Developer Interview Series: Dave Castelnuovo of Bolt Creative
We at Appstruck like reviewing iPhone apps. In fact, we love it. Getting down to the nitty gritty, laying it bare, showcasing the best and most interesting for our readers, so they don’t have to plow through deep space just to find a decent app. Really, researching applications is tedious, but great.
But, let’s not forget the genius behind the apps. After all, they don’t simply appear out of thin air. Someone had the insight, the talent, and the capacity to create these iPhone apps so that we may use them to their full power.
Today we have Bolt Creative, the humorous genius behind the immensely popular Pocket God, with Dave Castelnuovo at the helm. I reviewed Pocket God back in June with a worthy 5 stars, and to this day I still tinker with my tiny Pygmies, poking and prodding them, trying to stop their imminent, bodily implosion, and terrorizing them with lethal devices of all kinds (cue dinosaur flipping Pygmy into air and gulping it whole). The game takes place on the Island of Oog, where pygmies take on names similar to the island’s alliteration, of Ooga, Booga, Noogy, Dooby, Klik and Klak, and they wander around from side to side of their tiny island, unawares of what travesty will happen to them next. With another new update launching next week, I know I’m not the only one waiting for more game add-ons.
Whenever I show off a “cool app” to friends, it’s usually Pocket God – it’s one of the few games that really utilizes the iPhone’s touch-interface in a dynamic way. I’m a complete layman when it comes to most computer stuff (programming!) – if it’s at all feasible, could you explain the technology that went into making Pocket God?
Lol, well it would probably take a full course in computer science to explain everything but let’s see what I can do. We use objective C and open GL to make the game which is very common for all iphone applications. I am in the process of converting all my code to C++ which is a little more common in the game industry but objective C seems to work so far. We created an engine where it is really easy to plug different objects with their own unique logic so each week (or every 2 weeks now) we can add new functions and mini games.
When I first poked and prodded my tribal minions in Pocket God, I couldn’t help but draw comparisons with the wildly successful PC Game Black & White. What inspired you to create Pocket God. What were your influences?
I heard about Black & White back in the day but I haven’t actually played it. The inspiration for Pocket God came from a small flash game that Allan and I built a few years ago and our wicked humor did the rest. We just wanted to create something for our own enjoyment that would be fun to develop. I am a fan of shows like South Park, Ali G, Borat, etc. so I would say the game is more influenced by that that other games.
Tell me who Bolt Creative is.
Bolt Creative is a small company that I did my flash consulting through, It was only me until Allan and I created Pocket God.
What other apps have come from Bolt Creative?
Nothing big, just a couple apps that I used to learn iPhone development on. FWARP and Slinky Ink were the precursor to Pocket God and allowed me to develop a basic engine where I could start plugging Allans art in. I also created an App called the Jackie Button where I partnered with the Ex-head writer of the Howard Stern Show.
I pepper my day with bouts of Pocket God and I look forward to any new apps you’re developing. I noticed the last few posts on your blog, PocketBlog, concern new development updates to Pocket God, like the addition of laser beams to Sharks (how very Dr. Evil of you). Aside from continually improving Pocket God, do you think you’ll continue developing other gaming apps, or branch out into other categories? I can’t help but want to try out “The Jackie Button” solely for it possessing my namesake.
We have a lot of options, it’s getting to the point where we will move onto a new project soon. We will still update Pocket God but just less frequently. We have a deal that is being negotiated as we speak which is pretty exciting and we have a few new iPhone game ideas that we are anxious to get under way.
As noted in your blog, Pocket God can become repetitive, especially if you’re someone who isn’t accustomed to gameplay without traditional boundaries, linear structure even (chess, anyone?). You mentioned you’ll be releasing an update for Pocket God in the next coming weeks – what additions have you made to the game? Would you consider in a future update adding some traditional structure to the game, maybe RPG elements akin to games like The Sims or Black & White where you can – say, maybe - expand your Pygmies intelligence by having them succeed in life or death battles, have them duke it out over who’s head honcho of the tribe, teach them how to make fire etc., – all to unlock new things in the game – a new enemy or threat, or a new island, etc? Or even have them fish or eat coconuts so they won’t die from starvation (they already explode from needing to urinate). Of course, this might add too much to the game and ruin its novelty.
We actually had ideas like these in our mind since the start, the main issue is play balancing. If you develop a sim or rpg you really need to spend time and make sure the way the game advances is challenging and fun without being too easy or too hard. Since we update Pocket God so quickly we never had a chance to do something like this and give it its proper due. Future Pocket God games may have these types of elements built in from the start. We literally have 10 different stand alone Pocket God game designs waiting for the right moment. Some are RPG or sim style while others are more “arcade-y” and action-based. Just like our updates, we will probably wait until the last minute and then just commit to the idea that best stands out when we are ready to move onto our next project.
It’s hard not to laugh when I see the shocked expressions on the wee natives’ faces when I fling them around, shoot them toward the ocean or volcano, or set them on fire (yes, I understand the pyromaniac implications of this). Who can I thank for drawing the cute artwork?
Allan Dye is a master animator. He has tons of awards and accolades under his belt and he just craps incredible character design. The other day he was over at my place and I thought I heard a barking spider under his chair. He got up and there was this beautiful Pocket God marketing graphic just sitting there. Of course I jest, but every single week he creates a ton of art for each update, a fresh looking brand spanking new icon, and an incredible marketing graphic. The other thing that sets him apart is he constantly challenges himself, he never wants to design the same type of icon twice, he wracks his brain to figure out some way to make that little 57×57 pixel icon different than the 25 icons that came before it.
What other work has Allan Dye done?
He created a animated short called The Adventures of Jane that won many awards and I worked with him on numerous flash projects. Check out www.allandye.com
I’m thrilled Bolt Creative is a Bay Area local. Describe a day at Bolt Creative. I imagine shenanigans.
Well, both Allan I work at home (each other’s homes) and we speak on the phone a few times a day but we are fairly independent. I like to joke around quite a bit and I have periodic shenanigans with my wife but mainly we are really hard working people. We happened to luck out with a great success and we don’t want to take it for granted. Even if nothing else comes of it and we go back to flash contracting we want to look back at this period and say we gave it everything we had.
Well, there is a lot of insecurity in the world and for good reason. Cultures have been trampled upon by a bigger and more aggressive cultures for thousands of years. In our society, people just want to feel like they have a shot at being happy and successful on their own merit and not judged by their race, sexual orientation or what football team they like. So I think I understand why people might be sensitive about things like this and I hope that the world gets to the point where everyone is secure in feeling that our peers are not judging us because of superficial reasons. Unfortunately, despite a ton of progress, we just aren’t 100% there yet. The fun of Pocket God has nothing to do with intruding on another’s culture and I have never heard any fans talk about the characters in Pocket God as if they belong to an existing culture. Even so, we made some adjustments to the game to distance it from accidently portraying an existing culture.
What was the most challenging part about creating Pocket God?
The weekly update schedule is pretty brutal – the technology isn’t that hard given enough time but we had a streak of 14 updates where each update was built and submitted every single week like clock-work. Finally, Apple slowed down their approval process which forced us to slow down. If Apple was still able to review an update in under a week, Allan and I would probably be dead by now.
What is your favorite threat to throw at your Pygmies in Pocket God? It’s so hard to choose!
I like flicking them in the volcano, lightning is always fun. The new zombie update is incredible as well. There are some real cool things coming in that update.
Being an iPhone app developer, what would you like to see more of in the iTunes App Store? I recently highlighted the educational possibilities that have yet to be tapped in my recent article “iPhone Apps for a College Student’s Day To Day Life.”
I would like longer games. I want some AA Games that have the playability of a PSP or DS title. Of course this would be more competition for us indie developers but I rarely get a game that I actually spend more than a few nights playing but there are many PSP games that took a solid month to complete.
Aside from making Pocket God, your funny gaming app, what do you enjoy doing?
I like Anime, Comics, I started collecting anime and manga figures (mostly female figures), I used to read a lot of novels in middle and high school but I don’t have the attention span for that anymore. Nothing is better than a series of 5 or 6 graphic novels of a title that I need to catch up on. I also like going to the Movies with my wife, horsing around with my Dog. I have been studying Japanese for over 4 years and look forward to more time I can spend learning Kanji (iPhone development put a kink in that). I don’t play a lot of games compared to most gamers but I have all the consoles (xbox 360, ps3, wii, psp, nds). I usually check out most games at least once but play through maybe 5 games a year. I don’t play MMOs or online multiplayer because I don’t have the time to set aside to last more than 5 seconds. I do like portable consoles a lot better than TV consoles. Being able to take it with you is a huge plus. I don’t play PC games that much because when I’m not working I need to get away from the desk.
Oh yea, and my name is Dave Castelnuovo and I’m a workaholic.
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Very good interview, and really nice to hear from the developers. Hope you’ll do more of this.
Thank you Enora. We do have additional developer interviews in the works, i.e., if we can get developers to step away from building their apps for a brief moment.