The last ten years has been a blend of gaining independence, and following my intuition in many ways. I moved out of home, then moved to Canberra a couple of years later, then moved down to Melbourne (now three years ago). This has been greatly influenced by my habit of switching job every 12 months, on average. One thing is certain - each job is bringing me closer to my goal of making video games for a living. I have now been part of more than 10 released titles, including lead programmer on 3 or 4 of them. The latest one (as of now) was 'AFL Live 2003', where I wrote the majority of the AI, and 'game' portion of the game.

However, regardless of having what seems to most people to be the 'perfect' job, I have never been satisfied. With what I can only put down to poor management, and lack of communication, none of the companies I worked for (Microforte, Tantalus, IR Gurus) have quite got it right. So around June 2002, I took my biggest step(risk!) yet - I quit fulltime work, and have started my own video games company (Nocturnal Entertainment - see http://www.Nocturnal-Central.com :>). Regardless of what the outcome is, I am extremely content in my decision to 'give it a go'. The only way I would have failed is by never giving it a go.

One thing I will always remember from High School and has been inspirational, is :
"Gesta Non Verba" - Deeds not words. 

I believe this is one of the most important prinicples in life. Like some guy said to me in a pub one night - "There are two types of people in the world - people who do things, and people who talk about doing things".

Socially, I have been enjoying myself. I love Melbourne, it is a great place to go out and have a great time with friends. I am not married (nor engaged), but I have a loving girlfriend (Hi Catherine!) whom I have been seeing since the start of 2002. She has introduced me to the world of costume design, and I will be taking part in my second costume parade later this year.

I am yet to travel overseas, and look forward to this immensely (once the company has reached a point where I am able to do so) - a nice three month trip around Europe would be splendid :).

Love going for long walks, talking philosophy, watching AFL, going out, doing yoga, cooking, playing games, watching movies (and I have to say - programming!).

I hope everyone is well - I regret missing the reunion, but these things happen. Party on! :)

cheers,

Michael Shamgar
shams@Nocturnal-Central.com