Pakistani IT firms to Participate in Game Developer Conference 2011: ProPakistani

Pakistani IT firms to Participate in Game Developer Conference 2011
Pakistani Firm Develops Official Game for ICC Cricket World Cup 2011
Telenor’s Subscribers Cross 25 Million Mark
Jazz Launches SMS Khazana 5 with 30 Tolas Gold!
PTCL to Get WiBAS Systems from Intracom
Violence at Iqra University in Quake 3 [Game]

Pakistani IT firms to Participate in Game Developer Conference 2011

Posted: 15 Feb 2011 10:13 AM PST

Pakistani IT firms to Participate in Game Developer Conference 2011 is a post from: ProPakistani

Pakistan's IT firms will participate in one of the biggest global event, Game Developer Conference and Expo, being held in San Francisco (USA) from Feb 28 to March 04.

There are 12 selected companies who will represent Pakistan in this event under the supervision of Pakistan Software Exports Board (PSEB), which is also sponsoring their financial expenses.

While speaking with ProPakistani, Saluman Hassan, a PSEB official, said that nearly 70 percent of the delegation's members have been awarded visa till now whereas rest of them are expected to get their visas in next weeks after their interviews in US embassy.

PSEB invited Expression of Interests (EOIs) from its member companies for mega event last month. It received dozens of applications while only 12 teams were selected after evaluating the business and professional potential of the IT companies in Games Designing.

Few of selected companies are Biztech Solutions, Vahzay Pakistan, ITC Pakistan.

In return for PSEB's substantial investment, PSEB expects that the companies would attempt to attain maximum benefit from the event by bringing business/foreign investment to Pakistan and project Pakistan's IT sector as a viable, cost effective, high quality destination for developing Gaming Products, official said.

PSEB sponsors companies to attend international event to promote a collective image building of this Pakistani IT industry, he added.

The end goal is to provide the local gaming industry the necessary support in order to facilitate the industry to bring employment generation and foreign exchange earnings to Pakistan.

PSEB has sponsored IT firms for the same event earlier in fiscal year 2002-03. Besides, IT firms individual participate on their behalf.

About GDC

The Game Developers Conference/Expo (GDC) is the world's largest professionals only game industry event and has been held consistently every year for 25 years. The Game Developers Conference has come a long way in size and stature, emanating from an informal gathering of about 25 developers in the living room of a notable game designer 24 years ago, to a weeklong conference attended by over 18,000 well established industry insiders.

The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is the largest annual gathering of professional video game developers, focusing on learning, inspiration, and networking. The event comprises an expo, networking events, awards shows such as the Independent Games Festival and the Game Developers Choice Awards, and a variety of tutorials, lectures, and roundtables by industry professionals on game-related topics covering programming, design, audio, production, business and management, and visual arts.

The event addresses multiple platforms, such as dedicated gaming consoles, handheld devices, cell phones, online and of course computers. The GDC provides an excellent opportunity to interact with well-established industry veterans and network with prospective customers and companies.

Pakistani Firm Develops Official Game for ICC Cricket World Cup 2011

Posted: 15 Feb 2011 05:47 AM PST

Pakistani Firm Develops Official Game for ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 is a post from: ProPakistani

Mindstorm Studios, a Pakistani games development company, announced today that it is developing the Official Game for the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, an event followed religiously by over a billion fans around the globe.

The game, “Cricket Power” (www.cricketpower.com), is set to be the most advanced 3D browser cricket game developed to date.

It will feature all 14 official teams along with official players, stadiums and kits. The game will be powered by a superior cricket engine at its core, coupled with a pick-up-and-play interface to appeal to casual and core gamers alike.

“We are extremely excited about developing the official game for ICC’s Cricket World Cup 2011″ said Babar Ahmed, CEO Mindstorm Studios. “Cricket has long been a subject closely linked to our organization and we are thrilled to take it to the next level.”

The game will be published by ADMC (Abu Dhabi Media Company) and is available at www.cricketpower.com.

Mindstorm Studios is a young startup company from Pakistan. All the software professionals, coders, designers and the management are Pakistanis. It has received no outside funding. The team is self-taught. It has managed to cross all hurdles, conquer all challenges and emerge as a champion.

Telenor’s Subscribers Cross 25 Million Mark

Posted: 15 Feb 2011 05:31 AM PST

Telenor’s Subscribers Cross 25 Million Mark is a post from: ProPakistani

Telenor Pakistan announced today that the company’s customer base has crossed 25 million subscribers.

The country’s second largest mobile operator grew in 2009-10 by adding subscribers at a rate of 14%, the highest in the telecom industry for the year.

Speaking about the landmark, Aamir Ibrahim, Chief Marketing Officer, Telenor Pakistan, said:

"With our strong people-focused culture, which is our core strength, and a wide distribution network, we are set to take on new challenges and reach new heights. Telenor Pakistan has the vision of becoming more than a telecommunication business, an example of this is easypaisa, our mobile banking service, which is helping to serve the unbanked population of Pakistan.

We are grateful to and congratulate our stakeholders and our partners in the telecom industry and the government whose support has been vital in our achieving this milestone."

Jazz Launches SMS Khazana 5 with 30 Tolas Gold!

Posted: 15 Feb 2011 02:57 AM PST

Jazz Launches SMS Khazana 5 with 30 Tolas Gold! is a post from: ProPakistani

SMS Khazana 5 Jazz Launches SMS Khazana 5 with 30 Tolas Gold! Last year's most popular trivia based contest launched by Mobilink Jazz was loved and enjoyed by all for the very fact that it made so many people win valuable cash prizes on a daily and weekly basis and ending up each time with an amazing grand prize.

After successfully completing 4 rounds, SMS Khazana has now entered its 5^th round and like every time there is something new in this contest for Mobilink customers.

Once again, Jazz introduces its valued customers to another exciting quest of SMS Khazana whereby users can win lots of exciting cash prizes through lucky draw.

Furthermore, to top it all, in SMS Khazana 5, one lucky winner will take away the grand prize of 30 Tolas Gold!

Jazz SMS Khazana 5 will be unique in terms of its playability and there will be many surprise prizes for users throughout the campaign.

In this round, users will be able to raise the value of the specific prize they are playing for by sending in maximum entries. Each correct entry will raise the value of the daily prize by Rs. 10,000/- while the Sunday prize value will be raised by Rs. 30,000/- with each correct answer. And user’s need not worry about incorrect anwsers, as even incorrent entries will raise the value of the prize by Rs. 5,000/- both for the daily and Sunday prizes!

How To Play:

Step 1:

Send "JK" to 5555 to enter the contest.

Step 2:

The participant will receive a welcome SMS along with a Ringtone (Ringtone will be sent within 24 hours).

Step 3:

The quiz mechanism consists of multiple choice questions which participants would answer in order to raise the value of the prize money of that specific day’s prize, and increase their possibilities to become a winner. The participant will have to choose from option 1 or 2 to reply to a question.

In addition to this, all of these points will be accumulated for consideration to win the Grand Prize at the end of the SMS Khazana 5 contest.

Step 4:

The participant will send the answer he/she believes is the correct one in order to raise the prize value. Once answered, user will be notified via SMS whether the answer was correct or incorrect. In case the user does not respond with option 1 or 2 or sends any other text/number, he /she will get a reply message stating the option to be invalid.

Step 5:

If the participant wins via lucky draw, he/she will be awarded the SAME amount of cash which was raised by him/her on that specific day

Prize Details:

Daily prize: Up to PKR 200,000
Sunday prize: Up to PKR 600,000
Final prize: 30 Tolas of Gold (≈ 350 gram or 11.25 troy ounces)
Extra Surprise Prizes: Worth PKR 1,100,000

SMS Khazana Jazz Launches SMS Khazana 5 with 30 Tolas Gold!

*Each Correct answer will raise the value of the daily prize by PKR 10,000

**Each Correct answer will raise the value of the Sunday prize by PKR 30,000

Lucky Draw Results:

All results will be available on www.mobilinkworld.com/khazana5

Charges:

Rs. 10+Tax/SMS

Terms & Conditions:

Terms & Conditions are available for public view at www.mobilinkworld.com/khazana5

This service is available for both Jazz & indigo customers

PTCL to Get WiBAS Systems from Intracom

Posted: 15 Feb 2011 01:11 AM PST

PTCL to Get WiBAS Systems from Intracom is a post from: ProPakistani

Greek provider of telecommunications products Intracom Telecom has signed a contract with Pakistan Telecommunication Company PTCL to supply its point-to-multipoint WiBAS systems covering in the initial phase in Lahore.

Under this agreement, Intracom Telecom’s WiBAS system will enable PTCL to provide broadband corporate wireless access services to its business customers in Lahore.

With this, PTCL will be able to provide high speed broadband over wireless network to its corporate users.

WiBAS is optimized for applications requiring high availability and high capacity on demand using Adaptive Coding and Modulation up to 256 QAM, statistical multiplexing and dynamic bandwidth allocation.

WiBAS utilizes the point-to-multipoint network architecture providing the capacity. This carrier class product preserves the quality of service for voice and broadband data applications.

Via Telecompaper

Violence at Iqra University in Quake 3 [Game]

Posted: 14 Feb 2011 08:30 PM PST

Violence at Iqra University in Quake 3 [Game] is a post from: ProPakistani

Load your shotguns and get ready to blast your enemies because today, I'm going to showcase a project related to game development by Muhammad Saad, a BSCS graduate from Iqra University.

A computer game enthusiast, he decided to do something he loved and at the same time rather unique for his final project, a game level for the massively popular Quake 3.

It took 10-11 months of hard work, and the result reflects that.

Interesting thing about the project is that the whole level is based on Saad's university campus. So students of Iqra University, Islamabad Campus, will feel right at home playing this level.

Just choose the Iqra death arena in Quake 3 and you're geared to go. Here's a video of the game level:

Multiple tools were used in this project, here's a quick rundown for the people interested in knowing exactly what goes in to produce a game level.

C++ (Engine Language): (For minor modifications to the level)
GtkRadiant 1.5: (Map terrain designer tool provided by game developers)
Q3map2 Compiler: (Map compiler & renderer)
BSPC Compiler: (Bot compiler & optimizer)
Q3 shaders: (Custom textures, animated screens, basically its what's required for the dynamic stuff in the game)
Photoshop CS5 + Paint.Net: (Textures Editors)
Sound & Skin Packs: (Some custom mods + tweaks)
3Ds Max 2010 – Import .md3 Scripts (For importing 3d max models to Q3 understandable models as .md3 format)

Saad was able to impress the animation house "Xdynamix" with his game level project, and was offered a job. Currently, his work responsibilities include Lighting, Texture and Rendering.

This just goes to show the potential of our youth. Every other day we see projects and work done that reflects the intellectual level that our students are at. There's a string need for initiatives to keep these talented individuals in Pakistan and not export them to other countries, where they may go seeking greener pastures.

There's no doubt that we're a supremely talented nation, what's needed is the nurturing of that talent so that we can compete and excel at the international stage.