Exclusive Gameloft Interview
There is always so much to learn about the creativity behind iPhone games, and perhaps no company better placed to learn from than Gameloft. Their games and expertise is immense. Read the following interview to glean what you can!
Castle of Magic!
Thank you for allowing us this interview to discuss this incredible app, Castle of Magic.
Can you tell our readers how this game was originally thought of, what were Gamelofts thoughts behind the marketplace, specifically?
Yes Joanne, there are a few platformers on the App Store and most have very basic gameplay and 2D graphics. We wanted to create a 3D platformer with a console quality, packed with every feature that made the success of the best games of the genre on other platforms. Also, the idea was to create a highly polished game to be available on the App store and yet that would still stay attractive and accessible to casual gamers with:
1. An endearing hero that could become a real icon and bring out the ‘kid’ inside you;
2. 5 beautiful 3D worlds to explore;
3. Multiple bosses: jelly-like or snow-made monsters;
4. Morphing changes: transform yourself to fight, fly, climb etc;
5. An accessible gameplay mixing platforming and accelerometer.
Colors, themes and music
Can you tell us how you came up with the character idea? Colors, themes, music?
Yes, we wanted to create a magical world in a modern environment. A sort of fantasy world for ‘kids’ of all ages and inspired by our forgotten childhood dreams. Without sounding too cheesy, we wanted to remind everyone how great and precious these dreams are. That’s how we came up with the colors, theme and music.
We chose this character’s design after several art proposals because we thought it was the one that best represented a regular but also extraordinary and eternal character.
Target Market
Who do you see as the main target market for this game?
Castle of Magic was fully designed to fit the expectations and abilities of both males and females of all ages; platformers, nostalgic and retro gaming fans but also casual gamers on a portable console.
Creation Process
How long did it take from the original planning to the production process of Castle of Magic?
Although we are limited in what we can reveal about our game’s planning or processes, we can say that the idea was to come up with a great 3D platformer to extend the type of games and genres available on the App store so we can target everyone, not just specific demographics. Gaming should be for everyone and choice is the key for us as we consider the iPhone as a mass market gaming platform. Games out today on the iPhone platform are as powerful as PSP and DS so it is a 9 month to 1 year process to create and develop a game.
Thank you Gameloft for this thoroughly enjoyable and informative interview. We can heartedly recommend this game to our readers and wish you much success. Joanne
Joanne Carter
Joanne Carter, creator of the world’s most popular mobile photography and art website— TheAppWhisperer.com— TheAppWhisperer platform has been a pivotal cyberspace for mobile artists of all abilities to learn about, to explore, to celebrate and to share mobile artworks. Joanne’s compassion, inclusivity, and humility are hallmarks in all that she does, and is particularly evident in the platform she has built. In her words, “We all have the potential to remove ourselves from the centre of any circle and to expand a sphere of compassion outward; to include everyone interested in mobile art, ensuring every artist is within reach”, she has said. Promotion of mobile artists and the art form as a primary medium in today’s art world, has become her life’s focus. She has presented lectures bolstering mobile artists and their art from as far away as the Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea to closer to her home in the UK at Focus on Imaging. Her experience as a jurist for mobile art competitions includes: Portugal, Canada, US, S Korea, UK and Italy. And her travels pioneering the breadth of mobile art includes key events in: Frankfurt, Naples, Amalfi Coast, Paris, Brazil, London. Pioneering the world’s first mobile art online gallery - TheAppWhispererPrintSales.com has extended her reach even further, shipping from London, UK to clients in the US, Europe and The Far East to a global group of collectors looking for exclusive art to hang in their homes and offices. The online gallery specialises in prints for discerning collectors of unique, previously unseen signed limited edition art. Her journey towards becoming The App Whisperer, includes (but is not limited to) working for a paparazzi photo agency for several years and as a deputy editor for a photo print magazine. Her own freelance photographic journalistic work is also widely acclaimed. She has been published extensively both within the UK and the US in national and international titles. These include The Times, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, Popular Photography & Imaging, dpreview, NikonPro, Which? and more recently with the BBC as a Contributor, Columnist at Vogue Italia and Contributing Editor at LensCulture. Her professional photography has also been widely exhibited throughout Europe, including Italy, Portugal and the UK. She is currently writing several books, all related to mobile art and is always open to requests for new commissions for either writing or photography projects or a combination of both. Please contact her at: [email protected]
