As a kid fascinated by video games, CIIT Senior High School (SHS) alumnus Manuel Angelo “Cloro” Abanilla set his sights on his ultimate goal: starting his own video game company. Luckily, he found CIIT’s SHS Programming track where he accelerated his learning and sharpened his programming talents.
As a CIIT SHS student, Cloro was already making progress towards his dream and racking up work experience! Read on to find out why Cloro knew CIIT’s creative environment was the right place to hone his skills:
How did your passion for game development start?
Starting at eight years old, I was inspired to make video games due to my experiences playing Minecraft, Pokemon and other games. I love these games’ intricate stories, world-building, and most importantly, their sense of freedom and limitless boundaries. My gaming experiences are why I hope to start a game company, create a unique and creative game, build a great fanbase, and become an inspiration for other young, ambitious developers.
Why did you choose CIIT to further your passion?
I was already teaching myself programming by learning Windows Batch files, creating simple command prompt executables, and experimenting with ROBLOX as well as Lua, but I wanted a school that would take me farther. So I asked my parents and researched multiple schools related to computer technology. I always kept in mind that I wanted a unified, unbiased school that embraces people’s freedom and creativity and also has a light-hearted, really great community.
In short, I wanted a school where I was free to be myself and pursue my passion as a programmer. So when my parents mentioned CIIT, I looked into it. I was instantly interested in its colorful campus and vibrant identity. Since then, I never regretted my decision to enroll.
How did CIIT Senior High School help you pursue your passion?
At CIIT, I was going all out. I learned many tools like 3D game animation, graphic design, and sound engineering, all with the goal of possessing enough knowledge to pursue my passion and create the games I have in mind.
Additionally, CIIT gave me many chances to practice my skills. Besides working as a freelance programmer on the ROBLOX platform and helping multiple people in their games through my knowledge of Lua, I got the chance to work with a company on their upcoming game using Godot Engine.
Can you tell us about a project you really enjoyed?
I remember this project that I came up with while I was running for the position of programming representative for the student council. My schoolmates and I got the idea of creating a virtual hangout place that was the exact replica of the CIIT Senior High School building. We chose to make it on the ROBLOX platform, which was a win-win situation for me as it is an easily accessible game and I am experienced with it. To build it, we chose a framework for the game and cooperated with the staff to get reference images for the creation of the building.
From a technical standpoint, the hangout spot was built on top of an already existing framework that I actively use for commissions and assisting in game development on the platform. This framework is called CLYDE, a modular framework written on top of the ROBLOX API that provides a more organized, flexible environment for scripters to work with. It’s mostly a set of tools that speeds things up.
Now, I’m glad to say that the game is a success. It’s a great, interactable environment where CIITeens can have fun together. If you’re interested, you can try it out via this link:
https://www.roblox.com/games/8533786432/CIIT-SHS-Hangout
What advice can you give to your peers who want to get into the programming track?
For students who want to apply for the programming track, it is best to know what you want. Your passion must be deeply integrated into yourself, because at first, programming will be hard. As you keep trying and learning from your mistakes, though, it’ll soon enough become the easiest thing in your life.
Always chase your passion, and that will make you move swiftly in this strand. And also, know some basic math, not too much math though because the computer does it for us anyways.
Pursue your goals like Cloro at CIIT. Find the creative environment and opportunities you need to turn your career dreams into a reality, no matter your age!
