Hello Folks,
for those of you waiting for a new character to pop up today - well we thought differently. Here is a small interview with Steffen Itterheim - the guy behind the code of the iphone app. Enjoy!
Hi Steffen, you developed the 51 Characters application. Why did you join the project?
I was drawn in by the characters actually. I appreciate the style and I think they are excellent work from an artistic point of view. Since the app was easy enough for me to do it gave me a great opportunity to start building a foundation for future iPhone projects. Plus it was a cool "I did that" kind of project that may not impress you with innovative game design but a very clear visual style and flow. Having such a polished product that I can show to potential clients makes them feel more comfortable and increases the chance to close a deal, so i benefit simply from being able to "show & tell", something I learned works quite well from my time at Electronic Arts.
Steffen, what was the biggest challenge for you when developing the app?
That was definetely implementing the In-App mail and making it work with the cocos2d engine. Without going too much into technical details it's a bit like trying to extend a Playmobil building with Lego blocks. They don't naturally fit together so there's the issue of properly handing over control to the iPhone's native UI and giving it back to OpenGL when it's done without one interfering with the other. Luckily for me, the users of the cocos2d engine are very friendly and knowledgeable and i was able to bring together the bits and pieces of information that make the transition work.
Which one is your favourite character?
Seppuku! The expression on his face is hilarious even though he's in such a serious situation, with his stomach pierced by a knife and all. He portrays Harakiri, the form of suicide supposed to restore one's honor. Maybe it's so hilarious to me since the idea of Harakiri is rather disturbing and strange for someone not familiar with the japanese culture. Although I admit their idea of honor is quite Klingon, so to speak, so as a Star Trek fan I do respect that. :)
Which nation would you like to see next?
Not sure but naturally a european country would be great. I can imagine spanish, french, dutch, british, italian all very well. Naturally german characters would be great, too! Religious leaders could also be an interesting subject. There are enough influential leaders or archetypes to portray and I think the beliefs and practices of other cultures should be common knowledge, so a "51 Religious Leaders" app could be an interesting instrument for teaching the diversity of religion that exists in our world.
Please, let us know what are your next projects (that you can talk about)
Well, there's a kid's game in development for Ravensburger Digital and hopefully it will be followed by a port of a well known board game from Ravensburger. I also get requests for cooperation here and there and I'm weighing my options, I'm open to every idea. But most of all I want to design and program my very own iPhone game from start to finish, something that I can say is completely mine. Then make millions with it. At least that's the plan. I already have a concrete idea in mind, something that takes Flight Control to the next level. I suppose that's something every other game developer would say about their game but I know what I can achieve and sometimes you got to reach for the stars to land on the moon! And no, it's not going to be called Moon Control or Moon Flight, although I can think of pretty cool game ideas for both of them.
In case someone would like to do an app with you where would they find you?
On my application site www.gametooldeveloper.com is everything you need to know about me, including CV, references and a contact e-mail. I maintain a copy of this page in german under www.steffenitterheim.de and if you want to follow what i do or think you might want to read my blog where i post under the alias of GamingHorror at www.gaminghorror.net - the name is a homage to Jeff Atwood's CodingHorror blog that I consider to be the best programming related blog and maybe a few years down the road mine will have a similar status among game development related blogs.
I also run the german site www.spieleentwicklungsland.de where I publish my "SpieleEntwicklerVeteranen Podcast" to a german speaking audience of prospective or soon to be game developers. The idea is to give a behind-the-scenes look on game development, something that is not very commonly found and apparently I've struck a nerve with this podcast. I never expected it to become so popular so quickly, so i'll do my best and publish new episodes more often.
Thanks for the interview and again thank you for the great support.
You're welcome, I enjoyed it! :)
posted by Tim E. Fischer
Recent Comments