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The Mortuary
The Mortuary
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9/7/99
*much ambient music/noise*
-Brian Eno

I have no idea how to make electronic boopery into lyrics, so I'm not even going to try.

I'd give you design updates, but it's essentially all the same as it has been for the past couple of weeks - working on finishing up the most crucial dialogues in the game, creature placement on the maps, flogging the scriptors, embarrassing ourselves in front of the artists, testing stores and dialogues, making sure our previous designs have all been placed and implemented, and slowly inching toward the inevitable ::snap:: of lunacy - or, if you happen to be me, shoving your coworkers toward that ::snap:: for entertainment purposes.

Now that you've seen what we do daily, it's time to take another step into the life of a designer. Today's topic, as promised by Scott, is How to Camp Out in Your Office.

Do you qualify as an office camper? Take this simple test and find out!

1. Do you live more than half an hour from your office?
2. Would you rather snatch an extra valuable hour of sleep rather than make the round trip home and back?
3. Do you enjoy marshmallows?

If you answered yes to all three of these questions, you might be qualified to sleep in the office. You'll need the following supplies:

  • Sleeping bag
  • Pillow
  • Travel alarm
  • Do Not Disturb sign on the door

    Those are the essentials. If you do not have those, it makes sleeping in the office much more difficult - you get cold, and you wake up when your officemate arrives in the morning. Bad form all around, and embarrassing if you sleep in your underwear.

    These following items are essential for me. I understand there are people in the industry who don't care about personal hygiene; I am not one of them. Plus, I have to deal with people all day and I hate seeing people wrinkle their noses at me.

  • Toothbrush
  • Toothpaste
  • Razor (shaving)
  • Shaving cream
  • Soap
  • Towel
  • Change of clothes
  • Deodorant
  • Flip-flops (if you saw Interplay's shower facilities, you'd know what I mean)

    This next batch of stuff is optional:

  • Marshmallows to cook over the halogen lamps
  • Coffee
  • Guitars to sing Kumbayah with the other team members
  • Smokes
  • Beer (only some nights)
  • The desire to get some stuff done. Wait, I guess that's not optional.
  • Brian Eno's Ambient I: Music for Airports - very good, relaxing, and fine for sleeping OR typing.
  • Lack of shame - useful, but not essential.

    Put all these in a pot, mix well, and sleep on the floor. Make sure it's vacuumed. After a few times, it becomes an adventure - and then it becomes routine - and then it becomes more familiar than home.

    Thus is the glamorous life of a game designer.

    Next week, the return of SCOTT! Maybe he'll talk about what goes into a Creature Placement document... or maybe he'll surprise you. Who knows? He's wacky!

    -Colin

    • Planescape: Torment & Design: © 1998 Interplay Productions. All Rights Reserved. © 1998 TSR, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Planescape, the Planescape logo, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Torment, the AD&D logo, and the TSR logo are trademarks of TSR, Inc. and are used by Interplay under license. TSR, Inc. is a subsidiary of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. Interplay, the Interplay logo, Black Isle Studios and the Black Isle Studios logo are trademarks of Interplay Productions. Exclusively licensed and distributed by Interplay Productions. All other trademarks and copyrights are property of their respective owners.