Dare 2010: Team Tickle go for fun and laughs with Sculpty for iPad
Big screen multi-touch
As part of the Dare to be Digital student game development competition being held at University of Abertay Dundee, we hooked up with those teams working on games for portable devices.
Team Tickle's idea for a physics-based game requiring multi-touch controls came to fruition on iPad.
Pocket Gamer: What was the inspiration behind Sculpty?We wanted to make a game that's fun and attracts everyone, so we looked at previous Dare games and other casual games that were popular and came up with the idea.
Why did you choose to develop for iPad?Our idea needed a platform with a large screen and multi-touch capabilities. In the game you change the shapes of the main character Sculpty by using up to five touches on the screen at the same time. iPad was our best bet.
How did it affect your choices in terms of type of game and gameplay?We knew the iPad was new and had a huge market potential, so we made a casual game which everyone could enjoy. Our efforts were rewarded as we could apply for a PEGI 3+ rating, which means the game is for the masses and not just a specific group.
What's been the most difficult part of the development process?Having little knowledge about how the iPad worked and how much processing it could handle meant it took us quite a bit of time to maximise its performance. The industry mentors who came to guide us were of great help .
What aspect of Sculpty are you most proud of?The whole look of the game is very colourful and exciting, and we have yet to play or see a game which uses multi-touch as we have implemented it.
Kids who came to test Sculpty told us that the controls were fun and easy to understand. They loved the way the character changes shapes and properties. I always think kids give you the most honest reviews and when they told people that Sculpty was their favourite game, the whole team was overjoyed.
For us making a game that kids love so much is the aspect we're most proud of.
Will you be releasing it commercially?We're all from the same university [University of Abertay Dundee], so we've planned to get together after Dare and turn our Protoplay level into a complete game and put it on the App Store.
What are your future plans in the games industry?I plan to join the games industry after I graduate in January. It would be great to get a job as an artificial intelligence programmer. My other plan is to do research into technologies that would further improve the gaming industry.
Thanks to Team Tickle for their time.You can see the trailer for Sculpty below.
