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Issue link: https://digital.macdirectory.com/i/282
MacDirectory 163 FEATURE using whatever in-game currency you use from dollars to experience points. After the design is done, I work on creating mock-ups of how I think things might look or might flow. A picture is truly worth a million words, and having some good mock-ups can get across ideas that are very hard to articulate. At that point, with my games, we work on prototyping. For me, the most important part of prototyping is making sure the game is fun. If it isn't fun, no amount of layering stuff on top of it will make it a great game. If it is fun, you have the world open to you! Prototyping moves onto full development, which is a long phase of iterative work to improve the game and solidify the graphics. It is the real meat of game development, the hard work that stops a lot of people from getting their games finished, and the difference between a good game and a great one. As we near the end of development, we begin testing the game more and more to fine tune things like level difficulty as well as to ensure that players understand what they are doing and are motivated to do it. Major changes commonly occur during this phase, often to help ensure that the 'fun' is still there for the first-time player, and that the depth is there for the long- time player. As well we check for bugs and crashes and work on putting that extra coat of polish to make the game everything it can be. Then comes release day and holding your breath. It's always a bit frightening to release a game. You put so much into it, but what will other people think? Will they love it or hate it? Certainly with every game there are some of both, but the goal is for a large audience of people who love it. I think whenever you create something you hope that someone else will be able to appreciate it. Creation is another form of communication, one that is more intimately tied to the creator than casual conversation, and it absolutely contains a part of you, a part that you hope will be appreciated with the same love that you put into your creation. MD > Are there any particular challenges in developing for the Mac? RC > Honestly I think some of the difficulty is in making the game run the exact same on the Mac as on the PC. We have issues like having to use OpenGL instead of DirectX, which can make some games run a little more sluggishly, and that certainly isn't what we would want. As well, you have to take into consideration that a large percentage of the audience may not have a right- mouse button. This often weighs on us as we try to determine how much requiring a player to use the keyboard for the right- click will negatively impact the play experience. It's been a factor that by itself has impacted what games we've brought over to Mac. MD > What's your most popular game to date? RC > For Mac or PC? On the PC, both the Ricochet and Big Kahuna series are huge sellers with millions of copies downloaded. On the Mac we're a little newer, but Airport Mania has done tremendously well for us, it is far and away the best selling Mac game we've had this year by a fairly large multiplier. It's been great to see Mac users so warmly greet the title (especially as it is one that I was personally involved with). Creation is another form of communication, one that is more intimately tied to the creator than casual conversation, and it absolutely contains a part of you, a part that you hope will be appreciated with the same love that you put into your creation. THE GREAT TREE MOSAIC