Life

[Twig]

As I was updating my resume, it hit me again that I'm going to have to go through the interview process. Again.

 

Fuck! I hate interviews!

 

How expensive is it to live in the Netherlands! I will move there and become an independent game developer because it's so cheap it will blow my mind.

 

...I kid, but only sorta. It's something I dream about frequently (not the Netherlands specifically, but you know), but it's a risk I'm not sure I can take. Them student loans.

[Justin Leego]

Escape plans! If your income drops beyond a certain level are you given a stay on the student loan repayments?

[Roderick]

I'm not sure how easy or hard it is to work/live in the Netherlands if you come from outside the EU, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's less hard than getting into the USA. The cost of living here is quite a bit higher than elsewhere (though nothing as crazy as the nordic countries or the UK), but this is off-set with generally higher salaries/income and excellent social security.

 

We even having a goddamn budding game industry emerging. Of course there's the moloch Guerrilla, but we also have Triumph (Overlord, Age of Wonders) and a ton of smaller studios starting to make waves (Ronimo, Vlambeer, Vanguard). Skip across the border to Belgium and you have Larian (Divinity: Dragon Commander) and possibly the Outcast sequel. Enough opportunities, I'd say.

[dibs]

Just fake your own death. All the cool kids are doing it.

[elmuerte]

I'm not sure how easy or hard it is to work/live in the Netherlands if you come from outside the EU, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's less hard than getting into the USA. The cost of living here is quite a bit higher than elsewhere (though nothing as crazy as the nordic countries or the UK), but this is off-set with generally higher salaries/income and excellent social security.

 

We even having a goddamn budding game industry emerging. Of course there's the moloch Guerrilla, but we also have Triumph (Overlord, Age of Wonders) and a ton of smaller studios starting to make waves (Ronimo, Vlambeer, Vanguard). Skip across the border to Belgium and you have Larian (Divinity: Dragon Commander) and possibly the Outcast sequel. Enough opportunities, I'd say.

 

You forgot VStep. They are basically a serious-game company but they also released Ship Simulator.

[Frenetic Pony]

Well that's what I should do...

 

So I want over to a State Park. I was intending to take photos along with taking my dog for a hike. I got most of the way there and saw suddenly become a solid bank of clouds in the sky. Shite! But after a few minutes of moping I figured if Roger Deakins can make overcast work in Skyfall, then I damn well can too! Continued onwards.

 

And it was worth it. The start was foggy as shit in the middle of a temperate rainforest. So foggy it really did rain, the solid mass of overhead trees condensed the water and produced rain from the branches. At one point later on there was a steeply angled (but not straight up and down) ladder that there was no way to go around; to continue one had to use the ladder, and it was more than a ten foot drop off a rock straight down otherwise. I had my dog with me, so games up right? But she clambers onto the ladder after me, all four paws on the wooden slats (They're biggish, for a ladder). But she won't go down more, she knows dogs aren't designed for going down ladders. Still, I say screw it, I'll guide her down and I'm more than flexible and strong enough to catch her if something goes wrong. She's hesitant but otherwise gets down little by little, I have to coax her down each and every slat even though she'd got a firm grasp on what to do, front paws on the bottom one, back on the upper, step down to the next one paw at a time. It takes a while but finally success!

 

The hike continues, down to the town below. A short break there and its time to go back up, even though its solid overcast and it's getting late. I hadn't intended to get there late, or take so long getting down, or take much of a break. All added up I went back uphill, or rather mountain, on an even longer return route. The sun set little by little, though I could not see it behind the slate grey clouds covering every inch of sky. Eventually, as the mountain was ascended and I entered the clouds, it grew rather mystical, dim grey light scattering through the mist and a half glimpsed forest outline.

 

But I wasn't there yet. It grew darker and darker still. I came upon some grassy hills, steep slopes on either side. There was enough fog to not see more than fifty feet in any direction. Combined with the darkness it felt grim, peering out at a featureless dark word of iron grey, the low light sapping the color out of everything, the forlorn hills only worsened by the glimpse of dark forests all around. I'm sure classic horror stories have featured such settings, but I was still enjoying myself, and yet finally after what seemed forever a sign said 1.7 miles back to the car near the ranger station.

 

And then I entered the forests again. It was dark, very, very dark. I didn't have a phone, I didn't have a flashlight. The trail winds round enough steep hillsides to make a big misstep possibly fatal. I pulled out my camera and fiddled with it. After a while I figured out the bright orange LED meant for focusing in dim lighting was near as good as a flashlight. I depressed the shutter button halfway every few steps to light up the path in front of me, though the fog scattered anything more than fifteen feet away. I was always lead by my dog, who seemed to be having no trouble. We walked, and walked, and walked. 1.7 miles stretched out in front of me and behind me, seemingly forever. Walking and more walking and more walking, slipping on wet roots in the darkness. I didn't know where I was exactly, there was no one else on the trail obviously, and the trail was in the middle of a massive park stretching for miles in almost any direction. I was utterly alone.

 

And then my camera went out. Dead battery.

 

Down on my hands and knees, feeling along the dirt, afraid to go too fast lest I make a wrong step. Just one might due it. But I had to continue on, I had to try, what other option was there?

 

And then I got out of the forest and back to another hill... and finally my eyes adjusted! Oh yeah, idiot me. I've a genetic mutation that gives me superb night vision, if I hadn't relied on that stupid bright as hell LED I'd have been fine. I was fine actually, I could see the trail right in front of me despite being past nine at night and the sun having gone down quite a while ago and the fog. Derp. The ranger station was only about two minutes ahead anyway. And you know what? That was fucking FUN. It was fun doing something new, it was fun being in danger, it was interesting and not an everyday routine. Routine routine routine, that's what's killing me. What do I have to look forward to with routine, any routine? The same thing I did yesterday and the same thing I'll do tomorrow.

 

And my photos turned out great! Some of the best I've ever taken. As for anyone concerned about my dog, well... she's kind of nuts all on her own. She'll happily chase after full grown cows that look to weigh over a thousand pounds, barking at them and trying to get them to play. She'll jump at the chance for a walk, including in pouring rain and nigh below freezing with the windchill, she used to be best friends with a German Shepard that was nearly triple her weight, she'd play rough with him and headbutt him at full speed to knock him over. I've had to take her for stitches twice after she ruined her own nose trying to get through a fence to another dog, and after getting a long bleeding cut from what I can only assume was a barbed wire fence; a fact I had to discover myself because she made not one hint of injury or complaint while walking over a mile back. Her only audible concern the entire time was me going into a coffee shop during the break, because I'd tied her up outside and was ten feet away and perfectly visible through a doorway. She whined the entire time. Her priorities are rather strange.

 

Still, it felt like a great, interesting trip. How does one go about becoming a professional photographer? I think I'd jump at the chance to film something like Planet Earth, travelling the world and setting up crazy camera rigs. Or anything like that. I suppose I can just Google "how to become a professional photographer" but beyond that I've not a clue.

[Nachimir]

Bah: Being single in a university town, and realising after a bunch of dull first dates that I'm now too old to date students. The dating pool here seems to have a very young skew, and outside of it most people around 26 - 35 seem to have either settled down or moved away.

 

Woo: Escaping to London for six weeks soon.

 

Bah: Coming back to Nottingham for the whole winter because of stuff.

 

Woo: That includes GameCity.

 

Woooo: Last night, I went and did a few hours of mountain bike skills training, with someone who managed a British downhill racing team until recently. He was a very good teacher, and I picked up loads of technique. By the end I understood berms properly, was flying through terrain that intimidated me before, and was beginning to turn the bike in the air.

[Hermie]

Down on my hands and knees, feeling along the dirt, afraid to go too fast lest I make a wrong step. Just one might due it. But I had to continue on, I had to try, what other option was there?

 

 I've a genetic mutation that gives me superb night vision

 

 

 

 

(PS: Revive the photography thread and post your pictures there.)

[Thrik]

Bah: Being single in a university town, and realising after a bunch of dull first dates that I'm now too old to date students. The dating pool here seems to have a very young skew, and outside of it most people around 26 - 35 seem to have either settled down or moved away.

 

Woo: Escaping to London for six weeks soon.

 

Bah: Coming back to Nottingham for the whole winter because of stuff.

 

Woo: That includes GameCity.

 

Woooo: Last night, I went and did a few hours of mountain bike skills training, with someone who managed a British downhill racing team until recently. He was a very good teacher, and I picked up loads of technique. By the end I understood berms properly, was flying through terrain that intimidated me before, and was beginning to turn the bike in the air.

 

Plenty of Fish, son. Plenty of Fish.

[Justin Leego]

We even having a goddamn budding game industry emerging. Of course there's the moloch Guerrilla, but we also have Triumph (Overlord, Age of Wonders) and a ton of smaller studios starting to make waves (Ronimo, Vlambeer, Vanguard). Skip across the border to Belgium and you have Larian (Divinity: Dragon Commander) and possibly the Outcast sequel. Enough opportunities, I'd say.

 

 

You forgot VStep. They are basically a serious-game company but they also released Ship Simulator.

 

Ooh, also Perfect World EU, Stolen Couch (Ichi, Castaway Paradise) and Codeglue (ibb & obb, PlayStation Home stuff).

 

And: Lordz

[Lu]

There is also a Valve branch in Luxembourg, I recently found out!

[Hermie]

From what I understand, that's Stricly For Tax Purposes, no? routing Steam payments through that office gives them better rates than elsewhere in Europe, I think.

[Lu]

Probably true. Looking at their job postings they're mostly looking for non-game engineer stuff.

[elmuerte]

Non-EU companies which are dealing with financial stuff (i.e. money trafficking) usually have an "office" (read: postbox) in Luxembourg. This is because Luxembourgh has the best laws when it comes moving around other people's money. When it's just your money, it's best to set up a postbox in the Netherlands or Ireland.

The only reason I can think ogf for Valve to go to luxembourgh is that they want to extend their Steam Wallet.

[elmuerte]

Oh btw, I went back to the store today and exchanged my headset for a different one. I just tested, and the mic actually works.

[Lu]

I'm looking forward to hearing the dulcet tones of elmuerte in my ears.

[Roderick]

Does he SOUND LIKE DEATH?

[elmuerte]

I always believed Death was silent. After all, he doesn't have any lungs or vocal cords. (he also doesn't have any muscles to move his bones.. my argument is starting the crumble here).

[Twig]

Escape plans! If your income drops beyond a certain level are you given a stay on the student loan repayments?

Yeah I have options to slow/stop payments if I'm unemployed, but obviously I'd prefer not to resort to that!

 

Now you guys have got me seriously considering the Netherlands. I've always wanted to try living in Europe in general, hah.

[Justin Leego]

You're on the programming and design side of things; right? If it was art I would have suggested trying out the PlanetSide 2 Player Store thing for a bit of extra (speculative) income. The rates seem to be better than Valve's though the player base not as big... depends on how EQ2 is doing these days. Maybe that sort of thing's more up Pony's street though. I guess you both know more about it than me.

[Ucantalas]

So update from my trip to the doctor today:

I have an infection in my face brought on by sever razor burn.

I need to apply an antibacterial cream to my face twice per day and not shave for a month.

I was fine with all that until I needed to pay $56.50 for the cream. Fucking drug prices.
 

[miffy495]

Today when I got into work a 16 year old girl I'd been training had made me brownies to thank me for being nice to her while she was learning. Adorable. It's been a heartwarming day.

[Ben X]

[pabosher]

Today when I got into work a 16 year old girl I'd been training had made me brownies to thank me for being nice to her while she was learning. Adorable. It's been a heartwarming day.

  

She wants some o' dat waggin' you draggin' mmhmm.

[Ben X]

Wagon, surely?