Truth Seeking through Game Making
Monday, January 23, 2006
The Minna Mingle - Casual Games industry party at GDC
Whoo Hoo!
http://mingle.minnamedia.com/
Too bad, really, too bad, that I don't think I have the $ to attend this super cool event. Key and I would really love to go there. You know, I am sure by March, with Choppin more ready, we would make some impact in that party - 2 young chaps from Malaysia flying all the way to the states to talk about games dev. WHoo hOo.
Well, fact is - it is still not possible yet. The dream is still a dream. It is time to make it into a VISION MAP - next topic.
Whoo Hoo!
Happy Today. ¶ 10:40 PM 2 comments
http://mingle.minnamedia.com/
Too bad, really, too bad, that I don't think I have the $ to attend this super cool event. Key and I would really love to go there. You know, I am sure by March, with Choppin more ready, we would make some impact in that party - 2 young chaps from Malaysia flying all the way to the states to talk about games dev. WHoo hOo.
Well, fact is - it is still not possible yet. The dream is still a dream. It is time to make it into a VISION MAP - next topic.
Whoo Hoo!
Happy Today. ¶ 10:40 PM 2 comments
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Top Selling Casual Games on RealArcade
There has been very interesting topics discussed in the IGDA Casual Games mailing list lately. It is perhaps the most active IGDA mailing list, an indication of the popularity of casual games development now-a-days.
Interesting figures:
Top Selling Casual Games on RealArcade
PopCap owns the list with three games on the top 3 and another in the top 10. Zuma Deluxe (1), Feeding Frenzy (2), Bejeweled 2 Deluxe (3) and Bookworm Deluxe (10). My favourite casual game Insaniquarium Deluxe (also by PopCap) is currently ranked number 21 with 14 weeks in the Top 10. ¶ 6:06 AM 0 comments
Interesting figures:
Top Selling Casual Games on RealArcade
PopCap owns the list with three games on the top 3 and another in the top 10. Zuma Deluxe (1), Feeding Frenzy (2), Bejeweled 2 Deluxe (3) and Bookworm Deluxe (10). My favourite casual game Insaniquarium Deluxe (also by PopCap) is currently ranked number 21 with 14 weeks in the Top 10. ¶ 6:06 AM 0 comments
Monday, January 09, 2006
Playing DOTA
I admit. I have been slack. Last Friday night, Key, Aznan, Zie Aun, Fang Kai, Joo and I went to play DOTA. This is only my second time playing so I still suck a lot. Before the game, I thought I could use my WarCraft III/StarCraft micromanagement skills to good use. It turns out that I was wrong. DOTA is game with pretty interesting strategy. It is an extremely easy game to pick up but not very easy to master (but definitely not as hard as traditional real-time strategy games).
I realized that your Hero/Item combos are very important to win. Timing your hits while creeping is also very important for your gold flow. We chose to play at InfernoWorlds, SS15 because that is BB’s current cybercafé partner for MAS-1, Malaysia’s premier gaming group. InfernoWorlds is a great cybercafé, at least an improvement over those that I used to play in when I was still in my multiplayer gaming days.
The gaming reality-TV show that I am doing with Lewis, Goon and BB is going pretty well. There is a lot of synergy when working with like-minded people. So if you haven’t already, you really SHOULD go your way and FIND like-minded people and work together. Trust me, you won’t regret it.
I need to get back to developing games – and not just helping others with their assignments. ¶ 4:43 AM 1 comments
I realized that your Hero/Item combos are very important to win. Timing your hits while creeping is also very important for your gold flow. We chose to play at InfernoWorlds, SS15 because that is BB’s current cybercafé partner for MAS-1, Malaysia’s premier gaming group. InfernoWorlds is a great cybercafé, at least an improvement over those that I used to play in when I was still in my multiplayer gaming days.
The gaming reality-TV show that I am doing with Lewis, Goon and BB is going pretty well. There is a lot of synergy when working with like-minded people. So if you haven’t already, you really SHOULD go your way and FIND like-minded people and work together. Trust me, you won’t regret it.
I need to get back to developing games – and not just helping others with their assignments. ¶ 4:43 AM 1 comments
Friday, January 06, 2006
Entrepreneurs Action Programme
I went to a preview seminar of a successful entrepreneur trainer with Key. The seminar is known as the Entrepreneurs Action Program (EAP) Boot-Camp, flagship programme of a Singapore-based entrepreneur training company, Exec-Directions mainly owned by successful Singaporean Entrepreneurs Wendy Kwek and Jerome Tan.
The preview session was held at a conference room in Holliday Villa with Jerome speaking. The session and I suppose the EAP Boot-Camp itself is motivational. I usually attend technical and/or business funding seminars but rarely motivational ones. There aren’t many good and cheap motivational speakers / programmes in Malaysia. Jerome reminds me of a Singaporean Anthony Robbins.
Exec-Directions is expanding at Malaysia. In Singapore, they have had over 300 graduates of the EAP Boot-Camp. The programme has received very good testimonies from some of their graduates. Check out their websites to see some of them. The main idea of the seminar is ACTION. It is for those who want to be entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs who want to learn to:
Well, it feels that I am advertising for them. Oh well, I guess it is because I intend to attend their first session in Malaysia (which is at a 50% discount from the normal Singapore price). I think their first session will be held in March. Speaking of price – it is about RM3, 000. It is a relatively cheap for the huge load of content and a long contact time (the EAP boot-camp is spread over 3 weeks).
Jerome is an excellent speaker. He has a very unique style – Sing-lish Anthony Robbins style. I also find that I have some traits in common with Jerome like our passions for bootstrapping, reading and personal development.
I expect to learn the following skills from the seminar:
Remember, one of the key to success in life is to: Constantly and Never-Endingly Improve (CANI). We have to feed our natural growth instinct.
Go and start investing as much as you can in the highest leverage possible: your education! ¶ 10:42 AM 1 comments
The preview session was held at a conference room in Holliday Villa with Jerome speaking. The session and I suppose the EAP Boot-Camp itself is motivational. I usually attend technical and/or business funding seminars but rarely motivational ones. There aren’t many good and cheap motivational speakers / programmes in Malaysia. Jerome reminds me of a Singaporean Anthony Robbins.
Exec-Directions is expanding at Malaysia. In Singapore, they have had over 300 graduates of the EAP Boot-Camp. The programme has received very good testimonies from some of their graduates. Check out their websites to see some of them. The main idea of the seminar is ACTION. It is for those who want to be entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs who want to learn to:
- Remove mental obstacles for entrepreneurship (courage building)
- Understand and implement the key success factors in entrepreneurship
Well, it feels that I am advertising for them. Oh well, I guess it is because I intend to attend their first session in Malaysia (which is at a 50% discount from the normal Singapore price). I think their first session will be held in March. Speaking of price – it is about RM3, 000. It is a relatively cheap for the huge load of content and a long contact time (the EAP boot-camp is spread over 3 weeks).
Jerome is an excellent speaker. He has a very unique style – Sing-lish Anthony Robbins style. I also find that I have some traits in common with Jerome like our passions for bootstrapping, reading and personal development.
I expect to learn the following skills from the seminar:
- Make money with little or no money (bootstrapping) for ANY kind of business
- Maximizing marketing efforts with little money
- Creating synergy in Teams
- Networking with liked-minded people
- Get reviews for my business plans
- Sell anything to anybody
Remember, one of the key to success in life is to: Constantly and Never-Endingly Improve (CANI). We have to feed our natural growth instinct.
Go and start investing as much as you can in the highest leverage possible: your education! ¶ 10:42 AM 1 comments
Monday, January 02, 2006
Should you attend a game development course
If you are a school leaver and you are truly passionated about becoming a game developer, through whatever discipline, you would have heard of local tertiary institutions' game development courses. If you want to take these courses, you have several options:
There are still many things you will learn in college but it is not so obvious. You have do plenty of soul searching. College is also a place to build your character - your courage, your integrity, etc. These so-called soft-skills are incredibly important for your career and personal development.
The best way is to learn on your own and find a mentor. Even if you attend colleges, you still have to spend the majority of your time learning on your own - in many cases outside your university's syllabus. But make sure you are commited and disciplined enough to learn whatever you set out to learn. To know whether you are in the right track, post in the forums (see below for the links).
Another thing you should do is to stay updated on local industry events and happenings. You can do this through online forums and local networking events. Keep track of the IGDA.my and MyGDC Forums. ¶ 2:25 PM 1 comments
- Multimedia University
- Lim Kok Wing University College
- Tengku Abdul Rahman (TAR) College
- HELP Institute
There are still many things you will learn in college but it is not so obvious. You have do plenty of soul searching. College is also a place to build your character - your courage, your integrity, etc. These so-called soft-skills are incredibly important for your career and personal development.
The best way is to learn on your own and find a mentor. Even if you attend colleges, you still have to spend the majority of your time learning on your own - in many cases outside your university's syllabus. But make sure you are commited and disciplined enough to learn whatever you set out to learn. To know whether you are in the right track, post in the forums (see below for the links).
Another thing you should do is to stay updated on local industry events and happenings. You can do this through online forums and local networking events. Keep track of the IGDA.my and MyGDC Forums. ¶ 2:25 PM 1 comments
Coding Music
Everyone have a particular mp3 playlist when they code/do their other PC-oriented work. My favourite nowdays is Enya's new album Amaratine. It's music is very soothing and helps the mind to focus and feel relaxed at the same time.
¶ 9:13 AM 0 comments
