Back to School

July forth ended with bangs, and the weekend closed out with my Summer session A classes starting up Tomorrow (Monday, July 7th 2008). First off, my grades for my last classes were posted. I got 100% on the final in math so that secured my A (I was slightly worried because I missed a quiz so I spent most of the class crawling back up from a B). I got 98% on the final in my other class (which I've already forgotten what it was) though I only needed about 20% to get the A.

For my classes now, I've already been reading the books for GSP 260. The Art of the Game is a really great book so far. It really fits with my thoughts and interests and looks to be rewarding in future chapters. I don't know why I didn't already own this book. The other book, The Complete Guide to Game Audio is starting off a real snooze. I'm trying not to be down on it because I realize how much trouble I have with audio (I have very little sense of rhythm, and can't "see" the layers in music, let alone tell you what instruments are being used). But this book is coming across badly for me. I've read dozens of books on film making, storyboarding, photography, graphics, etc., some good and some bad. The bad ones read similar to this one. Advice from a guy who has had minor successes in the business, but ultimately is no Spielberg. I'm giving it a shot though, hoping that the intro chapters aren't indicative of the overall take-away.

I've looked over GSP-260's assignment syllabus whatever and it looks like there is going to be a crazy-strange amount of work. I'm slightly disappointed in the assignment approach because its basically asking you to design a game of your choice, so long as it has 3d characters, 3d objects and levels. Most of my ideas, the ideas I think aren't just like "GTA but in Hawaii", aren't necessarily 3D and may not have "characters" perse. Of course, I guess I'll just take one of my clone ideas with a twist and expand on it. Minivan nights is my choice, but we'll see with more time into the class.

The math class, GSP 320, looks like it should be a breeze. This time I'll make sure not to miss any quizzes or assignments. I've already done the first week assignment and technically classes don't even start until Monday.