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Re-designing your casual game for iPhone and iPad
Gabby DizonBoomzap Entertainment
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Who is Boomzap Entertainment?
• Casual games for PC/Mac, Wii, iPhone/iPad
• Virtual office in 6 countries• Recent focus: Hidden object /
puzzle / adventure games (HOPA)
What this talk is all about
• Redesign your PC casual game for iDevices• Maximize your existing IP
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Awakening: The Dreamless Castle
• Published by Big Fish Games
• PC version released February 2010
• Mac version released March 2010
• 9 international versions released on PC
• iPhone/iPad release: December 2010
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#1 on
The four letter word: “Port”
• Evokes images of mindless work• There’s a lot more to porting your games to
iThingies than just getting them to run• Hence, we talk about “redesign”
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First things first: Your game engine
• iOS compatible?• OpenGL ES ready?• Build or buy?• Commercial options:
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How we did it
• Boomzap’s engine – in-house, C++ based, OpenGL supported
• Mac OSX port – excellent starting point• Porting our engine to iOS – included in project
schedule• Engine porting + optimization took 2 months (50%)
of supposed project schedule
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Let’s avoid monkey-touching steps wherever possible!
How we did it
Lesson: Port your engine outside of the project schedule!
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The finer points of touch controls
• Tap response has to be immediate• Swipe and bounce have to feel
smooth, not jerky• Customers REALLY CARE about
these features – do not ignore them• We spent a LOT of time just fine-
tuning these movements
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Tap / Double-tap Swipe / Bounce Pinch to zoom Tap-and-drag Two-finger swipe
Build management
• Start of project - iPhone build first, then iPad after• 60% into project – iPad build is more important
(Xmas sales)• We ended up doing iPhone and iPad build at the
same time• Plus 2x Lite builds• Updating 2 separate SVN repositories every day
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Use a script to automate the update of the 2nd repository!
Build management
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Lesson: Do the HD SKU first, then work your way down
Asset Management
• Image assets should all be power of 2• Compressed or uncompressed? (memory vs. file
space)• How many resolutions? (480x320, 960x640,
1024x768)• What we did = A Dropbox directory (synced to team
members) per build (iPhone Full/Lite, iPad Full/Lite)• One asset change = manually update 4 versions
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The assets of the SD directory can contain only the delta; all other files are copied over from the HD directory.
Great for sharing and syncing assets!
Asset management
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Lesson: Automate asset changes wherever possible!
Navigation issues
• Tap vs. click• No context-sensitive cursor
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PC iPad
Room navigation
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PC iPad
• Explicit compass mode on iPad to navigate rooms
iPad to iPhone issues
• UI redesign may be needed, cannot just scale down• Pinch zoom more important• Hit areas should be larger• Fonts need to be larger, clearer• Portrait mode for HOG scenes
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Antique Road Trip USA: iPad vs. iPhone
iPad
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iPhone
iPad to iPhone Redesign
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Lesson: Scaling won’t work – take the time to redesign the UI
Tutorial
• Very important to hook the player in• Usability videos are very helpful
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Tutorial
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Lesson: Plan the iOS-specific tutorial as early as possible!
Social Integration
• Use a social game network• Leaderboards, achievements, friends list
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Social Integration
• Newsletter sign-up• Email a friend• Feedback• Cross-promotion• User ratings
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We’re Smarter Now
• New iOS projects underway• Reusable modules for future games
– Touch controls– Achievement system– Newsletter/email a friend libraries
• Build most important SKU first• In the future: Android/WebOS/etc.
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Recap
• Prep your engine• Automate your assets• Have a pipeline scalable for multiple builds• Address UI issues early• Tutorial NOW, not later• Reusable social modules• Have a great publisher (as we did with BFG)
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Thank you!
gabby@boomzap.com
@boomzap on Twitter
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http://www.boomzap.com
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