The Start of Something, Hopefully New
- Geoffrey Garsson
- Jan 31, 2024
- 6 min read
I've been thinking about making a blog for a while, now. It's something that's been suggested to me quite a bit, from a few people who've heard my music wanting regular updates, or the game developers I've met suggesting a place to show works in progress. I debated doing some of this through LinkedIn, but ultimately, decided to make one here. It's a lot easier to make a dedicated place where I can share some of my thoughts. I recognize making this blog as I'm in a weird spot in my life, so I'll start with the setup of where I am now.
We're not in Kansas anymore... I am currently 23 years old, living out of an apartment near UT Austin in... well, Austin. I moved here after several rough months at home in Greenwich, CT in hopes of making something for myself. Hopefully I'll be able to tell that story one day with more detail, but for now out of respect for those involved, I'd like to keep that under wraps.
Unfortunately, the thing I went to college for (Interactive Media and Game Development) had a bit of a falling out shortly after I graduated. Lots of layoffs, lots of closings of entry-level positions, leaving me somewhat stranded with not many good options. Pivoting is a rather difficult thing to do when all the viable economic options don't really have any openings or you don't qualify/can get the skills for for. All the while the cost of living doesn't really allow for part-time work to pay the bills and put food on the plate. It's not a fun situation to be in. I'm gonna have to fight tooth-and-nail if I wish to stay here, which I really hope I can. I love Austin, there's so much to do.
The silver lining is that I do have some skills I can put to good use. If I can't really chase my original dream of making fun games or apps that help people, I can at least teach others how. My hope is that I can at least one day become a school teacher for math or computer science, and help the kiddos use those skills to better the world.
Meanwhile...
Like the title of the section says, I have to be doing SOMETHING in the meantime... aside from job searching. As many adults know, that process is all-consuming, and I'm trying to stay on my toes as much as possible. Well, I've got 3 personal projects going on, 2 gaming oriented ones, and one for my "band", People Live Here (I use band euphemistically, its currently just me).
Numbuh-1
The first project is a game engine I am working on with the graphics API called Vulkan. For the uninitiated (skip this paragraph if you are), when programmers write code for the most part, they're often running that code on the CPU - the main thing that your computer uses to process data/functions. The CPU isn't exactly set up in a way that allows for easy and fast drawing to the screen, though, so the GPU was invented with the sole purpose of doing exactly that. However, because the CPU is the main commander of the computer, it has to tell the GPU what to do, so specific libraries of code were made by people like the Khronos Group to talk to the GPU and give it instructions.
I am currently building out features for making more detailed frames. Stuff like Shadows, Reflections, Refractions, adding a Raytracing pipelines, multithreading to allow for more power, smaller optimizations for the same purpose... you get the drill. It takes a while, and I really only have 2-3 hours a day to afford to do so right now. If you're curious where I am right now, I've put a picture below with multiple 3D objects, textures, and point lights to show some progress.
I will say that Vulkan is a VERY difficult API to learn, if you're interested. If you want to learn just the foundations out of curiosity, I'd recommend looking at WebGL - lots of schools use it to teach just the foundations because learning APIs and how things work with graphics rendering at the same time can be very much trial-by-fire. A good modern API to start with overall that isn't too complicated would either be Direct3D if you're on Windows or OpenGL everywhere else (though OpenGL is a bit older). There's lots of tutorials to start, and I haven't really gotten the chance to touch either, so I'll leave it up to you where to begin. That said, for Vulkan, there are a few good tutorials out there like www.vkguide.dev, or Brenden Galea's mini Vulkan engine tutorial. That last one is where I got my start on my engine (not Vulkan altogether, that's an important distinction!), and I'm working on expanding it from things he showed off there. Go give him some love if you can.
There's always a bigger fish...
Project numero dos is simply me learning how to code in Unreal with C++. It's a bit of a different behemoth, and I didn't really get to learn how to do so in college (thanks, COVID), which is why I'm just turning it into its own project. This one, however, will NOT be shown as a highlight here on my portfolio, as it will simply just be me on/off learning from a book a family member recommended to me. If you're interested, its called Unreal Engine C++ The Ultimate Developer's Handbook, and you can order it here.
Drowning
For anyone who doesn't know me, I love rock music. A lot. I sing, I play guitar, I compose, I mix, I produce, I listen, I go to concerts... pretty much about as often as I can. Personal favorites of mine are Linkin Park, Rise Against, and Sum 41, who all serve as major inspirations, and I mainly listen to hard-rock, 2000s era nu-metal, and punk rock.
Eventually one day, I just decided to make my own stuff after performing a cover of Rise Against's Audience of One on stage and getting really positive reception, and performed for the first time in an apartment party around February 2023 under the artist name People Live Here. I chose the name People Live Here after the phrase often plastered around neglected areas, as I wanted to use my platform for good, speak out on social issues, and rally for change. After all, is that not the punk way?
Also, word of advice, don't play in a small 3 bedroom Worcester, MA apartment in below 0 (Fahrenheit) temperatures. Not a good idea.
The last project that I'm working on, of course, is an album, aimed to be 10-11 songs + an opening, releasing either April or May of 2024. The title of this sub-section is the name of the album, Drowning, and it's also the title song of the album. I've already gotten 2 songs fully recorded with their instrumentals, and the 1st song, titled Rock and Roll is Dead (to Me), will hopefully release soon within the 1st or 2nd week of February.
Everything has to end...
As much as I wish I could keep all of this up, like I mentioned way back in the beginning, I'm just a 23 year-old trying to keep his head above water. Reality comes knocking eventually, and it's still knocking at my door. Job searching takes a long time, working takes a lot of time, and eventually I won't be able to continue some of these projects. I won't roadmap which ones I'm going to retire because, honestly, I don't really know which ones I will set aside. It all depends on what I do and where I go (or don't go) once my lease runs out on August 1st, which happens to be my birthday. Talk about tough luck. As such, I'm functionally treating all of these next few months like "swan song" for all of my efforts. Make a cool little program with the skills I went to college for, learn a new skill in the event I can pivot over to games or similar (though I doubt that's happening given the state of the industry), and make a really loud noise during a year where lots of noise needs to be made for meaningful change to occur... its a LOT. And I can't really keep everything up past a certain point. 40 hours a week of work can be draining, as we all know, and there's not many things I'd be happy to work overtime on. But in today's day and age, 40 hours is what's needed to pay the bills, put food on the plate, get gas in the tank, and maybe offer a bit of extra change to go live life. Time's ticking, and I intend to use every second.
On the next episode...
I intend to keep this blog up, with each post likely being specialized and tagged. I don't want the "life" stuff to clutter with the "games" stuff, same with the "music" stuff. Everything should be given room to breathe, and I want to show the good of what I do (and sometimes the downsides, I feel its important to be honest). Hopefully I'll see you guys again, check back each week, as I intend to post stuff here weekly. Some updates will be small, some will be large.
See you around.
Geoff
Comments