Monday 27 May 2013

Playtime nears for game app developers

Things are taking shape for the app developers in our #BNEAPP series, with all three games now in playable form.

The first round of private testing has been completed by the three teams with stellar results, with all members of the public involved in the trials giving the games big raps.

It's so good, they won the Apple Design Award for it, which is a massive thing.

We've given you, our readers, the unique opportunity to get an inside look at the games that will potentially take the world by storm, with commentary provided by the game developers themselves.

While the games are still far from complete, they are almost there in terms of graphics and user interface, with the majority of control elements in place.

While the three games may have vastly different target audiences, all of them are swayed towards the young at heart.

GeekBrain duo Don Kirkland and Rupert Lewis Jones say that while their game, Ninja Raft, holds a greater appeal for those with a bit of an inner nerd and those who enjoy proper games with depth, anyone can pick it up and have fun, even Kirkland's two-year-old nephew.

They say that a way to look at their game is as a kind of 360-degree Plants vs Zombies whereby the assailants can attack from any possible direction.

With the youth of today's attention spans growing ever shorter, games need to engage with players almost instantaneously.

This has been a core goal for the three games, with all of the developers stating that players need spend no more than a minute on their game to begin enjoying themselves.

Despite the effort being poured into the games by the teams, they will face some undeniably stiff competition once they hit the marketplace in the crowded and booming app sector.

Ghostbox says their game will be fighting for fame against the internationally known Jetpack Joyride, produced by Brisbane's Halfbrick Studios (the developers of Fruit Ninja).

"It [Jetpack Joyride] is just such a great game, it's so good, they won the Apple Design Award for it, which is a massive thing," the guys say.

So for the Ghostbox team, it's going to be an even sweeter success if their game, Dragon Season, gains traction and competes globally with Halfbrick, who are based just streets away from Ghostbox's current location.

The pair from Screwtape Studios says that the challenge they face with their word game is entering into possibly the most saturated market in games.

"Word games are probably the biggest category of games at the moment. For a while it was match three or endless runners, but now we're probably the most saturated segment," the team says.

You can make up your own minds about which game you like the look of, but one thing is certain and that is there will be no rest until release for the developers, with a multitude of public testing events and much progress to be made before the games are available to download.

The next edition of the #BNEAPP series will be the last and will provide details of which teams will walk away from the program successful and how the games are faring in the marketplace.

Game on as rivals vie for mobile app prize

n the last edition of the #BNEAPP series we looked at the program being offered by Brisbane's Right Pedal Studios and what it offers local game designers.

This week we take a more in-depth look at the three teams involved and what they are working on.

The first of the trio of teams is GeekBrain Games, which comprises founder Don Kirkland, 38, from Darra, and art man Rupert Lewis Jones, 45, of Red Hill.

The quirky studio has been in operation only since December 2012 but the pair have a combined 34 years' experience in the games industry.

They are working on an inventive two-phase play they say is a tower game with a twist.

Named Ninja Raft, the game relies on the player first building a raft and then using an army of ninjas to defend the raft from an onslaught of pirates - all a highly user-interactive process.

“For each level you select the hardness, you select how many galleons you want. Later on you select weather patterns, rocks, mines in the water, whatever, and suddenly you open the game up and there they are providing confirmation of you making those changes,” Mr Lewis Jones says.

“That way you get to look forward to it, rather than me just throwing something in and you don't know what's going on. It's treating you like a grown up, basically.”

The second team of lucky designers are Logan-based room-mates and self-described intellectuals Anthony Wood, 30, and Megan Summers, 27, who work under the guise of Screwtape Studios, which is two and a half years old.

They are developing a word game that can broadly be described as being like Wheel of Fortune but without the wheel.

In the game, dubbed “Project Shuffle", the player is given a jumble of letters that, with the help of a hint, must be rearranged as quickly as possible to form a word.

Once the player has completed as many words as they can in their allotted time they may then challenge either the game's computer or their friends through Facebook, to see who can create the most words.

“With a lot of the other games you're sort of testing just how much you can collect or a score you can get,” Mr Wood says. “With a word game like this you're really going, 'Yeah I'm better than you at this, suck it', and really bring that competitive edge in.”

The final team is from Brisbane-based games studio Ghostbox, which has been in operation for little more than a year.

Chris Webb, Troy Duguid, Cameron Pyke and Dominic Drysdale make up the enthusiastic young team developing a game known as an “endless runner”, similar to the already popular Jetpack Joyride.

The game, Dragon Season, will involve the player flying as a dragon to attain particular goals, overcoming obstacles on the way.

“The game started with a hang-glider but we went with dragons because everyone loves them, plus there's heaps of stuff we can do there with breathing fire and having knights and castles and all that sort of thing,” the team says.

In our next #BNEAPP feature we will look at how far the teams have progressed with the development of their games, and how initial public testing has gone.

Scheme helps game app developers play for

high stakes

What does it take to create the next mobile app sensation? Daniel Tomlinson investigates through our #BNEAPP series how eight local developers aim to emulate the success achieved by the Brisbane creators of Fruit Ninja.

Rising above the noise is the goal for eight lucky game developers who have earned themselves the opportunity of a lifetime with Brisbane-based company Right Pedal Studios.

They were selected from 33 teams and now they have the chance to create the next big thing in mobile game applications, or “apps”, a booming sector with the power to transform relatively unknown techies into the rich and famous.

But do the eight have what it takes?

Team manager and key industry figure John Passfield thinks so. Though they'll have to complete the RPS program first, something Mr Passfield compares to Channel Nine's reality TV series The Voice.

“We got the applications but [unlike The Voice] we didn't meet the teams," Mr Passfield says. "We got to see a demo and think, 'This is compelling.' Then we 'pressed our buttons' and they came in to meet us.

“In the next stage of The Voice, once the mentors have decided on their final teams, they groom them and try and set them up for success, which is very similar to what we're doing here.”

There are various incentives for game developers to participate in the program, including between $25,000 and $50,000 of funding provided by RPS.

In addition, the teams are provided with a community workspace; they all work in the same large room to ensure a sense of competition is present.

The program is unique in Australia, and success from any or all of these teams could well establish Brisbane as the nation's mobile games capital. Brisbane was the birthplace of internationally popular Fruit Ninja in 2010.

There are three main rules to which the developers must adhere: developing the game for mobile devices, making it for a mass market and completing the build within five months.

Five months might sound like a lot of time to develop a game, but depending on the game's complexity, the time can go by very quickly.

River City Labs founder and RPS team owner Stephen Baxter says that despite the time frame, all of the games they plan on nurturing are meant to be good fun.

“That's probably the hardest part for these guys – getting that is probably the eureka moment for a lot of them," Mr Baxter says.

“Once that is achieved, then you have to build quality, you have to de-bug, look at your monetisation strategy; it's quite a multi-dimensional, multi-faceted problem.”

But who are they teams, what are their ideas, and how do they plan on winning?

The next instalment of #BNEAPP will take a more in-depth look at not just what but who is involved in the making of a great game.

Women lead race towards City2South

Women are dominating the field for the upcoming City2South fun run, accounting for 60 per cent of entrants so far.

Thousands of runners, joggers and walkers have signed up for the brisbanetimes.com.au's inaugural City2South over 14 kilometres on June 16.

The gender split is mirrored in the Brisbane Jog Squad, according to the group's Haydon Miller.

But when it comes to which gender actually enjoys running more, Mr Miller says there is no divide.

The City2South entry numbers show more males are running in the competitive classes, while more female runners are entered in the casual running, jogging and walking groups.

Brisbane Road Runners Club president Peter James says over the past 31 years the general trend has been an increase in the number of female runners at the club.

“I am a running coach and I've found that in recent years females are more inclined to seek coaching support than males,” said Mr James.

"This conforms with my observation that there are more female recreational runners jogging for fitness around the streets of Brisbane than males.”

A study published by the IDEA Fitness Journal suggests women remain more physically active throughout their lives compared to men.

Australia's 'marathon man' signs on for City2South

The brisbanetimes.com.au City2South charity fun run has acquired a new celebrity runner in the form of Australia's very own 'marathon man' Tristan Miller.

Mr Miller, who in 2010 finished 52 marathons in a single calendar year, has come on board to run for Team Cerebral Palsy League in the inaugural event.

Despite regularly visiting Queensland as a motivational speaker, this will only be Mr Miller's second competitive run in the River City, having previously run the Brisbane Marathon.

He said this time around he would be focused on raising money for charity rather than competing

“I'm not going to be up the front, I'm going to be in the mix with hopefully the rest of the CPL crew,” he said..

“These events to me are absolutely fun runs, they're just that, they're to be enjoyed and provide an opportunity for people to get out there.

“I don't like letting it all hang out at those sorts of races, I like taking lots of photos and talking to people on the way.”

Miller does have some tips for budding runners, however.

“My biggest piece of advice is to not worry about the finish line, just get to the start line and let the race take care of itself,” he said.

“You get to the start line and get swept up in all the excitement of it, they [fun runs] are magical events and people are really having a good time.

“Halfway through the run you're just laughing, thinking I can't believe I'm out here running 14 kilometres though the city and everyone's cheering.

"It's just a great feeling.”

The City2South, a sister event to the City2Surf in Sydney and the City2Sea in Melbourne, will take participants on a 14 kilometre course past some of Brisbane's most notable locations.

The run will start at 7am on June 16.

Next stop Stockholm for Alloway

Having shown off his knock-out power in his UFC debut Benny Blanco Alloway is heading to Sweden for his first fight in the Octagon on foreign soil.

The Coolangatta local is due to fight undefeated American Ryan Laflare in front of a 15,000 strong crowd in one of 13 scheduled matches at the Ericcson Globe arena in Stockholm on April 6.

Since beginning to fight competitively in February 2010, Alloway has gone on to earn himself a 13-3 win/loss record, including his dramatic front kick knockout of Manuel Rodriguez during his first trip to the Octagon on the Gold Coast in December.

Having starred on reality show The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes Alloway says he isn’t worried about facing an undefeated fighter.

‘‘He’s undefeated and you’ve got to respect that,’’ says Alloway.

‘‘He’s a good fighter and he’s in the UFC but we’re pretty confident that we’re going to do quite well.’’
Alloway, a former Gold Coast soccer player and nightclub manager, only got into the sport when recovering from a soccer injury, practising jiu-jitsu and sparring as a way to lose weight.

From there he fell in love with MMA and has subsequently travelled back and forth between Australia and the US in pursuit of a UFC contract.

Having reached the semi finals of The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes and made MMA headlines with his dramatic knockout of Rodriguez Alloway scored a UFC contract to fight wherever the organisation chooses.

‘‘Wherever they (UFC) match me to fight, that’s where I’ll travel to’’ says Alloway.

‘‘So now it’s Sweden, but in a couple of months it could be Vegas or just about anywhere.’’Australian viewers can watch the action and cheer on Benny via Fuel TV on Foxtel.