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Cmplt Interview with Philipp Stollenmayer

Do you know what “Cmplt” stands for? How about now? “C_mpl_t_ ” Today we would like to share our interview with the developers of Cmplt, a simple game about completing images made up of papercraft style cutouts and shapes.

Before we start we’d like to thank Philipp Stollenmayer for participating in our interview and for answering all of our geeky questions! Thanks Philipp!

…and without further ado, our interview begins…

Ok first up, why did you decide to make a game as simple as cmplt?

At the beginning, I wanted to make something like Picross, which I really enjoyed on Nintendo DS. But this concept was neither new nor mobile-proof. The levels take too long and there are too many numbers. I wanted to make something that was more accessible but was based on the same idea.

 

Can you tell us a little about how the paper-like visuals were made in cmplt?

The paper visuals are all fake. I made a few studies with photographs of how paper behaves and how it looks, and then I drew different layers over each other to make it look like paper. In total, there are 6 layers, for example, shadows, textures, and torn edges.

 

How did you come up with all the simple yet sometimes tricky puzzles in cmplt?

I was looking for pictures that have a pretty common shape, so scrolling through all emojis was a big inspiration source, even though I changed the look of most objects, to make them look as objective as possible.

 

Ok, now for some geeky questions. What programming language and or software did you use when making cmplt?

I use Corona SDK for all of my games. I didn’t learn programming, but studied design, and Corona’s language Lua is very easy and beginner friendly.

 

What was the hardest problem you needed to overcome when developing cmplt?

The first problems were on the tech side. There are so many calculations made to create that fake paper, and this led to severe slowdowns. I am covering this a bit with the stop-motion-like animations, so no one expects fluid animations.

The second problem was that my testers didn’t see what I was seeing. The first round of images had a bit of perspective, but perspective is hard to create with pixel images because it requires diagonal lines. So they had problems abstracting a stair to a diagonal line, which had me rethink all the puzzles.

 

Last question. Where do you get your inspiration or ideas from?

I don’t really know, I think I am just interested enough in what happens on the App Store and react to the games and the players. Studying design helped me to think beyond common practices and develop that further until something new comes up. Most games are so far away from their initial idea that you wouldn’t guess it arose from that. It’s a process rather than an idea.

 

A few words to cmplt fans on Edamame Reviews.

The biggest game that I have ever made is still not released but finished to 99%. I am not the publisher this time, so I can’t decide when it will be released. Just a few words about the game: It is a very hard platformer.

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