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2 months since i wrote anything… shows just how much of a vacation i’ve been on … well kinda.. been very tied up with my project development with the Torque engine, and most recently the start of my Summer Class, painting my heart out.. it’s a very tough and tedious class. It grades particularly on how perfect you can get..gosh.

anyways, gearing up for the upcoming 4th of July celebrations…enjoy the weekend everyone (: Have a safe & fun July 4th!

Wow… the classics live on. Still can’t beat the simplistic designs of the good ol’ games.. like Donkey Kong & Arcade fighting games.

It wasn’t too long ago Street Fighter IV made it’s come back on the modern home consoles, bringing back many good memories to the fans (comments/writeups are all over google). Now there’s Donkey Kong coming for the Wii, and Marvel Vs Capcom 2, another great great classic arcade game. MVC2 will be out for Xbox and the PS3, and will feature online multiplayer just like Street Fighter IV did.

Lode Runner is kicking back into the scene as well! (seems to be Xbox-Only..ew) I remember playing that game when i was in the 4th grade… oh geez. This new modern Lode Runner is all up to speed with modern 3d visuals now (byebye sprites!), and from what i see in the videos, additional gameplay twists.. i guess it’s an attempt to keep it fresh.. but i’m so excited to see these classics still live on in us, and enough for some to bring them back for us

haha.

i was doing a little research on the Torque game engine, and i stumbled(again..i love stumbling!) on this really great write up about starting a MMO (Massive Multiplayer Online) game. It’s not as easy as just “getting a team” and “producing the game”! There’s sooo much more to the ‘behind the scenes’ of running a successful MMO. But, is the effort and hard work worth it? In my perspective, heck yes. $$

For those interested in starting your own MMO in the near future (or working for)…i recommend reading this writeup

GarageGames Torque Community: Starting a MMO

Learn learn learn, soak it all up like a sponge!

After reading that, and was reflecting and digesting the information, i’m actually proud to say i do, in some sense, already have the experience of running an MMO (is it “a MMO” or “an MMO”? lol)….having hosted, maintaining, troubleshooting, upgrading, and running my own game servers for Counter-Strike back in 2003-2006. Not to mention also having run forums & managing the forums for those game communities. So this beats having no clue about “the business”, and it’s a great starter boost for me wee!

———sidenote for today————

omgosh i got an email from an olldd friend. He’s started his own studio with his girlfriend (jeff has a girl haha!) and is going to be developing a new MMO, and he requested me to be Assistant Producer/Manager! He said he tracked me down via Google and found this site, and he claims that i have potential to fit the role he envisions, based on all the writeups i’ve done on my site (haha) and his past experience working along side me. I previously worked with him to develop a modification (Game Mod for Counter-Strike, back in 2002ish), and consequently helped manage that small community, providing technical support, game support, game server adminstration work, etc. He says the position unfortunately, has to be full time, and it’s in So-Cal…so i had to unwillingly turn it down for now.

Demigod finally released, for the PC, last week. Developed by the same people that brought us Supreme Commander, Gas Powered Games, and i guess published, by Stardock (same people that created WindowsBlinds? o-o).

Word about the game been around for over 2 years now, and this was one I had my hopes for. The creature designs and visuals are simply captivating. The towering oversized Rook character is so iconic for this game, i simply love it.

I’ve managed a demo version of the game, it’s really quite cool…but, like other ‘pro’ review sites have said, this game has something lacking that does not justify it to be a commercial title, found on the store shelves. The art and environments and presentation is spot on beautiful. The audio just amplifies the experience so much more. But as i’ve said in my other posts, good art does not make good games.

If you’ve played or heard of the superbly popular “Defence of the Ancients” (DoTA) from Warcraft III, then you pretty much already have the full concept of Demigod. In this game, you pick a demigod character, and you duke it out with other demigods in a Capture The Flag or Destroy your opponent’s HeadQuarters (Citadel). Your character levels up like a standard RPG format, increasing it’s stats and unlocking new skills at each level. The maximum level your demigod gets is to 20, and along with that a whole shelf of items you can purchase to further enhance your character for that battle. And on top of having your character’s growth, your HQ also gains experience points that the Team, can use to gain enhancements for the entire team’s strength/performance..like a giant blanket.

This game has been flooded with comments like “Dota rip-off” etc…and i agree. It’s pretty much a spruced up version of DoTA. My opinion is that the developers of Demigod saw the market potential for a game like Dota, and hence decided to create their version of Dota to make a buck of it. Not sure if that’s true, but it’s just too similar to Dota to think otherwise.

Demigod is alright…just not worthy enough to justify the pricetag put on it. If you do get your hands on it, it will nevertheless be addicting the moment you sit down and start a battle. The action and adrenaline flows instantly..and remains or maybe grows, even more as the battle goes on.

Great game concept & design (though it’s not very original), feels nicely balanced and polished. Visuals and art design is oh so stunning, audio is mesmerizing. I’d still say go check this title out.

Enjoy this video of it!

stumbled upon yet another really inspiring article.

Desktop Tower of Money

Flash game Desktop Tower Defence(DTD), now averages millions of visitors a month. The flash game itself is nothing over-the-top fancy, rich visuals, that require intensive hours of hard work to develop or produce. All you need is a good game concept, that’s simple, elegant, and, most importantly, addictive and easy to catch on to. Oh, and even better, make it the most easily accessible as you can.

This single game alone, DTD, brings in, quote “4 figures” a month, for just being a website. The revenue comes from Advertisement campaigns on the site, and being such a popular website that gets 20 million visitors a month, it’s not hard to see where all the Ad money comes from.

This is so motivating for me, personally. I’ve gone through the full process of creating a Flash-based game from scratch already, and it’s playable on this site too. Yea, my creation’s amatuer, and really not that great..just .. a start.

But, i do already posses the skills and fundamental knowledge of Actionscript(Flash) that i will need the next round to create another game. A plus for me.

After reading that article (which, is now 2 years old, so who knows just how much BIGGER the revenue has gotten by now), i am now further motivated to sit my ass down, and polish up my Flash skills and create another game.

There’s thousaaands of flash-based game websites and thousands of other flash games, and not every one is successful overnight. This is just the way of the Gaming field. You try, fail, and improve. Just remember to be humble, and listen to any critiques or feedback you get about your project..it’s the best & fastest way to grow.

wowwww

sooo freaking outta control. what the heck is this thingy of a thing? o-o

its.. a mouse, costs over 400bucks USD for it…

its called a SpacePilot Pro, and it certainly looks like something created in space for space.

the SpacePilot Pro is designed and aimed at the CAD professionals, 3D modeling and animation artists.
it even features its very own LCD screen, customizable to your very needs.

wack.

Read full article: SpacePilot Pro

Check out this custom Unreal tool (or Maya?), that the team working on Project Offset has for building their environments.

Why can’t texturing in Maya (or 3DS Max) be this way ? Paint direct on our models…shadows, cracks, bumps, layered.. gosh..directly onto our model, in real time. Be gone, UVing! ;x

Watch the vid! (..and drool)

this is another game that examplifies just how much room there is left, to innovate the way we play our games today.

Here’s Fez, a very very simple looking game, that’s not key on “epic visuals” like Gears of War and Crysis, but still, very epic in it’s presentation and design. Fez combines the very classic days of gaming, side-scroll platforming, like Super Mario World, with a modern “3d game” system. At first it might take a while to get a hang of “seeing” into the game world, being such a rare and, new, way of playing a game. But after getting into the mechanics, this game brings out so much creativity in the design, its not easy to mock up a side-scroller that has to work when viewed from a different perspective. Gah i’m terrible at explaining it, but once you seeeee this, you’re gonna be Wowed yourself.

I love games like these, bringing new fresh concepts to our gaming world…a good break from just another ‘blockbuster epic game’…games like World of Goo, PixelJunk Eden, Mirror’s Edge..etc..it’s not always about a super high-res high-quality artful game. Good art/visuals don’t make good games, just the same as being good at a tool does not make you a good artist.

Enjoy this video of Fez!

Stumbled upon another article while researching lol…here’s more proof to why the Gaming industry is so captivating and amazing to get into.

For many ‘normal people’, stop bluffing yourself to think of stereotypes the moment you here “Games” or “Gaming”. You’re losing out on one of the strongest Industries in the world, and we’re still growing. For me, and the ones doing business in this industry, it’s all about the revenue & profits, while at the same time enjoying our work in this ‘fun & colorful’ industry. You don’t have to be a “gamer” to work in this industry. There’s so many aspects to this field, that so many of us won’t think of right off the top of our heads. You could be a lawyer and still be heavily involved in this industry, or a Marketing/PR manager, or even a musician.

Read this next article, it’s really worth your time.
The Green Sheet: September 22, 2008

Reportedly, Nexon America rakes in $1.6 million a month on microtransactions. Its game cards in Target Corp. stores are said to be behind only Apple Inc.’s iTunes cards in popularity.

Take note the date of this article, 2008. Global economic crisis? 1million a month?

The article references a few other successful MMO companies, and as usual, uses WoW (World of Warcraft) as one of it’s main references. Yes yes, it’s not easy, to simply start your own MMO, and hope it will achieve this kind of success. It’s a big big big picture to setting up an MMO, not to even talk about running and maintaining it after launching the game. But is it worth that hardship in the early days? heck yes.

Again, not every MMO (there’s over a thousand or moreeee MMOs worldwide, some quiet ones included, just do your research you will be surprised) is going to be making this same amount of giant revenues, some even completely shutdown after a short period of time. But it does not mean ‘dont try’…if there’s a will, there is a way.

GDC: 2009 (Game Developers Conference) had news about a new CryEngine development… CryEngine 3. Sounds like an upgrade to the already beyond-kickass CryEngine 2.. but is it really?

From what I collect after watching the interview with Cevat, I don’t think this is any upgrade. At least not this soon. CryEngine 3 is pretty much, CryEngine 2, but developed for the console market. While the console market/developers now are going “omg”, “wooo” “wow incredible”…we PC goers have already, seen all this “futuristic engine” can deliver. Welllll, maybe it’s nice that finally, consoles are catching up to PC, and now, all this PC action can be viewed on the big TV screens instead of puny LCD monitors

Cevat did mention that there’s ongoing research development for the PC engine, so thaaaat’s the one to take interest in and keep eyes peeled for..perhaps Cryengine 4?

Here’s the interview for those interested:
and here’s my old post showcasing Crysis, a game built on CryEngine 2: Sam’s Crysis: Warhead writeup

Part 1:

Part 2:

this totally caught me by surprised, and instantly perked my interest all the way up.. because i saw the word, Singapore, in the title of the original article.

Carneyvale: Showtime … i’ve never heard anything about this game.. but being showcased on Gamasutra.. must mean something good about it regardless. It’s another indie game, with what seems to be a fairly small, core team of Singaporean developers. It’s developed with XNA (a fairly new application from Microsoft targetted for Indie developers), and appears to incorporate a physics system in the game.. any game with phsyics simulation always promises some kind of fun

Ima try to check this game out soon. I also look forward to one day, collaborating with a team of Singaporeans on a given game project.. Singapore is still a new face to the Game Industry, but by no means should you underestimate them either. Being new, means higher demand for talent, means getting selected to be on the team will be a little easier, since there’s still not enough to compete with.

This is another great inspiring article for me personally. It shows me what obstacles they encountered developing a game like this one..and i too can learn from them.  Being a Singaporean myself, and seeing that the country’s name has now broken onto huge top game industry sites like Gamasutra, is really very motivating for me as an aspiring game artist/developer..and of course, gives me a sense of pride to have been Singaporean (i recently gave up my citizenship of the country due to a decision forced upon me by the Singapore government, but my roots is still all Singaporean).

I don’t know much about this game at all, but i just so happen to stumble upon the video review for this title, and boy… it looks soo awesome, from an artist’s point of view.

Early in the video, the narrator says the game has been under development since it’s E3 2005 show..and it looks to me all these years of work, paid off, especially visually. Kudos to the art team that worked on this game.

Lighting is great, effects are great, textures..gosh. Modeling, those environments look massive…there’s sooo much extra detail you wouldnt notice unless you actually took the time to look.

Can’t say much about how the game really plays out, but i would say judging from this video alone, this is one game to look at for inspiration..it’s up there with the Gears of War and Crysis specs.

And this is currently a PS3-only title too, hinting that the Xbox360 is too weak to support all this beauty ? Can’t and won’t say much about that either.

Enjoy the video.

Yess. Another spectacular game is finally here for the PC.. the “greatest gaming platform” for the greatest gaming experience ever. Burnout: Paradise is, not to say an all new release..being so successful on the console market with great critics about this game, and i think the in-game videos already prove how much fun this game can be. Burnout Paradise has been out for the XBox 360 and PS3 console platforms for a year or so already, and have since already recieved a great deal of game updates/expansions..showing just how dedicated Criterion Games (possible studio for future career? ;)) is to their fans. It’s not often you get this much additional content/gameplay updates in just a span of one year..so thumbs up to Criterion for the undying dedication to their franchise.

This will, as many know, be Burnout’s debut on the PC. I’ve previously played the PSP versions of this game, prior to Paradise (Burnout: Dominator, Burnout: Legends), and have always wondered why the heck isn’t this game on the pc yet? Hardware limitations? clearly not, if a puny psp is able to run the game this well, then a pc could any time too. (yes the psp burnouts also had, in my opinion, one of the best graphics for any racing game, even the newer Need For Speed Underground PSP/Midnight Club: LA PSP graphics sucked in comparison to Dominator, the textures in NFS:Ug PSP felt too undercut for the system’s capabilities).

Well finally, it’s here. And this is gonna be another of those games that will highlight the PC as the premium gaming platform choice.

Burnout Paradise The Ultimate Box will be officially released on the 6th of Febuary, 2009. Anxious fans can opt to pre-purchase this game, and as a reward, recieve the full game, 3 days in advance to the rest of the world.

There’s plenty more to say about Burnout Paradise, but i’ll save that for later on, when i get some of my own in-game videos of me playing it, and you’ll get to see what it looks like on the pc and compare any differences it has with the console versions.

‘Til then, read more ’bout this game at Criterion Games. Have fun.
Enjoy the preview video below

-sign my Guestbook if you’ve stumbled upon my site and read this post :D-

Wow, it did finally come to market.. back several years ago this keyboard was just a fancy dream, too cool to be true.

but look now, it’s available for purchase, at a very fancy price of $1500+USD for a keyboard.

sure it’s cool and there is no other keyboard around like the Optimus Maximus, designed by Art Lebedev. Each individual key on this keyboard, is a mini OLED screen, capable of displaying colorful images, animated or not, and even quicktime videos. And as you can guess, each individual screen can be mapped(programmed) to any given function you desire..need a clock to check the time as you work or play games? or check the weather outside before you leave your room..or see what song iTunes is playing..

This product brings a whole new meaning to HotKey

this is a dream keyboard for all kinds of geeks..i want one too.

Shopping Details: http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/input/9836/zoom/

Check this awesome video out showing off this dream keyboard:

Optimus Maximus way too maximus for you? then maybe this Laser Bluetooth Keyboard might tickle your fancy, and also for a cheaper buck, but still gives you that Wow factor.

Yep, this is just like those keyboards we have seen in the sci-fi/futuristic movies..a ‘virtual’ keyboard where all you need for it is a flat, empty space. Funky.

this shows how much closer our technology has become to that of those movie producers dream of..someday, our screens will be ’screenless’, and everything will be at the touch of our fingertips, literally..just like this Laser Keyboard.

Shopping Details: http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/input/8193/

Mirror’s Edge has finally arrived on “the most powerful platform around”..the PC.

Mirror’s Edge is a unique first-person action adventure where players are introduced to Faith, a ‘runner’ in a world where communication channels are highly monitored and the movement of information is closely watched. When Faith’s sister gets framed for murder, Faith finds herself on the edge of the city, on the wrong side of the law. The PC version of the game uses the NVIDIA® PhysX™ physics engine to bring the world of Mirror’s Edge to life with real-world visual effects of wind, weapons impact, and free-motion movements.

Featured on the front cover of over 40 gaming magazines in 2008, Mirror’s Edge also won numerous critic awards including the Game Critics Award for “Best Original Game” and the IGN award for “Best Action Game” at E3. Mirror’s Edge was developed at EA Digital Illusions CE AB (DICE) in Stockholm, Sweden.

-Gamezone

I love the art style in this game.. seems like there’s quite a bit of use of Ambient Occlusion (a rendering technique i recently learned from my previous Games class :))..and i have a thing for anything AO..hehe.

Well waiting to get my hands on this, i have and played through the demo on the PS3 system, and it was a great experience, too bad it was only a demo..im really interested in seeing how the devs pushed the level designs to fit this really unique and different gameplay system. Level design is key for a game like this one..a complete understanding of the game engine’s abilities as well as the game’s virtual space i bet, was something the level designers had to grab a hold of in developing the levels.