A Heartfelt Goodbye from Lucas and HIS GAME!

So, this is it! This is the end! I regret to inform you that today is my very last day at Smiley Guy Studios. It's a little bittersweet. I'm pretty sad that I'm leaving. I sat on the bus this morning just thinking about the fact that this may be the last time that I ever go this route. (I know its too sentimental but get over it!) But I'm also feeling as though the skills that I have learned here will be with me forever. I finish this year feeling more knowledgable and more confidence than I did when I started. I found fields that interested me and really dug into what makes someone good at that job. I immersed myself in the Toronto video game community and wrote a 50 page sit-com pilot! These are things that wouldn't have even occurred to me to do prior to this year. 

Aside from that, within the studio I met a ton of awesome people. They were always willing to answer my questions or just have a good conversation. Before coming here, I was quite frightened of the "real world." The point where you become an adult and all the fun gets sucked out of you. The people here however, have showed me that that's not the case at all. Most love what they do and have a good time doing it. I have to admit, when I first got here I was not quite sure whether or not Brad was joking most of the time. It's a kind of humour that takes you a little while to catch on to.

And finally... The Game! It's done! I feel really proud of what I have done. To be honest though, as an outsider who doesn't know about me; it would look quite unimpressive. The art isn't amazing and the code is pretty sloppy but I feel it's a real accomplishment. I've really never done something like this and all the skills that I used were acquired earlier this year. I acknowledge that it has flaws, but it's a stepping stone. My next game will be better, then my next will be even better than that! I'm just happy that it works. There were a few points where I wasn't even sure that this would be possible at my skill level. There had to be a few major concept changes to make sure that the game was even possible, but I pulled through. I have something now that although it may glitch out at some points, someone can sit down and play it. If you're wondering where it can be played, I have it hosted on a website which I'll link to below. I'm going to update it one more time before I leave, just fixing a bug that makes the player spawn in the wrong place and a simple mixup with one of the cloud tiles. It's not a big deal, the game works the same without these changes. It's just a matter of aesthetics. 

To end this off, I'd like to tie it back to one of my first blogs. As I walked in today, I noticed the dancing Jewish man figurine. I figure I'll leave it here for two reasons. 1) There are so many objects and trinkets laying around the office. I'm sure everything reminds a few people of a story or an experience, so I want something here that is a reminder I was here (as odd a reminder as that is).  2) I really don't want that thing back. Like, honestly I don't want to lose any more sleep over the thought of that thing on my shelf. Please. Keep it. 

I'd like to thank Julie and Mike for even after having poor prior experiences with co-op students, accepting me to work here. The year had a huge positive impact on me and I'm sure I won't be forgetting it any time soon. 

The Game: http://www.cavemenjointlink.com/