Year 2013

What happened in 2013? - Some answers given, some questions left.

Deutschen Text gibt's hier.

The view from Mt Ainslie down onto the axis between the War Memorial and the Parliament House. Taken with my new Nexus 5 phone.

Sarah Blasko at the Sydney Opera House. My first concert inside the Opera House was a good one. It's good to see Sarah Blasko getting more an more famous. At least here in Australia.

Endlich war ich mal im Opera House in Sydney zu einem Konzert. Sarah Blasko, unser Australischer Star.

YouTube: All I want

Another great concert in the Enmore: Godspeed! You Black Emperor. With the complexity in their music I would not have expected them to be able to reproduce their music live. But it was as good as on the album if not better. They also have a dedicated video artist who shows (real) film snippets during the concert.

Not many people went to Sarah Blasko and Godspeed in the same week.

Godspeed! You Black Emperor, post rock vom feinsten im Enmore. Hier auf dem Bild sieht man die live show mit analogen Film loops.

Mladic live in London

The Necks during their annual concert at the Streets Theatre in Canberra.

Und schließlich das jährliche Necks Konzert in Canberra.

Leider war das Jahr etwas dünn besäht mit Konzerten. Das Harvest Festival wurde abgesagt, Gründe unbekannt.

The Necks

BioShock Infinite

And then a game came finally out I worked on at 2K. It was a big success critically although I probably didn't sell as many copies as they had wished for.

Here some advertisement material at the local JB Hifi. There was also a short trailer in movie theatres that had not much to do with the game.

Still good having one of the best rated games ever made on my portfolio.

Und dann kam im März BioShock Infinite raus. Nicht ganz unerwartet war es ein großer Erfolg bei den Kritikern. Verkauft hat es sich wohl auch ganz gut. Nicht ganz 5 Millionen Kopien soweit ich weiß. Das ist gut für ein "Nischenspiel".

Klick auf den Link um mehr über BioShock Infinite zu lesen.

BioShock Infinite

We had a songbird cake at the release party here in Canberra. The party itself was a bit underwhelming. I think we all had a bit too much from each other after 2 years of working on this together.

Later the year The Bureau XCOM declassified came out. I haven't played the entire game yet but it seems quite different to the game I was working on. Although I spotted a few items and areas I worked on.

Es war nicht ganz einfach an diesem Spiel zu arbeiten. Ken Levine, der Boss von Irrational, ist ziemlich kompromisslos wenn's um die Story geht und wir mußten ziemlich viel auf der Strecke lassen bevor das Spiel wurde wie es jetzt ist.

Klickt auf den Link um einige der Szenen zu sehen die nicht den Weg ins Spiel fanden.

Unreleased level work

Cory and Michelle try to replay the horse scene seen in the earlier trailer for the game.

Auf unserer BioShock Release Party. Ein rauschendes Fest, wie ihr sehen könnt ;) - ich glaube alle hatten etwas die Nase voll von BioShock.

The Falling Joys, one of the more famous bands from Canberra.

The Falling Joys, eine der beiden bekannten Bands aus Canberra. (Von den 90ern.)

Falling Joys - Lock it, YouTube

The other big band partly from Canberra is the Church. The lyrics of one of my favourite songs from the 80's makes a lot more sense when you live in Canberra.

Und "The Church". Ich wußte gar nicht das diese Band aus Canberra ist.

Eines meiner Lieblingslieder der 80/90er:

Under The Milkyway - YouTube

We had at least two big fireworks, not counting New Years Eve.

Wir hatten mehrere Feuerwerke.

I became a dual citizen

... during a charming old school celebration in Canberra.

I was a bit sick (from the cold weather and from work), didn't go to work and went there on my own not really telling anyone.

Meine Einbürgerungs-Feier. Ich fühlte mich wie in den 80ern. Nicht nur wegen des Gebäudes sondern wegen der ganzen Feier. Stilvoll von den Stapelstühlen, über den Vorhängen bis zu den Reden. Scharmant irgendwie...

Germany

After 5 years I went back to Germany for a month. Flying with Etihad Airlines via Abu Dabi.

Endlich wieder nach Deutschland. 5 Jahre wars her. Ich war mir nicht ganz sicher ob ich noch willkommen bin.

My mother and my older sister standing at the Nuremberg Castle overlooking the centre of Nuremberg.

There are more pictures in a separate blog. Use the back button to come back to this page.

Mein Mutter und meine Schwester in Nurnberg auf der Burg.

Mehr zu lesen gibt's hier (Tipp: Mittelmaus Klick öffnet in neuem Fenster)

Read more (South Germany)

One of the many international flavoured festivals in Canberra was the Japanese candle festival. A few candles, lots of food and bad music.

Japanisches Fest mit Kerzen.

Mr Ed Kuepper (The Saints) himself playing at the Street Theatre. He called it request show. Anyone could ask him what to play next although he would either play it or not. It was better than I thought it would be.

Ed Küpper, einer der bekanntesten Australischen Musiker bei einem Solokonzert in Canberra.

The Way I made you feel (1992) - YouTube

I am trying to keep the habit of going there for long weekends. Here I stayed 2 nights like a tourist in Pots Point.

On top is a wharf on the way to Circular Quay. Further along through Botanical Garden you pass this building.

Botanischer Garten mit Skyline im Hintergrund.

The back of the Opera House. Earlier this year I went to a concert inside for the first time. (Sarah Blasko)

Below: A laser show projects a giant movie onto the opera's sails.

Die Rückseite des Opernhauses.

Unten: Lasershow auf den Segeln der Oper.

Luke and Alex at Depot Beach on the South Coast near Batemans Bay. Paradise is only 2 hours away.

Here is a more rugged coastline. The beaches are all fantastic.

Südküste mit Luke und Alex. 2 Stunden Fahrt. Hier mal mit relativ schlechtem Wetter.

Luke and I took the opportunity to visit the Deep Space Listening Center about 30 minutes drive away. They have a café and visitor centre but they open up parts of the complex only once every 2 years. This is one of only three communication facilities most space crafts use.

Tag der offenen Tür im Deep Space Listening Center. Das ist eines von nur 3 Radiostationen über die fast der ganze Funkverkehr zu allen Sateliten, Mond oder Marsmissionen geht. Nur 30 Minuten Fahrt entfernt.

Video from the site.

I discovered the Botanical Garden in Canberra for short walks, Coffee and a bit of nature.

Der Botanische Garten in Canberra. Guter Kaffee und ein Platz zum Spazierengehen oder Lesen.

Homepage update: Games

I updated my homepage over Christmas. I simplified the look by removing most of the frames in frames in frames.

I also updated the content. After the Bureau and Bioshock came out I can finally show some art and levels I worked on.

Hier ein paar Fotos von meiner Arbeit. Ich hab meine Homepage aufgeräumt, neu strukturiert und das Design vereinfacht.

Game Levels

During the start of the year I did a bunch of high quality art assets. I never really baked high polygon models onto low polygon models or created proper textures and normal maps. This was a good experience.

I also resorted the game art section and made it less confusing to navigate.

Sowas mach ich auch.

Game Art

Architecture

I also scanned many A3 drawings and blueprints from older projects. I forgot to bring some later stuff from Germany but there is a lot more to look at now than there was before.

Alte Architektur Pläne.

Architecture section

I also scanned and added 2 more travel blogs from Australia. And I added a feature that allow better control how images are displayed in a blog.

Mehr Australien Reiseberichte.

Australia 1993

Old Fotos Scanned

I also scanned images I had from Tuscany, La Palma, France / Portugal and the USSR. I will slowly add some of them to this site.

La Palma und andere Fotos aus der Vergangenheit.

Travel Section (more)

Same for older photos like this here from Thorsten and Gudrun in Berlin.

Unfortunately I was using slides a lot in the past. I probably lost most of them.

Und noch mehr Bilder aus Berlin oder Oldenburg. Leider hab ich das meiste auf Dias und die sind wohl verschollen.

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