Now it is far less a challenge than it was (laughs). Seriously, the SDK has improved dramatically and the number of people building games has exploded, so there is a lot more information available. One of the key things we (rough cookie/ngmoco:) did right in focusing on was the interaction. The strong compulsion to rotate the planets, manipulate objects in that way, contributes heavily to the strong and immersive experience of Star Defense. Throughout the project this has been the core element in our decisions, extending that to how things look on the screen, how you message something to how things look on the device.
Choosing to focus on understanding the device you develop for from a user perspective and translating that into art, design and code has been key in this project.
At the same time we were, mildly put, on a strict deadline so that was definitely a challenge. Strange as it may sound though, and not in a small way thanks to ngmoco, it also was one of the most exciting and fun parts.
