My AMA for r/Philippines

US-born Filipino now living in Manila, AMabsolutelyA. #

Thanks to /u/j_- for getting the ball rolling. I’ve seen a couple others follow in his wake, and it does seem to be stirring up some good discussion in this subreddit. Hoping to promote more of the same here.

Not a throwaway, so here’s verification for anyone who cares about that shit.

I’m here for most of the day (work blocks FB, G+, Twitter, and most social networks except Reddit, hope it stays that way) so just ask away.

EDIT: Almost quitting time, but I’ve got Baconreader on mobile so I can check in until it’s time to sleep. Keep it coming!

Hello again! Hmm, I think the reasons are more sentimental than logical. Stockholm syndrome? Hahaha.

When I’m about to have kids, I may rethink this decision. Having been born in the US, and therefore being bestowed US citizenship, certainly has given me many opportunities. But I would want them to know this country as early as they could. There are many beautiful things to be found in the Philippines as well, and the ugly things are character-building truths that would teach them well.

The decision to return to the Philippines was originally made by my parents - I was a minor when we moved to Manila as a family - but I do admit it’s my decision to stay here rather than try my luck in the US. It’s all down to circumstance. I recognize that many Filipinos choose to work abroad as expatriates because they have family to support and there’s greater potential to earn outside the Philippines. That’s not my situation right now, so I feel no immediate need to leave.

Sending money into the country from the outside is great, but I think an even nobler thing to do is to help improve the country’s economic situation by working within it. It’s like disease; you can take medicine day and night, but the best cure is prevention, and that comes from building a healthy immunity within a healthy body. Call me an idealist, but I also believe that if you can do good here in the Philippines, you should. And call me arrogant, but I do believe I can do more good by staying here.

Abject poverty on the streets was a big one. I remember the first time I saw a panhandler begging for change on the road, knocking on car windows. According to my mom, I cried after being told we shouldn’t give money to them that way. I still don’t know whether or not to believe there’s a syndicate behind it all.

I was pleasantly surprised by the curiosity my classmates expressed over the fact that I’d lived in the US but am born from Filipino parents. Apparently I really look foreign. Must be the food.

I was 11 when my family moved here. We did it because my lolo was sick with cancer, and my parents wanted to spend the last few months he had on this earth with him. I assume they had plans of staying all along, because they sold our house in LA soon after leaving.

Right now, I work as a game designer at a mobile game development company in BGC.

Haha, thanks for the tip! I’ll try it out after lunch. I design mobile games for Android/iOS, but none have really gotten popular. I’ve worked in two mobile game development companies over the past few years and helped release about 8 games, none of which I expect anyone on Reddit to be familiar with. That’s probably for the best, to be honest.

I’m a game designer right now, though I’ve been in several industries over the years. I’ve never used my US citizenship to give myself an advantage in any of the jobs I’ve held; I have dual citizenship but always specify “FILIPINO” in employment applications.

However, my US Passport has made it easier for me to travel for work.

I’d probably be a lot fatter! Hahaha

Aside from that, I don’t think I’d be as relaxed as I am now. The Philippines is really slow-paced compared to where I grew up. If I’d stayed in the US, maybe I’d be more well off, but I’m not sure if I’d be as happy.

It’s a whole bunch of little differences between the cultures that add up. I’ll try to pinpoint a concrete example.

The people are more balanced here. Emotionally, physically, socially, spiritually, and maybe even financially. Nobody’s in a rush to do, or be, anything other than who or what they are at present (barring extreme cases). Stress may come and go from one or more aspects of life at a time, but Filipinos usually have a large margin before the stress becomes unbearable; partly because they can fall back on some other thing that relieves them, and partly because many can reconcile their stressful conditions fairly quickly. Many are content with their current living situation, even if they acknowledge that improvements can be made. I think ‘content’ is the best word, really.

Thanks man(tao)! I can’t share with you the resources we’ve developed in-house, but here are some things we’ve found useful lately. You might be able to use them to kickstart your own projects, or augment existing ones.

• UdpKit, a networking library for .NET/Mono/Unity
• Unity Sprites And Bones - 2D skeleton animation
• Stickybomb in Unity3d
• Quick Tip: Using Player Prefs in Unity to Store Data
• Flash Animation in Unity

Dude Unity is everywhere! (We’re using it for our little Digital Arts club at my Uni)

Haha, that’s right! Unity3d is really taking the mobile game development industry by storm. All the major devs are using it.

Do you know about the Global Game Jam a few weeks ago, and if so, did you participate in it?

I didn’t go myself, but some representatives from my company did. Heard the turnout was quite good.

Is there like a filipino unity dev group/site somewhere?

The only one I know of is on Facebook. Join up!

What’s the game dev scene like in the Philippines? You think there’s hope that indie games/AAA games would take off?

In my personal opinion, there aren’t enough Filipino indie developers who are truly passionate enough about game design and development to make a game that will stand out on its own. We have so many talented graphic designers and developers, but nobody who is willing to push the envelope and risk everything, everything, for the sake of making an excellent game. Until someone or a team comes along and makes that game, the Philippines will always be looked at as an outsourcing hub.

You work at BGC, do you make enough to actually live in BGC?

Not by a long shot. I make less than 30k monthly.

Can you speak tagalog? Do you have an accent if you try and talk in it?

I can, but my accent makes it difficult for anybody to take me seriously. :)

If you can, can you link some of your work?

Here’s one, but that’s from my previous company. How well did it do? Well, that company no longer exists. :P

Do you know of any game/animation studio in PH that’s working with 3D?

Yep! We make some of our games in 3D, but until we have the budget to start a project that we can dedicate lots of time to, we’ll still do most games in 2D.

Late reply, am on mobile.

I actually do not have a Filipino passport! Will have to rectify that.

I’ve been getting fat again lately, haven’t I? Haha

PS. You’ll see me again at The National concert this Thursday if you’re going

1. Super Mario World
2. Final Fantasy Tactics
3. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina in Time
4. The Secret of Monkey Island
5. Half-Life

I go in-depth on each of these, and 5 more, in this blog post. One day I would very much like to make games inspired by some of these titles, but for now I’ll have to settle with much simpler mobile games.

Good ones.

To be specific, I guess I’d focus at first on making casual games. Hear me out.

Casual doesn’t have to mean shallow. There’s a lot of very good, engrossing casual games out there. Plants Vs Zombies, Spaceteam, Bejewelled, 10000000, among others. Casual games do have to be accessible, though, and that’s as much their greatest asset as it is their worst shortcoming (at least, to elitist gamers anyway, it’s a bad thing). I think it’s a good thing that more people are playing games, even if they are casual players. It’s a gateway drug into bigger, better games. Even if they don’t play anything else their entire lives, they’ll at least be open to the reality that games are not something that should be so easily dismissed.

Ideally, I’d have my studio make a really, really good casual cash cow game. Then we’d use the funds earned there to make passion projects. Personally, developing a mobile game inspired by Final Fantasy Tactics, Front Mission, or Tactics Ogre would be a dream come true.

Saging. :) My friend uses this as his catchphrase. I believe it’s a line spoken by Erap? Please correct me if I’m wrong, I have no idea hahaha.

Source: http://storycorps.org/great-questions/

“These questions are merely suggestions for getting a good conversation going. We encourage you to use the ones you like and to come up with your own.” (Emphasis mine)

Great Questions for Anyone

Do you have any regrets?

Just one. I wish I had the courage to follow my heart earlier than I did.

Friends or Colleagues

What is your first memory of me?

You asked me a series of copy-pasted questions out of a Google search without any context, and made me work to pick out the ones that might be most relevant.

Grandparents

What was my mom/dad like growing up?

I have no idea, we’re not related.

Raising Children

What are your dreams for your children?

I hope that the world they grow up in is better than the one I did.

Parents

What advice would you give me about raising my own kids?

Teach your kids to love learning, that is, the act and joy of discovering new things for the sake of enriching themselves and not for getting high marks on a card.

Growing Up

Do you have any siblings?

I have two siblings: a younger brother and sister.

School

Are you still friends with anyone from that time in your life?

In fact, my only friends are the ones I’ve kept from high school and university. I’ve been employed at several offices, but for me personally, office relationships have never really stuck.

Love & Relationships

Do you believe in love at first sight?

No, not in the common sense. I believe in infatuation at first sight, or intense physical attraction, but that’s different from love. I’m quoting another redditor when I say the following, but this is what I believe in: “All you search for is someone you are compatible with, who makes you laugh, where both of you care deeply about each other, are loyal to each other. That’s all there is. Don’t break up with someone you have a loving, caring relationship because you wonder what else is out there. The spark that you feel at the start of a relationship isn’t love, and it does fade. But if two people love each other and are willing to work, you can always bring it back.”

Marriage & Partnerships

What advice do you have for young couples?

Aside from my answer in the previous question, there’s this: “Love is a conscious decision you make every damn day, not some flighty feeling that just happens to you.” Another redditor said this before me.

Working

Tell me about how you got into your line of work.

It’s a lengthy process, but it all boils down to me never losing sight of what I wanted to do in my professional life, and always being willing to take chances even in the face of rejection. I graduated with a degree in English Literature. I now work in the videogame industry. Never give up.

Religion

Do you believe in God?

No.

Serious Illness

Do you think about dying?

I used to think about how I would die, or what would be some good ways to go. Like, I’m pretty sure that if I had any control over fate, I’d like to die saving someone else’s life.

Family Heritage

What are the classic family stories?

Well, there’s the story of how my yaya almost drowned trying to save me from a swimming pool I didn’t need rescuing from…

War

Did you go to war?

Unless Battlefield: Bad Company 2 counts, then no, I’ve never gone to war.