But we'll see you next semester. WE PASSED!!!
Whoo, was that a crazy weekend. Friday, sitting there in that auditorium with all of those people, was so nerve-wracking. It all of a sudden hit me how important the presentation was, and how formal it was.
All of the presentations, as well as the games, were stellar though. Some of them were surprisingly great. It was so awesome to see my friends that I've known for years stand up on stage and talk about something they love in front of hundreds of people. It finally made all of the tons of work we've done over the years come together and really mean something to all of us.
Alex was a wee nervous while we were in the auditorium. I don't know why, because he's very charming when he speaks. As he puts it -- and this makes sense -- the more it matters, the more nervous he gets.
Our game really matters to us. I know, maybe you're like, "Duh, of course it matters." Sometimes it just doesn't work out like that. Sometimes the people working on a game just don't care about it from the start. Sometimes the game just doesn't head in the right direction and they end up not liking it. Sometimes it's just being forced to do work that makes them not like the game in the end.
When we got on stage, Alex did a great job. He got through all of the information smoothly and all around spoke well in front of everyone. When we got to the gameplay is when the crowd really got into it. Bryan spoke while during he gameplay to give everyone the run-through, so his screen was up on the projector. Chris and Bryan have this reputation of absolutely destroying any team they go up against... Which ended up being a good thing, because when they scored against Alex and I, the crowd went wild.
Overall, it was one of those really validating and really inspiring nights. I was really proud of us and everyone else who presented. We made a lot of genuinely good games.
The faculty thought so too. Today our teachers made it very clear that this year's games and presentations blew them away...
Of course this was after a Friday night, Saturday and Sunday of sweating it out waiting for the results from the faculty. Who passed?! Do we get to go on to next semester?!
Then we all got the list Monday morning. Alex had gone to class and was checking his email before I got the chance to. He messaged me, "WE MADE IT! SAM WE MADE IT!!!" I was awestruck.
I've made plenty of art that I'm proud of over the years. But this was different. It was a big moment for me, because I then knew that other people were proud too. And maybe if they're not proud, I know they liked my work at least.
And this is especially since when I checked my email, I had an email from one of my Production I teacher from sophomore year. It said:
"I just wanted to take a minute and say how much enjoyed the art in Mageball. I was really impressed."
One of my teachers took the time to write me that? Oh jeez. I was floored.
We showed up for production class today, and it was basically just a discussion day. We asked our teacher, "What went on during the deliberation?"
Her response was basically, "Well basically there were the two favourites..."
Team Mageball was thinking, "Okay, Quibly Ball and Eb and Flo."
She went on, "Quibly Ball and Mageball were both a unanimous yes."
Alex and I turned to each other and said, "Wait, what?"
All of the faculty liked our game? Wait, all of them? All of the faculty? No, that's unbelievable.
But apparently true.
She said the art was a big selling point, and everyone liked that. Again, wow.
Then the scramble of trying to pick up all of the people without teams happened. After some deliberation, we ended up with four agreements with people: two artists, one designer, one programmer.
We've already gone to Longhorn (Shadowpuppet Studios's choice restaurant) and celebrated with a couple of our new (unofficial) teammates.
I can't wait until next semester. I can't wait to see where this goes, because we're going to bring it somewhere awesome. And I can't wait to work with new people, because (as it is right now) our new team members are also passionate about what we're doing. We're all excited about Mageball. You should be too!
Don't worry, by the way. The semester may be over, but I'm not going to stop writing. First of all, it's required. Second of all, I like keeping this blog just because it's interesting to look back and see the path I took to get where I am. I also want this here because other people may find it interesting (hi, family and friends) and will want to follow this until the end.
Thanks for the support everyone. It means more to me than I can put into words. Next semester will be even better!
Until next time!
