Developer Interview: 10 Questions for Firedroid

There are at least three reasons why I love Firedroid, the aspiring Android and iOS developing team from The Netherlands. The first reason is Barrr, a gorgeous managing game, that received great 23 points in our Android Game Review. The second reason is the awesome pirate setting of Barrr, that allows me to speak like a real scurvy pirate whenever I be needin’ ‘n. I lust that!

The third reason is that the Firedroids (Rachel, Willem, Mariecke, Roy) are so extremely nice guys and – please look at the picture – they look like a happy family.

I bet there will be a daily soap called “The Firedroids” on TV, where we can see the harmonious live together of these four friends. However, for now we content ourselves with this interview.

10 Questions for Firedroid

1. Please introduce yourself.

Firedroid is a company set up by four fresh graduates from The Netherlands. Our team exists of: Roy, the programmer with a brilliant mind that can solve issues in a matter of hours instead of days. Mariecke, she’s our illustrator and makes the brightest and cutest concept art that will even bring the toughest men to their knees. Rachel, a bit of an artist all-rounder, she makes pretty concept art, textures, animation and can do a little 3D work of her own. Willem, our 3D hero who can make a perfectly executed 3D model of a concept drawing with incredible speed. He is also our story writer and level designer. To balance all of this out, he is rubbish in 2D.

We’ve just released the full version of Barrr in the Android Market, a game that was actually made as part of our education. It being our first fully developed game, we’re really happy with the way it’s received. Barrr consists of a free and a paid version, and people seem to be enjoying both.

2. What made you want to be a game developer?

Next to our shared passion for gaming, making a game is a very interesting and a challenging process. Designing your own game means the chance to design your own worlds and characters. And on the technical side, a game can look good with pretty graphics, but it needs to run smoothly and the gameplay has to be right.
Besides that we like to please and surprise people with interesting art, gameplay and stories.
Besides that we’re all full of ideas and not afraid to experiment or throw them away. This means we need influence over games, the best way to have this freedom is in our own company.

3. What platforms do you develop games for and why?

At the moment we develop games for mobile devices that run on Android and iOS. It is the most accessible market for new game developers, and seeing how the market keeps growing, so does the group of potential buyers. But the greatest advantage is that projects for mobile devices are relatively small projects to work on, unlike games for consoles or PC. For us this means that we can produce a good and polished game within a couple of months. We hope that we can stand out of the crowd by offering polished games with quality.

4. What are your experiences in porting games between two platforms?

None yet, actually. From now on our games will be built using unity, which makes deploying games to different platforms a breeze. Barrr, however, was practically written from scratch, so it has to be rebuilt in Unity before it can be launched on different platforms than Android.

5. How do you get inspiration for a game?

Next to everything in daily life, things on the internet, games and movies, we normally sit down together and we’ll just start writing down things we think are awesome. Then we get a rush of crazy ideas which are far too complicated for mobile games and we have to reduce the madness to something more realistic and do-able.

6. How long does it take for you to write a game from start to finish?

The entire process takes about six months for us, of course depending on the scale of the game. The code is being written constantly, it starts off with prototyping and even at the end of a project there will be bugs or things that can be solved or perfected.

7. What are the biggest technical challenges when you develop a game?

The base technology. If there is a flaw in the foundation of the code, the entire game will suffer for it. Making sure that the basics are right is the most important thing. Another challenge for the mobile devices we develop games for, is the broad variety in hardware. You have to develop an interface that works on all the different screen sizes.

8. What do you think the future of gaming will look like?

Bright and brilliant! The gaming market is getting bigger and bigger. Casual games are growing and in a few years almost everybody will be walking around with a device with decent hardware on which they can play all kinds of games. Software packages like plug-ins are getting cheaper, more flexible and easier to work with.
However, because the the hardware is becoming increasingly powerful, the production value is rising and more content and details are required.

9. What is your favourite game at the moment and why?

Willem likes Minecraft a lot and although he doesn’t want to admit it, we dare say he is a little addicted. He says he likes it because of the freedom and room for creativity. Mariecke loves to shoot zombies in Left4Dead, because of the balanced co-op, diverse playthroughs and, well, the ‘shooting zombies’ part. Rachel is playing Assassins Creed: Brotherhood at the moment. She loves the hack-n-slash fighting, the almost impossible sneaking and solving the puzzles of the story. Roy is having fun with Rage. The shooting part doesn’t involve tactics which means he won’t die too often and the driving part speaks to the petrolhead inside him.

10. What is your advice for new developers?

Think big, but not too big. Keep game projects small and manageable if you don’t have a ton of money on your bank account. Don’t be afraid to reduce the scope of your darlings if that means you can actually polish your game. For a starting developer it is important to get your name and products out there. Publish games! Without a game on the market, you’re no real game developer to the public. Also, don’t underestimate the importance of running a good business. Make sure you have a business plan and do a lot of research of the market you mean to conquer with your games.
For all the students that are thinking of becoming a game developer, use your education (if possible) for to practice developing games. Games don’t generate revenue until they are released, so developing one during your study can be considered ‘free’ time. Plus, you can get professional guidance, a valuable resource.