Saturday, February 9, 2008

In Search of the Oracle: Indie Developer Productivity Snacks and Calisthenics

Mike's parents were kind enough to bring us some developer rations on Thursday. None of us really eat very healthy in the office, except for Josh, who is all into flax seed. So here are our favorite bits of sustanence.

Daddy Ray's Fig Bars. This is one of Josh's staples, the rest of us still don't know where he gets them, but we think they're delicious.

2 lb. box of Pepperidge Farm Cheddar Goldfish - Whole grain if you can find it. This is a classic, and therefore manditory.

Sam's Choice Mountain Trail Mix - recovered deep within the belly of the beast, these precious nuts, chocolates and raisins are tainted with corporate shame, but are oh so fortifying.

Gatorade lime Rain, 64 oz. - Possibly the finest drink to ever grace the Earth. I'm really the only one who drinks it. But we use the old bottles for water bottles now.

Red curry rice and beans. I've got a recipe on my site, it's cheap and easy and can stretch a long ways over a large amount of rice. We have some form of it once or twice a week here at the office.



Oh yea, Nerf hoops are the new pilates...

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Shiggy <3 Reggie + Martha = Game Cake

Photoshopping of the beloved Shigeru Miyamoto and Reggie Fils-Aime atop their grand cake. Martha Stewart helped and was rumored to have a hand in the couple's initial meeting.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Clocky! and other recipes for indie dev survival


How do you actually wake up, instead of waking up every 9-10 minutes to throw your arm at the over-sized snooze button of your oil-burning alarm clock? This is the answer, and of course it's in the form of a robot. Damned robots. If DaVinci went polyphasic then maybe this is the way to do it.

While we're off the subject of anything actually involving game development, or the gaming industry, I've decided to share a recipe, that also help you and I survive, just as Clocky hopefully will. I usually cook in large quantities which make for a good amount of leftovers that I can reheat whenever I want while I am at work. This is one of my old stand-bys that I learned from my very good friend, Shyam.

Red Curry Beans

1 can of black beans
1 bag of frozen stir fry vegetables (use fresh vegetables if you live on the edge)
1/4+ cup peanut oil (vegetable or any oil will work, but peanut tastes best)
1-3 Tbs red curry paste (personally i use Mae Ploy, it's delicious)
3-5 cups of rice (i buy short-grain rice in bulk to save money, $20 for 25 lbs.)


Firstly, if you do have fresh vegetables, I advise you to use at least one or two tomatoes, along with an onion and a green pepper. If you just have the bag of frozen vegetables, that will work, however the final result of the bean curry won't be as soupy, which will not penetrate the rice as much.

Chop, cut or throw your vegetables into the pan (onion first, then green pepper, then tomatoes) with a tablespoon or two of peanut oil and saute on medium. This isn't low in fat, I use a lot of fat when I cook because it tastes better and works for this recipe in particular. Once the onions are translucent or the vegetables are nice and sauteed, add in 1 tablespoon of red curry paste, and mix with the remaining oil in the pan. This should dissolve and season all of the vegetables mildly. If you want it stronger this is the time to add more, tasting as you go.

After you're happy with the amount of heat, keep the vegetables cooking, we want them cooked through pretty well so this will eventually turn into a thick chili-type consistency. Now thoroughly drain the black beans and add them to the pan. Next mix the beans and vegetables together and spead on a piece of bread, cracker or spoonful of rice to taste. If the spice isn't up to snuff, you can add more red curry paste here.

I usually let this cook down on medium-low for a good bit, allowing the heat to breakdown the vegetables and the beans enough to become one substance. Store this in your fridge until you re-heat and serve on top of rice, or any carbohydrate you have around for a well balanced snack or meal. This also works really well for a tortilla chip dip.