Guli-Guli @ MSC-APICTA 2008

Yesterday was the final judging of the shortlisted nominees for the MSC Malaysia APICTA (Asia Pacific ICT Awards) 2008. Yep, you guessed it. I was one of the shortlisted nominees. It was a project I've been working with a friend for months now: A flash game for the PSP.

It started like more than 5 months ago when I needed to come up with a flash game for my final project. The concept was supposed to be experimental gameplay. So I thought like why not let's have some fun while we watch how some people fuck up in doing some tactile coordination. The game was originally designed to be played on the PC. So the controls involved using the WASD keys and the arrow keys. Below is the alpha prototype that I submitted for my final project. The graphics is less than eye pleasing, mind you. It WAS a prototype.

After like two weeks into my semester holidays (which was like mid-June), I received a call from my Flash lecturer saying that he liked my game concept and wants to enter it into for the MSC Malaysia APICTA. The only problem is, it has to be redesigned. Only the gameplay concept was to be retained. He said that I'll need to form a group to get the project started. So I was, "Why not?" since it'll be great to finally have a chance to work with a programmer from the IT school.

Porting the whole thing to the PSP was seriously not a walk in the park. Hardware limitations. Period. Utilizing only a 2MB cache of processing memory, the original game that was meant to be played on the PSP had to be tuned down and optimized fully. And for some fucked up reason, the PSP is only using Flash Player 6 as opposed to the PC which was using the latest Flash Player 9. Now just what the fuck is Sony thinking?

Anyway, fixing the problem took like a month. Truth be told I didn't expect it to take so damn long. Well, that's for not having the SDK for it. So anyway, the whole scripting process had to be redone and also precalculated for the PSP since real-time calculation is seriously gonna kill because of the lack of processing power in the PSP. Graphics-wise, it was inspired by a 1980's comic strip that was done by Tan Sri Dato' Lim Kok Wing called Guli Guli. Being an LUCT (Limkokwing University of Creative Technology) student, what better way a tribute to a work done by the Tan Sri years ago?

After months of ups and downs and a whole lot of stress, we managed to finish it thanks to a whole lot of support from friends and lecturers. The judges were pretty impressed as well. So I hope we make it as the winners!

The final work is as seen below. It may be slow and stuff but heck, it was designed to be played on the PSP. This was just the PC port. Anyway, enjoy!

PSP Musou Madness!

As what was said at E3 2008, this year was indeed the year for for Sony. What's more is that all Musou fans (that owns a PSP) will be in for a real damn treat. Two of Koei's musou games will be ported over to the PSP.

First off, Warriors Orochi 2 (Musou Orochi: Maou Sairin for you impatient bastards who has already played the Jap version) will be ported over to the PSP as what was done with the first game. PC owners get ready. Looking at where this is headed, I'm pretty sure the PC version will be released soon after as well. The game will be set for a November 27th release this year. View the magazine scan below.


Next up, another DW6 port titled Shin Sangokumusou Multi Raid. This time it's for the PSP. So far any info regarding this game is still a little scratchy. What that's known is that there'll be a somewhat similar feature to DW5's Musou Rage; turning your character into something similar to Onimusha's Oni Mode. The rest of the game will just like the PS3/360/PC version. The game is set for a release late this year. Could be around late November or early December. Around the same time for Gundam Musou 2's release. Magazine scan below.

My New Logitech ChillStream!

A long awaited promise has been fulfilled! Two months ago, a friend promised either an art tablet, a Razer Tarantula or a Logitech Rumblepad 2 for my birthday. Days went by and I began to think that idiot took it for a joke. For he's a guy who's known for making tons of excuses. Day in, day out, 24/7 round the clock, he'll find something as an excuse. Without fail, guarenteed.

As usual, this afternoon was just as any Friday afternoon (minus the hectic project discussion) I would normally have. Back from campus, have a nice nap till dinner time. Just as I was about to turn off my monitor and hit the sack, there came a message on Steam.

"Eh Lex, you later free?"
"Apasal?"
"Wanna pass to you some stuff..."

At the word stuff, I was thinking that this guy was gonna pass to me a game he owed like a year ago. Apparently he said he'll be at my place in an hour with the stuff. So what the heck, I was thinking. Since it'll be 6 soon, I'd rather wait him out than take a nap that I'll never be able to enjoy. So there he was, walked into my room with a Software Boutique bag in his hand all wrapped up nice and clean.

"Oh? This fella bought original game? Babi... Banyak duit rupa nyer..."

That thought was running through my head as he placed the bag on my bed and stared at me clicking like an idiot to some ass-crap flash game. Finally, after awhile... He told me that he's gotten me a gamepad that he owed like a couple of months back. In he put his hand and out he took out a Logitech ChillStream?! Wow, present upgrade! He smirked like how he'd always did when he's somehow pleased of himself. Looks just like a perverted old man. Geez...

After popping the driver disc in and got everything installed, first up was Shin Sangokumusou 5! Somehow somewhere, the controller seemed to fuck the game nicely. the X-Axis on the Right Analog flew to the Left and Right Trigger buttons (which were originally used for maximizing the minimap and activating special) and the Y-Axis wasn't working. As a result, the minimap kept flashing non-stop, alternating between minimized and maximized version in like half a second throughout the whole level.

Thinking something was wrong I went and test it out with Gears of War instead. It worked beautifully. Just as how it felt when I was plying the game on the 360. So the controller's not the problem. It's just the dumb game. To prove this yet again, I tested the controller with Clive Barker's Jericho. It worked as how the control configuration said it would work.

Game problem: ChillStream 2 - Musou 0.

Then, nostalgia hit me dead on. ePSXe. Sound familiar? Yep, it's the emulator for Sony's PSX. Feeling a little bored, I extracted a couple of my PSP EBOOT of PSX games from my collection. My first configuration was a little screwed so the analog sticks didn't work. Kinda got it right after the second try. So yeah, kinda happy. Although I'm still bloody looking for my Ragnarok Battle Offline CDs though... Original game and all three scenario add-ons. Either I misplaced it (which is impossible as my CD folder is with me and should be in there if the game's with me) or it's with a certain someone who has a shitload of crap in his brain that's already fogged out his memory...

Oh yeah, before I go... Kinda forgot to say thanks to Mr. Mad for the ChillStream. Thanks, dude! Really appreciate it.

Yue Ying for SSM5S and Gundam Musou 2!

Yup! As the title says, here's more musou updates that was meant to be posted last week. Again, I was feeling lazy. With my assignments starting to get even more intense, blog updates has been coming slowly. Sad...

Anyway, back to the PS2 port for Shin Sangokumusou 5 (Dynasty Warriors 6) which will be called Shin Sangokumusou 5: Special (Dynasty Warriors 6: Special). An English has been announced for the 18th of November this year, a month after the Japanese release! Adding to the cast of revamped characters will be Yue Ying; trading her bow in for a crossbow that'll be equipped on her arm. Something like Rinoa's weapon from Final Fantasy VIII. Plus, just like the other revamped characters, she'll be also getting a Musou Mode. Aside from that, there'll be 5 new stages for the PS2 port. The Special Edition will be on 2 discs due to it being a downgraded next-gen game. I, however, can't seem to understand why the downgrade for Gundam Musou was able to be on a single disc.

Speaking of Gundam Musou, a second game has already been announced. It'll be released simultaneously on the PS2, PS3 and 360 on the 4th of December this year. This however will be a Japanese release. New Gundams will include Amuro's RX-93 ν-Gundam (Nu Gundam) and Char's MSN-04 Sazabi. Magazine scans are below.

In an earlier post, the European boxart for Orochi 2 was posted. It sucks. True. So here's the US boxart which looks alot better! Just a reminder: Warriors Orochi 2 will be released on the 19th of September for Europe and the 28th of September for North America.

Babylon A.D. is B.A.D. (Seriously!)

Watched Babylon A.D. this morning. My first impression of this movie was kinda good. Well, that was the only good thing. Everything was so-so until the movie shifts back to the "present" and well... It get's from bad to worse from there. Ahh, heck. If I feel like explaining I'd do that. Somehow I think that you should just watch the movie for yourself. You'd go "What the fuck?" as well and everything will be explained...or not?

Sasha Meets Natascha!

So Valve finally released their third Achievement Pack: The Heavy. Aside from that, a new mode of play called Arena Mode has been added. The five arena maps include Lumberyard (new), Ravine (new), Well, Granary and Badlands. Aside from that, they've also added a new payload map called Badwater Basin. A community map made by Jamie "Fishbus" Manson called cp_steel was also added. And now, the unlockable weapons!



Unlocked by completing 10 achievements from the Heavy Achievement Pack, the Sandvich replaces the shotgun. With no attacking capabilities, it does however replenish 120 health when eaten. The catch however is that you remain vulnerable for the duration of the animation. 4 seconds of loud and I do mean loud "omnomnom"-ness. It has a loaded ammo count of 1 and guess what; unlimited ammo reserved.



Unlocked by completed 15 achievements from the Heavy Achievement Pack, Natascha replaces Sasha. Although the damage output for Natascha is 25% weaker than Sasha, Natascha has the ability to slow enemies. Good for slowing down Scouts and Medics. Great for timed ambushes. Just pray you don't meet a Heavy wielding Sasha when you do that though.

Estimated Damage

• Point Blank: 38-42 (Crit: 79)
• Medium Range: 4-22 (Crit: 79)
• Long Range: 4-8 (Crit: 16-22)

Although slower than the fists themselves, the K.G.B. Finally, the K.G.B. or Killing Gloves of Boxing will be unlocked after completing 20 achievements from the Heavy Achievement Pack. Replacing the fists of wear over them is what you wanna call it.will give the Heavy a guaranteed 5 seconds worth of crits if used to kill an enemy. Additional kills boosts the duration of the crit bonus. The crit effect also works on the other Heavy weapons: Sasha, Natascha and his shotgun. Also, just a note: As the Heavy is Russian, the acronym for the Killing Gloves of Boxing (K.G.B.) was also the acronym for the Russian security agency, secret police and intelligence agency Komityet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosty, which was disbanded in 1995.

Estimated Damage

• Point Blank: 45-85 (Crit: 195)

Take note that in the weapons explanation, there were some terms that just doesn't make sense to some.

• Omnomnom (Please watch Meet the Sandvich.)
• Sasha (Is what the Heavy calls his minigun. Please watch Meet the Heavy.)
• Sandvich (Was introduced in Meet the Scout but didn't seem to be an important element at that time.)
  

Hyperruang! WTF?!

First things first: "Yes, I've been slightly lazy to update my blog. Okay... KINDA lazy."

So expect the end to be crammed up with a whole load of crap that was meant to be posted like days and weeks ago.

Now regarding this post's title. We people know of how lame the translation of subs are when we go to our local cinema to watch them movies. Yes, I know they censorship is a whole lot worse but that's not what this post is about now is it? I can still remember a few of the bad-ass title translations throughout the past few years:

• 300 (300 Pahlawan Berani Mati) - Just what the f**k are they thinking? Can't they just stick with TIGA RATUS or better still leave it as it is? The numerals say it all for heaven's sake...
  
• Iron Man (Orang Besi) - Translation wise, yes it's true but seriously... Cicakman is bad enough. So, what next? Inkheart @ Hati Berdakwat? Dragonball @ Bola Naga, Bebola Naga, Mutiara Naga? Oh, the horror!
  *By the way, Dragonball's Japanese promo poster is released. Go take a look and die laughing.*
  
• Ghost Rider (Pennunggang Berhantu) - Haunted rider? Geez... At least ORANG BESI hit the target...

So... Just what is it with Hyperruang you ask? Well, I just went to the movies this morning for Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The subs was so-so I think as I couldn't be bothered to be reading it but somehow when Anakin said "Hyperspace", that freak of a word called HYPERRUANG which appeared in the subs caught my eye. Yes... Of all the lame ass words...

Months back during a screening of The Golden Compass, Dust was retained as Dust and not some lame piece of crap we all know as Habuk. Actually, I was kinda hoping for the lame translation to take place. So that I can have a good laugh of how idiotic our local translators are. It starts at the title. It always does... And from the looks of it, it always will be. Kudos to them people. Now if they could do something of the horrible censoring of non-relevant scenes then I'll die a happy person. But that's a different story now is it?
________________________________________________________

Talking about how lazy I was to post a few weeks back, here's a summary of what I wanted to post:

• An article on Shin Sangokumusou 5 Special where Koei announced a weapon change for Zhang He and Taishi Ci. Zhang He's getting his claws back and Taishi Ci is getting his dual-stick-thingy back.
• Speaking of Musou... The official english boxart for Warriors Orochi 2 was released weeks back. Kinda sucks though...
  
• E3 and post-E3 stuff about the release of a few of my favourite games for the PSP: Loco Roco 2, Patapon 2. Also, 2 Square Enix titles originally for the mobile phone being ported over to the PSP: The 3rd Birthday (a Parasite Eve spin-off) and Final Fantasy Agito XIII.
• An update on the current progress of Diablo III: As of the 7th of August, a majority of Act I has been completed in terms of art and design and Act II is underway. Four of the five classes are operational and at various levels of playability. Don't ask me what the other two classes are as I have no idea whatsoever.

As for pictures, screenshots and the lot, below is a list. Click at your own peril!

• Taishi Ci in Shin Sangokumusou 5 Special
• Zhang He in Shin Sangokumusou 5 Special
• PS2 Boxart for Warriors Orochi 2
• The 3rd Birthday - Magazine Scan Pg.1
• The 3rd Birthday - Magazine Scan Pg.2
• Dragonball (Live-Action) - Japanese Promo Poster
• Dragonball (Live-Action) - Goku (Justin Chatwin) & Bulma (Emmy Rossum)

And finally a bonus from me: The 3rd Birthday PSP Wallpaper - Aya Brea
Enjoy!