MAX 2005: Web and Downloadable Game Development
Steve Zehngut from zeek.com gave a talk on making casual games with Director and Flash. He started by summarizing the “casual games market” from both a business and technical standpoint. He listed the main players, both developers and publishers.
We took a look at the game Chuzzle, and why it is a good casual game. We looked at elements like “cuteness”, easy to learn, simple rules, easter eggs, and so on.
Next, we looked at Zuma and examined it as well, then Varmintz. The later is by Skunk Studios and made in Director. Steve expressed that he is very strongly of the opinion that a downloadable game should be done in Director, not Flash. “Director typically renders faster. So if you are looking for really fast gameplay … and you want it to work on lower processors, then Director is your tool.”
Steve was asked about Flash games being availble for decompiling by hackers and said he is concerned about it but hasn’t done anything about it in particular. In comparing Director and Flash, Director’s advantages are 3D and Xtras. Flash has ubiquity and movie clips.
Steve then showed a game in progress, “Stewie’s Family Barbeque,” which will be on the Fox Web site and sold for download.