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“A retro rhythm racing beat ‘em up action game with a dubstep flavour.â€
That’s the description developer Different Cloth (Gordon Midwood) has ascribed to his recent iPhone debut, Lilt Line. Navigating a wee line through cavernous, DayGlo maps, mortar blast drum beats guide your fingers through the game’s perfectly linear ten levels.
FingerGaming had a chance to chat with Midwood about the game’s superb sound design and why individuality has such a hard time equating to sales in the crowded App Store.
Please, tell us a bit about yourself and how you got into iPhone development.
I was born in Maidenhead to the son of a Romanian miner and grew up on the south side of the Bronx. So, for me, iPhone development was a logical next step.
Lilt Line is evocative of the bit Generations titles and pseudo-synaesthetic experiences like Audiosurf. What was your inspiration for the game?
To be honest I just wanted to make an original rhythm game, as I have been in love with the genre for many years. My favourite music game is probably Gitaroo Man so let’s go for that as an inspiration. I loved the bit Generations series I must admit and yeah, it does look a bit like Dotstream, but only since I swapped out the original spaceship for a line.
The most important thing for me is that I tried to make an original, innovative game. Also I like the fact that Lilt Line is all about pure gameplay – the style is deliberately minimalist, there’s nothing to hide behind.
When did you start collaborating with 16bit? The soundtrack is just fantastic, grimy dub. Were they a part of the project from the onset?
They came on board in February after I sent them a video of a prototype, and since then we’ve worked pretty closely. 16bit are immense, they have been great to work with and I love their style.
In the newest issue of Edge, Q-Games’ Dylan Cuthbert said, “I think on the iPhone it’s difficult, even if you’ve made a good game, to get into the top ten. I get the sense that at the end of the day whether or not a game sells well is just pot luck.†Would you agree?
I read that too and I totally agree with him with one caveat: Apple determine the pot luck part.
Then how do you think this can be remedied? Is it up to Apple to improve filtering on the store, or is it just one of the difficulties of competing on a (relatively) open platform developers will have to live with?
To be fair to Apple the whole iPhone development process is great and, crucially, open to everyone. They’ve taken some of the work done by people like Microsoft on the 360 and just blown it apart.
That said the app store itself is clearly a mess, with the self-perpetuating top 25 lists creating near-millionaires, and everyone else getting by on 50 sales a day if they’re lucky. So, yes, I think they should improve filtering and browsing.
The most frustrating part for me, however, is that whether or not Apple notice and choose your app to be featured seemingly determines whether you are successful or not. I also think they could do more to push innovative and original games. Basically, they just need to put Lilt Line on the front of the app store and then I’m cool with them, is what I’m trying to say.
Have you any plans for future iPhone development?
I have plenty more game ideas for the iPhone, but whether I start them or not depends on whether Lilt Line actually makes me any money!
Interesting site, but much advertisments on him. Shall read as subscription, rss.
Has Read several times, but don’t care nothing have not understood.
[...] up action game with a dubstep flavour” lilt line, has come a long way since FingerGaming spoke to him nearly a year ago. Initially quite cynical about how his rather unique game would perform buried [...]