Larry Charles Jr is on a new adventure

On February 12th 2009 I was let go by Obsidian Entertainment.

On February 13th 2009 I got my business license in Irvine California.

There is no time in life to stand still, or look back.

I only have the will to move on.

I only have the strength to move forward.

To my former colleagues, I miss you all and wish you great success on all of your future endeavors whatever they may be.

-Larry

In The Games Business!

It’s been a while, a very long while since I have given this site some attention. The time has come that I return to my goal of writing about my trip through the games industry as I have major news. First today is January 23rd and I am only a few days away from completing my first year of work at Obsidian Entertainment. I have to say there have been many ups, there have been a few downs but most of all I have gained a lot of experience, made many new friends and had a whole lot of fun. I am living a dream when I come here. When I first started we were in a building in Santa Ana, now we are in a high rise right across the street from the Irvine Spectrum. Being a part of the transition was inspiring to me. Seeing a company grow knowing you are helping is a great sensation.

The big big news is… I started a game development project of my own. I was lucky enough to get the blessing from my bosses to pursue game development outside of my work at Obsidian and I am very thankful. I got a team together on-line and in person to develop a small iPhone project which is currently on track for release in March. It is very exciting to see my own game design take shape and to anticipate the day it finally hits the application store. Independent iPhone developers have been raking it in off of their software. I say well if there is pie, I want a slice. I will use this blog to review some of the steps and decisions that happen while making and selling my iPhone game. Ladies and Gentlemen, please continue to support me and my endeavors.

09′ is my year!

-Larry Charles

Sunny days… everybody loves them.

So this is the best winter I think I have ever lived through in my life. When you have spent a few winters in Rochester NY and know what its like to be snowed in for a few days straight, you will understand what I mean. You could be outside in just shorts right now and no one would think you were crazy. So this weekend like the last one had to be eventful. I took it kinda easy on Friday but Saturday was no joke. My friend Theresa had a birthday Barty at patty’s bar then we followed that up with a trip to Chronic Cantina’s. Lucky for me they played great music and I was able to dance all night. So Sunday comes along and brought some rain, which was enough to cancel my game. So with no ball to play, the boys and I went to Ihop just to talk about GDC over pancakes. After Ihop I had to make a short trip to the Ford dealorship to check out their selection of mustangs. I ended up test driving and getting the numbers for a 2008 black /silver striped Mustang GT convertible. That was a bad idea, I got so excited about getting a new car that all I can think about now is a new car. My food tastes like mustang even, bleh. I think I’ll look for another week or two before I make my decision… Who wants a ride?

p.s. for a cliche movie, Jumper was alright.

GDC without me?

This week was a big week in gaming. The annual Game Developers Conference took place and I didn’t make it out there this time. I went last year and it was one of the best fan boy experiences of my life. I wasn’t able to land a job but I was able to meet and talk to a lot of good developers. Anyone interested in going into the game industry needs to go to GDC and mingle. Get a feel for your industry men and women. Shake some hands and drink some beer with the people behind some of your favorite games. Gears of War 2 was announced at this years GDC and I was shocked when I saw the trailer… I suggested on a gears forum a while ago that it would be much cooler to chainsaw from the bottom up, this way you can see the agonizing face of your opponent… After seeing it in the trailer, I wasn’t upset or anything I just thought it was tight that someone else felt the same way, (or agreed with me heh). The work week was a little more difficult to learn in due to many of our people attending GDC so I expect next week will be much more informative. O well, happy Friday.

Weekends fkn rock!

Heyy there. Just so you know this weekend was crazy. I don’t really remember much of friday night, not because I was drunk or anything but nothing big happened on friday. Saturday I got my new sound system installed in my car. And if you know about my car, I was rockin acapella for a while. Well you would think if you get a new system its would be cool to test it out right? Wrong. Apparently if a cop can sing along with your music, its too loud. Lucky for me I’m not a drug dealer so he had to let me go after like 20 min of waiting. Van a friend of mine invited me out to go dancing with her friends, so I got my friends and we went. A nice little kick it spot near my old apartment named The District was where we ended up. They didn’t play the best music but when your with good company thats not such a problem. Sooo Sunday was my second softball game with my companies team. We got crushed, I mean fat guy small chair crushed. The final score was 31 to 16 but that didn’t stop me from showing off. I hit another walk on home run (first pitch thrown at me was smashed out of the park) just like last game. My other hits were 2 singles, and a double, 4-4 on the day. Looking forward to next Friday, WHO WANTS TO GO OUT?

Gettin paid, gettin paid!

The best day of any week is obviously payday. Anyone who doesn’t agree inst getting paid enough. But seriously though today was my first day getting paid as a pro game developer. I knew one day if I played enough contra that it would pay off. This week was a lot of fun, I went some tough times with a milestone deadline and had to stay late, once or twice. Though, never have I regretted staying ever. You have the most fun in the late night hours. When everyone is cranky and everyone wants to go home, thats when the dirt comes out and you find out some of the most hilarious life failures ever. I think its kinda sad that hearing about terrible things happening to other people kinda makes you feel better about yourself in some sort of weird sadistic way. Anywho, It’s Friday night and I think I am about to go out! Hey I need to get some good content for Monday’s post… hic… ok fine, Ill call a cab.

SPOONS!

Well guys, I did it. The first week is in the books. All the guys at Obsidian Entertainment were very welcoming and insightful this week. I am the AP for the Art team and these guys are talented. The kind of stuff they produce is insane compared to what I expected. Things are starting to warm up and I believe I will easily make a good home there. After the work week was over some of the guys decided to go out for some drinks. Two of the owners came as well and One of them raised a toast in my honor. Lets break that down. Chris Avellone is an industry pro, who is quite the designer as well. If you look at his resume you will see he pretty much invented the computer RPG. So by him feeling the need to welcome me to the team with a toast was a great moment in my life. After the “dinner bar” we went to the drinking bar, somewhere in Santa Ana. This place was amazing, we partied drank and danced alll night long. Here I am thinking I am the cool guy and gamers cant hang, but they drank me under the table and sent me home with my tail between my legs… O well I’ll get you next time Gadget… next time.

Achievement Points Awarded: 3

Total Points Earned: 30