In Man's Darkest Hours, He was the Beacon of Hope.

I need to update this! :)

2009-07-18T10:23:00.000+08:00

I'm Back! MAC3:Seize!

flOw: Realizing Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment

2007-02-21T15:16:00.000+08:00

I was sifting through my daily websites yesterday, when I happened on a new game that launched over on the PS3 called flOw. So I found out it came from a PC game created by this master's student named Jenova Chen from USC (who is currently working at EA on SPORE).

Let me try to explain to you via text and see if it does come out to what the game is like.

The game is like goo. It sucks you in at the start cause of how it looks. I like the blue - but what really hooked me in is just these basic shapes that swim around in 2D. Very ethereal, when I look at it. The shapes have a soft hue around them that gives them the feeling of life.

Oh I forgot, this is a flash 8 game. Run's on the website, small footprint. Okay back to the game.

You've seen spore right, little viruses/bacterias that move around in the primodial gunk eating like pac-man. At its fundemental its a meat and potatoes eat the pellet game, but instead, we're eating little tadpoles. The more we eat, the bigger we grow, and evolve into cooler looking tadpoles.

No instructions are given, you just learn the game as you go. Slowly, things will start to make sense. I will be finding out how many iterations this game has gone through but it was designed quite well. Graphically, its charming and surreal in a way. And the music, wow, its just right.

Let's start with the graphics - its simple vector based characters floating in the water. When you do get to eat larger 'beings' they will split into smaller parts that you can devour. When you devour this, you get bigger and evolve. So for example, there is one part that looks like a hexagon with a mouth moving in between, eat this, and you will get a bigger mouth. Good art design - simple yet effective.

Sound design, ethereal music - with nice sound cues for evolution and consumption. I like.

So try it out guys - go to the site at http://intihuatani.usc.edu/cloud/flowing/

Jenova Chen - you rock!

2006-11-19T13:21:00.000+08:00

Gamers Hideout Gears of War Lan Party and other miscellaneous stuff...

ahhh.. I like the smell of napalm in the morning.... huhhaaahh!

Gears of War. Three words that bring on the next-gen craziness. Pure Bliss and utter gratification.

Tough road ahead... get off if you want to.

2006-09-13T22:37:00.001+08:00

Recently I tried asking some hard questions in the IGDA Forums specifically within the Malaysian area. The question asked on where the talent has gone from Malaysia - specifically 3D animators --- good ones... I managed to get some good answers and also some weird individuals really not understanding the question asked. But I did get this....

Allan Simonsen the IGDA Coordinator from Singapore had to say this:

IGDA is about trying to work together to promote game development. It's not a zero-sum game; Malaysia's Loss is not Singapore's Gain... quite the opposite. Our best bet for pushing the entire SE Asian game development scene forward is to work together, find opportunities, and collaborate.Some of the malaysian developers, like Brett Bibby, has been doing this for longer than anyone in Singapore. Gamebrains is the only SE Asian company that's successfully published content on console and high-end handheld platforms. While Singapore's games industry is currently doing well, you don't have to go more than 2 years back in time to remember it lying with a broken back.

MistaMan; for ideas on getting skilled people into the games industry:-

Find the opportunities (bringing in companies that do interesting projects)
Remove obstacles (silliness like having to relocate to CyberJaya does not help game development companies, and it makes it a lot harder to recruit)
Remove barriers to entry (make it easier to hire from abroad, look at ways of making visa-acquisition easier)
Send Students overseas (do merit-based higher-education with bonding)
Send Staff overseas (do things similar to TAP, where the government pays 50% of overseas training costs for fresh employees working in an MNC, in return for a bond to work in Singapore)
Hire an industry liason (Someone like Hilmy, that can help coordinate schools, incomming companies, government incentives, etc. Perhaps especially important to have someone outside the regular government structure that can help companies navigate the different government roadblocks and incentives)
Promote a student/grassroot community ( the people attracted to this will be the leaders of the next generation. An IGDA student chapter may be the way to go)
Look at how you can promote part-time lecturers (people from the industry have the right skillset, but have no intention of going full-time into a staid academic environment. Look at how you can promote more part-time lecturers from the industry teaching the high-end classes on modelling for Game Development, Graphics Programming, etc).
Sponsor industry trips (sponsor in full or in part for Malaysian developers and high-powered students to go to industry events like GDC or AGDS . Let them get experience in what the industry outside of malaysia is doing, and build the contact network that will help them be succesfull.).
Look at ways of making local startups more successfull (MNCs are great, but sooner or later they'll usually leave to the next low-cost country with government incentives. How can you nurish startups; especially those created by the experienced ex-MNC developers? Look at content development grants, low/zero cost incubators with soft-services, advisory boards, business coaching sessions, pre-paid software and hardware licenses, handheld devkits, etc)
Stop making large bets on the usual suspects (this is a bit controversial, but as a rule a lot of SE Asian grant money's gone out to the people strong connections and existing experience in siphoning off the government. Instead of doing 2-3 RM50M bets on large MNC/GLC companies, look at doing 100 RM1.5M bets on small startups, and find other ways to counterbalance their weaknesses in business and organization)

There's probably a couple of more ideas, but that's a good start
Allan

Interesting points - there is a tough perception problem about doing business in Malaysia. It does not help when it is perpetuated almost daily with the problems we have. But, I am not too sure that people within Malaysia are really the villains here - I think most are victims.

External powers can influence within....

First Creative Commons Board Meeting

2006-05-15T19:46:00.000+08:00

First Creative Commons Board Meeting
Originally uploaded by mistaman.

We've started the ball rolling on Creative Commons Malaysia and the whole community building aspect. We launched the program earlier this year - but this is actually the core of the program. The industry pushing the project forward with the community driving the program.
We just had the first meeting of the Creative Commons Board which included many individuals from the creative industry. This meeting sought to inform the industry of what Creative Commons as a creative community program has to offer.
Within this meeting, we talked about the issues that revolves around creative works and how they are protected via copyright and how they can be protected in the future via creative commons. CC is the little brother of Big C - the value add - standing on top of Big C (copyright) to help little guys be on top! :)

Check out the website at : http://creativecommons.org

Metal Gear Solid 4 : E3 Edition

2006-05-12T17:41:00.000+08:00

If there is really anything to look forward to with the PS3, it would be the 4!
Hideo Kojima's baby - Metal Gear Solid 4.
The epitomy of japanese shiatsu massaging chair chic coolness dashed with a bit of james bond spliced in it - and make sure to pepper it with a bit of apocalypse now salt.
E3 - I missed it again this year - due to my lack of a travelable passport, but it's all good. With the Internet (not bandwidth withholding) I can download all the videos I want. Just that I can't experience the booth babes..... ergh.
MGS4 and PS3 - the biggest show at E3! I am flabbergasted at both the technology and creativity the folks at sony and kojima productions have put into their cash-cow. It may be a cash motivated project - but I can tell you this much. If we ever had an ounce of their passion in what we do, I think Malaysians can take on the world. This is evident in the work that has been presented - they don't even give you a chance to say.. hmm maybe if they did it this way it would have been better. Its drool induction to the max! Everything! the minute details - the powerhouse technology. EVERYTHING!

There will be 2 things we hope that will spur the industry here: I am banking on these 2 -
1. Talent
2. Funding

Which will lead to enough projects to keep the industry sustainable. Let's hope the puzzle falls into place - the future can be ours if we want to change it.

other than that --- enjoy the show:

Learn More about Creative Commons | Creative Commons

2006-05-08T18:38:00.000+08:00

What is Creative Commons?
simply put ~
"Creative Commons defines the spectrum of possibilities between full copyright — all rights reserved — and the public domain — no rights reserved. Our licenses help you keep your copyright while inviting certain uses of your work — a "some rights reserved" copyright."

In other words, how best to share your creative works on the net with the option to protect it the way you want it and still allow others to use, abuse and work on top of it.

I got into the whole CC movement last year (and still reeling from the effects) when Ng Alina came to talk to me after she returned from STANFORD as Dr. Ng Alina! She was did her PhD thesis with Professor Lawrence Lessig ( the main man evangelising the CC movement). I heard about CC but I did not know much. But, then, why not? Why not help Alina?

Hey, i'm creative. And I guess you are too. CC helps both of us share our creativity without worrying how people use our works for their own convenience.

But I guess the hardest task for me is to ensure that we as malaysians could contribute to CC by putting our works licensed on the net with the CC licenses. This will be the biggest hurdle and hopefully we can get all the support we can. This is why we have created the CC Board helmed by a few notable creative heads. This will hopefully spur the support we need to move the project forward.

Will report more on this later... for now.. go check out the URL attached.

Learn More about Creative Commons | Creative Commons

IP Creators Challenge: MSC Animation Pitch 2006

2006-04-27T19:50:00.000+08:00

Check it out guys, time to get your ideas out in the open. Or as they say - Stand up and be Counted! This is your chance to prove that you got what it takes and your ideas will stand the test of the international market...

From the Website:
The Creative Multimedia Department of Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) is organizing an animation pitching competition, under the MSC Creative Multimedia Content Initiative (M-CMCI). In this competition, companies or individuals will have to pitch their ideas or pre-production of their animated characters, the story and eventual background information of the show.

OBJECTIVE:

•	To use this as a content creation platform and to create more quality content that can be showcased or marketed globally.
•	The competition will be an avenue to encourage and nurture new talents in turning their Ideas into reality.
•	To attract animation content developers to come out with greater ideas and stories

FIVE winners will be awarded a RM50,000 grant each, to support their trailer or pilot episode. The competition will be opened from 26 April 2006 until 14 June 2006.

|| Creative Multimedia Cluster + MDC ||

Why can't we ask the right questions?

2006-04-26T22:55:00.000+08:00

Question No.1: What is the Saladin project?
Question No.2: What is the CAD-C?
Question No.3: What is the CMD?
Question No.4: What is MDeC's Mandate?
Question No.5: What is the cost of this fiasco?
Question No.6: What is the true cost of the project?

The answers can be found everywhere - if we really look for it. It is through assumptions that we make the mother of all f-ups.
Could someone answer these questions for me? I am lost here.

2006-04-23T09:14:00.000+08:00

Wow, its been quite a long time since I wrote last. Been a lots busy since early in the year. The MDC oopss - sorry MDeC has been going through some changes lately. We've got a new CEO! Yes, Datuk Mohamed Arif Nun has left the house and enter - Mr. Badlisham Ghazali, CEO MDeC. Transitions been good - lately - been going allright for us in the CMD. Alot of work - but its a positive outcome for us.

Recently we launched the MSC Creative Multimedia Content Initiative (also known as M-CMCI), a program to push forward the creative multimedia content industry in Malaysia. Hope the country steps up and moves forward! The numbers are sexy - The Media Entertainment Market is US644 Billion Worldwide (PWC). How can we make Malaysia sexy enough for the world market?

Broad strategies are being put in place to create the necessary momentum for us to succeed - its very much a long term plan - we need all the inner strength we can get. These strategies address several areas like IP Creation, Funding initiatives, Ensuring growth and sustainabilities of companies, even shared infrastructure. When we get down to specifics - this is where I have sleepless nights - there's so much to do.

We should be announcing a program soon under this initiative - called the IP Creator Challenge - Time to Stand up and Be Counted Malaysians. Think it should be sometime late next week. My biggest fear is that we don't have the ideas we are so proud of telling people. When push comes to shove - when you're asked to put your thoughts on paper - you back down and disappear into the crowd. I hope my fear will go away....

Quake 4! Being a bad guy was never this good...

2005-11-07T11:45:00.000+08:00

One word describes this game: GILEEEEEEBABENGGG (crazy-ass in malay, and yes that's 2 words!)

Been playing this game during the free time I have in between - RAYA, KIDS, WIFE, PARENTS, RAYA, IN-LAWS, GAMES, RAYA

Singleplayer: It picks up right after Quake 2 (What happened to Quake 3? Multiplayer's what happened!) - Earths just defeated the Stroggs - and allowed the Marines to jump into the homeworld. You play Matthew Kane, a limited vocabulary action hero - complete with a mysterious history that you don't even know about.

Kane is bad-ass. He's the one everyone sends into the fray - Kill monster. Send Kane! Scout Ahead! Send Kane! Turn on machines - guess what Send Kane! Go Die... :) Send Kane!

Who cares - dying is fun! Especially when you've got Rocket Launchers! Grenade Launchers! Dark Matter GUNS! HELL YEAH!

Graphics are to die for. Love the work the level designers and artists have done. Simply amazing. you have to see it running in full power!

Multiplayer: Never tried yet la.. soon soon...

Soo.. have fun with it guys - --- I know I am ... will report more later.. when I finish it.

Quake 4 for PC - Quake 4 PC Game - Quake 4 Computer Game

EA - Battlefield 2

2005-07-18T11:46:00.000+08:00

What's on my PC right now? This is it baby - the mutha of all team-based shootem-ups. Been playing this game since its launch = but rather sporadically. It's awesome. You can get in cars, tanks, jeeps, helicopters, jets, boats.... awesome. And you can get out - with the array of firepower you have - its hard not to unleash hell!

Check it out here - EA - Battlefield 2

Malaysia Chapter

2005-05-04T17:58:00.000+08:00

IGDA Malaysia Chapter Website
Ahh.. been working a lot on this side of the fence. Remember I told you about the stuff I do. Well game development is one of them. Therefore, I would like to show you the International Game Developers Website Malaysian Chapter. Its being coordinated by Brett Bibby, CEO of Gamebrains and Terence Tan from Positronic Dreams.
They had the first meeting this year on the 28th April. Pretty good stuff during the meeting

Game On | Chasm

2005-04-27T18:35:00.000+08:00

Oh my god. My colleague Azmir showed me this game and asked me to finish it. EVIL MAN HE IS! It is so compelling yet simple. I wish to god you guys don't get hooked into it but if you are curious please try. Go to this URL:
Game On | Chasm.

Its amazing - you dont have to have flashy graphics or the latest 3d card to have good gameplay. Learn this my uber-younguns game developers.

PSP - The New Love of My Life

2005-04-26T15:29:00.000+08:00

You guys gotta check this out. I have been playing around with this for a week or so. Its pretty cool. Music, Movies and Games. All the things I like - this is crazy man. I am just so floored by this machine. Convergence to the MAX!.
Check the URL - PSP

I will give you more reviews later.. :)

QRIO Sony Robot

2005-04-23T22:09:00.000+08:00

QRIO Sony Robot
Originally uploaded by mistaman.

Robot of my dreams. This thing is amazing. I saw it live at one of the Sony Style Store openings at the CURVE in Mutiara Damansara.

I am always surprised where technology has been heading. Its just that I am at awe that the technology is right there in front of my eyes. I just sometimes feel bad that we can't have the kind of innovation that companies like sony has. I hope - that one day - I dream no more.

MSC VRC (1)

2005-04-21T18:59:00.000+08:00

MSC VRC (1)
Originally uploaded by mistaman.

Yep. Was digging through my old pics, and found this one. This is the MSC Virtual Reality Center - government funded at No Expense really!

I head up the facility - the Creative Applications and Development Center. 3 Groups in there - VR, Animation and Post Production.

We look at games, simulations, 3d animation and also some DV film stuff. Talk about later - when I have the time.

Safiya on Flickr

2005-04-20T17:18:00.000+08:00

Leia & Pia 009
Originally uploaded by mistaman.

Hey people - I am testing out this thing called flickr.com(its in beta). Pretty cool. I gave out two free invites to become pro members cause I bought the pro account. Very cool.

First!

2005-04-20T17:03:00.000+08:00

Dunno what to say - but welcome.
This is the place where ranting is permissible. Shit always hits the fan. and Laughs will be always always easy to come by.

Wanna learn about what's happening around the place I work? Join the fun - pull a chair - and sit back.

"WTF?"