Long time no see, Bandung!

Glad that I was able to go to Bandung once again after a long time! Although the Bandung trip was about my college doing a benchmarking (or comparative study, whichever your fancy) to Telkom University, but the great part is I was able to see how great Telkom University is, especially when walking to the Software Development Lab where the Game Development Club there has mastered the art of game making, 2D and 3D! Mathematical!

Never on Earth Cipularang Toll Road disappoint you with its best on-road environment!

 The road to the university started at 7am, which was sadly an hour late from the scheduled time. I guess ngaret (a delay that also acts as an act of procrastination) is an integral part here... But no, ngaret wasn't one of the main shows here. The real main show started as the buses (I rode one of two buses there) went past 80+ km road of Cipularang Toll Road. It's filled with beautiful views worthy of camera spams. The beautiful and green mountain view made it a great trip there! I guess the toll road makes the road to Bandung onwards insta-enjoyable...

Although we stopped at a rest area somewhere when we were on the road to the mentioned university, everyone took their time to take pictures of the view, being pictured with friends, and even some were interested in taking... *cough* selfies. However, back on track, the road to there went well even though the bus was probably too slow when trying to climbing up.

The main building of Telkom University, hidden from the trees.

As we arrived there, we were greeted by the students there, and so the show begun: an introduction of both their college and mine, followed by a lunch break, then exchanges of information and profiles, and the greatest part: visiting places like faculty library, labs, etc before the closing of the show and, not to forget, a memorial picture before we went home.

TO THE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT LAB!

The best part of the lab visit was the Software Development Lab. Not only is there a Game Development Club, but also was I took the chance of trying one of their games: A thief game which name sadly I can't remember. Here, you play as a thief who tries to steal the "treasure chest" but must pay attention to the security that keeps patroling the place.

And then I was offered another game by them to play, but as the time was up and it was time to leave for another break, I walked off the game graciously even when the loading wasn't completed. Before visiting that lab, past labs that were visited are  Database and Data Mining Lab and Multimedia lab, all wrapped up in the university's Software Development laboratory building. Also note that these labs have the best work environment there!

However, there are more laboratories than just Software Development. The list is available here.

A view from the main faculty's library.

The best part of Telkom University is that the university combines modern architecture of its faculty and lab buildings plus all the best work environment and facilities with a view of rice fields. No, I'm not kidding. The university is set amidst the rice fields and a backdrop of mountains, which makes the university unique and able to emphasize its authentic Indonesian environment. All those greeneries make it a university worth studying at!

Although I cannot provide more pictures due to fear of my phone acting strange (read: sudden turn-off) when trying to take pictures at half battery mark (YES, only my phone that does such thing), the 4-hour trip + the ngaret was worth the fee that is as low as roughly four bucks and a couple of cents (IDR 45000 for you). Both my college and Telkom University showed great chemistry throughout the run, and I'm looking forward for visiting it once more, maybe considering it as one of the places worth visiting after Cihampelas Walk and Trans Studio Bandung (and some of the outdoor sports places and waterparks I can't even mention)?

~[R] + #HMIFfeatHIMTI

GRUPARD - The best GR Trackmaking Brightslap!

Sometimes you're too focused to one thing that you ditch one that you used to love. Maybe sometimes you make something out of your interest but either you have a Creator's Block or you procrastinate things that you lost your drive to make such thing. This happens to me, ALL THE TIME, especially when it comes to trackmaking in GeneRally. Trackmaking in Turbo Sliders is easy and quite straightforward, but GeneRally's is... Well, you have limited resource and you need to use those resources to make fabulous and creative things using them like most Track of the Month winners. It's actually easy, but it needs higher level of attention to detail, especially when you're aiming for that ToM quality.

Creator's Block (or in this context, Trackmaker's Block) is a sucky thing to happen, especially to me. You know you try to make a track until you're unsure how to put those concrete walls and give them a gap so the "Marshals" can "do their job when one is off course and is to retire from the race", or how to combine those office buildings to make one-of-a-kind office building without obstructing the view of the track, or even how to put trees correctly (e.g., try to make a forest that's not too dense, use combinations between two or three different trees). All these things are what makes a track ToM-worthy. Me on the other hand, is a usual victim of this. I've made lots of work-in-progress tracks but don't know how to put those things: trees, buildings, walls, even Lmap arts (if any) or Hmap works.

World Size is also a problem; most of my WIPs have a WS of 255, which might be too big for me, so to say. Knowing that I can't do big "things" I try to shift myself to do a smaller "thing" to make sure that I'm still worthy for GR trackmaking and that I can manage to make my own track. I do make tracks but they're Joint Effort Amateur tracks. I've done three tracks for them, they are a Rallycross track ACO Park, a tropical race with lots of layouts Tropico Isle, and most recently a rally course with elevations Deepwood Trail. For your information, JEA is where six persons take part in making a track. As one decided which them they are going to make, they will take turns once one is finished, and as it's finished, Bouncebackabilty, the driving force of Joint Effort concept, will do the finishing touches and everyone will get to propose a name. Sounds simple, eh?

So the answer is found: I am going to make a track with a WS of 125, which is a small but important step as I can't finish my WS 255 WIPs, and this time, a new track is born: The scorching arid road course with undulating hairpins called Grupard. The track, to be brutally honest, isn't all special: It's composed of hairpins and elevations with four pit crews and no walls that separate the main track with the pit, but it is somehow a "GeneRally-ish" track. It's a simple, no-fuss, racing track where everyone can drive, and default cars are the track's recommendation for this track. The objects used are also pretty simple; palm trees, bushes, an occassional cactus, and sunk tires. Furthermore, Hmap works are done, both on-track and as an environment.

A bunch of Generals taking the first hairpin that climbs to the second one.

I can't even find a good description due to the run-of-the-mill nature of the track, but at least convincing them that it is set in the arid is all I can do, don't know if it's enough to satisfy everyone. However, I can assure you that the track carries a simple GR style; not much tracks are GR-ish at the time of this posting. GRIF is flooded by Top Gear (a SNES game, not the show) tracks made by B@stos, real-life race tracks, and several tracks that are more than WS 125. By making this track, I can at least give an effort to make GR-ish tracks have their stand.

"This track is good. I find good, that, when I'm right, it is compatible with v1.05. And it's so simple. (y)" -RobertRacer99

"Its a good idea to make a small track. Good to see (for me) if someone makes a simple and "GRish" track like this. The tracks with big WS -in my opinion- are beatiful and needs many hours to make, but not enjoyable like small tracks. So.. Simple and efficient job, well done. :)" -david999

Though the track is far from perfect: the AI line in the second turn sucks hard Haruna volunteered via Skype in the AI line fixing. About the AI Lines, what I am afraid of them is that they would "cut" the track and run the sunk tires. You know AIs that cross sunk tires are one of those sucky things in trackmaking, right? Maybe I've developed a phobia of having AIs too close to the sunk tires when driving... Thankfully, with Haruna's help on AI lines, racing with AIs will be much more exciting, but that means it's also a brightslap too, since... Well, trackmakers use their own AI lines, right?

Make this simple arid track Grupard your keepsake to drive on. Download the course now! :)

LENDING A HAND TO LANZ

In Turbo Sliders, there's a competition run by Lanz called Puschtras Touring Masters, which is the TS rendition of Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (or we can alternatively say German Touring Masters). It is now in its second season after a successive first season.

At the time Lanz wrote that he would love to make a new Show Event track but he couldn't because he had no idea where to place the control points. Knowing that I could figure out the CP placements and learned the track's layout, and the fact that trackmaking in TS is my niche, I lend myself a hand to Lanz saying that he can leave the new Show Event track's responsibility to me. I spent days trying to make the cleanest layout possible, and the only long delay I had while making this track is just my Typhus bed rest. After I'm able to back in action, the track is slowly showing its progress and eventually it looks like this:

Adopting the style of the previous Show Event track which is based off of the iconic Race of Champions track at Wembley Stadium (due to layout perhaps :p), I think I could pull it off with style. The placements of the sponsorships are loosely based on the video reference of the Show Event course, which is revealed to be based on the real-life Show Event which was actually held at Munich in 2012. The following screens may convince you:

I had no problems other than the minor problem of both pits, which should fit nine cars for them to watch. As this course is no Super Special stage, racing with AI is very impossible, and racing is only possible via online races where two drivers race while others can only watch. However, once again, I could pull off such thing after learning the previous Show Event track used in PTM's inaugural season. The track is now finished and is ready to be driven by some of TS's greatest drivers in the upcoming Show Event race of PTM. However, I can't release this track yet as I should let the PTM drive the track first, and the course will be released after they've done it. So, if you want to drive this track, be patient, especially knowing the fact that this track is a... *cough* Purpose-built track *cough*

ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES

To conclude this post, I would like to let you know that I've participated in Fandom March Madness, an annual LiveJournal event where we vote for our favorite TV series characters in a series of head-to-head elimination battles whose concept is based on NCAA March Madness Basketball championship. As I can't let this blog be off-topic with a Fandom-related post that you might not like, you can check my review of this year's FMM here. The championship this year is filled with new faces conquering the bracket, and returning faces that tried to take their revenge for their last year's failure and some that tried to battle for repeat victories!

In the end, let me break the barrier a bit with a new DVD collection of mine...

Blame Fandom March Madness for all these :p

And one more, which is an obligatory drawing of someone special... I know I should've put this and all my other drawings to my deviantART but well...

ONORE... DECADE~!!! SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN~!!! /narutakimodeon

~[R]

THE BALLAD OF A TYPHUS RENDY

1st March 2014 was a bitter date to remember. The night before, I felt that my health dropped and wasn't going well, that is when I found out the next day I was diagnosed with Typhus, which means that I am NOT exempt from the Typhus which my father had months ago. It was quite saddening because I had to do my college assignment, preparing myself for my forum game and Fandom March Madness, and continuing my works on upcoming GeneRally and Turbo Sliders tracks, and that my Typhus spelt delay to them.

WHY DID MY HEALTH DROPPED?

It started when I was riding myself home after my friend's funeral in which I felt all tired up. For your information, my friend died of an accident when he was on his way to the college, and I was desperately wanted to attend his funeral with my college friends, but I wasn't able to, until that I found out two of my college friends weren't there and planned to do so.

With the mission accomplished and we parted ways (as my two friends had to do something which is their business and not mine) I remembered that the way to my late friend's house IS exactly the way to return from Puri Indah Mall and decided to cut down the travel time by riding there, which took more than an hour due to traffic. This is the point where I don't feel energetic at all as I tried to do my college assignment, and when that time came, my rest of the night didn't go smoothly.

Things worsened as I woke up the next day and knew that I was unwell, so I told my mother to do some treatment for me as I watched an episode of Casshern and Gorenger. However, as I went to the hospital with my father, I was diagnosed as Typhus as an answer to why I was unwell since I went home from my friend's funeral. My hectic and boring days started there...

THROMBOCYTE TANGO DOWN, STRIPPED FROM WORKS THAT REQUIRES MY COMPUTER

Given the fact that I had to take drips after knowing that I suffered from Typhus, I was stripped from anything that involves my computer, which means any stupid thing imaginable that I should've done earlier was delayed big time. All my days were filled by bed rests and water was a must to drink at all times in order to rise up my Thrombocyte.

Things went for worse as my Thrombocyte got lower and lower and then reached its lowest score of 25K, approximately 1/5 of the normal score. Even though I still have my smartphone to do all the passing through jobs, my days were still really bland as, well, as I said, everyday was filled with bed rest and water drinking, plus taking medicines and have the doctor who treated me pinch the needle to me for blood checking purposes. At this stage also my appetite didn't go well as I failed finishing up all the courses, be it a breakfast, a lunch, or even a dinner. My appetite was screwing up and I didn't lie.

Thankfully some of my college friends who were able to see me came to check my condition. I'm glad that there are friends who could see my condition; it entertained me as we talked things and shared laughs while not forgetting that they hoped me to get well as soon as possible. Although I have to say that living without my computer would be so bland, but I know that there were things to note, and slow internet in the morning is one of them.

THE END OF THE SUFFERING

Everything got better as my Thrombocyte increased. Although it was gaining slowly, but I could feel that the Finish Line was "steps away", though I had to step up my water-drinking game so that it could gain faster. As I was closer to that finish line, I took the chance to snuggle myself to turn on musics in my computer. See? I crossed the line once just to enjoy the musics I wanted to listen for the past eight days because I finished "digging up" several local TV shows already that I've found conclusions and wanted to listen musics again.

I even am surprised one of Indonesia's TV stations has nerves of steel to air (dubbed) Kamen Rider OOO; it's been a long time that we haven't received a Kamen Rider series airing since Den-O. But all this popped out a question: Why don't they do it since Kiva onwards?

The next day, however, spelt the end of the suffering as my Thrombocyte reached almost 70K, but that wasn't all; my relatives brought something that could "boost" myself so I could be free from the drips faster than expected: Pizza. Not one, but two boxes of Pizzas and a bunch of breads. YES. I AM SERIOUS. There were more ammunitions than I could expect. Since I am a fan of pizzas, I ate slices by slices without worry. And by the time the final needle pinch commenced, I could feel that I would be free from the drips, and yes, I was free from the drips and able to do things normally once more, but I cannot just go all out cluelessly at the next day since I have to take a mandatory rest first. Fast forward to the present time, I finally can do stupid things normally as I would love to as my condition went back to normal and that I could go to the college once more after a week without it.

Typhus can be a bitch; it would make you unwell and drop the Thrombocyte you have in your body at unexpected times, and that could cost you your precious activities. Just make sure you don't do stupid things that could invite Typhus such as opening yourself even when riding your way home no matter how tired you are (read: put your jacket off), and do drink lots of water and get a bedrest if you happen to get one of these...

~[R]