Out With the Old, In With the Boxes

Studio Update: Out With the Old, In With the Boxes

Another relatively slow day around SquigglyFrog Studios.

Not much game development happening.

Not much coding.

Mostly staring at the office and realizing something needs to be done.

Because this place is a disaster.

Apparently Offices Don't Renovate Themselves

I've been planning the office redo for quite a while now, and we're finally getting to the point where things can actually start happening.

The new furniture has arrived!

Well...

Technically, the new furniture is sitting in boxes.

In the garage.

But it's here!

That's progress.

Meanwhile, the office itself looks like somebody started moving out, changed their mind halfway through, and then decided to open a cardboard recycling center.

Boxes everywhere.

Stuff piled on stuff.

Things that probably haven't moved in years suddenly need somewhere else to live.

It's time.

Goodbye, Walmart Specials

The old shelving is going away.

Those tall, inexpensive Walmart bookcases that have been doing their best to hold everything together for years?

Gone.

They've served their purpose, but it's time for something a little nicer and considerably more organized.

The new office furniture includes proper display cases and a new filing cabinet, which should finally give everything a dedicated place instead of the current system of:

"Well, there's an empty spot over there. Put it there."

That system has worked surprisingly well.

Until it didn't.

Step One: Empty the Office

Unfortunately, there's a minor problem with assembling and installing all this shiny new furniture.

There's no room to do it.

So step one is going to involve clearing the vast majority of everything out of the office.

Move the boxes.

Remove the old shelves.

Relocate anything that isn't nailed down. Remove the stuff that is nailed or screwed down, thats you floating shelves above the monitor!

And probably discover a few things I forgot I owned along the way.

Once there's actually some room to work, I can start assembling the new display cases and filing cabinet, getting everything into position, and figuring out where everything belongs.

Then comes the process of putting everything back.

Preferably in some sort of logical order.

That's the theory, anyway.

A Proper Home for Everything

One of the biggest goals with this office renovation is simply getting everything organized properly.

I've accumulated a lot of stuff over the years.

Development hardware.

Games.

Books.

Electronics.

Office supplies.

And, of course, the various terrariums and other things sharing the office with me.

The new furniture should make it easier to give everything a proper home instead of having things scattered around wherever they happen to fit.

It'll also be nice to have display cases that actually look like they belong in an office instead of a collection of mismatched shelves accumulated over the years.

I'm looking forward to seeing how it all comes together.

I'm considerably less excited about assembling everything.

And Then Comes the Real Challenge

Once everything is built, positioned, organized and looking the way I want it...

There's one final challenge.

Keeping it that way.

Because I know myself.

I'll get everything perfectly organized.

Every item will have its place.

The desk will be clean.

The shelves will look great.

And then I'll start another project.

Something will need testing.

I'll order another gadget.

A few boxes will show up.

And somehow, six months later, I'll be wondering where all this stuff came from.

But hey, at least I'll have a much nicer office to make a mess in.

Back to Work... Eventually

So there probably won't be a tremendous amount of game development happening while I get all this sorted out.

Threefold isn't going anywhere.

Neither are the other projects sitting patiently in the background.

But sometimes the best thing you can do for productivity is get your workspace back under control.

And right now, that's going to require moving a whole lot of stuff.

So...

Out with the old.

In with the new.

And apparently several days of moving boxes, assembling furniture, and trying to remember where I put the screwdriver.

Wish me luck.

I'll probably need it.