In a comment one Kyzak requested a post on work environs – who am I to deny such a request?

So come, dear reader; let me give you an exclusive tour of my workspaces.

I should say upfront that we do indeed work largely via the internet-tubes because I am now in Vancouver while Nicholas is in Victoria.

And Daniel is in Victoria too, and Derek in Seattle, and Matthew in Portland; Between us, I’d say we have the Pacific Northwest pretty well covered. Over a year ago, or two years ago?, we worked together in an office (more of a converted basement, honestly) known as something like “Power Dome B” aka “The German Porn Bunker” for the wood paneling and inexplicable leather-padded column. One of the tilesets of Dredmor is very loosely based on this space. From there, lots of working from home or meeting at Nicholas’ lovely apartment, which is generally where we end up when I come through Victoria.

I’ve taken some pictures of my workspace and shall give a more detailed explanation.

1. 2.

1: My desk. Note pile of unpaid bills between laptop and monitor, Magic The Gathering mousepad, fire-hazard wiring, Sapporo glass, and blurriness which is a good approximation for how this view looks at 4am after I’ve spent the last 10 hours doing art for games. That’s a chat window with Nicholas open on the laptop. Not pictured: wacom tablet, empty bottles of bourbon.

2. The Home Box. This trusty machine has lasted me for a few years and I hope to allow it to have its forever-sleep once I get the cash to join this decade in terms of hardware. Like my custom cooling fan? If I don’t have that going, I get blue screens. No one wants that.

3. 4.

3: My office desk. This is actually a sort of shared office arrangement in soggy downtown Vancouver; three graphic designers have to put up with me. Note the box for a new coffee machine (I managed to smash the old pot so was honor-bound to replace it), same laptop as before but this time hooked up to the large monitor. Don’t be fooled by the foliage in the background – that’s actually a second-story private garden where rich people take their small dogs to poop. Between here and there is an alley with charming, crazy shouting, garbage trucks, and those two guys who seem to be taking a smoke break for half of every work-day.

Hothead Games has an office just two blocks from here, which I bring up because I’m jealous and so I am attempting to foment a hip-hop style feud between us and them. I’ll keep you posted on how this turns out.

4: Just to show how charming the office is, aside from being in a converted boiler-room/loading bay (which cleans up quite nicely, I admit), this picture demonstrates that the building-owner was kind enough to leave a breathing hole in the ceiling with visible sky so that we get lots of fresh air during the winter. The large round bulgy part of the wall is actually a genuine grungy smokestack which goes up about five stories. I have no idea what it’s doing in downtown Vancouver, but it sure gives us Steampunk cred.

Thus endeth the tour.