Millipede Creative Development

Millipede were approached by Publicis Digital to build the Flash game component for their imaginative entertainment and educational website, The Adventures of Freddo and the Time Machine. The first series, “The Secret of the Golden Keys” was released as ten short, beautifully illustrated and animated episodes over ten days. Users are encouraged to get involved and help Freddo and his friends throughout the episodes, by solving puzzles, playing games and completing activities.

Quality, quantity and speed

The site launch date was already set, animations were underway and our challenge was clear. We were to develop 40-odd unique Flash games and further Flash activity templates, varying in complexity from simple to difficult, in about 8 weeks. Were we up for it? Definitely. We have a coffee machine.

Scalable content and dynamic difficulty

As the games are aimed at a broad age range encompassing different stages of development — the games are tiered to remove any unfair age advantage and maintain playability.

We developed the games to allow administrators complete control over gameplay. An XML description of each game details everything from time allowed and points allocation, to obstacle placement and adversary skill. Upon launch, the game is passed the user’s age from the account database and seamlessly tailors the game to suit.

This approach further allowed Publicis to fine-tune the gameplay independently of us to get each game working and playing exactly as desired.

An efficient cloud based workflow

The deadline was tight, so we really needed to ensure our workflow was as efficient as possible. Using a hosted repository for files and version control, combined with online project management software meant that the Millipede and Publicis teams could easily communicate objectives, obtain files, track issues and monitor progress. All classes were centralised, permitting developers to pick and choose code they required and to add to a growing bank of reusable functionality.

Lavish features, responsible progamming

We were able to harness the awesome new features of Flash Player 10, including native 3D capability. Not only that, we implemented true physics and particle engines to create some outstanding effects to bring the games to life.

All the games are loaded inside a complex web environment created by Publicis. As such we paid close attention to frame rates, garbage collection and implementing Publicis’ technical requests.

Onwards!

We’re proud to be involved in the continuing development of Freddo’s online adventures — stay tuned.