One of our goals this year is to learn to develop and release our games on other platforms like iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, XBox and more. With Windows Mobile and Palm OS sales steadily declining, we figured its about time we expand our game catalogue horizontally. Late last year if we hadn’t ventured into the iPhone market, our huge loss wouldn’t have been compensated. After releasing several iPhone ports, we’re now planning to explore the BlackBerry and Android platforms. We’re currently evaluating the two platforms as far as markets and ease of development are concerned. We’re also excited to expand our PC/MAC game catalogue this year because we have plans of releasing “extreme” versions of some of our recent mobile games. Things are definitely going to be busy here at eSoft in the coming months!

Bookmark It

This part of the development phase is our most favorite because this is the time where our schedules loosen up, things become less hectic and everybody gets excited as to how the “real” public will accept our software. But Product release isn’t just about creating a package for the game files and uploading them to our online store, it also involves pre-release marketing, product page development and advertising. Before a new title is released to the public, a product page showcasing the game’s features will be created first and then added to our online store. After this, a press release statement is sent out to all our media partners. Banner ads are created by the art team and forwarded to our merchants. Press copies are handed out to online reviewers. A message board for the new title is also created so we can easily get feedback from our customers and further improve the game should the need arises. At eSoft, it’s not just about selling and generating revenues from our products. We treat our software like our babies, which means we provide regular updates to further improve them and also to support new devices that come out every so often. More than the profit itself, our major fulfillment comes from the players and customers who send us their thoughts and comments about our software. Let us know what you think about our products!

Bookmark It

After all the assets have been integrated and a final build is ready, a copy is forwarded to the eSoft Interactive BETA team for quality assurance and compatibility testing. In this stage, the team thoroughly tests the game for bugs, errors, gameplay issues and loopholes and lasts for at least two weeks. In most cases, the BETA team’s feedback also include suggestions that would further enhance the game. Each point is carefully noted and assessed by the development team and then integrated if they feel the need to do so. On some occassions, new ideas are even voted by the BETA team before it gets on the final version. Once all the bugs have been ironed out and the team feels that the game is almost ready, it is passed on to the web/marketing team for release!

Speaking of the eSoft Interactive BETA team, let me take this chance to thank the guys: pointoflight, blazingwolf, tjasko, fraggler, jledesma, cheryl, spmwinkel, mbaker5408, bacchus_3, ndench, phoebs, reubkov and saldatore. These guys have been with us through thick and thin! If you would like to join our internal BETA team, please feel free to email us at beta(at)esoftinteractive(dot)com.

Bookmark It

After months of brainstorming, planning, development and design, our first game of the year has finally been released! Make way for–Totem! Totem is an action puzzle game that challenges the player’s reflex and reaction skills. The idea of the game came from our fondness with Lego bricks and Erick’s dream of Jack climbing a totem pole that reaches outwards to the sky instead of a beanstalk.

Totem is available for all Windows Mobile devices (WM5 and WM6 included) and supports 240×240 square screens, 240×320 portrait screens and 320×240 landscape screens. This game will definitely keep players glued to their device for hours of fun and excitement. And to add some more challenge, players can even post their scores online through the Totem Leaderboards.

Everyone can grab a free trial copy here and play Totem to their heart’s content.

Bookmark It

Once a game concept has been approved based on its prototype (see Part 2), the actual development phase begins and the game assets–sound effects, music, artworks, etc. are identified one by one. As the development progresses, the game assets are also coursed through the proper person/channel. In our case, since we are just a small company, we usually have these assets done by third party development partners like Groovy Audio and Jaybot7 for our sound effects and music needs, and freelance artists like Stefan Hoercsoeky. We don’t have full time musicians or sound engineers but we have full time in-house artists like Erick Garayblas, our Chief Design Architect.

Game assets play a major role on the final game design and lay-out because this is what the players see and interact with. The assets need to be synchronized with events within the game like screen transitions, tap sounds, etc. Game asset creation, depending on the complexity of the game usually takes around 4-5 weeks and we also allot a week more (or two) for revisions as we enter the Beta phase. Check out what happens after the final game is complete on Part 4!

Bookmark It

After all the game features and details have been discussed, the next step is to create a playable prototype of the game. This is usually done within two to three weeks after the brainstorming phase. Prototype builds usually just need temporary placeholder assets (graphics and sounds) because the focus is more on gameplay and usability. The main idea for prototyping is to find loopholes within the gameplay as well as pinpoint key features and consider them in the final development process. Another advantage of creating playable prototypes is to determine which kind of user interface lay-out will best fit most screens without sacrificing the main game contents and bearing in mind how the game will automatically adapt and adjust itself on different screen sizes. Like apps, games nowadays need to be “intelligent” too–they should know what device and resolution they are being run on.

The prototyping phase is what usually gets us more excited here at eSoft. It’s where we decide if a game project is worth pursuing and if its gameplay is addictive enough to pass our standards and expectations. We also let our internal beta team play all our prototypes so we can get as much feedback on it as possible. Come back soon for Part 3!

Bookmark It

For the next couple of weeks, we’ll be sharing with you how we create games here at eSoft Interactive in a series of articles. I’ll synch this article with one of our on-going game projects which we’ll call Hoist for now.

Like any other project, game design and development for Hoist began with brainstorming. We usually conduct several brainstorming sessions and invite everyone from the team to share their own ideas and suggestions for a new game. These ideas are then consolidated, sorted out and combined together to form an interesting game. There are no valuable and lame ideas, there are only used and unused ones. Unused ideas are kept for reference and sometimes used in later game projects. We have what we call an “ideabank” wherein all our game ideas, features and miscellaneous stuff are stored for future reference. The chosen ideas are then combined and discussed further so that we can produce a playable prototype out of it.

I usually head all our design sessions within the company and these ideas are very essential to my work. I always expose myself to various games, reading materials and any other media to keep my imagination in its top shape. Whenever I’m not doing any programming work, I usually carry a small notebook with me so that I can easily write my thoughts and ideas wherever I am, that is, if I’m not carrying my PDA. A cool idea or game concept is the heart of a game. It defines whether the game will appeal to its audience or not. It keeps the players interested. If implemented properly, it makes the game a best-seller!

Watch out for for Part 2!

Bookmark It

At eSoft Interactive, it’s more than just releasing games to the public. There are many different things we have to be concerned about. Recently we upgraded our computers to Intel-Based MacBooks, which we are very proud to own. Since BootCamp is available for free, this allows us to have Windows XP, working hand in hand with OSX on a solid and stable hardware. But there’s a concern with technology that happens to be a big question to developers; and many technology enthusiasts. What’s happening on June 30th, 2008 is a big regard to many companies. Windows XP sales will be discontinued, the operating system will be phased out and Windows Vista will be on the forefront of many new computers. Free support will still be available until April of 2009, but extended support (which is not free) will be until 2014 only according to ZDNet. As developers, we have to stay up-to-date when it comes to software and hardware technology. We all know that new technology is not cheap and can be very expensive (cough…iPhone Generation 1…) which is why our developments will be heavily affected by this and we will have to carefully assess how upgrading will impact our operations.

Here at eSoft, we love to see and read about the latest technology. The future is starting to become more interactive, and many people just want to look inside of it. We don’t know if we could be developing for multi-touch devices in the future (maybe Windows Mobile 7 will have this cool technology). We will have to wait and see what the future holds for us. What do you think what will happen to mobile devices in the future?

Photo borrowed from Pocketables.net.

Bookmark It

Contrary to what most people think, eSoft Interactive is actually a home-based indie company. Although we have established connections and partnerships outside the country, most of the operations and developments are still done at home. The games that we made (and you have played) were born in the confines of a home situated in the remote areas of Bulacan, a huge province north of Metro Manila, the capital of the Philippines.

It’s not a one-man show though, we have a dedicated team who makes sure that the company lives by its mission and vision. Erick is in charge of operations, support and design works. May and Tim are both focused on programming, design and development. Ben is our porting guru. Taylor handles all web-related stuff. From time to time, we also acquire the services of Stefan (artworks), Sherwin (artworks), Yannis (Sounds and music) and Jason (Sounds and music).

Over the years, the team’s goal was to always start small and dream big. We deeply prioritize our customers and our objective is to create high-quality games and interactive applications which people will enjoy. Rest assured, we will continue to develop engaging and fun games for your mobile device in the years to come! eSoft Interactive has been around for 5 years running now and we never would have gotten here if it weren’t for YOUR support. Thank you!

Bookmark It

World Vision is an international Christian development organization committed to uplift the lives of less fortunate people and communities in more than 90 countries worldwide. World Vision partners with the local people’s organizations and other concerned agencies to implement projects that focus especially on the needs of children. Recently eSoft Interactive has become a World Vision partner. For every copy of any eSoft Interactive game sold from our online store 50 cents will be donated to World Vision to support children”s education. We may not be a huge player in the gaming industry but here at eSoft Interactive our passion does not only lie on making quality and engaging games after all there’s nothing more fulfilling than helping those who are less fortunate. Give a gift of game now and give the gift of education!’

Bookmark It