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Last week, we took a look at an online multiplayer strategy game called ARMED! – available on Nokia Lumia. Sickhead Games is the company behind the game and we caught up with the team to find out what it takes to create a great mobile game.
Based in Dallas, Texas, USA, Sickhead Games consists of 4 programmers and 2 artists and has been around for more than 10 years. During that time they’ve worked on a lot of game technology and developed educational simulations, as well as game prototypes for various clients. ARMED! is their first independent game as a studio.
If you’ve played ARMED! you’ll notice that it shares some similarities to some of the great PC-strategy games of yore. Did they take inspiration from some of the greats to develop ARMED!?
“Definitely! Civilizations, Dawn of War 2, Diplomacy, Masters of Orion, and even Chess.
The gameplay evolved a lot over development, but our rule was to not make it a tower defense game which are all too common on mobile.” explains James Ford, programmer and game designer.
To set this game apart from the others on the market, they wanted to deliver game with the best possible graphics, while trying to avoid some of the challenges that brings.
Tom Spilman, programmer and co-owner of Sickhead Games used some methods from past projects:
“ARMED! is a graphically rich game for mobile devices and making it work at all was technically challenging. A lot of techniques we picked up making games in the early days of 3D graphics accelerators helped.”
“The biggest challenge was being able to bring the level of detail from the concept art to the 3D models within the limits of mobile devices.” continues artist, Joe Espinoza.
By being able to solve the problem of how to get realistic looking models running smoothly on a smartphone touchscreen, they were able to concentrate on creating the gaming environment and the rest of the ARMED! world. It’s time to head to the drawing board, explains Russell Fincher, artist and co-owner.
“For the individual units, we usually start by brainstorming with hand-drawn concept art on paper. Once we decide on a direction, a highly detailed, high-poly version of the art asset is created in Max. A low-poly version is then created, and we use xNormal to compare the two and bake the details into the texture maps used on the low-poly art asset in game. This gives us art that implies a lot of detail, but has relatively simple geometry… which is crucial for us to achieve good performance on mobile devices. The baked textures are combined with additional markings and wear in Photoshop.
Environments are created as a low-poly scene in Max, and textures are painted on the models directly using Mudbox. Painting textures with Mudbox allows us to easily paint across seams in the geometry that are created when the texture coordinates are mapped on the mesh. Some of the ground textures were created in a terrain-generation program called Vue.”
Graphics are nothing without an actual game, of course. How did they write the code for the game?
“We have decades of combined experience writing C++ code, but ARMED! is written purely in C#. We love the language and the ease of development it allows us. It has also made ARMED! super easy to port to various platforms including Windows 8. We highly recommend it for beginners and experienced developers alike.”
Tom then tells us how long it took to create:
“We came up with the initial concept and rough prototype for ARMED! back in early 2010 when asked to pitch concepts for a Windows Phone launch title. We actually started development in November 2010 and worked on it between other contract jobs throughout 2011. We shipped for Windows Phone in December 2011, so roughly a year of development with lots of distractions in between.”
If anybody is looking to create his or her own mobile game, Joe suggests this little tip:
“Plan it out and make sure the team has a clear direction of what type of game and visuals you are wanting to create. Sure, things will change throughout the course of production, but if the team has an overall plan of attack, then the production cycle will move along much easier.”
As ARMED! continues to receive positive review after positive review, the team have no intention to rest on their laurels. As long as people continue to play the game, they’ll continue to update it, adding new platforms, features, units and maps. And what about new games? Tom concludes:
“We have already started discussing what our next game will be. We haven’t really made any decisions yet, but I expect we will start it later this year. Watch this space!”
If you’ve not yet downloaded ARMED!, you can grab it for £1.29 ($1.49) at the Windows Phone Store.
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Remember the first time you played a mobile phone game? You probably had to squint at blocky pixels on a tiny screen phone that beeped when you won. How times have changed. Today’s smartphones have gaming capabilities equivalent to a 5th generation gaming console, which is why we’re now spoiled with stunning games like ARMED.
When you think about how it all began, the evolution of mobile gaming in the last nineteen years is incredible. To see just how incredible, we’ve unearthed ten fascinating facts you probably didn’t know.
One. The first mobile phone game was introduced in 1994. It was a pre-installed form of Tetris, which came on a mobile phone called the Hagenuk MT-2000.
Two. Three years later, in 1997, Nokia designed a version of Snake for selected phone models. It first appeared on the Nokia 6110 and has since been embedded on 400 million devices worldwide, making it the most played video game on the planet. Programmed by design engineer Taneli Armanto—it’s also now available on Lumia smartphones! One to play with your nostalgic old dad, perhaps…
Three. The first “multi-player” gaming experience was also on a Nokia 6110. The game was a two-player version of Snake game, which could be played between two Nokia 6110 phones using the infrared port.
Four: In 2003, Nokia launched the world’s first ever dedicated gaming mobile, the Nokia N-Gage. Its top selling game was a fishing sim called “Creatures of the Deep”.
Five: It’s probably no shock to hear that Rovio’s Angry Birds took the Best-Selling Mobile Series in 2012′s special Gamer’s Edition, with more than 250 million downloads.
Six: Nowadays, smartphone owners spend 200 million minutes per day — 16 years every hour — playing Angry Birds. An estimated three trillion pigs have been popped.
Seven. In June 2011, Nokia Malaysia broke the record for the most people in a mobile phone game relay, by getting 2,030 folk to play, yup, Angry Birds, for 10 hours. And we thought basketball courts were crowded…
Eight: According to PopCap’s 2012 Mobile Gaming research, 59% of people in the UK or USA, who own a mobile device (either phone or tablet) have played a game on it in the past year. That’s an increase of 13% on 2011. Guess we’re letting our technological hair down!
Nine: Each year the Academy of Interactive Arts and Science announces their Interactive Achievement Awards, and in 2012 they included for the first time the Mobile Game of the Year Award, which, we think, shows that the world is starting to truly embrace mobile gaming. Kapow!
Ten: A posse of Austrian die-hards currently hold the record for the longest mobile phone gaming marathon; their team clocked in 24 hours and 10 minutes continuous game-time in August 2011. Bet their fingers ached…
Mobile gaming has sure come a long way. But what does the future hold? Will we see more smartphone games getting us more involved with the physical world by making use of augmented reality and NFC? Or will they get even more immersive. As ever, we’d love to hear your thoughts.
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Click here to view the video on YouTube.
Did everyone get what they wanted for Christmas? I hope they’re not already on eBay!
It feels like a long time ago but among my presents were a sweater, a watch and, most exciting of all, a brand new Nokia Asha 308 delivered straight from Lapland. Well, Helsinki anyway.
The Asha 308, unveiled together with the Asha 309 in September 2012, is a full touchscreen device that offers an innovative and affordable smartphone experience.
The small details
It sports a 3-inch, scratch-resistant, capacitive touchscreen, a 2-megapixel camera, a powerful built-in speaker and great power management: Up to 25 days on standby.
Like the others in the Asha Touch family, it operates on a fun-to-use touch and full swipe operating system, which makes accessing your social networks, the Internet, apps and playing games easier, faster and more affordable than ever before.
I knew all that before though. What do I think now that I’ve actually been using the device for a couple of weeks?
It’s got the look
I know it’s superficial but you can’t really start anywhere else but on the Asha 308’s gorgeous looks.
I have one in golden light (the other option is black) and it looks exceptionally striking. It has a glossy finish and the back battery cover is patterned but is still smooth to the touch.
Maybe it’s just the gold, but it looks decidedly ‘expensive’ and certainly has a premium feel to it. As you would expect from a Nokia, it feels extremely well made.
Where its elder sibling, the Nokia Asha 311 is rounded and subtle, the Asha 308 is more angular, has more edges and has a bit more of a ‘look at me’ vibe about it.
Bling is one word that comes to mind. Again, maybe that’s just the gold talking.
I suspect Nokia’s designers had a little more fun with the Asha 308 too. There are some lovely little touches like the way the two front buttons gently rise and fall to guide your finger towards them.
SIM-tastic
However, what really distinguishes the Asha 308 from its Asha counterparts is the Easy-Swap Dual-SIM feature.
I’ve never had a Dual-SIM phone before and it’s a bit like discovering a new favourite app – you wonder how you’ve ever lasted so long without it!
How does it work?
There’s the first SIM (think of this as your main SIM) that lives in the usual place – underneath the battery.
Then, on the side of the Asha 308 is an easy access slot for the second SIM. You don’t need to turn your phone off or worry about removing the battery to insert and remove the second SIM.
Whenever you have two SIMs inserted you can then choose which one you want to be using. This is done simply and quickly by swiping down from the top of the screen to bring up the notification shortcuts.
SIM scenarios
While using the Asha 308, it struck me that there are several common scenarios when a second SIM could be really beneficial:
- On holiday, to take advantage of local data rates so you don’t get stung by roaming charges
- Again, when you’re on holiday having a new local SIM for cheaper call rates but still keeping your old SIM and number for emergencies
- Being able to keep your work number and personal number in the one device
- Even if you’re not actively using the second SIM – it’s really handy for storing an extra SIM card. These little things are very easy to lose!
- Storing phone numbers on your second SIM
Having just returned from a lengthy foreign trip – the Asha 308 would have been an ideal device to take.
It has everything I need in a smartphone – full access to emails, Twitter, Facebook, other social networks and the rest of the Internet, which renders beautifully on the Nokia Xpress Browser. This uses cloud-compression technology to make surfing the web quicker and cheaper by up to 90%.
There’s a great choice of apps in the Nokia Store (see Apps for Asha in this recent 2012 round-up post) and the native photo-editing suite is not just comprehensive but a true delight to use. Plus, it will take me a while to try out all my 40 free Asha games!
As with all the other Asha Touch devices, the Asha 308 is fast, fun and easy to use. With the awesome Dual-SIM capability, killer looks and a micro-SD slot too, it might just be my new favourite in the family.
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Search for the Nokia Lumia 820 online and you’ll be presented with nearly 15 million web pages. That’s a heck of a lots reviews, opinions and comments, far too many for anyone to wade through. Fortunately, you don’t need to because we’ve checked out the best of the best and found ten quotes everyone interested in the Nokia Lumia 820 should read today.
“Visually, and technically, this phone is arguably more interesting then the Nokia Lumia 920.”
Pocket Lint
“The Nokia Lumia 820 sits nicely at the crossroads between value and power.”
Techradar
“From the start up onwards, the Lumia 820 feels incredible. I mean, this is what a smartphone should be.”
UK Mobile Review
“Nokia has a reputation for quality smartphone cameras, and the Lumia 820 maintains that.”
Engadget
“A dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm S4 processor, the same found in the Lumia 920, allows the 820 to fly along. It’s super quick.”
The Verge
“The biggest surprise concerning the Nokia Lumia 820 feature set is the presence of a MicroSD card slot. There’s also 4G skills and NFC as standard, a 4.3-inch screen and the brilliant extras like Nokia Drive and Nokia Music apps.”
T3.com
“It’s 100% Nokia..an extremely well-made phone that can withstand all kinds of harsh treatment.”
Phone Arena
“It doesn’t have all the big-number specs, but the Lumia 820 offers an affordable way to get to know Windows Phone 8 as well as a lot of free extras, including Nokia’s impressive music and satnav offerings.”
Wired.co.uk
“We were particularly impressed with the Lumia 820’s ability to capture macro shots with good detail along with its accurate colour reproduction.”
PC World Australia
“If you’re looking for an inexpensive, approachable smartphone with a few more features, the Nokia Lumia 820′s price tag is tough to beat.”
CNET
To get a more detailed understanding of what the blogsphere think we suggest you go check out their reviews. In the meantime, why not share your own quotes about our wireless charging wonder phone in the comments below.
Image credit: Pocket Lint
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Click here to view the video on YouTube.
Anders Øvergaard has “been working with film [his] whole life”. Trying out new kit is a matter of curiosity, but it’s also a learning process. He’d read that the Nokia Lumia 920 had a good camera and was able to borrow one from the local Nokia office in Denmark.
Making the video proved to be something of a surprise.
“I work on a really hi-res 27-inch iMac. But when I downloaded the video for editing, I couldn’t really see much difference between the output from the Lumia 920 and the Canon 5D I usually use.”
It took a couple of hours to shoot the video. The band were recording the song in a studio, and Anders took seven sets of video, recording from different angles, then overlaid the band’s preferred take of the music in Final Cut. “The high storage capacity is definitely a benefit. I could record lots of footage without pausing.”
He also made a behind-the-scenes video to accompany the finished results.
Click here to view the video on YouTube.
So what advice does he offer to budding mobile film makers?
“The thing with the phone is that it’s a lot smaller than a regular camera set-up.
“It’s really easy to move around and experiment with different angles. With the image stabilisation, I was able to use it handheld rather than on a tripod.
“It’s always important to have lots of light when you’re filming. But with this video we were just able to use the office lamps, because the low light performance is good.
“Being a mobile phone, it’s also relatively cheap compared to other video cameras. So you can take risks. It would be fun to attach one to your helmet when you’re skiing, for example.”
Check out some of Anders’ other films on his website.
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Several photos and videos have caught my attention this week, and it’s only fair that I share them with you, our loyal community. There’s photos like the one above from Olivier that simply capture all that is possible with the camera of the Lumia 920. Simply stunning.
Next up, a look at Nokia Music from Sam or as he puts it; ‘a rundown of everything you can do within Nokia Music’. And he’s right, it is! From playlists – the fact that these are already loaded is ‘cool’ – to making music available offline when travelling for ‘zero cost’. Sam gives a great, detailed look at everything that is available, including making your own playlist – in his own words it’s a ‘great way to discover new music’. Is it any good? The ‘honest answer is yes’.
An excellent guide, I’m sure you’ll agree.
We haven’t featured one for a while on this page, so I thought it was about time we had an unboxing video. Nirave’s look at the Lumia 820 is short, sweet and to the point:
For fans of the next stage on from the unboxing, Nirave has obliged with his first impressions of the phone.
Have you seen anything that you think the rest of the Nokia Connects community should be interested in? Feel free to let us know by leaving a comment or dropping us a link on Twitter, and we’ll be sure to include it in the next round up.
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Es ist schon eine Weile her, seitdem Nokia seine Position als Marktführer an Samsung abgeben musste, seitdem befindet sich der finnische Konzern in Krisenstimmung. Allerdings hat der schnelle Abstieg auch innovative Kräfte freigesetzt, so kamen in den letzten zwei Jahren … Weiterlesen »
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Wiem, że sporo fanów Nokii, zwanych w pewnych kręgach Nokianami 
bardzo czeka na normalizację sytuacji z dostępnością tych modeli. Właśnie dotarły do mnie dobre wieści, że te modele mają wejść do oferty podstawowej a co za tym idzie będzie ich więcej. Uważni czytelnicy rzecznikowego walla na FB pewnie widzieli, ze sygnalizowałem to w listopadzie. Czytajcie bloga bo [...]
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Kochani zapraszamy do korzystania z aplikacji WiMP w PLAY.Najważniejsze zalety. Miesiąc za free – testujecie i sprawdzacie czy 20 milionów traków spełnia Wasze oczekiwania. Ja testuję WiMPa do kilku dni i jestem naprawdę zadowolony. Po okresie próbnym opłata miesięczna za nieograniczone korzystanie z WiMP to 19,90 zł. Bardzo ważne info. Klienci PLAY korzystający z WiMP [...]
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Skończyła się impreza pod znakiem disco. Muszę Wam wyznać, że na co dzień poważni Panowie Redaktorzy bawili się świetnie przy rytmach, które dla wszystkich okazują się rozrywkowe Zobaczcie kilka fotek z dzisiejszej prezentacji WiMP w Play!
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