Starlit Skies

Below you can find details of the games I have worked on so far. The newest ones have been created with Lightwood Consultancy Ltd and are iPhone/iPad games written in Objective C. Before that are mostly Windows Mobile and iPhone games created in C++ whilst working at Astraware. There are also some very early examples of my first two games created whilst I was learning.


Word Search Party The most exciting project I've worked on so far... going from initial idea to giant project to something which has already had 10,000 downloads in just 4 days! Word Search Party brings some new ideas to the already well loved idea of playing word searches on your iPhone/iPad. Not only do you have the ability to create word lists in the app and share them with the community, with a supporting website to allow the same, we also have competitive multi-player word searching! You can connect to others using either Bluetooth or Game Center and compete to find words before the other player(s) :o) I totally love this game, and it's one of the few which I've made which I really do find myself playing just for fun :o) If you fancy a multi-player game over Game Center please do add me (StarlitSkies) and invite me to play! :o) View in iTunes
	Findscape A game which was someone elses idea! A memory game with beautifully drawn scenes to find the objects within. I really enjoyed creating this game, it's a simple concept but plays very nicely. Creating the levels was a little slow, but I did get to sneak in a little silliness (spot the cupcakes in silly places!) This is an iPad only game due to wanting the large screen area for the pretty pictures and object hunting. View in iTunes
Flag Matching Another educational prototype which got turned into a releasable game. The idea is that we can use the same data for a number of fun games. The content could be generated on a website and then the game used in the classroom as a starter exercise. Again, it has multi-touch to let people play together. This game focuses on flags and helps you learn which flags are for which countries. View in iTunes
	Pocket Wordsearch Having made Jumbo Wordsearch and had some sucess in selling it, we decided to do an iPhone version too since it wasn't going to take very long. Obviously here the mutli-touch isn't so important, but it's still there. We added in the ability to change the colour theme, but otherwise it's basically the same just smaller! View in iTunes
Jumbo Wordsearch Chris and I came up with an idea for a game... a wonderful multi-player word search game, with a whole community creating content and general awesomeness. We wanted to pitch it to an educational institute we were visiting and so I did a quick prototype. Realising it wouldn't take long to turn it into something releasable that's just what we did! This is an iPad word search game which supports multi-touch, i.e. you can have multiple fingers on the screen selecting words at the same time, allowing a more friendly, collaborative gaming experience. One step on the way to what you've no doubt already read about a few games further up! View in iTunes
	OddBlob A very cute bouncy game made out of modelling clay. This was a very fun game to create, with plenty of challenges along the way. The artists did an awful lot of work getting the game to look tangible so I had to make sure it felt it when playing too. The Cake or ~~Death~~ Doom mini game came out of playing with tile density and discovering it was highly amusing to have a board completely full of arrows! The game is available for iPhone. Read more about the game Press Reviews "The OddBlob iPhone app is one of those apps that just blows you away with how unique it is." BestApps, 500 Best Apps For iPhone Android and BlackBerry
Crazy Daisy This was a remake of an old game to bring it onto a new platform - the iPhone. The graphics had to be redesigned to make it more finger-friendly and bring it more up to date. A lot of extra animations were added to bring the game to life, though the mechanics stayed the same. It's a fun colour matching game where you spin flowers to match petals, I hadn't played it before working on this conversion but I really enjoy it now. Read more about the game Press Reviews "Crazy Daisy was fun a year and a half ago when I first reviewed it for the Pocket PC, and it’s still a blast now on the iPhone." PointOfLife, Technobrains
	Bubble Shuffle Another word game which used the same theme as Bubble Babble. Re-using the theme allowed for a very quick development time as a lot of the art could just be re-used, plus the dictionary system was all nicely in place. The anagram list proved most complex trying to come up with a design which kept everything visible and readable. The game is available for Windows Mobile, iPhone and Palm. Read more about the game and download a trial Press Reviews "Overall this is a fun game, and ... very playable and challenging." Jeff Campbell, Apple Thoughts
Wheel of Fortune: Road Trip This was basically an extension of the Deluxe version I had previously created. The most interesting part of working on this game was getting the map screen to work, as it was a very large image which the Palm devices couldn't cope with. I had to work closely with an artist to keep the graphic as small as possible. Read more about the game
	Bookworm Working on Bookworm was fun as it has always been a word game I've enjoyed. I rewrote the game to use the new framework and dictionary system which had been created since its first release, adding in extra resolutions for newer devices. The game is available for Windows Mobile and Palm. Read more about the game and download a trial
Wheel of Fortune Deluxe This was my first game working to very strict specifications from Sony. We were tasked with making a Windows Mobile and Palm version which would work exactly the same as the original Java version. This meant a lot of time spent with the Java version working out what they expected, and then making mine work exactly the same. Read more about the game Press Reviews "Overall, this game is a very accurate and fun representation of the television show." Patrick Kortendick, Tilt Mobility
	Bubble Babble This was my first attempt at something really new and different. As a bonus, it's also a word game, which I really enjoy playing :o) The game is based on an idea one of the team came up with, and a prototype proved to be fun. I took it from idea to full game, adding in a character to guide you through the tutorial and provide hints when needed. The game has four modes, from the simple (make the word stated) to the more challenging timed mode. This includes a number of trophies to win as well. The game had to have a slight redesign when ported over onto the iPhone as the original bubbles were far too small to select with your fingers, plus your finger really isn't transparent! The game was originally written for Windows Mobile and Palm, but has also been ported to iPhone. Read more about the game and download a trial Press Reviews "BB is a great game for both the serious word gamer and those with a more casual interest in gaming. As with many Astraware titles, BB shows an attention to detail going way beyond basic game mechanics. By going above and beyond the ordinary, Bubble Babble stands out in a category prone to mediocre." Allen Gall, Smartphone & Pocket PC Magazine "Astraware produce some great games and I always believe that their word games are some of the best. I have to say that BubbleBabble has now become my favourite word game..." Sammy McLoughlin, Palm Addicts (includes video review)
Astraware Casino With the success of Solitaire and Boardgames, we decided to create a pack of Casino style games. Again, the games were split between developers and I found myself working on all of the video games - Slots, Video Poker, Video Keno and Video Derby. Getting the Slots machine feeling right was quite a challenge, as was getting the horses running nicely for the Derby. Over the course of the project and subsequent conversions I actually worked on a lot of the other games within the pack as well, including helping to rewrite the Poker hand evaluation, and designing the finger-friendly layouts for iPhone. Read more about the game and download a trial Press Reviews "So, go ahead. Give Astraware Casino a try. If you like the casino genre, then you will love Astraware Casino. You can BET on it." Doug Goldring, Just Another Mobile Monday
	Astraware Boardgames This was my first team project, with each member of the development team being given 2 games from the pack to create. I worked on Backgammon and Snakes and Ladders. It contains 8 classic boardgames with 3 levels of AI and multiplayer. Backgammon required first learning how to play so that I could then write a reasonable AI player. Snakes and Ladders was actually more of a challenge because we decided to have randomly generate boards creating snakes and ladders out of small sections. When the game was converted to iPhone it was decided to update the graphics, this meant changing the snakes and ladders board generation to use a number of set shaped snakes, which meant a separate but still complex method for creating random boards. The game was originally written for Windows Mobile and Palm, but has also been ported to iPhone, Symbian, Blackberry and Android. Read more about the game and download a trial Press Reviews "All of these games are exactly the way I remember them. And if they not exactly they way you remember them, feel free to tweak the rules in the options menu and invoke the rules and variations which are nearest and dearest to you." Doug Goldring, Just Another Mobile Monday
Astraware Solitaire This was my first ever C++ project which turned into one of Astraware's top selling games. It includes 12 different solitaire card games, with the rules for each being customisable so you can play exactly the version you enjoy. It also includes a lot of graphical customisations with changeable card backs, fronts and backgrounds. One of the exciting features is the Trophy Deck - each time you complete something interesting, you unlock a new card in a very shiny deck. Once you have unlocked all 52 cards you can then use the trophy deck to play with in game. The game was originally written for Windows Mobile and Palm, but has also been ported to iPhone, Symbian, Blackberry and Android. Read more about the game and download a trial Press Reviews "I don't often say this, but I will this time: just buy it. If you have any interest at all in playing Solitaire on your handheld device, Astraware Solitaire is the version to purchase." Jen Edwards, Pocket Goddess "Excellent solitaire package. It's customizable, gives awards, and comes with unlockables. If you buy just one, you should be more than happy with this one." Meryl Evans, Meryl.net "Astraware Solitaire is a very sound and polished Solitaire title which both Solitaire fans and new players alike will enjoy." Philip Howard, MoDaCo
	Bart's Quest For TV Bart comes home from school looking forward to watching TV (as opposed to doing homework!) but he can't seem to find the remote! Help Bart find the TV remote. My first game created with Adventure Game Studio (AGS) - a program which eases the creation of point-and-click adventure games written by Chris Jones. Mine is a single room, point 'n' click based on the ever famous Simpsons. Download (550Kb)
Hangman A friend asked me to write a hangman game for them which would read the words from a text file so that it could be used to help learn a foreign language... so here it is! It's very simple and straightforward! This is written in VB.Net so you'll need to have the .Net Framework installed to be able to play. Extract the 3 files into a folder, double click hangman.exe to play. Download (22Kb)