Developers Cubed 17: Building Indie iOS Games


Our Developers Cubed series offers a behind the scenes look into Australia’s up and coming dev scene. This week: We chat with Peter Leary, the Melbourne-based brains behind iOS game, Pocket HalfPipe.

Developers! Developers! Developers!
It’s not just Steve Ballmer’s favourite sweat-laden catchcry! If you’d like to be featured in Developers Cubed, shoot me a note at danny.allen dot gizmodo.com.au. We’d love to hear from you.

Who are you and where do you work?
My name’s Peter Leary, I’m an indie developer from Melbourne.

Why do we know you? What have you created?
Earlier this year I released “Pocket HalfPipe“, an arcade style skateboarding game for iOS. Before this I’d worked in animation. I’m a bit of a generalist in that field and have worked in all sorts of roles in creating ads, music videos and game cinematics.

What platforms do you develop for?
iOS currently and maybe android in the future…

What are you working on right now?
Updates for Pocket HalfPipe! There’s an “embiggened” (iPad) version on the cards as well as few other titles that are currently in development.

How did you get into development?
I always had ideas for games but wasn’t really inspired enough to do anything about it until the appearance of the App Store. With my animation background I knew I could cover all of the design aspects, so I spent a lot of time learning the programming side, and making up for time spent drawing on maths books instead of reading them 🙂

After a while things just started to fall in place.

What do you think about the rise and rise of App Stores? How has it influenced your titles?
It’s great for indie developers. There’s a massive audience out there that would have never existed before. Nowadays it’s not uncommon to hear all kinds of people talking about how addicted they are to some crazy game.

What’s your favourite app that you didn’t create?
I think my fave has to be Elis, it’s so simple and it makes the best use of the touch interface I’ve seen. It’s like you’re playing a game from an old 80’s movie and you’re about to be abducted by aliens if you get a great score. Either that or fruit ninja, which again is a great use of the touch interface and so satisfying!

What phone do you use? Why?
IPhone 3GS, it’s a great phone. I’ll probably update later this year but I’ll stick with Apple.

What advice do you have for budding Aussie developers out there?
It’s hard to not get carried away when you are developing an idea but try to make your ideas achievable. Start with a strong simple idea and build from that.

Also, make sure you have a good team of people to bounce ideas off and help you problem solve things, as well as just helping you keep things in perspective. And, stick to it because It’s a great feeling getting your work out there to a worldwide audience!

[Pocket HalfPipe]


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