Unity 2013 Unite Conference Day 1: Keynote, Occulus & Postmortems

My Vancouver Film School programming teacher, Peter Walsh, was kind enough to pass on a bunch of free tickets to the Unity 2013 Unite Conference to staff and randomly selected students.

Boy, what luck I had. The 3 days of the conference were easily the best time I’ve had in Vancouver yet – hundreds of game developers, programmers and the like from all over the world gathered in one location to hurrah Unity, play with new technology, listen to talks curated by Unity… and indulge in the free food and drinks at the nightly parties.

My blog posts about the event will be focussed on the people I met and the highlights of the conference from the perspective of a student who’s a beginner programmer and is only just starting to learn how to use Unity.

Here’s a few of my classmates standing in the main hallway (from left to right): Nick, Chris and Andrew.

VANCOUVERPOST: First Playtest, First Fridays & Diners

I said the next update would be quick, didn’t I?

Pre-school breakfast.

There are so many diners in Vancouver. It’s kind of weird, being from Australia, where diners are niche and expensive because they’re reminiscent of the American lifestyle we crave from all the American media our generation and the one before us consumed.

VANCOUVERPOST: Pacific Rim, Parks & Breakfast

So much happens in a week here that I apologise in advance for a year’s worth of massive blog posts, filled with multiple jumbled topics. I shall get around to reformatting my blog for easier navigation during my next school break.

IN THE MEANTIME.

So I recently watched Pacific Rim (2013) and I realised that it’s been a while since I’ve found myself relating to a female protagonist. Maybe ever – Mulan (1998) being the only exception. So this is my Mako-inspired outfit and make-up, thrown together from stuff I had lying around the house. It’s not a cosplay by any means, but something I like to do from time to time. I remember watching Rebel Without A Cause (1955) and thinking that I couldn’t wait to wear a red jacket, white t-shirt, blue jeans and boots. 

Mako Mori is a Japanese orphan, adopted by the director of mech operations, Stacker Pentecost. She’s kick-ass and plays the love interest to the lead character, Raleigh Beckett – without being overtly sexualised. What I particularly enjoyed is that Mako’s actress, Rinko Kikuchi, used her character’s vulnerability to comedic effect, turning the Asian ‘cute girl’ trope into an endearing feature used for a non-sexual purpose.

VancouverPost: Game Design and Food Porn (Granville Island)

Long time no see internet!

I’ve been busy moving to Canada! I’m here for a year to do a Diploma of Game Design at Vancouver Film School, being one of four recipients of the 2013 Women in Games Scholarship.

As such, I’ll be blogging at least once a month on my school’s website about Game Design, some content which will be doubled up on here. I started with a silly little interview that Nicha (another recipient) and I did with each other. We both love cats.

http://community.vfs.com/arcade/2013/07/meet-women-in-games-scholarship-winners-jaymee-mak-and-nicha-jaijadesuk/#more-6980

GlubGlubComicPost: I lava you

I’ve recently been helping my boyfriend build his ultimate house in Minecraft. He is killing creepers as I post this.

GlubGlubComicpost: Would you rather?

I’ve been wanting to start a comic strip of my own for a while now, and since I’m just starting to learn how to use photoshop, I figure, why not now? I’m on holidays before I start my year’s diploma at Vancouver Film School (I’m one of four recipients of the 2013 Women in Games Scholarship). I am, however, by no means great at drawing.

This particular work is inspired by my boyfriend, as will the one to follow in the coming days.

Which would you rather?