re-designing your casual game for iphone and ipad gabby dizon boomzap entertainment
TRANSCRIPT
Re-designing your casual game for iPhone and iPad
Gabby DizonBoomzap Entertainment
2
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
3
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
4
#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”
5
First things first: Your game engine
• iOS compatible?• OpenGL ES ready?• Build or buy?• Commercial options:
6
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
7
Let’s avoid monkey-touching steps wherever possible!
How we did it
Lesson: Port your engine outside of the project schedule!
8
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
9
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
10
Use a script to automate the update of the 2nd repository!
Build management
11
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
12
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
13
Lesson: Automate asset changes wherever possible!
Navigation issues
• Tap vs. click• No context-sensitive cursor
14
PC iPad
Room navigation
15
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
16
Antique Road Trip USA: iPad vs. iPhone
iPad
17
iPhone
iPad to iPhone Redesign
18
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
19
Tutorial
20
Lesson: Plan the iOS-specific tutorial as early as possible!
Social Integration
• Use a social game network• Leaderboards, achievements, friends list
21
Social Integration
• Newsletter sign-up• Email a friend• Feedback• Cross-promotion• User ratings
22
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.
23
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)
24
