Are you going... to San Di...ego...

... OK wrong 'San' city and my hair isn't exactly long (or bouffant) enough to have flowers put in it, but the sentiment's there.

Flying out to San Diego for a weeklong conference on Saturday (Arnie Schwartzenneger and Colin Powell are talking! Will have to stop myself heckling with Conan and Red Sonja quotes (for Arnie, not Colin...). Work building up to this has been a nightmare. I find that stress at work saps my creativity generally, which is a pain, as it means my refuge of the toolset doesn't welcome me. I've made a very crude start on the first 2 areas of chapter 3 - one modifying a prefab swamp in part of my drive to use more pre-built content. Actually, i've made major changes to water and lighting (which can alsmot create the effect of a new area in itself), and quite happy with the result.

The second area is a hamlet on the edge of the swamp. It's my chance to build a village properly, as I Like to think my areas have improved form my first starting village in chapter 1 all those many moons ago, so keen to do his one myself.

But work is crazy and not had much time to get things underway. Might be good to have a break for a bit - although I do have 2 11-hour flights to fill in whilst I'm travelling...