Master’s thesis handed in, rest of life awaits
One phase in life goes out, a new one lies ahead. February 1st 2010 I finally handed in my Master’s thesis at the University of Oslo and said goodbye to a place I’ve been studying at for many years. The only thing that remains is an oral presentation of my thesis due mid-March, and I will then (hopefully) dive into the job market armed with a Master’s degree in Computer Science.
Finished Master’s thesis
My thesis is about computer games, more specifically to which degree a quest game with a linear story can support meaningful choices for players, using the Xbox 360-game Fable 2 as an example and subject for analysis. (One thing’s for sure, I will never play Fable 2 ever again!) It was quite a new experience writing a long theoretical analysis when I both am more practical and have studied in a much more practical way. I feel that most of the thesis’ work was done in the last few weeks, and that I could’ve done more. But I bet everybody who has written a thesis most likely feel the same way. I was lucky to have kind people to support me, proof read and in general calm my nerves. Especially Sindre has been remarkably patient with me and endured my stressful mood.
When the thesis’ hand-in day finally had passed, I was suddenly free to do (almost) anything I wanted. I spent some weeks catching up on sleep and life. I could finally dig up my dear Wacom tablet, which has been missing me so much that it whimpers for my attention hoping I’d surrender and scratch it behind its ear with the pen. It was a great feeling to finally have time to draw and design web sites again! I redesigned my (so far) modest and limited portfolio, AcornArtwork.com, and hope to expand it and improve my drawing skills. I also plan to teach myself more in web design, especially JavaScript, Ajax and perhaps .NET in order to get more meat on my bones when applying for a job.
I’m now in the process of looking for and applying for a job. A very exciting and unknown road lies ahead!
in
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Be, simultaneously, a geek and a nerd
A most inspiring speech held by Jim Kakalios at the University of Minnesota (starts at 0:55). The video is subtitled, in English, luckily for us hard of hearing. Kakalios talks about how, and I quote, “You must be, simultaneously, a geek and a nerd” to be successful at the University and later on in life.
I almost wish I could attend the University of Minnesota, the University of Oslo is not half as inspiring.
in
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New portfolio domain: Acorn Artwork
I have for some time now been slightly displeased by my nickname “Lillarosin”, which currently is my domain name for my CI blog, this blog and previously my portfolio. I acquired the nickname several years ago when playing World of Warcraft and was recognized by everyone as Lillarosin even though I had several characters and names in the game. Lillarosin translates as “purple raisin” in Norwegian and was actually a totally random name I came up when creating a new character I wasn’t really planning on playing. I created a purple night elf and while doing so I ate raisins. Thus Lillarosin was born and this character unexpectedly became my (first) main character in World of Warcraft. But as I quit playing World of Warcraft altogether several years ago, Lillarosin is not really “who I am” anymore. No one I come in contact these days know me from when I played World of Warcraft and Lillarosin now just strikes as a weird nick, both in Norwegian and in English. In Swedish also! I have received loads of comments from Swedes because Lillarosin means “little raisin” in Swedish.
Acorns, or oak nuts
Thus it was about time to get myself a new name to go by. I wanted a new domain for my portfolio, and needed a more professional name or label. After some doodling and thinking I arrived at “Acorn”. Acorn could simply mean the funny-looking nuts that grow of oak trees, but in my case there’s also a play on words. My first initial is A and my last name is Kern, which becomes “Akern” which is pronounced almost as “acorn”. So there it is. The domains “Acorn Design” and the like was already taken, so I decided for Acorn Artwork. I bought the domain, redesigned my portfolio, created a logo (yes, with an acorn in it) and moved it there. For now I plan to keep this blog and my CI blog at this domain, lillarosin.com.
Acorn Artwork logo (I predict it’ll be seriously
revamped in the future)
I’m also introducing web designs in my portfolio, after rediscovering website design a while ago. I have created web pages with HTML, PHP and CSS from the age of 14 or so, but lost interest a while. However in October I was asked to help design elements for Nesodden kommune (a municipality that lies south of Oslo) new web site. I gave some advice of design, and created the header image, portal buttons and digitalized the Nesodden logo. That reignited the old web design spark. With my current Photoshop skills creating web design became much more interesting. I have not done much web designs yet, especially original or noteworthy designs, but more to come when I have time.
Maybe one of you, my two blog readers, starts thinking: “hey, isn’t she supposed to finish her Master’s thesis, how come she spends time to do all this?” To answer that I do designs or draw in my breaks, inbetween writing, and little by little a little something emerges. My thesis is due February 1st 2010, but I am by no means relaxed about it or slacking. Currently I’m sitting at home with swine flu (oink oink), so spending my half-functioning brain and body on my new portfolio seemed like a good idea.
in
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Jumped out of a heli with a parachute! due Spring 2010
For my birthday in October Sindre and some friends bought me a tandemjump from 10 000ft. from a helicopter with a parachute! That’s two things I always wanted to do: riding a helicopter and parachuting in free fall. I guess Sindre actually listened when we were watching TV of someone parachuting and I discreetly mentioned how badly I wanted to try that. 
That’s my good Yeti! Sindre had arranged with some parachuters in Trøgstad, 1 hour driving from Oslo, so I get to see my hometown and Oslofjorden from the air.
The jump was planned October 10th in the morning and we told our friends, a chauffeur was arranged, my parents calmed and my excitement built up. When the big day arrived, it rained. The jump was thus postponed to October 17th. Cue arranging, telling friends, calming down my folks and building up a greater load of excitement. To my delight that Saturday morning was a beautiful, sunny day with no visible clouds in the sky. I got up early (I hate that), did my morning routine, got dressed in warm clothes and a permanent grin started to develop on my face. Sindre made coffee to bring and packed his backpack with his camera to take pictures. About 20 minutes before our chauffeur, Kjell, was arriving we got a call. The jump was cancelled again because of too strong wind. *sigh*
Sad couple: Parachute jump cancelled again
We came to the conclusion that we had to postpone the jump to Spring next year, sometime during March or April. The winter’s coming in fast (well, it’s Norway) and it gets too cold to mess around at 10 000ft in November. But I am gonna get my jump!
People say a picture is saying more than 1 000 words. So here it is.
in
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Recommendation: “Portal”
A typical level in Portal
The PC game “Portal”, developed by Valve software in 2007, is in my humble opinion one of the most ingenious game ever created. The concept is simple, but a bit hard to wrap your head around. You have device that can shoot (over distance) a portal entrance and a portal exit, but only on certain surfaces, be it walls, roof or floors. Once both portals have been placed you can walk through the portals either way, and physics count (e.g. “speedy thing goes in, speedy thing goes out”). You can only create two portal openings, and as you progress in the levels you need to figure out exactly how, where and when to place the portals in order to cross chasms, up or over obstacles, around automated turrets that fires at you, transport energy balls into their receivers and open doors by using certain cubes you can pick up in the game. It’s a game that requires thinking, and often challenges you to think completely outside the box.
Scribblings from previous test subjects: The cake is a lie
The gameplay itself makes a great game, even though the game is a bit short. But there’s more. Throughout the game you are accompanied by a computerized voice which speak to you (and watch you) as a “Aperture Science” test subject in “The Enrichment Center”. The voice comes with witty comments and statements which really gives the game personality.
Weighted Companion Cube
Throughout the levels you also encounter the “Weighted Companion Cube”, a cube with a heart, another bonus which adds to the game’s genius. You carry and use the cube while the computerized voice reminds you that it will never threaten to stab you, it cannot speak and in the event that it does speak, disregard its advice. In the end you are told that your beloved cube cannot accompany you through the rest of the tests and if it could speak it would tell you to go on without it because it would rather die in a fire than become a burden to you.
You are constantly being promised cake when you have completed all of the 19 levels. But once you reach there you are, apparently as every other test subjects, being terminated by transporting you into a pit of flames. But the game doesn’t end there. As you cleverly escape using portals, you navigate through the building to find the source: the computer that have been talking all along. While you find your way towards the computer voice, it inquires you to give up, come back for your cake, jokingly excuses for trying to kill you or lie to you and threatens to start cutting and eating the cake without you.
The computer (voice) behind it all
When you have reached the computer brain behind it all, you are engaged in an end boss fight while the voice constantly tries to discourage you with hilarious statements. Among others how unlikeable you are and that nobody would come to your party, or imitate how stupid you sound. I won’t reveal how the game ends, but after it’s finished you are played the infamous and witty song “I’m Alive”. You are also given the option of replaying some of the levels in advanced mode.
I recommend getting the game, it is included in Valve’s Orange box or can be bought singly through Steam. But if you are convinced it’s not worth buying, (you are totally missing out, fool!) there is a free online Flash-version of Portal. It contains no less than 40 challenging which features almost every feature the real game does. Personally I prefer the real thing. “Portal” and its “Weighted Companion Cube” will always have a special space in my heart.
in
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Fmylife, MylifeisAverage and MylifeisG
I recently stumbled over a website, fmylife (that is fuckmylife or FML in short), where people all over the world post short comments on just a few sentences why their life sucks. Some are just funny, while some really make you loose faith in humanity. So beware, FML is not for the light-hearted. I have included some of the best (or worse) comments below, you be the judge whether to visit FML or not. 
“Today, my friend had to take my cat who has a tumor to be put down when I wasn’t home since I couldn’t bare to take him myself. I have two cats. He took the wrong one. FML”
“Today, I looked down to see a tiny spider crawling on the inside of my leg, very close to my crotch. When I tried to brush it off, it only flew a couple inches because it was making a web between my legs. Even a spider knew that it’s been awhile. FML”
“Today, my mother told me I should think about quitting school. She explained that the reason was because she didn’t want me to be more successful than my older sisters. FML”
“Today, my girlfriend of 8 years attempted to explain to me how the Egyptian pyramids were built by aliens from Mars. I have a BS in Biology and a MS in Anthropology and I am working on my Phd and she thinks I am being an irrational idiot for telling her she is wrong. FML”
“Today, I found out that 15 years ago my father threw out my college acceptance letters so that I could stay home and take over the family’s funeral home business. FML”
Luckily fmylife has two sister pages, mylifeisaverage (MLIA in short) and mylifeisg (mylifeisgreat or MLIG in short). All three sites combined seems to cover the whole span of people’s opinion of their lives, written in a humorous way. Obviously MLIA is a site where people post comments on why their life is average, and MLIG somewhere people post their comments on why their life is great. MLIA leaves you much lighter at heart than FML and is in my opinion the site where you are left less “messed up” compared to FML and MLIG. Below are some MLIA comments.
“Today, I realized that since switching from an avid FML reader to an avid MLIA reader, my life has seemed a lot less terrible, and a lot more average. Needless to say, I’m pleased with the trade-off. MLIA.”
“Today, my friend asked why I was so slow in replying on msn. I told her I was doing homework at the same time, but actually it’s just really hard to type when you’ve taped your hands up like a dinosaur. MLIA”
“Today, I was in the mood to hear a certain song, and when I put my iPod on shuffle it went straight to it. I said, “Whoa, iPod! Can you read my mind or something?” The next song was called ‘I Can.’ I am genuinely terrified. MLIA.”
“Today, my girlfriend and I just finished moving into our big new house that my grandparents gave us.There was one room left that we couldn’t find a use for. We filled it with pillows and foam swords for forts. I’m going to get an engagement ring tomorrow. MLIA”
in
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Free, online browser-games that deserve credit
First, I got to admit that I have never been a fan of online, in-browser flash games. Even though I have spent many breaks between classes at high school playing around on the Norwegian site 123spill.no. It’s probably because I have pretty high standards to games, especially to its graphics and “cleverness”. I like puzzle games which don’t have a timer, and provides intricate levels where you really have to think to solve it.
Still, through the years I’ve come across a few free online games I really think deserves credit. Some of the games contain great (though simple) graphics which is crucial for me to even enjoy looking at something more than five seconds. Other games are more clever and good at keeping the challenges.. well.. challenging and fun.
“Oil Panic” – move and react fast!
A typical level of Oil Panic
It’s rare that I enjoy an arcade game, where time matters. “Oil Panic” is one. It’s a very old game and I’m suprised that it’s still active. It’s in Norwegian, but you don’t need to know more than using the arrowkeys to move left, right and down and Space bar to retreat the oil drill. The goal is to gather all blue drops (presumably oil drops) in the level. The challenge lies in the enemies (in form of flames, red stars or other things) that suddenly appears at the border’s edge and move horizontally. The only way to kill them is by hitting them with the drill head – if they hit your extended pipe you die. That means that even though the drill head is picking up drops way at the bottom, if an enemy appears in the upper rows, you need to climb all the way back up before it hits your pipe and then climb back down again. Special walls and items appear in the later levels, as well as faster enemies and shorter time to react.
“Shift” – think in black and white
A Shift 1 level with a reference to Portal
There are now four “Shift”(s?), but i prefer the first two, “Shift 1” and “Shift 2“. These games don’t consist of many levels, but have a clever gimmick. The game is in black and white for a reason, because pressing Shift inverts the board. Otherwise it appears as a platform-game where you move and jump your way to the exit door. Reaching keys, switches and avoiding spikes have never been as challenging as in “Shift”. The games got humor too, including several obvious references to the great game Portal. I haven’t played “Shift 3” or “Shift 4” as much mostly because the last game runs on a timer.
“Fragger” – ninjahunting with grenades!
A typical Fragger level
I recently discovered “Fragger“, which is basically the traditional Tank Wars dressed up as throwing grenades killing ninjas in a more “urban” setting. You can set your angle and velocity using your mouse, and click to throw a grenade. You only have a limited amount of grenades, but unlimited retries at all levels. “Fragger” consist of 30 creative and challenging levels, where not only adjusting the angle and velocity is crucial for completion. When you have completed all 30 levels, you can play them again using a harder difficulty level.
“Orisinal” games – just cute
A selection of Orisinal games
Games created at “Orisinal” is not really games per se. They are more pleasurable for the eye than actually providing you challenges. The site provides no less than 60 individual games, all in the same style. Each game consists of really just one simple challenge, e.g. stack pigs in order to reach floating muffins high up in the air, or control a squirrel hunting for apples. What really attracts me is their beautiful appearance. My favourite games are the jumping rabbit in “Winterbells” and stacking pigs in “These Little Pigs“.
in
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Taking a trip to Skeikampen
Skeikampen
Sindre and me
Kjell, Sindre and I spent almost a full week at a cabin at Skeikampen, July 12-17. The cabin was great, but unfortunately the weather was not. It rained every day, stopping us from taking walks outside, especially up to the Skeikampen itself. Sindre’s brother Robin visited us a few days and one evening Robin, Sindre and I visited some relatives of Robin and Sindre “close by”. But we didn’t let the bad weather ruin our spirits, we played a lot of Monopoly and cards and took trips whenever the weather was fit.
View the photo album for all 43 photos.
in
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New interest: 3D modeling and animation
Introducing my new interest, digital drawing with an added dimension; 3D. It seems like 3D is moving fastforward as a squirrel on RedBull and is seemingly used everywhere, replacing good old 2D as it goes. When the first 3D movies rolled into the movies right after year 2000 (e.g. Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, Ice Age, Shrek ++), I remember I was astounded and fascinated by the technology advancement (yes, I am and always will be a geek). The idea of creating something so alive, expressive and artistically beautiful through only the computer impressed me, and the limits seemed endless. Drawing attracted me mainly because it is absolutely no limit whatsoever to what you can create, only your own imagination. The 3D movies had taken that even a step further.
I’d never tried creating anything in 3D nor tried any 3D-software until about six months ago. It was just one of these days I decided to seriously look into something, and I aquired the two most used and attractive 3D softwares at that time, Autodesk’s 3Ds Max and Maya. I threw myself onto countless online tutorials, forums and even boughts some books to learn. The softwares were more complex than anything I’ve ever encountered in a computer, and they were admittely a bit scary at first. But starting with detailed tutorials with a lot of images or even videos, really helped in learning to create my first 3D models and animations.
My very first 3D model:
“The Scientist”
After a few months I created my first full character in 3Ds Max, “the Scientist”, following a long but good video tutorial. I’m still at the pure modeling stage, so no textures (other than normal materials) are applied, and I’ve not used any other software for further detailing (e.g. Zbrush or Mudbox). I haven’t learned much about lighting either. It’s coming, it’s coming! I’ve also made some short animation movies, but they are too noobish to show to anyone. 
Hopefully I’ll improve my modeling and animation skills, and eventually learn to create and apply textures (UVW mapping), rigging, lighting, compositing, (properly) rendering, and creating details and texture on my models using the digital sculpting softwares Autodesk Mudbox or Pixologic ZBrush.
At the moment, I’ve decided to take some official education within 3D modeling/design after I’ve completed my Master’s degree at the university. I’m considering two schools, Noroff and Idefagskolen, whereas the first one uses 3Ds Max and is mainly focused on games, and the second uses Maya and is mainly focused on film-making. I’ve still not decided which one, but at the moment I’m more comfortable using 3Ds Max. I still have a year left to decide, and much time for practice on my own.
If you’re interested in 3D forums, I’d recommend the Norwegian forums dedicated to 3D, 3Dhue and Det Store Dyret. Unfortunately they are not as active as the larger international forums, but they cover discussions about 3D stills and animations, feedback, some 2D, educational matters and job offers. In English, CG Society and game-artist’s forum are both forums covering several art-topics such as 3D, animation, rigging, 2D, painting, some scripting, film-making etc. They run excellent and serious modeling, animation, texturing and more challenges at all times, which I’m too noobish to participate (yet), but find very interesting to follow.
Hopefully I’ll update my portfolio with 3D models and perhaps blog some of my advancements in 3 dimensions.
in
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Extreme Sheeping (for laughs)
These herders and their dogs got some serious skill in herdsheeping! Animation of a big walking sheep, ping pong among others. Don’t miss the sheep-fireworks at the end.
in
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