Hour 37
Found out that due to the previous day’s delay, they had already made all 8000 DVDs without waiting for us to give the OK. Changed my return flight a sixth time, with a slim chance that the problem could be fixed on the server side. I needed an internet connection to test from, so I returned to my hotel and asked if I could get a room for just an hour. The manager gave me a funny look, and I explained that I need to test some computer equipment and needed the internet connection. She referred me to Kinko’s, but I added that I actually needed the TV, too, which got me another funny look. I ended up taking the room for the full night, and as I left the lobby, I heard the manager say to another guy at the desk, "So, you think he’ll have a girl with him?" Actually, I was quite pleased to hear that as much as I had protested that I was traveling on business to test computer software, she still saw me as a lying guy on a tryst rather than a computer geek. Or something like that.

Hour 44
Heard that the problem couldn’t be fixed server-side, so I arranged to meet Frankie at the Burbank airport in the morning to pick up a new batch of master tapes, and stay in town to test those. Changed my return flight for a seventh time. Went to Target to buy some fresh clothes, etc. Heard from Bungie that we need those 8000 DVDs by Tuesday morning, and if they couldn’t find a shipper, I’d have to buy luggage and get them on the plane somehow (!)

Hour 56
Got the new tapes from Frankie and headed back to the manufacturer. Round trip, 140 miles of driving before 10AM!

Hour 57
Delivered the new tapes, but found out that the DVDs wouldn’t be ready until 1AM. Changed ticket an eighth time. But at least they found a shipper, preventing me from having to tote about 700lbs. of luggage and discs back with me.

Hour 72
Picked up the new DVDs for the test pass - they work!

Hour 81
Much to my surprise, I actually boarded a plane out of LA! It’s been a long 12 hours...

Hour 84
Mission completed, 250 DVDs delivered to the office, and time to sleep.
Frankie
So Parsons sticks his head out of an office at around 7pm on Friday night, just before 4th of July weekend and says, "Frankie! Is Mrs. Frank in town this weekend?"

I was all, wow, the bossman is gonna invite us to his BBQ! Career advancement here I come!

So Parsons instead tells me he has this "Great opportunity." Which as it turns out is the "chance" to wait around until 3am for replacement code to be ready, stay up all night and then fly it to Roger in Burbank at 5am on Saturday morning. I was then trapped in Burbank airport from 9am til 2pm. And the airport's single espresso machine was broken, so I couldn't even get a coffee. Thanks Parsons. Still, 12 hours of screwing around with tapes, DVDs and no sleep is still better than a Parsons sushi fart.

Michael Wu
OK, so something magical must have happened to the lightmapper or the lightmapper farm – you’d have to ask Adrian and Zach to find out – but my lightmap jobs are flying through the farm these days. Now, I changed a couple settings, so maybe it was as simple as that, but I haven’t had a failed job in a week. This is how Boeing must’ve felt when their test planes stopped crashing and they just flew. I mean my jobs went from all night long to about 4 hours. This compares very nicely to Halo 1’s 12-36 hours per BSP. Plus our BSPs are much bigger than Halo 1. So this is very good.

Could be better though...

Work is progressing on Earth City very nicely, but there’s still so much stuff to do -- it’s a little nerve racking when the guys you’re counting on to help you are stuck on their previous levels debugging features with the programmers.

Alas,
wu

Ryan Hylland
Shipped the beta
Posted the autoupdate
Kicked some n00b asses

So one last thing: Check out THIS LINK for an amazing opportunity to win a Halo 2 LAN party.

And check out this hideous vision of Mister Chief enjoying his time in LA. Sorry bout the Speedo...

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