tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18885865959381227172024-02-20T10:58:52.373-08:00F5 QuickSaveA Community Blog Dedicated to The Brothers and Sisters of E-One StudioKeshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12141908864487560296noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1888586595938122717.post-4873407180359734912013-03-29T19:27:00.000-07:002013-03-29T19:27:52.724-07:00Happy Easter!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZDBBmOpyLKB75tjliQ2PH-a4hDnrV78VBBkZrKqkX5AZjAp1M8U0Ya-jR_GUQJnDvUR8azGHN3jRvxfx6qE7vk20t5vqnDAJWTqgjaRnDdJiKEF7wTwCJoIIfh2Wp0VJjmEipixPT5tk/s1600/easter+final.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZDBBmOpyLKB75tjliQ2PH-a4hDnrV78VBBkZrKqkX5AZjAp1M8U0Ya-jR_GUQJnDvUR8azGHN3jRvxfx6qE7vk20t5vqnDAJWTqgjaRnDdJiKEF7wTwCJoIIfh2Wp0VJjmEipixPT5tk/s1600/easter+final.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">Happy Easter everyone! Sincerely from your friends here at E1 Studio! </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />Keshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12141908864487560296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1888586595938122717.post-41428952870959340062013-03-23T21:10:00.000-07:002013-03-25T00:22:37.480-07:00Meet the developers: Susanne Chan<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPob5fIS_akt_srq6MdlN2s7ej1rXHv28i0RBHQDX-IKxZw1B3wjriFW2dBuHp_XmI7Zp6IifdoctapSIyvnWoEThl9W5igQcYGSKNxwBTeMCN7vMkIbLsgChn1PO3v0KO_PZNOvrzpbw/s1600/sue_pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPob5fIS_akt_srq6MdlN2s7ej1rXHv28i0RBHQDX-IKxZw1B3wjriFW2dBuHp_XmI7Zp6IifdoctapSIyvnWoEThl9W5igQcYGSKNxwBTeMCN7vMkIbLsgChn1PO3v0KO_PZNOvrzpbw/s400/sue_pic.jpg" width="300" /></a>This week I chose to interview Susanne Chan, one of the gameplay designers here in E1 Studio.<br />
<br />
She is warm, friendly and a highly intelligent individual with a remarkable amount of patience. She’s the kind of person you would like to sit next to in an office.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, we sit at opposite corners of the studio and she has been real busy of late. This kinda got in the way of me getting to know her better.<br />
<br />
But that’s why I love this blog.<br />
<br />
It’s a great tool for me to connect with my colleagues here at E1 Studio. <br />
<br />
<b>Hey Sue, let’s start off with a little bit about your background. Where are you from?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
I was born in Switzerland and raised in Penang. I studied in international schools there. Penang's a nice island, quiet city living without the hassles.<br />
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<b>What were you before joining E1 Studio?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
I was naturally drawn to writing from an early age so it's no surprise I pursued it as a career. Started as a journalist after college then became an advertising copywriter. After 10 years of being a commercialism monger, I grew restless. I had been interested in game writing for years so one day, I decided to take the plunge.<br />
<br />
<b>What is your role in the development of the Hoodwink series?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
I am the Project lead for Hoodwink 2. I help to steer its creative direction and supervise gameplay design.<br />
<br />
<b>Can you share with me your all-time favourite game? Or the game you find most memorable?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
It's really hard to name just one. If you twist my arm, I would have to say Dreamfall: The Longest Journey.<br />
If I could list my top ten, I would say: Dreamfall The Longest Journey, Beyond Good & Evil, No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M's Way, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Bastion, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Planescape: Torment, Dishonored, Fallout and Arcanum.<br />
<br />
<b>Which game designer do you look up to the most?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
There are four actually. Chris Avellone, Richard Lemarchand, Danien Chee and Sean K. Dunkley. I admire the narrative and character depth in Chris Avellone's games.<br />
<br />
I had the opportunity to attend one of Richard's presentations about player engagement. It was pretty inspiring and made me think about game design in a different way.<br />
<br />
Danien Chee and Sean K. Dunkley are great as they have been giving me advice about game development from time to time, helping me to broaden my views and grow.<br />
<br />
Also, this might sound corny but I am also inspired by my co-workers who are able to teach me something new every day.<br />
<br />
<b>If you could play any kind of character you wanted in an RPG, what would you be? </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
A demon space pirate who crash landed on a Conan the Barbarian-esque world. (You did say it could be anything)<br />
<br />
<b>What song/band/artist are you currently listening to?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
David Guetta. I've been turning myself deaf listening to his music, especially those from Nothing But The Beat album. I like how his style changes to match the various singers.<br />
<br />
<b>What’s your favourite painting?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
I'm a fan of Art Suydam and have a collection of cards featuring his artwork. His drawing "Mysterious Worlds" is my favourite. It reminds me that there could still be beauty amidst horror.<br />
<br />
<b>What do you usually have for breakfast?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
My favourite is pancakes but that is more a lazy Sunday brekkie. Charcoal bread with butter. Soft boiled eggs with pepper and soy sauce. Hokkien Mee (when in Penang). If I don't have time for breakfast, I run on Swiss coffee.<br />
<br />
<b>Are you a Dog or a Cat person?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
I grew up with both but I love cats. Or more like am cat mad. It's one of the first things people remember about me. Here's a pic of my cat, Brat. Dopey isn't she?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUW6dHYtW65cgXeFJeYs7VMUFnUo7P_iYW9vq-OGQkMYz8Tj5GI4zMzmSW_MjwTYfoKAz2j-E1Qb7LqqmcvCfxxOcqjlZzahMsrGOuqDnnW1csDMCmnrrub_lsKafJmqJ1CZY4mTinpIU/s1600/8a+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUW6dHYtW65cgXeFJeYs7VMUFnUo7P_iYW9vq-OGQkMYz8Tj5GI4zMzmSW_MjwTYfoKAz2j-E1Qb7LqqmcvCfxxOcqjlZzahMsrGOuqDnnW1csDMCmnrrub_lsKafJmqJ1CZY4mTinpIU/s640/8a+(2).jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b>Any advice for the budding game designers out there?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Don't be afraid to think big. You can always distil the good parts from there.<br />
Never be afraid to fail. You can always learn from your mistakes.<br />
Don't be afraid to ask questions. Everyone's learning something new every day.<br />
Most of all, go out and experience life. It's the best place to find inspiration and ideas for your game.<br />
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Keshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12141908864487560296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1888586595938122717.post-17982115541251775812013-02-28T20:15:00.001-08:002013-02-28T21:42:44.331-08:00Meet Leon Willett<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOFvHYjcgM6MCigQTEuz8rGS_XNq-rlOTS5Y98xDUacOzQFFNM0s_44CfgnCIvQDZhwp-qApTAJJBHfXoZpNEb4omEbLhVupWNIOjpA_6xoZ_qIXlh5khrJI3Prn3UqR3sB_ivQ1tjsXk/s1600/Leon+Willett+Promotional.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOFvHYjcgM6MCigQTEuz8rGS_XNq-rlOTS5Y98xDUacOzQFFNM0s_44CfgnCIvQDZhwp-qApTAJJBHfXoZpNEb4omEbLhVupWNIOjpA_6xoZ_qIXlh5khrJI3Prn3UqR3sB_ivQ1tjsXk/s1600/Leon+Willett+Promotional.jpg" /></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">This week on F5 Quicksave!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">We received a lot of praise for Hoodwink’s
soundtrack and all that credit should go to one person, Mr. Leon Willett. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Leon isn't a newbie to composing music for
games; in fact he was nominated for several awards and even bagged some. His
work on Dreamfall received universal praise and Mike Kendrick from The Gateway
said; </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB"><i style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><br /></i></span>
<span lang="EN-GB"><i style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">"Leon Willett has done for
Dreamfall what John Williams and Danny Elfman have given to Hollywood"</i><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">You can find out a lot about Leon's work through
his <b><a href="http://www.leonwillett.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">website</span></a></b> but I wanted to learn more about
the man behind the music. So I sent him a few questions which he gladly took
the time to answer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">What is your favourite game and is there a specific genre you favour?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><i>As a composer I favour the adventure
genre. I’m passionate about this kind of games, and the focus on plot can afford
the opportunity to compose some quite meaningful music. <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><i>As a player, I like very geeky games that
require a lot of thought and planning. I’m not into causal gaming. For
instance, I was in a WoW arena team for a while. On weekends, I like to play
large online battles with Shacktac. <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjVqr3-C_YKEFF-VqwTa1XeHevrHgOT4knxy7xjMa47mbvDcDbpfo4k03VThW2P8Lvue8N2sjq3L8SMv9MwCJMcGJ4-2MEkEY2BvDE4zS1ha3ZkLvjlEbsU12ONWF9ZrF60c2V7nCIpVY/s1600/GAME+2013-03-01+12-25-40-07.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjVqr3-C_YKEFF-VqwTa1XeHevrHgOT4knxy7xjMa47mbvDcDbpfo4k03VThW2P8Lvue8N2sjq3L8SMv9MwCJMcGJ4-2MEkEY2BvDE4zS1ha3ZkLvjlEbsU12ONWF9ZrF60c2V7nCIpVY/s640/GAME+2013-03-01+12-25-40-07.bmp" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hoodwink Main Theme</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<embed flashvars="audioUrl=https://sites.google.com/site/e1mediafiles/mp3/Hoodwink_Main_Theme.mp3?attredirects=0&d=1" height="27" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" quality="best" src="http://www.google.com/reader/ui/3523697345-audio-player.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" wmode="transparent"></embed></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Which game score/soundtrack were you most impressed by, or the one you
found most memorable?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><i>I always liked Giacchino’s old “Medal of Honor”
scores. In fact, I liked them so much that I soon got into composing for games
after I heard them. In those days symphonic scores were still a rarity, so I
found them special. I wanted to do that too!</i></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Who is your all-time favourite composer?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><i>I’m torn between John Williams and Joel
McNeely. </i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">What is your favourite musical instrument and why?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><i>I think it’s easy to tire of any
instrument if you hear it too much, so I can’t really pick one. This is why I like the symphony orchestra as
a medium; almost limitless colours and textures. </i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgijTnHA80E1s47rph0h6ayqiEWXKdhZ61siXFSSnaITp6AZcWyuzfSiU66og_0OTvIDlLJSRLcbG_HlPhiKJmrFUTZPSOC6UW41BHFYYFS6vmdpIXYnJs8gBv6PE8qlaNdToy_w8KnbhY/s1600/GAME+2013-03-01+13-03-19-07.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgijTnHA80E1s47rph0h6ayqiEWXKdhZ61siXFSSnaITp6AZcWyuzfSiU66og_0OTvIDlLJSRLcbG_HlPhiKJmrFUTZPSOC6UW41BHFYYFS6vmdpIXYnJs8gBv6PE8qlaNdToy_w8KnbhY/s640/GAME+2013-03-01+13-03-19-07.bmp" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cucarachas</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<embed flashvars="audioUrl=https://sites.google.com/site/e1mediafiles/mp3/Cucarachas.mp3?attredirects=0&d=1?attredirects=0&d=1" height="27" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" quality="best" src="http://www.google.com/reader/ui/3523697345-audio-player.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" wmode="transparent"></embed></div>
<br />
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">What are you listening to these days?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><i>This might sound bizarre but I don’t
listen to music very often. If I do put something on, I prefer spoken word. I’m
a fan of Marc Maron’s show, WTF; or I might put on some stand-up comedy albums.
</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">What are your thoughts on dubstep?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><i>I love it! A breath of fresh air; the biggest
thing to happen in dance music in the 2000s, in my opinion. </i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">What are you currently working on?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><i>I’m pitching to a couple of games, and
will make an announcement if/when I’m commissioned to write a new score. </i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">What do you like to do when you aren't composing?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><i>I like a trip to comedy club, playing
video games, or a long walk. Sometimes I like to pick up an old classical score
and read it like a book, really taking it in. I also like chess puzzles. I do
the one in the paper every day. </i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Will you be working on Hoodwink Episode 2? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Yes, I’m set to begin work on the score quite
soon. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9xvhRrrwNsPnCXpMVaxnrvjUTK-wo9mRrUXbkm-azurHm8H_bbp_vAjcu3Wz_siZvTAo1wkNJ0vtG8zQdD3IfX7ltugUzVC1FI0uAFYUil1VgLNet5u0emdNpc2YSDKLAYnOfT-t-9sE/s1600/Leon+Willett1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9xvhRrrwNsPnCXpMVaxnrvjUTK-wo9mRrUXbkm-azurHm8H_bbp_vAjcu3Wz_siZvTAo1wkNJ0vtG8zQdD3IfX7ltugUzVC1FI0uAFYUil1VgLNet5u0emdNpc2YSDKLAYnOfT-t-9sE/s640/Leon+Willett1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Picture sourced from <span style="background-color: white; color: #009933; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 13.63636302947998px; text-align: left;">www.</span><b style="background-color: white; color: #009933; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 13.63636302947998px; text-align: left;">leonwillett</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #009933; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 13.63636302947998px; text-align: left;">.com/</span></td></tr>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">What was it like working on Hoodwink with E1 studio?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><i>Great! I love the plot, characters and
look of the game. It was a really nice opportunity to go out on a limb and
compose a 40’s big-band jazz score. It was pretty special, and very enjoyable. </i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Have you eaten any Malaysian dishes before?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><i>Sure, one of my favourite restaurants is
Malaysian. I like the sate (satay) dishes. </i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Thank you for your time Leon and I can’t
wait to get swept away by your next master piece. And to anyone reading this, I recommend you to listen to his other compositions and share them with your
friends. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">They are bound to fall in love with it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Until next time gamers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Keshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12141908864487560296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1888586595938122717.post-53711630379527114202013-02-18T00:08:00.002-08:002013-02-18T20:34:19.071-08:00Meet the developers: Johann Lim<br />
Welcome back!<br />
<br />
It’s been a while since I have written about someone from E1 Studio, so this week I will be introducing you to Johann Lim (That’s pronounce “Yohan”), a grammar Nazi and more importantly, one of our gameplay designers.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;">Too bad girls, this dish is hitched. You should settle for a Subway Teriyaki instead.</span></td></tr>
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It was tough interviewing Johann, we had too much in common and our focus kept going off tangent. Ben and Jason, the guys from our mobile division- <a href="http://touchyinteractive.com/" target="_blank">Touchy Interactive</a>, were sitting nearby and constantly butting in too.<br />
<br />
Here’s an example of how the interview went-<br />
<br />
<b>Yours Truly:</b> <i>Which college did you go to?</i><br />
<b>Johann:</b> <i>I studied at the Imperial College of London. The “College of nerds, geeks and doctors” </i><br />
<br />
However at the mention of “Imperial”- the Star Wars spell was invoked and Johann, Ben, Jason and I trailed off into a conversation about Palpatine’s elite guards.<br />
<br />
Moving forward… <br />
<br />
After college he worked in IT and even joined a friend to start a company doing GPS stuff. Too bad for him (although fortunate for us) that GPS thing didn’t work out. However at that junction, Johann got the call of theatre!<br />
<br />
Naturally I asked him if his time working in theatre had given him an edge in game design<br />
<br />
<i>“Absolutely. </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>My time in theatre was crucial in the "unlocking" or "releasing" of my creative side. You can't imagine how "stick up the arse" I used to be in my younger days. Furthermore, the many trainings in performing for theatre helped with the different aspects of creativity, teamwork, self-motivation and project-based work (ie working with a deadline).</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>A great example is improv. </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>On one level, it's great for impulsive, intuitive, immediate idea exploration - you just have to do / say something to contribute RIGHT NOW. You have little time or space to be shy / embarrassed about what comes out of your mouth, or expressed by your body. On another level, it's great for teamwork - you're all working together to create an interesting scene. Additionally, there's a rule where you cannot negate what someone else has done / said - so you're always working together based on the immediate reality.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Theatre in general is a good example. The scale of the production is big, and there are so many moving parts and so many people doing different things. It's not unlike a games development company. And there's practically no way one person can handle everything (sure sure there are exceptions, but you're not the exception sorry!) so you have to trust people to do what they have to. And if they let you down, then just pick yourselves up, learn useful stuff from the experience and move on.”</i><br />
<br />
So theater had thought Johann a few things about being a game designer. But love for the stage alone doesn’t cut it.<br />
<br />
You need to love GAMES.<br />
<br />
I asked him how long has he been into gaming and- Oh my, what a surprise! Johann has always been interested in gaming! Just like the rest of us.<br />
<br />
However it’s possible he started earlier than most of us here in the studio. His older brothers were the culprits that got him hooked. They would play “Wizardry” on the old Apple II e, and Johann would watch in wonder as they progressed down wire frame corridors and read text that popped up at every turn.<br />
So what was Johann’s all-time favorite game?<br />
<br />
<i>“. ... this... is an impossible question” </i>said he.<br />
<br />
<i>“There are many games I love for many reasons. Nothing stands out above the rest in every situation. I'll list some and why I love them, how's that?</i><br />
<br />
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<span lang="EN-US">Here’s Johann
& Shern. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Just smile for the camera guys and I promise to go away<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b>Stratego</b> - introduced me to strategy games<br />
<br />
<b>Ultima 4-6</b> - introduced me to really deep and meaningful RPGs<br />
<br />
<b>Company of Heroes</b> - one of the best implemented RTSes<br />
<br />
<b>X-Com</b> (the old one, haven't played much of the new one yet)- one of the best tactical action games ever<br />
<br />
<b>Star Control 2</b> (now The Ur-Quan Masters 2)- one of the best all-round experience games ever ever<br />
<br />
<b>Super Contra </b>(SNES) - introduced me to 2P co-op and made it so seamless<br />
<br />
<b>Half-Life</b> - made FPS’s a story-telling engine, awesome<br />
<br />
<b>Puerto Rico</b> (board game) - beautiful level of complexity without overdoing it<br />
<br />
<b>Dungeon Lords</b> (board game) - brilliant implementation of the PC game (Dungeon Keeper) and great fun<br />
<br />
<b>Magic the Gathering </b>(card game) - the depth, complexity and creativity of design is astounding; and it keeps getting better!<br />
<br />
<b>Populous</b> - playing god is kinda fun<br />
<br />
<i>I'm sure there are more, just can't think of them right now.”</i><br />
<br />
It’s always a nice to share so many things in common with different people but it’s even nicer to find a place where you get to work with these people. Johann, like me, thought game development was completely absent in this part of the world, until he played Company of Heroes with Shern Chong from the studio. After an insightful discussion on the CoH’s mechanics, E1 Studio was plus one designer.<br />
<br />
I guess one lesson you can learn from Johann’s story is that you never know what the future holds for you and that you can go down different paths at every turn and still find yourself heading in the right direction.<br />
With that in mind, I was curious to know what Johann’s thoughts on were on the direction video games were heading.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More Magic: The Gathering</td></tr>
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<br />
<i>“We're on the path to more interesting games. By interesting I mean more exploration in how they're played and how they play. Genres like RTS, FPS, Action, Adventure, point-and-click - all become harder and harder to label as more and more people get into developing games and really pushing the boundaries. </i><i>There'll be more depth in games, and, over time, better stories told. Fewer "blockbusters" and more indies.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Someone said that "games are the new media" - I think it's too early to say that, but hell it's interesting times for games. It's something that the consumer interacts with, and that is a whole new level of complexity that we're very slowly trying to figure out. This is the Age of Games, and it'll be a century or two before we ‘get it’ ”</i><br />
<br />
So to wrap things up I asked Johann what was a vital characteristic requirement for any game designer?<br />
<br />
<i>“Designers always need to seek out new experiences. They enrich your life and you need to draw inspiration from them if you are going to build a game”</i><br />
<br />
In other words, people aspiring to be game designers should get off their butts and do other things besides playing computer games.<br />
<br />
I guess it also helps a lot to have some skills in programming like Johann.<br />
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<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Keshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12141908864487560296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1888586595938122717.post-68409944600027290022013-02-10T21:49:00.000-08:002013-02-18T21:50:50.150-08:00Happy Chinese New Year Everyone!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAprUhOaFvpQ-ChYR11kcvPGr71SsYap23JMwSIhKUN33xcdNN5kjjgVPqUrOroAeD7CDQeG8nvbEIusxpaCswWD1_XuPdThTFoyeXftdoi1gpEp7WyU_C92OirUhnf8bOHwsTG80LTbA/s1600/postcard2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="508" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAprUhOaFvpQ-ChYR11kcvPGr71SsYap23JMwSIhKUN33xcdNN5kjjgVPqUrOroAeD7CDQeG8nvbEIusxpaCswWD1_XuPdThTFoyeXftdoi1gpEp7WyU_C92OirUhnf8bOHwsTG80LTbA/s640/postcard2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />Keshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12141908864487560296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1888586595938122717.post-10104372269721418712013-02-06T18:19:00.000-08:002013-02-14T01:16:34.130-08:00Lunch Anyone?<br />
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Ahh, the lunch break.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It’s the time everyone craves for, especially after a few
hours of good honest hard work. And how it’s spent largely depends on the
individual or the company culture. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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As for myself, I pop open my lunch box and munch on a dry
muesli bar, all the while trying to convince myself that it tastes good and
imagining my bad cholesterol levels dropping with each bite. After that I kinda
hover about the studio, interrupting others who are busy getting their game on.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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That’s right. As lunch time draws near the E1 crew gets
together and play all sorts of games.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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You got your <b>“Magic: The Gathering”</b> card game players. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Then there’s the board game enthusiast, the current choice
is <b>“7 Wonders”</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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And then there’s the <b>“Street Fighter 4”</b> troupe, ready with
their controllers and button mashing away. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaHA-bfhyphenhyphenkR0ODU4U-js1KxfNqGLhsadkkn0Kl23uTzRzOZNNuReicDC1ShT2kCHrixypfpQ6d_tItZZiWxa1dz4PMaY2dq6Ehpxqqv63D9I_6WkMN4cmCgibuAX0cclBb-vCAdgEsBfk/s1600/2013-01-21+13.58.44.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaHA-bfhyphenhyphenkR0ODU4U-js1KxfNqGLhsadkkn0Kl23uTzRzOZNNuReicDC1ShT2kCHrixypfpQ6d_tItZZiWxa1dz4PMaY2dq6Ehpxqqv63D9I_6WkMN4cmCgibuAX0cclBb-vCAdgEsBfk/s640/2013-01-21+13.58.44.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">What
kind of geekery is this? Magic The Gathering!? Burn it with fire!!</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Das is Street Fighter! </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">Bring your own controller please </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">otherwise it’s the keyboard for ya! </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">*gasp*</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwzU1ZWGa-jjDk5wPdAXA0YH8DLrXDjjIUc0EEHvIsYSM207E7ZMUnUR3dMUY3u4vlrEeXcOys_R1yXWrxj692FZX856vdtj1RmW_eMTBiCGZNEUo9yCgfSBs2qEfLnFgcUPPUTU4pB0o/s1600/2013-01-21+13.59.29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwzU1ZWGa-jjDk5wPdAXA0YH8DLrXDjjIUc0EEHvIsYSM207E7ZMUnUR3dMUY3u4vlrEeXcOys_R1yXWrxj692FZX856vdtj1RmW_eMTBiCGZNEUo9yCgfSBs2qEfLnFgcUPPUTU4pB0o/s640/2013-01-21+13.59.29.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Oooo
7 Wonders, the board game. <br />“Can I join you guys?” no response……</span></span></td></tr>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I’m guessing this isn’t standard practice in most offices but
such activities are encouraged here. Probably has something to do with us being
a game developer but who can say for sure?<br />
<br />
The important thing is the guys are
having fun together and probably learning a thing or two about teamwork.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
But before you know it, an hour’s gone by and the session is
wrapped up. Still the guys are happy, they banter about the highlights of their
game or the blunders they made. I can even imagine some of us planning our next
move or which fighter to choose in the next match. These thoughts linger as we
sit back comfortably at our desks and gradually shift our attention to our
tasks.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
But there’s still a chance to settle scores! After wrapping
up for the day, rematches are often called for and the battles resume.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
As for me, I bid the gang adieu and make my way home. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Skyrim
awaits me there. <o:p></o:p></div>
Keshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12141908864487560296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1888586595938122717.post-19564496029193152922012-12-28T02:50:00.001-08:002013-02-14T01:41:35.288-08:00Hoodwink on Greenlight<div class="MsoNormal">
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXehEFFWjYl0ZrrchNttHkXn8Qb4RVOwGmxxQlxRCmmOos9tco_rdg6_T3g5iZMwUjCcAH-gPFTssnmaT4SGXWUAiyaheRoreyVMEWGM2IldoILoqdYDO49E_FRQ-hCxm73WbigB6Da2A/s1600/xmas1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXehEFFWjYl0ZrrchNttHkXn8Qb4RVOwGmxxQlxRCmmOos9tco_rdg6_T3g5iZMwUjCcAH-gPFTssnmaT4SGXWUAiyaheRoreyVMEWGM2IldoILoqdYDO49E_FRQ-hCxm73WbigB6Da2A/s640/xmas1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; line-height: 15px;">We decorated the Piazza Europa level from Hoodwink for our Season's Greeting Card. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; line-height: 15px;">Happy holidays and Happy New Year! </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: justify;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghGRW6tfi1ThRS4J-qJhsV0OgwajVa8E7Q3_yhi_Mtw0dg8c5L8H0Z5mCwvEK_lQ60WBlfQdnoPqrlmjZI2DiGpizU7-Kz7Zckgu77TFYYP4sEsyXLUyT34KKXoBz32_12AHAnmdxwNVM/s1600/branding3D_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghGRW6tfi1ThRS4J-qJhsV0OgwajVa8E7Q3_yhi_Mtw0dg8c5L8H0Z5mCwvEK_lQ60WBlfQdnoPqrlmjZI2DiGpizU7-Kz7Zckgu77TFYYP4sEsyXLUyT34KKXoBz32_12AHAnmdxwNVM/s320/branding3D_2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 15px; text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">This is our most current Greenlight </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">page thumbnail. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">We made several versions since </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">we first submitted Hoodwink. </span></div>
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 15px; text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">(see below) </span></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It's December, and almost the end of 2012.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
We had a few good months, taking our first step into the world of game business. With mixed Hoodwink reviews in July giving us a good set of lessons to learn, and the advent of Steam Greenlight possibly letting us propel our games into the limelight.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
What you might like to know is that our studio is one of the few offering a series on <a href="http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=92904177&searchtext=hoodwink" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Greenlight</span></a>, not just a title. Yeap, our submission is an entire series of episodic game instalments, not just one game. If Hoodwink is Greenlit, all episodes in the series can be yours on Steam as soon as they are released.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh369ku-XD_yNoAI8D1NzDd1c_x0mMo5bHyhsNVy7fbdLZz_gn-RX2zTS9LrOM9TFwotAL_jdX660D-hQ6B57YKrJoqTckWof45JJdl_5klDi4Nfno1SLSZ8I67FGGM-Idfk-4yDw8t7cQ/s1600/Branding+Image3.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh369ku-XD_yNoAI8D1NzDd1c_x0mMo5bHyhsNVy7fbdLZz_gn-RX2zTS9LrOM9TFwotAL_jdX660D-hQ6B57YKrJoqTckWof45JJdl_5klDi4Nfno1SLSZ8I67FGGM-Idfk-4yDw8t7cQ/s200/Branding+Image3.png" width="197" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
There's more good news. Out of the thousands vying for Greenlight, we're humbled that you, the players, had placed Hoodwink within the top 100 games for approval. But getting closer to Number 1 is not easy, demanding our best in creativity and presentation.</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
As it should be.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Steam is no longer just a storefront; it is a growing hub of serious player communities who can't wait to be involved in a game's creation.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
And so, we have for you Steam Group: <a href="http://steamcommunity.com/groups/e1studio" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">E1 Studio</span></a>.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGYzAVQMR2aXnWukXMpNsqqyZ5kuSfxuDnvgVnnxQtxoLjokiFYL9k573rNGEiJiqojtOZIrmJOi-8DEsECbuMzM_yJt9t-rwDMKq4AVvo09QUmfIgM7A7iDTMtlHwvXY5HNfEIoCJNk4/s1600/Untitled.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGYzAVQMR2aXnWukXMpNsqqyZ5kuSfxuDnvgVnnxQtxoLjokiFYL9k573rNGEiJiqojtOZIrmJOi-8DEsECbuMzM_yJt9t-rwDMKq4AVvo09QUmfIgM7A7iDTMtlHwvXY5HNfEIoCJNk4/s200/Untitled.png" width="200" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A great place to not just find out about the Hoodwink series, but to get to know our developers, and even game together. Goes without saying that we're hoping that if you've got great ideas to help us make Hoodwink a smashing game for you, then this is the perfect page to shout-out.</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Next up for the Hoodwink series; Episode 2!</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
We've taken to heart, and mind, all the reviews from players and critics for Episode 1. And we're back, fixing what went wrong, improving what went right, and most excitingly, adding what will be new and surprising features for our fans, to bring Episode 2 even closer to a great game.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Getting curious? Visit our page to find out more, fellow players. We aim to make a Greenlit Hoodwink worth your while.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This brings me to the end of my post for the year and with that, all of us here at E1 Studio wishes you a Happy New Year! </div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Keshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12141908864487560296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1888586595938122717.post-25856226584050912112012-07-06T01:00:00.000-07:002013-02-14T01:18:52.682-08:005,4,3,2,1...Blast Off!!<div style="text-align: justify;">
Goodness! What a month! </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Let me tell you, trying to get a game out is no walk in the park. Even when a game is completed, you got tons to think about including responding quickly to community feedback. Phew! Pass me the Red Bull please!</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
One of the many challenges of being a Malaysian game developer is attending to an online community that is separated by a twelve hour time zone (a shout out to our fans in the USA, You Rock!). That means a major clash in operating hours. Fortunately, our leader and Hoodwink executive producer Amir Irwan is fuelled by caffeine and a micro nuclear reactor. I think the man had a total of 8 hours of sleep during the launch week and then a couple more the following days after.<br />
<br />
He was constantly juggling between providing support, replying media inquiries and carrying out his producer responsibilities until the wee hours of the morning. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh3LSaxIQeJvYJ6RuYeRm4gKbmOaQJTds_L7fIh4qyveGwvT_4UKHcSP4A9FLepwD5P3bLbofJF7nB2oPcSwhDeE_A7ar-vmCQS2ua0MiTbfGarqVem1THpNjPxes2ay6XNcGpUJ9wSmg/s1600/2012-06-21+11.22.21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh3LSaxIQeJvYJ6RuYeRm4gKbmOaQJTds_L7fIh4qyveGwvT_4UKHcSP4A9FLepwD5P3bLbofJF7nB2oPcSwhDeE_A7ar-vmCQS2ua0MiTbfGarqVem1THpNjPxes2ay6XNcGpUJ9wSmg/s640/2012-06-21+11.22.21.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(left to right) Eko, Amir, Chris<br />
Eko: Amir! Get some sleep man!<br />
Chris: Yes Amir, how are you supposed to pick up super models looking like that?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Well Amir, for your dedication, I award you the "Soft Pillow" Award. Go count some sheep!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbm06OVycyPUo-Z0Og8CI4c4-kvja4PWEEtMSQs-Lz9jtKeZWp-cV77xm8mX_rnTS2A5aNJ4BiI5u1lSlAglXH8BNm09edwA4r-XW7xGuBH-Stllk7VtYv9Xvf8x_j7F_JSYgYx4o7LkU/s1600/awardlamp1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbm06OVycyPUo-Z0Og8CI4c4-kvja4PWEEtMSQs-Lz9jtKeZWp-cV77xm8mX_rnTS2A5aNJ4BiI5u1lSlAglXH8BNm09edwA4r-XW7xGuBH-Stllk7VtYv9Xvf8x_j7F_JSYgYx4o7LkU/s400/awardlamp1.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
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<br />
However our boss wasn't the only one slogging away. Everyone in the studio was in "overclock" mode. If we had an office boy, that chap would have been making copies and handing them out like he was gunning for the 2012 <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3LvVX_rJEg">Office Olympics</a> Gold medal in memo distribution.<br />
<br />
"Johnson! I want a copy of this memo and I wanted it yesterday!" <br />
<br />
"But we're a paperless company sir!"<br />
<div>
<br />
"Then why on earth do we have an office boy???"<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
Did that bad attempt at humour give you an idea of how things were in the studio?<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
No? Well that's going to have to do because I'm fresh out of ideas. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The programming team was busy ironing out bugs while design helped build marketing material and so did the artists. We even worked late but that wasn't a bad thing because we ordered pizza for dinner and had a few laughs together.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhE9Py-YZMP-II5IrHT9glth9UoPy1wl2KO-kOvl6hfdHZ_H7OtW1A15tMmJOTpqOCxJaXWSBadEaHfhTjpAalyBm9xJIYxeqEmGGa-h-9iDcRrHLWJ83NHWC7IArHyqVKum8FKGT8dRs/s1600/2012-06-21+11.09.54.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhE9Py-YZMP-II5IrHT9glth9UoPy1wl2KO-kOvl6hfdHZ_H7OtW1A15tMmJOTpqOCxJaXWSBadEaHfhTjpAalyBm9xJIYxeqEmGGa-h-9iDcRrHLWJ83NHWC7IArHyqVKum8FKGT8dRs/s640/2012-06-21+11.09.54.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Working? Nope! Watching Hanis play Diablo 3</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
And then the day came when we had to submit Hoodwink to <a href="http://store.origin.com/">Origin</a>. <br />
<br />
We were all anxious but we still had other things to work on before the game was officially released on the 29th of June. We even organised a press conference on the 29th to break the news to local media. <br />
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUZdKb_q5ztuVD97TlKiDgxPQA21pnp5E-_UqeaOwWDb_qSd_mz2L22nGXIl3_ivQMPKtDkplXM79O7y70q-zuaayPNMe7-GGNxDpzSPtAoNHr-Et1WoYByTrFK5gh3UGBhWEBWneNZhA/s1600/2012-06-20+20.06.13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUZdKb_q5ztuVD97TlKiDgxPQA21pnp5E-_UqeaOwWDb_qSd_mz2L22nGXIl3_ivQMPKtDkplXM79O7y70q-zuaayPNMe7-GGNxDpzSPtAoNHr-Et1WoYByTrFK5gh3UGBhWEBWneNZhA/s640/2012-06-20+20.06.13.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">OM NOM NOM NOM</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I was tasked with handling this..er..task. I sent out media invites to many news agencies and expected around 20 journalists to turn up. Such was my confidence in my PR prowess!<br />
<br />
But only 8 people showed up! <br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I grabbed an attending journalist by the throat and demanded he tell me where the others were hiding. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
"Most of the IT journalist are here, but many lifestyle reporters had gone to a special screening of The Amazing Spider-man" he cried. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
What?! Foiled by the web-slinger! </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Curse you Spider-man!!!</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: justify;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi864Yr-XUYUjtgsWRcxBK9kkiMcJaQHVKZtLC43461J8y9W4Qf1S3EYBcaIhrJ0zbJJUOWyjJIghdP3S_L7lP2zYmE6VwopJsF8OFBzbFZ5Bv7NBR20d3lwtVMRFPCG6iLtO8W2TKhiys/s1600/Hoodwink+team+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="389" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi864Yr-XUYUjtgsWRcxBK9kkiMcJaQHVKZtLC43461J8y9W4Qf1S3EYBcaIhrJ0zbJJUOWyjJIghdP3S_L7lP2zYmE6VwopJsF8OFBzbFZ5Bv7NBR20d3lwtVMRFPCG6iLtO8W2TKhiys/s640/Hoodwink+team+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">picture courtesy of Tech Central.
<a href="http://techcentral.my/news/story.aspx?file=/2012/7/5/it_news/20120705123144&sec=it_news">http://techcentral.my/news/story.aspx?file=/2012/7/5/it_news/20120705123144&sec=it_news</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Things are still a bit hectic in the office. We have been monitoring feedback for Hoodwink and working on patches to improve the game. The patches can be found here: <a href="http://hoodwinkgame.com/index.php/support">http://hoodwinkgame.com/index.php/support</a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
If you have Hoodwink and want to give us your feedback, please avoid posting them in this blog. Instead please email them to <a href="mailto:support@hoodwinkgame.com">support@hoodwinkgame.com</a><br />
<br />
So even though we're busy, please keep dropping by. There's still plenty interesting things happening here and am keen to share. Until next time!<br />
<br />
And <a href="http://store.origin.com/store/eara/en_SG/DisplayProductDetailsPage/ThemeID.1220300/productID.252318100">GO BUY HOODWINK NOW</a>!!!! :p<br />
<br />
Did that work?</div>
</div>
Keshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12141908864487560296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1888586595938122717.post-40981043355373035962012-06-13T07:22:00.000-07:002013-02-14T00:34:01.301-08:00Hoodwink Announced!<div style="text-align: justify;">
Well it's been a long while since my last entry but I have good reasons for that. If you have been following this blog then you'd already know that this is a game developmet studio blog and in my last posts I have been slowly introducing the people of E-One studio.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjabGVFEVWwdt7i1VHFLnr2z-1sNrBciXPc9gdO9uO4R5aUTy948g5fXvBBM9yxuhzQ9_luuspbJda_JnOeOrooPsjMhCTeRQUjNknPUHuPTxNaRDGPGkKnqd3coWhljCq4kXLNCrUPpwM/s1600/origin+copy.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjabGVFEVWwdt7i1VHFLnr2z-1sNrBciXPc9gdO9uO4R5aUTy948g5fXvBBM9yxuhzQ9_luuspbJda_JnOeOrooPsjMhCTeRQUjNknPUHuPTxNaRDGPGkKnqd3coWhljCq4kXLNCrUPpwM/s320/origin+copy.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meet Brute</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
But what about the games we make? What happened to that eh? <br />
<br />
You can't be a game studio without a game right?<br />
Well, KA BOOOOM BABY!<br />
<br />
We just announced Hoodwink! Our home grown, laughter inducing bundle of joy, That's right folks!<br />
<br />
All these years the boys and girls of E-One studio have been toiling away to put 0's and 1's together into a neat little data package that's full of wonderful environments, smooth sounds and colourful characters with the intention of making you bust a gut with laughter, and pretty soon you'll be able to buy it. There's more pics for you to adore on our <a href="http://facebook.com/e1studio">facebook page</a>.<br />
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If you want to have more information regarding the game you can read our press release on these sites:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.dailyjoypad.co.uk/?p=37465">http://www.dailyjoypad.co.uk/?p=37465</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/read/e-one-studio-unveils-hoodwink-a-return-to-classic-adventure-gaming/028500">http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/read/e-one-studio-unveils-hoodwink-a-return-to-classic-adventure-gaming/028500</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.gamereactor.eu/news/32651/Hoodwink+announced/">http://www.gamereactor.eu/news/32651/Hoodwink+announced/</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.strategyinformer.com/pc/hoodwink/">http://www.strategyinformer.com/pc/hoodwink/</a><br />
<br />
So do forgive me for the patch of silence.<br />
<br />
The team and myself have been working hard to get to this point and mind you we aren't there yet. This is just an announcement. I'm going to have plenty of sleepless nights until the game is officially launched. Fortunately that's not far away. So stay tuned and keep smiling my good chums! For the Hoodwink trailer is coming next!</div>
Keshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12141908864487560296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1888586595938122717.post-5049744776376385532012-05-15T19:59:00.000-07:002013-02-14T01:20:14.953-08:00Girls Make Computer Games Too<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm1s43x3Gnzb9Nz2b6ehSBlc7w22-j3bM0PGRbw5mOaSY0KGzibJuwz8TQhj4zm5zS0xw0yLPvB7DR8o4gAHARv32h0nScd0VkmlgmqKyvA7KcKPjtDp4iOZbvwhWv1ajdmnAgQX0IVIQ/s1600/IMAG0405.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm1s43x3Gnzb9Nz2b6ehSBlc7w22-j3bM0PGRbw5mOaSY0KGzibJuwz8TQhj4zm5zS0xw0yLPvB7DR8o4gAHARv32h0nScd0VkmlgmqKyvA7KcKPjtDp4iOZbvwhWv1ajdmnAgQX0IVIQ/s320/IMAG0405.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pssst! Stef! I iz got cameraphone!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Another day and I have another
person to write about on F5 Quicksave. Today I would like to introduce you to
Stephanie Yong, one of our resident 3D artists. Usually I approach these
encounters the same way any good journalist would – with an agenda and a set of
cunningly prepared questions. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
In other words I conduct an
interview with the person. However Stephanie was a difficult one to interview-
she kept insisting on having a ‘casual chat’ instead because my questions were
too ‘rigid’.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Rigid she says! How dare she discount MY
corporate journalistic integrity?! </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I who sat down with directors and
CEOs of large corporations and prepared them for many media interactions. Held
their hands and impressed upon them that that unfortunate issue with the cleaner’s
underwear and the mixing vats should be avoided at all costs and denied
vehemently!</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I, who prepared press conferences
with media seats rigged with remote detonate nail bombs - set to trigger if
any journalist got out of line.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I know exactly how to
conduct a professional interview! There’s nothing wrong with my list of
questions!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii-UuSXIR1Dwldrbqv_rI-VIa4HEujfPO9ekQ_kPODeDjg4rWlSxcxdOAn22Mrb6AEujntMYrFfH9DjQL9177Ab9w6ajdMwmzOoSXhNW2dGrVNjw4fIrFrHMBk3p0UC9tvcWR2HhqxhsQ/s1600/IMAG0387.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii-UuSXIR1Dwldrbqv_rI-VIa4HEujfPO9ekQ_kPODeDjg4rWlSxcxdOAn22Mrb6AEujntMYrFfH9DjQL9177Ab9w6ajdMwmzOoSXhNW2dGrVNjw4fIrFrHMBk3p0UC9tvcWR2HhqxhsQ/s320/IMAG0387.jpg" width="130" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">By Gum! Chris put<br />
on some pants!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
These creative types put too much
stock in “casualness” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Just the other day our writer
Chris came in dressed like he just jumped out of bed, put on a pair of flip
flops and walked to work in his pajamas. Any typical CEO witnessing this would
howl in pain and gauge out his eyeballs, all the while cursing that Chris
should be put to a swift death by the corporate attire police.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
But that’s corporate for you and I was no
longer in that rat race.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
So I gave in and followed her beneath
the blazing hot Malaysian sun to the furthest café from our office. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Well, it wasn’t that far away but
I’m generally too lazy to walk anywhere.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
We had a pleasant chat- we
discussed how things were at work, the progress of the game we were developing,
the unique personalities in our studio and so on. These topics are great, however
better suited for separate blog posts. My plan is to write about all my
colleagues, one by one, and this includes Stephanie Yong. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
So with sheer will and all the charm of a slug, somehow I managed to steer the conversation to her music interest. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Stephanie joins the ranks of many sensible adults who agree that Malaysian radio stations suck eggs and might be the spawn of devil. So she prefers listening to her private selection of songs which include a lot of new euro bands. She mentioned some; I knew none of them and only remember one called <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHTFmJk7fH0">Múm</a>. I was not taking notes you see, because I thought it might rupture the whole ‘casual’ bubble. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Fortunately she was a big fan of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOG3eus4ZSo&ob=av2e">Smashing Pumpkins</a>. Since I myself was once a whinny teenager I knew plenty about Smashing Pumpkins and we got into a discussion on the bands progress through the ages.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
We also talked about games. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Like the rest of us at e-One Studio, we were gamers from a very young age and Stephanie is no different. She started in the early dark ages of pc gaming, where VGA monitors instilled awe and wonder. Floppy disks were handled so carefully out of an irrational fear it would suddenly burst into flames. She fondly told me about her first purchase- Bullfrog’s “<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_64DAOrSMM">Theme Hospital</a>”. She recalled fondly how the game accused players of being cheaters whenever cheat codes were punched in.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLMif6-KaCVuJv45xxZilviSVYISRr6EVXhD-I9rIZIaAOpE1ZdPd7x9_6ubvySng69MPc8qMryyw8bxBlxX4hRBEZfhDE3oYg-NNKBceH2yeMCXUV3CZTPPcK5qGGLYLwkuAD2sNkzwE/s1600/IMAG0406.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLMif6-KaCVuJv45xxZilviSVYISRr6EVXhD-I9rIZIaAOpE1ZdPd7x9_6ubvySng69MPc8qMryyw8bxBlxX4hRBEZfhDE3oYg-NNKBceH2yeMCXUV3CZTPPcK5qGGLYLwkuAD2sNkzwE/s640/IMAG0406.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stef:"Oh no, its that weird new guy"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
By the way Stef likes fish. Not the way you and I like fish (with plenty of soy sauce and ginger). She likes them alive, well and happy and going about their usual fishy business. So if anyone wants to take her out for a treat, seafood aint the way to go. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Her favorite movie is “<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZh33gGK3Y8">Lock Stockand Two Smoking Barrels</a>” by Guy Ritchie. It’s an awesome movie and is high up there in the ranks of my personal favorites. For those who have been living under a shell licking moss for nutrition, I recommend you watch this flick. I asked her what she liked most about the movie and as I expected; it was the dialogue. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Who could disagree? The movie was jammed packed with fantastic quotes like this:</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0602941/">Eddie</a>:They're armed.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002077/">Soap</a>: What was that? Armed? What do you mean armed? Armed with what?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0602941/">Eddie</a>: Err, bad breath, colorful language, feather duster... what do you think they're gonna be armed with? Guns, you tit! </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
We chatted some more and there’s plenty to write about Stephanie. In fact I get the feeling there's so much more to Stephanie that you could write a whole saga of her, but a young lady must have her secrets. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
So that's all for now and I'm signing off!</div>
Keshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12141908864487560296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1888586595938122717.post-21204797339079171112012-05-08T22:55:00.000-07:002013-02-14T01:22:41.929-08:00The Artwork Plumber<div style="text-align: justify;">
Things are full steam ahead here in e-One Studio. Everyone’s so busy that it’s still taking some time for me to really get to know the team, so I thought it best for me to get to know the man who helped me set up this blog.</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: justify;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKj1j3RTUFGJ9jDemH6oqJfXJ5R-1GW-SO-DQPYGWT9LA9U_P49y6ZTSLF47US99uby8ZZJytdg63GyTEJ_xVhLklUopBBed6SvqCWyIdLFRx1d8SkDLUZ1e4SNI7tSR34ZsxwZ5N8ZBI/s1600/IMAG0382.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKj1j3RTUFGJ9jDemH6oqJfXJ5R-1GW-SO-DQPYGWT9LA9U_P49y6ZTSLF47US99uby8ZZJytdg63GyTEJ_xVhLklUopBBed6SvqCWyIdLFRx1d8SkDLUZ1e4SNI7tSR34ZsxwZ5N8ZBI/s640/IMAG0382.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He looks busy. Lets go bug him</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The poor soul being forced to put up with me sits on the desk to my right. His name is Shahrul Nizam and he hails from Pantai Remis in the central state of Perak, Malaysia.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Sporting a grey denim jacket and a thin beard, Shahrul calls himself “The Artwork Plumber” for e-One Studio. Any artwork or marketing materials for the studio’s intellectual property (IP) is sent to him and he enhances them. How this is related to pipes and clogged sinks is beyond me but if that’s how the man thinks of himself who am I to argue with him?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVt6VsPPXDnEAYCJizweyagoXANs13tSqRULxOcagdaZ0dW5NqN8LQIDUq8JhtfP4XnAcdU_1oNjQ88ylxMGPOJFZU-wVWdsBFL0u804P1z45M_pSROF796ypxrk4FAvxJ4l_LH0qblOI/s1600/IMAG0384.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVt6VsPPXDnEAYCJizweyagoXANs13tSqRULxOcagdaZ0dW5NqN8LQIDUq8JhtfP4XnAcdU_1oNjQ88ylxMGPOJFZU-wVWdsBFL0u804P1z45M_pSROF796ypxrk4FAvxJ4l_LH0qblOI/s640/IMAG0384.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shahrul:" Kesh, you need photography lessons bro "</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I can’t share with you the stuff he is working on but you can check out his artwork by following this link: <a href="http://syarul.deviantart.com/">syarul.deviantart.com</a> or check out his blog <a href="http://kloverfx.blogdrive.com/">kloverfx.blogdrive.com </a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Trust me, the stuff he comes up with will blow you away.</div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Shahrul is an all round good guy and I was keen to learn more about the chap. So I bombarded him with questions that would make any inquisition proud to have me as a member.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
ME: How long have you been attached to e-One?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Shahrul: How long? Er.. for some time actually, around 4 to 5 years I think</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
ME: Where did you study?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Shahrul: I studied Industrial Design in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
ME: Industrial design? That’s way off from what you are doing now. How did you manage the change?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Shahrul: Well I was always interested in art so that helped. I am a self-taught digital artist - I dabbled in everything from 3d design to coding.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: blue;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
ME: Do you play games? What kind?-which is your favorite?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Shahrul: Before I was married, I spent a lot of time playing RPG’s such as Baldurs Gate, Diablo and Morrowind. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
ME: I love Morrowind too! I thought the island of Vvanderfell they created was truly unique and not your run-of-the-mill fantasy setting. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Shahrul: Yeah, I didn’t enjoy Oblivion too much but I got the same good feeling when playing Skyrim though. I even felt the ambient sounds and music of Skyrim was a reach back to Morrowind. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
However these days I just play fast paced games like DoTA and some browser games.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I guess I would have to say that Baldurs Gate 2 was my most favourite game. I had initially bought it on a spur of the moment; without knowing much about the game. A very random buy. I played it for a while, got bored and left it. After a year, I loaded it up again and really got in to it. It certainly deserves its place as one of the greatest PC RPG’s ever created.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
ME: What are your key interests?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Shahrul: Drawing and doing some web coding on the side.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
ME: What is your favorite band/musician/ artist?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Shahrul: My favourite artist, as in painter, right now is Craig Mullins. However I also admire the works of <a href="http://www.jeanleongerome.org/">Jean-Léon Gérôme</a> and <a href="http://www.orientalist-art.org.uk/deutsh.html">Ludwig Deutsch</a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
As for music, I don’t have a specific taste. Definitely not pop music though….</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
ME: YES! DEATH TO POP! LONG LIVE ROCK AND ROLL!!!</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Shahrul: ….but I do get easily bored with music, I never enjoyed a song for too long so there isn’t much for me to share in that category.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
ME: What is your favourite movie?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Shahrul: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hB3S9bIaco">The Shawshank Redemption</a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
ME: Awesome flick. Which was your favourite scene?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Shahrul: I think everyone loved how he busted out of the prison. That was really inspiring. How the main character Andy, devised an escape plan with the few options he had and stuck with the plan for years and years.</div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
That's incredible perseverance.</div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Andy had a good set of friends in prison who unsuspectingly helped him escape by providing him with the tools and support to achieve his goal. Andy got out on his own but never forgot his buddy's, and they were happy for him. I guess they realized how they helped and the events that transpired after Andy's escape gave them hope. They were his family after all. </div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: justify;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue;"><img border="0" height="332" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitiNmdRmw7B7RCI7Q3DGNC1j6lMar708VyN__yt-0N5W5HizngkxxZ7D5F-xNPFcgSq0sEvfRwNV9vhdep71HBSKYRPJ3gQa1wpo7rmQ-Y0t6TgMbavUEHES0t8pyJEOhptVJR-sQMCdM/s640/IMAG0383.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shahrul is not impressed with me having my finger on the lens when taking this shot</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Movies are inspiring stories about other people; fictional or real but nothing compares to real life. The battle field is here and now. Did you here that a blind activist in China escaped from confinement recently? Imagine that! A real life Andy Dufresne. These stories and people keeps me inspired and motivated to do what I do.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
We spoke some more but there is only so much you can learn about a person in a day. I will surely be writing more about our office “plumber” as I spend my days and experiences with him in e-One.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
To sign off this post I asked Shahrul to share with me his favourite quote. It’s from Eleanor Roosevelt; </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“The Future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Nicely done Shahrul.</div>
</div>
Keshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12141908864487560296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1888586595938122717.post-90134329549314537162012-05-03T00:48:00.000-07:002013-02-14T01:26:44.782-08:00Day 1 at E-One Studio<div style="text-align: justify;">
On the 6th of April 2012, My girlfriend Pauline handed to me what looked like a pass to “Kreative Asia Master Class”, an event organized by MDEC and X Media Labs. The event served as a platform that brought together the world’s top creative minds to share their experience, insights and knowledge in the field of creative multimedia and animation with us budding Malaysians.<br />
<br />
Before that day, I was completely ignorant and unconcerned about the arena of the creative; I was content to provide my PR (public relation) skills to corporate clients and the consumer businesses. However Pauline knew how much I enjoyed playing games and she figured I could make use of that entire time spent dwelling in digital worlds into something more constructive.<br />
<br />
So in an attempt to humour her thoughtfulness, I accepted the pass with a smile and began to dread spending my luxurious weekend in a room full of photoshop geeks and multimedia nerds.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD_h82P-TfjVKYo91YpMFkLTxDV1yq2fuRp7CZQrEZLlmKRR9_c98o6GxZ8kx_62oKgewKKc3PCGmiFxGYEPFqK041jiRU73Q3VxHzfSpOcOkgKKxOZiigJGZGYsX52HrhzMZNPlRaRl4/s1600/IMAG0376.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD_h82P-TfjVKYo91YpMFkLTxDV1yq2fuRp7CZQrEZLlmKRR9_c98o6GxZ8kx_62oKgewKKc3PCGmiFxGYEPFqK041jiRU73Q3VxHzfSpOcOkgKKxOZiigJGZGYsX52HrhzMZNPlRaRl4/s640/IMAG0376.jpg" width="640" /></a> </div>
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<span id="imgspan" style="font-size: x-small;">E-One Studio ( by the way, I suck at photography)</span></div>
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How little I knew and how quickly perceptions can change. Today, I am in the employment of e-One Studio; a Malaysian game developer for multiple platforms.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIhhBx0wRfvUlz6YdYYIb3MklqxNXgZqqh989U6BFAAy3nXIPRTvNGoIvy5Hx-vPAFl2-hjIPq4tB5BNIfmtYG3mziB3EKnO3liEE-Fjwp0HZk6LVjqVmxIiezCEi-3zzO3cH1Z69H-cU/s1600/IMAG0381.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIhhBx0wRfvUlz6YdYYIb3MklqxNXgZqqh989U6BFAAy3nXIPRTvNGoIvy5Hx-vPAFl2-hjIPq4tB5BNIfmtYG3mziB3EKnO3liEE-Fjwp0HZk6LVjqVmxIiezCEi-3zzO3cH1Z69H-cU/s400/IMAG0381.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">You walk in and you're greeted by this pretty face</span></td></tr>
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Its my first day and I am excited and possibly talking too much and freaking people out.<br />
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But I can’t help it! As I go around the office of 30 (I think) and introducing myself, I can’t remember their names but I can see all the stuff they are working on.<br />
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Its freakin awesome!<br />
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There this one guy, I believe his name is Eric, has all kinds of Japanese “Mechs” lining the top of his desk. He didn’t hear me the first time as I introduced myself. Probably because of the headphones he had on and his unblinking focus on the image he was creating on screen. His left hand was on the keyboard while his right was scribbling away on a digital drawing pad. I kinda stood there and witnessed him pay intense attention to the smallest details to what appears to be a poster of e-One’s upcoming game.<br />
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There’s this other guy, I believe his name is Iz, who walked in with a leather jacket and plopped himself down at a desk which was decorated with figurines of Kratos from “God of War” and “Skyrim’s” Dovakinn riding a dragon. He’s a technical artist (whatever that means?). I asked him what horse he rode in on, and he told me it was a Harley.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpElPzJ_t8ECncxI6vni6pQj8URrOWywsN6qWCCLNYieWSOir2Slm1iRYYPVjOeEUrqJldj1GjiMHhxyoIvGpa4LSDkJqjuW_mltn-Sdru23KrKMV-PkMWyaoTWkDKbiyDt9iWRWFairg/s1600/IMAG0369.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpElPzJ_t8ECncxI6vni6pQj8URrOWywsN6qWCCLNYieWSOir2Slm1iRYYPVjOeEUrqJldj1GjiMHhxyoIvGpa4LSDkJqjuW_mltn-Sdru23KrKMV-PkMWyaoTWkDKbiyDt9iWRWFairg/s640/IMAG0369.jpg" width="640" /></a> </div>
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<span id="imgspan" style="font-size: x-small;">Look! we got a white board! </span></div>
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By the way, there is a pool/billiards table and foosball table in the office.<br />
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For those who are reading this and are going “So What?”- please bugger off.<br />
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You probably are already working in the industry or just jealous. This is a big change for me. For years I have been walking into white washed offices with MS WORD or XCEL flickering on pc screens and cheap “Abstract Art” hanging on the walls.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6aOGfgL9WyZR6s7atPn5KEb_XiLf_jhNlB8C3smiXK3NZPrpCVWCAt0KdvEYRoN3EqRvyxYKqt-rSVUQHVA_cRe342GaBA_-4ErXkLMPx77ymgpg2o9Over7ykDiBZescEmNOg3jf-Z0/s1600/IMAG0370.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6aOGfgL9WyZR6s7atPn5KEb_XiLf_jhNlB8C3smiXK3NZPrpCVWCAt0KdvEYRoN3EqRvyxYKqt-rSVUQHVA_cRe342GaBA_-4ErXkLMPx77ymgpg2o9Over7ykDiBZescEmNOg3jf-Z0/s640/IMAG0370.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Check it out! we got a water cooler too</span></td></tr>
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Checkered on the walls of e-One, there is concept art of fantastic worlds and each pc screen shows me some part of those worlds taking form.<br />
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As I mentioned, I dont remember everyone’s name just yet (probably because as a child I was dropped by my mum), but I believe getting to know my new colleagues is going to be an adventure in itself. Each person here has some uniqueness that is rarely exposed in other white collar offices.<br />
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So stay tuned, there's just so much to write about and who knows? You might find out how little you know about what goes on behind the doors of a little game studio.</div>
Keshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12141908864487560296noreply@blogger.com0