Interviews

TAG Games on Car Jack Streets's update as well as mission pack and Lite version

Prepare for helicopter, tank and steering wheel control

TAG Games on Car Jack Streets's update as well as mission pack and Lite version
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| TAG Games news

Car Jack Streets has been a game we've spent a lot of time following over the years, both in terms of its initial mobile incarnation as well as its recent iPhone and iPod touch release.

So we thought it only right to catch up with creator and TAG Game co-founder and MD Paul Farley (pictured) to find out about the process of getting it onto the App Store, as well as the company's future plans.

Pocket Gamer: Probably the biggest difference between mobile and iPhone/iPod touch versions of Car Jack Streets is the touch controls, so how many iterations did you have to go through?

Paul Farley: We prototyped a few ideas early on in development of the iPhone version, including a motion control version, but the only control scheme that provided the level of accuracy needed was an analogue left/right slider.

Not only does this work really well, but it's very similar to the control scheme used in the original GTA games, so if you are familiar with those you'll have no problems playing CJS.

What other changes did you have to make?

Probably the largest task on the art side was adding 3D buildings and models. The addition of 3D has made a massive improvement to the look of the game and the sense of life in the city.

The buildings now pop out at you as you move past with a great sense of vertigo and a variety of 3D landmarks like bridges, statues, boats and even a circus tent help to draw the player into Jack City in a manner that wasn't possible in the mobile versions.

Did you change other things, such as game logic and improving the artificial intelligence?

That’s the part of the game that’s changed the least and one of the areas we will be focusing on in updates.

The AI for the mobile version worked pretty well and was very efficient given the limited memory and processing available on a phone but that code was written a long time ago and is starting to show its age.

We spruced it up for the iPhone version but we are now looking forward to adding some more layers of functionality and behaviour in the next few updates.

Did you have any concerns about the perceived adult nature of the content with respect to Apple's approval process?

Not really. We have always pitched Car Jack Streets as the GTA-style game that the whole family can play. While we respect some players’ desire to see explicit content in games, we want to make games that anyone can play no matter what age or gender they are.

In many ways CJS benefits from alluding to content and situations because the player then uses their own imagination in the game. You don't see much scope for that in modern games any more with photo-realistic graphics and voice acting.

Do you think games like Car Jack Streets are increasingly going to be viewed as too complex for the iPhone market?

Not at all. We have already seen Payback sell very well on iPhone and early signs are that CJS will do just as well. The key aspect is that iPhone gamers want a variety of game types to choose from.

As long as you design your game from the ground up for mobile play then there's no limit to the level of complexity you can have - it's just how that complexity is consumed that is important.

In CJS, we deliberately structured the game to be played in 20-30 minute chunks every day, so in many ways once you have learnt the controls and the basics it’s quite a casual experience.

How much thought went into the pricing?

A huge amount of time was given to modeling different pricing structures. It's obviously vital to generate as much revenue as possible for the initial sales, but at the same time we didn't want to penalise early buyers of the game by offering a discount days after release.

In the end we decided that we would go for £2.99 based on competitive products and estimated download numbers. At that price we could be profitable but at the same time offer value to our customers.

There will be price offers over the life of the game but not for a while and we want to stick to that price for as long as possible. We want to ensure iPhone gamers can buy now confident they aren't going to get screwed in a few days time.

How different is it for TAG to be the publisher compared with working with a third party publisher for your mobile games?

It's a big opportunity for us as well as a major challenge. There are many positives. We don't have to share revenue with a third party, meaning that for every game sold more goes in our back pocket. We get paid every 30 days and don't have to wait months (this is a big deal for small self funded indie developers).

We aren't reliant on some sales and marketing department that has 50 other games to sell that month. We can also respond much quicker to customer feedback and provide updates and information much more efficiently than we could having to go through someone else. In summary it puts the control and responsibilities 100 per cent in our hands.

On the down side it does mean we have to fund all the development and marketing ourselves and if the game flops it could lead to massive losses and potentially the end of your business.

How do you plan to support the game in terms of updates?

We are already working on update 1.1 to address early feedback. We will be adding a map to the GPS, an additional steering wheel control scheme, some new vehicles such as a helicopter and tank, the ability to play your own music, and a number of smaller improvements to the controls and AI, as well as addressing a few bugs.

Beyond that we will be taking a closer look at improving collisions, adding more language support, and possibly some new missions.

What's next for the Car Jack Streets franchise?

Obviously the updates will only go so far and so we are planning a more heavily story driven mission pack or 1.5 version that will take place in the same city before moving on to the sequel.

Before then we'll release a free taster version. It's going to be a bit different from other Lite versions in that it will feature a new game mode and so will appeal to players that already have the full version as well.

It’s our desire to be able to make CJS a real alternative to GTA on mobile devices but that's a massive step up for a small studio to compete with the likes of Chinatown Wars and Saints Row. Still we've never shied away from a challenge at TAG.

And finally, any news about Astro Ranch?

Our focus has been very much on CJS for the last few months but Astro Ranch is progressing. We are now working on it as a 3.0 game and are looking to use as much of the social features the SDK update affords as possible.

Our aim is to have it ready for Christmas this year and it really is going to be something very special indeed!

Thanks to Paul for his time.
Jon Jordan
Jon Jordan
A Pocket Gamer co-founder, Jon can turn his hand to anything except hand turning. He is editor-at-large at PG.biz which means he can arrive anywhere in the world, acting like a slightly confused uncle looking for the way out. He likes letters, cameras, imaginary numbers and legumes.