Corrupted Desks
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I don't feel like I've been taking full advantage of building that proverbial runway. I've picked a topic—conceptually titled "We Can 'Never" Go Back"—and I have a loose thumbnail concept.1 I haven't dug into it beyond that, because it has been a rather busy two weeks. Busy in general sure, but particularly "busy" in those wee morning hours where I usually get the creative work done.
By busy, I mean I was hyper focused on beating Metroid Prime 3: Corruption for Season 7 of my podcast Chapter Select. Don't get me wrong, I love when my "creative work" is the playing an actual video game part of things, but choosing to focus on Prime 3 meant saying no to a lot of other personal, creative efforts. I haven't even touched Donkey Kong Bananza yet, even post-beating Corruption. I started Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney instead. 😅
I've been futzing about with my project management system. The kind of futzing that is a top-down rethink and analysis. These essays are a part of that. I am taking a lot of inspiration from Wanderloots and his approach with Obsidian Bases. I've thrown in Kanban boards too. It's coalescing, but I feel like I've got to use the system before I know if it works. You have to take it for a drive and get to know the bumps and quirks.
This writing this newsletter has loomed over me a smidge. I felt like I should have something to report. Well, it turns out that talking myself down from impromptu Mac mini purchasing four months ago. Stars aligned where my joby job has an upcoming gig where I should be traveling and doing quite a bit of video work and a friend was selling their M2 Pro 16'' MacBook Pro. I got the laptop this week. Yesterday was "Tear down my desk and redo the entire thing" day.
It may just look like I swapped iMac and LG monitor placement, but it is a much more in-depth reorg. I tried many things (perhaps the whole process needs a blog post), but I landed on the laptop being in the middle and using its trackpad and keyboard. It's going to take some major getting used to. I did my first work editing on it today and hoooo boy is it a step up from a base M1.
I still need to figure out a viable recording method for gameplay. Using the ProRes hardware encoder in OBS generates stable 4K60 at a whopping 9GB per minute, but using the H264 or HVEC hardware encoders struggles. That doesn't make sense in my brain. We'll see what I can learn.2
That's where I'm at. I have a few more weeks before peeking back at the Fourth Wall and Astro Bot essay. Let's make the most of it.
Until next time...
This letter is one block from the newsletter Memory Card by Max Roberts. Thoughts? Send me an email at max@maxfrequency.net.
Max is the writer and producer behind Max Frequency. cultivate and curate curiosity—both for himself and for others—by delighting in the details and growing greatness from small beginnings.
He's written a rich history and dive on the making of Naughty Dog's The Last of Us Part II, celebrated the 15th anniversary of Super Smash Bros. Brawl with the voice behind its hype, and examined how Zelda "stole" Fortnite's best mechanic.
Memory Card is a real-ish time, raw, drip feed newsletter of his creative process for telling these stories. It’s how The Thing™ gets made.
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