Francesco Mistri, BallMan

Hi there, this page is a summary of my life interests and philosophy. If you're only interested in my work visit the project's page.

My name is Francesco Mistri (aka BallMan). I'm a computer science undergraduate and AI student from the University of Bologna, Italy.

Computer Science / Programming

Probably my main hobby, which explains why I chose computer science for my degree.

I started getting interested in this subject in my youth. Game development is what brought me here. Searching on the web for ways to "make a game", I found a tool that permitted visual scripting (definitely more practical for a child) called Game Maker.

I'm an addicted linux user (Arch gang).

This website was generated with a tool designed by me, webloft.

Music

Artistically speaking I'm a mess, but music is something I'm somehow decent at. Maybe it's true that nothing is impossible if you work hard.

I'm a guitarist and bassist, but recently one of my main interests is electronic music. The music I produce is mainly used for videogames I work on (listen on SoundCloud).

Keep it simple, stupid

This is probably the main point in my personal philosophy: avoid useless superstructures while keeping things as practical as possible.

Videogames

Certainly I'm not the only one who grew up playing and loving videogames. I assume most of the independent game developers out there chose this path due to their love for this medium. However, the world seems having trouble understanding how the medium not only offers active entertainment, but represents the perfect and explosive match between the arts and the sciences.

Am I a game developer? No I'm not, but I consider myself a programmer who makes games on a journey to find the Quintessence, an ideal mix between computer science and arts.