We pick Bytemark Games' brain over iPhone's Dawn of the Dead

A plague of zombies has been resurrected on the iPhone, with hundreds of games choosing the undead as their bullet fodder of choice.

So it seems only right that the classic cannibalistic capitalism satire Dawn of the Dead has been adapted for iPhone. Sadly, this version didn't live up to its illustrious source material, but as you can read below developer Bytemark Games is hopeful that it address this through updates.

We decided to pick the brains of CEO Jon Walsh to really get to the guts of this flawed action-shooter title.

I’ve worked successfully with Universal in the past, so the opportunity was a no brainer (pun intended). We approached them, and everybody liked the concept we had, so we went for it.

We’ve always been huge fans of Romero and all of the films in the series. We also really liked Zack Snyder’s version a lot. We definitely took the opportunity to re-watch the films to try to capture the feel of being overwhelmed in a stark, terrifying environment, which in this case was, of course, the Crossroads Mall.

Yes, the game is based on the 2004 version, largely due to the fact that it’s an action game and we thought having the ‘fast zombies’ was critical to the fun factor.

Well, we kind of copped out and did both - fast and slow. We included both fast and slow zombies because we felt it would make for a better game.

It’s more exciting in an action-oriented shooter to not know what’s coming next, and to have to alter your strategy or weapon selection in a hurry based on how you’re being attacked.

We actually used a lot of images from the Crossroads Mall in the most recent film for reference, so the environments are designed to loosely resemble them, as are the character types, of course. In terms of subtle nods or references, not yet, but we hope to keep content coming and have a few cool ideas, so stay tuned.

What was the hardest part about adapting Dawn of the Dead into an iPhone game?

There were a few technical challenges that we faced because of the methodology we chose to develop the game. We actually used full-scale console quality 3D models in the game to produce the best looking, most realistic zombies we could.

The unforeseen result of this choice (which was totally my fault) was that by the end of development we had more than 3000 frames of animations to put in just for the characters.

This was quite an undertaking given the platform we were developing for. The iPhone is an amazing gaming device, and we really pushed it to the limit.

The other big risk we took early on was deciding to include melee weapons in the game (bat, shovel, etc.). We hadn’t (and still haven’t) seen any other top-down action games that use this type of up close and personal combat.

The reason is most likely that it’s really tough to do and get right. Fortunately we have a great code team that we think really pulled it off, and it’s the most fun part of the game in my opinion. There’s something gruesomely satisfying about hitting a zombie with a shovel….

Yes, there were definitely a few features that we wanted to include in the game. Unfortunately some of the technical challenges we faced put us behind in our dev schedule, meaning many of the ideas we had for the game had to be put on hold.

The beauty of the iPhone/iTunes platform, however, is that we can put a solid initial game out there, get almost instant feedback from the players, and based on it, include the right improvements or features at the right time.

The other great thing is that you can price the game appropriately, so you don’t have to charge a high price just because it’s a licensed game.

We have the game on for a promo price of 99 cents right now, which we’re happy to do to give players great value for their money and get the word out about the game.

To us, this is a great way to make a game - get the core experience out there and then let the players decide if they like it and tell you what they want next.

After many years of making retail console games, this is a really exciting environment for making games, and we plan to take full advantage of the quick player feedback loop to make our games as fun as possible.

We’re focused on the iPhone for the time being, although we do think the game could be a lot of fun on other platforms.

We definitely have additional features that we want to roll out for Dawn of the Dead. As with any iPhone title, the quantity and scope of the updates will largely be the result of the consumer acceptance of the game.

Our hope is that lots of players will buy it, like it and want more. If they do, we’ll give it to them.

Unfortunately, we can’t comment on unannounced games, especially those with licensing partners, but I will say that in my opinion Romero’s universe offers many opportunities for a variety of great games on devices like the iPhone or iPad.

Any messages you'd like to send to Dawn of the Dead players from beyond the development grave?

I think the last thing I want to say is thanks to all the fans and buyers of the game. It’s off to a great start and we hope it continues so we can continue to make the game bigger and better.

We’d love to be in a Pocket God type of situation where we can keep adding levels, scenarios, campaigns, weapons and new features on a regular basis. Please keep the feedback coming - we’re listening!