Seri Rama: converting a shadow play puppet to Street Fighter

Area of Science:

• Digital Arts and Heritage Preservation
• Cultural Informatics
• Interactive Entertainment

Background:

• Traditional Malaysian shadow puppet theater, known as wayang kulit, faces declining popularity among adolescents.
• Adolescents increasingly favor digital entertainment, particularly computer and video games, over traditional arts.
• The Seri Rama character is a central figure in Malaysian wayang kulit narratives.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the integration of traditional Malaysian wayang kulit elements into modern video games.
• To develop a 3D prototype of the traditional Seri Rama character for a video game environment.
• To assess the potential of video games as a medium for preserving and promoting cultural heritage.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing 3D modeling, texturing, and animation techniques to create the digital character.
• Incorporating the traditional Seri Rama character into the popular video game, Street Fighter.
• Developing interactive controls for the character using a standard PlayStation game controller.

Main Results:

• A functional 3D prototype of the Seri Rama character was successfully developed.
• The prototype allows users to interact with and control the character within a video game context.
• Demonstrated feasibility of merging traditional artistic elements with contemporary digital gaming platforms.

Conclusions:

• Integrating traditional cultural characters into video games can potentially increase their appeal to younger demographics.
• Digital game development offers a novel pathway for the preservation and dissemination of traditional performing arts.
• This approach may serve as a model for revitalizing other endangered cultural traditions through technology.