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Interview

Interview with Jeremie Francone the creator of Super Sharp

Super Sharp is a game we’ve wanted to review – or play, as the case may be –  for quite a while. From the first time we saw the app icon, we felt something – something telling us that this was a game we “Must One Day Review!” So today, sharing our interview with one of the developers of this most amazing game is truly an honor for our team.

In our interview with Jeremie – Co-Founder of 1Button – we were told how the base for Super Sharp was created in 2012, a whole 3 years before its release in 2015!

On top of this we were told a whole heap of other interesting stories from behind the scenes; we’ll let you discover for yourself…

Before we start, I’d like to thank Jeremie Francone, Co-Founder of 1Button, for participating in our interview, and for spending some of his valuable time in answering our questions. Thank you very much Jeremie.

Now without any further ado our interview begins.

 

Ok first up, why did you decide to make Super Sharp?

Well, we started to work on this game in 2012… At that time, we developed the first version of the “cut” engine, which means we were able to cut polygons, but we didn’t know exactly what to do with it… We only knew that this prototype was quite innovative and visually impressive.

Then, the game Icebreaker (Nitrome / Rovio) was released and we felt a bit depressed because it was very similar to our prototype in terms of gameplay. We decided to pause our project and to start working on other concepts.

After a few years, in 2015, we thought it was time to get back to this idea. We worked tirelessly to find an original concept and an innovative style. We completely rebuilt the engine and added various elements such as ropes and motors. We finely tuned friction, gravity and many other parameters to create the perfect game we wanted. Finally, we designed the 120 levels of the game, which was probably the most interesting part of the development.

 

Wow, so what programming language and or software did you use when making Super Sharp?

At 1Button, we only work on the iOS platform and with native tools. So we used Xcode and the standard SDK. The game was coded in Objective-C. It is based on OpenGL/ES 2 for the graphics and Box2D for the physics. To design the levels, we developed a private level editor (an iPad app) that allowed us to draw and test our ideas. During this creative process, all the levels were stored on our servers so that all the team members were able to easily collaborate.

 

Ok, here is a mean question. What was the hardest problem you needed to overcome when developing Super Sharp?

I don’t want to get too far into technical matters, but physics engines such as Box2D only support convex polygons (e.g. a ‘bulging’ polygon such as a triangle). However, as you may have noticed, there are non convex polygons (even with holes) in Super Sharp which means we had to find a way to convert non convex polygons into a set of convex polygons (automatically of course). Also, we really wanted to use ropes in Super Sharp, but this was not as easy as we thought it would be.

On a less technical part, when designing the levels, we had to keep in mind that there are several kind of screens: very small screens like an iPhone 4S, or big screens like the iPad. And they do not have the same proportions, which means that players won’t see exactly the same area. We had to make sure that all the players would be able to solve the levels on their device with the same level of difficulty.

 

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

There are only three people in our team, so it is easy for us to collaborate and find ideas together. Each game we made allowed us to define and refine our own, minimalist and colourful universe. We always try to create the most simple things. Super Sharp is the result of this creative process.

Also, we’ve played a lot of games since our childhood and are always observing what works and what doesn’t in games. As Nintendo fans, we are probably most influenced by their games and their way of doing things.

 

A few words to Super Sharp fans on Edamame Reviews.

We are currently working on a new action game but we will definitely update Super Sharp later this year with new levels. We usually wait a few months before working on additional levels for our games, because it allows us to look at the concept in a different way. If you managed to solve all the existing levels, please wait for the next ones!

 

Lastly a few words on how you feel about Edamame Reviews and our service.

It was a pleasure to work with you on this article, I hope we will do it again soon!

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