My morning routine as a game dev

In the voice of Patrick Bateman from American Psycho, for some reason

As dawn's light breaks, I leave behind the comforting embrace of my Elof Lindäl-crafted Hästens Marquis mattress. My feet find their comfort in intricately embroidered, artisan-crafted velvet slippers by Luca Bellini. I shed my Alexander Knight silk pajamas, and adorn myself in Outlier's Slim Dungarees by Francesco Caviare (bluetint gray with injected linen and French seams, not the lapped seams).

I believe in harmonizing a tech-centric lifestyle with a strict regimen of cognitive sharpening exercises. In the morning, I engage in a series of brain games on my Surface Pro 9 Elite, its PixelSense display offering an immersive and responsive touch experience. The custom algorithms and puzzles I've developed challenge my problem-solving skills, enhancing my programming acumen.

me doing my morning exercises

After this mental warm-up, I turn to my pristine work haven. First, I activate my Leopold FC660C keyboard, its Topre capacitive switches providing a satisfying tactile feedback with each keystroke, ideal for long coding sessions. The PBT keycaps resist shine and wear, always maintaining a fresh, professional look. My workstation throne, the Steelcase Gesture Chair ($3,999, Arielle Executive) awaits, its 3D LiveBack technology mirroring my spine's movements, supporting each micro-motion with engineered precision.

Before me, the Puget Systems Serenity Pro workstation, a behemoth of silent computing, powered by an overclocked 14th gen i9, its cores synchronized like a symphony of binary efficiency. The graphical prowess of an NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000, a juggernaut in rendering and computational simulations, brings to life the twin Eizo ColorEdge CG319X monitors, their HDR gamma support providing a color spectrum as vast as a painter’s palette; and to the left, monitors #3 and #4, my dual ASUS ProArt PA32UCs, their 4K resolution and HDR capabilities offering an unmatched visual fidelity for both coding and graphics work. I meticulously adjust the color settings using ASUS’s ProArt Calibration Technology, ensuring true color accuracy for game asset creation.

My Leopold’s Topre capacitive switches offer a tactile response that’s both subtle and profound, each actuation a whisper in the realm of input devices. The trackball, an expertly crafted Kensington sits at the ready, its DiamondEye optical tracking providing unparalleled precision across multiple screens. Suspended in aural nirvana by Audeze LCD-X planar magnetic headphones, the soundstage vast and impeccably detailed, each note and digital sound effect is rendered with an accuracy that transcends the ordinary. The Schiit Jotunheim amplifier, connected to these auditory marvels, ensures that every sound is not just heard, but felt with an intensity that resonates within the soul.

As the aroma of my hand-ground, single-origin coffee, brewed in a Technivorm Moccamaster (a testament to Dutch engineering for optimal water temperature and flow rate) fills the room, I take a moment to adjust the lighting. My Philips Hue bulbs, set to a color temperature that mimics the natural progression of daylight, illuminate my workspace, reducing eye strain and maintaining circadian rhythm.

Each element of my morning ritual, from the tactile feedback of my keyboard to the nuanced flavor profile of my artisan brewed coffee, is a deliberate choice. Every tool is chosen not just for its functional excellence, but for its ability to integrate into the overall tapestry of game development. It is the seamless melding of creativity and technology, and as I immerse myself in this world, surrounded by these carefully selected instruments of creation, the line between developer and artist blurs, each moment a journey deeper into the heart of digital innovation.

There is an idea of a game dev, a programmer’s abstraction. But there is no real me, just an avatar in a digital world. An entity made of code and pixels, something intangible. And though I can program dynamic environments, and you can interact with my virtual landscapes, feeling the textures and mechanics I've crafted, I simply am not there.