Simon Cutajar

@sc.mt

310 Followers 254 Following

Programmer, gamedev, Maltese 🇲🇹 immigrant in Sweden 🇸🇪. (Previously 🇬🇧🇩🇰) VR/AR game programmer @resolutiongames.bsky.social PhD in procedurally generated music for games. Talk to me about games, TTRPGs, folklore, music, film, writing, ice-cream simon.com.mt

Photo of the panelists and presenter at Game Town's game narrative event
A galaxy map of all accounts on Bluesky, which are grouped into different clusters. My account sits in a cluster called "Game Development Galaxy"
Cover art for the game Demeo x Dungeons & Dragons: Battlemarked. The art depicts Ash, tiefling rogue, Jessix, human ranger, and Bolthrax, dragonborn paladin in various heroic poses standing in the foreground. A dragon appears menacingly in the background.
The question by @sean.cutajar is "Do you ever regret leaving Malta or was your passion for gamedev to want to remain in Malta". The background is the clouds as seen from the window of a plane. The answer is: No, I don't regret it at all. I had wanted to leave Malta when I was 21, after finishing my degree. I moved to Denmark for my MSc in Game Development. Back then, I was tired of what Malta was turning into, and it was my best chance of leaving the country. I also wanted to meet new people and expand my network. While there are definitely opportunities for gamedev now in Malta, I don't regret leaving when I did. Stockholm is a fantastic hub for game development and I'm happy to have made it here!
The question "What are the best parts about being a 'new' parent?" asked by @ciwiel. The background is a picture of my kid with their back facing me, looking out of a window watching the rain. My answer is: For me, the best part is watching them learn and understand the world around them. Kids this age are so happy to be involved in what their parents are doing, and to mimic their actions, and it's such a delight! ❤️
Photo of a nearby park in Stockholm early in the morning. The leaves on the trees are turning orange and yellow, as autumn is approaching.
Photo of a pile of books on top of a table. From top to bottom, the books are titled as follows: Kitba W Kittieba tal-Malti - II.2 by Ġużè Cassar Pullicino, Dawl Ġdid fuq Vassalli edited by Olvin Vella, Qwiel u Qaddisin by Victor J. Galea, Gozo: The Island of Joy by Thomas Freller, Spies and Renegades in Hospitaller Malta by Thomas Freller, Il Mezzo Vocabolario Maltese-Italiano del 700 by Arnold Cassola, Maltin u l-Inkiżizzjoni by Alexander Bonnici, A Trial in front of an Inquisitor of Malta (1562-1798) by Alexander Bonnici, Society, Culture and Identity in Early Modern Malta by Carmel Cassar, The Houses of Valletta by Victor F. Denaro, Musical Culture and the Chitarraro: Mattheo Morales in 17th Century Malta by Anna Borg Cardona, Diaspora: Maltese Overseas Settlement by Henry Frendo, Ponta Reale and Environs by MIchael Ellul, Dictionary for Specific Purposes by Charles Briffa, Id-Dar Maltija: Aspetti Soċjali Ekonomiċi u Kulturali bejn il-perjodu Medjevali sa Żminijietna by George A. Said Zammit, Knights in Durance: A Record of the Carvings and Inscriptions in the Dungeon of the Castle of St Angelo in Malta by Denis Calnan, and Malta and the Czars 1697-1802 by Andrew P. Vella.
Photo of the view of Malta from the airplane. The land is a mixture of green and brown, and most of it is built up. The sea is a deep blue, and the sky is clear and a bright blue. The airplane's wing is visible, and the livery indicates that this is a Ryanair plane.
Photo of a pastizz in a paper bag marked with the logo of Sphinx Pastizzeria.
Photo of a lizard trapped within the strands of a purple shag carpet
Photo of the houses at St. Barbara Bastions in Valletta, with iconic blue wooden balconies
Photo of a green Norn doll plushie, a character from the game Creatures 2
Photo of red ochre patterns and spirals drawn on the ceiling of the Ħal-Saflieni Hypogeum. Photo taken from Heritage Malta's website at https://heritagemalta.mt/news/a-subterranean-neolithic-masterpiece-the-hal-saflieni-hypogeum/
Photo of a sunrise over the sea, making the sky glow orange.
Picture of a floppy disk. The label reads "Treasure Hunt Maths, A:\THM\SETUP" and "Prince of Persia, A:\PRINCE\INSTALL"
Photo of the sunrise over the sea. The sky above the horizon is orange.
Photo in a selfie format of myself in front of the entrance National Library of Malta. The sign behind me is in Maltese and says Bibljoteka Nazzjonali.
Photo of a light blue packet of Twistees Minty Fresh, with several boxes in the background containing more packets
Photo of the Triton Fountain in Valletta
Photo of the interior of the bus in Malta. It's half empty, with seats upholstered in blue.
Photo of the clouds and the blue sky out of the airplane window. The Ryanair logo is visible on the plane's wing.
Photo of the imqaret filling in a saucepan, consisting of dates, orange blossom water, cloves, cinnamon, and aniseed.
Photo of myself wearing a blue waistcoat and suit jacket, together with a light blue tie and pocket square. I'm holding a floral umbrella due to the rain.
We turn now to the golfu, one of the more dangerous avians in this bestiary. Though there are conflicting accounts of its physical description (see Lanfranco & Lanfranco 1977 for a full list), the golfu can be described as a large bird of prey. It is often known to attack dovecotes in search of food (see Schembri 1985 for a description of the golfu's diet). Its most notable feature is a high-pitched screech which can turn enemies into dust (see Fenech 1984 discussing an eyewitness account by local hunter Salvu Mgħawweġ), and is therefore considered highly dangerous.
Photo of a celebration for new Swedish citizens inside the Stockholm City Hall. Lots of people are waving Swedish flags while singing the national anthem.
Photo of homemade strawberry ice-cream mixture churning away in an ice-cream maker.
A warning sign in Swedish that says "Klämrisk vid transport av gods", which means "Risk of crushing when transporting goods". There is an image of a person with a wheelie bin in a lift, followed by an image of a person being crushed by a wheelie bin in a lift.
Photo of a black notebook, taken while sitting on a bench in the park. The text on the notebook's cover reads "Code Camp on Computational Creativity, Coimbra, Portugal, 12th-15th January 2015"
Photo of the book Writing for Games by Hannah Nicklin on my Kindle. A stroller with a sleeping baby can be seen to the left, and the forest and lake making up the nature reserve in the background.
A photo of the local park, on a bright sunny day.
A photo of an assortment of baby toys. From left to right: a squirrel soft toy, a board book in Greek about animals, a pink beholder soft toy, and stacked wooden blocks that make up a tower
Photo of a replica of The Sleeping Lady, a figurine originally found in the Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum in Malta
Photo of a pile of books on a table. From top to bottom, the books read as follows: The History of Magic, by Chris Gosden Everything to Play For, by Marijam Did Folklore of Somerset, by Alan Holt The L'Isle Adam Illuminated Manuscripts and other illuminated choral books in Malta, by Martina Caruana The Cultural Logic of Computation, by David Golumbia The Great Maltese Composers: Historical Context, Lives, and Works, by Joseph Vella Bondin Wildlife of the Maltese Islands, edited by Joe Sultana and Victor Falzon The Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri (The Folio Society) Art Nouveau to Modernism, by Conrad Thake The Late Medieval Art and Architecture of the Maltese Islands, by Mario Buhagiar
Photo of a chocolate cake, with 5 lit candles
Photo of the Resolution Games office celebrating the release of our latest XR game Home Sports
Photo of my presents received at Christmas. A new pair of walking shoes in dark blue, the book Everything to Play For: An Insider's Guide to How Videogames are Changing Our World by Marijam Did, the book The Cultural Logic of Computation by David Golumbia, and the book The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri published by the Folio Society
A photo of me and my wife with two of our friends.
Screenshot of my MSc project, where players could walk around a cityscape dotted with artwork in order to see how the view would sound by using colour→music mappings and 1D cellular automata
Photo of my self holding the Latvian flag in front of the Freedom Monument in Riga, Latvia.
Photo of me playing the drums and jamming out in 2006
A stack of books about Maltese folklore, history, and culture. From top to bottom: Papers in Maltese Linguistics by Joseph Aquilina, Studies in Maltese Folklore by Joseph Cassar Pullicino, Folktales of Malta and Gozo by Ġużè Cassar Pullicino, Society and the Inquisition in Early Modern Malta by Frans Ciappara, A Comparative Dictionary of Maltese Proverbs by J. Aquilina, Beyond Our Shores: A Panorama of Maltese Migration by Fr Lawrence Attard, The Maltese Bestiary by Stephan D. Mifsud, Place-Names of the Maltese Islands ca 1300-1800 by Godfrey Wettinger, and Musical Instruments of the Maltese Islands: History, Folkways and Traditions by Anna Borg Cardona
Photo of the Valletta breakwater bridge in Malta
Two tubs of home made ice-cream, one with pina colada ice-cream and the other with basil ice-cream.
Photo of myself on a snowy day in Stockholm, Sweden. I'm wearing a thick blue jacket, a woollen blue scarf, and a yellow beanie.
Selfie of myself with the For Devs lanyard
Image with the Ink of Ages Fiction Prize logo, run by the World History Encyclopedia in collaboration with the Oxford University Press
Promo image of the World History Encyclopedia's Ink of Ages Fiction Prize, sponsored by Oxford University Press