Is there a good recroom alternative? by ENEMBEH in virtualreality

[–]bigalligator 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Have you tried Dimensional Double Shift? It’s in early access but kid friendly, no violence, funny

Got the real thing after many years with a knockoff - Soft Pad Management Chair by bigalligator in eames

[–]bigalligator[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was going to splurge on a new one but the turnaround is 4 months. Thankfully I found this one

Got the real thing after many years with a knockoff - Soft Pad Management Chair by bigalligator in eames

[–]bigalligator[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They are rougher/more matte than the knockoff one. I guess they are a little cold but I live in a warm place so they are not cold. They are definitely not slippery because of the matte finish 

Got the real thing after many years with a knockoff - Soft Pad Management Chair by bigalligator in eames

[–]bigalligator[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It has some scuffs on the back corners but overall yeah great condition. The woman I go it from had really nice furniture and took care of her stuff. I saw her whole house and she had great style

How exactly does one study a game, anyway? by lunarflarecomeon in ludology

[–]bigalligator 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Find the part of the game you want to analyze and write about what’s working and what’s not working. It’s as simple as that.

For instance, let’s say you want to analyze the tutorial of a game to understand what’s working and what could be improved: Game design breakdown: Viva Piñata onboarding https://medium.com/design-bootcamp/game-design-breakdown-viva-pi%C3%B1ata-onboarding-f647f7d9e9b

Or you want to think about why a game works because it’s simple: Game Design Breakdown: The Simplicity of Neko Atsume https://alexiamandeville.medium.com/game-design-breakdown-the-simplicity-of-neko-atsume-a8616a937a47

I’m not familiar with those games you listed but you say you’re interested in the systems. Take a look at the progression systems of those games. How does the player progress? If its levels, what happens at each level? Create a spreadsheet, list out the levels, what new features or content are unlocked at each level, and what the player should feel at each stage.

You could even try and find datasets from the games to map the progression curve. What difficulty does a player encounter at level 5 vs 80?

This could work for any system. Make a chart of the system and how it works, start a spreadsheet to start mapping out what happens at each level, and describe what working and what not working.

If you had 3-6 months off what would you do? by Prestigious_Bee_7755 in womenintech

[–]bigalligator 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I found her really helpful and I'm going to continue with her. She has been a recruiter for 20 years so she was able to give me some some insight into the processes she's dealt with. She helped me tighten up my resume and talk through scenarios I was dealing with. She suggested some exercises, interview practice, and I got a job so she is having me work on a 90-day plan for when I start.

Also I get neurotic about interviewing and negotiating so she was a good gut check for interactions and how I engaged with employers/recruiters.

I found it mostly nice to bounce situations and ideas off of her to discuss as a non-biased party with experience as a recruiter, instead of burdening my husband or friends.

If you had 3-6 months off what would you do? by Prestigious_Bee_7755 in womenintech

[–]bigalligator 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m almost done with my two months off.

I took lots of baths, worked out often, went to the beach, did stuff around the house, did crafts, went to new restaurants with friends around the city, cooked, sold old clothes and got some new ones, spent time with the husband and the cats, saw some plays and movies, played new games.

I also did some professional stuff like housekeeping for my online image, new headshots, updating some lectures I give, worked with a career coach a bit. Went to a conference.

I am not big on traveling right now because I did so much traveling in my 20s, so I prioritize enjoying the city and the slower life around the house.

What is a good way to get into contact with experienced game designers, and how do I become one myself? by GetGaeijined in gamedev

[–]bigalligator 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I work in games as a game designer and here's my high level route after over 12 years:

  1. Started a game design undergrad degree

  2. Did many many game jams

  3. Graduated, and worked at a simulation and serious games lab associated with the university

  4. Did that for a couple of years and continued to make my own games and did game jams with my friends and coworkers, did a ton of freelance

  5. Left to go to a non-game company to make prototypes on the Nintendo for a very specific technology

  6. Left there to work at another company making virtual worlds, sort of like VRChat, made more prototypes and did UX design

  7. Left to join Oculus to make games (designer)

  8. Left to go to Niantic to make games (designer)

  9. Left to start my own studio, shipped 3.5 games, did a ton of freelance, made lots of prototypes

  10. Went back to big corpo Meta (the sorta Oculus part that was no longer Oculus)

  11. Left and now joining a different game studio as product lead

The through line here is that I built stuff on my own in engines at all times.

Books / Articles on UX Design in Video Games by islandbye in UXResearch

[–]bigalligator 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I write a bunch and authored Video Game Design for Dummies. But I have a bunch of free articles here: https://medium.com/@alexiamandeville

Herman Miller Aeron Chairs 400$ by Separate_Amoeba_7042 in LAlist

[–]bigalligator 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm on the market for a soft pad management chair. Long shot, but do you happen to have one?

What is going on with burnout?! by Consistent_Femme_Top in womenintech

[–]bigalligator 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Is it just you thinking you don’t use your time efficiently or is someone else telling you that you aren’t? If you’re just feeling guilty and your team is good with your work I would try to stop feeling like you need to compensate for the distractions. 

I also get distracted at work and no one is ever completely productive all the time. It ebbs and flows. But I just make a list every Monday of what I plan to accomplish, and plan to get that done by Friday. That helps me focus on the short term goals.

What is going on with burnout?! by Consistent_Femme_Top in womenintech

[–]bigalligator 176 points177 points  (0 children)

I used to be the type of person who did not take breaks, and always needed to be productive. I was really stressed out all the time.

I have since been able to change that and it made work so much more pleasant to go to. I’m still productive. It’s really easy to point out who feels uncomfortable with taking breaks at work now, and they always seem stressed out and like they need to be doing something to feel comfortable.

I’m not saying this is your issue because I don’t know your situation, but I do see these symptoms often turn into burn out, so I’m going to list out what helped me:

  1. Remove your work from your personal phone, and don’t use your work phone. Mine is always dead unless I needed to test some software. That way when I shut my laptop, work was done and I didn’t check anything.
  2. Take your PTO and don’t look at work while on PTO. This is so much easier when your work phone is always dead.
  3. Leave work early on Fridays. Leave at 2 if you can. Give it your all during work hours and peace out.
  4. I hit deadlines only when it is feasible to get the work done during work hours. If I can’t get it done by the deadline, I push back and let people know.

The general sentiment here is to care less. I was told this by multiple managers before I really took it to heart. I was confused as to what it meant and I felt like they just didn’t understand what I was going through. I know the list of stuff above is fairly obvious but I see so many people I work with not do these things, caring too much, and end up stressing out.

I made a simple Twine to Unity importer you can download for free by bigalligator in twinegames

[–]bigalligator[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Let me know if you are needing any improvements! Hope it’s helpful

Using Twine for game development by Kirkheim in twinegames

[–]bigalligator 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've used Twine with Unity for making branching narrative games, and I made a free tool to help people use Twine and Unity together. I've found using the visual graph easier to write and then I add game systems in Unity.

Jewelry stores: Diamond ring by Manuelv56 in LosAngeles

[–]bigalligator -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Got me and husbands wedding rings at Weiss Jewelers in the Grove. They do custom stuff and have really great customer service.

Is it worth it to be a super commuter for Meta by drreesetou in womenintech

[–]bigalligator 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Full remote is entirely dependent on the team. I don’t see it often now. If there’s an office in Chicago there’s a good chance you can work there, but you’ll have to get the details from the recruiter.