Welcome to another episode of Visualize this! the show where we talk about game development.
My guest today is Michael Kasprzak, his entry Smiles won the most elegant application prize in the Intel Atom Developer Challenge. Mike is a game industry veteran with more than a decade of experience. He's worked on numerous titles for a number of platforms including Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, PlayStation, Mobile, and iPhone. Mike was also a contributing author to the book "iPhone Games Projects", and used to write for independent games website Game Tunnel.
Since 2005, Mike has owned and operated Sykhronics Entertainment, a small independent game studio in London, Ontario, Canada. Games by Sykhronics Entertainment have been highly regarded by the press, and have been finalists in the Slamdance Games Festival and the Independent Games Festival.
This is one of the episodes I streamed live from GDC San Francisco
As always questions and feedback welcome, you can send it to Visualizethis@intel.com
Download Link (MP4 Video)
Questions
1. You have been involved in a number of game titles from Disney, Mattel etc. Tell us about your background?
2. Your entry Smiles combines 2 games DROP and ZEN. Can you tell us more about these games and the reason behind combining into one game? Was this inspired by another game?
3. What features make Smiles so interesting?
4. The look of Smiles is unique. Very whimsical & playful. Can you tell us about your approach to creating the look and characters in Smiles. Why did you go with a 2D cell cartoon look over 3D?
5. The game play is not typical of similar games like Gems & Bejeweled. Rather than clearing the screen you need to rearrange the board of icons so all icons are lined up with at least 3 matching. How did you come up with this?
6. Smiles was originally developed for the iPhone. What challenges did you face in porting it to the netbook?
7. How did you overcome these challenges?
8. As casual games / handheld games gain popularity, what advice do you have for developers, developing for multiple platforms?
9. What was your experience working on the Intel Atom developer Challenge?
10. What can we expect to see from Sykhronics Entertainment next?
I am always looking for community feedback and questions. You can email them to visualizethis@intel.com
You can watch Visualize This! live alternate Tuesdays at noon Pacific on Intel Software Network TV, our new 24/7 interactive video channel. Come chat with us, or browse the On Demand section to see past episodes of our shows.
My guest today is Michael Kasprzak, his entry Smiles won the most elegant application prize in the Intel Atom Developer Challenge. Mike is a game industry veteran with more than a decade of experience. He's worked on numerous titles for a number of platforms including Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, PlayStation, Mobile, and iPhone. Mike was also a contributing author to the book "iPhone Games Projects", and used to write for independent games website Game Tunnel.
Since 2005, Mike has owned and operated Sykhronics Entertainment, a small independent game studio in London, Ontario, Canada. Games by Sykhronics Entertainment have been highly regarded by the press, and have been finalists in the Slamdance Games Festival and the Independent Games Festival.
This is one of the episodes I streamed live from GDC San Francisco
As always questions and feedback welcome, you can send it to Visualizethis@intel.com
Download Link (MP4 Video)
Questions
1. You have been involved in a number of game titles from Disney, Mattel etc. Tell us about your background?
2. Your entry Smiles combines 2 games DROP and ZEN. Can you tell us more about these games and the reason behind combining into one game? Was this inspired by another game?
3. What features make Smiles so interesting?
4. The look of Smiles is unique. Very whimsical & playful. Can you tell us about your approach to creating the look and characters in Smiles. Why did you go with a 2D cell cartoon look over 3D?
5. The game play is not typical of similar games like Gems & Bejeweled. Rather than clearing the screen you need to rearrange the board of icons so all icons are lined up with at least 3 matching. How did you come up with this?
6. Smiles was originally developed for the iPhone. What challenges did you face in porting it to the netbook?
7. How did you overcome these challenges?
8. As casual games / handheld games gain popularity, what advice do you have for developers, developing for multiple platforms?
9. What was your experience working on the Intel Atom developer Challenge?
10. What can we expect to see from Sykhronics Entertainment next?
I am always looking for community feedback and questions. You can email them to visualizethis@intel.com
You can watch Visualize This! live alternate Tuesdays at noon Pacific on Intel Software Network TV, our new 24/7 interactive video channel. Come chat with us, or browse the On Demand section to see past episodes of our shows.