Palzoun and Spinvector on bringing boardgame BANG! to multiplayer mobile release

Releasing a game is never easy, and the more platforms you add into the mix, the more difficult it becomes.

Italian studios Palzoun and Spinvector have been working on what they call the first multi and cross platform mobile game.

Based on the BANG! Spaghetti Western boardgame, it's planned eventually for iOS, Android, PC, bada, Intel Atom and other consoles.

Palzoun's production director Daniele Azara and Spinvector's CEO Giovanni Caturano explain how they've gone about the project.

Pocket Gamer: Why do you think BANG! is a good board game?

Daniele Azara: BANG! has been awarded numerous international awards and has been listed as one of the Top 100 best family games of all times, and it continues this success with strong sales every year. The game mechanics are simple and appealing, but can become deep and challenging when played by experts.

Giovanni Caturano: We think it's a fantastic game because (particularly in the digital version) it's very easy to start playing, but it has very deep gameplay if you want to master it. The mix of role-play, character abilities and card mechanics is unique, yet very catchy... and you play out of turn quite often so you don't even get bored while waiting for your turn.

Why do you think BANG! will make a good multiplayer mobile game? DA: The videogame benefits from strong core mechanics which helps simplify the player's strategy by letting the device do the calculations for shooting distance etc. This means the player can fully focus on their gameplay, without having to calculate every bonus or move.

The game is perfect on portable devices, adding the sensation to feel the cards when you move them. But the most important feature of BANG! is the multi and cross platform technology, which permits to every player to join a match regardless the device they own be it an iPhone, iPad, PC etc. No matter the specific device, players can challenge other BANG! players anywhere in the world at any time.

GC: It is enjoyable because it grabs the spirit and interaction of the real game even without a table for the cards. It is also perfect for multiplayer on all the platforms as it's very light in terms of the bandwidth required. How long has it taken to develop and what's been the most difficult part? GC: We announced BANG! at Lucca Comics and Games in 2009, about one year ago, and it was much harder to develop than we initially thought.

The hardest parts have probably been checking the consistency of all rules in all cases (it's a huge amount of combos) and of course harmonising all platforms for multiplayer activity.

DA: As BANG! is the very first multi and cross platform game, there have been many production problems to solve, not only from the game point of view, but also technical ones. We preferred to delay the initial launch dates, concentrating every effort in order to make it possible to have a single launch period for every initial platform. What devices are you supporting? GC: For the main launch, we wanted to support as many devices as possible.

We started with iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Atom Netbook and PC, but we've already added the Samsung Wave with bada and we're looking towards Android and consoles in the new year.

What are main issues you have to deal with, in terms of making it work well on different devices? GC: The first thing is the difference in screen size and aspect ratios, and how they combine with different resolutions. We have specific graphics and layouts for all devices, so each one is optimised and not just scaled or stretched.

Moreover, the menu system is native to each platform, so it feels familiar to the user. Another issue is the different control interface, not only across devices, but also for the same players, since we allow different ways of interacting (e.g. tap-tap vs drag).

How are you handling issues such as community and organising friends into game sessions? GC: For the moment, we are concentrating on the core features such as letting people who are close find each other easily and making the whole session-joining work seamlessly across platforms: that's already a large amount of work.

We will consider adding more social media features later on.

What's the plan in terms of charging for the game? DA: We'll sell the game for a base fee and then allow people to download premium content on platforms that support this model, while other platforms will just get the full package and then wait for updates.

So, the prices will vary from platform to platform and from package to package. The actual prices will be released nearer to launch but they will be competitive - just like BANG! players.

Thanks to Daniele and Giovanni for their time