prototactics

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international women’s day celebration week

★ day 7: wildcard ➵ Vietnamese-American Actresses in Hollywood

Lê Thị Hiệp

Thùy Trang

Maggie Q

Hồng Châu

Olivia Munn

Ali Wong

Levy Trần (Trần Lê Vy)

Kelly Marie Trần (Trần Loan)

Lana Condor (Trần Đồng Lan)

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From Buddha, Vol. 2: The Four Encounters by Osamu Tezuka

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An Observation

I noticed that the bandits and mercenaries in my game are... unusually sweet? I mean, outside of battles, every “bad guy” you meet secretly cares about their fellow baddies and misses their grandmas.

I didn’t do that on purpose, but it ended up that way.

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I Won Nanowrimo!

I think I’ll edit the script in January after the holidays and see if I can create a game out of it. Right now, I’m using Gamemaker, but I might give RPG Maker a try.

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When Older Magic Users Flirt

SAVIN: Ampor, are you sure you want to join us? This is a dangerous journey…

GRANDMA AMPOR: Why Savin, your concern is quite sweet, but my magic is just as powerful as your own. Besides, don’t you think those men in gray deserve a beating from an old woman?

SAVIN: They do deserve to be punished. And you do hold your own.

GRANDMA AMPOR: I’d much rather hold you, my dear.

SAVIN: What was that?

GRANDMA AMPOR: Nothing.

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sarah connor dark fate commission for @rarepairqueen thank you so much i had a whale of a time drawing her ;;

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VERITE, the paladin:  “Sure, you may be verified on Twitter... but are you verified in the eyes of God?”

ROLAND, the squire: “Mothertrucker, dude! That hurt like a buttcheek on a stick!”

GRANDMA AMPOR, the dancer: “Honey, you got a big storm coming.”

Major Characters (So Far) As Vines

CHENDA, the main character and healer: “…Daddy?” “Uuuuh, yeah. :)”

VANG, Chenda’s husband: “Hey, how’re you doing? Well, I’m doing just fine. I lied, I’m dying inside…”

BORAN, the ranger: *bird tweeting as a guy nods in agreement*

NARONG, the fighter: Arthur, that angry British guy in traffic

SAVIN, the mage: “Is there anything better than *****? Yes, a really good book!”

KMENG, the thief: “What up, I’m Jared, I’m 19, and I never ****ing learned how to read!”

VAUH, the fighter and Kmeng’s dog: “Why can’t weee be fri-” *dog snarls and bites*

THUY, the ranger: “…welcome to Bath and Body Works. >:D”

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Chenda: The gods sent a little lizard to help us?

Naga: Hey, naga, NA-GA. Not lizard. I don't do that tongue thing.

Naga: *hiss blep*

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The World of ProtoTactics (First Draft)

Using Azagaar’s Fantasy Map Generator, I’ve created a map of the world of ProtoTactics. This is far from the final product; the map in-game will be much simpler to fit the early CRPG feel. However, the current map has been very helpful when drafting the story and deciding where the player can go next.

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ProtoTactics in a Nutshell

Bad Guy: I diagnose you with snake

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Major Characters (So Far) As Vines

CHENDA, the main character and healer: “…Daddy?” “Uuuuh, yeah. :)”

VANG, Chenda’s husband: “Hey, how’re you doing? Well, I’m doing just fine. I lied, I’m dying inside…”

BORAN, the ranger: *bird tweeting as a guy nods in agreement*

NARONG, the fighter: Arthur, that angry British guy in traffic

SAVIN, the mage: “Is there anything better than *****? Yes, a really good book!”

KMENG, the thief: “What up, I’m Jared, I’m 19, and I never ****ing learned how to read!”

VAUH, the fighter and Kmeng’s dog: “Why can’t weee be fri-” *dog snarls and bites*

THUY, the ranger: “…welcome to Bath and Body Works. >:D”

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NaNoWriMo Progress Report

My game is the best game because your characters can bond with a dog whose name means “woof” in khmer

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Bokator, Ancient Khmer martial art by a 70 years old lady

Bokator, Ancient Khmer martial art recalled by a 70 years old khmer lady (Sao Run), Kohsantepheap Newspaper 21 July 2011. TB

Lol my idol Lok Yei Saroeun! woooooooo!!

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Bokator – Cambodia’s Martial Arts

Possibly the oldest existing fighting system in Cambodia, oral tradition indicates that Bokator or an early form thereof was the close quarter combat system used by the armies of Angkor 1000 years ago. The term Bokator translates as “pounding a lion” from the words bok meaning to pound and tor meaning lion. A common misunderstanding is that bokator refers to all Khmer martial arts while in reality it only represents one particular style.  

The martial art form was nearly completely wiped out during the Khmer Rouge genocide years of the mid to late seventies. After surviving the horrors of the Khmer Rouge regime, the Grand Master, San Kim Saen, returned to Cambodia in the late 1990s with a goal to bring back the art of Bokator to his country. Scouring the country, he found less than ten Bokator masters who had survived the war years. He later opened his school in Phnom Penh, where he still teaches Bokator to about three hundred students. Several of whom have since been promoted to black karma (belt).

(check out Vision of Indochina’s blog for more!)

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Indie Game Spotlight: Raji: An Ancient Epic (@itsrajithegame​)

We’re exploring a beautiful world in this week’s Indie Game Spotlight! Raji: An Ancient Epic is an action-adventure game set in ancient India. Raji, a young girl, is chosen by the gods to stand against the demonic invasion of the human realm. Her destiny is to rescue her younger brother and face the demon lord Mahabalasura. We chatted with Nodding Heads Games’ co-founders and art directors, Shruti and Ian, co-founder and game designer Avichal, and lead programmer Paras, to find out more.

The game has stunning visuals. What inspiration did the team look to when creating this art style?

The art style comes from Shruti, who has a traditional art background. She was influenced by Pahari paintings, a traditional art form in India. This led to the unique hand-painted art style of Raji, which was achieved with UE4.

India’s vast wealth of medieval architecture also inspired locations and settings in the game, and this is something that the art team adapted for Raji.

How does the game incorporate culture and myths into the story?

The game’s setting, characters, enemies, and story arc take inspiration from myths and stories in Hindu and Balinese mythology. We have designed specific features that tell tales from Hindu mythology through hand-painted murals narrated by the God Vishnu. Our 2D cinematics were inspired by Wayang puppetry.

What has been the biggest challenge in creating the game?

Finding the necessary funding! Here’s the journey we went through:

After the cancellation of our Kickstarter in December 2017, there was little development until October 2018, when we signed up with Super.com. Throughout that period, we were continually chasing potential leads. As you can gather, this was a very stressful time for all three of us. At one point, we had to sit down and say, “when are we going to call it quits?”

We told the other members to start looking for work and look after themselves. Unfortunately, these are the realities when you’ve thrown all your eggs into one basket. But this shouldn’t stop you from turning down offers, which we did because it may not have aligned with our long-term goals.

At the end of the day, you have to be prepared to walk away or dig deep. In our case, we dug in, not prepared to give up on our dream and “what if’s.” Around this time, Shruti sold her apartment so we could survive a little longer.

The Epic grant came in the nick of time and helped us survive until we secured a deal with a publisher; it’s been 200% ever since. The team increased to 13, and we haven’t looked back. We are, however, very grateful to have been recipients of the Unreal Grant system. Without it, we can safely say that we would not be here telling our tale. 

What are some of the mechanics you incorporated into the game?

The game features a combat system based on Raji’s acrobatic abilities. In the backstory, Raji is a street performer. Keeping this in mind, we designed the core combat mechanics so that her movement leads to a diverse set of attacks. Combining the light and heavy attack combos with the character’s dodging and wall-running capabilities leads to a fluent execution of attacks.

There are many parkour and platforming elements in the game, including wall-running, grabbing and moving along ledges, and jumping from pillar to pillar. The level design allows the player to chain these individual mechanics to perform sweet and satisfying parkour combos and progress through the areas specifically designed for platforming.

The game contains simple yet holistic environment puzzles that are either linked to the player’s progression in the level or are tools for us to tell stories that tie in to Raji’s wider universe.

What do you hope people take away after playing?

This game has been our attempt to tap into the rich ancient history, myths, and lores from the Indian subcontinent, which are cruelly underrepresented in the gaming industry. We hope that the people who play Raji become familiar with it and realize the true potential for storytelling in Indian culture and history.

Raji: An Ancient Epic is available for purchase on PC through Steam and the Epic Game Store, Playstation 4, Xbox One, and Switch!

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In my head, this is the main theme for ProtoTactics. It makes me imagine exploring endless corridors in an ancient jungle temple.

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Here’s the main NaNoWriMo page for ProtoTactics!