so he was gone for two weeks. That was a very interesting week to hear about for me, because little did I know that I would be attending the convention next year! (More on Quakecon later)
In December '09 we were married, and in May 2010 we moved to Dallas, TX for Dustin to take a full time position with id. Since then, I have realized that so many people have questions about what the world of gaming really looks like. Many people think it's just a bunch of nerds sitting in front of computers all day. Others go with the stero-type of socially awkward "man boys" who can't interact with "normal" society, so they cling to the computer for their identity. Although there ARE programmers that fall into both categories, it has been my experience that many don't fall into either. Sure, in order to be a programmer, you have to be a geek. However, that doesn't mean that you are socially awkward, as many of the people who work at id are married and have families of their own. I remember seeing so many children at the company picnic last year and remarking, "Wow! Gamers DO reproduce!"
I've grown to love the guys and gals that Dustin works with. The teams (groups of people that work on the different games) are very much like a family. I have found some great friends in these groups of individuals, some of which are the programmers/developers themselves, while others are the family members of said workers.
Ok, so I think thats enough of an intro for now. Feel free to ask any questions you may have about gamers, their lives, their families, or anything along those lines. I DON'T claim to be much of a gamer myself... I've only played through a few games and currently am learning how to play Quakelive.
Thanks for reading, and as the online world says, ttyl. :)
*LAN party: a "party" where people bring their own computers to game with one another. At Quakecon, a lot of people randomly show up with some of the CRAZIEST machines ever, made from anything such as an old radio up to a small motorcycle.
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