Hello readers!
Welcome to the first post in my blog. I’d like to take this chance to give some information and background about myself. My interest in computers and technology goes back a long way. Since I was a very young child, I became familiar with the computer my family had and quickly discovered how to access the games that came pre-installed on that old Windows 95 machine. Since that time, I have consistently enjoyed using computers and have become more and more savvy with them. During this past break, I renewed my CompTIA A+ certification for computer technician, but as evidenced by my early discovery of my love for computers, my lifelong interest has been in games.
Since I was a child I have loved video games and in my early teens I built my own computer for the first time so that I could have more control over the performance and quality of the games I liked to play. This continues to this day, and I have built several computers since then. Games are also what drove me to learn programming, as I like to download and install mods (modifications) for games to expand the base game’s features. These however, can come with bugs or lack features that I would wish were included. Before starting the post-bacc program at OSU, I remember repeatedly thinking how great it would be to be able to tweak the mods I download or even create my own. Since starting my journey at OSU, I have taken every opportunity available to opt for choosing projects in my courses that are games. I created a text-based game for CS161 which incorporated elements from the movie Alien and 2001 Space Odyssey and received extra credit for the most creativity in a project submission. I also collaborated with a group using Agile a few quarters ago to make a virtual version of the board game Clue. Additionally, on my own time I followed a guide to re-create Space Invaders and have followed some tutorials on Udemy in using Unreal Engine. My dream job would definitely involve working in the video game industry to create awesome games (and hopefully in my favorite language, C++). Of all the projects I saw listed, my favorite and #1 choice would be the Text Based Adventure Game. This is because I had the most fun and was the most passionate about the Alien/2001 Space Odyssey game I made for CS161 and fondly remember spending many many extra hours to add features that weren’t required but I thought would be fun to have. I would absolutely love an opportunity to create another text-based game using the knowledge I’ve gained since 161. That initial game did work but had a few bugs and the code was not very abstracted or clean. I would like the chance to challenge myself to do better. My journey at OSU has been full of challenges that have given me great confidence in myself and made me more apt in tackling problems. So many times I can remember feeling overwhelmed by a project and not knowing how to implement required features and overcoming those challenges has helped me to grow. I feel this project would be perfect and appropriate to end my time at OSU with, as my first major project was a text based adventure game (in 161) and now my Capstone can be one too and demonstrate all that I’ve learned. To end this blog, I’ll give some more general information about me.
Outside of programming I enjoy several other activities. I enjoy staying in shape; I exercise for about an hour every day when I wake up and after a few hours at the computer go on a daily 2 mile walk. Staying in shape has been my main motivation to learn how to cook as well, which I discovered to be something I very much enjoy. I have learned many healthy dishes over the past 3 years and as of a few months ago, I have started learning how to cook Indian cuisine, which I grew up eating. As is probably obvious by now, I love games! I have a whole bunch for my computer and some for my console systems too. I enjoy card and board games as well such as Chess and recently am practicing the ancient game of Go on the site: https://online-go.com/overview. My username on there is Navine5, feel free to challenge me to a friendly game! I have also had a love of music my entire life and have played several instruments (clarinet, piano, and guitar) for about 20 years in total. Recently I started practicing on a DJ controller and that has been a lot of fun. I also enjoy playing with my dog Sadie. She is almost 4 years old and is a German Shepherd / Husky mix.
