Your shoes and the world to come...

Keeping game ideas in check

2011-09-22T12:32:00.001+02:00

Things are pretty good right now : I just moved in a new flat with my awesome girlfriend and a friend, I am making progress in my Ph.D research (slowly but surely), I am happy to see my sister working towards a great career path and, last but not least, I am finally starting to approach my dream : being a fully-fledged game developer. I know, I know, I could have been doing that for years already, and you would be right - I even did, to an extent - but now I have a momentum I could only dream about before. I thinks it boils down to having people with whom I am comfortable working, especially code-wise.

As you may or may not know, I am working with a bunch of friends as a team called GSM Productions. We even have a website ! We are right now finishing our first game, which I will always remember fondly, as it was the starting point of it all. Since then, the project ideas have been piling up, from puzzle-platformers about robots to free-running inspired 3D games - the evolution of my Ludum Dare 20 entry. It is exhilarating, yet at the same time it is a bit daunting.

OUT OF HERE - A crude prototype growing behind closed doors...

Clearly, it is very empowering to feel that all those game ideas are there, waiting for some code to make them happen. And I am confident that we could pull most of them out, because up until now I do not feel like we have considered ideas so grand in scope that they would become unmanageable. There is only one factor in the equation holding us back, and that would be time.

Our first game will have taken us roughly one year from initial idea to completion, if all goes according to plan. As much as we already have all the gameplay down, there are still many areas that needs more content or more balancing. Then only can we include the story-related functionality. So, yeah, it will have been a year. There are multiple reasons to that, what with Alun Hevel being our first game, the three of us having day jobs, etc. But nevertheless, even if we can shorten our game creation time to, let us say, 6 months, or even 4, the new ideas will still come piling up faster than we can ever hope to make them.

And that is a bit stressful. Usually, when a new idea comes, you want to get working on it right away, when it is still fresh in your mind, yet you cannot. So how would you do it ? How would you manage this stream of ideas ? Would you reserve one day per week to work on them to try and weed the bad ones out, or write them in a list for later, forfeiting the advantage of having the idea firmly in mind ?

Ludum Dare - Once again :)

2011-05-04T17:38:00.001+02:00

As was the case 4 months ago, I took part last weekend in a game-making competition called Ludum Dare.

As a reminder, the goal is to create a game from scratch in 48 hours, which is quite the challenge. This time, the theme was "It's dangerous to go alone! Take this!". I managed to make a 3D game (a first for me) during that time, in what was a frantic but fulfilling week-end.

That's the game in question. With unfortunate screen tearing when doing the screenshot :(

If you'd like to see what I was able to come up with, you can go on my entry's page, or use one of the following links :

Windows (zip)
Windows (installer)
Linux (32bits deb)
Linux (64bits deb)
Mac OSX (zipped .app)
Source code (dependency : Panda3D)
ArchLinux (32bits)
ArchLinux (64bits)
There should be something for everyone there :D I'd be of course very grateful for any feedback you may have.
If you want, you can also read up the couple of posts I made during the competition (and after) on the Ludum Dare blog. I had a blast, and I urge anyone with an interest in making games to try and participate once. Not only is it loads of fun, it's also extremely enlightening. Not to mention you'll go from not having a game to having one over a single weekend !

A gameplay screenshot :)

[Lumen] Initial progress status.

2011-03-30T10:51:00.000+02:00

Hi there ! Welcome to the first status update about Lumen, a project I have with a friend. I figured that a good way to keep the motivation intact would be to periodically report here about our progress with the game.

Oh yeah, Lumen is a game :)

We're using Panda3D, a free 3D engine, and Python as a programming language. Yesterday, I spent the evening working on some initial tests, and got to the point depicted in the video below.

It's not so impressive, but it was done in a couple of hours...

So, what do we have right now ?

A terrain generated from a black and white picture, called a heightmap;
Automatic simplification of the terrain based on the distance to the camera (Level of Detail, or LOD for short);
A sphere that you can control with the keyboard;
A mouse-controlled third person camera;
Some simple effects like fog;

It's really not that much from a code standpoint, but it helped me get acquainted with Panda3D.

We're not quite ready to discuss the concept behind Lumen right now, but as a first step we decided to concentrate on the control of the character first. That and the basic rendering stuff, of course. I've been following the progress made by the Overgrowth team (Just go and watch some of their progress videos. The game is gorgeous, those videos are awesome and really informative.), and they made a video about character animation which serves as a model for how to go from what I have now to something more elaborate.

So next in line : investigating the use of proper physics (and make that ball jump), and probably improve the terrain rendering a bit.

See you next time !

Unkown Lands Episode 1: Stranger in a strange land

2011-03-24T14:10:00.001+01:00

[Everyone and their grandmother do this, so I thought "why not me ?". Don't hold your breath for regular updates though, you know who I am... But I'll do my best...]

What would you do if you woke up at the bottom of a dune behind which the sun the sun would be slowly rising ? That's the question I've been considering since I opened my eyes on this sandy landscape. I don't know why or how I got here, or where I was before. I don't have anything on me, only this question : what to do now ?

At least the weather is nice...

As I turn around, I see only sand. And cacti.

Shit. A desert.

Not that I don't like deserts, theoretically, but being stranded in an unknown land, my first reflex is to seek some shelter. And I don't see myself builind a big sandcastle to sleep in. And before you laugh at me, go and try it yourself. You'll see that it's not that easy.

Oh but wait, in an unwillingly suspense-preserving move, I've started examining my surroundings in the "wrong" direction. I can see a tree in the distance ! At the very least, it'll provide some shade during the day. At best, I'll find a way to chop it into bits to get some wood. But then again, how I would be going about harvesting wood without any tool, I don't really know.

Why, hello there! You seem like a nice tree!

So here I am, climbing a decidedly blocky hill by jumping my way to the top, making one meter high leaps like I'm some kind of olympic athlete. I still don't know why I'm here, but it sure didn't make me a weakling. Arriving at the tree, I'm so happy that I gently punch the wood repeatedly, like I would the shoulder of a friend. Haha, dude, what are you doing by yourse...

*Pop*

I'm hitting air now. I'm pretty sure there was some wood there before. Which was what I was punching. Apparently now it's laying on the ground, just there, and I'm able to pick up this solid meter cubed of wood like it's a feather.

So let me get this straight : I can break down trees by punching them, then I can pick up massive amounts of the material easily. Cool ! Weird as it is, at least building a shelter should be doable.

Speaking of which, where am I going to build said shelter ? Let me just... Oh, over there !

That natural arch in the distance looks just perfect !

I quickly make my way over there, and see that I'm not mistaken. That place does look just perfect. And as I look up, I see something that looks darker than the rest of the stones around it. Could it be... ?

Look, there ! Seems like I've struck gold ! I mean coal !

So yes, it's coal ! That will most certainly prove useful. But how am I suppose to extract the thing. I go punch some trees to help me thing about it, and the solution appears before my eyes : I need a pickaxe. So I try to assemble one out of all this wood I've been accumulating, but it feels like I would need a third hand to be able to do it. So I start by building some kind of workbench, which then makes the task of building my rudimentary wooden pickaxe almost trivial. I do have to break some of my wood into sticks, but that doesn't take long.

So armed with my glorious pickaxe, I climb up to some of the coal deposits I saw earlier, and begin mining them. I think I should be questioning the logic of mining though stone with a wooden tool, but who cares ? After all, that's not the most illogical thing that happened to me since this morning.

Speaking of the day, it's well in the afternoon now, and this shelter isn't going to build itself. Seeing the kind of surroundings I'm in, I see only one solution : a platform under the natural arch. The weather seems warm enough, and ... screw this, I don't have to justify myself : I think it'll look awesome. So there.

I almost have a home !

I quickly run out of wood, so I wander around to find some more trees. I was complaining that I woke up in a desert, why am I turning this land into one ? Anyway, I can see that my surroundings are pretty welcoming, with very ~~delicious~~friendly-looking sheep prancing around flower-filled fields...

I was half-expecting a rainbow or a unicorn.

But look how late it is ! Quickly, I use my newly-acquired wood to extend my platform a bit, and to block its entrances. Wouldn't want those sheep to become too friendly during the night. With that out of the way, I can finally sit down and enjoy the sight of the sun setting over that strange new world. It's been a very long day.

From here, the landscape looks like it's calling me to go and explore !

Oh my, what a day... Also, now that the sun isn't there anymore, I can see that I can't, in fact. See, that is. It's really dark in there, I should have thought about that before... But wait, I've got some coal right ? What if I put some on a stick and OH GOD.

It lit up spontaneously. That was scary. Well anyway, I got myself some makeshift torches that I can plant in the rocks next to my platform to light it up a bit. Nice. But it's also a bit chilly, you know... I guess I'd better carve myself a small room to hole up in, away from this chilly wind.

The entrance to my nice little cozy (emphasis on the little there) room.

Because as far as I can tell, I don't really need to fear robbers coming to steal my torches and pickaxe. I'm alone, right ?

Right ?

From my window

2011-03-15T22:03:00.000+01:00

Just a quick post, not to turn this blog into a Tumblr, but just to show you the view from my window, to compliment yesterday's offering.
For tomorrow, I have planned to take some pictures of the campus on my way to work, and I think I'm going to go to the center of the city to grab something to eat. So there may be more photographs here soon...

And there's another small lake further on the left !

A new adventure : Stuttgart !

2011-03-14T22:09:00.000+01:00

So, that's it, I'm now in Stuttgart for a 3-months internship in the University of Stuttgart. And, I must say as I'm typing from my very cool apartment, so far so good.

The trip (by train) was really cool, got a bit of time to kill in Cologne between my two trains, and I was awed by the spectacle of the that huge cathedral right outside the station.

Honetly, it's like, huge.

And stepping outside confirmed what I thought : that building is really impressive. And against the grey sky, it looked quite intimidating...

You can almost hear a deep choir singing foreboding melodies, right ?

The rest of the trip was peaceful, and before I knew it, I was on the campus. There, I met Florian Hindenlang, the guy who I'm going to work with during those next three months. The rest of the day consisted of a quick tour of the lab, with "nice to meet you"s sprinkled here and there. Then some work, and finally a German supper to close the day.

And here I am, typing on my laptop, in a room much nicer than I thought I would end up in, with a über fast internet connection ! Life can be good, sometimes :D

So, there you go, a little picspam of my apartment. I didn't take many pictures, but don't worry, you'll get a glimpse of the campus and the rest over the course of the next few weeks.

That's the kitchen, with a fridge and everything. And my half-unpacked stuff.

The bedroom. Did I mention it's huge ? And the desk is really big too. Reaaaaal nice.

Beds !

And lots of storage space. Won't need it, but it's still pretty cool.

I can haz shower !

So there, a little tour of my first day in Germany. It's all good, and there are already talks of something I really find interesting : a coding marathon, where we would take a full week in a hotel and simply dive and code something from scratch. The sprint coding amateur in me rejoices!

Till next time...

We made a game !

2011-03-02T14:56:00.000+01:00

...Okay, okay, technically we only have reached beta status, but still, that's something !

And before you ask, I'm not starting to speak about myself as "we", no. With another coding friend (Thomas, a.k.a. Sempaï) and an infographist (Medea), we formed a small team called "GSM Productions" to start making a game for a common friend's birthday present.

For two months, working on our spare time, and that isn't a lot, let me tell you, we developed a tower defense game based on our friend's fantasy book about demons and angels. And, on friday, we finally gave her the present, in the form of a beta version of the game !

What is with that look ?

Oh, you don't think it was nice to give her a beta version instead of a full, finished product ? Well, you see, the gift is meant to be twofolds. The software itself is only part of the whole thing. Now, as we'll be progressing towards the final game, we want to let her write the story that'll go along the game. Also, she'll help us integrate the game into her universe a little better.

We're very commited to finish this game up, and while we're implementing the remaining features and balancing the difficulty, we'll release some beta versions for you to see. But right now, the computer hosting our Git repository is dead, and we still to sort the licensing before we put up a download link. We use Creative Common music, and probably are going to go with the GPL for the source code (even if not, rest assured that the code will be opensource !), but we want to make sure that we do everything correctly.

So you're still going to have to wait a little bit to enjoy Alun Hevel :) But hopefully you'll like it when we do release it !

Tonight, tonight...

2011-02-25T14:10:00.000+01:00

I've been itching to write about something here, but I STILL CAN'T. Because the thing in question is supposed to be a surprise... But we're going to unveil it tonight, so expect a post about it here soon after :D

Into the unknown - Post-mortem

2010-12-22T11:35:00.000+01:00

Well, had some time to think over what I did right and wrong for my first participation in LD, or any game making sprint for that matter.
The good :

I ended up with something playable. Sure, it lacks a lot of stuff, but considering I had to pretty much give up on more than half of the 48 hours thanks to "life", it's still a good thing.
I managed to learn pyGame. I had sort of glanced over the docs before, but getting down to programming with it really is the best way to truly learn how to use it.
I didn't spend a single second fixing 'code' problems. That's thanks to Python, but anyway the only bugs I had were logical ones, and not some weird case of the code behaving in strange ways. That was refreshing.
I had loads of fun, which I see as an important point, that means I'd do it again.

The bad :

I tackled problems in the wrong order. I spent a huge amount of time trying to fix my lighting system, and still didn't get it right on time for the submission deadline. As I was making a platformer, I should have concentrated on getting a platformer first, and then add the light stuff.
In relation to the previous point, I spent way too much time on a single problem. And by not changing and working on something else, I kept trying to push in the wrong direction. Case in point : on monday, I fixed my lighting problems in about 20 minutes, because my mind was clear and I could see the solution I'd missed (hint : I was trying to determine what areas were lit, I ended up computing the shaded parts instead...).
I didn't allocate time for packaging. I figured that Python and pyGame being cross-platform, it would work out, but I should have spent some time to properly package for MacOSX users and Windows users. I'm going to fix that as soon as I have some time, though.

So there you go, all in all I'm proud of myself, and I'll be sure to continue working on the game. I think it has some potential, even if it's very crude and barebones at the moment.

Thanks to those who provided feedback, it's really helpful! And stay tuned for proper exe and app executables in the next few days (busy packing as I'm going to Canada on friday, but I'll find some time...).

Version 0.2 already

2010-12-21T00:17:00.000+01:00

Don't want to read ? Here's a link : http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17113774/intotheunknown-0.2.zip

Of course, after having slept a bit, the solution to all my light-related problems appeared to me, clear and simple...

So I couldn't resist and implemented it, look how beautiful it is ! (Ahem, getting a bit ahead of myself...)

Anyway, enjoy "Into the unknown v.0.2". Next update will probably be about some kind of new feature. Like a start screen, or maybe some kind of story-related stuff. But it'll happen when it happens.
And it'll surely improve the controls, which are a bit hard to grasp at the moment...

And that's a wrap !

2010-12-20T03:03:00.000+01:00

Thought I was never going to finish in time, but here I am, my 'game' uploaded before the deadline... It looks somehow like this :

But honestly, when it moves it's much nicer :)

So if you're feeling brave, install python and pygame, and enjoy ! Many things I planned to put in there were left out, and I'll probably do a proper post-mortem of my experience at a later time.

It was both very fun and a very good challenge, anyway. I'll probably come back to that project to properly finish it, I think it has some kind of potential.

Anyway, links !

Ludum Dare entry page
Actual file (source code, you need python and pygame to play...)

Of course, I'm very interested in any kind of feedback you could have... Comment away !

Hum, not much time left...

2010-12-19T23:03:00.000+01:00

...and my lights still aren't properly working... *sigh*

That being said, I'm now designing levels, got 17 down, still need around 23, but describing them all by hand is quite time consuming. And with all that, there's still no music, no sound, no story, ...

I hope to have at least a basic "explore the labyrinth to find the exit" type of thing for the deadline, but a complete version will probably have to wait for after the end of the competition. Ah well, at least I'm having fun :p

And, ladies and gentlemen, let there be light !

2010-12-18T19:31:00.000+01:00

Well, ok, it's not impressive as of yet, but my proof-of-concept jusing a bitmask works like a charm (just tested it in five minutes...). So I'm confident I'll have the kind of lights I want tomorrow...

This is looking very good this far...

And here's a screenshot (also, some kind of background :D)

Now, I need to compute the boundary of a weird polygon... Then maybe, soft shadows ?

Yay ! Levels can now be loaded !

2010-12-18T16:22:00.000+01:00

I now have a pretty good grasp on the game I want to make (obviously, it'll be some kind of platformer...), and the code is coming along nicely.

This is what I've got right now :

This starts looking like a game, right ?

I will now start thinking about the biggest challenge : a dynamic lighting system. Got some ideas, but it won't be easy. Wish me luck !

Physical setup complete !

2010-12-17T22:48:00.000+01:00

Ok, took me a bit longer than expected, but my room is ready !

Vignetting effect courtesy of my wide-angle lens.

Guitars are there, music is playing, I have fruits handy, desk is tidy, and the fridge is full of stuff... Now to the software part...

Ludum Dare #19

2010-12-16T16:14:00.000+01:00

So, this weekend will be pretty busy. Between the Japanese class, the family reunion on saturday night, and some last-minute present shopping, I'm going to try and take part in Ludum Dare #19.

I mentionned Ludum Dare previously, but to recap, it's a competition where the goal is to make a game based on a yet-to-be-revealed theme in 48 hours, starting from scratch.

It's going to be tough, but I really want to try and get together something playable during the weekend. In my timezone, the contest will start at 3am on saturday, and end at the same time monday, so I'll still have a reasonable amount of time.

I'll (try to) blog and tweet regularly during the process, so expect things here during the weekend. For the curious, you can check what I'll be using there.

How to feel good about yourself today.

2010-12-15T18:27:00.001+01:00

Who doesn't like feeling like a good person once in a while ? And who doesn't like getting something for it to boot ?

Well, guess what, for a little more than 6 days still, that's exactly what you can do !

Here's the deal : you buy 5 great games for any price you want, then decide who gets the money. Sounds good? Head over to the Humble Indie Bundle #2 page.

Still not convinced ? Then please take a couple of minutes to read about some specifics after the break...

As last year, 5 independently-developed PC games are being offered as a downloadable pack, which you are invited to buy for any price you decide. This can be as low as $1, and right now the top contributor is Notch, developer of the hugely successful Minecraft, with a whopping $2.000.The average donation is currently a little above $7, and I paid $30 for mine... So really, your call.

Then, once you decided on the money you wish to donate, you get to choose how it gets splitted. You can divide it between :

The game developers. Remember, those games are made by very small teams, and they need the support.
Child's Play, a charity started by the guys over at Penny Arcade, with the intent of bringing toys and games into hospitals to make the lives of children there a bit better.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, whose goal is to defend people's liberties and rights in the digital age.
The organisators of the bundle, via a "humble tip", to help cover the hosting and related costs, and to give them the opportunity of creating another bundle next year.

Now, what about the games? Because helping charities is all well and good, but this is still a game bundle, right ? Last year, you could have gotten World of Goo, Aquaria, Penumbra: Overture, Lugaru HD and Gish (four of which have subsequently been open-sourced, mind you). And this year, the lineup is just as great :

Braid : A platformer/puzzle hybrid in which you'll need to make use of the character's various time-bending abilities to grab puzzle pieces and unravel the story. Very unusual, and some of the puzzles are sure to keep you thinking for a while...
Cortex Command : Buy artificial bodies and remote-control them to gather resources in a game that is still under active development (fear not, your purchase make you eligible for all future updates), but already impresses with extremely detailed physics, excellent 2D graphics, and more (also, multiplayer !).
Machinarium : A point-and-click adventure which is as gripping as it is beautiful. Superb art style, inventive challenges, and a wonderful soundtrack. Speaking of which... Said soundtrack is even included in the bundle !
Osmos : Very soothing physics-based gameplay. Absorb creatures smaller than you while avoiding the same fate, to complete various objectives. And if you're stuck, you can always try a randomized version of the level giving you trouble... A mini-album with some of the game's music is also included, but you won't listen to it, because you'll still be playing the addictive game.
Revenge of the Titans : Like Tower Defense games ? Good. Like real time strategy games ? Even better, because Revenge of the Titans is a mix of both. Another game still under active development (and again, you'll get all the updates for free), RotT is also available for the first time inside the bundle, so be hype and play it before anybody else !

So there you have it, a very, very nice way to do some good during this holiday season. Oh, and not to forget, all games run on Linux (32 and 64 bits), Mac OSX and Windows !!! All. Of. Them. Isn't that awesome ? And one last word for the competitive among you : checking the stats at http://www.humblebundle.com/ , you can see that the most (on average) generous people are the Linux folks with $13.55/sale on average, before Mac users with $8.12/sale, and finally Windows guys give $5.96 on average. So go increase the gap or turn the tables ! Buy the Humble Indie Bundle for yourself or a friend. Or both. Game on !

Besoin d'un avis, les geeks...

2010-12-13T14:29:00.000+01:00

[Note : Sorry for the post in French...]

J'ai besoin de votre avis à propos d'un projet en train de germer...
A savoir, une compétition de création de jeux vidéos.

L'idée est de proposer de créer, seul ou à deux, un jeu vidéo complet en 48 heures (pendant un week-end, d'un vendredi 19h au dimanche 19h, pour pouvoir quand même dormir avant la semaine :) ).

Après le week-end de création, les participants auraient l'occasion de jouer aux créations de leurs concurrents, et de voter dans différentes catégories (gameplay, graphismes, originalité, ...). Ensuite, le vainqueur dans chaque catégorie serait annoncé.

L'idée en est pour l'instant là, donc pas encore de dates, de règlement complet ou autre. Simplement, une envie de pousser les gens à concevoir des jeux, et à le faire "sous la pression" afin que quelque chose en sorte. Mais ce genre d'évènement ne pouvant se concrétiser que si des gens sont désireux d'y participer, je commence par voir si, autour de moi, certains seraient potentiellement intéressés.

Si ça vous tente "dans l'absolu", faites-le moi savoir (via un commentaire, par exemple, ou un mail), que j'aie une petite idée de l'intérêt que l'idée génère... Faites aussi passer l'idée autour de vous, avec mon adresse mail (kadomony@gmail.com) ou un lien vers ce poste si vous avez des amis, ou des amis d'amis, qui pourraient avoir envie de participer...

Merci d'avance à ceux qui prendront le temps de répondre !

Enfin, pour ceux qui connaissent, le concept est très visiblement inspiré de la compétition Ludum Dare (http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/rules/)

What is he doing all the way over there ? [05]

2010-11-29T00:50:00.001+01:00

And here comes the next batch of words mostly about a guy in a far-off country (well far-off, depends on where you are while reading this). Anyway ! Let's skip a pictureless day and go straight to...

Day 9 [07/05] : Saltwater

Another day at the beach !

This pretty much looks like the quintessential summer vacation picture from Japan in my mind. Maybe I'm weird, but it's like that.

We went to a nice small beach together with Takahiro and Pascale to enjoy the sunny weather. Nice and relaxed, even if uneventful for the most part (of course, I can't mention having to stay longer than expected because Takahiro managed to get water on his pants in a rather suspicious place... wouldn't be nice).

The beach in question. Beautiful AND without anyone else.

We spent the second half of the afternoon doing some shopping and other mundane stuff, though we catched a glimpse of something unusual...

A belgian beer store !

And, as the evening drew closer and my stomach started growling, Pascale's friends from the International House took me to out to eat yakiniku. Don't know what that is ? There you go :

So. Good. Also, so. much.

The picture doesn't convey the main characteristic of this meal : during something like 2 hours, you're free to order as much meat (and drinks) as you want. And this meat being of the extremely tasty kind, you order a LOT, and end up completely full. For a meat-lover like myself, this was a real treat. Also, being in excellent company did help too !

Guess who's who : Alex, Toby, Bakari, Shin, Takahiro, Pascale, Robin, Claire, Manu, Sam, and yours truly. Thanks for the awesome evening, guys !

(Don't miss the second serving after the break !)

Day 10 [08/05] : Times like these

Sports. Those sneaky Japanese made me do SPORTS. Jokes aside, they had, under the leadership of Aiko, decided to organize something else to do with me. And that was going to "Round 1", a strange complex offering you various spaces to practice many sports, a huge video game arcade, and many other stuff. And of course, this being Japan, it's open 24 hours a day...

Aiko recording her friend's performance.

We started off by a bit of archery (and thanks to my year or so spent practicing, I could show off a bit, which would not be the case for most of the other activities...), then quickly moved on to batting practice.

Believe it or not, I hit almost every ball !

Yeah, yeah ok, it was the "easy" level, that I suppose is meant for kids or something. Next to me there was Aiko's boyfriend who sounded like he was firing a gun each time he hit the ball. Kinda scary. Then, let me glance over how I did poorly at basketball and soccer, and skip something more into my comfort zone :

Well, not racers, but videogames...

Being told I could play anything in that huge room without having to pay anything (well, I had paid a fee at the entrance, but I didn't have to put coins in the machines) was just... awesome... Taiko drums, Mario Kart, Guitar Freaks... They were all there, and more. But above all else, I did something that made me so proud of myself. Namely, challenging Kenta at Dance Dance Revolution, and WIN. I felt like something was finally complete in me. Probably just the fact that I finally got to play DDR on a real arcade machine in Japan, though.

And to close another great day, we went to Tenjin for supper. I was hoping for something kinda... light, seeing how heavy the previous night's meal had been for my little stomach. But do you know where they took me ? That's right, another yakiniku. Oh boy, oh boy.

The architects of another unforgettable day ! (And thanks to Ria too, who had to leave a bit early...)

But my fears were soon dispelled by those amazing tastes. I ended up really, REALLY full, but so glad...

Day 11 [09/05] & Day 12 [10/05] :Nothing to see, move along !

Day 13 [11/05] : In this serenity

Day 13 was the day I visited, again with Pascae and Takahiro, a town called Yanagawa, where apparently they love eating eels.

Or maybe eels like the town ? I'm not sure anymore ?

This town gave out a really relaxed vibe, so you know what ? This time I'm going to let the pictures do the talking... Appreciate the greenery :)

This town reminds me a bit of Persona 4.

Mysterious boats inviting you to somewhere...

Yes, boatS.

Persona 4, then Project Zero...

There was a park, we took a stroll in it.

Isn't this town peaceful ?

What a menacing turtle !

...that is, if it wasn't 3 cm long...

[And that's it for tonight. But don't worry, there is plenty more where those came from. Also, Tokyo is approaching...]

What is he doing all the way over there ? [04]

2010-11-28T21:50:00.001+01:00

Well, no, you're not dreaming, this is finally the follow-up to my articles written when I was in Japan last spring. I'll try to dig up some of the more interesting stories from that time now almost lost in the mist of the past, mainly because SOMEONE is bugging me to see some more photos (also, sorry, but I'm going to skip a few days for which I don't have any picture)...

Anyway, if you remember, last thing I blogged about was going into Takahiro's family for a couple of days.

So let's start from there.

Day 5 [03/05] : Journey into the morn

We had a whole lot to do that day... After waking up quite early (for a vacation), we embarked, Takahiro, his mother, his brother, Pascale and I, into a car, a started our journey around the surroundings of Kumamoto by going to a viewing spot in the nearby mountains.

There were wind turbines there. Did I mention that I find those very pretty ?

Then, the next stop was at a spring. Photographs can't do it justice very well, but it was funny, as the water was coming out of the ground, through gravel. Bubbles ensued.

The spring was surrounded by a temple and a couple of buildings. Very relaxing atmosphere, and the weather was beautiful.

After praying at the temple, we were starting to get hungry. Not sure if there was a causality link, but anyway, we went to a nearby ramen shop where we had some finger-lickin' good ramen. We were told it was a "special" kind of ramen, but as to what made it special... That's still some kind of a mystery. But without delving further into the matter, we got into the car once more, for it was time for the "main event" of the day :

Yes, that's the crater of a live volcano. It's impressive. The smell is, too.

That was my first time seeing a live volcano, it's kinda humbling. That is, until the wind carries the awful smell towards you. If you're curious, take a sandwich with eggs in it, and leave it there for 10 days or something. It should give you a pretty accurate simulation.

Our noses (and lungs) were happy when we moved to another viewing spot, and then into a spa. Before you ask, no, I did not go to an onsen. That's just not for me... But walking around the complex, lost in a deep valley, between trees, was a very relaxing way to spend the end of the afternoon.

A view of the spa.

We had walked quite a bit during the day, and I must admit stopping for a while to dip your feet in hot spring water was a real treat.

Then, the time came to go back to Kumamoto, where Takahiro's family would join us for a supper in a nice restaurant. Well, to be honest, it was more us joining them seeing how we arrived late thanks to pretty hardcore traffic jams. The thing I'll remember of this supper is Takahiro's very extravert uncle, who amongst other things told me I used my chopsticks "in a very elegant way". Not sure it was a real compliment though.

Need I say I fell asleep pretty quickly that night ?

(read more after the break...)

Day 6 [04/05] : Castle in the mist

The 4th of may was the day we were going back to Fukuoka. But before that, we went to see Kumamoto Castle.

Kumamoto Castle : black, white, and big.

The castle, while kinda crowded, was beautiful. Of course, as most of Japan's historical buildings, the castle has been totally rebuilt according to the original plans after burning down. Several times apparently. And in case you're wondering how many people are needed to build that kind of structure, the answer is : a lot.

A whole lot actually. The names of those people filled several rooms in the castle !

It was also a good occasion to discover how ninjas probably managed to infiltrate enemy castles. In fact, thanks to non-vertical walls, it doesn't seem too hard.

On the left, Pascale trying to scale the wall. On the right, a sign explaining that it is forbidden to do so.

All in all, a very interesting visit, thanks to all the plans and models exposed inside the castle. I just love looking at those.

Before hopping once more into the car that was going to take us back to Fukuoka, we had a last nice lunch in a ... weird kitsch restaurant, then finally, said goodbye to our ever-so-nice hosts.

Really grateful for all they did for us during those few days... So many interesting sights.

Day 7 [05/05] : Through the looking glass

After that awesome, but tiring, trip, we decided to take it easy for once, and went to one of those crazy shopping malls you can find in Japan.

Canal City. Yes, this is a shopping mall.

Canal City is built next to, you guessed it, a canal. It's pretty huge, has got a nice HMV, and countless shop selling pretty much everything. There's also a cinema burrowed in there somewhere. At some point, there was some kind of circus show going on.

Afterwards, we decided to go grab something to eat near the sea (we had some super spicy chinese-style noodle soup, simply awesome) before going back to Canal City to watch Alice in Wonderland, spending a few coin in an arcade, peaceful... WHAT. IS. THAT ?

Laugh all you want. This little guy was WALKING AROUND CARRYING A BALLOON. It freaked me out.

Oh wait, I know what it is. It's Rilakkuma, one of Japan's most popular mascot, whose name comes from the contraction of "Relax" and "kuma" (bear in Japanese). Relax ? Around this ? Honesty, I don't know how people find it "cute". I'm sure he's planning evil things. Poor children... And the ressemblance to an infamous internet character sure doesn't help.

The weather was nice enough to let us enjoy some pretty night views of Fukuoka. See Fukuoka Tower over there ?

Speaking of evil things, we found out that canal city is inhabited, at night, by robots... They clean the place, look like humans for no apparent reason, and speak to you when you stand in their way. Japan will probably be the first country to be overcome by robot overlords...

[Tune in next time for some more !]

And amidst the void...

2010-07-30T14:28:00.000+02:00

Well things are pretty quiet around here... Mainly due to the fact that I'm moving, so the past few weeks have been nothing but tremendous administrative fun.

Anyway, I'm not dead, and I look forward to having the opportunity of a fresh start to hopefully commit more to this blog. Stay tuned for more live reports, anime rants, video game thingies and whatnot.

What is he doing all the way over there ? [03]

2010-05-15T17:28:00.003+02:00

Sorry for the belated, almost picture-less and short post. But I'm getting very tired, and unfortunately Day 5 is a event-heavy one, which means quite a bit of writing. So bear with me here, I'll try to get "episode 4" done quick snap.

Day 4 [02/05] : A prelude

So, I said something about a "more culure-oriented" day, right ? Well, this was because it was the day when Pascale and I would have the opportunity to attend the 50th anniversary concert given by the Fukuoka University's mandolin club.

One can ask : "But why ? You're not particularly known for your passion for mandolin.", which would be a valid point. But the thing is, I know two members of said mandolin club, which was more than enough of a reason for us to take this chance to try something new. Not to mention one of the two mandolin players had sent me two tickets for the event ! So sweet (and if you ever read this, thank you so much, Erika) !

The Fukuoka Acros, where the concert was taking place. Beautiful with all those plants, and the inside is just as impressive.

And I'm really glad I went. Even though I must admit, not all the pieces played were awesome, much of the concert was very good. It was also a very original experience. At first I thought it would be only - or almost only - mandolins, but it was a whole bunch of them, plus many guitars, and some other instruments (percussions, flutes, contrabasses, ...). That made for a very full sound. And at one point, a Japanese singer, Kazuo Zaitsu, came to perform some of song, backed by the orchestra. So, all in all, an impressive and memorable experience. Too bad I couldn't take pictures inside the concert hall...

But, but, BUT, that's not all ! After the concert, I was left alone by Pascale to wander through Tenjin while she went to meet her famed boyfriend before they would come and pick me up so we could go to his grandmother's house in Kumamoto.

Yeah, you left me alone, "bad sister" !

Saying that I was impatient to finally meet "the man" would be an understatement. I didn't even have the chance to talk with him on Skype like my parens did, so I really only had seen pictures of Takahiro, and of course the description from Pascale. But that wouldn't do anyone justice, now would it ?

Conclusion : a very cool and natural first contact. We readily went along, and the trip to Kumamoto ended up a very relaxed one, with us going to eat a ramen before leaving Fukuoka. We had fun watching the very scary ramen shop owner, who really didn't seem like the kindest person...

Kumamoto, here we come !

The end of the evening was spent a Takahiro's grandmother's house, among the almost non-english speaking family, and I must say I was really nervous at first. But then, as I discovered that not only could I pick up the general topic of what was being talked about in a satisfying manner, but that they all were very nice people, it was a bit easier. To give you an idea, there was a total of 8 people in the house : Takahiro, his cousin, his aunt, his uncle, his older brother, his mother, Pascale and me. Made me realize I really should take those Japanese classes I've meant to for so long...

What is he doing all the way over there ? [02]

2010-05-06T08:55:00.016+02:00

So I heard I didn't put enough photographs in my first post ? I'll try to correct that with this one, then ! (But I want to keep some so that I can still bother everyone when I get back :D)

Day 2 [30/04] : Standing there

Well, seeing how late the previous day ended, we took it easy. And in fact, pretty much the only thing we did was going to the nice nearby supermarket, because Pascale wanted to cook me something.

Hey, don't laugh! It's quite tricky to make a "e".

Something, as in yakisoba (a sort of fried noodles). And it was so good ! She'll tell you that it was too "liquid", but I say it tasted very good anyway. And afterwards we spent the evening watching movies, a "serious one", Die Welle, and a more funny one, 2012. But do not think it was the start of a lazy period, because the following day was quite packed...

Day 3 [01/05] : Look into the air

As we were now well rested, we kicked the day off by going into Tenjin, Fukuoka's busy retail district. If you like browsing through shops - almost any kind of shop, in fact - it's those kind of district that you should go to. Everywhere, huge shopping malls that sell everything from the latest clothes to Hello Kitty spoons. It has, of course, a big Tower Records shop too, which is pretty dangerous for yours truly's wallet...

A rare sight : an empty walkway section in Tenjin !

What's even better is what you discover when you are guided by someone who had the time to look past all the flashy-looking stores to discover the ones filled with an incredible amount of random... random... stuff. I mean, there's no other way of describing the ginormous variety of things they sell in Village Vanguard stores. There's almost no room to move around the store, and you stumble successively on books about coffee, on NES controller-shaped bags, then on halloween costumes or math-rock CDs. It's crazy...

Lots of massive buildings in Tenjin...

Then, after all the randomness, we went to see some of the landmarks of the Fukuoka cityscape. First on the list was Fukuoka Tower, the tallest building of the city located just next to the beach. We didn't go all the way up because of the rather expensive admittance fee, but it was already impressive seen from the ground.

If this doesn't look like vacations, I don't know what does.

Of course (I was with my sister, after all) we ended up on the beach next. But that shouldn't make you think it was a totally ordinary one. It's Japan. So, one section of the beach was occupied by what is called "Marizone". And not "Mari" as in "Marine". No no, "Mari" as in "Marry".

Aaaah, Japan...

Yeah, yeah, that's right, a fake "European-like" church, and some "lovely" buildings all dedicated for marriage. It's awfully kitsch, but I guess it's kinda successful, or at least it attracts enough people to make selling hot-dogs a profitable business.

Just got married ? How about a nice hot-dog ?

You know, maybe the main attraction is in fact that hot-dog shop with its signs, and Marizone is just capitalizing on the crowd it attracts...

Before going back to the International House, we dropped by the Fukuoka Dome, or rather Yahoo! Dome, the baseball stadium of the city. Which is big. And has a dome on top of it, hence the name. There's a lot of baseball merchandising that's being selled and bought, and if you want you can shake hands with a lot of stars whose hands are replicated all around the dome. If you get the chance, I suggest checking those out, because some are accompagnied with words that will make your eyes sparkle with renewed ethusiasm.

Thank you Jon, now I know everything is possible !

So, I told you, quite a busy day... Before a quiter, more "cultural" one, who would also see me meet Takahiro, Pascale's boyfriend, for the very first time. Exciting, isn't it ?

Don't nitpick, it's somewhat dome-shaped.

What is he doing all the way over there ? [01]

2010-05-05T06:25:00.014+02:00

Ladies and gentlemen, let me FINALLY welcome you to this first episode of my "Japanese Adventures". I know, I know. It sounds a little pretentious, and it's more of a relaxing vacation than a full-fledged adventure, but whatever.

So, what have I been up to ?

Day 0 [27-28/04] : Wanderlust

Before one can enjoy life in a far-off country, one first needs to get there. And oh boy, was this travel long... Just to break it down :

5 hours spent waiting in Zaventem Airport;
1 hour to fly to Munich
2 hours waiting in Munich before...
11 hours and a half to get to Narita Airport.

But Narita is still far away from Fukuoka, so you need to add to that more than 6 hours of train... So you can imagine how happy I was to FINALLY meet Pascale... Who didn't want her photo taken, apparently.

This one looks like a commercial picture

After that long-awaited reunion, we went to the the creepy building I would be staying in for a little more than 2 weeks. And it was really creepy, with the wind making strange noise with the windows, the eerie silence and the slightly run-down appearance of it all...

Okay, now you tell me. WHERE are the zombies ?

But, you need to know that I could have agreed on sleeping anywhere at that point, because I was hungry as hell. Because, you see, I was asleep when they brought the meal in the plane. Then, with all the trains and so forth, I didn't have the chance to grab anything to eat. So I put down my stuff, and we rushed to the nearest "Joyfull". Now laugh all you want, but the double "l" is not a misspelling on their part... It's some kind of 24h/24 semi-fast food that serves all kinds of hamburgers (not in buns like "typical" fast-foods, though), pizzas, and also some japanese dishes. And that double-hamburger with cheese was more than enough to fill me up. Not sure if I was full with joy, though...

Day 1 [29/04] : Past times with good company

The next day was the day my sister took me to what was supposed to be a ginormous electronics store with everything I could ever want in it. I won't comment on that, but let me say that she was "also surprised, [she] thought there was more in it". But anyway, that was cool because then we got to eat some Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki. And even if that contained a lot of cabbage, it was still delicious. A little difficult to eat, but it tasted awesome.

This is where the delicious food gets eaten.

The evening of the 29th was something I couldn't wait for : I was to meet the group of students that came to Louvain-la-Neuve at the end of winter. This year again, seeing them go had been a sad moment, so being able to reunite with at least some of them was something I was really looking forward to.

And what a night it was ! First, we went eating in a restaurant where we had a reserved room, and where we could order as much drinks and food as we wanted to. I'm sorry, I can't remember what we ate exactly though, there was just too much different plates... Anyway, we moved around quite a bit, changin places so that everyone was able to talk with pretty much everyone, which was really fun.

As you see (maybe), some other international students where there too (as was my sister). The more the merrier !

Afterwards, we went - of course - to an arcade to take some crazy "Purikura" pictures, then off to the karaoke we went ! And seein as we (as in, Pascale and I, because she was falling asleep) left at 3:30 in the morning, you can guess how much fun we had !

And I sang 2 Backstreet Boys songs... Not alone, but still. At least I compensated with Stratovarius and Enter Shikari !

All in all, that was an awesome way to kick off this trip, I was so glad to be able to catch a first glimpse of Pascale's universe in Fukuoka, and of course to see everyone again ! Now, this will do as a first batch of "news", because the internet connection is acting up here, so I'll wait until later tonight when I can upload pictures more easily... Stay tuned for more news almost-live from Fukuoka !

...from this building, in particular.

Fly Away

2010-04-27T01:38:00.002+02:00

Let me borrow this song title from THYME in order for me to warn you that I'll be in Japan for almost a month starting tomorrow.

I should have access to the Internet fairly often, so I'll try to report back here from time to time, but don't hold your breath... Me and regular posting, you know...

Anyway, see you as soon as possible !