LAND PLOTS IN NAM GAMING CONCESSION BENFICA VAN RECOVERED STANDARDS TO INCREASE Sixteen land plots near “The whole process will try ENDS AFC the Nam Van Lake were to meet the development of GROUP returned to the government Macau,” regulator Paulo Chan STAGE yesterday told the press yesterday IN 2ND P5 P5 P8 FOOTBALL THU.17 May 2018 T. 25º/ 30º C H. 70/ 95% facebook.com/mdtimes + 11,000 MOP 8.00 3049 N.º HKD 10.00 FOUNDER & PUBLISHER Kowie Geldenhuys EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Paulo Coutinho www.macaudailytimes.com.mo “ THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN’ ” WORLD BRIEFS MACAU GP AP PHOTO Greater Bay Cup to be US-N. KOREA North Korea yesterday threatened to scrap the P3 historic summit next month, saying it has held for first time no interest in a “one- sided” affair meant to pressure the North to abandon its nuclear weapons. More on p12-13 HONG KONG A group of Game developer creates Hong Kong journalists have demanded that mainland authorities release a television news journalist first multi-console project who was detained by police in Beijing, trying to cover a disciplinary hearing for a human rights lawyer. set entirely in Macau P2 MDT REPORT VIETNAM A group of Chinese tourists wearing T-shirts depicting the country’s territorial claims in the disputed South China Sea has sparked anger in Vietnam. More on p11 AUSTRALIA A state court employee has been fired for looking up in a restricted computer system details of charges facing a senior Vatican cleric. INDIA announced yesterday that its troops will halt counterinsurgency operations in disputed Kashmir during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, its first such declaration in 18 years. AP PHOTO RUSSIA President Vladimir Putin drove a large construction truck to road test the much-anticipated bridge linking southern Russia and the Crimean peninsula that Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014. More on backpage 17.05.2018 thu 2 MACAU 澳聞 WWW.MACAUDAILYTIMES.COM.MO Video game developer says Macau horror tales bound to scare mainland censors Daniel Beitler N infestation of ghosts and Ademons have overrun Ma- cau in Tony Lam’s nightmare world, the setting of a soon-to- launch indie horror-survival game that pits intimate, multi- player teams against each other in a seven-day test of endurance. Macau locals may know their way around this frightening pa- rallel world, but that won’t pre- pare them for the hordes of ter- rifying creatures patrolling the city’s historic streets after dark. Tony Lam is the vision behind the first multi-console project set entirely in Macau and the head of local video game deve- lopment company, 4DMacau Studio. He is a former Macau civil servant who has poured his savings into making a project that he describes as the game he always wanted but could never find. Because Lam is currently in Taiwan establishing an auxiliary office for 4DMacau Studio, the game developer and concept creator agreed to speak to the player-character’s entire body ping up, Lam admits that the The horror genre is vigilantly In light of the studio’s limited Times by video call. Donning a rendered from a height. The impending release date brings censored in the People’s Repu- financial resources, the Times black Five Nights at Freddy’s t- disadvantage of this feature is with it a great deal of pressure blic of China and, according to enquired as to whether Lam has shirt – a callback to a popular that it makes it more difficult for the game to be a commercial Lam, creations that feature ghos- applied for funding from enti- 2014 indie-cult horror game – to frighten the player. From a success. ts and demons are especially non ties such as the Macau Cultural Lam, a genuine fan of the genre, first-person vantage point, the Fight the Horror has seven grata. Industries Fund or the Macau is both optimistic and realistic player needs only pivot their core staff and about half a do- “I don’t know if my game will Government Tourism Office about his project. view to find a monster glaring zen part-timers that worked on sell any copies in the mainland,” (MGTO). _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ down at them. This horror game the project until their dwindling he said. “They [mainland cen- MGTO, one of the principal or- aspect is known as jump-sca- finances forced them to find sors] don’t like people talking ganizers behind the International It started as a passion to create ring, but works less well in third- more stable employment. about history at all – that’s my Film Festival and Awards – Ma- the type of game that he would person when the monster can feeling. They also don’t allow cao, is keen to promote the city like to play. “I wanted a game usually be seen approaching. ghosts or monsters [in the horror through the arts. The idea, as ex- like this and one didn’t exist,” To offset this disadvantage, genre] in mainland games.” plained by MGTO chief Helena de he told the Times. “I have been Fight the Horror relies on its _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Senna Fernandes, was to get ar- waiting for this sort of game for story and atmosphere to deli- I think Macau tistic creators thinking about se- a long time.” ver the thrills. There are seven In Lam’s view, a horror game tting their next project in Macau. Though it carries a host of in- ghost stories in the game and all is the perfect set in Macau can only be made Lam argues that the same can teresting features, part of what of them are based on real tales setting for a in Macau, as Hong Kong “would be done in the video game deve- sets the game aside from other from Macau. not be interested” and developers lopment sector. titles in the genre is its third- In one game trailer, ghostly game. in mainland China are probably “I think Macau is the perfect se- apparitions are seen wandering person perspective. Most horror TONY LAM barred from doing so. But video tting for a game,” he said, adding titles put the player in a firs- around the Ruins of St. Paul’s. game development is almost non that the city’s size and density, t-person role, where only the In another, a young boy is -existent in Macau, with only a enclosed by natural geography, character’s hands and the tools seen starting up at a grotesque “It’s quite a pressure, but we handful of small teams even dab- could lend itself well to game de- they wield are visible. However, adaptation of the Kun Iam sta- love it. I am lucky that I met bling in the field. velopers. One of the most popular Lam finds this viewpoint diso- tue in NAPE and says, “I can’t people who share this goal with Though it falls squarely under video games of all time, Grand rientating. stop staring at that statue… I’m me,” said Lam. the creative and cultural indus- Theft Auto: San Andreas, is set in “Most games [in the horror afraid that when I turn my back There is one problem, howe- tries, video game development a metropolitan area of a similar genre] are first-person, but my on it, it will come to life!” ver, playing on his mind. The ci- has received almost no attention size. experience of those games is _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ vil-servant-turned-game-deve- from the MSAR government or But Lam is wary of approaching very bad. I feel dizzy [disorienta- loper is aware that he might not the city’s higher education insti- the government, even though he ted] after a few minutes. That’s More than a year in the sell a single copy in mainland tutions. According to Lam, “one declined to explicitly say why. why I wanted to do one in third- making, the game is scheduled China, despite it being an ob- reason that the industry does “MGTO are not my customer,” he person.” to launch on PC in September, vious and potentially profitable not exist [in Macau] is that there said. “I am not making the game From the project’s inception he followed by PS4, Xbox and Nin- market for the game. is no university with any major for them. If they support us, that’s set out to include this graphical tendo Switch at a later date. But The reason: mainland censor- [course] directly related to game good, but they are not my custo- perspective, which shows the with development costs ram- ship laws. development.” mer.” www.macaudailytimes.com.mo EDITOR-IN-CHIEF (DIRECTOR)_Paulo Coutinho [email protected] A MACAU TIMES PUBLICATIONS LTD PUBLICATION MANAGING EDITOR_Paulo Barbosa [email protected] CONTRIBUTING EDITORS_Eric Sautedé, Leanda Lee, Severo Portela ADMINISTRATOR AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER + 4 Million page views Kowie Geldenhuys [email protected] NEWSROOM AND CONTRIBUTORS_Albano Martins, Annabel Jackson, Daniel Beitler, Emilie Tran, Grace Yu, SECRETARY Juliana Cheang [email protected] PER MONTH Ivo Carneiro de Sousa, Jacky I.F. Cheong, Jenny Lao-Phillips, João Palla Martins, Joseph Cheung, Julie Zhu, ADDRESS Av. da Praia Grande, 599, Edif. 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