Tag: Adventures In Coding

Adventures in Coding: Slightly More Serious Adventures

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I did promise I was going to tell you all about the software development course I’m doing soon! I have a place on the TechUp Skills Bootcamp in Software Development, which starts next week. I’m going to be learning Python and finding out about opportunities for moving into a tech career, which is very exciting.

Until I started making text adventures with Adventuron just over two years ago, I didn’t even consider that coding was something I could do seriously. I’d made a few simple QBASIC games as a kid but hadn’t even thought about it in years. But I have absolutely loved learning to code and create games – I find Adventuron the most intuitive as that’s how I got started, but I’ve also been enjoying dabbling in PunyInform, as well as a bit of BBC BASIC due to my nostalgia for the BBC Micro.

Learning more standard and modern programming languages is something I’ve wanted to do for a while, and I’m so glad I’ve got this opportunity. I can’t wait to get started.

Pixel vampire bat
A seasonal illustration from my Hallowe’en game two years ago… because I’ve got a couple more games I want to make soon as well. Naturally. Anyone got a magic ‘time stop’ button they can lend me?

Refreshed!

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It took a bit of preparation, but I feel so much better for having my day off to play videogames yesterday. I’m going to do that at least once a month from now on.

It’s a busier week ahead for me now, but I’m excited to get on with some game creation (finally). It’s been getting away from me all summer and I need to make it more of a priority.

Handheld consoles
Loved spending the day on my 3DS and Switch yesterday.

Hopefully I’ll squeeze in a few dribs and drabs of videogaming too!

A quick Friday catchup before a quiet weekend

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Just a quick post today because I want to get into some game creation later this afternoon. It’s been a fairly quiet week by necessity because I needed to spend a few days eating, sleeping and dozing after the marathon, and I’m looking forward to an even quieter weekend.

Underneath Tower Bridge
Underneath Tower Bridge on Monday morning. I felt really lucky to be staying right next to this location as it actually plays a very important role in the big game I’ll be releasing next year. Brilliant to be able to take some photo references!

Two weeks’ worth of earworm playlists:

Saturday 25th

Wham! – ‘The Edge Of Heaven’
Elton John – ‘Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting’

Sunday 26th

Blue – ‘All Rise’
Girls Aloud – ‘See The Day’
ACE+ – ‘Riki The Legendary Heropon’
Ocean Colour Scene – ‘Profit In Peace’

Monday 27th

Melanie C – ‘Northern Star’
Tom Jones and The Cardigans – ‘Burning Down The House’

Tuesday 28th

Duran Duran – ‘Ordinary World’
Duran Duran – ‘Starting To Remember’

Wednesday 29th

Tom Jones and The Cardigans – ‘Burning Down The House’
Anita Ward – ‘Ring My Bell’

Thursday 30th

Sacre – ‘The London Marathon’

Friday 1st

Melanie C – ‘Northern Star’

Saturday 2nd

Tina Turner – ‘Proud Mary’

Sunday 3rd

Abba – ‘Dancing Queen’
Spandau Ballet – ‘Gold’

Monday 4th

Avicii and Aloe Blacc – ‘Wake Me Up’
Kiki Dee – ‘Star’

Tuesday 5th

Sacre – ‘The London Marathon’
James – ‘Come Home’

Wednesday 6th

Sacre – ‘The London Marathon’

Thursday 7th

The Sugarhill Gang – ‘Rapper’s Delight’

Friday 8th

Sacre – ‘The London Marathon’
The Power Station – ‘Some Like It Hot’
Limahl – ‘The Neverending Story’
Meat Loaf – ‘I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That)’

Midweek recovery update

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I have still got a LOT of aches, pains and stiffness in my legs, but there’s a tiny bit of gradual recovery every day. I’m managing to shuffle round my daily short run route at a very slow pace, and hopefully I’ll be able to plod round parkrun on Saturday without taking a horribly long time. I was able to brave the foam roller again as well after my run this morning, and hopefully continuing the habit of doing that every day will keep the stiffness at bay long-term.

I have a slight bit of post-marathon blues now. I think it’s because I don’t know if or when I will ever be able to run London again, and it’s been such a long journey that I feel sad it’s over. I think I will feel a bit better when I run other marathons and take on more of a mindset that there are lots of great ones out there, but London really was something else, especially this year when I had such a great experience. I will definitely be throwing my hat in the ballot for future editions. Maybe some time in the future I’ll get lucky again.

I’m taking this week very easy and slow. I’ve got a bit of day job work and am doing some initial prep for the software development course I will be starting soon (very excited! Will blog about that properly soon). I’m also looking forward to an incredibly quiet weekend once Geth and I are back from parkrun! I have plans for emptying Sunday to the extent that I don’t have to do anything at all 😀

Hallowe'en Lockets 2021
I saved up so that I could have a couple of blowouts on the Hallowe’en and Christmas Locket collections this year! I have so many new spooky leggings to wear this month, including these pink cartoony ones.

Life was going at a million miles an hour all summer and into the early autumn, so it feels a bit odd that this week it’s just… quiet. It’s much appreciated though!

Adventures in Coding: Retreating, Reflecting and Rallying

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I feel like I’ve been talking about making my next game all summer, but unfortunately I’ve not been able to get much done on it!

Since ParserComp in June life has been a bit mental. I had a very busy summer with work, I’ve been marathon training for London (twelve days to go – eek!), events have started up again, and with all of that going on I’ve been making sure to prioritise ‘me time’ (i.e. videogaming) in the evenings and on weekends, so I’ve been struggling to find time for game creation. I really wanted to get one of my games finished for IFComp, but it hasn’t happened this year. However, October is looking nice and empty (after London that is!), so I’m hoping to be able to make a fun short scary game for this year’s EctoComp.

I possibly burnt myself out a bit early in the year. I was really proud of what I did with Barry Basic and the Quick Escape, and I had a lot of fun making Waiting for the Day Train, and I got a lot of work done on Marie (which is going to be enormous!) in between those two projects, but all of that was pretty intense and so maybe I needed to do other things for a while. I’m keen to get going again now, but I am going to wait until after the marathon and just brew some ideas in the meantime. I am a massive Hallowe’en fan and had such a good time making Hallowe’en: Night of the Misty Manor for the Adventuron Hallowe’en Jam a couple of years ago, so I’m already excited even though I don’t know what I’m making yet!

(I already have three ideas just from writing this post…)

Pixel vampire
The Fat Vampire may return! You never know…

Settling into the autumn

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The next week or so is quite busy with running events and gigs. I’m excited for all of it! And also for next weekend when I will return to my regularly scheduled dozing. The return to near-normality is nice but it can feel a little overwhelming to be suddenly doing All The Things.

The strange brief heatwave that made its way through the UK this week only showed its face in Newcastle on Wednesday, and that was quite enough for me. I’m done with hot weather now! Looking forward to cooler conditions for autumn running. It’s meant to be 13°C and cloudy on Sunday for the GNR and I really hope the forecast is right.

I made a decision earlier this week that I wouldn’t do the 22-mile run I’d scheduled for this week and would instead treat my 18-miler from a couple of weeks ago as my longest long run for the marathon. My body is telling me very loudly that a five-week taper is more likely to get me to the start line in one piece than a three-week taper, so I’m going to listen to it. I’ve got the GNR (13.1 miles) on Sunday, will do either eight or six miles next Thursday depending on how I’m feeling post-race, and six the week after, then a nice ten-day period of only doing mile-and-a-half streak savers and slow gentle parkruns leading up to the marathon. Fingers crossed it will all go according to plan.

This time next week I am hoping to report back on a slow but enjoyable GNR completion, two very long-awaited concerts, and the bulk of a game coded!

Black cat
Last week’s photo of next door’s cat. He sneaked in as usual while our groceries were being delivered and looked so comfy I let him stay for an hour or so!

This week’s earworm playlists:

Saturday

Republica – ‘Drop Dead Gorgeous’

Sunday

The Beatles – ‘Hey Jude’
Tom Jones – ‘Delilah’

Monday

Koichi Sugiyama – ‘Town’

Tuesday

Koichi Sugiyama – ‘Town’

Wednesday

Boston – ‘More Than A Feeling’
Soft Cell – ‘Say Hello Wave Goodbye’

Thursday

Girls Aloud – ‘Something New’*

Friday

The Human League – ‘Being Boiled’

*RIP Sarah Harding.

Perfect August bank holiday weather…

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…for me these days is the grey mizzle we have here in Newcastle today! I went out in it for a twenty-minute run and that was quite enough, thank you very much. I’m going to be spending the rest of the day on the sofa, both playing and making games 🙂

Cool, damp weather also makes me very excited for autumn. Two days to go!

Roadside bracken
Another picture from last Thursday’s run! This is the now-traditional ‘bracken at the side of the path’ picture that I take at the turning point of all my out-and-back long runs.

A quick breather!

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For today, anyway. Lots to do, despite the fact that my clients are mostly on holiday and thus so am I!

It’s been a busy week. Monday was a big accounting catchup day for my business as I’ve not had time to keep up with it over the last few hectic months. Tuesday was spent in Geth’s office at work, as they’re moving buildings again and we needed to pack up all his stuff so it can be transferred to his new office. Wednesday I had a hair appointment and took the opportunity to run a few other errands while I was out, and yesterday was 18-miler day on my marathon training schedule. I’ve also been doing initial planning and coding for my new game!

I was really anxious about yesterday’s run as my long runs so far this training block have been fairly miserable due to various issues. However, everything (mostly) came together yesterday, and I was able to have a really positive, steady run. I’ve recovered really well so am feeling a lot more confident about the remaining long runs on the schedule!

I know I say this most weeks but next week should definitely be quieter… I hope!

'80s font on crate
Some of the crates provided to pack up Geth’s office were clearly a few decades old! Loving the ’80s font on this one.

This week’s earworm playlists:

Saturday

Elvis Presley – ‘Return To Sender’

Sunday

KC & The Sunshine Band – ‘Give It Up’

Monday

Duran Duran – ‘Save A Prayer’

Tuesday

Nobuo Uematsu – ‘Boss Theme A’

Wednesday

Nobuo Uematsu – ‘Boss Theme A’

Thursday

Duran Duran – ‘Invisible’
Duran Duran and Chai – ‘More Joy’

Friday

Queen – ‘A Winter’s Tale’
Carter USM – ‘The Only Living Boy In New Cross’
Ultravox – ‘Vienna’
Peter Gabriel – ‘Games Without Frontiers’

Flying Monday post

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A fairly quiet week begins! I will mostly be game-making (which I will update you about next Monday) and game-playing, though I have a few ‘leaving the house’ activities scheduled such as my Thursday long run, a badly-needed haircut, and helping Geth pack up his office due to a building move at his work. Glad things are settling down.

Sweetheart Abbey
Abbey photo from last week’s trip! Might put a similar location in my new game…

Eyes on the autumn

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Twelve days to go until meteorological autumn begins. I am very excited.

Things have been quite well timed this week. Geth and I returned home from the last of our summer trips away on Tuesday, and I finished the last items for the last of my big summer work projects on Wednesday. Work has been very busy over the spring and summer, which has been great, but it’s starting to quieten down again now. I’ll be taking the opportunity over the next few weeks to get a new game made and to have some downtime with my much-neglected videogame collection. I’m also in the sharp end of marathon training now, so I need to get some rest and relaxation in when I’m not running!

I’m finding it hard to get out of the ‘I should be doing something work-related right now’ guilt and letting myself relax, but that’s sort of understandable after so many months. I hope I’ll feel a bit more settled in a week’s time.

Mull of Galloway
So many pictures from our last trip! This is another one from the Mull of Galloway.

This week’s earworm playlists:

Saturday

S-Express – ‘Theme From S-Express’

Sunday

Grant Lee Buffalo – ‘The Whole Shebang’
Shoji Meguro – ‘Heretic Mansion’
Duran Duran and Chai – ‘More Joy’

Monday

Duran Duran – ‘Reach Up For The Sunrise’

Tuesday

The Crüxshadows – ‘Return’
Fleetwood Mac – ‘Don’t Stop’
Duran Duran and Chai – ‘More Joy’
The Corries – ‘Wild Mountain Thyme’

Wednesday

Peter Gabriel – ‘Games Without Frontiers’

Thursday

Duran Duran – ‘What Happens Tomorrow’
Duran Duran – ‘Invisible’

Friday

The B-52s – ‘Roam’