March 2008

The regional winners for the Flash Lite User Group Contest have been announced. Congratulations to the winners and thanks to all who contributed to the community.

EMEA

Mondo Under by bitacora13
Fantastic graphics and animation in this game will probably stretch some devices but if it works on your phone you will enjoy wandering around a sub city sewer munching flies and dodging toxic sludge filled holes and steaming hot pipes….and that’s just the first level.

Americas

Bog Frog by Ekleptica
Bog Frog immediately catches the eye with its smooth, fresh graphics, and it backs these up with great game play. It is simple enough: you have to guide the frog to the lily flower, through a sequence of ever more complex puzzles. The variability between each level keeps things interesting. A recent update to the game which adds time limit mode makes it even more fun.Totally addictive!!

Asia Pacific

UFO Catcher: Barnyard Abductionby Naz
Become Zorg, a Zkrznian Elite hunter and collect specimens for the Zkrznian Interplanetary zoo. You are awarded bonus points for 3-of-a-kind abductions and special combinations. Try to avoid the crop dusters or your trusty UFO will be sprawled over the farm-scape with no chance to phone home.

Full listing of the winners is available at the 2007 Flash Lite Game Contest site.

Next in line is Mariam, her game Sea Combat came in 17th place.

The Game

About Mariam

My name is Mariam Dholkawala and I am based out of Mumbai, India. After spending six years in a game development company (Indiagames Ltd), I recently moved on to work independently on projects under a development studio iGameStudio.I have been a game developer for close to 7 years now and have loved every moment of it. I started my gaming career with Macromedia Director as the Lingo Scripting Language was a lot more powerful for than Actionscript. Soon as Flash evolved and the market started demanding light weight and graphic rich games, I moved on to Flash development.

The Interview

WordRap

How did you become a Flash Lite developer?
My journey into Flash mobile game development began when I first read an article about the Mobiclip extension for Flash. This extension allowed me to compile a swf file into a format for mobiles. I immediately requested for their SDK and become a part of their small developer base. Working on this gave me an understanding of mobile limitations and ways to overcome them.Soon I received an invitation to be a part of the Flash Lite 1.1 beta and my journey into the world of Flash Lite began. The first game I made with my team at Indiagames was “Cryptic Capers”. This won us an award at the Macromedia Flash Lite Content Contest in 2005 in the Best Game Category. Then on I just got hooked to this technology and created a huge catalogue of games. It’s now been close to 4 years and I still love working on Flash Lite.

You are interested in casual games, tell us why?
The biggest advantage of developing casual games is they are simple, fun, and in most cases provide an easy one thumb play to its users. Today people want to fill up their spare time (waiting for someone, in a meeting, travelling in the train) in playing a game. Hard-core games don’t allow that because they need detailed understanding and time. Casual games are currently considered a market driver, and that’s why I develop casual games

Tell us how you came up with idea for this game.
While submitting my games for the Playyoo contest, I realized that most of my games were single screen games. I wanted to do something different so I thought of doing a game with a scrolling screen. At the same time I also wanted to make sure that the scrolling experience was consistent on all handsets that supported it. So discarding the idea for a complex scrolling game I thought of this simple concept for Sea Combat.

What other games do you like on Playyoo?
Currently the Playyoo website is populated with various games, so filtering the good from the average is difficult. However as a manager of the IndiMaD UG, I did get an opportunity to see all the games off the Playyoo website and I think all the developers who have contributed have done a great job on their games. Kudos to all.

What are you currently working on?
Currently I have tied up with a local Indian brand to create a mobile viral campaign for their product. This application is being developed using Flash Lite. Apart from this, I also have a Flash Lite game which I was working on, but has been put on hold due to this new project.

What do you think Playyoo can offer to you as a developer?
I think Playyoo provides a great platform to showcase and share games with the rest of the gaming community. It is a great place to receive feedback on your work, make new friends and see what other developers are doing.

Today we present you Emilia Ciardi, from Naples. Her game Bog Frog won the 7th price. Quite many do like the graphics and the elegance.

The Game

About Emilia aka Ekleptica

Emilia Ciardi is a software engineer with a strong focus on integrating emerging technologies.Her experience in project management includes specific expertise with projects requiring strong interactive design and multi-disciplinary development teams.She has a clear understanding of communication design including user-centric experiences, graphical interfaces, color theory, motion graphics, usability and accessibility, ranging from Web 2.0 and Internet applications to mobile gaming and DTT services.Currently she lives and works in Naples, Italy as New Media Creative Lead for ITS SpA.

The Interview

WordRap

Tell us a little about yourself.
I’m a girl and a software engineer from Italy. I’m mainly specialised in new media and multimedia applications. I love design, painting, playing piano and, oh well, creating and coding good games.I’m always looking for new ways to express my own creativity.

How did you become a Flash Lite developer?
I work with Flash from about 7 years, so I should say it was only a matter of time. I came across Flash Lite on a grey and boring afternoon about a year ago, and in a few hours I ended up creating my first game, DiceSlam.I had previous experiences with J2ME, so I was very surprised of the very short time needed to create a game with Flash Lite. It was something really close to… love at first sight!

You are interested in casual games, tell us why?
Oh well, I’ve already told you that I’m always looking for new ways to express creativity and I think casual games are a great opportunity in this respect.A brilliant idea, a good gameplay, quality graphics, robust and efficient coding… these are all elements that you have to deal with if you want to create a successful casual game.It’s a truly attractive challenge for a creative individual.And, after all, it’s really gratifying to see people playing and enjoying your own creations.

Tell us how you came up with idea for this game.
Bog Frog was born as an attempt to create something new in the puzzle genre. Actually I think it is quite original and I’m really happy with the random levels generator. I took inspiration from a topological problem I was facing for a completely different project.

What other games do you like on Playyoo?
I really like Panic Mechanic, UFO Catcher and qTile. They all are brilliant, simple and very addictive, just perfect casual games.

What are you currently working on?
Currently I’m working on another puzzle-action game. Till now it doesn’t have a name. I’m also working on a new chapter for “I love pizza”. It will include some of the suggestions I got from users on Playyoo.

What do you think Playyoo can offer to you as a developer?
Playyoo is a great place to get direct feedback from players and test games on a huge variety of devices. Publishing games on Playyoo is also a good way to gain visibility and build a solid reputation.I hope that in the future Playyoo will help developers to access distribution opportunities and get revenue from their creations.

Do have an advice for other game creators how to win a contest like this one?
Just don’t wait too much and upload your game! Submit it to the contest as soon as you have a nicely working version. Then you can improve it and add new features listening to what players think about your game. This way you get people involved in the creative process and you take full advantage of the social network. More involvement, more fun and more players.

Pasi from Finland is next in our lineup. He actually won 2 prizes. qTile won the 4th and SokoLite won the 8th prize. Click on the images below to get to the game pages.

The Games

About Pasi

Pasi Manninen - Certified Adobe Flash and Flash Lite Developer. He livesin Jyväskylä, in the middle of Finland.He used Flash based technologies since they are available and he is stillvery interested in multimedia programming especially for the web and different kind of devices.He has a Master of Science (1997) in Applied Mathematics and ComputerScience from the University of Jyväskylä.He started teaching at University of Jyväskylä in 1996 and is now working as a lecturer in Jyväskylä University of Applied Science’s Information Technology, Degree Programme of Media Engineering (since 2002).More info about Pasi can be found in his blog at http://ptm.fi

The Interview

WordRap

Tell us a little about yourself.
My name is Pasi Manninen and I live in Jyväskylä, middle of Finland. I am working as a teacher in Jyväskylä at the University of Applied Sciences. I have used Flash based technologies for more than ten years now and I am still very interested in multimedia programming in web and different kind of devices.

How did you become a Flash Lite developer?
I have used computers during my entire live - playing games when I was young and of course trying programming small games back then. About ten years ago I used Macromedia Director in one project at the University (when I was studying) and later Macromedia Flash also. Now when Flash Lite became available here in Finland, I noticed that this is what I really want to do. Working with Flash Lite is like a hobby for me, and of course it is work also.

You are interested in casual games, tell us why?
I like to solve different kinds of puzzles because you need to think carefully about your moves, it’s not about wildly pressing the keys on the mobile phone. I think puzzle games work for the mobile handest too, you have small screens and casual games works nicely in those.

Tell us how you came up with idea for this game.
I think you are meaning qTile now, yes. The original idea is come from Jaakko Koskela, one friend of mine. He did Java version of this game a long time ago (but he never published it). Then I noticed this Playyoo competition and I talked about it with Jaakko. So I programmed a few evenings and sent qTile to playyoo?s contest.

What other games do you like on Playyoo?
There are a lot of good games in Playyoo, but there is also a lot of trash. I think you really need some kind of checking system before games are visible to end users.But best games in my opinion are Bog Frog and The Empty Space. I specially liked a lot of Bog Frog?s hurry up mode with randomized levels - it is really challenging! ? thanks to Ekleptica for that game.

What are you currently working on?
I have no projects running now but I definitely want to test Kuneri Lite soon. There are really good extensions available to Flash Lite Developers. (like accelerometer for N95).

What do you think Playyoo can offer to you as a developer?
You have done really good work. It is really easy to make games available in Playyoo. And from a player’s view, it is really easy to browser games and set favourites and play then in mobile. Good work. Thanks!

Do have an advice for other game creators how to win a contest like this one?
First you have to get a good idea for your game. The game must be simple to play and it has to offer long playability. Those kind of games are what I like to play. Many of the winning games at Playyoo are of that kind.About qTile - I think I have good idea now, but I didn’t find any designers to do great graphics for my game in time. So I have to submit qTile quickly to Playyoo to get downloads.One other thought is that my content is Flash Lite 2.0, maybe it is still better to do Flash Lite 1.1 game, but I really think we have been too long time in Flash Lite 1.1, maybe it is time to move on now.

I’m happy to present Samir K. Dash and his game “Match the Blocks”, that won the Playyoo Launch Contest. I played this game myself and I can tell you the current highscore is incredible.

About Samir

Samir currently works as System Consultant (Creative Content) leading an e-learning & multimedia team at Enterprise System Solutions Pvt. Ltd. (www.esspl.com) at Bhubaneswar, India. He is passionate about Flash, Flash Lite and has developed few applications, games and components for web and mobiles. He runs his experimental Flash Lite based mobile greetings site MobileWish. He beliefs “ Flash Lite will fuel the nexgen M-Learning through usage of mobile interactives and games. Playyoo’s contribution towards bringing together the Flash Lite community and spreading the awareness among common mass has turned this chain reaction, ON.” More details about Samir can be found at his blog MobileWish. He beliefs “ Flash Lite will fuel the nexgen M-Learning through usage of mobile interactives and games. Playyoo’s contribution towards bringing together the Flash Lite community and spreading the awareness among common mass has turned this chain reaction, ON.” More details about Samir can be found at his blog http://samirshomepage.wordpress.com

The Interview

As part of our feature of fine game creators we are going to have short interviews and provide them via Podcast here. I actually did a Skype interview with Samir but unfortunately the sound quality is rather bad. Still I will investigate how to improve it and post it later if I succeed.So we rather print the interview here.

How did you become a Flash Lite developer?
It was back in 1997, when I found a copy of a promotional CD from a digit magazine with Flash 5 trial copy, I started experimenting with it and gradually realized this software has everything that turns on my imagination. Later I started self learning Flash and followed every version until (two, three years back) I came to know that they have launched a mobile profile too. My interest raised further knowing that I can see my little animations on mobile handsets. My first Flash Lite application was “Traffic Signs” in Flash Lite 1.0 — which was nothing but a pack of slides of traffic sign images in each frame. Later when I joined ESSPL and started using Flash for client projects, I found out that Flash Lite can be used to create “Value Additions” to some of enterprise/web applications other teams are developing – like a mobile companion to any of the application that are being developed in Java/.Net , that will show some information on handsets – Rss gadgets, string/XML parsers etc. Thus I got my passion for Flash lite.

You are interested in casual games, tell us why?
Most of the jobs in my current company involve development of interactive and e-learning stuff and that’s the main reaso. When I view Flash Lite games, I see it as a medium to keep the user engaged deeply for some minutes. I belief, the causal games are the only robust way to guide the instructional designs of a next generation M-Learning.. That’s is the main reason I was first attracted to wards this area. I believe causal mobile games are the next big thing both in game as well as M-Learning industry.

Tell us how you came up with idea for this game?
“Match the Blocks” is perhaps the simplest game in the series of ten games I contributed to Playoo. I believe, that in most of the cases if it is a mobile game, there is a high chance that the user may not be in a situation where he can concentrate more on game playing…like he might be downloading the game while waiting for cab, or ordering a meal at restaurant. So the idea is to keep the game playing rules simple, so much time is not wasted by the user in learning “How to/what to do” about the game. Additionally more the complicated a game is , less chance, the user will be able to find sufficient time and attention for it to play on handset. So, I created “Match the Blocks” keeping in all these things in mind, and those things worked very well too.

What other games do you like on Playyoo?
I think there are many brilliant games in Playyoo. To name a few — QTile, Mondo Under, Panic Mechanic, Orang Bunian, these are few names of some brilliant games I liked at playyoo. Qtile is very technically sound design in game , Mondo Under is a wonderful piece in graphic effects, Panic mechanic has a good entertaining factor and Orang Bunian is a very simple but beautiful game.

What are you currently working on?
I am currently working on 3 casual games for playyoo, one of them is “Bhul Bhuleya” based on a new concept. I am sure the user will like the gaming experience of that very much. The second one is a Flash lite 3 game, and the third one is a version 2 of “Match the Blocks” . Apart from games I am also working on a m-learning stuff that will I hope make m-learning easier to implement in Flash Lite.

What do you think Playyoo can offer to you as a developer?
<Playyoo has done a wonderful job in bringing together the Flash Lite developers and the game players. I think it’s very important for Playyoo to improve this synergy factor. Most of the developers would be more interested if Playyoo can create a potential market for them to showcase their games and interactive for commercial benefits.I also wish that Playyoo can push the M-Learning related interactive development, which can actually redefine the whole concept of learning using Flash Lite games for students – as games are much more effective than pure texts. As I said earlier the next big thing both in game as well as M-Learning industry lies in causal games /interactive development.

Do have an advice for other game creators how to win a contest likethis one.
The specialty of Playyoo contest was that unlike other game development contests held in previous years, it is based on the concept of “for the game players”…the judging criteria was more on “user’s preference in gaming” – with in 300 kb one need to bring the entertaining factor and has to keep a balance between the technology and the taste. Many games that were brilliantly designed and technically sound may fail in these type of contests if users can not see it as per what they expect from this. The key is to keep a balance between the technical potential and the gaming factor. And yes it is always good to make the game small so users won’t need to wait too long, make it FL 1.1 (because the more users can play it on their handset), don’t make the game rules complex…make it simple and short…and I am sure the game will gate more users.

Thanks for the interview and your games.