Today there are many platforms where you can run a game. From IOS to Android, one can easily have a game in their pocket. But before you can get your hands on it, it is needed to be developed by a game developer. So last Saturday at Vigattin Radio we discussed on how this process called game development works.
With esteemed anchors Ms. Arne Barcelo and Mr. Alvin Barcelona. They are joined by respected game developers from White Widget, Ms. Andrea Levinge (Technical Director) and Mr. Allen Tan (Managing Director). They are also joined by the studio audience from University of Santo Tomas.
Before co-founding White Widget, Ms. Andrea Levinge worked as a lead software developer in New York meanwhile Mr. Allen Tan worked at Hewlett-Packard for 2 years .
Ms. Andrea told Vigattin Radio, “White widget is an indie game company that makes applications and our specialty are mobile games.” She added, “We have some really famous ones but we’re on an NDA (Non-disclosure agreement), one of the apps that we’ve done belongs to a multiple Grammy award winning artist in the states and it was featured on the front page of the Apple App Store a few months ago but I cannot disclose it (because of the NDA).”
When asked if how do this artist get in touch with them, Mr Allen Tan told Vigattin Radio: “We have a website and there are job listings online so everything happens online and you just have to make your presence felt online.” He added, “There are companies in the US that are looking for talents abroad so if you have a website, you just need to list it online so that they can see you.”
They also talked about on how White Widgets do some projects Mr. Allen Tan explained that if they have projects it can be a big one and can last two to three months. So, they will discuss if they will do the project. If the client is from US, they will speak to them and make an agreement on how many months the project will last.
Then, Mr. Alvin Barcelona asked if there are any factors that they ignore a project. Mr. Allen replied, “There are many factors but difficulty is not a big factor to them because they are challenged to do the project”. He added “In this age, we can study everything with the use of the internet but sometimes we consider if the product is interesting. Because there are projects that we can do but it has already been done. It’s better to have new projects (with a unique platform) which can boost the confidence of the team.”
Later on, Ms. Andrea told Vigattin Radio about how she got her interest in game development. She said, “I was (studying on) home school so I had more time than most kids so i started (to do) websites commercially and start developing web apps.”
She added that she made apps for companies and she also worked as a graphic designer and at the age of fourteen. She taught herself different programming languages like PHP, javascript and jquery. One of the things she made when she was seventeen is still being used now, it is a recruitment application that holds almost a million resume. So she found it fun to make something and see it working.
They then talked if what’s the difference of Android and IOS. Ms. Andrea explained, “The number one difference of an IOS (to an android), it is a close system so Apple doesn’t share their source code. In Android, they tell all the manufacturers to go ahead and implement our software.” She added, “If you notice, IOS are only for Apple products but for Android (you can have it) in Samsung, Sony, Microsoft even Nokia and other manufacturers. So it’s a close (system) versus an open (one).”
Since they are discussing operating systems, they are asked if what’s the difference between the two known mobile OS.
The first to answer was Ms. Andrea , she said that in a close system (referring to IOS) the company has more control of the device. So like Apple, they will review the process for an application before it goes to the App Store. The disadvantage of a close system are there are fewer apps but you can get a high quality app.
Meanwhile, she cited that the problem with Android is the device defragmentation. There are so many devices that they don’t know how to implement Android properly. So sometimes if they program a game for Android devices, it may break and they can’t predict it because people implement or set-up android on other phones differently.
Afterwards, they discussed on startups and on how they look for employees on their company.
They also discussed if there is a future for game developments here in the Philippines. Mr. Allen told Vigattin Radio, “Right now game development industry (in the Philippines) is still in its infancy so the Game Developers Association of The Philippines wants companies to cooperate with one another. Because if the game development industry here become saturated then we will become competitive.”
He added, “If an industry is still in infancy there’s a chance or growth so when you start early maybe in five or ten years if the industry become mature, then you’re one of the top.”
Thereafter, they answered questions from listeners and the studio audience from UST.
Mr. Allen was asked if what’s the best programming language for developing games. He replied, “Right now people see one of the easiest is Unity because you don’t need to be a programmer to use it. It’s really growing fast but it’s also useful to really dive into the programming part.” He added, “If you use unity, you don’t just stop there, learn C++ and use other frameworks...because they promote a good sense on how to program and they make you solve problems.”
When asked if why they choose to develop games. Ms. Andrea answered, “It’s the best job in the world. We work on games and if it’s not working hours, we play games.” Meanwhile Mr. Allen responded, “Atleast what you are doing is what you like and it’s part of your interest.”
Ms. Andrea then told Vigattin Radio on what kind of game interests her, “It should not be similar to other games and of course the art has to be really good. The gameplay should be challenging enough to engage the audience without making them feel frustrated or something. Just enough difficulty to keep you on your toes but not too much to make you feel frustrated.”
The show ended giving the listeners necessary information about game development.
IF you want to ask more questions to the duo, you can message them at @drelevinge and @abgtan on Twitter. You can also visit their website www.whitewidget.com and Facebook page: White Widget.
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